Final Thought

Our trip to Kenya was similar to Kenya itself, full of extremes. From the trip over to Nairobi to the trip home we faced many challenges, changes and extremes. We arrived, after 30 hours of flying, layovers and all the discomfort of overseas travel to find nearly perfect weather in Nairobi and the loving welcome of Dan and Nancy Germo. We hit the ground by meeting with the leadership of Agape Fellowship Church and being challenged by the love, grace and vision of Dr. Kabachia. From Nairobi we traveled into Northern Kenya which is hot, arid and desert. The people in Northern Kenya are primarily Muslim and working and moving in this area of Kenya is challenging on many fronts. This is the leading edge of the missions field. The culture is radically different and the people's attitude towards the Gospel is also radical. Returning to Nairobi we were faced with additional extremes from meeting with families affected by tragedies to dealing with the challenges of our own families from thousands of miles away. One minute we were on top of the world and the next minute we were brought to tears over concerns for the people around us. One minute we found ourselves in a modern mall that would rival any mall in America and the next minute we were walking through an open air market full of small kiosks and dirt walk ways. The trip was amazing, informative and essential to planning the June trip. We never would have been able to prepare for the trip without experiencing the conditions in Northern Kenya first hand. As we reflect on the trip we are reminded of the extremes that we are all called to in our daily Christian lives as modeled by our savior, Jesus Christ. Any time we have an opportunity to be involved in what God is doing here at home or half way around the world we should expect to be challenged and to face the extremes of life but we can do so with confidence knowing that Christ is our hope, our strength and our salvation and through Him all things are possible. We are also reminded of the challenges and needs of those who work in these difficult areas day in and day out and that by supporting them we can be part of the awesome work God is doing everyday.