We were fortunate on this trip to really see and serve in all different types of areas in Kenya. Our "home" and all Deliverance Church activities had been in Kahawa Sukari which is a more suburban area, we had also spent several days at Mathare Worship Center in the slums of Mathare, and now we got to visit the countryside where Pastor Wang'ombe grew up, Murang'a! Murang'a was literally a "breath of fresh air." Murang'a was an hour and a half drive from Pastor's home, and it was such a nice change from Central Nairobi. As we drove, there was no traffic, and barely any other cars. All we saw were green hills, animals, and fields where they were growing agriculture or tea leaves!
We had already visited Murang'a earlier in the week for the VBS planning meeting, but now we were actually going to do a two-day VBS for several combined churches. The pastors in Murang'a decided we should stay overnight one night at their places, instead of driving back and forth. It was very thoughtful, although we of course felt bad for burdening them (they didn't see it that way so we couldn't object). We had gotten so used to staying at Pastor's house, that staying in Murang'a for that one night actually felt strange. Of course, the homes were also different than Pastor's house (ie. for the girls, there wasn't a toilet in the house... it was a flushable squatting one..., and for the boys, they had to spend half an hour pushing the mutatu up a mushy dirt driveway because it had rained! oh and Janette accidentally stepped on an ant hill and the safari ants climbed inside her clothes and bit her in different places! eeewww!), but the people are sooooo hospitable and welcoming and make up for everything else!
Both days, we led a successful VBS with Sing & Play in the beginning and the end, and then five 30 minute rotations in the middle: crafts, bible story, snacks, games, and dance. They had about 200-300 kids come to participate! These kids walk everywhere on their own... it's so different to see how independent the kids are. Little babies are waddling around on uneven rocks and dirt, and if they fall, they get up without a fuss. Parents don't drop their kids off either... the children literally show up on their own, maybe after walking for several miles!
Here are some pictures of Murang'a:
This video also shows some highlights of our two days in Murang'a! Or you can go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woObTPoSA14
After the first day of VBS, we also had a special treat where the Bishop and his wife brought us into a tea factory! I don't think visitors are usually allowed inside the tea factory, but somehow the Bishop got us a private tour of the tea production process from start to finish!!! We were able to learn how tea leaves are grown, picked, dried, chopped, etc... and finally made into different quality grades depending on how fine or coarse the tea is.
Hope you enjoyed seeing our trip to Murang'a!
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