That's how I rolls! GANGSTAH!!

Sunday.

I slept like a champ last night. Which was good, since I didn't sleep the night before. I had my wake-up call set for 7am so that I would have time to eat some breakfast before heading out on our longest day yet.

It was pretty good, actually. The food here has simply been amazing! I can't wait to bring Laura to the most beautiful country that I've ever seen!

Anyway, Steve picked us up to get an armed escort and head back to Kibera. Luckily, our transport didn't skip out... as a matter of fact, we got TWO! George and Martin.

We arrived at Kibera for a worship service at the NCOC. I was very surprised up on our arrival. You see, they didn't explain to me that there aren't that many people in Kibera during the week, since a lot are at jobs in the city. I thought that yesterday was packed... boy was I wrong! There were AT LEAST 3 times the amount of people there! NUTS!

Not only were there a lot of people there... there were a lot of DRUNK people there!

Here, they brew kind of a homemade alcohol, called "Kumi Kumi." I'm not sure who introduced it to them, or how much it costs to make, but I do know that it's as strong as moonshine... maybe stronger!

We were driving up the main road in Kibera when I rather large man refused to move out of the road, since the truck was carrying white people. He then started stomping on and kicking the truck. He was not aware that there were two VERY LARGE, VERY ARMED soldiers in the truck with us....

He quickly found out..

Here's where I felt scared for the first time here.

Within an instant, George and Martin were out of the truck. Martin walked up to the drunk man and punched him in the head. Shortly there after, George grabbed the man and threw him in to the drainage system (for bodily waste) that runs through the street. They begin to kick his legs. I felt really bad for the drunk man.

George then held the mans leg as Martin broke it. My gut DROPPED! Steve then started to drive, saying "You don't need to see of this!" As we drove away, shots were fired.

I'm not sure if they shot in the air, at the man, or actually shot HIM... it was crazy.

Just after that, as we were driving further down the road there was a man on the side of the road with a few people standing around him. I thought that he was just a beggar. Come to find out, he was murdered last night and left in the street.

Just after THAT, we watched as four men carried a woman down the road. I'm not sure if she was dead or if she was sick or what. I would imagine that she was just sick, since they were running down the road with her.

Either way, probably more orphaned children now...

After seeing those three things, right in a row, I really wasn't too interested in getting out of the truck without our guards. But I said a little prayer, and headed out. Luckily, God brought me safely to the church, or 'chach' as they call it here... it's not Swahili, it's just bad English.

They told me that they have one service on Sunday's.. "Sweet." I thought to myself. However, they neglected to tell me that the service starts at 9am and ends around 2pm, usually. "Huh..." I then thought.

The service was UNREAL! I'm not really going to try to describe it in great detail, as no matter what I could say would do it any sort of justice. They just sang, and sang, and sang.... and whistled, and whistled, and whistled... and shrieked, and shrieked, and shrieked, for what seemed like forever. Just total abandonment! It was amazing.

I'm not exactly sure when, but towards the middle of the service Steve and Dougie B left to pick up David Diamond and his friend Sheila, from California. They returned with the pair during an amazing prayer time.

After the service was over, we went outside to speak with the people there. Mostly widows and orphans. I had a lot of really encouraging talks with some of the people there. In light of having nothing, they're all so full of joy for the things that they have. In just a couple days I've learned so much about humility and being thankful for the things that I have.

"God, I'm sorry for the things that I take for granted. Things that you've graciously given to me. Give me a spirit of humility. A spirit of thankfulness. A spirit of mercy and of grace."

We left the NCOC and headed on foot to the football (soccer) field. I thought to myself "Hakuna Matata," (that's right... it's not just a clever Disney song... it's a HUGE part of the African culture) "it shouldn't be that long of a walk.."

Yeah... right...

Try close to a mile... on a nonexistent road. A very small path that went through the "back-streets" of Kibera and was very rocky and uneven. I can't really explain what it was like to walk on that road... very difficult. Half of it was down-hill, which wasn't so bad, however the rest was all up-hill, rather steep at some points.

Here are some of the scenes along the way... evidently I was obsessed with something:

We finally made it to the top of the city. It's hard to tell from the picture just how big Kibera is, but this is what the city looks like from the outside.

I met a really cool local named Dickens. He's a musician. Trying to make it as a rapper, which as you may image is next to impossible to do in Kibera. We talked for a long while. He's quite educated, very well spoken, and incredibly talented. I'm not sure why he's stuck there in the slums.

Dickens makes some really cool jewelry that I hope to get my hands on before I leave. I know that Kelsey and Haley would LOVE them... and to be honest, I wouldn't mind some either! I've just gotta get him to make some "mkubwa" size... haha.

Anyway... we're at the top of the hill (in Maasai it's called a "Ngong", however the "N" is silent...) and played soccer with the kids. Boy can they run! Their speed, power, and endurance is unearthly!

The NCOC started up a small league there for the youth of Kibera. There are two captains and two teams. It's not really big yet, as you can see from this group photo,but they are growing very well!

They play really hard... and so far, it's really been the only place that I've seen them really happy.

I just wish that somebody else would've had a camera with them... y'all probably would've laughed if you saw a picture of Mwebamba playing soccer with these kids.

They were so honored and appreciative that we took the time to watch and cheer them on!

Anyway... back to the Security Office - Kibera Division to drop George and Martin off. They told me that I was "all right" and that I was welcome in their country whenever I want. Which was a pretty big honor, as Martin (the leg-breaker) didn't care much for white people... especially Americans!

They also let me get a picture.. finaly Martin relaxed and smiled, but then George put his serious face one!

From there we dropped Dave and Sheila off at their hotel (they're staying at this wicked nice place in the city) and we were off to the Guesthouse at around 5:30pm for a shower and some writing. (I would've rather posted... but, as usual, the net is down... again...)

A nap would've been nice as well, however Steve was right back at 6:30 to drive the 4 of us to Trattoria again. Food was amazing... again. I'm not sure if Dave really knows how much things are there. When we told him that tip was optional, and we've been giving tips every time, he tipped our waiter like 30usd .. which is almost 4500ksh ... a HUGE some of money!

Oh well... our waiter was super happy, and VERY appreciative.

I love the culture here... I love the people here... I love the land here... Even the ground, the trees and the sky seem to welcome you here. I asked Steve if people treated us so well because we're Americans, and he told me "no." "It is like this all of the time." I believe him. This is an amazing place, and this has been an amazing adventure! I miss, very much, my wife (to be), my dog, my family, and my friends, so I'm MORE THAN anxious to come home... however, I'm going to be a little sad to leave.

I pray that I will get the chance to come back here soon, and to take Laura as well. There are already great tales of "Jua" floating around the city.

It's just past midnight (local) and I'm kind of wrecked. Although we were only out from 9am-5:30pm, we got a lot done in that time. I'm still jet-lagged, and it's still hard to sleep... so I will try my hardest to crash right now.

We're back out at 9am tomorrow to spend our last day in Kibera. We're going to film the school in Kibera in the morning and then the feeding program in the afternoon. Another short, but packed day!

I love you ... (especially YOU!)

S

Sneak Peack into Monday's post:
**Stay tuned to find out how this little boy changed my life forever!