Day 7 - A leisurely drive

First thing in the morning we loaded up in a taxi and made the trip to Cherangany Hills to visit with Pastor George Mufoya and his wife Jessica, along with their children Naomi, Emmanuel, Grace and Debora. I wish you could have seen us trying to give directions to our non-English speaking driver when WE weren’t even sure how to get to the home. It’s not like the rural parts of Kenya have street signs and road maps! We finally managed to find our way after several phone calls and stops to ask passers by if they knew the Mufoya family. Then we enjoyed a time of catching up on how God has been working in all their lives and how the children are doing in school. Dutiful “aunties” that we are, we carefully reviewed each child’s report card! Since the RUN foundation is assisting these children with their tuition, we have a vested interest in making sure they are doing their best in school. George shared his vision for many improvements he wants to make to his farm and Jessica shared her desire to get some additional training so she can take a job in a nearby school.


Our taxi driver then dropped us off in Kitale and we found two motorcycle taxis to take us to the Skynest Hotel where we had a meeting scheduled with someone. I have to tell you first of all how much I enjoy bartering in Kenya. The conversation went something like this:

Dawn: How much for two bodas (motorcycle taxis) to take us to the Skynest?
Driver: 100 shillings.
Dawn: How far is the Skynest from here?
Driver: Five or six kilometers.
Dawn: What? No! Drivers brought us all the way from Sibanga for 150 shillings and that is MUCH further! Fifty shillings?
Driver: 100 shillings.
Dawn: Okay, no problem! I’ll find other drivers who will take us for 50. (picture me starting to walk away)
Driver: Okay, 80 bob.
Dawn: Too much! 70 bob?
Driver: (long pause) Let’s go!

When we arrived at the Skynest, I left both drivers with a copy of the Bibles many of you helped us to purchase. I told them that when they get lost in their travels, this Book would help them find their way home. At the hotel, we met with Beatrice Kituyi and her husband Winston. Beatrice is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labor and was the person who arranged for us to visit the dairy cooperative on Wednesday. We were so excited about what we saw and the ideas it has given us that we wanted to share our experience with her. Beatrice is a woman of God in a position of political power with the Kenyan government and we feel blessed to know her on both levels – political and spiritual. It is beyond our imagination to think of ourselves meeting with someone in the cabinet of our American president and yet here we are introduced to this woman through a very poor pastor! We continue to share a similar vision for helping Kenyans to be lifted out of spiritual and economic poverty, and Beatrice and her husband had some very wise counsel on how to go about a cooperative in the Sibanga area.

Other people who were blessed with Bibles today included:
• Our taxi driver to Cherangany Hills
• A gas station attendant who helped us with translation in directions to an insurance agent
• The man who gave us insurance on our motorcycle (He told he had one Bible which belonged in his house and now he could keep this one in his office!)
• A police officer who searched us before we entered the shopping center
• Beatrice’ driver who graciously took us back to Sibanga, sparing us the hassle of trying to find taxis at a rather late hour.