“Good mornin’ America, how are ya? Don’t you know me, I’m your native son…” – OK, I guess the song sorta falls apart after that. It’s about 3:30am there on Central Standard Time, but it’s about 12:30pm in the afternoon here. At some point we’ll start getting some pictures up here, but that is not my expertise.
We all had a great nights sleep last night, which was fantastic. The beds were super hard, but I think our tiredness trumped any of that. I had a chance to do the video Skype thing last night with the family, which was so cool… so see each other from the other side of the planet. I got to even show them Mark Radeke sleeping! It was pretty cool.
Anyway, we are at this very nice Nairobi hotel/resort…. finally this morning got to walk around a bit and see how big & nice this place is (again, we’ll take pictures and get them posted at some point). They put out an amazing food spread/buffet – Radeke told me I had to eat stuff I never have. So, in addition to an omelette & bacon I had Sour Wabi Porridge (tasted like a watered-down Malt-O-Meal with some other taste that was new to my pallette). I also had something called Wheatabix which is basically like Shredded Wheat only you just eat it (no milk, sugar, etc)… quite the fibrous treat. And then washed it all down with a glass of Mango Juice. It was an amazing breakfast/lunch/brunch. Jonsson and Homer went to breakfast before Radeke and I. Radeke went and worked out (loser) at their facility and wasted some more time before finally getting me up (I was crashed and sleeping hard!). Radeke & I joined Jonsson & Homer around 10am for breakfast and we hung out there for a while looking at some unique birds and several military planes that were flying over head (that was sort of cool in a disturbing sort of way).
After that we headed back to Radeke & my room to hang out on the veranda overlooking some plants & birds. We chatted about life stuff for quite a while and then enjoyed some time of prayer for each others, our families, our community, the trip and thankfulness for the lack of sickness and how smooth the trip has gone so far. It was a great time of getting to know each other even more; I’m honored to be part of this group and to be able to report back on our behalf.
Bruce Dahlman just picked up the other 3 guys and is going to give them a tour of Nairobi. Bruce, as some of you know, is a former Cambridge resident who is a doctor now in Africa. He works in & around Kenya including a community that is only about 10 miles from where we are going near Kivuruga, Rwanda. It’s a very cool connection – we were able to chat with Bruce a few weeks ago when he was back in Cambridge on family business. I decided to opt out of the tour so I could spend some time updating y’all, skyping my family in a couple hours, touring this place, reading, and frankly, pacing myself & emotionally preparing myself for the opening of our orientation which starts tonight. Apparently, as the youngest of the group, I run at a slower pace!
Thank you all for your continued support & encouragement; it is felt. I’m guessing the next update will be about midnight our time, so about 3pm your time. Hope you enjoy this update over a nice cup of coffee – have a great morning.
Our Response: A local awakening of global compassion 
Great to read your blogs Steve and to know you made it there safe and that everyone’s still healthy. Can’t wait to read more!
Glad to hear you are safe and connected. I am enjoying my morning coffee and then will be on my way to be with my granddaughter today. I am praying for Clementine and all the other children in Kivuruga.
This lady works for World Vision in Nairobi. I’d like Bob Jonsson to meet her.
“Thanks for your mail. I will see him and please give him my contacts as Patricia Metah 0722239822. When in Nairobi tell him to call me using these number we shall link up. Thanks and God bless you.”