Kenyans are contagious.

Beginning with the Kenyan Airways flight from Bangkok to Nairobi through to the family we’re living with this month in Eldama Ravine, each Kenyan I’ve come across – flight attendant, hostel staff, cab driver, coffee shop worker, church member – has left me with the same impression.

JOY.

An infectious, contagious joy that transcends circumstances.   During a house visit the other day, I was considering this while asking the Lord if He had anything specific He wanted me to share with the couple we were visiting. And this is what I believe He said:

“I have uniquely blessed the nation of Kenya with this unspeakable joy. It is My joy. And I am going to use their nation to personify it throughout the world. Kenya will be the center of My joy flowing out to the nations.”

I kind of shared this with Heron, the husband, and he got a big smile on his face. “I thank you for that,” he said. And I believe he wasn’t just talking to me. 

Even at home, as they take showers with ice cold water, sit in a lantern lit room ’cause the power’s out again and hike up a (small) mountain to pee in a cement hole, there is always singing or laughter or chatter coming from within the walls of the house, as well as, around the neighborhood.


So, I guess it really isn’t Kenyans who are contagious, but rather the joy of the Lord in the Kenyans. 

Regardless, I hope to catch the infection.