Arrived in Kenya!

Thursday, July 30th 2009
We are writing you from 33,000 feet flying over the Sahara Desert toward Nairobi, Kenya. I am not sure when I will be able to post this blog entry as internet access may not be available where we are staying. We left Amsterdam this morning at 10am. We stayed in Amsterdam for the past couple days having what my cousin Zach affectionately calls a pajama day at a Hotel in Amsterdam. Mariella and I were recovering from a long day in London.
On Monday we caught a 6am bus from Cambridge to Victoria Station, London (2 hr. journey). We grabbed a coffee across from Big Ben (the clock) and of course took some photos. We walked to Westminster Abbey then to St. James Park that leads to Buckingham Palace. We grabbed a spot against the gate an hour and a half before the changing of the guard. Luckily the rain let up a half-hour into the waiting. The changing of the guard was entertaining with a lot of pomp. The marching bands played Michael Jackson songs as the guard changes took place. There were thousands of people watching the event. We ate our typical lunch, peanut butter sandwiches in-front of the palace. From there we walked to the very large British Museum where we viewed the Rosetta Stone and huge sections of the Parthenon. I am not sure why the Parthenon pieces have not been returned to Greece.
After a few hours we walked back to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong service. We walked over Charles Darwin’s grave as we took a seat for the service. It was beautiful to hear the choir sing songs, psalms and hymns during the service. Sweet sounds from the soul floated through the abbey. After the service we walked over the Thames River to the London Eye for an afternoon view of the City then rushed to Victoria station to catch the 8pm bus back to Cambridge. As we left we passed the construction site of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. It was an action packed exhausting day.
We arrive in Nairobi a couple days before our friends from a church we used to attend, Ecclesia Hollywood arrive. During our first week we will be spending time with elementary aged kids from the slum of Kibera. We will be playing games, doing skits, reading God’s word, talking about the love, freedom, joy and saving grace of Jesus, doing arts and crafts, eating and loving on great kids. The second week we will meet up with our Kenyan friends who run a ministry to teens called Ghetto Light. We will keep you updated the best we can depending on internet access. We would value your prayers as we spend a month in East Africa.
We arrived safely to Kenya and are staying with the Mbugua family in Karen.

Saturday 8/1/09
Today we attended a large wedding 10:30-4:30. Now we are preparing for the arrival of the rest of the team from Los Angeles.

Please view the following blog for more frequent updates about what is going on with the Kenya Kids Camps.

http://ecclesiakenya2009.blogspot.com/