Sunday Morning Church – Kenya 2026, blog post #2

After three flights and 24 hours in airports or on planes, we arrived at our friends’ volunteer house in the Nairobi suburb of Waithaka and were shown to our adequate room, with attached bath, on the third floor. And I pretty much passed out in my bed.

The next morning, Sunday, we went down to see what was up and were happily greeted with French toast for breakfast, as well as the other volunteers. Three adult leaders and six teenage girls from Puerto Rico and three volunteers from Italy.

We heard a little about them and I shared our story. Then the Puerto Rican (PR for short) male leader said they were planning on going to church that morning. One of my friends and I were game for that, along with the Italians; my other friend opted out.

A little before nine the fourteen of us climbed into two of the safari vans and took off in search of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Oh, did I not mention that the PRs were Mormons? It didn’t matter to me; it wasn’t like anyone was going to convert me.

Anyway, it was a nice church building, right across from the temple, which I learned is only open on special occasions (I was told what those are but have forgotten).

I’ve heard all kinds of stuff on what this church believes, and I looked the facts up on line after I got home. But you can do that too, so I’m just going to share what I saw and learned that day.

First of all, the service started at nine and we arrived a good twenty minutes late. Not to worry, there were a few other people and children in the entry way when we got there. I found out that members receive communion at the beginning of the service, so those not taking it can show up late and wait for that part of the service to be over.

At one point, two boys came around with trays of water in what looked like communion cups and offered them to everyone. I declined, and no one judged me.

So that was all different to me.

Second, when we finally were allowed to enter the sanctuary, I was struck by how stark it was. No statue of Jesus (even though there was a huge one outside), no cross, not even an altar, just a podium and a dozen or so chairs where four people were sitting, facing the congregation. 

After the service, I asked the PR leader why there was nothing but a big, white empty wall at the front of the church. He said it was so that parishioners don’t worship the symbols of Jesus, that with a blank slate to look at, they can better worship the true Christ. Thinking about it, that makes sense to me, but I’d like to believe that we all know the difference between worshipping a statue and God.

Third thing was really interesting. The entire service is on the church’s website, so everyone follows along on their phones. We were reaching for the hymnals, looking up the song numbers that were on the wall up front, but they weren’t in the hymnal. And I wasn’t going to try to get on line and find what I needed on my phone. But I thought the concept was reasonable.

They had one woman speak on gratitude and another one talked about something that I can’t remember. Then the pastor, a man, gave what would be the sermon. At the time I really was following it, but I have since forgotten that too. But I don't recall any of them actually quoting the Bible. 

The other thing I learned from the PR leader is that none of the church leaders are paid; they all volunteer their time. I like that idea too, but in reality, in the US, I can’t see how that would work. Obviously, these people need paying jobs, so are they going to be available to provide for their congregations whenever needed?

Overall, it was a good experience. Everyone we met there was friendly and I didn’t feel like I stuck out like an old-fashioned Lutheran. But as already mentioned, I will not be converting.   

All of the Numbers - Kenya 2026, blog post #1

Sunday night I returned from my eighth trip to Kenya, Africa. Hard to believe that my first trip was exactly twenty years ago. At the time, I thought I was too old to go on such a trip, and I certainly never imagined that I would return. Yet, there I was continuing to book those plane reservations, talk someone into going with me, and make plans for while we were there.

As usual, it will take me a few more days to finish processing this trip, properly journaling, and sorting through over one thousand pictures. Regarding the pictures, it doesn’t help that five us went on this trip and we are all sharing photos – as if I needed to weed through more of them.

So, I won’t try to tally all the pictures from all those trips, but here are the rest of the numbers.

Total number of different people I’ve gone to Kenya with: 20. The only reason that number is so high is that the first time I went it was with a mission team of 15 of us. So thankful I had nothing to do with the logistics of planning that group. Most trips it was just me, Val, Nick, or my friend Denise, and a few scattered friends in between.

The five of us from this trip: Me, Nick, Jessica, Denise, and Jackie

Total amount of time I’ve spent in Kenya: 103 days, give or take. Most trips were for two weeks, one a little longer, one a little shorter. And with 24 hours plus in travel there and back, it’s hard to count the days, especially when we arrive and leave usually sometime around midnight.

Total number of modes of transportation taken to get there or while there: Ten. Car, plane, train, city bus, matatu, boat, ferry, tuk-tuk, motorbike, safari van. I think that’s all, I may have forgotten some.

Rides in the safari vans are always ridiculous; they call the jarring and bumping received on the ride a Maasai massage. But I’m going with the boat ride on Lake Naivasha as the most interesting transportation on this trip.

Number of times I’ve been on safari: Five. Only twice prior to this trip, where we were able to go on safari three times. Which also increased the number of game parks I’ve been to from one (Maasai Mara) up to three (adding Amboseli and Nairobi).

Amboseli had the most birds. 

Number of animals I really wanted to see on safari but never have: One. It would be the elusive leopard. I’ve seen lions, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, millions of wildebeest, hartebeest, elands, impalas, gazelles, giraffes, jackals, monkeys, baboons, and more. This trip even got to see four rhinos up close. But alas, no leopard.

Number of various places I have slept: Thirteen. Three different volunteer houses, five different safari camp lodgings, one private residence, one hostel, one Airbnb, two different tent camps. I think that’s right, but not for sure. Sometimes I didn’t know where I would wake up.

The chalet at Riverine safari camp outside of Amboseli Game Park might be my favorite from this trip.

Anything else? For numbers, this was one of the more expensive trips. First because we booked our flights shortly after the US went to war with Iran. And second, because we did three game drives.

Oh, and I should include the number of days of volunteer work. That’s always a tough one. Every trip is different. On this one, we were on the ground, in the trenches, actually laboring for free, one full day and two half days. But there were also the hours here and there, where maybe we weren’t working but were still contributing. I don’t think this should be a number to obsess about. The littlest thing we do, anywhere on this planet, could be God’s work, and those moments can never be accurately added.

The calm before the storm at the school we worked at. Once the kids were released for recess this quiet courtyard was no longer so quiet. 

There is a great story I'll share later on about the bottled water plant, but here we are marking labels for the bottles. 

Trying not to be overwhelmed by all the filled bottles that needed to be labeled and packaged. 

We had a good time and I hope that those we encountered had a better day because we were there.

Only Two More Days

          As you may already know, two days from now, I’ll be boarding a plane for yet another trip to Kenya, Africa. I’ll be traveling with Denise, a friend who has been there nearly as many times as I have, and Jackie, a newby to the whole African adventure. My son Nick and his wife will be following us a day later.

          Our plans are to go on safari, visit a few area animal parks, trek through Hell’s Gate, and spend at least a few days volunteering at one of the schools. We also are taking a load of books, games, and teaching materials to a school.

          And while I am gone, I will be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of my first trip to Kenya. At that time, I thought I was too old for such a trip! And here I am, twenty years later, going again. Am I crazy or what? I have been feeling homesick for the African plains, the chaos of the Nairobi streets, the hopeful smiles of all the children, and the chai tea.

          Here are my favorite pictures from those previous trips. 

Val in Mathare Slum, 2006

In the small Maasai village of Saikeri,
I found this kid wearing a shirt from the city just up the road from where I live, 2013. 

On safari at the Masa Mara, 2015. I think it's the best picture I have ever shot,
and I have taken ALOT of pictures. 

Val giving her phone to the boy who worked on the rabbit project with us, 2017.
He was so appreciative that we were all in tears. 

Outside of Ololaimutiek Village, adjacent to the Masa Mara Reserve, 2018 

Went to an animal park with the girl I sponsor through Compassion and got to pet the cheetah. They purr! 2019

Val, Denise and me, ready to go out to eat when we were staying in a rental at Diani Beach, 2022.

Oh, and also today is my sister Pat's birthday. I always wonder if she would have ever gone to Africa with me and what she would have thought. 

Manila Envelopes

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 

(Philippians 3:20, New Living Translation)

This coming Friday, I leave home for my eighth trip to Kenya. Every time I've gone, I think to myself that this will be the last time I make that journey. As I left home in October of 2022 with Val and a friend of mine, I thought the same thing. 

Our previous trips to Kenya had all involved some form of volunteer work. We ambitiously built a chicken coop, taught the life cycle of chickens and rabbits at one of the schools, or cleaned storage rooms at the volunteer house. Other times, we talked with our partners in Nairobi about how to proceed with current and future projects to help various schools, orphanages, or villages. Val and I had worked so hard on building our own nonprofit, but with that no longer viable, we had told our Kenyan friends that the trip that fall would be just our vacation. 

          For some reason, our flights into Nairobi always arrive late at night. Again, as on all the other trips, we arrived at our accommodation after midnight, slept the sleep of the exhausted, got up by noon, and started our day. The first day we spent shopping for supplies (mostly snacks) and visiting with our friends who run their own nonprofit there. 

          Early the next morning, we piled into the safari van for the long ride out to the Masai Mara. We weren't going on safari this time; we'd all done that enough times. We just wanted to be out on the African plains, relaxing at the safari camp and enjoying the views. And for Val, drinking Tusker, the Kenyan beer. 

          One night we sat outside watching the beautiful sunset, the crepuscular rays of light reaching to heaven. Val told us that when she was a little kid and saw those glowing yellow-orange rays in the sky, she thought it was people's souls in manila envelopes going to heaven.      

          At the time, we laughed about it, thinking it was pretty silly. But three years later, Val's soul slipped into one of those manila envelopes and rode the rays to heaven. I would never look at a sunset the same way. 

Covering Covered Bridges and More

When I started planning our short vacation to Ohio, I was so pleased to find that there are over one hundred historic covered bridges remaining in the state. It would be an awesome quest to visit them all, but we only had a couple days and those bridges are located throughout the entire state. I picked the ones which were within an hour’s drive or so of our route to the safari park and back home again.

I didn’t get a picture of the very first bridge we passed, on our way to The Wilds Tuesday morning, but come to find out the Mail Pouch Bridge was only built in 1981. Cool to see, but shouldn’t be on my list.  

I was much more excited to visit the Historic Rosseau Covered Bridge on the Fairgrounds in McConnellsville. I hadn’t seen it on my original online search. Also known as the Rosseau-Glass Bridge, it is a 58-foot-long Multiple Kingpost truss bridge built in 1881, across the West Branch of Wolf Creek in Rosseau. It was the first covered bridge in Ohio to be preserved by relocation and was moved to its current location in 1953. I was disappointed that it was sadly in need of paint and some repairs.

Just driving through the quaint village of McConnellsville was another surprise. It was so cute with many old Victorian-type buildings. The Morgan County Courthouse was built in 1858, in the Greek Revival style. Across the street, the brick Twin City Opera House, built in 1890, houses the McConnelsville City Hall, among other things.

Built in 1863, Helmick Covered Bridge was down a winding, hilly road which seemed to go nowhere. Luckily it is open to vehicle traffic so we didn’t have to turn around, we just kept going on the winding, hilly road. 

Our last stop of the day was Salt Creek Bridge in Zanesville, built in the 1870s using Warren type tresses. (If I continue this, I should probably research the types of trusses, huh?)

Wednesday morning, our first stop was the Armstrong Covered Bridge, also known as the Clio Covered Bridge. It was built in 1849 by Abraham Armstrong and is a multiple Kingpost truss bridge that originally crossed Salt Creek near the small community of Clio. The bridge survived Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid through Ohio in 1863, one of the war’s northernmost episodes. In 1966, it was moved to Cambridge City Park. 

Then, as we were driving down more winding, hilly roads, we stopped for these two and spent way too much time watching them play. 

 

That particular road took us to Indian Camp Bridge, another multiple Kingpost truss bridge. It was built in 1855, crossing over Indian Camp Creek and was restored in 1999.

Hard to believe, but after that bridge, I was done with covered bridges, or more likely just done driving down those crazy roads. I did find this abandoned asylum in Millersburg. 

According to an internet search, the building had been a hospital and long-term care facility in the 1950s, and now is one of Ohio's most active paranormal research sites. Did not look haunted to me, but we did just drive by, as there were lots of “no Trespassing” signs

The detour wasn’t a total loss, though, as there were cool old buildings in the downtown area of Millersburg. 

But the highlight of the entire day was this grand old building, pictured above and below. The former Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. 

The Ohio State Reformatory was built over ten years in the late 1800s. It was originally known as an Intermediate Penitentiary since it accepted inmates who were too old for juvenile corrections but had committed crimes which were not serious enough for the Ohio State Penitentiary. The first inmates were admitted in 1896.

In the early 1960s, it was converted to a maximum-security facility, and by the 1980s, the conditions had drastically deteriorated, leading to construction of a new prison nearby. The Reformatory was finally closed in 1990. If you are a film buff, it may look familiar to you as it was the setting for 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption.

And then it was time to hit the dusty trail for home. A quick, but nice, four day vacation with Hubby. 

Trying to not go Wild at the Wilds

 

Since I can’t talk Hubby into making that arduous plane ride to Kenya to go on an African safari, I found one a single long car ride from our home. The Wilds sits in eastern Ohio, 75 miles from Columbus. After a long drive on a Monday in June, we arrived early the next morning for the two-hour long safari and really enjoyed it. 

The Greater One-Horned Rhino has a native range in Bhutan, India, and Nepal. In the early 20th century, there were fewer than 200 living in the wild. Thanks to conservation efforts and protection, there are now close to 3,500. This rhino is known for folds of skin which look like armor.

The Southern White Rhino is found in Southern Africa and is much larger than the Asian Rhinos. This rhino sub-species is doing okay in the wild, with possibly as many as 20,000 living in the wild. Tragically, his nearest relative, the Northern White Rhino, is basically extinct with only two surviving females living under armored guard at a preserve in Kenya.

Persian Onager is one of the species of Asiatic asses. There are only around 600 to 700 Persian onagers surviving in the wild in two protected regions in Iran. The herd at the Wilds is the largest breeding herd of onagers in North America.

Looking like a crazy mix of a moose, a bison, and a goat, the Sichuan Takin is related to other cloven-hoofed mammals in the bovid family, including sheep and antelope. They are native to Tibet and several provinces of China.

Cheetah. What can I say? I’ve seen many cheetahs over the years on my trips to Kenya. They are magnificent creatures, and they even purr.

The African Painted Dog is from Africa (what a surprise), mostly in southern and eastern countries. They are covered in beautiful markings, and each coat is as unique as a fingerprint. Though they can live in large packs, they are elusive and not commonly seen in the wild.

The Dhole is also called the Asiatic Wild Dog or red dog. Though they are native to Southeast Asia and India, they are closely related genetically to the Painted Dog.

Wild Bactrian Camels are critically endangered due to breeding with domesticated camels, hunting, and habitat loss. They are native to Mongolia and China.

The Przewalski's Wild Horse is native to southern Russia and Mongolia. They became extinct in the wild in the 1960s, but have been reintroduced back into the wild due to conservation efforts. Sometimes shortened to the P Horse, the P and the R are actually silent in pronunciation.  

Did you see the baby in laying down in the first picture? We circled around and the herd moved so that we came right up beside them. Isn’t he or she adorable? And very new to this world.

Eland are the largest species of antelope in the world. They are native to southern and eastern Africa, and I have seen them in the wild in Kenya. The boys are huge.

The Scimitar-horned Oryx, from northern Africa, went extinct in the wild in the 1980s. Thanks to the work at The Wilds, some of them were sent to Chad to breed with animals there.

The Bactrian deer is one of the largest deer species (but smaller than the American Elk). They come from Central Asia and the Middle East.

Pére David's Deer were once extinct in the wild, but now there are an estimated 600 deer living totally in the wild in China. The largest breeding herd in any zoo in North America at the Wilds. 

This buck was pretty into this mud puddle and making sure he was covered in mud.

The 10,000 acres where the Wilds now sits was once a surface coal-mining operation. The remarkable story of how this land was resurrected to become one of the largest conservation centers in North America is on their website. Click on this link to learn about it.