We have been in Kenya for just over 24 hours now and all three of us love it already. It's beautiful, we've met great people, we've seen so much and there is still so much to see and learn about. Last night we got in around 8:30 and missionary hosts was there waiting for us at the airport. He took us in his rugged landrover to his welcoming home. The family has been great to us. They are such a friendly, easy-going, joyful people.

This morning we got up to the sound of birds. More birds than I have ever heard in my life. I've been told that Kenya has the most variety of bird species anywhere. It was something else listening to all the different sounds. I was sitting outside on the patio reading my Bible this morning and I saw this beatuiful humming-bird-sized bird with a bright green head called a sunbird. It has a song that could put a canary to shame. I enjoyed sitting outside surrounded by tropical foliage and flowering plants. It is so unbelievably lush here.

Anyway, our missionary host wanted to get us acclimatized so he decided it would be a good idea to do a hike. We were all excited but we had no idea what we were in for. We drove along the rift valley that runs through Kenya and then took a very rough road down into the valley floor. The change from the top of the valley to the bottom was amazing. The top of the valley was lush, green and very cool but the bottom of the valley was arid and filled with cacti. Out of the valley rose a volcanic crater. That was the hike. From a distance it looked easy but as we got closer, and the mountain loomed larger and larger, I realized that this would be a serious hike. The mountain is called Longonot and it is now on the top 3 hardest hikes that I have done in my life. As we were hiking up to the top we saw three giraffes in the distance. They stood even taller than the stunted, thorny desert trees around them. From the top of the ridge we could see that the crater was massive. It was about six kilometers around and over 9000 feet high. Sheer cliffs fell into a crater lush with small trees and plants. We hiked the whole circumference. At the highest point the four of us had an amazing prayer session. There we were atop a mountain in Kenya meeting God as brothers. During the hike a cool breeze seemed to follow us and the sun was out the whole time. We could see for miles around in ever direction--a lake in the distance, a cloud obscured peak, small farms, a national park... Beautiful does not even begin to describe it.

Anyway, on the way down we were blessed with several other wild animal sightings. We saw zebras, gazelles and hartebeests. It was a tough but very rewarding hike. I enjoyed every minute of it (even the minutes where I was heaving and having leg cramps). I think our missionary hosts' goal was to exhaust us so that we would adjust quicker to Kenya's time-zone--he succeeded.

Tomorrow the real work begins. We are driving six hours to Northeastern Kenya. I'm excited; tired, but excited. We are going to meet so many amazing people and learn so much. Keep us in your prayers.

Thanks for reading,

- Mark for Andrew and Ben