Kenya Legacy 2026

On Saturday, May 23, 2026, we embarked on a thrilling safari day. After a hearty breakfast and a devotional led by Pastor Doug, we set off at approximately 6:30 AM in three jeeps, accompanied by our knowledgeable Maasi tour guides and John Keshe. Our primary objective was to witness the majestic “Big Five”. Lions, leopards, African elephants, black rhinoceroses, and Cape buffaloes.

I found myself in Jeep number three, sharing the journey with Mike and Diane Underwood, Mark and Vicki Sutherland, and our Maasi tour guide, Peter. Throughout our expedition, we encountered numerous other jeeps filled with visitors, including a girls’ soccer team who had stayed at Grace’s House with us in Nairobi.

While we would typically encounter these animals at a national zoo, it was truly remarkable to witness them in their natural habitat, roaming freely and not confined to cages. We first observed a diverse array of animals, including gazelles, impalas, and topis, as well as several families of elephants and buffalo.

One of the most impressive sights was the majestic lion.  I decided to call him “Mr. Lion.” He blended seamlessly with the grass, making him nearly invisible. Despite being surrounded by approximately ten vehicles, he remained remarkably calm and composed, clearly not hungry given the abundance of food in the vicinity, us! It was evident that he was simply resting. Later in the day, we also encountered a family of lions, most of whom resembled females, accompanied by a few young males.

Our tour guides and other guides demonstrated remarkable coordination and communication, using CB radios to share information about the next significant sighting.

Around 10 AM, our team paused for a delightful breakfast in an open field within the Mara. After breakfast, we saw a diverse array of wildlife, including herons, warthogs, topis, gazelles, hyenas, more elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, and even a family of hippopotamuses gracefully swimming upstream and downstream.

Initially, we only spotted three zebras in the Mara. Our driver, Peter, informed us that zebras are primarily found in Tanzania. Later, we spotted five more zebras. Peter explained that these last five zebras were different because they had brown stripes instead of the typical black ones. This piqued my interest in safaris.

Here’s an interesting fact: traditional safaris are primarily found in Eastern and Southern Africa, with Kenya often considered the birthplace of this thrilling adventure. Our safari took place in Eastern Africa, where Kenya stands out for its iconic Maasai Mara and the annual “Great Migration” of wildebeest. Other popular eastern safari destinations include Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. Southern Africa safari locations encompass Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Namibia.

We completed the first half of the Safari around 1:15 PM, taking a few minutes to rest. We embarked on our second safari at about 3:45 PM.

The first thing we noticed were ostriches, and learned that the ones with the pink legs were the males. LOL!!

Next, we were delighted to spot a cheetah.

After spotting the cheetah, we encountered numerous gazelles, giraffes, and elephants. We also spotted warthogs and a family of hyenas, including some adorable baby hyenas. It was around 6:30 p.m. when darkness began to envelop us. Initially, we thought we were heading back to the lodge. However, suddenly, several jeeps sped past us, and we decided to follow them. We all emerged in the very spot where a leopard had been spotted. After the excitement of witnessing the leopard, we decided to head back to the lodge for dinner at approximately 6:55 p.m.

After dinner, we concluded the day with a debriefing session. Lisa provided us with an overview of tomorrow’s schedule, followed by a heartwarming moment when she and Pastor Doug presented each of us with two special gifts.

This was an incredible day, and going on this safari was an absolutely wonderful experience!

I am so grateful that we were able to witness God’s breathtaking landscape of the Maasai Mara and the magnificent animals He created.

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE.

Linda LeBeauf

After a little bit of a delayed start, we were on our way to our safari adventure. As we left Grace House behind us, we were soon descending into the Great Rift Valley. We were fortunate that we had a relatively clear road ahead of us. We continued down hill until we got to where we transferred into our Land Rover vehicles for the rest of our trip. We continued down hill and then on to gravel and almost no roads. Our first stop was at Nkoisuash where we were treated with the singing and dancing of hundreds of school children. This was the school that Crossroads supported over the past   5 -6 years. It has grown from 50 students to 550 students. They have maximized their useable buildings and need three more. Then we traveled on to John Keshe house where we were treated to a traditional lunch. John has been supported by Crossroads for many years and his ministry of saving young women from being exploited by their tribes has been significant. It was on the property that he has donated to the community where the first water well was established. The water brought life to this area. What was originally a dry unproductive land is not green and lush. From his house we moved to the location of the current well – again one that Crossroads supported. It was at this location where we were surprised by visiting dignitaries. First the assembly woman that represents the area arrived and spoke to everyone. She was followed by the wife of the governor. Both of these women heaped praised on John and Crossroads for their support of the Women’s enlightenment movement that has developed in this area. After the tributes were over, we continued to Tipilikwani on significantly not smooth roads. As we headed into Massi Mara we encountered a herd of wildebeast, several giraffe, baboons, monkeys, and a wart hog. All of us were greatly surprised and taken aback by the praises that were heaped on us for what Crossroads has done in this area over the years.

Wow! What a day! Crossroads legacy left Gracehouse en route to 2 Mohi schools in Kiamaiko for student class readings with the students and to perform Home makeovers for 6 Mohi families. Upon arrival, we received a rockstar greeting from students/instructors, stood in awe, joyfully danced, and sang for us.

We started with six home makeovers. All deserving families expressed sheer gratitude.  We brought in bunk beds to replace mattresses that were on the floors of their 10×10 dwellings. The conditions of these family dwellings were meager at best – unimaginable how a family could be living in these conditions. Families were so grateful to receive: beds, mattresses, blankets and sheets, pillows, kitchen plates/cups, and a food basket! We were able to bless them, sing 🎵 with them, and pray for them.  We were impacted just as much.

We returned and read books 📕 with the classes.  They were so engaging.  They also told us their memory verse – Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

What a special day!

Jamie Flores

It’s Wednesday, our first day of ministry, and it’s going to be another beautiful, mild weather day. As odd as it may sound, there was a vibe that felt a bit like Christmas morning.

We hurriedly removed the children’s gifts from our luggage, and there was a nervous and excited energy amongst everyone at breakfast, anticipating the arrival of our sponsor children.

The children arrived, and Felix (12), recognizing us from our pictures, walked directly towards us, greeting us with “Hi, Vicki” and “Hi, Mark.”  

Meeting people for the first time, we fully expected that Felix would be nervous, but he was amazingly conversational from the get-go.  And as with any conversation like this, there were pauses, but you could see Felix working hard to come up with his next question, which he did, time and time again, as if he had prepared, which was humbling to think that this young man prepared so thoughtfully for our meeting.

We gave Felix a new backpack we had brought for him, which contained, among other things, a notebook for him to write or draw in.

He grabbed a pen and his new notebook and said to us, “Let’s write down our memory verses,” and he began writing John 3:16 from memory, of course.  We almost cried as he wrote out his verse.  We then recited our verses to him, which he wrote in his notebook for us.  

Felix then inflated the soccer ball we brought him and showed us some of his mad soccer skills in the parking lot. Fearing that an unexpected scissor kick might be in his repertoire, I thought it best that I remove my glasses, just in case.  

After he had worn us out at soccer, Felix said, “Let’s read the Bible now”  (we had given him a Bible in his backpack). We then took turns reading Bible passages, and after a few minutes, Felix closed the Bible and said to us, “Now tell me what you learned”. I thought about asking Felix if he was available Monday nights to lead our home life group, but realized the time zones just wouldn’t work for him.

Then it was off to the Giraffe Center with our sponsored children, where we learned about and fed Rothchild’s giraffes. Each child was given a book about giraffes. A great time was had by all.

We prayed over Felix and said goodbye with only a few tears shed.

The evening was spent at the home of Wallace and Mary Kamau, the founders of Missions of Hope International, where we enjoyed a Kenyon/Mexican dinner, a.k.a. Ken/Mex as Mary calls it. We were blessed to pray for Wallace and Mary and their vision for the future of Missions of Hope International. The faith, vision, integrity, and love this couple has for God and the impoverished children of Kenya are awe-inspiring.

Throughout this day, we could feel God‘s love, goodness, and grace, and we can’t wait for Him to show us what His plans are for us tomorrow.

Mark and Vicki Sutherland

Our day started bright and early with a team meeting at 7:15 AM to discuss our schedule for today.  Unfortunately, our day’s off-site activities were canceled due to the ongoing transportation strike.  

So with flexibility being one of our group’s mantras, we modified our plans.  The morning plan was to go to the MOHI (Missions of Hope International) location.  Instead, we were honored to host one of MOHI’s founders, Mary Kamaua, who came to speak with us at our hotel.  She gave us a great presentation of her organization, MOHI, that she and her husband founded.  Mary discussed how they have grown from 50 students in Kenya to 33,400 students today.  They have very ambitious goals for their program by 2035.  Her presentation was very moving on how they have been helping less privileged children since 2000. They are having a very positive impact on these less fortunate students, changing their lives for the better. Crossroads has the honor of hosting children from Kiamaiko in Nairobi, in partnership with MOHI.

HOORAY!!!  We received awesome news around noon that the government ordered a reprieve of the strike, so we were finally able to leave our hotel grounds in the afternoon to drive to the Pangani Center building, which is home to the MOHI offices and one of their schools.  This was located in one of the slums.  We did some brief gift shopping at the store that was in the building. On the way out of the center, we had the great opportunity to mingle a bit with the school children as they left for the day. God had answered our prayer to finally be able to travel to one of the MOHI locations!!

When we got back, some of us congregated as a group to walk down the block to the Yaya Center for  smoothies, soda, burgers, and cake.  There was some shopping while we were at the Yaya Center as well.

We ended this evening with dinner at Grace House Resort. Lisa then went over our schedule for Wednesday and Thursday. Diane Underwood ended the evening with a prayer. We want to thank you, Lord, for blessing us with this great day out in the MOHI offices and school area.

We are looking forward to tomorrow, when we will meet our sponsored children.  Day 4, here we come!!😀😀

• Michael J

We began the day with Doug Husen giving the Devotion from Luke 11:5-8. The scripture focused on petitioning on behalf of people in need through prayer and intercession. In scripture, a person had a guest who arrived at midnight but had nothing to serve. The host made multiple requests to a close friend, who was sleeping and reluctant to help. Not relenting, the host received the bread needed to be hospitable to his guest. In short, sometimes we need to act as intermediaries, bringing requests to God on behalf of others.

On mission trips, we learned to be flexible, and today was one of those days. Kenya was experiencing a nationwide transportation strike. No cars, no trucks, or public transportation on the road. So we had to pivot. Our day at Mission of Hope and visits with our sponsored children were canceled.

We were going to take the day to rest and do some shopping. The plan was to regroup later for testimonies amongst ourselves. What we didn’t know was that God had an additional plan for some of us.

One of the housekeepers, “Josefina,” overheard Mike and Diane Underwood doing their daily devotion as she cleaned. She came into their room, listened, and observed. She indicated she had never seen a couple sharing together with such love and kindness. What a perfect example they were.  The housekeeper is a single woman caring for her teenage brother.

Later, when I saw Josefina in our common area, I asked her how she came to work.  She explained she had to walk to work because of the strike. It was a great distance for her with no public transportation available. She also indicated that riding a jitney motorcycle (ride-share) was too expensive. Hearing more of her story and how she wanted to come to work to be of service and not disrupt our day,  I asked if it would be okay to pray for her.  Knowing they overheard the conversation, I asked Vicky and Mark Sutherland to join in prayer for our housekeeper.  She instantly dropped her knees as we prayed and showed love and care.

After we were done, we helped her get home safely.  She was very grateful. Later, Diane was able to interact with her again and love on her even more, letting her know she was a value and loved.

After lunch, our group walked to the local mall for coffee and some shopping, and later returned and shared our testimonies with each other. It was a blessed time getting to know one another’s stories. We all have one.

We closed the night after dinner together by celebrating Linda La Beauf with a Happy Birthday tribute by Grace House staff and our group.

Anthony Armstrong

We arrived at Grace House after midnight. We were greeted with music and a song, which was awesome! The staff then served us a “light snack” consisting of sambusa, fries, and fruit. We retired to our rooms. I don’t know about everyone else, but we finally finished packing and showering and made it to bed around 2-2:30.

When we awoke, we started our day with a wonderful breakfast with omelettes made to order. The staff and food at Grace House are so amazing. Everyone greets you with a smile and is ready to help with everything.

On the drive to church, we saw many people riding motorcycles. It seems like that is the main mode of transportation around here. That and buses or walking. There are churches pretty much on every block. Every denomination, which I found interesting.

As we neared the church, which is in the slums, it seemed as if there were even more people. Church service was at Outreach Hope Church NGEI. The worship was so amazing. Very uplifting, bringing the Spirit of the Lord to life. Pastor Titus’s sermon was on the Fruit of the Spirit. He was so passionate in his preaching that you couldn’t help but get excited. Three things he pointed out to be a Christian:

1. Born again
2. Fellowship with God
3. Obey God through His word

You have to have fellowship. You can’t walk this world alone. We are one under God.

Together we are one.

Together we can conquer

After the service, we met many church members and took photos.

Then it was back to Grace House for lunch. I ate lamb for the first time. It actually tasted good for a few bites. Then I think my brain registered what it was. lol

After lunch, we went shopping at an open air market. What an experience that was! Everyone was selling so many items, and they were all giving you “the best deal there.” Honestly, it was a little overwhelming at first. But once you get the hang of wheeling and dealing and learning to maneuver around people, it’s fun. I got a lot of gifts for very little money.

Then back to Grace to rest for a bit, while some people went for coffee. We met to go over a few things to get ready for tomorrow, and then ate another wonderful meal for dinner.

I’m looking forward to meeting my sponsor child tomorrow. It’s going to be an amazing experience!

Teri

Travel on long flights is far better with a prayerful team.  Nearly 18 hours of it. We began at 7:30am in the Crossroads chapel in prayer, with a reminder from Pastor Lisa, our team leader, from Ephesians 2:10 (NASB): “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we could walk in them.”

We loaded the bus, each with an extra suitcase full of children’s games and crafts. Each is in preparation for the team to follow in July. Once at the airport, we moved seamlessly as a team through LAX, and though they doubted yours truly and my decision to go to the “arrivals” level, all worked well.

On board – my prodding to walk the plane aisles was heeded by all, especially Jaime, Mike, Maureen, and Anthony!  On my walk, I encountered Mark and Vicky exercising too.

Once in Amsterdam airport, it was time to buy a souvenir Starbucks mug.  Mike and Diane are superheroes navigating stairs, escalators, and elevators!

On the long flight, Janis and Teri listened to music, podcasts, and read.  And it seemed like food was served continuously.  I watched the movie Song Sung Blue- very good but sad too. Some Bible reading and an audiobook on the philosophy of St Thomas Aquino’s, and time went by pretty fast. Every two hours a walk around the jumbo 777 aircraft to keep from swelling or cramping. The cries of young children remind me of my own precious grandcuties.  

We arrived in Nairobi safely and approached customs. Soon, a transport to Grace House and some sleep. It’s 9:30pm, a full day later than when our journey together began. Spirits are high, but a problem- lost luggage- suitcase #10 with Kevin and Marla’s special gifts for their kids. Ugghhh. But prayers and plans! An inquiry by Lisa, and eventually we learned it’s on the next flight from Amsterdam. Hallelujah!

We met our gracious driver, Anthony. A parade of suitcases to the vans. On board, a ride through the city. People are out and about as light rain falls. As we arrive at Grace House, rhythmic music and chants from our hosts greet us. It’s after midnight, and the hospitality of Joseph and his team is on display. They prepared us a beautiful meal with Samisa and even fruit slushies, and for Lisa and Linda, a special tea with honey.

A walk by the staff to our rooms and a quick shower ended our day.

Looking forward to Church tomorrow and more with the beautiful people of Kenya.