Finding Rest

Saying good-bye to the relationships I had built over the past two years was one of the more difficult things I have had to do in my lifetime. Now that I am home, people ask me how my “trip” was. I must say I am not fond of that question because it makes me feel like living in Kenya for the past two years of my life, learning a new culture, new language, new people, new way of life completely, while forfeiting my comfort, family, friends, and presence at important life events for those people,  was equivalent to the sacrifices one makes for a short term mission trip. 

These past 2 years hold some of the most challenging, stripping, personally fruitful times in my life and to try to equate that to a “trip” instead of a period of my life was hard to deal with since I have been home. In order to help people understand more of why this past 2 years was so impactful and deserving of a better word than “trip,” I am going to write this blog post about what I faced while leaving Kenya.

In the Great Rift Valley

Saying good-bye to students from 3 different schools whom I had relationships with, some deeper and stronger than others but relationships nonetheless, was definitely the worst of it. It was just as hard if not harder, than saying good-bye to my loved ones last January for the simple reason that I knew I would see my family again one day. Some of these students I cannot say I will see again. It’s just the  truth. And that is a sad reality when you have spent the last two years building those friendships, making memories, and pouring into them. So, as Christine and I finished our last GLOW Club at Kamandura Girls High School, and our last bible study at Green Valley International, I took these photos so I can remember what these girls looked like and how they have influenced my life.

Green Valley girls at our last bible study

Njambi, one of the funny girls

Claris, always ready to give me a handshake and a joke 

Grace, the serious, grounded one of them all, born leader

Kamandura girls at our last GLOW Club

The hardest good-byes were, of course, the girls from Uhuru Academy because I had spent the most time with them and known them the longest. During our closing ceremony before the girls headed home for holiday vacation, I was given the privilege of speaking to them one last time to tell them how much I love them and they mean to me, while challenging them to reach new heights in integrity, kindness, generosity, and others-centeredness next year with the new students. This is one of the passages I shared with them that I feel captures in words, better than I could, how I feel about these wonderful young ladies:

“I am fully convinced my dear sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them…. For by God’s grace, I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me…But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” [Romans 15-16, paraphrased]

Nicole and Lynne, two of my favorites who are great examples of leaders at Uhuru

Teresia, one of the girls I was closest with who could always make me laugh

One of the many selfies I have been gifted with involuntarily by these young ladies

On top of leaving these students, I also said good bye, for a short time, to my team mates who I have lived and worked beside for the past 2 years in this challenging environment. We are a family and have gone through really trying times together and it was sad knowing that we will never again be in these circumstances together. Sure, we will reunite, but it will never be like it was in Kenya. I am thankful though, to have built those friendships that will outlast any distance simply because of the depth with which the roots have grown during those hardships.

In addition, I had to say good bye to my adult Kenyan friends, whom I may not see again, and if I do, it will not be for a long time. These are my friends who helped me adjust to the culture there and teach me the language. I shared many laughs with these people over the cultural differences and learning new words to say to strangers in public. My Kenyan experience is largely defined by their friendships. I am eternally grateful for all they did for me, not just logistically, but emotionally. These friendships often restored my faith in Kenyan people when it was all but shattered because of a bad encounter, a corrupt police man, or selfish politician.

Francis, Lydiah, and Christine cooking for one of the many dinners we shared together

LastIy, I will miss the culture at times too. Do not get me wrong, I missed fast food chains, East Coast Mexican restaurants with lots of cheese, southern accents, etc. but I will miss being able to eat nothing with preservatives or anything processed, buying produce for dirt cheap prices from the local market, greeting people as you pass by because it’s the polite thing to do, and getting to speak another language. Sure, I have things I will not miss like constantly being treated like an outsider because of my skin color or nationality no matter how long I have lived there, being stared at constantly, how far we had to travel to have a social life, etc. but those experiences have grown me in ways I do not even see yet and I am thankful.

The market in Limuru

Kenya has a special place in my heart, not because I lived there for 2 years, but because of all that I experienced living in their culture, the friendships I built there both foreign and native, and how without even knowing, I have been changed for the better by the young ladies I had the privilege to know. It will be a difficult transition back in certain respects, but what helps is being asked about how my life is changing, how I have grown, how I expect to use what I learned in Kenya, and what I learned about God. Being asked these questions not only allows me to inform others about my experiences and beliefs, but it also helps me process during this transition.

Join me in continuing to pray for:

1)      My team members to have renewed strength that would allow them to keep serving and loving the people in these communities.

2)      Uhuru Academy would gain 40 new students in 2015

3)      These students would become leaders that show the love of Christ to their peers, communities, and families in all they do both now, and after they leave Uhuru.

4)      The social businesses would flourish and bring in more profit than we can even imagine so that they can keep expanding and employing more needy Kenyans.

One of the many beautiful views of the tea fields in Limuru

“Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” –Psalm 116:7

The 7th Inning Stretch

I cannot believe that I am 2 months out from my final departure date from Kenya and the life I have come to know here. As my time is winding down, it is not quite over yet and so I must, as the title implies, stand, look around, stretch, and take full advantage of my last opportunities to love and serve the students here at Uhuru Academy, as well as at Green Valley International and Kamandura Girls.

Although term 3 this year is much much shorter than term 2 was, it is jam packed full of different series and lesson planning for all of our after school activities! More than ever before, I want to make any last effort through these plans to instill the truth about the gospel into these students, leaving nothing untouched or left out. It is in these activities that I have grown to love, cherish, and adore these beautiful young faces and where I will hold memories for the rest of my life.

To give you an update on all that we are learning about this term, here is a brief overview of our clubs at Uhuru Academy! In GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Club that consists of our Form 2s and 3s (Sophomores  and Juniors) we have been learning about budgeting, finances, debt, and planning for university. We also just started a new series on "How to Know Your Rights and Advocate for Them." In this series, we looked at the Bill of Rights of the Kenyan Constitution and the importance of knowing your rights. We will be focusing specifically on the rights to education, rights of women, and rights as human beings. Especially in third world countries, women tend to be marginalized, and because of that, uneducated. Our hope at Uhuru is that these young ladies will leave Uhuru knowing exactly who they are and who they want to be, being knowledgeable of all obstacles and how to overcome them through this knowledge. 

Knowledge is power and education is freedom!

Teamwork!

In the Form 1 (freshman) GLOW Club, we have been learning about peer pressure and the different forms it can take, how to say "no", self-esteem and how it relates to peer pressure,  gender roles in traditional and modern society, and bride price. 

In Kenya, it is still a very common custom before marriage for the bridegroom to pay a bride price or dowry and often times, this money goes to the men of the family, who sometimes were not involved in rearing the bride at all. In this GLOW lesson, we will learn about the implications of the bride price on the way we view women, how different tribes' dowry customs work, and how to fight for gender equality on all sides of bride price (not just the bride but for her female guardian if she has one) without losing tradition and culture.

In Bible study at Uhuru Academy we started by just getting in the Word together.Teaching them how to read, understand, and apply the bible is a skill we hope they will carry with them for the rest of their lives and teach their children. In addition, we also have a video series we are going through called, "Joshua: Be Strong and Courageous" that basically teaches us as young people how to persevere and accomplish what God has called us to do even in the face of huge obstacles or challenges. 

In Discussion group, we just finished a series called, "Life On Mission" where we learned what our call as Christians looks like. We talked about how we are called to not only share the love of Christ with people verbally, but also through our actions, deeds, suffering, and victories. Also in discussion group, we will be talking about corruption in all parts of society, subjective vs,. objective media and propaganda, gender roles in the home and society, and internet safety and public appearance. We are trying to focus on areas of interest that the girls come in contact with everyday, hopefully equipping them with knowledge on how to think for themselves, form their own conclusions, and make educated decisions in their lives.

Margaret and Felicia

Lastly at Uhuru, during Chapel we are going through the book of Romans, which is my favorite book of the whole Bible! I am super excited about getting to share my love for this letter of Paul with these girls and all that it speaks to us as believers. We are going deep into the gospel and what it means for our lives and how we are called to live no matter who we are. Paul wrote this book to the Jews AND Gentiles in Rome who had different beliefs on all kinds of issues. This book brings together different backgrounds and shows us how the gospel plays into every aspect of our lives no matter where we come from!

Ruth, an Uhuru Girl, showing off her confidence!
And just one of my favorite pics!

At Kamandura Girls, we have had a GLOW Club for a year now and this term we are teaching them our "What is Beauty?" series. So many times Christine and I get asked about our physical appearances and they will tell us sometimes they wish they had our hair or skin color or whatever it is. We hope this series has a transforming effect on their view of beauty that no longer conforms to what the media tells them is beautiful but instead focuses on what God says is beautiful the inner beauty that knows no shade of color.

Some Green Valley girls

At Green Valley, we have a bible study and have been having some difficulty trying to figure out these girls. We are going through the story of Nehemiah as it relates to overcoming challenges and how in trials we can still accomplish all that God has for us. We thought this would be good for them to learn about because it seems like a lot of them have trials they are currently going through and need guidance. Yet, they still remain quiet and sometimes disengaged from the discussion. We are hoping to gain more interest by starting some icebreaker activities to help them get used to us as well as to each other because I think they do not trust each other due to gossip. We are praying for the Lord to forge trust between all of us in this bible study so that we can learn and grow together. We really want to see Jesus proclaimed through these students at this school (it is known for its "wild" students) and see them fight for faithful obedience in the midst of temptation and peer pressure.

With so many different things going on at once, its difficult to really think about leaving! I am glad though that my schedule is busiest this term and that I get to spend so much time with the girls because that will definitely be what I will miss the most. Their friendship is definitely a life raft to me sometimes in my bad days and I cannot imagine what I am going to do when I have to say good bye! 

Nicole and Stefanie

Will you join with me in prayer for their hearts to be established and rooted in the gospel, so that even after I leave, I have comfort knowing that God is giving the growth and leading them? 

Also, we would definitely appreciate prayer for our ministry at Green Valley and the relationship with the students. We want them to trust us and each other so that we can break down walls and let the gospel penetrate all areas of our lives.

Gospel Implications for Womanhood Recap

Daniela and me in Jikaze IDP camp

Last term went by really quickly because not only was school in session, we had volunteer trips coming and going and Christine and I had our first discipleship intern, named Daniela (pictured above)! She assisted us in regular lesson planning for our different programs and helped divide the load of one on one meetings (since there are 42 students) so we could be more intentional! She was such a blessing to have around for 5 weeks and I know the girls thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her!

Me and Felicia, Form 3 at the soccer tournament (photobombed by her sister Francine)

Within last term, our discipleship program focused on a few key topics that encouraged and challenged our students to rise up as peer educators and leaders in their faith. In discussion group specifically, we have been working to lay the strong foundation of belief by teaching these young ladies about their identity as believers in Christ. We focused on the basic truth that we were made in His image and to worship Him by putting all our hope, joy, and satisfaction in Jesus. We looked at how to carry yourself as a godly woman and what our roles are as women of Christ. It is hard enough being a woman in general, but in this day and age where we can so easily become insecure because of what standards the world holds us to, and we wanted these girls to claim FREEDOM to be different.

Selfie Queens

In Bible study, we looked at what it would look like to live intentionally for Christ if we really claim to be His followers. The students learned about the value of reading Gods word, setting aside time each day to meet with God and pray, how to love those around us like Christ would, and how to fully embrace who God created them to be without comparing themselves to others. 

Oh they are fully embracin' it alright.....

In GLOW Club (life skills club), we spent weeks answering the question, "what is beauty?" based on what we think, society thinks, and most importantly what God thinks. We explored the world of beauty products including skin bleaching which is so common among darker-skinned communities. We also looked at how the media manipulates the minds of young girls to feel they should look a certain way. Specifically, we found pictures of African American celebrities whose complexions were altered by a process called "white washing" to make them lighter skinned and according to the world, more beautiful. GLOW Club also served as a place where personal hygiene, nutrition, exercise, and mental health could be discussed freely and the students could learn not just about how to steward our outward appearances for Gods glory, but also honor him by honoring our bodies in every way.

Beautiful aren't they? :)

 Lastly, in chapel, sermons were preached on assurance of faith. This was of the utmost importance because none of the other subjects were going to sink in if the students could not be certain they were saved and had an eternal hope to live for. Our vision for Uhuru girls is one of excellence not just in the classroom, but in their everyday endeavors as they strive to live for Christ and His mission. We pray for spiritual freedom as they grow into who God has created them to be, and that they would be confident in their identities as beautiful, humble, and generous women of God.

We cannot wait for them to return and hear how their breaks from school went. In Bible study we challenged those who were believers to get baptized in their home churches around their families and communities to profess their faith and follow Jesus' example. We also gave them a list of 30 verses, one for each day, and challenged them to read one a day and contemplate what it means and its implications on their lives. We look forward to being around their virbant personalities and teenage girl laughter again, especially since this will be my last school term with them before I leave at the end of the year! Time has flown by but I am so thankful to have these last 3 months with them, establishing and growing in our faith together!

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. [Colossians 2:6-7]

Uhuru Students Give Back

The whole construction crew (Gladys' parents standing on the right)

Last Saturday was a day that I will remember for a long, long time and is quite possibly my favorite day I have spent in Kenya. It all started when our school entered into a Film Contest and decided to make a documentary on IDP camps. As you may or may not know, Uhuru Academy was specifically created to provide scholarships for the education of girls from these Internally Displaced People camps that formed after the post-election violence of 2007. Thus, we had access to first person experiences of what that post-election violence did to Kenyan citizens as a whole and individually.

The students, both paying and scholarship (our school is about 40 percent paying and 60 percent scholarship), began working together to form interview questions and topics of discussion for this documentary. Some of our scholarship students whose parents and families still live in IDP camps were the subjects of the film which gave some of our paying students from a much higher economic class a chance to go and see the places some of their classmates inhabit when they are away from school. 

However, one student's family and living conditions made a HUGE impression.

Her name is Gladys Mbuya (seen with younger sister in left) and she is a Form 2 (sophomore) at Uhuru Academy. She is the 5th born of 10 children in her family, all by the same mother and father. When violence erupted in 2007 her family relocated from their home to a place called the Rift Valley where so many other families were forced to retreat. They literally showed up there with nothing but each other and the clothes on their backs and built a house made of sticks and plastic to live in......and they have lived that way for 7 years!

The beautiful view right outside Gladys' compound.

Due to the vast unemployment rate in Kenya (among other things), it was and still is difficult for Gladys' parents to find steady jobs. During the past 7 years Gladys has been in and out of school, working to help provide for her younger siblings school fees and to help feed her family. I could go on and on about the heart this sweet, selfless, and intelligent girl has but I would be here all day. 

Long story short, 8 people (because her older siblings have moved out) have been living in conditions that most Americans would not even consider good enough for their pet. And this ripped to the core of the hearts of her fellow peers when they saw for themselves while interviewing Gladys' mother.

The house made of any plastic they could find, sticks, and cardboard.

That day, some of the paying students were astonished at the injustice and poverty their fellow classmate was living in and decided to forfeit their portion of meat for a month to pay for the materials needed to build Gladys and her family a real house. Once this news got around to other students at Uhuru Academy, everyone joined in. Even the staff at Uhuru gave donations towards Gladys' real house fund. Before you knew it, there was enough for all the materials needed to build it and enrich the livelihood of this dear family. All that was needed were workers.

So, last saturday, all 41 of the Uhuru students, 6 Uhuru Child staff, 2 Uhuru Academy staff, 6 US college students (on a 2 week service trip with Uhuru Child), and 6 members of the community banded together to make this dream a reality! In true Kenyan fashion, the members of the community hired to help do the work (to ensure it was done properly) had put the majority of the house together by the time we arrived saturday at noon. So, we all jumped in where ever we could, carrying stones, dirt, and cement, smashing stones, digging the vegetable garden, painting the metal walls (called mabati) and rooftop, spreading manure, planting, and working together to make something meaningful and beautiful for a girl we all dearly love.

Form 1, Dorcas, digging in the shamba! 

The stones were carried and crushed, the dirt carried and spread, the cement mixed, poured, and spread evenly to form the floor inside the house (Gladys' previous floor was a dirt floor).

Form 3, Teresia, crushing the stones for the foundation.

The almost finished concrete floor is being smoothed out.

The new Mabati house! Complete with cement flooring, windows, a paint job, and stability!

As for the farm (shamba in Swahili), we dug the field, deweeded it, dug holes, spread manure, planted sukumawiki (kales), and watered them! We also dug up a lot of sweet potatoes in the process in the old garden which was also something they now don't have to do but can enjoy from our labor!

Digging the shamba barefooted!

 All smiles from  Form 3, Ann Gathoni who is no stranger to digging!

 Form 3, Gladys was teaching me how to dig like a real Kenyan!

Gladys' mom (right) and friend picking through the sweet potatoes we dug up.

Form 1, Miriam, planting sukumawiki (kales) in the newly revamped shamba (farm)!

Finished!

In addition to the new painted house, concrete floor, and revamped garden, the money also bought them a rain harvest tank. This provides them with fresh water that is at their disposal as the rains come so they don't have to walk for miles to fetch water in 5 gallon jugs.

Everyone involved in this process was touched by the amount of love that was poured out on this family, all because the students at Uhuru Academy took "love thy neighbor as thy self" literally (as it was meant to be) and denied themselves a luxury so they could provide their classmate with a necessity.

At the end of the day, once almost all the work was finished, Gladys gave a short but incredibly mature and heart-wrenching "thank you" to those who came to help. Not only was it a heartfelt thank you from her and her family, but it was acknowledgement of God's presence in the hearts of the girls at Uhuru Academy that led to this process. Gladys said,

"I know this did not happen to my family because I have been good, but only because of God's grace and mercy towards me. He has used all of you as vessels of Christ's love and He has been  glorified this day through you."

Gladys expressing her gratitude

Talk about tear-jerking! Not only was she giving us a mental picture of the gospel, but the fact that she was able to articulate it so precisely was more than I could handle! It was one of those moments where I just was so overwhelmed by God's faithfulness at Uhuru Academy to send wisdom and understanding of the TRUE gospel into the hearts and minds of these girls! The best part about what Gladys said was that they were not just words. She lives her life based on them, as do the students who understood the gift Christ has given them. Because od this, they were able in a large way, to give a selfless gift to a loved in need as an example of the free gift they have been given, eternal life.

It brings to mind a verse that is said a lot around here at Uhuru,

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."

1 Timothy 4:12

I have seen examples of all of these qualities through being around these students. No, they are not perfect. Yes, they have the same problems all teenage girls have. Yes, they can be selfish like you and me.....BUT, they fight. They fight to know Jesus and show him to one another and the world. 

Thank God for the gifts of these young women and how they have shaped and impacted me more than they will ever know.

Sometimes You Just Need a Girls Day

A few weekends ago, our school had a visitor's weekend where the girls relatives can come for the day and spend time with them. This tends to be the time where you see girls running around trying to get their hair done the day before, they are franctically trying to get a phone to call their relatives and make sure they are still coming, and you do your best to stay out of their way or get caught up in the scramble. I can't help but smile though because I know what it feels like to be away from relatives and loved ones for long periods of time and I don't blame for being franctic and excited! 

But, for those girls who do not have relatives that could make it due to distance or transportation costs, it can be a different experience. Now, most Kenyans will gladly take in a child that is not their own either permanently, in serious cases, or temporarily, like a visitors weekend. A lot of the girls end up spending the day with one of their friend's families who has chosen to treat them as one of their own. The other girls, however, will have to find something to do the whole day when there are no scheduled activities.

That's where Christine and I came in.

We had had bible study that saturday morning with the girls like we always do, but we could hardly keep most of their attention because like I said, the franctic anticipation of visitors coming had begun. After bible study, we went down to the classrooms where Christine usually supervises their computer time. Once the visitors started arriving, we started to weed out the girls who did not have anyone coming for them.

Before you knew it, Christine and I had the bright idea dawn on us to have a girls day with the "orphans" as we called them. (They aren't really orphans but Christine and I adopted them for the day)  We ran home and grabbed some lunch before heading out with all our nail polishes and Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen, the movies. We were gonna be the big sisters.

Once we got back to the school we found some girls in the dining hall watching television and looking pretty bored. NO visitors. Luckily, Christine and Jordan were at their disposal!

More girls started trickling as the day went on and we all found ourselves doing what girls do best, pamper! There was hair braiding, toenail painting, and watching movies with female protagonists who were the heroes! It was so fun to spend that quality time with them just being friends and enjoying each other's company instead of them only seeing us in a mentor or teacher setting.

Once we had finished both movies it was time for their dinner and us to leave to go make ours. The thanks and smiles we got for spending the day with them was the perfect ending to that day and I look forward to spending more quality time with them this next term. 

It was such a small idea to do that for those girls without visitors that day and Christine and I could have easily just gone home and spent the rest of the day relaxing or whatever. But, thankfully the Lord gave us this idea and nudged us in the right direction so that even after I leave this lovely place, I will have those smiles burned into my memory.

It's amazing what a small act of kindness and love can mean to someone. It didn't cost us anything (except maybe a bottle of nail polish remover) to spend the day with those girls and show them someone is thinking of them. How many times a day do I, you, we pass by someone who may need some encouragement or simple act of kindness? We don't know because we don't take the time to get to know.We are in a hurry or it's awkward or we just don't feel like it that day. I know I could be a lot more intentional with the people I come in contact with on a daily basis.

I pray that we would not miss out on these opportunities to show Christ's love to someone no matter what the circumstance. It doesn't cost us anything to give a kind word, hug, or verse of Scripture. I want these girls to be so affected and changed by Christ that these thoughts, actions, and words come naturally to them. I want to start with myself. I want to display this example of Christ's love to them so that when they leave Uhuru Academy, it would be second nature to them. I want them to treat people and care for them as Christ has done for them. 

I only have 7 months left in Kenya and as the time for me to leave is quickly approaching, I pray I do not become apathetic. I pray that by pressing on to know Christ better and show Him to them through myself, that I would carry that back to the US with me. I don't want to just be intentional with people because i may never get to see them again, I want to live my life intentionally for the sake of knowing Christ and proclaiming Him no matter where I am or what timeline I have.

 

As I close I would like to bring to mind this verse that Paul writes after he says he considers everything garbage in relation to knowing Christ in a fuller and deeper way. This passage reveals to me the heart behind why we would strive to know Christ more and share Him with those around us.

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

[Philippians 3:7,10-12]

Mt. Longonot & The God of Immeasurably More

So, there's this inactive volcano right by Jikaze IDP camp and......WE CLIMBED IT!

A few weeks ago, some friends and I decided we wanted to take a hike! One of my friends, Libbey, had her boyfriend come and visit and wanted us to get to know him. Well, what better way to get to know someone than by climbing a volcano?!

My roommate, Christine (left), Sarah, Nathan, Libbey

Our view on the way up

The rolling hills

Moving on up!

Mount Longonot is a popular tourist attraction in Kenya and right off the road that you would travel to go to different safari parks. It does cost 30 dollars for non-residents to climb but that view at the top was definitely worth it. 

On the way up, sometimes you see zebra, cape buffalo, or giraffes in their natural habitats! I was obviously most excited about this part but we were not fortunate enough to come across any on the way up or down. However, I did see the evidence of their presence so I snapped a few shots of some tracks to prove it!

Giraffe footprint

Their trail

Once we reached the top, our mouths just dropped. WHAT BEAUTY! I had never seen anything like it before! You can't compare the beauty in that volcano to anything else beautiful you've seen. And I have seen the beautiful Rocky Mountains laden with snow and the Appalachian mountains dressed in fall colors and a beautiful sunset on the beach, but  this was just unlike any of those things. All beautiful in their own ways.

Christine and  I

Sarah, Christine, Me, Libbey

Walking around the rim trail (the view of the valley on the left)

Another angle of the forest inside the inactive volcano

At the top, you have the choice of just gazing around or taking your hike a little further and walking/running/hiking the rim of the volcano. It's about 7 kilometers around I think, but unfortunately, one of my friends was feeling sick so we did not make the full circle. I can say that what we did see was beauty at every vantage point we stopped. We could see Lake Naivasha, Crescent Island, and even Uhuru Child's greenhouses in Jikaze down below! It was incredible.

Some Pummus, volcanic rock we found around the rim!

A smaller crater next to the volcano

That white rectangle is our greenhouse!

The huge drop off into the crater

 Lake Naivasha

 Crescent Island

Once we were finished sight seeing at the top, we headed back down for the rains were coming in. As we started nearing  the bottom, the thunder rolled in and so did a hasty sprint down the mountain. Now, this was a feat in itself because these were not smooth hiking trails, but rivets in the ground where the water runoff had created a trail. At times, it felt like you were walking through craters in the ground, but when a thunderstorm is rolling in and you're high up in the clouds, you don't really care what the ground looks like as long as you make to the bottom! 

One of the better parts to hike. Most of the trails were worse!

Fortunately, we made it down right as the rain downpour began! Even though we didn't see any animals up close or go all the way around the rim, I was so thankful for the experience! I had been avoiding doing Longonot because I hadn't really had the desire to hike an inactive volcano until my friends were going. I AM SO GLAD WE DID!

 I can't believe how much of God's beauty I missed out on just because I have been lazy or formed my own conclusions on what it would be like. I have learned so much more about myself and have applied this to other areas of my life where I choose to stay comfortable instead of stepping out in faith and trusting that what God has in store will be worth it and far better than what I could imagine it to be. Iwill fight not to rely on my simple understanding or limit the God of immeasurably more.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 

[Ephesians 3:20]