10 o'clock in the morning on Sunday May 4th, we left our hotel in Eldoret, Kenya for the airport. Yet another car ride with three of us crammed into the back of a compact car. It would be fine for three young African children, but for three grown men, it's anything but comfort. How the driver navigates his way through the quagmire of city chaos in Kenya is incomprehensible. Add to the traffic a swarming sea of people pushing their way along the sides of the road and you wonder why there are not more fatalities. Actually we have not seen a single accident thus far. Certainly that must be another indication of what theologians call "God's common grace". God's grace extended to both the righteous and unrighteous whether in the rising of the sun or the sending of rain, as Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:45.
At the airport we utilized our waiting time by helping Matt Miranda with a video interview of Ken Onywoki. During the past days together we realized Ken had some valuable insights to share with other national and regional directors of the Romans Project. This is exactly the reason Matt came on this trip. Both Ken and Matt did an excellent job. Recording was completed before take off from Eldoret to Nairobi, and Matt completed editing the nine minute video, comprised of ten short clips, before we boarded the plane in Nairobi later that night for Kigali, Rwanda. And keep in mind that this was a travel day in Africa.
We arrived in Nairobi around 1:00 pm. Ken had the daunting task of transporting us across Nairobi to collect additional luggage and then back to the airport, before he had to leave on a trip to another city by 3:00 pm. Needless to say, it didn't work out as originally planned. Traffic was so bad that we didn't make it back until 6:00 pm, though we did add a short detour to see where he and his wife, Claire, live with their three children. Not only does traffic work against you, but so do the neighborhood roads just off the main thoroughfares. The pounding that both man and machine take from driving on neighborhood roads in Africa is a harrowing experience. And that is putting it mildly.
At this point we have been traveling for eight solid hours. Ah, but finally we are back at the airport; only to wait another five and a half hours before we board our flight to Kigali, Rwanda. I will say that "Kenya Airways - The Pride of Africa" goes the extra mile to pamper their customers. Rick assured Matt and me that these flights always have a warm meal. And sure enough they did. We had breakfast in Eldoret at 8:00 am, lunch at Ken's place outside of Nairobi around 3:00 pm, and finally dinner on Kenya Airways about 12:30 am today, May 5th. We arrived in Kigali at 12:30 am, 15 minutes after take-off from Nairobi - with an hour time zone change in midair. That's just another aspect that goes along with travels; remembering where you are, and what time it is.
Albert Mabasi, our Rwandan host and coordinator of three Roman Projects over the next five days, met us in front of the airport with a kind smile and firm handshake. "Welcome to Rwanda!"
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