The Mystery of the Kenyan King (Kristi Cameron Book 4)

  THE MYSTERY OF THE KENYAN KING

  CYNTHIA S. GRIFFITH

  COVER ART BY SARAH LOWE

  Copyright © 2006 by Cynthia S. Griffith

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without prior written permission of the author.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One: A Cool Glass of Water

  Chapter Two: Jambo, Africa!

  Chapter Three: Grace Mission Station

  Chapter Four: Hannah

  Chapter Five: A Father to the Orphan

  Chapter Six: Home is Where the Heart Is

  Chapter Seven: Panic at the Pavilion!

  Chapter Eight: Safari!

  Chapter Nine: The Maasai

  Chapter Ten: Simba!

  Chapter Eleven: Mfalme Wa Wafalme

  Chapter Twelve: Daniel in the Lion’s Den

  Chapter Thirteen: Kwaheri to Kenya

  _________

  CHAPTER ONE

  _________

  A Cool Glass of Water

  Kristi looked up as her mother walked into the room with another box of old sheets. “More?” she groaned.

  “This is the last one,” Rachel Cameron said. “And I’ve got good news to report! The boys are almost done sorting out the old eyeglasses and pill bottles we collected and will be ready to help us roll bandages in a few minutes. We should be finished in another hour or so, and then I’m taking you all out for lunch to celebrate!”

  Kristi picked up her scissors and began cutting and ripping another sheet into strips. “Well, I have to admit, making rolls of bandages is awfully boring, but it really makes me feel good to see all these boxes of supplies we have ready to take to the mission hospital.”

  “Me, too,” her friend Robyn chimed in. She took a long strip of material from the pile in front of Kristi and began rolling. “Some of the other kids are working on supplies for the orphanage and school, and they’ve done great, also. Jen Whitman said the people at church have been so supportive with their donations that it’s almost more than we could take with us!”

  “It’s a good thing your dad works for the airline and was able to talk them into letting us ship all this stuff for free, Kristi. Can you imagine how much it would cost to ship four tons of goods to Africa if we had to pay for it ourselves?” Anna, Kristi’s other good friend, was neatly stacking dozens of bandage rolls into a box as she spoke.

  “The airline is really good about helping out with humani tarian causes,” Rachel said. “Food, clothing, medical supplies, school supplies, farming equipment and tools—it all adds up when you have several hundred people giving sacrificially to help people in need.”

  “There’s one thing we’re not taking that I wish we could,” a voice behind them said. They turned to see Kristi’s brothers Dan and Skeeter, with their friend Pete, coming into the kitchen from the garage.

  “What’s that, Dan?” Kristi asked.

  “Water. There’s a terrible drought going on across most of Kenya. What they really need most of all is water.” Dan’s usually smiling face was serious. He sat down at the long breakfast bar with the other boys and began rolling bandages.

  “Well, can’t we take some water then?” Robyn asked. “Like in gallon jugs or something?”

  Dan’s friend Pete spoke up, “Even if we took it in barrels it wouldn’t begin to solve the problem. And we don’t have the resources it would take that would help them drill new wells. What we are taking, though, are some water purifica tion kits that will enable the people to use water that would normally be unfit to drink.”

  “That might help the drinking problem, but what about their crops? I read that the most of the people where we are going farm for a living. There’s a famine going on and people are starving because their crops are burning up.” Dan said.

  “That’s where prayer comes in,” Anna said softly. “Only God can send the rain.”

  Skeeter was at the sink filling a glass with water. He turned to the others and held it up to the light. “It sure makes you feel kind of bad that here we have all the clean water we could want at the flip of a faucet, and we just take it for granted. We don’t even thank God for it, like we do our food.” Skeeter bowed his redhead right then and there and prayed, “Thank you, Lord, for the water You’ve given us to drink and wash in and even play in. Help us always to be grateful and not take it for granted. We don’t understand why you’ve allowed this drought in Kenya, and the famine, but we know You have Your reasons. Maybe it is so the people there will turn to You instead of their false gods. But please, Lord, if it is Your will, we ask you to send rain to those poor people for their crops, and just to make life a bit easier for them. Thank You for allowing us to go over there and take these supplies to them, and please bless our trip. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

  Kristi stood up from her chair and went over to her younger brother. She threw her arms around him and gave him a big hug. “Sometimes you just amaze me, Skeeter!” she said with a big grin. “You really are growing up to be a great guy!” She reached up and ruffled his copper-colored hair.

  “Aww, Kristi! Cut it out!” Skeeter said as his freckled face turned red. “You made me splash my water!” He looked a little sheepish, but everyone knew he was secretly pleased at the hug from his big sister.

  “Can I give you a hug, too, Skeeter?” Robyn teased.

  “No way!” the younger boy muttered, backing up quickly.

  “Aww, come on, Skeeter! We all want to give you a hug!” Dan laughed as he started toward his brother.

  Skeeter turned and fled. “I’ll be in the garage, Mom!” he called over his shoulder as he bolted through the kitchen door.

  Rachel went after him. “Come back, Skeeter! We need your help!” She turned to the other teens and scolded with a smile, “You all quit teasing him! We need his help if we want to get out of here soon for lunch!”

  Skeeter poked his head back through the door. “Lunch? Did I hear you say lunch? Mom, I’m—”

  “Yes, I know—you’re starved! Let’s hurry up, then, so we can go out to grab a bite to eat!”

  With motivation like that, it didn’t take long to finish the job. They looked with satisfaction at the stack of boxes at one end of the kitchen that held several thousand rolls of bandages. There were more boxes in the garage containing used pill bottles, eyeglasses, first aid supplies and medica tions. A few cartons held used medical equipment that several doctors in the area had donated. They knew their efforts to help supply the small mission hospital would be greatly appreciated.

  “Alright then, kids, let’s go,” Rachel said. “If you don’t mind I want to stop at a toy store after we eat, and get some little toys and coloring books and crayons and things like that to hand out to the sick children in the hospital. I thought maybe you’d all like to help pick out some things with me.”

  “Sure! That’s a great idea! Cool!” the teens all chimed in as they climbed into the Cameron minivan.

  The Pizza Place was busy, but they munched on breadsticks while they waited for their pizza. The teens chatted about their trip to Africa. “I can’t believe we finally leave the day after tomorrow!” Kristi said. Her green eyes shone with excite ment. Sitting next to Rachel, they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter—the same auburn hair, same green eyes, same quick, pretty smile. “We’ve been working so long on getting ready for this missions trip that it seemed like the day would never arrive w
hen we’d finally be on our way!”

  “And we’ve been packing for a week now, but we only get to take one backpack for our own belongings!” Robyn said. “Are you girls having as much trouble as I am getting every thing you need for two weeks in one small backpack?”

  “It’s not too bad since we’ll mostly be wearing shorts and T-shirts every day and they don’t take much room. Add a pair of jeans, jacket, a simple dress, pajamas, underwear, toiletries and Bible, and that’s about it!” Anna said.

  “Underwear! I knew I was forgetting something!” Skeeter said, slapping his forehead.

  The girls giggled. “Maybe I’d better check your backpack, young man,” his mother said. “If I know you, you’ve got it half full of snacks and have forgotten your toothbrush, soap and shampoo, too!”

  “Don’t forget sandals, Anna, to wear with your dress for church,” Kristi reminded her friend. “The hiking boots we bought to wear every day are cool, but they won’t look that great with a dress!” The girls giggled again at the funny image that put in their minds.

  “I’ve seen your backpack, Robyn,” Dan said. “That thing is almost as big as you are! You won’t have any trouble fitting everything in—including the kitchen sink!” he teased.

  The pizza came just then and for a few minutes all conversa tion was forgotten as they dug into their lunch. Three pizzas later they were nibbling at the crust when Skeeter said, “Umm, that was good! I’m going to miss having pizza while we’re gone. Twelve days is a long time to go without pepper oni!” He stopped for a moment and the smile left his face. “Guess I shouldn’t joke about stuff like that. Most people where we’re going are living without a decent meal every day.”

  “Skeeter, you don’t have to feel guilty about the life God has given you,” Rachel said. “It is by His grace that we have the home and food and water and country that we live in. I know you feel bad for the people around the world who have so much less than we do. We all do—and we’ll probably feel even worse once we get to Kenya and see how the rest of the world really lives. But for some reason the Lord has given us more, and He tells us in His Word that to whom much has been given, much will be required. We need to pray that God will open our eyes to how we can use what He has given us for His glory. Let’s just be grateful to God, and be willing to share His love and provisions.”

  “Mom’s right, Skeeter,” Kristi said. “And when it comes right down to it, maybe this trip will actually mean as much to us as it does to the people we’re going to help. Maybe the Lord will use this experience to show us how He wants us to use our lives, or to teach us things we could never learn here at home in our safe little world.”

  “Pastor Tim said love isn’t love until we put it in action,” Pete said quietly. “That’s what this trip is all about—sharing God’s love, and our own, by going and doing. We can meet those people’s spiritual needs by sharing the message of salvation, and their physical needs with the material goods we are taking, and the work we’ll do for them. You talked about that nice cool glass of water a while ago, Skeeter. Jesus says when we give a cup of water in His name to the ‘least of these,’ it’s as if we’re giving it to Him.”

  “I’m anxious to just get there and start sharing,” Skeeter said earnestly. “And Mom, I’ll concentrate on feeling grateful, not guilty!”

  “Oh-oh! I feel another hug coming on!” Kristi grinned.

  Skeeter jumped up. “Hey! I thought we were going to the toy store! Come on, Mom!” he said tugging at his mother’s sleeve. Rachel laughed and slid out of the large booth. The other teenagers followed and soon they were on their way to the mall.

  Turning six teenagers loose in a toy store was almost as bad as turning six toddlers loose. They had fun trying out the musical toys on display and racing the radio controlled cars. Skeeter was fascinated with a banjo-playing frog, and Robyn made a little white poodle do backflips over and over.

  Finally Rachel called an end to their play and said, “Okay guys, here are the ground rules—we’re looking for small toys for sick children. No jump ropes or pogo sticks. Stuffed toys and dolls, though, are always a comfort to little ones, or even older girls. Keep in mind the culture we are going to. These are African children who have probably not seen TV and are not familiar with American lifestyles, so things like toy cash registers or Star Wars wouldn’t mean much to them. Nothing with batteries—they won’t be able to replace them and then the toy is useless to them.” With a few more suggestions she sent them out into the store to find their treasures.

  Kristi and Anna headed for the stuffed toys. They loaded their basket with dozens of small stuffed animals in a rainbow of colors, each decorated with colorful bows, buttons or pom-poms.

  They were looking through a shelf of soft dolls when Robyn came up to them with her arms full of coloring books and boxes of crayons. She dumped them into the basket and shook her head. “I didn’t realize it would be so hard to pick out toys that would relate to little African children. I mean, most of the coloring books are Barbie with her townhouse and fashions and snazzy car, or robots and spaceships, or Scooby-Doo and that kind of thing. I finally picked out a bunch of animal and Mickey Mouse coloring books. I figured even if they didn’t know who the cartoon characters were, they’d still like them.”

  “Good job, Robyn!” Kristi said. “I know what you mean. Anna and I were just trying to decide between buying little black baby dolls or white ones. They would relate more to the black ones, but on the other hand, having a white doll would be different for them and maybe remind them of us.”

  Rachel happened to walk past just as Kristi spoke. “Get some of each,” she suggested. “We can let them choose which they would rather have. Pick out a few blonde hair, blue-eyed babies like Robyn, and some Hispanic, dark-haired babies like Anna, and look—there are even a couple redheads here like you, Kristi! Then get more of the black baby dolls.”

  “Thanks, Mom!” Kristi said. They filled the rest of the basket with the dolls and then went to find the boys.

  Dan, Skeeter and Pete had already filled a cart of their own. “Look, Mom!” Skeeter called out as he saw them approaching. He began pulling toys out of the basket to show them. “I found a bunch of these little cartoon action figures. The kids over there may not know who they are, but they can use their imaginations and have fun with them while they’re stuck in bed anyway, don’t you think? And here are some bags of jungle animals and farm animals. And how about these musical toys?”

  Rachel shook her head. “The other things are great, Skeeter, but I’m not sure about the musical toys. The hospital probably isn’t the right place for cymbals and whistles and tambourines.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Skeeter said as his face fell. “I didn’t think of that. I’ll put them back. Can I get some more of these action figures then?”

  “Sure. How about you and Pete, Dan? What did you pick out?” Rachel asked as Skeeter dashed off.

  “We thought the little boys might like toy trucks and planes and stuff like that. We stayed away from sports cars and racing cars and got buses, trucks and jeeps and small planes, and even a couple of helicopters—things they might be familiar with.”

  “Good thinking! I got balloons and punch balls and inflatable toys that are lightweight and easy to pack. Oh, and all these big bags of candy to sprinkle in the boxes like packing material. I also got some little plastic tiara and earrings sets for the girls and colorful baseball caps for the boys that they can wear in bed. I thought it might make them feel like they’re all dressed up, and maybe that would make them feel a little better.” Rachel said as she held up several articles out of her basket.

  “Ooh, good idea, Mrs. Cameron!” Robyn said. “I wouldn’t mind one of those tiaras myself! Maybe this one—the jewels match my big, blue eyes!” She tossed her blonde pony tail and batted her eyelashes at them all.

  Skeeter appeared just then with an armful of action figures. “Aww, come on, Robyn,” he said. “Your head is already big enough without pu
tting a crown on it!” Robyn gave him a playful little punch in the arm and tossed the toy tiara back into the cart.

  “Well, if we’re done, let’s check out,” Rachel said. “We’ve got almost three full carts of toys here. You know what that means, don’t you? More packing when we get home!”

  The teens groaned and followed Rachel to the checkout line. Rachel was a successful author and never minded giving back to the Lord. She considered it a privilege to share the money she earned with others, so paying for three carts of toys for sick little African children was a joy to her. And seeing the joy on her own children’s faces and those of their friends as they chattered excitedly about being able to pass out the toys to the children was a blessing, as well. She smiled as she started the van. She had a feeling they were all in for the experience of a lifetime. It would be exciting to see how God used them in Africa!

  __________

  CHAPTER TWO

  __________

  Jambo, Africa!

  Kristi was tired. Two days of flying from California to New York to London, and then finally to Nairobi, Kenya had taken its toll. They’d been able to nap in airports and airplanes, but she was ready for a nice, soft, cozy bed! The short layovers between flights had left them no time for sightseeing in New York or London, and although they would spend the night in a modern hotel in Kenya’s capital city before leaving for the mission station in the Great Rift Valley, they wouldn’t see much of the city from the windows of a bus on the road between the airport and hotel. It would be close to midnight by the time they got through customs and to their hotel. Kristi leaned against her dad as they waited for their back packs and other luggage to arrive at the baggage carousel.

  “I’ll meet you all at the hotel,” Steve Cameron said as he gave his daughter an encouraging hug. “I need to supervise getting all that cargo loaded into the truck after they unload it from the plane. Ken Smiley will stay with me and drive us to the hotel when we’re done.”