Kenya in 9min.

Mombasa to Ísland.

We arrived in Mombasa late Tuesday (March 15th) night. Driving through the city, you could just smell the ocean, ah I couldn’t wait. The YWAM base here is on an island so we had to cross with a ferry–everyone was so giddy to just be there. Mombasa is the place we as a team have been talking about before we left Iceland, but finances originally looked like we wouldn’t be able to. It would get brought up now and again but normally get put down. So to be here doing debrief at the end of our outreach is so phenomenal.
We’ve spent our days conversing about this time, this adventure that the Lord has taken us on. We looked at our growth in our gifts, in intimacy, with each other–it’s just been an encouraging time for all of us I think. We wrote on the board all the ministries and significant people that we’ve met and been a part of on a  white board; I was overwhelmed by all that we’ve been able to do. The amount of seeds that the Lord has used us to plant in these short weeks is just incredible. In addition to conversing was just relaxing on the beach. Oh my heart. The ocean is peace to me, I’ve had so many intimate moments with the Lord just sitting by the ocean–so I was just breathing deeply, soaking it in, in the few days there.

Saturday (March 19) night we went out for a celebratory dinner at the Tamarind. Which happens to be one of the nicest restaurants in Kenya, next to Carnivore. It’s been so incredible to see how the Lord has very literally showed us that we are seated at the banquet table. The dinner was incredible–fish fillets, crème brûlée, Moroccan mint tea, lobster, shrimp pasta,–just eating like kings and queens. There was a live band and where we sat overlooked the night sea.

I think one of my favorite parts of this night was when I eyed an older dutch couple sitting a couple of tables away. The woman was just kind of dancing in her seat and the man was just smiling over at her. I could tell that she wanted to dance, so I went over and suggested that he take his lovely wife onto the dance. To see them laugh and enjoy each other was so beautiful. They were so precious.

Our last days have just been filled with rest and ocean time. :)

We started our journey back to Iceland–on Sunday (I think)(The days are all meshing together).Landing here in Iceland felt so surreal. It’s all a little overwhelming.

I’m walking into a new season–it’s a little scary and exciting. Can’t wait to see what adventures God has in store for life after the DTS. (Yes, there is life after the DTS).

Cheers to new adventures!

Rich and Full.

“I don’t feel like a human,” I told Tyler last Monday  as we were walking in the compound here in Kapenguria. It seems like a strange statement, but it was the only way I could think to express how I felt inside. The night before our team had a memorial service for what happened to Laura & Ebel—maybe that’s what sparked this weird feeling of non-humanness. Later that night I went into the tiny kitchen we get to use here. Ari and Ty were cooking, listening to lovely folky music. As I stood there watching them cook & laughing with them over something seemingly insignificant, I’m sure…I realized what I had been feeling all day: nostalgia. I felt nostalgic over nothing specific. I imagined that this night, cooking, listening to good music, the cool African night and having the privilege to eat dinner again with my “forever family”—-this was something, one day I was going to feel nostalgic over.  After dinner we all stood around the kitchen and porch area while the dishes were being done, listening to music and simply enjoying each others company. I had the overwhelming urge to twirl like a little girl in a pretty dress. It all felt like a nostalgic movie scene from a Cameron Crowe film. Like when Penny Lane & the gang sang Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous, or Orlando Bloom jumping in with one hand in the air in Elizabethtown. I almost felt as though I could cry, I wanted to stop time.  My twirling led to the boys seeing how many spins they could go with their forehead on the broomstick & then walk straight. It was absolutely hilarious. At one point Nicholaus was spinning when all of a sudden the power went out. We all screamed in laughter–especially when the lights came back on and Nick was just laying on the ground against the wall of the house. “I thought it was the end of the world,” he got out in between laughs.  To add the movie-esqueness of the night; Tyler, Nick, Michelle and I listened to The Album Leaf as we stared at the Milky Way that shined so bright in the African sky. We talked about nothing much at all, just soaked up the beauty of it all.  While we were laying there Tyler whispered “better pay attention in life, or it’ll pass you by,” after I missed a shooting star. It was a joke, but it hit a nerve. I realized in all my revelation that Lord has been downloading about His gift of FULLNESS—a fear had crept in. I’ve become fearful in every decision I think I might make–scared that I’m making the wrong one and I’m missing the fullness–which in turn paralyzes me.  The next morning Nick played the song in my previous post —“Train song” by Josh Garrels, God started working and damaging that fear:

“And I’m steppin’ out the door,

I’m doin what feels right,

followin’ my Lord through the darkest night,

And when the path gets narrow,

I follow Him…

He said “sing it on the mountain high,or in the valley low

‘He’s my God and He never let me go.”

The fear of missing out on the fullness will in turn guarantee it. I’ll come back to this in a moment….There’s only 2 short weeks left here in Kenya and as we were praying over this time here in Kapenguria we received words of fullness–that each day would be RICH and FULL of LIFE and that’s exactly my heart’s cry. On this past Sunday we had the privilege to attend the opening of church in the Pokot Tribe area, about an hour away from where we are staying. Please read up on the Pokot Tribe if you are curious…but some of the basic culture…The Pokot are polygamous normally having four to five wives.

Although it is against the law (which isn’t enforced properly) they still practice female circumcision (FGM). Boys are circumcised at age 15 and then there is a celebration called “sapana” for them in which they are then declared “real” men.The culture is under such strongholds of tradition and witch-craft so you can imagine the joy it was to see the freedom the Lord had brought to so many of them. It was such a joyous celebration that I am not sure how to put into words. To be part of a church being planted in an unreached people-group area was so surreal. The service was packed full of all kinds of dancing and fellowship–my heart was just “boiling” as Ari would say to express the feeling of peace and “this is right” you get when you know there’s no where else in the world that you should be except right there in that moment.

“This day couldn’t get much better, ” I said. Boy did I not even know what was coming….  On the jam-packed jeep ride home I had an “If This Were A Dream, What Would It Mean?” moment. All four of us girls were sitting on the middle bench, while the two Icelanders, were sitting up front and the boys were in the back packed with way to many Kenyans than should ever fit in a car. Ariel and I were listening to Jonsi in one ear while the sound of the Kenyan girls singing streamed in the other. It was as if Iceland was in one ear, and Kenya in the other. To top it off it started raining, really raining. Which is quite a big deal because they’ve been in a drought here. I smiled and thought about the day getting better and better.

When we arrived back at the compound Fanney had been busy making us french-press coffee and delicious coffee desert! Wow!

We spent some incredible time at their house and then headed back to ours for some rest. All four of us girls were just sitting in the living room enjoying each others company; it was only when Nick called us to dinner that I realized we hadn’t seen the boys all afternoon.  As we walked up to the table we realized that there were only four place-settings. There was a bright-burning candle and flowers all over the table. We sat down only soon to be crowned with princess crowns and African celebration necklaces. The boys proceeded to serve us salad and delicious pasta Milano, we just sat in awe. With every song that came on the playlist we said “awww..” The reality that this time, this season would soon be over hit us all this night. I was holding back my tears but then lost it when the boys surrounded us individually to pray and speak life into us! It was such a sacred time and the spirit was heavily there with us.

We were then guided into the living room for warmth and served chocolate cake and coffee! Oh it was so beautiful. The night came to a close with a movie and letters on our pillows :) A night (and day!) I’ll never forget.

So, going back to my fear of missing out on fullness…as soon as I laid it down to the Lord and let him take my cares, worries and fears…I’ve been able to enjoy this fullness that he’s been pouring into each day!

We head to Mombasa in a week…we’ll get to see the Indian Ocean!! I love my life.