Hello Friends:

We are leaving in few minutes for church in Narok, Kenya. After the service we will venture out to the bush to share in a little Masaai Church. I am so excited to get back to this place, because we had a precious time there a month ago. This place is such a contradiction. I was watching Masaai dancers a while ago. The were in full Masaai dress and after they finished singing the lead singer was directing people to her Facebook and Twitter accounts. What a deal.

Blessings to you back home
Richard

BELOW IS ANOTHER WORD FROM LAURRA: ENJOY

Good Morning Friends & Family!
It’s 4:30am Sunday morning. I’m writing to you from a Masai region in Kenya in the town of Narok. It rained buckets last night–with raindrops as fat a peanut MnM’s falling from the sky & soaking everything in moments. Then came the flying termites–I took a video because it was surreal–thousands of enormous bugs flying in circles everywhere we walked–losing their 2 inch wings & dropping to the ground, covering it with crawling versions of their flying selves. They didn’t desire to climb on me, so I wasn’t bothered. I heard someone say they bugs were a sign it would be sunny today, which would be great since we’re going out into the African bush to Masai country. The dirt roads & paths turn into a muddy mess that is difficult to navigate in the rains, so I hope that theory is correct.

We left Nairobi yesterday in the afternoon, although we were ready to go earlier. Kenyan time is a relaxed time & the only way to enjoy & appreciate life here is to let the type A, first world, American style time clock go. It’s pretty nice to do that actually–give yourself a free pass to be late, to linger, to engage in “being in the moment”. Anyway, we arrived in Narok a bit behind schedule if we were keeping one.

We met with Lucy, a 58 year old Masai woman who at 14, ran through the African bush to escape her betrothment to a 60 year old man in her village. She ran & hid in the bush knowing that lions may find & attack her, and that her own family members would search for her & if they found her would beat her & drag her back. She ran knowing that she had to risk all of those possibilities because something inside her pushed & compelled her to be free.

Lucy retained her freedom & has spent her entire adult life rescuing Masai girls. Through the years she has hidden many girls in her home, helped them get educated. Lucy has taught them that the knowledge they have inside their hearts that they are not their father or their husband to be’s property is the truth.

The Masai tribe is the people group you see in National Geographic that are usually very tall, they wear red robes wrapped around them, & they can jump really high. They are nomadic herders, practice female circumcision, and marry off their daughters very young in exchange for cattle. The cow is the central part of their lives. They drink the cow’s blood & milk & eat the meat & that’s the mainstay of their diet.

Today we will head into the bush to Lucy’s church, where the Masai in the region who are Christian worship weekly. We are bringing the Days for Girls kits & we are so excited to teach the girls how to use them. Lucy was absolutely enthusiastic about the kits, telling us that the girls use leaves and rip off parts of their clothes during that time of the month among other practices. They are very poor, completely uneducated, and to have their own kit will give them more than just sanitation. It will acknowledge them as important. It will empower them.

I’m going to try & get some more sleep before the day begins in a few hours.

Thank you so very much for your continued prayers. They are helping me so much. I also ask you to pray for Matt & the kids if you have the time. He’s really been so supportive & great while I’m on this journey!!

Thank you for being part of this & caring—I love your emails & appreciate your kind encouraging words!

God Bless you!!