The secret of happiness...

The Kenyan school year ends in November and restarts in January, so that's quite a slice of time.

What to do?

Thankfully, I have been given the opportunity to shadow an older American couple, Wayne and Joyce Raychard, throughout December. They work as missionaries with the Digo people in the impressive hills around Kwale.

 

The Raychards have committed their lives to telling people about Jesus in Africa. They are one of the happiest couples I have ever met. Even though Joyce only has vision out of one eye, she has adapted and always points out that God is her strength. Wayne seems to have a brain the size of a small planet (okay, he's going to hate that I said that). I'm sure that he could have had a high-powered job back in The States, but he chooses to work amongst the marginalised and the poor. It's such a privilege to learn from these guys.

Kwale sure is different from where I teach in Korr. Stuff actually grows here!! Fruity stuff! If you are what you eat, then I am about to turn into a large pineapple. There seem to be more coconut palms than people. (Can you imagine if ALL your neighbours have gardens packed with palm trees?) I was genuinely impressed as this local guy shunted up a twenty metre palm tree and began hacking away at the harvest. No safety harness; just skill and muscle. I'm thinking that it's going to be too late for me to start a tree-climbing career. Shame.

My days are mostly spent walking with Wayne to various villages. With the high humidity levels, it's just one sweaty t-shirt after another. Yum! Wayne regularly heads out to local houses to explain the Bible to people who request his help. Over the course of 25 years he has become ridiculously fluent in the local languages of Swahili and Chidigo, so he conducts any studies in the 'heart language' of the people he works with. You should see the faces of the people he visits: when they see Wayne their faces light up and there is an intensity to their bible study, like a thirsty man who has found a well. Or, as Jesus said:

"But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." (John 4:14)