The Grand Adventure

Remember those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books we used to read as kids? The ones that allowed you to see if you would have survived the sinking of the Titanic (Yes, I did, and Jack and I got married in the end), or determine if you would have been eaten by a dinosaur in a time travel sci-fi? Yah, cool books, but there's an interesting concept behind them. And it's this: Why do we pick the adventures we do in real life? One person may choose to join the Navy, another, missions. Someone may go off to bike around Europe, and then someone else might chose to study coral off the Australian coast. What draws each of us to a specific place at a specific time with something specific to do there?

I sat with an enthusiastic couple involved in NGOs the other night for dinner, and they asked me that exact question: "Why Kenya and why now?" Umm... Good question.

Well, partly because I was divinely led here, but there's also elements of that decision that stretch way back to people, places, and connections that offer no solid reason for "why."

I don't think it was melodramatic for Conrad's character Marlow (from the novel, Heart of Darkness) to talk about the pull of Africa. There's just something intriguing about this place that no one has ever been able to define. Some might say that, as the likely geographic starting point of humanity, our own genes literally pull us back here. Then there's those who argue that as overly modernized Westerners, it's one of the last places on earth that can offer us insight into ancient cultures. Some are interested in trying to solve Africa's problems, and some come for the exotic animals. But as for me, I couldn't even give one of those reasons. Ask my momma. I told her Senior year of high school that I wanted to go to two places during and/or after college: England (check) and Africa. I hadn't even met an African at that point and knew very little of missions on the continent. I was just "drawn" there for lack of a better word. Sure, maybe for the adventure, but what if deep down I understood that revelations would be gotten in Africa that couldn't be gotten in the states.

And then there are those precious few Africans I've met over the years. Elvis, our doorman in London, who shared Ghanaian pop music with us and exemplified the friendliness of the Ghanaians. My Nigerian 5th grade teacher, various South African friends in my college days... They all had a "life" about them that was impossible to miss. So real and refreshing; perhaps it's what I'm looking for. And although all these people had a hand in introducing me to Africa, even they weren't the catalyst for my decision.

I do love that "Christian the Lion" video on You Tube, but that wasn't it either.

I wish I could say, "Oh yah, this is why Kenya and why now," but in the whole scheme of my life, I feel like even I don't understand the proverbial "bigger picture." I've come and I'm here for a while. That is all that is sure, and perhaps really all that matters is what I give to and take away from this adventure.

(The attached picture is of Mayfield Guest House in Nairobi. Home has a draw no matter where in the world.)