As we are into Resurrection Week my heart is full to overflowing! God is indeed a triumphant God! His own son, Jesus, willingly paid the price of his life to reconnect us to God, then God raised Him up from the dead, and anyone who asks can be connected to God the Father and Creator of us all! And this week I have been able to rejoice with 2 friends whose husbands have accepted Jesus’ offer of new life!

Grace’s husband has not only NOT been a follower of Jesus, he has openly defied the Lord and been a renegade of a man. But after years of many praying for him, and him seeing Grace’s example of faith, and God’s faithfulness to her and his family, Peter said YES to Jesus! We had already made plans to go to church with Grace last Sunday never realizing what a special day it would be. Peter stood before the church and told them he had finally said Yes to Jesus and he was a changed man. And it was evident to all who knew Peter even a little bit, that he was truly a changed man. It was written all over his face!

Then yesterday, Susan, who sells tortillas on campus and who has been in our Bible study, stopped me and said she had to tell me something. I was apprehensive because so often when a Kenyan says that something bad has happened. Instead, she told me that her husband had become a follower of Jesus! More patient, faithful prayers answered! And what a privilege to share in seeing the fruit of God’s faithfulness.

Then, as if I needed more to fill my cup, another friend emailed me that her husband, after years of not caring about eternal issues, is very interested and is seeking answers! God is faithful!

We are back on campus for a good long spell now-and glad to be! We loved our safaris, but it’s always so good to come home! We do have some advice for you should you ever come to Kenya:  do not visit 2 game parks back to back if you are driving to them! We spent 6 of seven days more in a vehicle than out-and we were not in the comfy tourist vans, we were missionaries over packed into utility vehicles!! But, we wouldn’t have missed the experience! Great fellowship with the Brobst family (who graciously invited us to vacation with them this break), incredible sights and experiences, and tired, battered behinds!

I thought I had seen the worst roads ever before our trip to Samburu. But they were not even in the same league as the last 45 minutes to Samburu! This is true-screws flew out of the dashboard and the bumper fell halfway off! And this on a vehicle built for rough terrain! I will never again complain about roads in the US.

After we returned from Samburu (north central Kenya) we spent 3 days in Nairobi. My opinion of Nairobi has not really changed and I can do without 3 days in Nairobi forever! We did get to see 5 friends from Orientation School while staying at the AIM Guesthouse though (Addisons, Haspels, and Stacy C.)

Then we came home and took our trip with Grace to her church. She usually walks to church which is an hour and a half hike going up and a bit less coming down. She recommended we ride a matatu so the boys wouldn’t get too tired (that’s what she said, but she was probably thinking that I would get too tired!). Matatus are the standard mode of transport in Kenya. They are any vehicle that rolls and can carry at least 10 people. Now this is carry 10 people by Kenyan standards, not western standards. So we hopped in a van that I would have thought would be very full with 12 and we had 18 in it. I sat immediately behind the front seat on a 6-inch ledge, facing towards the back. The “back” of my seat was the gentleman who was straddling the gearshift’s back! Then you are crammed in on a bench with nothing to hold on to. When you go around one of the hairpin turns you simply crush the person next to you and are crushed by the person on the other side! But Grace told us that was a very comfortable matatu ride.

Church was a great experience with lots of singing and clapping and dancing and a good sermon about not giving up. You sit matatu-style on benches. That is to say, as more people come you just keep cramming them in! White folks do not often visit Grace’s church and we were definitely a point of interest to all, especially the children. JT was a bit uncomfortable with the notoriety, but Matthew ate it up! After the service we were treated to a meal of nyama chomo (roasted goat meat) and chips (French fries) and sodas. Such gracious people.

Then we were ready for the matatu ride down to RVA. As we got to the matatu I naively rejoiced that there were only 3 people in it. This will be a great ride, I thought. But matatus do not have to stick to any schedule other than the owner’s desire to make a maximum profit, so we waited for more passengers. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes. This van was a little larger than the first one we rode and when we finally got underway there were 31 of us counting the driver! And what Steve said is true-when absolutely no one else could fit on a seat, they scrunched 4 more on who were bent at the waist hanging over those seated, with their rear ends barely aboard! The guy started asking for pesa (money) and Steve could not even get his hand into his pocket!! He let us pay as we disembarked_ I wouldn’t want to drive the hour to Nairobi that scrushed, but it was a fun experience for the 10-minute ride down the hill!

Life continues to be an adventure-but such a glorious one! The gift of those 2 men coming to Jesus this week makes so many things worth it! May your cup, too, overflow this week as we celebrate the greatest event that ever took place-Jesus resurrection and victory over sin and death!!

We love you and are so glad you share with us in these adventures by your support, prayers, and correspondence,

Nancy