Sunday night we met with John and Melissa (Barnett) Eager who were also staying in the Moffat Guest House.  Dr. Dixon made the connection that Melissa is a Messiah alum and grew up in Kijabe.  They have been missionaries in Tanzania for the past 14 years and shared with us their experience and story.

After a not so restful night for Sarah and Meagan, we quickly felt ready for the day after pancakes, eggs, and fruit for breakfast.  After, the women (and Matt) hit the town of Kijabe learning about the history and geography.  We started at the printing press that was very relevant due to one of our readings that highlighted its importance due to its impact on the people. We continued our walk and saw three hospitals, a boys’ high school, and then made our way to the local shops. Our favorite shop was the farmers market that had produce, jewelry, knick knacks, wood carvings, and clothing.

We then found ourselves at an outlook of the Rift Valley and saw four volcanoes (one of which we will hike later). (Yes, mom, I will have my inhaler – Meagan). Rift Valley is the biggest valley in the world and goes all the way to the Sea of Galilee. We got to see Mai Mahiu from the outlook as well. This is where we will be spending our time tomorrow. Besides the printing press, the railroad was another key topic in the reading that we got to see in person. Although the railroad is not there anymore, we were able to stand were the tracks used to be and discussed how the railroad and later the highway negatively impacted Mai Mahiu. 

As we started to journey back to the guest house, we made one more stop at a graveyard that held many of the area’s early missionaries as well as Kenyans.  This was very interesting because a lot of Christians talk about giving their lives to Christ, but many of these early missionaries came to Kenya with a very hard understanding that they wouldn’t return home.  

Once we returned to the guest house, we had a wonderful lunch and talked with Isaac about his missions operation, Rift Valley Hope in Mai Mahiu. RVH will be where our time will be spent tomorrow, along with meeting with families and hearing their stories. 

(P.S. Sarah and Meagan wrote this in a hammock outside the guest house and loved every bit of it.)