The Last Day
Day 4 in Rumuruti…
The last day for me always starts off with a bittersweet mix of emotions. I am happy in a way to be headed home to my two beautiful children and yet it is still sad to be leaving these great friends here in Africa.
We were given a bit of a late start time on the last morning and so the process of packing up our bags and loading them on the land cruiser was not rushed. Tying the bags on to the top of the truck just like you might tie a diamond hitch to lash the burden to a mule. My mind did wander to a time, when not to long ago, that might have been the most practice way to reach a place such as Rumuruti. Maybe a string of camels would have been the most practical means of travel 80 or 100 years ago. We had a wonderful breakfast at our chalet house that raised the bar for Kenyan cuisine. In all my trips to Kenya the experience this year was the most comfortable by a considerable margin. We took our “until we meet again” photo with the staff who took such great care of us there in those few days we were blessed to be there, and then we were off for the last sessions of the conference. The last sessions for the American team, the Kilgoris team is still there going strong even now.
When we arrived it was a quick greeting in the yard of the church, some serious business talks for Pastor Steven, Pastor Ezekiel and myself, and then a swift briefing to the team about our morning schedule, and into the church we went.
The volume at which they turn their sound equipment to is no secret, for any one who has made these trip in the past with us you know exactly where the knob is turned…MAX! With clapping hands, jumping and bouncing feet, and swaying and dancing, the church was worshipping with all of their might. Wewe wewe Bwana, wewe wewe Bwana….yes Lord, yes yes Lord….it’s certainly a message we can get behind. After the song was finished there were some introduction and then your very own West Mountain representatives were all up to speak. One by one the team opened their hearts to the church, sharing scripture, testimony and encouraging these people who only a few days ago were strange faces in a crowd. But not one of us could say that now. They were the farthest thing from faces in a crowd. They were mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, ministers, worship leaders, deacons…they were people we knew details about, they are our friends! You should be proud of each and every person here because they represented the love of Jesus, all in their own special way. In some ways I think this is the most diverse group I have ever been with here in Kenya, to represent our home congregation, and the love for Jesus that we try to flesh out for our own community. These are the men and women we did battle with in the boma’s surronding the church, the ones we cried with and the ones we laughed with, and it was time to give them our last efforts of encouragement from God’s word and from our own mouths. I don’t think any one of us took lightly the task of making those last moments, with the Rumruti church, be obedient words from the Holy Spirit that might truly make a difference to these wonderful, wonderful, people.
There were not very many dry eyes in the church when the time had elapsed. Leaving on time is not entirely an option that we can dismiss. Law and regulation in this place put extra burden on our driver George. If an accident happens it could be tragic, but if it happens at night it can be considered negligence on his part and therefore we do our best to honor the rules that George is to follow as a professional driver in this amazing country. What that meant for us was that we had to leave, want to or not, so we could get to Nairobi in a responsible timeline. Quick, myself and then Ezekiel might have all broken the time we were allotted that morning to speak, but it was unavoidable.
Ezekiel spoke to us as a farewell and did so with such an emotion and passion that I can still feel the love he has for us and especially for Christ a day later. He spoke of scripture, he gave testimony, and he shared his hearts desire to see more souls know who Jesus is. But it had to end.
We were soon dismissed and the photo session began. Tears were flowing from so many as they hugged me and didn’t want to let go. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to figure out all the possibilities of combinations a deck of 52 cards can produce, but I’m pretty sure that is a small number in comparison to the combinations of pictures that can be taken by a Kenyan church at dismissal time for a mission team. A man looking from afar might think it was some form of a slow motion ritual dance in which each person is required to hug every person there. I don’t mind it at all, which might surprise some of you who have ever tried to hug me in the church at home. But that too, had to end.
I know there were tears in my eyes, although I was doing my best to hold them back as Jackalynn, Gloria, Lydia, and Margret stopped by the window of the land cruiser to grab my hand one last time. They were still there as we began to drive past the pastors and Ezekiel, I shared that one last smile for the year. Tears made their way down my face as we pulled away from the gape in the fence that acted as a exit from the church grounds where I thought that no one could see, except maybe George, but he already knows the way I feel about leaving. We have done it before and God willing we will do it again. He has been there with me and encouraged me so many times as we had to leave other places, and I have seen it in him too…these trips do something to your heart and it cannot be concealed from the people around you when it does.
Now we are in Nairobi, we are in the American comforts of a Hilton Hotel, and we are to begin our long flight path home tomorrow. We have had a nice time of fellowship and fine dining at the Carnivore and I finally had the words I felt necessary to express my gratitude to all who have prayed and given to make this all possible. This is more than another trip, this is a milestone for a faithful group of men and women from a small town in the Transmara mountains of Africa. It has been ten years of transformation and growth, hard work and determination, but mostly God’s grace and His gift of faith, to make this possible and still yet to see it come to happen. It wasn’t a perfect trip, but it was a testament to how big God is and how much can be done with so little when you know the value of your fellow man.
The poverty in that place is on another level from where we have been ministering in the past decade. New challenges are going to be faced as we move forward with this ministry. But they are welcomed. Because God knows the answers we don’t have to, because He owns it all we do not need to worry where it might come from, but mostly because He loves these people we must love them too…We can not provide all they need, but we can share Jesus.
There is so much more to this story, there are so many things left to do and to say…
One time the scripture tells us that because Lazarus had died that “Jesus wept”
For almost a day and a half I can’t help but wonder as Jesus was with us in spirit, and He gave out the gift of grace to so many to receive salvation, if He to might have been weeping tears of joy…for those we were blessed to meet had been lost but now…but now many of them have been found.
Thank you church for sending me, and for sending us…
The last day for me always starts off with a bittersweet mix of emotions. I am happy in a way to be headed home to my two beautiful children and yet it is still sad to be leaving these great friends here in Africa.
We were given a bit of a late start time on the last morning and so the process of packing up our bags and loading them on the land cruiser was not rushed. Tying the bags on to the top of the truck just like you might tie a diamond hitch to lash the burden to a mule. My mind did wander to a time, when not to long ago, that might have been the most practice way to reach a place such as Rumuruti. Maybe a string of camels would have been the most practical means of travel 80 or 100 years ago. We had a wonderful breakfast at our chalet house that raised the bar for Kenyan cuisine. In all my trips to Kenya the experience this year was the most comfortable by a considerable margin. We took our “until we meet again” photo with the staff who took such great care of us there in those few days we were blessed to be there, and then we were off for the last sessions of the conference. The last sessions for the American team, the Kilgoris team is still there going strong even now.
When we arrived it was a quick greeting in the yard of the church, some serious business talks for Pastor Steven, Pastor Ezekiel and myself, and then a swift briefing to the team about our morning schedule, and into the church we went.
The volume at which they turn their sound equipment to is no secret, for any one who has made these trip in the past with us you know exactly where the knob is turned…MAX! With clapping hands, jumping and bouncing feet, and swaying and dancing, the church was worshipping with all of their might. Wewe wewe Bwana, wewe wewe Bwana….yes Lord, yes yes Lord….it’s certainly a message we can get behind. After the song was finished there were some introduction and then your very own West Mountain representatives were all up to speak. One by one the team opened their hearts to the church, sharing scripture, testimony and encouraging these people who only a few days ago were strange faces in a crowd. But not one of us could say that now. They were the farthest thing from faces in a crowd. They were mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, ministers, worship leaders, deacons…they were people we knew details about, they are our friends! You should be proud of each and every person here because they represented the love of Jesus, all in their own special way. In some ways I think this is the most diverse group I have ever been with here in Kenya, to represent our home congregation, and the love for Jesus that we try to flesh out for our own community. These are the men and women we did battle with in the boma’s surronding the church, the ones we cried with and the ones we laughed with, and it was time to give them our last efforts of encouragement from God’s word and from our own mouths. I don’t think any one of us took lightly the task of making those last moments, with the Rumruti church, be obedient words from the Holy Spirit that might truly make a difference to these wonderful, wonderful, people.
There were not very many dry eyes in the church when the time had elapsed. Leaving on time is not entirely an option that we can dismiss. Law and regulation in this place put extra burden on our driver George. If an accident happens it could be tragic, but if it happens at night it can be considered negligence on his part and therefore we do our best to honor the rules that George is to follow as a professional driver in this amazing country. What that meant for us was that we had to leave, want to or not, so we could get to Nairobi in a responsible timeline. Quick, myself and then Ezekiel might have all broken the time we were allotted that morning to speak, but it was unavoidable.
Ezekiel spoke to us as a farewell and did so with such an emotion and passion that I can still feel the love he has for us and especially for Christ a day later. He spoke of scripture, he gave testimony, and he shared his hearts desire to see more souls know who Jesus is. But it had to end.
We were soon dismissed and the photo session began. Tears were flowing from so many as they hugged me and didn’t want to let go. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to figure out all the possibilities of combinations a deck of 52 cards can produce, but I’m pretty sure that is a small number in comparison to the combinations of pictures that can be taken by a Kenyan church at dismissal time for a mission team. A man looking from afar might think it was some form of a slow motion ritual dance in which each person is required to hug every person there. I don’t mind it at all, which might surprise some of you who have ever tried to hug me in the church at home. But that too, had to end.
I know there were tears in my eyes, although I was doing my best to hold them back as Jackalynn, Gloria, Lydia, and Margret stopped by the window of the land cruiser to grab my hand one last time. They were still there as we began to drive past the pastors and Ezekiel, I shared that one last smile for the year. Tears made their way down my face as we pulled away from the gape in the fence that acted as a exit from the church grounds where I thought that no one could see, except maybe George, but he already knows the way I feel about leaving. We have done it before and God willing we will do it again. He has been there with me and encouraged me so many times as we had to leave other places, and I have seen it in him too…these trips do something to your heart and it cannot be concealed from the people around you when it does.
Now we are in Nairobi, we are in the American comforts of a Hilton Hotel, and we are to begin our long flight path home tomorrow. We have had a nice time of fellowship and fine dining at the Carnivore and I finally had the words I felt necessary to express my gratitude to all who have prayed and given to make this all possible. This is more than another trip, this is a milestone for a faithful group of men and women from a small town in the Transmara mountains of Africa. It has been ten years of transformation and growth, hard work and determination, but mostly God’s grace and His gift of faith, to make this possible and still yet to see it come to happen. It wasn’t a perfect trip, but it was a testament to how big God is and how much can be done with so little when you know the value of your fellow man.
The poverty in that place is on another level from where we have been ministering in the past decade. New challenges are going to be faced as we move forward with this ministry. But they are welcomed. Because God knows the answers we don’t have to, because He owns it all we do not need to worry where it might come from, but mostly because He loves these people we must love them too…We can not provide all they need, but we can share Jesus.
There is so much more to this story, there are so many things left to do and to say…
One time the scripture tells us that because Lazarus had died that “Jesus wept”
For almost a day and a half I can’t help but wonder as Jesus was with us in spirit, and He gave out the gift of grace to so many to receive salvation, if He to might have been weeping tears of joy…for those we were blessed to meet had been lost but now…but now many of them have been found.
Thank you church for sending me, and for sending us…
Posted in Africa2026