Kenya

Last week, I flew to the coast of Kenya for the WorldVenture East Africa Spiritual Renewal Conference. All the WorldVenture missionaries from the East/Central Africa area – Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda –attended the conference, as well a few other missionaries from South Africa. There were close to 70 people in our group including all the children.

The entire week was wonderful. I don’t think I realized how much I needed this time of relaxation and renewal until I was actually there. The conference was held at a beachside hotel near a little town called Malinidi, which is just a bit north of Mombasa on the coast.

We had sessions every morning with teachings on the Psalms and Jeremiah brought to us through Pastor Brent Nelson, our guest speaker. Brent used to be a missionary in Uganda before he made the difficult decision to return to the states several years ago to become a pastor at his home church. After our morning sessions, the afternoons were free for us to enjoy the beach and to fellowship with one another. It was also a fantastic time of rest and relaxation. The beach was beautiful. Our hotel was also wonderful and provided great food and entertainment. I took the opportunity to learn how to windsurf! It was also a wonderful time to just reflect and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

The conference allowed us all the opportunity to get to know missionaries in other countries and learn about their ministries. Another excellent part of the conference was the ability for all the “mid-termers” to get together. There were about 10 people (including myself) in their mid- to late-20s. I think it was fun for us all to get together and to be able to fellowship with people our own age from our own culture.Thank you to those of you who were praying for me. With all the tasks for the project, as well as the insanity of Kampala, my life has been very busy and hectic lately. The week in Kenya was like a breath of fresh air that I, and many others, were desperately needing. The conference was indeed a spiritual renewing!