Hump Day

Today has been another roller coaster. I woke up feeling crummy. Last night, yesterday, and the night before, I've had a sore throat and other cold symptoms. I've also been having diarrhea for two straight weeks so it was about time to get that checked out too. Mama Faith has been giving me Dowa to help minimize my symptoms. Dowa is boiled ginger, garlic, and honey all mixed together to form a tea. It tastes better than I thought it would but didn't quite do the trick. I went to the church long enough to teach the staff fellowship and then I returned home to the manse so Mama Faith could drive me to the hospital to see the doctor. 

The doctor is one of our Parish members and was very kind. After evaluating my throat and testing a stool sample, he sent me on my way with two medications that should help with my ailments. Apparently I have a microorganism growing in my digestive system. It is in the water, vegetables, fruits, starches and meats (aka my entire diet) so getting it was inevitable. Kenyans have a natural immunity to it since they have been consuming it for generations, but it tends to get to foreigners. I have to keep eating so I'll continue eating the microorganism too. The doctor is going to monitor me closely over the next few weeks before I head home. The silver lining? I've lost a significant amount of weight with my diet change here and all of the above costed a whopping $23. Woo hoo!  

After returning home and taking tea with my Kenyan siblings, I took my first round of medicine. Then I returned to the church to continue the day. We ended up doing two motorbike blessings. Whenever folks have new vehicles, homes, or anything else of major value, the pastor prays a blessing over it. It is a way to acknowledge God's provision and dedicate said items for the Lord's work. Two of our bus drivers had just purchased motorbikes so that they can go to their hometowns without having to take public transport. We all laid hands on the motorbikes and took turns praying over them. After that, I taught the Teaching Staff Fellowship. I was not as prepared as I had hoped to be thanks to all the illness, so I reused a lesson I had already taught. I wasn't feeling to good about it, but God used my unpreparedness for good. After the fellowship, Teacher Edith requested to speak to me privately because she was inspired by the lesson. She opened up to me about sensing a call to ministry. A few years back, Edith went through the interview process to become a Minister in the PCEA. However, the PCEA only allows a certain number of people to be ordained each year (I think this is mostly because they pay for all of your theological education expenses). Edith made it to the final round of interviews, but was ultimately not chosen to become a Minister. She hopes to go through the process again in the next round of interviews. She had been feeling discouraged and wanted to hear more about my experiences. She hasn't seen a female preacher in a while and was interested in hear more about how I got to where I am. It is very difficult to be (or become) a woman in ministry here so I did my best to be encouraging in our conversation. I prayed over her and her ministry before she went back to her classroom. Then, I got some much appreciated downtime! I also got an early birthday package from Kaylyn, Bernard, and Mama Mercuri. There were lots fun goodies in that and fortunately all the contents cleared customs! Plus, surprise cards from Rebecca and Leah too. which definitely put a smile on my face. I love that my best friends from different phases of my life coordinated such a special surprise together. These treats came at the perfect moment and made me feel so loved. 

We spent the evening doing a fellowship at Elder Gladwell's home. It was a small, but faithful bunch in attendance. I heard Pastor George preach the fellowship sermon for the eighth time since I've been here. We sang lots of traditional Kikuyu hymns I didn't know and then had snacks at the end. Aaaannnnnddd now I'm off to bed because I'm pooped both literally and figuratively. ~ Nell in Nairobi