Safari and team stuff

Hey everybody. I should start by saying that Maggie and I were racing for about a second until I realized that I actually didn't have internet access. That's why she beat me by so much. Anyway, onto the blog post...

Those of us who weren't involved in vision talks today spent the morning on a little safari in Nairobi National Park--the only national park in the WORLD located in a city! The entrance looked kind of like the entrance to a zoo, but once we got past that, it was all African Savannah. It was pretty cool to be in the middle of a savannah surrounded by wildlife and still see the Nairobi skyline on the horizon. Our driver Anthony drove us throughout the park and helped us find all sorts of wildlife. Some of the animals we got to see up close and in person (and in their natural habitat) include giraffes, rhinoceroses, the eye of a hippopotamus, ostriches, gazelles, monkeys, baboons, crocodiles, water buffalo, wildebeests, warthogs, zebras, impalas, and a lion from a distance. I could keep trying to explain this in words, but it'd probably be better to just let the pictures at the bottom of the post do the talking.

After safari and lunch, we joined the rest of the group back at Kijiji. We spent about an hour and a half individually praying and reflecting on our week. After that, we got together and had a group debriefing session. We talked about what we learned about God, what we learned about ourselves, and what we learned about each other (the team members will be glad to talk to you about these lessons when we get back). We spent a while at the end of our debriefing session sharing encouraging words about each other. It was really cool to be a part of this time of lifting each other up and sharing what stood out to us this week. It was extra cool because my wife had just come across Hebrews 3:13 earlier in the day: "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." I think I speak for everyone when I say how great it has been to get to know the Beacon staff, the people in Bissil and Machakos, the ladies from the Rongai home visits, and the Blackhawk team over the past week. God has truly blessed us on this trip!

Enough mushy stuff...on to safari pictures. Enjoy!

-Craig