Day 8 (by Julia Rogers)

We started off our day in two groups. One group would begin at the New Life Home Trust orphanage. (http://www.newlifehometrust.org/); with the other group spending some time at the village market. For lunch we would come together at the Village Market and then our two teams would swap venues.

The New Life Home Trust is a place that takes in unwanted babies and rears them in a Christian environment. The visit to the orphanage was very heartwarming. Founded in 1994 by Clive and Mary Beckenham, New Life Home Trust has grown from one home to seven homes in Kenya and continues to grow. There were a little over forty children ranging in ages from birth to three years, many of whom were born HIV positive. You could tell these children are very well taken care of and loved by the abundant staff. Our team members were welcomed and thoroughly enjoyed getting to hold and play with these beautiful children. It was difficult to leave these precious babies.

The time spent at the Village Market was an experience to say the least with bargaining being the name of the game. Most of our team members got the hang of bartering for marvelous hand-crafted items offered by the vendors. With some assistance from Pastor Wambua, Joab, and Ms. Emma, Chloe the youngest member of our group was ruthless in her hunt for great prices and left vendors shaking their heads in wonder. But probably the most interesting transaction was by Linda who got a picture frame for 500 schillings, a roll of toilet tissue, and an almost empty bottle of hand sanitizer.

Later in the afternoon we headed back to Lucky Summer in our last night of participating in the open-air crusade. Amid dark clouds, a few drops of rain, electrical problems in the form of interrupted lights and microphones, the Word of God was proclaimed. Mrs. Debbie and Ms. Emma both gave powerful testimonies, and even our own team sang one praise song, “How Great is our God,” on-stage in a'capela. Pastor Euticauls Wambua, without a microphone, finished the service with another amazing sermon from 2 Kings about Naman and God’s healing of his leprosy after washing seven times in the Jordan River. As the crusade finished for the night, our team was hit with bittersweet feelings…a sense of fulfillment in running the race that God had set before us but a deep sadness in leaving the Korogocho and Lucky Summer communities, its people, and especially its children for the last time. Friends, please keep these wonderful people in your prayers and please continue to pray for the crusade as it continues Saturday and Sunday night.

To wind up our night, our team, along with our friends, Pastor Wambua and family, Pastor Bosco, Pastor Peter, Principal Moses, and Wilson Maluki, went to Carnivore, a restaurant in Nairobi. Sampling many types of meat such as pork, chicken, lamb, ostrich, crocodile, and more, we had a great time eating and fellowshipping. And since Pam has a birthday on Sunday, the Carnivore staff brought out a sparkler topped cake and sang Happy Birthday with bongo drums and all.

Our team members are now all on the mend. Please continue to lift us up in your prayers, especially as we start the process of packing to come home. Tomorrow we head to Masai Mara for a two-day safari on the Serengeti Plain. We are very excited that the annual wildebeest migration at Masai Mara is coinciding with our visit!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support, physically, emotionally, and spiritually throughout our journey. We appreciate all of your comments as we read each and every one out loud, usually at breakfast. Asante sana! (thank you very much)