Tears, Hugs, and Elephants
Wednesday
Today was our last day at in Step. It was tough for us to say good bye to the kids and Carla and Jeff. Dave and I shared the same thought…there is something about these children that they work deep into your heart. The grade 7and 8 classes held a little ceremony thanking us for all we have done with and for them. Of course we appreciated their words, the reality is they gave us so much more. The principal asked each of us to say a few words to the students. Annabelle was left speechless, I got weepy and Dave got a bit choked up. We were presented a poster to express their gratitude. The principal then asked to say a blessing over the children. A greeting line of sorts formed and each child gave us hugs. The only words that I could find to say to each one was bless you. It was hard for the vans to leave because of all the children who came to give one last wave.
I know I speak for all of us when I say it will be hard to share this experience with you. But we will try. I want to publicly thank Dave for getting us hooked into this trip.
On to the next adventure. Two planes later we arrived in Masa Mari National Reserve located at the extreme southern end of the country in the Savanna. As we drive to the lodge we saw so many animals, elephants, antelope, water buffalo and wildebeest to name a few.
As I write this the baboons are outside our tent making an absolute racket.
Peace,
Hoyt W, Brown
Pastor, United Methodist Church of Livonia
Today was our last day at in Step. It was tough for us to say good bye to the kids and Carla and Jeff. Dave and I shared the same thought…there is something about these children that they work deep into your heart. The grade 7and 8 classes held a little ceremony thanking us for all we have done with and for them. Of course we appreciated their words, the reality is they gave us so much more. The principal asked each of us to say a few words to the students. Annabelle was left speechless, I got weepy and Dave got a bit choked up. We were presented a poster to express their gratitude. The principal then asked to say a blessing over the children. A greeting line of sorts formed and each child gave us hugs. The only words that I could find to say to each one was bless you. It was hard for the vans to leave because of all the children who came to give one last wave.
I know I speak for all of us when I say it will be hard to share this experience with you. But we will try. I want to publicly thank Dave for getting us hooked into this trip.
On to the next adventure. Two planes later we arrived in Masa Mari National Reserve located at the extreme southern end of the country in the Savanna. As we drive to the lodge we saw so many animals, elephants, antelope, water buffalo and wildebeest to name a few.
As I write this the baboons are outside our tent making an absolute racket.
Peace,
Hoyt W, Brown
Pastor, United Methodist Church of Livonia