Youth Kenya Trip, Day 1 at Bondeni Church

We arrived in Kenya on Saturday night after spending Friday in London because of a cancelled flight.

Day 1 by Ella Reeder
The day started off fine with a lovely little breakfast the people had made for us. Thankful for them very much, making sure we stay safe and have clean water to drink. Things look a lot different during the day time now, compared to last night coming in. I could see everything on the ground, a bunch of walls and wires surrounding every building imaginable. Hard to believe how much security there has to be just for others safety. The trash on the ground doesn’t bother me much. It’s honestly not the worse. A lot of big cities in America I could easily compare the trash to. One of the most noticeable differences is the way everyone drives and their roads. A lot of bumps and close calls, but somehow they still manage to dodge one another. As we’re arriving to the Mathare Slum, I honestly had no specific expectations. The waste was a definitely worse here. The smell was tolerable, almost like just rotten apple juice or so. Worship was very different compared to what I normally see every Sunday. Their passion was the spark to different perspectives. Not saying we don’t have any, but it’s a lot more clear how much more open they are about it. Even I, myself don’t always feel as comfortable with expressing my love for God while singing or dancing with other watching. But the thing is, they aren’t, because they’re too busy worshipping with pure joy in their hearts. Something I hope to learn and understand more during this trip. Their worships also last over 2hrs so I will never complain about ours going over an hour ever again😭. But it honestly didn’t feel that long. The more open I was to just experiencing the present, the faster the time flew by. I had nothing else on my mind than being there to worship God with others. Afterwards I got to meet Joy for the first time. She seemed almost like me. Shy but sweet the more you got to know her. I do hope to create a friendship there. Cause while we are the ones sponsoring her and helping her in ways, she has helped my family in many ways as well. The way my moms face just glows, (even in her tears of joy😉) it’s clear how much of an impact Joy has on us as well. After that we shopped around some. Bargaining is always fun for me, but maybe because I don’t like paying full price for anything lol. Overall a really good first day and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has planned.

More pictures from today: