Normally after a trip to Nairobi I am more than happy to be back on our compound at C4KK and yesterday was no exception!
We needed to get started on our residence passes so a friend came to our home the night before to help us out the following morning in Nairobi (friend of a friend to help ease the process is our prayer!). That evening electricity went out for a bit and of course it was during dinner!
But thankfully it came back on within 30 minutes…after we had finished eating by flashlight. With electricity back on I was able to give a small gift to a couple of the kids (all the other kids are at their home villages but these two will be leaving on the 20th with Ann, house mom and their mom, back to their home village). Before they could put the magnets on the refrigerator however they had to read the magnets and show me on the map where they were 😉 Once I got Dan to actually speak aloud they did very well…Isaac is one smart cookie!
Our driver was to pick us up at 8 am the next morning (you’ll see why we have someone drive us into Nairobi later in this post, plus parking is horrendous in downtown Nairobi) however with all the rain during the night and early morning he was unable to reach our compound. The cotton soil is very sticky and several large trucks were stuck so Willy didn’t want to risk it.
We called a neighbor to see if we could drive the truck (4×4) to his house, which is near the main road, and leave it there until our return from Nairobi. He had no problem so we were off through the thick, sticky mud, met Willy and were off to Nairobi.
On the way to the immigration office we took a main highway and suddenly traffic slowed down and cars in front of us began turning around on the highway and driving the wrong way! We couldn’t figure out what was happening but dozens of cars turned around, again on the highway! What in the world were they thinking!? We continued on and with most people turning around (I pray there were no head on collisions) we had a clear highway and we never did see any problem which would cause people to turn around….I guess because one did it the others simply followed.
Then we met our friends friend (actually his nephew) in the government. He had sent information to the powers in charge and we were to get the application form. We sat in his office for several hours, waiting while he went to check on the progress, being told someone would be there in 10 minutes, etc., etc. Finally after about 4 hours we got the application, filled it out and took it to immigration. Our friend also had us send the receipt (you have to pay to apply), which has the official file number on it, to another friend so he could keep track of it. Now we pray, wait and see!
By this time I’m exhausted because I’m still dealing with jet lag pretty bad. Getting up at 4 am (however, this morning it was 3 am!) and just being tired throughout the day. But we wanted to stop at a grocery store to stock up on stuff we can’t get at our nearby grocery store (plus that means no trips to Nairobi in the near future). So we stopped, had a late lunch and bought our stuff.
Now it is around 5 pm and we are hitting rush hour traffic, plus the following day was a holiday so people getting out of town created huge messes throughout the city. We hit one traffic jam and sat (sorry don’t know exactly how long because as soon as I hit the back seat I was sleeping but I did wake up enough to take this photo).
Then we hit another jam where the entire road was blocked and a few men got out of their vehicles to direct traffic. I just don’t understand it, if you follow the rules of the road it will basically work, but when you have people driving wherever they want it creates a mess for everyone. But as you can see from this picture we were driving one way with cars on either side driving the opposite direction! I’m just so surprised there are not more accidents.
By the time we reach home it is 8 pm…three hours to drive approximately 35 miles! And now you know why we have someone drive us to Nairobi and we are ever so thankful for Willy’s driving ability!
When we reach our neighbors to pick up the truck we transfer supplies and head home, where thankfully the way was pretty dry by now and we made it with no hassle. Came in, had some wine and cheese and went to bed!
We were blessed with our friend being with us during the process, being able to give him and his family a few items from our US travels, having someone willing to track our application, no accidents through any of the traffic issues, Willy’s wonderful driving, your assistance in helping us get supplies and just basically the blessing of serving our Lord once again here in Kenya!
Thank you all for staying in touch through the blog or newsletter or emails. We appreciate your continued prayers and please know you are also in our prayers.