Sundays...

Living without any regular form of transportation has been a new challenge and entertainment for us. In the past few days we have walked between 7-11 kilometers each day, exploring the city. We didn't plan to walk that far... but in the process we have explored much of the southwestern part of Nairobi, where we live, as well as in the center of town.

Yesterday, Sunday, was no exception. We walked a few kilometers to church yesterday morning. We enjoyed worshipping at Nairobi Baptist Church. We felt it was a church rooted in the word and the preacher was really on point. It is a congregation of mostly Kenyans, but the services are conducted in English. The church is huge (6 stories), with much more than a thousand people... We were invited to tea by the official welcome crew, and they are hopefully finding us a small group that meets close to our apartment. We are looking forward to developing a church community.

We then found ourselves walking another few km to meet a fellow MCC-er for lunch at Habesha, an amazing Ethiopian restaurant. While eating there, we got a call from another worker saying that there would be a birthday celebration that night at...Habesha. But we needed to do errands in between. We walked a long way, only to find the places we needed to go closed. Sundays have always been complicated for us. A group of EMM & MCC-ers get together every Sunday evening at the guest house. Problem: we have no transportation. We can walk & get matatus during the day, but getting home is more complicated. No public transportation comes near our house. So then we have to get a taxi...(which are often really busy at night and hard to get) but last night we were meeting at Habesha, which is closer to our apartment. We had hoped to get a ride home, instead of paying for a taxi, but having people we barely know go out of their way to take us home... we called a taxi. 2-hours later, it still hadn't come. Luckily, our hosts, Jonathan & Marti and their kids Elyse (pronounced ay-lee-zay) and Kalina, were happy to have us stay at their place while we waited. Eventually, once they got their kids in bed, they brought us home. It took at most 10 minutes.

We realized that our struggle has been the absence of an advocate. Here, each family is fending for themselves, adjusting to the culture, and filling their role as best they can. We miss our community at home that has stood by us and all the people that would go out of their way to care for us. We hope that this place will help us better see those in need of an advocate. We pray that we can be that person.