Of Cabbages and Kings

McKinley's mission leads to Kenya, Part 1

By LUELLA DOW

Contributor

Seven weeks in Kenya is not a vacation. Erin McKinley didn't go there for that purpose. She traveled there as a young missionary to help and encourage the people. She said, “There were 35 of us in the missionary group. We spent most of our time at Rurii. English is the official language, but the traditional language is Swahili.”

For the first week and a half they stayed in Nairobi where they learned about Kenya's culture and practiced Swahili. Then they split into pairs. McKinley said, “Nicole was my partner. We lived with a K...