Email: Blair Moorhead

Dear Friends,

Greetings from a freezing Nairobi! Sure, tell me it’s summer—I do not believe you. I have never had such cold fingers in July before.

In the two months since I last wrote, I’ve been bouncing around Kenya and even had the chance to expand my East African horizons. I went to Mozambique! I’ve had this beautiful mental image of the country ever since I heard the Bob Dylan song about it, and after a few sedentary months in Nairobi I was thrilled to go somewhere new. Of course, I wasn’t going for a vacation on the beach but as a note-taker/administrative assistant for two important planning meetings for the All-Africa Council of Churches’ Ninth General Assembly. But still—Mozambique!

When we stepped out of the airport, my colleagues and I were greeted with a warm beach-y breeze. This was so welcome after the onset (little did I know how long it would last!) of winter in Kenya. While in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, I did catch glimpses of the ocean. It was picturesquely framed by a mosque and colouful plaster buildings out my hotel window. I also got to see the beach when we drove to an outdoor site that will be one of the venues to host our continental gathering in December.

Planning the conference has really been a series of tasks, most of them leading to new assignments as soon as they are completed. This means that there have been very few moments when we can really cross off items on our to-do list. Until this meeting. We were crossing off items left and right, and all who attended were brilliant and helpful. I was madly typing the whole time, but it was a great feeling to have so many ideas flying around the room.

I got home on a Tuesday night, and Friday morning I was in the airport again en route to central Kenya for the YAV closing retreat. Closing YAV activities for me—there was a retreat and a luncheon—are bittersweet. I am not sure if I have mentioned this in a letter before, but I am not going home at what would normally be the end of my term in August. I will be staying until December to actually see the AACC’s Assembly take place. I am sad to see the year come to an end for everyone, but it is difficult to fully throw myself into the concluding spirit. Micah left a couple of weeks ago, and in the next two weeks our YAGM friends are leaving as well.

This fact made me think of one of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite authors, Jonathan Safran Foer. “So many people enter and leave your life! Hundreds of thousands of people! You have to keep the door open so they can come in! But it also means you have to let them go!” The opportunity to work with the Micah, Sarah L, Sarah W, and Hodari has been tremendous, but it is also beautiful to watch people transition into new phases in their lives.

And I am transitioning too. By staying in Kenya, I have made one of the first big decisions of my adult life, a decision that was influenced by my desire to finish a work project. Obviously, it was a decision that I prayed about, consulted my family about, and involved more than just work, but to have made such a concrete choice is also a milestone in my life. So who says staying a volunteer a wee bit longer equals stagnation? I’m growing too!

Thank you again for your kind prayers and thoughts.

Sincerely,

Blair