Living in Naivasha at the moment...

On Friday last week I was working on a post to provide an update on my first week in Kenya, which follows. Over the weekend however, as you may have seen, there have been a series of terrible events taking place in Naivasha, where I am living. I have been advised by the British High Commission to stay in my house, which is in a gated and secure compound, and I am safe at the moment, and in touch with the High Commission and Mission Care colleagues in the UK as we wait to see what is going to happen next.

Please remember the people of Naivasha in your prayers. Many have seen traumatic events unfolding in their community that they would not have dreamed were possible.

The events of the past few days are a stark reminder of how quickly things can change. When I arrived in Kenya a week ago it was in full safety to a town which had not seen any trouble, excited to see the progress being made at the Sunshine Boys Rehabilitation Centre. I was able to see Sunshine Cottage for the first time, where I am now living. This picture shows me, together with Mission Care Chief Executive Colin Bloom, and the Director of the Sunshine Boys, Simon Kinyanjui Chege, outside my new front door.

The cottage is amazing, far beyond what I expected, and the time and effort that many of the Kenyans had put into preparing it for me was really humbling. They were so happy that we had arrived safely and it was great to join them.

Over the past week I made two trips back to Nairobi, to the airport, taking friends for their flights home. I learned quickly that I would need to be careful on the road; one policeman attempted to bribe us at one of the many police check points on the roads. He wanted 3000 Kenyan shillings, which is about £24. Corruption is a massive problem in Kenya, and is something of which I will need to be very wary. On this occasion the policeman had not realised that I was travelling with Kenyan friends in the car (as I will be doing on most of my trips), and when he realised he quickly backed down and was somewhat embarrassed.

During my first week in Kenya I also visited Moi Ndabi, the site of a Mission Care International water project, and met with the chief and assistant chief of the village. The team from Mission Care who joined me in Kenya have been working hard, meeting with our partners and ensuring that the various projects are progressing, but we also managed to squeeze in a few trips to help me get my bearings in the Rift Valley. We visited the Lake Nakuru National Park and also climbed Mount Longaknot. On this second trip we were grateful for the guidance of Silas and Dano, two of the Sunshine Boys. The journey was hard and fairly treacherous; I was very hot and my legs have been paying for my exertions over the past few days.

It is daunting being here in Kenya on my own since the last of the Mission Care team returned to the UK, especially in the current climate of unrest in Naivasha. I am reminded constantly however that God is with me, and that I have an awesome opportunity to serve Him through serving Mission Care International and the Kenyan people. Please do continue to pray for my safety and protection, but also pray that I can use this time to be a blessing to those around me, that I may build God's kingdom here and share the Good News in a situation which right now seems so desperate to so many.