Mombasa!

(I emailed in a post yesterday, but apparently it did not come through. I'll try to retrieve it later.)

I’m in Mombasa at an Internet Café. I had intended to write this up on the plane from Nairobi to Mombasa, but I got into an interesting conversation with a Kenyan. It was the first conversation with a non-Christian I’ve had since arriving, and I enjoyed our interaction immensely. When the conversation turned personal, I discovered what all of us all know – culture and individuals are all different, but at the heart level the same problems and struggles exist. I was able to pray with him before the plane landed, and he asked me to keep in touch, giving me his business card and saying he needed someone to help him get back to God, but someone who would not try to be his God.

Mombasa, as many Kenyans told me, is much more laid back than Nairobi. It’s hot and humid, but I feel more at ease here. I know that much of that has to do with my friend Festus and his family. How wonderful to see the face of a known brother, be welcomed by his hug and brought into his home. Grace, his wife, carries her name well, and their children have filled up some of my longing for Jesse and Georgia.

I preach tomorrow at the third of three services at the cathedral in the diocese of Mombasa. Please keep praying for me. I have not been able to phone Leslie or receive email from her, so I don’t know how things are at home. Continue to pray for them as well.