Hello all!

Well our last day of ministry here in Kenya was finished up yesterday. Next month we will be half way through the race! craziness! I wanted to share a few random stories with you all before we leave for Rwanda.

We have our 5th month debrief this week. On the third we have the opportunity to go on a safari!! I was not gonna because I don’t really have the finances to go. The safari costs $115 and I couldn’t really justify spending that amount of money…especially when I still need $3,000 to be fully funded for the race. I was telling my best friend about the safari and how some of the squad was going (I didn’t realize that everyone was going!) I told her it was no big deal and I didn’t mind not going (really…I didn’t mind). I got an email the next morning from her telling me that she had a client from 3 years ago who never paid her. He just skipped out on the bill. He paid her that day….and it was $115…exactly! So she put the money in my bank account so I could go on the safari on the 3rd! God cares about the little things.

This one is a different kind of story…we were walking through downtown Nairobi headed to get a matatu (local transportation…like a 14 passenger van but way more ghetto!..it’s awesome!) We stopped to get an ice cream cone and order pizza for our dinner on the way back through. I needed to go to the bathroom real bad! I headed upstairs and went in. As I finshed I heard voices come in the bathroom…only the voices were much deeper than typical female voices. I stopped in my tracks and prayed….Dear Lord, please let me be in the women’s room….please let me be in the women’s room! After a few seconds I couldn’t hear anything…so I peeked out the stall. I saw no one and decided to make a quick getaway just in case..as I was leaving my stall, a man walked into the restroom. We both froze…I looked at him and said…uh…this isn’t the women’s room is it….to which he replied…nope…next door! Now I’m sure you’re thinking how in the world did I not notice the large urinal when I walked in! Well…I did…but being on the race has taught me many things. One of those is that there are many unisex restrooms in Asia. Seeing a urinal in the women’s restroom never even phased me lol.

I have had a couple of donations on my account this week!! yay!!! I received a $200 donation from an anonymous giver a few days ago…If you are that anonymous person and you are reading this…THANK YOU! I also received a donation from a friend I have not had the opportunity to see in quite some time. She is one of my favorite people back in Dallas. Andrea, I’m praying we get to visit sometime when I get back from the race. Thank you to everyone else who has been praying and sending in donations…I’m getting closer to being fully funded!! I have 6 weeks to raise the rest of my funds! I know that God is faithful and He will make a way!
Yesterday we had a birthday party for our Kenyan friends here at the church.  It came to us as a surprise a few weeks ago that most Kenyans do not know their birthday…or even their age sometimes!! They go look at their birth certificates to know when they were born lol.  So we threw them all a party…it was awesome! We had pizza, birthday hats, balloons, the chicken dance, and even cake.  It was great!

Anyhow friends…I hope you have all had a wonderful first month of this new year! I know I did! Not sure what the internet will look like in Rwanda but I’m sure I’ll talk to you all soon.

�@

Much love from Kenya!

Michelle