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OCMC Kenya Travel Blog
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Today was our last day in Turkanaland. We spent it with the people of St. Mark Orthodox Church – a stick church about five miles from Lodwar. Again, the rain followed us, and again we felt the Lord’s blessing.
The things we saw and the experiences we shared could fill a book, but here are a few of our favorite moments from this mission team:
Fr. Martin Ritsi – “If I had to pick one moment from this trip that I will remember forever, I would say speaking with the magician named Silale. As I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine, I could feel the Holy Spirit at work between us. I am very happy that Fr. Zachariah will now be able to begin evangelizing the people of his village and establishing the Church there.”
Fr. Vladimir Aleandro – “Matushka Susan and I were blessed with being a part of the first OCMC team to Lodwar in 2007. Having returned to Lodwar this year while also visiting the new communities in Lokichar and Lupala gave us a real sense for where the Church has been and where the Church is going.”
Mat. Susan Aleandro – “Having had the opportunity to reunite with Fr. Vladimir and Papadia Caroline was an incredible gift. I am thankful to have returned to Lodwar and to the Turkana people.”
Stephanos Ritsi – “I really enjoyed dancing and singing with the people. It left me with a real sense of community. They freely shared their culture with us. The most memorable example of this was when the Turkana performed a traditional betrothal ceremony for me and my fiancé Alexandria.”
Alexandria Polychronopoulos – “The most awesome moment for me was when we had to take shelter from the pouring rain in someone’s hut after teaching at St. Mark’s just outside of Lodwar. As we stood there I looked around and there were people of all ages surrounding us. In everyone’s face Christ could be seen. I turned to ask the one man in the hut who spoke English if they ever get rain in their community often and he replied ‘No, never.’ In that moment I realized that in every community God had blessed our visit with rain and water.”
Nicolaos Tzetzis – “The most incredible experience for me was Trekking across the hot sand where not even goats would venture into the sun and through a fast flowing river unable see what was underfoot carrying with us neither gift nor great sum of money but the message of Christ on our backs.”
Christopher Zaferes – “Entering into the culture of the Turkana is beyond explanation. Singing with them, dancing with them, worshiping with them, and even sleeping among them in Lupala was beautiful. After such an intense experience you truly begin to see them as your family.”
Cameron Thorp – “Definitely, observing Fr. Martin’s interaction with a magician hoping to bring Christianity to a new group of Turkana and realizing that many of the stories that I read as a young Christian like “Eternity in their Hearts” by Don Richardson was playing our before me.”
Alex Goodwin – “To have had the opportunity to witness the Holy Spirit working so powerfully in the hearts of the Turkana and the team members will be something that will give me strength for the rest of my life. It was an honor to be surrounded by so many loving people and to have experienced such intense fellowship with our ever growing family in Christ.”
We would like to thank those who made this mission possible through their donations and heartfelt prayers. We would also like to thank all of those who followed this blog. All the members of the 2010 OCMC Mission Team to Kenya would like to offer special thanks to Cameron Thorp for taking and
sharing so many amazing pictures, and to OCN (Orthodox Christian Networks) for their coverage of this incredible journey of faith.
In these final moments, we would like to ask that you please continue to remember the Turkana people and the Orthodox Church in Kenya in your prayers.
Visit The Travel Blog Photo Gallery to see more pictures.
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