Wrapping up our time in Kenya. What a whirlwind of a trip. Our time was packed full of reaching children with the gospel.
To wrap up the trip in just a few words is difficult, but will try. One word that I come away with is CONSISTENCY. No matter where we went, the message was the same. All teachers have been equipped to teach The Greatest Gift and The Greatest Journey in a way that the children understand.
At each event, the children are taken through the concepts of Creation to the resurrection of Jesus. After this presentation the children have the opportunity to participate in the 12 lesson discipleship program. It is interesting to know that the children have no idea about the shoebox gift. See, the gift is a tool for the local church to bring people in and to reach out to others in their communities. When the children come to an event, they are coming to hear the gospel message and the gift is a BONUS.
The discipleship journey focuses on:
Lesson 1: The Great Creator
Lesson 2: The Greatest Problem
Lesson 3: The Great Savior
Lesson 4: The Greatest Friend
Lesson 5: Zacchaeus
Lesson 6: Children
Lesson 7: David
Lesson 8: God's people
Lesson 9: Help Others
Lesson 10: Love others
Lesson 11: Hope in Heaven
Lesson 12: Tell Others
The consistency of the message was very impressive to me, at each event the message was the same. The hand motions may have been a bit different, but the message was the same. The children learn about sin. Sin is ANYTHING that you DO, SAY or THINK is AGAINST God.
To wrap up the few days, we had the opportunity to go shopping to purchase items that could assist us in presenting what we learned during our time in Kenya and to purchase souvenirs. The shopping experience for me was just God kisses. One of the vendors was Edith and another Janet. I felt like my Sunday School class was with me not just on this day, but throughout this trip.
Cultural ExperienceOur cultural experience was going to the Giraffe Center where we learned about the Giraffes in Kenya and we had the opportunity to feed them. This was a cool experience. The Giraffes tongue is very rough and we were told very anticeptic. The Giraffes we are use to here in the US are Retriculated. The Giraffe's in Kenya are low in number. They breed Giraffe's and when they turn 2 years old they are released to the wild to help grow the population.
Traveling Home
I was NOT ready to leave. I felt like I had just gotten there and it was time to leave. Going to the airport was an experience in Kenya. The security is taken very seriously with 5 security checkpoints before even getting on the plane. At one point, when you get to your gate, you better be ready to sit, as you cannot leave the gate, unlike in the US and Paris where you can walk around the airport prior to needing to be at your gate. Yes, we could walk around the airport, but when you go to your gate, you had to go thru a security checkpoint, which you could not leave once passed through.
I left a piece of my heart in Kenya and will need to go back one day, maybe to stay. I can say I will return at some point.