12- Saturday with Samaritans

Kyalya, his father and mother hired a taxi and rode with us to the bus station in the village town of Mwingi.  Kiaruuh was also there to see us all the way back to Nairobi.  As we rode like sardines in the little old taxi back along the bouncy bush roads toward our bus, Kiaruuh's mother was quiet as she looked out the window.  A while later, she turned to Kiaruuh and told him to tell me that she would like to sing us a song.  The song would be a farewell blessing.  She told the words and Kiaruuh told them to me, all about blessed wishes, in prayers that God would bless and keep us along our way in life.  Then after sharing the words, she sang the song in traditional African melody, with a beautiful solo voice as we all listened.  

Dallin and I thanked her, and then sang "God be with You till we Meet Again," but, again, I felt like it really wasn't very musical because we just don't compare to the beautiful African vocals.  At least she knew that we tried and cared.

Coolest bus ride I've ever had

At the bus stop, we said our last little goodbyes in the car, and then the three of us boarded a really bright, hopping bus.  It was pink inside and out, had ads about Jesus on the roof, and played loud bopping  Kenyan music, which I would compare to Mexican-meets-Jamaican music.  It was upbeat, repetitive, and kind of like happy island music.  I always wanted to have a bus experience like the foreign missionaries have, and we had one that day.  They even loaded big crates of live chickens into the seats at the front (but my camera was dead and I couldn't get the shot).  I was a happy girl all the way to Nairobi.                  

Kiaruuh is always smiling inside. 

 Kiaruuh took care of the tickets and kept us advised of all of the right things to do, and we rode the long ride to Nairobi. Kiaruuh was still quiet around me, but we still had some conversations, and we reminisced about some of the facebook conversations at the time so long ago when we were so worried about things, not knowing or trusting each other, and we could now look back on those times and laugh because we had learned so much since then.  I gave him a paper copy of all of our messages, since they had all been lost to him, so that he could see and remember them the way that I could, and share them with others.  He told me insistently that next time, I must be sure to give some advance warning, because so many people could have met me, and we would have had so many joyful times with them, if they had only known and could prepare.  I told him why I didn't, and reminded him that he wasn't even chatting with me anymore at the time.  He was quiet again after I said that, and I thought that now I knew why he had kept so quiet during my stay.

In Nairobi we met up with a friend of Kiaruuh's, who showed us our way through town, through the small bus system (matatus) stopping at Uhuru Park

 

where we sat for a while. Fredrick met us there, and gave us a ride to the LDS Stake Center.

Front entrance of the Stake Center

 It was so good to see Fredrick, and it was so good to see the church!  It is so beautiful there.

Behind the chapel are the offices, including the Mission Office.  Only a few missionaries are there on Saturdays.

 I was so happy to see so many members there and talk with them! Victor was there, and I was so happy to see him, too!  He invited all of us to his home, where we would have dinner.  He had made arrangements for Dallin and I to stay at his "Mother's" house (she had taken him in as a youth) for the night, since his wife was away on a business trip.

We drove out to his village area, and Victor parked a stretch away from his home where we had to get out and walk, because of all of the heavy rains which had created mud too deep to drive through.

We walked as a group toward Victor's house, until at one point I hopped over a little stream, overturned a stone, under-turned my ankle, and fell.  I got up and recovered for a bit and my walk turned into a hobble-skip.  Hoping it might just be a twisted ankle, I hobbled along, until I started to feel like I wasn't keeping control of my consciousness.  The bus ride had been long, and we had a lot of delays at the park and church, and so we hadn't eaten all day.  I was exhausted emotionally and physically, running off of little sleep because of the opposite sleep hours from the U.S., my body was hungry, tired, and very taxed, and it finally gave way.  I warned Dallin that I felt like I might pass out, and leaned on his shoulder, just before I fainted to the ground.  

I awoke to the face of a concerned Victor, and I sat up for a few minutes to gain consciousness.  

Catching my breath.  Victor is kneeling and the others standing near.

I felt better after a few minutes.  From there, as I made my way toward Victor's home with help from the nearest shoulder or arm, I felt like I had four caring brothers -and one caring son.  It was a time that I would never forget.  I realized that only days before, I had never met any of these Kenyan men, and they had never met me.  But there they were, with so much compassion and service, caring and concerned, wanting to help me through the mud to a safe and comfortable place, like brothers to a sister.  I felt Brad's prayers and love from a thousand miles away, resting right upon me, in the form of these good and gentle brethren, a blessing from a loving Heavenly Father who was watching us from above, every minute of each long and beautiful African day.  I will never forget the love and concern that I saw in the eyes of those good men that day, and the love and prayers that I felt from my good husband, from my children, and from my Father in Heaven.

We made it to Victor's house, where his two young children met us before we even went in.  Victor washed and wrapped my ankle carefully, and we went inside.  We all sat in his home, watched a little TV,

Victor gave me some soda and Dallin gave me a power bar for quick energy.

and all sat around the table for a very welcome dinner.

chapati (like a fried tortilla) rice, and stew for dinner

 It was getting late, and I wasn't able to take more than a few steps anywhere.  Fredrick and Kiaruuh and his friend said goodbye, and then Victor turned to Dallin and I, and said matter-of-factly, "You stay here tonight.  I have called my Mother and told her that you will be staying here because it is late.  Here are your beds where you can sleep."  As we were shown our beds, we realized that they were giving up their own beds so that we could have a comfortable place to sleep that night, even without having notice, and without the Mom of the home around.  What loving service they gave to us, bringing in strangers into their homes and treating us so selflessly, humbly, and kindly!  I new that I would never be able to thank them enough for the goodness that they showed to us.  They had truly taken in the wounded stranger, in a Good Samaritan way.



NEXT PAGE: 13- Sunday in Nairobi