a white chic carrying a guitar

Today has been an absolutely fabulous day and just proves to me that you don't need running water or flushing toilets to make it that way (yeah the water has been off for quite a few days now). this morning began a bit crazy b/c i had to carry the guitar with me. alex (popo's brother, who is back on break from college) insisted that i bring the guitar to BOLM so he could play it for the kids. the guitar case is super heavy and the most awkward thing to get on a matatu. victor, milham, and leon all told me it was too big to carry but i said i was strong (in the Lord and his mighty power that is). so here i was, already drawing attention b/c i'm white and then add a guitar on top of that. but God allowed me to get a seat right by the door of the matatu on the way to town, which helped. then i got off in kibera to go to rodgers' house. he's been begging me to come visit. i panicked a bit at first b/c i got off at the wrong place and wasn't sure where to meet him. i would have been fine except i have this huge guitar and everyone's staring at me. thank goodness for cell phones. we found each other soon enough. i was so grateful for the hospitality at his house. he had made tea for me and chapati too, (this takes a long time and is pretty expensive for people in kibera to make). he said he knew it was my favorite. of course i had already had tea that morning, but i would never tell him that. his house is much nicer than the rest of kibera. it has cement walls. i'm not sure how this is possible since they're not allowed to have permanent structures. but from how he explained it, i think it's b/c this structure was already there and built by someone in the gov't a long time ago or something. i think he was really proud to show me around and have a mzungu in his house.

then we went to BOLM. it was hilarious getting in the matatu this time. i made alex take the guitar. he tried to put it in the front with him but it wouldn't fit, so he hoisted it over the seat to the people behind him. i'm sure they were less than amused but used to it. people are always hauling random things in there like hundreds of egg crates stacked on top of each other, hundred pound bags of potatoes, etc. the kids loved singing to the guitar and we were all dancing around swinging our partner, etc. good times. we talked with them about God's faithfulness. i took the younger kids and we made a handprint rainbow (thanks for this idea mom) on a white piece of fabric. they all giggled getting the paint on their hands. we had the older kids make guacamole. they never ever eat chips, so this was quite a treat. we're planning to go back there on friday and spend the night. i'm so excited about this. i've been wanting to do this for weeks, but have been waiting to feel better. i think my body is beginning to heal. i've felt better today than i have in a long while. i would really appreciate your prayers about staying there on friday. we're planning to make chapati with them (they usually only have this on christmas b/c it's more expensive) and bring music to dance to, maybe paint nails, etc. eunice, one of the teachers, is going to keep it a surprise from them until friday. they will be ecstatic b/c they've been wanting us to stay. so pray that friday goes well, that i'm feeling well, and that nothing crawls over me while i'm sleeping :) the conditions are better than kibera but still rough. i was realizing that all the other volunteers who are staying live in kibera and i don't, so i'm probably the only one who'll be out of my comfort zone. by the way, about animals, peter asked me if i liked geckos (sp?). he said he saw one crawling on the ceiling in his bedroom. i haven't seen one yet. hope it stays that way :)

after BOLM i went to nerea's in kibera to make chapati. they were impressed by how much i already knew how to do ( i was surprised i remembered). her neighbors and nephew came too. the nephew is named dennis and his friend is samuel. they are about my age. they were asking me all sorts of questions about the u.s. and were so intrigued to watch a mzungu make chapati. they were very curious as to why i came to africa and had never eaten with a mzungu before. dennis joked that today was like a holiday b/c he was eating with a white person. after we finished eating he asked me if i was saved. i said yes, and it turned into a wonderful conversation about becoming a christian. he is not a christian and neither is samuel but seems very interested in learning more. we talked a lot about how it's not works or doing good things that get you to heaven but believing that jesus paid the price of our sins. it's funny b/c he knows so much about the bible from CRE but doesn't know jesus. he wants to talk more but was a bit reserved about asking anymore questions today. so i'm planning to bring popo or victor back with me next week, cook with them, and let them ask away. i want a local person with me b/c of a slight language barrier. and also b/c i think they will be able to help me out with questions that i'm not able to answer. after all i'm not a biblical scholar and 2 brains are better than one. please pray for the conversations we have with them that God will speak through us. these people are hungry for christ b/c they struggle so much in life and i want so much for them to experience this hope and joy.

i had another great conversation with a random man while stuck in the jam on the way home. yes they just say "jam" not traffic or traffic jam. we talked about what i was doing and his time traveling abroad. i'm learning that long bus rides really can be a blessing. it's all about perspective. keep that in mind today and be blessed!