Mombasa

Well, a lot has happened since we last wrote…

On Sunday we gave a group sermon on the parable of the sower during the teen service at Nairobi Pentecostal Church… It was really neat to see God speaking throughout each of us in different ways. One thing we challenged the youth to do was to memorize scripture and to really hide it in their hearts. We decided that we should, as a group, take that challenge ourselves and are currently trying to memorize 1 Corinthians 13…

Sunday we also left for Mombasa at 10:30ish in the evening. After an eight hour bus ride – we finally arrived. This whole week has been spent as a week to rest and rejuvenate ourselves for the final stretch here in Kenya. We have used many means of transportation, like tuk-tuks1, boda-bodas2, matatus3, and ferries. Beth (a volunteer with LIA) has been our companion while on this trip, and has been a wealth of knowledge – especially in translating what people are saying about us in Swahili…A couple of days were spent at the beach where we rode camels, made a sand fort, buried Zach (well, almost all of him), and played in the Indian Ocean. One day we went to a neat ecological reserve, Haller Park, and saw crocodiles, turtles, monkey, and hippos among other various and assorted African animals.

Friday, as our last day, we decided to do something a little special – go see some caves. Beth made our reservations and the van was to pick up at 7:00 am. We woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, the ocean’s waves, breakfast – and Jacob vomiting. Thinking it would pass and that it might just be a flu, he stayed behind while the rest of us went to see the caves… except that on our way we found out that we would not be seeing caves. We were to go snorkeling on a coral reef (thank goodness we brought our swimsuits!). While on the boat ride (a very little tiny boat on a very long boat ride) we got a phone call that Jacob was going to the hospital with the lady who runs the guest house we are staying in. He was going to be tested for Malaria. The rest of us enjoyed our time snorkeling… the fish we saw were so colorful and plentiful – we did quickly find out that Beth is not a very avid swimmer – even with a life jacket on. Sometime later we got a call and from what we understood he had Malaria. So we then spent the rest of our time trying to figure out what the next step was and how this would affect the next couple of weeks. At one point during the afternoon, Zach started feeling achy and getting cold chills. To say the least, the girls were slightly concerned. Then when we got back we found out that Jacob did not have malaria. Somehow, the “I have been tested for malaria” turned into “I have malaria”… O’ the joys of communication in the fallen world ☺. He instead had a stomach bug and was on Tylenol and anti-nausea medicine. Friday evening was pretty low key – Zach was still feeling under the weather and so he and Jacob made it an early night.

This morning, Saturday, we left the guesthouse at 6:30ish for our bus ride back. Sunday will be a rest day for us and Monday we leave for Kisumu.

We hope that you all have had a week that was filled with Joy…

The Mi2 team
-Evie

1. Tuk-Tuk: like a carriage, except instead of horses there is a motor bike
2. Boda-Boda: Motorcycle with a spot for a passenger or two
3. Matatu: a van that is usually filled to the brim with people… seat belts? What are those?
*The picture was taken by Jacob and the person in it is Zach. We all helped to create the letters. The blob on top of the Frisbee is seaweed. This was also the day where Evie, Robin, and Bailey burned their backs… really bad.