This morning we all woke up with heavy hearts because we had to leave Fiwagoh. We went down for another time of worship with the kids, then we had breakfast, and we had no choice but to pack up and get ready to leave. Pastor Benson gave us a quick tour of the entire facility which is just beautiful.
We were forced to say our goodbyes. Many of the kids gave us the sweetest notes. I will have to scan them and post them when I get back home. I can’t explain it, but we all had a special feeling about this place, maybe because we were here a little longer than anywhere else, maybe because the kids are so stinking sweet, or maybe it is just a God thing. The whole team had a hard time leaving, we were all in tears (even our bus driver Daniel) and many of the kids were in tears too. It was a sad time but it was sweet to know that we had touched them in a special way in our time here.
We set out for our long journey to Eldoret and Grace of God Ministries. The trip that was supposed to take about 2 hours, took more like 4. Africa time. But, they sent us on the “scenic route” so we got to see a lot of beautiful scenery of the Rift Valley.
Once we finally arrived in Eldoret, the Pastor met us at the main road and led us in to their village. First, we stopped at the school that most of the children attend. It was nice to meet them all, but we were only there for a very few minutes. After the long trip, many of us had to go to the bathroom…..and they were glad to direct us to their outhouses. I will just say, I would rather have a squatty potty ANY day. These were real live stinky outhouses…..so a few of us went in the woods instead!
Then we loaded back up and went to the church that the people of Grace of God use. They welcomed us warmly and even sang a few songs for us. As it has happened every day in Kenya, it begins to rain between 2-3 pm…and today was no exception. As the rain started to fall down…..hard….our bus driver got worried. He suggested that we not stay too long because he was afraid that we might get stuck on the dirt roads. The ladies there had prepared a meal for us, so we stayed long enough to eat, and then we had to leave unfortunately. The Pastor and his wife had decided to ride with us to Eldoret city, to make sure that we arrived safely, so off we all went.
About 30 minutes later, we made it to the city and found the spot where our hotel was located. Let’s just say that it was not the nicest area of Kenya. Our leaders and the team were all in agreement that we should not stay there, so we pulled off into a gas station parking lot to re-group and plan. It wasn’t safe there either. People were trying to open our bus windows and sell us random stuff. The problem was, no one knew the area well enough to know where a safer hotel might be, and so we had to make a choice. If we could not stay close to Grace of God Ministries, then we had no way to go there and minister to the kids the next morning. Our leaders decided that the safest thing we could do was go back to Fiwagoh (where we had JUST journeyed a LONG way from) because we don’t know the area, and we knew that was a safe place we could go. The Pastor of Grace of God really hated to see us go, and we all felt terrible, but it was the right thing to do for the team, so we headed back where we had just come from.
I have to say that no one was too excited about getting right back on the bus for about 3 hours, but we all felt like it was an answered prayer that we were able to go back to Fiwagoh! The trip was dangerous and we were all very worried, but our bus driver Daniel kept us safe. We did have to stop once for gas which was pretty scary, and we saw a LOT of large trucks wrecked on the sides of the road, I guess from the hard rain and the very dangerous roads. But, after a LONG day, we finally arrived back HOME at Fiwagoh! The older kids were still up and they literally jumped on our bus and hung on to the open windows they were so happy to see us!
We left all of our luggage on the top of the bus because it is too dark and too late to unload. So, we are all going to bed as is. I need a shower. Really, really bad……but I am so glad we are back here where we feel safe and are able to spend another whole day with the sweet kids we love!
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