September 14th, 2009

Disappearing Road

Just as the sun was setting last evening I arrived back home in Kijabe, exhausted by the long drive back from Board meetings at Kaimosi Hospital. The drive itself had been longer than usual because an accident had caused the main road to be closed. Traffic had been diverted onto an alternate route that was so old and unused that after a few kilometers it disappeared – literally – into the hard dry ground of the rain-starved African bush. Distant plumes of dust marked other vehicles trying to find their way towards anything that might resemble another road.

After fifteen or twenty minutes of chasing dust clouds cross-country and finding a series of vehicles that were just as clueless as I was about how to find a road, I finally spied a thread of traffic half-way up a distant escarpment. A few vehicles with high clearance and 4-wheel drive could be seen making their way up the escarpment towards the slowly moving traffic. I joined them in my trusty Nissan X-Trail (aptly named!) and eventually succeeded in reaching the remains of a narrow and twisty road that looked like it had been built by the ancient Romans. But thank God it was at least a road!

The road finally broadened and straightened as it reached the outskirts of Gilgil, where over 20 years ago I had had another travel-related adventure. I have never forgotten Gilgil in all this time, and I’m sure that after this Gilgil will always be associated in my mind with unusual travel experiences. At Gilgil I was able to find my way back to the main road and from there I completed the journey home uneventfully.

As I was gratefully unpacking my luggage from the car, a Korean missionary family serving in Yemen arrived at our house, having been invited to dinner by Hope and Josiah. Their son is one of Josiah’s best friends at RVA, and their mission in Yemen was the one recently targeted by terrorists. The parents only arrived in Kijabe this past Friday, and the family is still processing the recent tragic events. So many questions remain unanswered, but that’s another story. Perhaps we’ll be able to share it some day.

Meanwhile please continue to pray for us. Pray for our ministry not only to sick patients at Kijabe, but also to colleagues who need encouragement, care and emotional healing. Pray for our own sustained health, and for the continuation of God’s watch-care over us whenever we travel. Thanks!