all things equatorial

hey all-
sorry it's been a while since i posted (i know life in america just stops without news from me). everything is great. it really is. every day consists of washing dishes, teaching, and a lot of playing with kids. i wish there was some way to describe how great it is just to be with these kids.
i wish i could say that i'm having this huge impact,but i feel like they're changing me way more than i am affecting them. i've got to spend a lot of one on one time with a lot of the kids, and that has absolutely been the most rewarding aspect of this trip. the stories these kids have-they've endured more at the age of 8 than i probably ever will-and yet all they'll talk to you about is how great their life is, and how it's ok becasue their hope is in jesus. kids whose parents died of aids, whose parents are in jail, who were left for dead, abandoned, ignored,abused, and raped. but they're ok. they're more than ok, they're happy. and smart. and funny. and beautiful. and oh! and hearing them sing! holy freakin crap it's so cool. i think the only way to really get it is to come. so come. i'll come back with you.

speaking of amazing things, on wednesday and thursday, chad, jaime and i went on a safari. there's nothing in the world like the serengeti. i'm hopefully gonna post some pictures because there's no way i could describe it to you. i saw like 20 lions, even more giraffes, hippos, and elephants. i saw the world's most disgusting bird, some pumbaas, dic dics, impalas, and about a hundred zebras. it was incredible.

one thing that kept coming back to me was that i love how god isn't just about function. he's creative. i've been going through exodus and as the israelites leave egypt it seems like god just keeps trying to outdo himself. "yes i'll free you from slavery, but i'll also make sure you can bring all your possessions. and your livestock. and you'll leave with a bunch of valuables from the egyptians. yea they'll just give them to you. and i'll show everyone my awesome power and my protection over you through the plagues. and then i'll go before you in a cloud and a freakin pillar of fire. then i'm thinkin i'll part the red sea so you can walk across, and close it behind you to keep you safe and keep you moving. that not enough? ok i'll make water come from a rock and bread fall from the sky." he is not the god of the bare minimum. he's not just interested in results. he wants to take you there and blow your mind doing it. that thought kept coming back to me as i was looking at all the animals. they're just so beautifully unneccesary. so perfectly frivolous. i love it. god exists not only to preserve us but to excite us.

the other thing god was hitting me with (god has to hit me or i don't pay attention) is that the serengeti, in my mind the natural pinnacle of divine creativity, pales when compared with the cross. the solution to sin is the most ingenuitive miracle god has ever pulled off. he tempered justice with grace without compromising either aspect of his character. how sweet is that. that's it. everything else is just icing. icing with a fifteen foot neck and awesome coloring, but icing nonetheless.

street church is tomorrow. every sunday dave and kimberly and many others set up in the little town square in nakuru. they give out prayer and love and food. to be honest it was really hard for me last week. when the food starts to run out it can get violent, and we have to make sure that everyone gets some, and that one person doesn't take 6 plates. i had to shove hungry people away from food. sure, they've already had a serving but still, they're just hungry. this might be the only thing they've eaten for a couple of days. that just rocked me. it's so hard to be the only thing standing between a hungry man and food. the kids that show up street church- that's what gets you the most. they sniff glue all day to dull their hunger. it's really hard to watch. it's so hard to not get intimidated by the size of the problem. to just give up because the problem is too big. anyway, i'm the speaker for street church tomorrow. so pray for me. i'm really intimidated. pray for everyone's health, we're all feelin a little weird.


love you guys,
---kev

hey so i tried for like an hour to post some pictures but the internet is too slow. sorry. maybe wednesday.