Wondering Where the Lions Are.

Tristan and Erica out for a hike with Sprite,

the resident tour guide at Acacia Camp

We were humming Bruce Cockburn's "Wondering Where the Lions Are" on Sunday morning at Acacia Camp as we enjoyed some long walks under the yellow acacia trees and through the sun burnt plains. A lone male lion has been roaming throughout the private reserve where our friends and colleagues Tim and Diane Bannister live. Fortunately, our paths never crossed with the lion who isn't typically active during the day (It is at night that Tim and Diane usually hear him).

We stayed out at Acacia for the weekend with the White Rock Short-term Mission (STM) team that have been serving with us in Eastleigh this past week. They were a big help getting classrooms prepared for the primary children at the centre. We will miss you Glen, Debbie, Dave and Dianne! Tristan and Emma had such a fun time battling in games of 99 and competing in Canadian trivia. We will all keep trying to win bonus points! And yes Dave, we'll do our best to "keep between the lines". The White Rock team flies out tonight.

While enjoying the beauty of Kenyan wildlife at Acacia, the team took part in debriefing sessions with the Bannisters who are responsible for all Canadian Baptist STMs in Kenya. Tim and Diane have had a busy summer hosting several teams including one which arrived today.

A troop of vervet monkeys gathered to form a welcoming party

for the latest STM arriving early this morning.

The Bannisters will be leading an STM of youth who are participating in the 2008 Baptist World Alliance youth gathering in Leipzig, Germany. About 220 youth from across Canada have journeyed around the world to serve in STMs in places like Germany, France, Rwanda and Kenya before converging in Leipzig for the world gathering. The team, who arrived bright and early for breakfast at Acacia, will spend the next week on the Indian Ocean near the port city of Mombasa where they will be working with an Africa Brotherhood Church in the construction of a water project. The team is made up of youth from both a church from Whitby, Ontario and another near Calgary, Alberta. We pray that their time in Kenya is transformational!

Tim Bannister officially welcoming members of the

Baptist World Alliance Youth STM to Kenya

before setting out on long days journey to Kibwazi.