Kisumu Yoder's: An African Adventure...........

"Life is an adventure! Live it while you can. You can never have today again, tomorrow only comes once, and yesterday is gone forever. Make your choice wisely, then live the adventure you create."

"Nature is the best medicine for serenity, peace, calmness, stillness. Its good for the heart." Karen Madewell

Wow!! What a week! On Monday we were busy getting ready to host joint unit meeting at our house. A big tent was set up in our yard and chairs and tables were brought by helpful people in the compound. Its amazing how much can get done in a short time when everyone works together. Tuesday was a LOVELY day for the meeting! Things went well and the food that all the other ladies brought was great! The only thing we had to provide was the water. The host gets by easy as far as food goes! We enjoy these days of interaction with the Nakuru unit. There were more farewells that day... :( This meeting was the last one for Marlin Stoltzfus' family as well as Charity Yoder. I don't think I will ever get used to all the goodbyes!

On Wednesday our family packed up and headed to Nakuru where we stayed for the night at Tony's. Joe Fisher plans to fly home to America on Tuesday and he wanted to do something special with Tony's and us and Dad Yoders before he leaves. Kore Beachy joined us as well as Jan Shrock, who is the teacher for CAM in Nakuru. There were 15 of us altogether. Our adventure started on Thursday morning! We took two Land Cruisers and had a pile of wood on top of one and totes of food and ice chests on top of the other. Wow!! What a lot of stuff it takes for a few days spent in the wilderness! We were headed for the Aberdare Mountains... a game park near to Mount Kenya. Before arriving at our cabin we spent hours driving through wilderness country on some very "interesting" roads and saw a good bit of wildlife. There were lots of cape buffalo... at one place we saw a herd of over 100!! Those big, ugly beasts made me nervous! I believe they say they are some of the most dangerous of all the African animals. We were very close to one beside the road that wasn't happy with us at all and I breathed a sigh of relief when we passed by safely! There were baboons to see and lots of beautiful deer!! There were water buck, and bush buck, and a number of other kinds that we weren't sure what they were. There were lots of wart hogs too! What strange looking creatures! We kept going higher and higher up the mountain and further and further from civilization. We didn't see another soul for MILES!! No houses, no people, no vehicles, no cell phone service, only GOD! And the scenery was spectacular!! I wish now I would've focused more on the beauty rather than being concerned about getting stranded out in this wild country and being charged by wild elephants and cape buffalo! :) We were happy to arrive at our cabins safe and sound. Lo and behold there were 2 men there!! Wow! Nice to see other human beings again! The one man had a gun so that was kind of a nice feeling.... just knowing he could keep charging animals at bay. These men were caretakers of the cabins and they took care of starting fires for the outdoor water heating system, etc. The cabins were clean and well-kept. It was COLD up there and we were glad for the heat from the fireplace. The elevation is around 10,000 ft. and I soon felt a slight headache that plagued me off and on and my heart fluttered quite a bit more than normal... a result of my mitral valve prolapse I guess. The cabins were probably about 100 ft. apart and the trips between those cabins proved "interesting" at times! Soon after we arrived there was a cape buffalo in our yard!! And they were frequently seen there. I kept my distance believe me!!! And if they were in the lawn I waited to go til they moved on. There were lots of deer that came by too. One time I heard something on the porch and when Tony opened the door to investigate he came face to face with a bush buck! :) There were some BEAUTIFUL deer... so different than the white tails we're used to in America.

Friday we ladies, Mom, Judith, and I stayed at the cabin while the rest went exploring. They were gone a LONG time and I was starting to imagine all kinds of things that could happen to them. Oh by the way... Joe stayed at the cabin too because unfortunately he became very sick with fever, chills, aches, headache, stomach trouble, etc. We all felt so bad because he was the one who planned this whole adventure!! But I'm sure God has a reason for everything. He was a good sport through it all and didn't complain. As it turned out he had a bad case of malaria and ended up being hospitalized after we got back! :( He had to be on IV malaria meds because the normal pills didn't touch it. We are SO thankful that he's feeling much better today and able to be released! ......... Well the adventurers returned all smiles and happy with what they saw. The most exciting thing they saw was elephants!! 5 or 6 of them!! The group thought that the horrendous mud holes they went through added to the excitement too, but sad to say I fail to see the fun in that! :) I was THRILLED to wake up on Saturday morning and see an elephant from our cabin!! Kore Beachy, with his experienced hunter's eye saw it first. With binoculars we had a great view of him... he was a huge beast with long tusks!! What an amazing part of God's creation! We couldn't stay around long on Sat. morning because we Kisumu folks had to be back home for Sunday. We left the cabins around 10 am and then headed through the wildest country I have ever been in. The mud holes were FRIGHTFUL indeed but my adventuresome hubby thought they were awesome!! At one point the back end of the Cruiser in front of us disappeared before our eyes and it appeared that they were hopelessly stuck. My mind starts imagining horrible things in cases like that! Here we were with no cell service, many miles from civilization, and in the land of wild beasts!! Thank God they were able to back out of the hole and then drive on the side and made it out safely. Whew!! What a relief! We headed up rocky, steep hills, and back down muddy paths. We were headed to a waterfalls. There is a magnificent falls there with a steep trail leading to it. Thankfully we didn't encounter any wild beasts and the view was awesome! It's like Tony said... if there would be falls like that in America it would be a major tourist attraction. But here its untouched in African country. What a mighty God we serve. I enjoyed feeling the spray from the falls on my face. When we got back to civilization that day I was VERY thankful for God's protection over us and yes it was a great experience! Thank you Joe for giving us the trip of a lifetime! :) We arrived back home in good ole Kisumu after 6 that eve. and we were so grateful to Glenda for providing us some yummy pizza! It hit the spot!

The church service this morning was different that normal. Bishop Marlin Stoltzfus family was there and it was their last Sunday to be at Lela. Their daughter LuAnn was baptized this morning and we so much appreciated JoeAllen's willingness to teach Instruction class for the first time and Marlin's willingness to preach. Wayne also wanted Marlin to have the privilege of baptizing his daughter which he did. That was special! There were quite a few testimonies afterward by members who wanted to thank Marlin for what he has done. He has done a terrific job here in Kenya and their family will be missed SO much! The Stoltzfus family sang two beautiful songs for us and brought tears to our eyes.

I want to thank all of you who pray for our safety here in Kisumu. Dean Millers had an unwelcome visitor at their house last week. :( We are thankful that the motion sensors did their job! It alerted Deans that someone was outside, so when Dean saw someone outside their bedroom window he quickly sounded the alarm and the thief ran! We need God and we're thankful for His protection. God bless all of you and thanks for your support! Clara