We're home!

The past two weeks have been filled with excitement, blessings and anticipation as we prepared for the long journey back to Canada. As we posted earlier, we spent 3 wonderful days with the Harbour Team in the Masaai Mara National Reserve Park where we saw nearly all of Kenya's "Big 5" - elephants, lions, giraffes, rhinos and leopards. The only animal we didn't get to see was the elusive leopard, but Taryn was lucky enough to have already seen one when she went to the Nakuru Game Park Reserve with the January Team.

When we got back to PACE, we hit the ground running as Ryan had unfinished work in the computer department, and Taryn was busy organizing the school resources (especially for art and P.E.) and packing up. Last Friday, Taryn and the team from Harbour partnered with 30 women from Wachira's church for a trip to Maralal in Samburu province to build another church. The team thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and we imagine that they had some of the same feelings that we had the first time we experienced the amazing Samburu people! While Dave and Frank were busy hammering in nails, Taryn and Kathy danced and sang with the Samburu women. Poor Eddie wasn't feeling well, so he spent much of the day recovering in the van; Cam had a hoot playing soccer with the local kids.

(Dave and Frank: Two hard working men!)


(Taryn and Kathy: Samburu women!)


(Eddie and Cam: Going bananas over camels and kids!)


(The whole team and Sunday church service)

Before leaving PACE on Monday afternoon, the school held a sending-off ceremony for us and the team. We all shared how our time together had impacted us and we graciously accepted their parting gifts. Saying our goodbyes wasn't easy - some tears were shed - but we left with many fond memories that we'll hold on to forever.

Here are some of our favourite moments, lessons learned, and "God moments" from our 6-month journey to Kenya:

* Being welcomed and embraced by the PACE community as a brother and sister.
* Building friendships with some of the finest people we have ever met and we are already looking forward to the next time we will get to greet them in person!
* Our random trips to Nairobi - We would call our friend, Julia, and ask, "Do you have any plans this weekend?" And her response was always, "You should come and hang out for a few days." Julia is naturally gifted in hospitality and servanthood, and we were blessed by her kindness and friendship many times over.
* Wachira's many sayings and "Wachiraisms" - Anyone who knows Wachira should know what we're talking about. If you don't know him, you'll just have to go to Kenya to meet him!! He's more than just a person - getting to know Wachira is a grand experience.
* The mission trips to Maralal and Kakamega - While being some of our favourite experiences overall, these trips helped us forge friendships and gave us some important perspectives on both the diversity of the Kenyan people and of the tremendous spiritual and physical needs that exist in Kenya.
* The 12 hour bus ride from Nairobi to Nyahururu ... it was our first experience with the reality that time can be irrelevant in Kenya and that "life happens along the way." P.S. For anyone thinking of going to serve with PACE, it only takes 3 hours to get to Nyahururu - we just had an adventure with a bus that randomly lost both of its batteries along the highway.

Thanks for following along and supporting us in our journey!

Now that we are back in the land of speedy internet, stay tuned for more picture updates .... !