"O' A Camping We Will Go"

I have discovered that, when it comes to camping, boys in Kenya are no different than boys in America. Both are loud. Both will eat anything and everything in sight. Both have way too much energy and put it to use in ... well... less than intelligent ways (such as running around trying to smack each other in the face with glow sticks in the dark whilst declaring, "I'm Obi Wan Kenobi, you're Count Duku. Now let me cut your hands off!" hmm..., wonder where they got the Star Wars reference?) And both certainly don't have to be taught how to have fun.

Mount Longonot - standing on the rim and looking inside

So we went camping at Mount Longonot. This is a dormant volcano just outside of Nairobi. It's breath-takingly beautiful and it was the perfect spot for a 2-day camping trip with the Saint Boys. Dottie and Lindy were so awesome with helping prep meals for the experience and several other friends volunteered their tents. We went with 3 but ended up using only one. It was large enough to park a jet inside! (which helped when bodily emissions started coming from the boys end of the tent!)

Rusty, Frank, and I provided the "adult supervision" for the trip. What this means is that we were responsible for teaching them dumb jokes, ridiculous songs, and authorized to occasionally yell, "LION!!!!" when we were climbing up the mountain. Yeah, it was awesome. I love camping. Nothing is quite as nice as having your body covered in dirt, sweat, and the smell of smoke while trying to sleep on a cobblestone ground in -234º and trying to explain to boys who have lived outside in the streets why it's so much fun to travel to the middle of nowhere to sleep outside in the cold and eat food without any utensils (because we left those behind). What's not to love about that?

Like I said, boys do some "less than intelligent" things.

Well, Julius loved it! Dan kept asking if we could do it again next week. Chinji didn't want to go back to Nairobi and James... well... James likes everything. However, Patrick Thuku found one thing he did not like: being on top of the mountain! Yeah, he's afraid of heights! He just sat down on the edge of the rim of this crater whilst holding a small root. He refused to let go!

They practically ran up the mountain, all the way around the rim, and then back down the mountain! Did I ever have that much energy?

That's Chinji, Julius, and Johnny waiting for us near the top... waiting impatiently I might add.

During the evening, we had an awesome Bible Study on creation. We sat under a canopy of radiant stars that screamed God's sovereignty. Rusty asked them what are you thankful for? Their answers were honest and heart-warming. "I'm thankful for my brothers here and that God has not forgotten me," answered Julius. Wow... that says it all. Indeed, God has not forgotten these boys. He is refining them and using such sharpening stones as Mount Longonot, the Saint Boys Project, Frank Shealy, and Rusty Knight to do it. I look back at these boys and am so proud of where they've come. I watch and listen to them demonstrate that they are being transformed into saints.

Soon, they too will look back and see what I see. And it will be then that they REALLY start growing even more!

Our boys! (from left to right): Johnny, Brian, Patrick (low), Julius, Chinji, Nicholas, Dan, and James.

Stay tuned for a few videos from our trip. Trust me, you don't want to miss these! They are hilarious!!!