Africa Based Orientation (ABO)

Having commenced our second week of ABO, we are starting to feel adjusted somewhat to the new environment.  Jet lag has worn off for the most part, and life here at Scott College is a little like family camp – we sleep in bunks, attend teaching sessions, eat meals together at the cafeteria.  The kids are participating in age level classes designed to orient them to Africa too (but I think they are having more fun than the adults!).  Yesterday, the youth group, consisting of 10 boys and girls and including Jade and Logan, went to a nearby ranch, where they are being treated to camping, familiar foods, a game park drive, hiking, swimming, and companionship.  It has been much quieter in the dorm today in their absence.

I am starting to recognize the incredible value of this three-week orientation.  Aside from the invaluable information and questions being shared by our facilitators and Kenyan teachers, we are developing close bonds with our fellow missionaries, forming community in a place where we will need it most.  These people will be our support while we are in Africa – we share the same desire to serve in Africa (a pretty specific call!), the same anxieties and concerns, the same sacrifices of comfort, family and friends and home.  In a very short time, we have learned to recognize the now familiar faces as friends amidst the sea of strangers in which we are immersed.  We get it now – we need these folks.

In terms of our contact with local people, we have made a number of excursions into the community.  On Saturday, we walked into Machakos, the nearby town, for lunch and a little shopping. The picture above shows Logan with a group of Kenyan boys hamming for the camera.  Sunday, we divided into groups to visit several nearby churches.  We traveled on foot to an A.I.C. Church called Katisaa, a corrugated tin affair filled with plastic lawn chairs.  Quite austere, yet peopled with many beautiful Kenyan believers.  I was asked to introduce our group, consisting of American and British families, and was invited to play some music next Sunday.  It is a privilege to be welcomed so readily, and I am excited to return there.

While ABO is challenging in many ways – some kids and adults are ill with both stomach and respiratory ailments – it is showing itself to be a very valuable time that will prepare us well for our assignments in two weeks.  It will also make our arrival at RVA that much more sweet – as it now represents our home for the next while, and it is where our hearts will reside during our stay in Kenya.