Easter at Lake Naivasha

Easter Sunrise at Carnelley's Camp,

Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Team work!

This past weekend, we celebrated Easter at Camp Carnelley's, on the relaxing shore of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley. We arrived after a late lunch and found a quiet corner of the beautiful tenting area under a canopy of Yellow Acacias. Our site was separated from the Lake,and the hungry hippos, only by a shallow ditch and a three foot high fence, but other than the troops of vervet and colobus monkeys, we didn't have any trouble from the local wildlife getting too close to our tent.

Finished setting up the tent together

on Saturday afternoon

Daddy opening his birthday present at the campfire

...can't wait for those birthday cupcakes!

Ready for our sleeping bags after a big day...

Emma enjoying an Easter sunrise along the papyrus

lined banks of Carnelley's Camp

We enjoyed a quiet Easter Sunday, with a short family Easter service and lots of fun playing our favourite board games, walking along the Lake and cooking over our campfire (and our classic Webber grill... we love that charcoal barbecue) -- Easter bunny smores!!!. While Saturday night was pretty crowded at the camp, a thunder storm rolled in on Sunday afternoon and most of our neighbours hit the road. Fortunately for us, the storm moved on and we enjoyed the camp almost to ourselves on Sunday night and Monday morning.

Colobus monkeys in the tall Yellow Acacia trees over our tent

Daddy getting the gas lantern ready for Sunday night

Mommy and Ava at our campsite

Easter morning on Lake Naivasha

Perspectives on Diversity

COLOBUS MONKEY

Naivasha, Kenya

Laura Muema and Erica in Eastleigh

Early this morning, we opened our gate to greet a friendly monkey who was roaming through our neighbourhood. He reminded us of a bold Colobus monkey who joined Erica's mother, Mary, during tea time at the hotel we stayed in on Lake Naivasha this past weekend. No matter how long we live in Africa, we are continually surprised and blessed by the incredible wildlife. From tiny lizards to majestic elephants, Kenya is home to such an amazing array of wildlife.

The other great blessing about life here is the diverse people with whom we work with, in Eastleigh alone, we serve people from dozens of tribal and ethnic backgrounds. Each culture has its own unique gifts of music, language, food and tradition. We find that we are continually learning as we discover more about the neighbours we meet each day.

Laura Muema is the project officer of the Iftin Women's Empowerment Program in Eastleigh. Although she comes from a Kamba background within Kenya, she cross cultures each day as she serves women and children from various Muslim backgrounds from Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. The Eastleigh Community Centre has become a safe place for these Muslim families to become friends with their Christian neighbours from many different Kenyan communities. Urban ministries like the Eastleigh Community Centre in Nairobi have a special opportunity to connect people and build bridges of trust and respect.

Volleyball games at the Eastleigh Community Centre

Please pray for the urban ministries of Canadian Baptist Ministries and for grass roots leaders like Laura Muema who are working to share the love of Christ to a diverse community.

Nana sharing tea time with a friendly Colobus monkey

this past weekend in Naivasha

"Hey lady, pass the sugar!"