Trip of a Lifetime

The trip to Eldoret, Kenya proved to be a fascinating experience. It was my first mission trip, so I didn’t really what to expect. The traveling was very interesting. Upon arriving to Nairobi, we had to take a bus to the conference hotel where we were staying. Driving through the city made me realize that I was in a third-world country. One of the gentlemen from the church showed us a slum and told us that the people selling things on the side of the road were trying to make a living. The hotel we stayed at was nice; they served us good food and treated us nicely. It was fun to meet the Romanians that we would be working with. Unfortunately, we were so jet lagged and dirty that I didn’t want to be “Miss Social.” Once I got cleaned up and got some sleep, I enjoyed getting to know the Romanians. The drive to Eldoret was so long, and I was so happy to finally get to our destination. The road was bumpy and rough, but we saw wildlife and beautiful scenery.

Eldoret was a relatively large city. Not too crowded, but it wasn’t clean, and there were homeless people around. I was looking forward to meeting my elder and getting to my sight to start setting up to preach. My elder was really nice; he is a biochemistry professor at the local university. He showed me the local church, and I was saddened by the look of the church. I prayed that I would be able to make a difference for the people of the church. We got the place set up, only to have to take it down and set it up at my official sight that next day. The people of the church were willing to help with anything they could, and I was so grateful. They were friendly and welcoming, and loved to be in my company. I enjoyed getting to know the youth and find out what their church life was like and what they thought of America.

Preaching was less of a challenge than I expected. I was nervous at first, but after a couple of sermons, I was good to go. It was dark outside and I could hardly see anyone in the crowd, so that helped. My biggest challenge with the sermons was making an altar call. I felt like no one wanted to come forward, but yet I knew I had to try. I talked to Dr. Ashworth about it and prayed about it, and I was able to make good altar calls if I put my mind to it and let God help. I was surprised at how my translator was able to bring them forward with his words better than mine. He was very talented and gave wonderful advice, and I felt blessed to have him as my translator.

During our mission work in Eldoret, and I had made a decision to get baptized. I wanted to completely give my life to God, and since trip was one of the things that spurred this desire, it seemed appropriate to be baptized there. It was fun to have the Romanians there and other witnesses that I had come to know on the trip. I was so happy to have Dr. Ashworth baptize me in the hotel swimming pool. I will never forget that moment.

I never thought I would be so sad to leave Eldoret. I had gotten to know the people of my church very well, and I was surprisingly miserable when it was the last Sabbath and I had to say goodbye. I made sure I got all my new friends’ email addresses and contact information so we could keep in touch. I took lots of pictures and wrote a journal so I would never forget my wonderful memories of my mission trip to Eldoret.