As Chris wrote, we were without “moto” (fire, slang for electricity) here last week. A day or two in the dark isn’t too bad … but by day 5 we were struggling because everything with batteries was dead, too. Eating by candle-light may be romantic, but cooking and washing dishes by candlelight can be disastrous! So, Friday afternoon, a bit spontaneously, we packed up our backpacks with a change of clothes and as many electronics as we could hold (laptop, phones, AA battery charger, AAA battery charger …!). Since our phones and computer were dead we had no way to contact any friends or hotels, so we just set off to town, hoping we could stop by our host’s house in Mombasa to plug in and look up a place to stay. By 5:30 pm we were on the phone with hotels on the south coast, since we had not yet visited the area and thought we might as well use this opportunity. After booking the cheapest (but still decent) room we could find, our host informed us that they actually wouldn’t recommend trying to cross the ferry at rush hour because of the crowds and security. Well, we decided to take a risk, and managed to arrive at the ferry right as they were closing the gate. We safely and quickly traveled there (and back) without incident or loss of anything – God really watched over us.
We managed to get to our hotel before dark via multiple forms of public transportation and then just crashed for the night in an air-conditioned room. The hotel was quite decent for what we paid, and was just blocks from the beach. We didn’t spend much time at the beach, though; it was covered in seaweed and persistent trinket-sellers, so we took advantage of the power to have a “working weekend” of lesson planning, email responding, local phone calling, international calls on Skype, and just a little DVD-watching.
While the whole weekend was nice, a few serendipitous “mini-adventures” made it great. Saturday afternoon we went for a long walk to a grocery store we had seen … only to find out it was still “coming soon.” On the way back we gazed at the road-side kibandas (huts) that sell paintings, figurines, and kangas. After debating about getting a painting (we have wanted one for a while), I expressed that I wished there was a painting of coastal women, not just Masai women, since we wanted something that represents the people that we know here. The artist said he could paint one, so we commissioned the first painting we’ve ever owned!
On Saturday we had passed a sign for a church, and the artist said that he went there and the service was in English. So, Sunday morning we attended the Word of Life Fellowship Church in Diani, and it was awesome! It’s hard to describe … the grounds and building were the quintessential mix of Swahili style and modern but without any pretension, the small congregation was extremely friendly and welcoming, the worship which mixed Swahili and English was gorgeous and genuine, and the preaching was Biblical and heartfelt. God really spoke to me through his word and the message on Philemon (“PHIL-a-mon” they say). There were a couple American missionaries and a few Germans associated with the church, but otherwise it was very Kenyan and welcomed people from town and villages alike. It was great to see God working in this community and we were glad to be a part of it for one day.
We went away for the weekend to recharge our batteries – literally AND figuratively! – and as we returned home I was contemplating the ways in which I had been asking God for power. The service ended with a prayer that said, “God, there is no power … other than your power.” Chris and I both laughed a bit, but I think I had come to the conclusion that the weekend was going to have a happy ending whether or not there was power when we returned to Ribe. In fact, I felt God used this uncomfortable situation to bring us closer to him … so we were happily (ecstatically?) surprised when, 30 minutes before we would arrive home, we receive a text message from our host saying power was back! Hallelujah! A happy ending that included power was yet a little happier.
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