Greetings from Nakuru, Kenya!

I arrived safe and sound on Friday evening, after an afternoon's rest and relaxation in Zurich, having missed my connecting flight to Kenya. USAirways was kind enough to put me up at a hotel and put me on the next day's exact same flight out, so I arrived in Kenya about 7pm Kenya time (noon EST for those keeping track!)

Pastor Kaye and a member of his church (Brother David) and a driver met me at the airport. The 4hour drive from Nairobi to Nakuru is now only 2 1/2 hours and much easier on the kidneys than a woman who had visited here last year told me, thanks to the newly blacktopped highway. They finished it a month ago. Just in time for my visit!

I'm staying at Pastor George's house, with 3 of his four children (Willie, Lavender and Charlie). Irene, his oldest girl, is in a boarding school elsewhere in the city. The rest of the household consists of the housekeeper Penina and Ken, a young man who came to be a cook, but who, when Pastor George discovered he had dropped out of school, offered to pay his school fees and provide his room and board if he would help around the house and around the church. Ken plays a mean keyboard for the praise and worship services.

Saturday was my first day here. The children have half a day school, so when I finally woke up, we drove the 200 meters to the church/school.

Security is still very tight here (we went through half a dozen police checkpoints on our way to Nakuru) and so I'm not allowed outside the compound except with Pastor George. We mostly drive, although on Saturday we did walk down to the school. Got to meet about half the children who go to school there (not all the children attend on Saturdays). Then Pastor George and Pastor Evans, who is the pastor at the Western Kenya church that has put together the minister's conference in Kitale for the 13-15 of August, and the 3 children, went for a drive where we wound up at the base of a hill. Pastor George and I walked up - along a fence line - across which we could see the rolling hills and the thatched huts of the Nakuru Game Park. Some wildebeasts were off in the distance feeding, but I didn't spy any lions, crocodiles, giraffes or elephants just yet!

Sunday, we did church, BIG. The morning service was 10-1 and the afternoon service was 4-7. There's no place to work out here and the hygiene conditions aren't real conducive to dropping down and doing push ups and sit ups here, but the 90 minute on your feet dancing and clapping and raising your hands for Jesus workouts I'm getting every evening, and twice on Sundays, is definitely keeping me in shape!

Every day, I get up around 10am (I know...for those of you who know my early morning habits, this may seem strange, but if you think about the time difference, it's actually like I'm getting up at 3am!), Penina brings me breakfast (we all eat around the living room table, since the kitchen, with its open fire cooking area, isn't conducive to eating in). Pastor George usually gets home around then from his first trip to the school (which starts at 7:45) and then we do some coaching, either with him alone, or with Pastor Evans too, which usually lasts 1-2 hours.

Part of why I'm here is to be of service to Pastor George. He's in the midst of a spiritual crisis and already things are shifting for him, which is awesome to watch.

After we talk and pray and read spiritual stuff together, we go to the school and check on the children. There are 53 of them enrolled right now and every day they all want to come and shake my hand. They have learned to tell me their name when they shake hands with me and so far I can recognize 8-9 by sight each day, which really tickles them when I can remember their name. It helps that about 30 percent of the girls are named Mary!

Then, after tea (which is chai, which is awesome to me!), George and I head off on a drive. Monday, we drove around the neighborhood here, which would be considered lower middle class. Most houses have plumbing, but not necessarily running water in the house. Water is brought in, hot and cold, for showers, flushing, etc. Houses are cinderblock or stone, and have stone fences and metal gates that are always locked.

Large sections of this area were burned out 6 months ago during the disturbances. There are about 20,000 people still remaining in the Internally Displaced Persons' camps, between 20-30 of them come to the meetings each night, mostly women, who have been newly relocated into other people's homes so they are out of the camps. We had one piece of bad news tonight. None of the women were there tonight and one of the men who has been coming each night with them came and asked for a special prayer. The women hadn't come because one of them lost their baby. She and the baby had been coming since Sunday morning and they both had high fevers. We gave them some children's ibuprophen that I'd brought with but it was too late for the baby. So please say a special prayer for the mother and her baby.

Yesterday we drove through the slums, past the IDP camp, which is a field of white tents that are half circles, and then went to a special education school where one of Pastor George's cousins teaches. The cousin and his wife Carolyn have been working there for five years, and just had a baby, Miriam, who I got to hold while we visited. They're doing some amazing work there with mentally disadvantaged children, three of whom have graduated and gotten jobs at the school. Bernard hitched a ride with us back to the meeting last night just to hear me speak, and then left halfway through since had a 3 kilometer walk back home!

Today, Pastor George and I rode "uphill" to the upscale side of town, and had lunch at the Graceland Hotel. A group of school children came for a swimming class which was hysterical fun to watch, as the "kiddie pool" that 20 of them jumped into at one time was about 10 feet from our table. We got splashed a couple of times. It was a completely different world up there. This is one of the most upscale hotels in Nakuru and the price, with full board, in US Dollars is about $35.

So far ACIM and Unity principles have translated pretty well and they are really loving my teachings. Each day, more people show up and tell friends so far 11 people have responded to the altar call and accepted Jesus as their personal savior, vowing to think and act in the manner that Jesus did. Tonight a woman showed up who teaches at the St. Christopher Anglican school. Her sister is a teacher here at the school and she let her read part of my book. She read one chapter and said she had to come and hear me speak. She got a copy of the book for herself tonight and said she'll be coming back again each night.

Saturday, we'll be having a meal together - everyone bringing something to eat and then we'll be having a huge prayer praise and worship service lead by the women's ministry. They were so sweet last Saturday - they cooked and brought dinner over to welcome me to Kenya. They gave me beautiful presents - a woven purse, a beaded necklace and a wrap, which has come in handy at the evening meetings as the temperature plummets 20 degrees when the sun goes down.

I'm healthy, well fed and well rested! I'll be in Nakuru until the 11th, when we head to Western Kenya. More next Wednesday! It's dusty here, so my sinuses are acting up a bit, so please say a prayer for me that my breathing is easy and effortless. My vitamins (thanks Toni!), headset (thanks Jen), music (thanks, Rosalie), and medicine (thanks, Dr. Ni) are keeping me in sound mind, body and spirit. Thanks to everyone who drops me an email from time to time. Got a bit homesick yesterday, so they're always welcome!

Peace and prosperity and much love,

Paula

(from left to right) Momma Sara, me, Mazey and Mary Njeri, from the Nakuru Community Church women's ministry presenting me with gifts the day after I arrived.

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