Crossing the Equator

One of the things that always startles me when I return home from abroad is the amount of daylight here in Canada. Often I’m home in the summer and every night I stand and marvel that the sun is still up at nine pm. When I arrived home on Thursday, it was the opposite, I looked into the darkness and marveled that it was not yet six! At the equator, the daylight never changes: there’s always 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. Kenya, where I just spent three weeks, is right on the equator. In fact, during my trip I’ve crossed the equator on land for the first time.

I crossed the equator while driving from the capital city of Nairobi to the western city of Kitale. On the way, the scenery was breathtaking! And we were happy to be in a private vehicle too as that allowed us to stop and photograph the view as well as the zebra herds and baboons.

The people were just as incredible as the scenery: friendly, hospitable, and incredibly welcoming! I spent much of my time working with the kids. Since there were multiple lessons going on, the kids and their teachers often ended up in the fields. It made it just a bit more challenging to teach while avoiding the cows and their droppings.

It wasn’t just the churches that welcomed us, but also the people in the communities. On two afternoons we held open-air meetings in the market square. One old man told me, “Greet your families, greet your friends, and greet your communities from us here in Kenya. We are glad you came. Come again!” 

It was an unexpected pleasure to meet up with cousins in Nairobi as we were leaving. Rhonda Hilman and her family live in Kenya as does Heidi Knowles (Matson). Here we have six Matson cousins (four of them also being Hilman cousins) and there were two more if you count Rhonda’s kids! 

I’m now home in rainy BC...and despite the rain and the short days I'm happy that I get to be home for Christmas!