The Big City

A change of scenery and a change of pace await me whenever I travel to Nairobi. Mbita is the small town with the slow pace and Nairobi is the big city bursting at the seams with people, but the pace of my life when I come to Nairobi is actually a little slower than my daily routine in Mbita. Staying at a guesthouse and enjoying sit-down meals with other missionaries from various parts of East Africa provides a "homey" type of atmosphere and good networking. Travelling on public transportation, walking on the busy roads and spending time with close friends provides me with a chance to think and process things much more than I normally do. I seem to get deeply reflective when I come here. It helps my perspective in life and relationship with God, and I think it makes me appreciate my life in Mbita more. I love the small community with familiar faces dotted along the 3 kilometer walk to and from school each day, the tiny children shouting, "Uncle Joe" as I walk by; the close relationships with the students and staff at CGA; playing football with the kids at PE time; and knowing that what I am doing on a daily basis is impacting lives in this world and for eternity is so satisfying. Thankfully, I will return to Mbita in a couple of days.

I abruptly decided to come to Nairobi last week because the school schedule changed and I found that I had an open week. I have a good friend passing through Kenya on her way to serving a year in Chad that I wanted to see, another friend working in Nairobi that I wanted to see what she is doing, and an Athletes in Action basketball coaching team coming for a short term trip. I also am able to visit some of our secondary students that are in schools near Nairobi. In addition I wanted to get away for a short time before my busy season in August. Next month the schools will be on "vacation" but I will not. We will be welcoming back all of our secondary students for three weeks, taking our girls football club to a 3 day tournament in Kisumu and also hosting another 5 day football camp. As far as coming to Nairobi, it was now or never!