God's Goodness

This weekend I had an opportunity to spend in Nairobi.  We left early Friday morning and arrived there around 9:30.  Our first stop was at a place called village market.  It is a big mall that also hosts a Masai Market.  Masai is one of the tribes here in Kenya.  The market is huge with lots of vendors.  One thing to know about these types of markets is that when they see white skin they really want your business and will do what they can to get it.  They can be in your face and come to you requesting that you come and see their goods.  The first lesson is not to touch anything unless you are interested in buying it.  If they see you looking or touching they will really incest that you buy.  When I was first there it was going fairly well but after about 40 mins I was done and needed a break and I had not seen everything.  I took a break had some lunch and then Joanie and myself headed back in.  We spent about another 40 mins going through the market.  Everything is also bartered.  And that part is exhausting in itself and they can give you many stories about how they need to feed their families.  Once we were done we met up with Joanie’s friend for supper.  She was also the person we were going to be spending the weekend with.
Saturday morning we were up and going early to visit the Nairobi National Park.  It is a park that you drive through and hope to see some animals.  There had been sightings of lions the day before so we were hoping to be able to see them.  We started off slow with not seeing too much.  Then we came a pone three female lions and one male.  They were not that fare from the road.  It was so amazing to see them up close.  We sat there for some time and then they got up and moved.  We only drove a short distance from there and we came a pone two more male lions that were on the road.  It was amazing.  One come over and sat right beside our car.  He was so beautiful.  We drove a little further and saw some giraffes.  These are my favourite.  In total we saw about 5 of them.  It was great.  On the way out of the park we reflected on how wonderful God’s creation really is and all that he has made.
From there we went to the elephant orphanage.  This is a place that was started by a couple many years ago.  They take in baby elephants that have been left due to losing their mothers either to natural causes or from poachers.  They are taken in and cared for 24 hours a day.  They have keepers that stay with them even while they sleep.  Most of the elephants are fairly depressed when they come in as they morn their loss.  At fours years old they start the process of putting them back into the wild.  We spent about an hour there as they brought out the elephants and told us the story of how they got to be with them.  Once again it was amazing to be a part of the wonderful things that are being done in this country.  This place also currently has two rhino’s that are staying with them.  One they are working with to be put back into the wild.  The second one is blind and will spend the rest of its life there as it would not survive in the wild.
When we were done there we had some lunch and then went to the giraffe centre.  This is a place that you can go to and have a chance to feed the giraffes.  If you are also brave enough you can put the food in your mouth and have them give you a kiss as they take the food.  I was brave enough.  It was so cool to be this close to them and to see more of their beauty.
After spending some time there we moved on to our last spot for the day.  It was a show were they do many different tribal dances.  The music and dancing was amazing.   There was also a group that did acrobats.  They were really amazing.  The show lasted almost two hours.  It was good to see some more of the culture.
Then we treated ourselves to pizza made in a wood heated oven.  It was a good end to a great day.  We reflected many times on how wonderful God’s creation was and on how all the details have been put together for great purpose.
On Sunday we attended church in the morning.  It was more of a western style service.  It was good to be able to sing along with the songs as it was all in English.  I have not done that since I got here.  It was a blessed time and I was glad to be able to have had the opportunity to worship there.  When church was over we had some lunch and then headed home.
Though it was a busy weekend and we were tired by the end it was a great to be able to take the time to do these things and to see more of this country.  God is good.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
 1 Thessalonians 5:12-18