Back at Home

We flew back home on Sunday and Monday. Gloria, Donna, Vicky, Mindy and I all arrived safely at PDX and were met by Dr. Virginia Phillips, the head of Women of Purpose, and our family members and friends. Virginia had brought flowers for all of us! It was a wonderful homecoming and of course, I was most happy to see Phil!

I hope to post some pictures of the trip in the days to come. Thank you all for your interest and prayers. This trip has been life changing in many ways. God was good and I never ran out of money and we were able to leave donations for Judith for Women of Purpose and for Pastor Musumba in Nakuru (more on this later).

Thanks to all of you who prayed, followed the blog, and supported me in any way. I felt it! Please check back for some pictures soon, but right now I need some sleep. -- Geri

Eldoret and the Mercy Corps programs

I have split off from my Women of Purpose partners to travel farther northwest to Eldoret. Eldoret was one of the places hardest hit by post election violence in late 2007/early 08. People in Kenya continue to be frustrated and Mercy Corps is addressing the simmering tensions by working with the young people of Kenya. Since unemployment is so high, targeting those from 18 - 35 just seems to make sense. My head is spinning, though, since we visited so many programs today, including a camp of those made refugees by the violence. Some have been living in the IDP* camps for over 2 years. My heart just broke when one of those living there (the chairman of the the camp) took me to another tent where a young girl in a wheelchair lives with her mother and others. Her mother said that the tent leaked and they would get wet when it rained. Those tents were not designed to last this long and the people there (over 100) are waiting for the government to rebuild their houses that were burned during the riots. Some still go out to work their fields walking quite a ways to get there.

We also visited the Mercy Corps youth programs which include training for young people and included a cash-for-work program, and income generating program (a tree and flower nursery), and a sports program which are all designed and led by young people! All have the ultimate goal of bringing about peace and reconciliation in Eldoret. Seeing sports teams made up of Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo and other tribes does my heart good. They are playing and working together, not just for their own good but for the future of Kenya.

*IDP = Internally displaced persons. One is not technically a refugee unless you have crossed an international border. These are Kenyans displaced within their own country, but nonetheless, without a real home.

The women of Bondo

For 3 days, Sat, Mon & Tues, we had a conference for the women here at our hotel in Bondo. It was from 2 - 4 in the afternoon, since many of the women work in the fields before that time. They walk here and one women walked 7 miles to get here! They don't all arrive on time, but more came each day. By the last day, they were really relaxed and enjoying themselves. We have tea together afterwards.

God really used Gloria to speak to them and many shared with us through a translator (usually Judith). Many are widows and almost all have lost family members in the recent past. Life is hard here for them. They have to purchase any clean water and cooking is done outside most of the time. But they love God and appreciate his word.

Yesterday we tried to buy some Bibles in the Luo language but couldn't find any. Judith will have to find some in Nairobi. So many of the women do not have Bibles and would love to have them. Those who do have them, have worn copies, some missing whole books! I'll have many stories to share about these women when I return!