Jambo! Melissa here. Our time here is wrapping up but God has increasingly demonstrated his love and mercy with each passing day. We kicked off our Saturday morning with a trip to the local market with some of the CLA (the 18+ leadership academy) girls. After bargaining our way through, we rode back to the cafe in bajajis (that’s what they call taxis here). The day’s main adventure took us to a local mountain village to start our hike up a side of Kilimanjaro. Many of our team members took some slips and falls down the muddy landscape. Thankfully, we had some amazing guides lead and help us along the way. After the arduous trek snaking around narrow and muddy trails, we finally made it to our destination: the amazing Materuni waterfall! The view was definitely worth the hike! While some of us ate lunch sitting on the rocks, a couple of us decided to take a chance in swim in the freezing cold water. Definitely an experience for the books! On our way back, we joined the Coffee Boys (the local coffee makers!) and regained our strength with a freshly brewed cup of Arabica coffee.
After a night’s rest, we met some of the girls from our organization for a Sunday church service. After a beautiful worship session, the pastor started preaching from Matthew 16:13-19. He explored the question of “Who is Jesus to you?” and explained how important it is to have a genuine, personal relationship with Christ. After church, we had time to go back to the hotel and rest until dinner time. We had a pizza dinner at the cafe and spent some time with the CLA girls and their babies. We ended the night with a powerful worship and testimony session with our very own musician, PJ, joined by pastors J and B. To top it off, we circled around some bonfires and treated the girls with good ole fashioned s’mores (with a sweet African flair of course!)
The Lord has been more than good and His faithfulness has never been clearer. Our time spent with the girls and staff has truly been a gift to us! We can’t wait to share what happens over the next couple of days as we wrap up and prepare for our return to the States. Please continue to pray, first and foremost for the what God is doing at this organization and in all of our hearts. We love and miss you all! Tutaonana baadye rafiki! (See you soon friend!)
-Melissa
