Karibu!

I am very thankful to God for all of the blessings he has decided to give me. As I was sitting in the airport for the long flight across the ocean, this young couple noticed that I had a ticket that was close to the guy, and his girlfriend was in a completely different section. We got to talking and she asked if I would switch seats with her so she could be closer to him. Of course I didn't care, so I switched seats. Once on the plane and in my new seat, I ended up switching to the next row because these ladies (turned out they were flight attendants for that airline) wanted to sit next to each other. This turned out to be a blessing because the two lovely ladies that I sat between were going to Ethiopia on a short mission trip. They had never been overseas before, so I got to share a little bit about what I learned last year in Africa and they got to share their stories with me. I know God used me to help relieve some anxiety on their part and used them to give me some Christian companions as I traveled. Amanda even shared her knowledge of foreign adoption with me, so now I feel informed when I do decided to adopt. God, bless Brooke and Amanda as they spend their week in Ethiopia ministering to kids.
This was our view as the sun set over the Atlantic ocean:

In the airport in Ethiopia, I went up to the counter just to make sure I didn't need a boarding sticker or anything and the lady asked if I was traveling alone. I told her I was and she bumped me up to business class! I was in the first seat on the airplane! This is what the meals look like in business class (table cloth and everything!):

Yes, that is grilled salmon. It was so good. I even had cheese for dessert. Fancy, I know. I got safely into Kenya and got through customs pretty easily. When I came out of the airport I was super excited to be greeted by Brother Scott and Missy.

After visiting the mall and Nakumatt in Mombasa, we traveled to Malindi where the unpacking began!

On Sunday morning, after not waking up to my alarm (imagine that), we attended church services in Mangangani. The people there are so welcoming and it is awesome to see people worshipping in their own language and knowing that my God is the God of all nations. After church, we loaded as many people as we could get in the LandRover and drove down to the water where two men were baptized.

 The whole group that witnessed the baptism:

After the baptisms, we went back to the church for lunch. It still amazes me how Kenyans extend their hospitality. They made sure that we had enough food before they fed everyone else. They always make sure visitors feel welcome. The beans, mahamri, and black tea were delicious. 

After taking a nap, I took my temperature and sure enough, I had a fever. I took some Aleve, ate some food, and then slept for a while. I woke up this morning and still didn't feel too well, so I took more Aleve and took a nap. When I woke up from my nap I felt much better. 

Tomorrow we are going to try and find out what is wrong with the plumbing situation. There seems to be a leak somewhere. Please pray that we can find the problem and get it fixed. 

Still adjusting to my lizard companions all around the house...as they stare at me from across the room as I'm trying to go to sleep... as long as they stay over there we'll be just fine. 

In Christ, 

Ashley