Friday 21st May Coming home

This was a strange, in-limbo kind of day. We had to check out of our hotel room by 10am, yet the taxi wasn’t picking us up for the airport until 4.30pm. So we became nomads in the hotel moving from place to place in search of somewhere quiet to sit!

We used the day sitting in the shade, drinking Kenya’s bitter lemon “Krest” and non-alco cocktails and reading. One spot was particularly lovely – at the outdoor hotel bar overlooking the Indian Ocean. We had sun loungers, a palm thatch parasol for shade and the peaceful sound of waves lapping the shore for much of the day.

Then the travel began, taxi to airport, airport queues, security check-ins, airport lounge, flight to Nairobi, disembark, walk round to International Departures, more queues, more security check-ins (Nick had to remove his belt no less than 4 times in as many hours going through security), another airport lounge, before finally boarding the flight home at quarter to midnight.

Air travel isn’t for the faint-hearted! We were also aware it isn’t good for the planet. In the space of 18 days we had taken 2 long haul flights (8 hours between London and Nairobi) and 4 domestic flights of about 45 minutes each. Our carbon footprint is high this year so we’ll avoid further air travel for a while – and maybe plant a few trees to off-set our trip.

As we look back on our trip to Kenya, we marvel at the rich diversity of life - human and wild - in the country. Every place we’ve stayed or visited has been so special, amazing, wonderful! We have so much to reflect on, so much to be grateful for, and so much we’ve learnt.

One thing we’ve learnt about is the faithfulness of Christians following the call of God, doing Kingdom stuff at grass roots level. It was Mother Theresa who said “Do small things with great love.” In Kibera, in Kinangop, and at Mwamba (A Rocha) we saw so many signs of Christians doing small things with great love, and with God’s help, transforming our world day by day – at local level. Bill Hybels says “The local church is the hope of the world”. If a group of Christians isn’t making a difference to their immediate locality, then what’s the point? That challenge hits us afresh as we return to Britain which has so much compared to other countries and yet is in deep spiritual need. So many of the current social and economic ills have an underlying spiritual cause

One loose theme of this sabbatical has been to look at how different people in different settings are growing the Kingdom of God. Even going to a different church each Sunday is part of that. And there’s certainly more to come. For example, we look forward to staying in Bridlington and seeing at first-hand Jonathan Couper’s church which has been transformed over the last 25 years by God’s power and people’s hunger to follow God’s call in the day-to-day, making a difference to our world.

We will be returning to Knaphill in August, refreshed and inspired from all we’ve seen and done and with deep gratitude to God for his goodness.