The Great Rift Valley

It was so good to wake up this morning on solid ground after being in the air for two days!  We enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast at our hotel called Grace House.  After exchanging our dollars for shillings at the Ya Ya Center, we were finally on our way!  The journey takes about 2 1/2 hours.  Just outside of Nairobi, we travel along a mountainside that drops into the Great Rift Valley.  It is gorgeous and a little scary!  I have read that the rift which extends through several countries, can be seen from space.  The awesome beauty of this place was an excellent reminder of the awesomeness of God.

......Still on our way!!

Traveling to Kenya can be quite an ordeal.  It is generally two 8 hour flights with a layover somewhere in Europe.  This team flew from Chicago to Detroit and then on to Amsterdam. Easy Peasy - no problem - right?!  Well, except it was only a 45 minute layover in Detroit.  And the plane from Chicago left 20 minutes late.  Still no problem, we could make it to the gate in 25 minutes!  Then we were ready to head off on the runway when we circled back.  The captain came on to let us know that a plane had possibly lost a tire while landing and the debris on the runway prevented us from leaving.  So after waiting another 20 minutes we were finally on our way.  Now we only had 5 minutes - probably not enough time to disembark and make it to our gate!  If this was going to happen God was going to have to work it out!  When we landed in Detroit the captain made an announcement that they were holding the Amsterdam flight for us!  Praise God!  We walked onto a plane loaded with seated passengers.  Their glances at us were not completely friendly, but we were singing hallelujah!!  We were sure we would have smooth sailing from here!  But when we approached Amsterdam, the captain announced we were not being cleared for landing because of the heavy fog.  So.....we circled!!  After about 20 minutes, the captain announced that although the weather wasn't much better, we had been ok'd for landing so he THOUGHT we would be ok and he was going to "GIVE IT A SHOT"!  Not exactly the confidence we wanted to hear!  When we finally landed, we were left with just a little over an hour until our next flight was to leave. Luckily for us, that flight was delayed by about 20 minutes so we were able to freshen up and walk a bit before taking the last leg of our trip!  The Nairobi airport was still rebuilding after a huge fire in July.  But the new part they took us to was very nice and very organized!  We were sure our luggage could not have possibly made the plane with the almost nonexistant layover in Detroit.  And again we thought, if it's going to happen, God is going to have to do it!  Then to our surprise we started seeing bags on the luggage carrousel with big yellow circle Global Impact Team tags.  We sailed through customs, found our driver, Francis, and headed to the van to load up.  We brought a lot of supplies for the baby centre, so we had a lot of bags.  We were seated in the van and luggage was piled all around us.  But again, we weren't the slightest bit uptight as we were now in KENYA!!!!  Only one more day and we would get to see, hold and love the precious little ones at the Baby Centre! 

We are on our way!

This team of 5 ladies led by Jamie and Jolinda Lengacher are excited to be headed to the baby centre! They will serve God in a variety of ways with the main focus being on loving and assisting in the care of the little ones currently residing there.  Please pray for safe travel throughout their trip. As well as their willingness for God to work in them and through them. 

*love the excellent "photo bombing" done by Pastor Don!!