We have now set foot on African soil! Thank you all so much for your prayers as we travel to this side of the globe. God has truly been gracious, and we arrived safe and sound – with all of our luggage, and even a few hours of sleep behind us!
Whenever a new adventure begins, the “first impressions” are always ones that stick out in my memory. The first glimpses of this beautiful country came from the airplane window as we descended into Nairobi. After a long all-night flight, one often looks out – eager to see something other than pitch black darkness. At long last, just as we were descending into the clouds, a fine streak of golden sunshine could be seen on the horizon. It was a welcome sight!
As the plane gradually dropped, we could see the sparkling lights of the city down below. Alas, the cloudy sky prevented the city from the rays of the glorious morning sun that had been shining above the clouds. As we landed though, the memory of the sunlight caused me to smile. It just reminded me that God is always present, even when it is hard to see. His providential works are behind every circumstance, and we can smile knowing that He sees beyond the clouds – and can see how all things work together for good!
God’s providence has certainly brought a smile to our faces, even in the few hours that we have been in Africa thus far.
PRAISE AND PRAYER: We praise God for giving Laurie the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a college student named, Rilke (“Rilk-ah”) on the plane flight. Please pray that God will the conversation to plant the seeds of hope, peace, and direction that Rilke is longing for. Rilke had lots of searching questions like “who is Jesus Christ” and “what is the Trinity”? She has a genuine desire to believe in God, but her biggest wall is that she sees herself as an anthropologist who views God as a creation of societies of men. Laurie gave Rilke her travel Bible and they were able to exchange contact information in hopes of planting further seeds.
We are now settled into our host home and are enjoying getting to know the Ward family. The children especially have already woven their way into our hearts, with some good romps on the grass, a few rousing “sword-fights”, and lots of hugs! Samuel (6), Zakari (4, and Amina (2) are going to be fun companions. We are so grateful for the way that Vince and Julie have already opened their hearts to us, as well as the Morad family (our host home for our few days here in Kenya) and look forward to working alongside of these saints in the weeks to come.
For those of you who haven’t discovered it yet, we also have a blog address (being managed by our family members back home!) and a few things may be popping up on there as well: www.73daysofrain.blogspot.com
Beth & Laurie
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