Kenya has a rich spiritual mixture. Not only are there Christian churches of many stripes, but also mosques like this one in Nairobi.

Dedication of the Shalom Christian Center was an all day affair, with speakers from three continents. Jenny brings greetings from Calvary Chapel Petaluma.

Tom met with pastor Solomon, bringing needed vision and partnership from his church in Petaluma.

Our last Sunday in Kenya meant saying goodbye to new friends. Wayne offers best wishes to Dr. Nyamo and his family in Kehancha.

Relaunching the Merced Express after two weeks of repairs required all hands. We proved the team could pray and bail water at the same time, multitasking our way back to the mainland port of Mbita.

Donna sets up and demonstrates an inexpensive solar cooker (made from waste cartons and aluminum foil). Cooking fuel has become scarce after years of drought, and people were very enthusiastic about using the cookers to make food and pasteurize water.

Children of Shalom Christian Center on Mfangano Island are many of them AIDS orphans. Mfangano is terribly pressed with HIV/AIDS infection, running upwards of 40% among the adult population. Pastor Felix has pulled together a board from 20+ churches to address the needs of the orphans left behind.

Everywhere we went Shay could gather a crowd of children for Bible classes and a game. She also helped in the clinics, calming childrens' fears.

Jim leads a group of pastors in an introduction to the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, a Bible cross reference tool. Letting Scripture illuminate Scripture is key to good interpretation.

Monika inspects a well with Joseph Gesiri. The Zao project out of North Carolina has been digging wells and capping springs in western Kenya and Tanzania to bring good water to many villages. Water and sanitation are the best medicine.

Our medical clinics are run in cooperation with Kenyan medical staff. Here Dr. Justus Nandi consults with a patient and nurse. The clinics are run at local churches, and the pastor meets everyone who comes. When we've gone, he will be their continuity of care.

Marcee comforting a child at clinic. Many of the children associate clinics with getting shots, and were in need of a smile.

Making our way to Mfangano Island with the team from Kehancha. Many of them had never been in a boat of any kind before this. Their prayers were earnest and effectual. It was a lovely trip with a great sunset. We reached landfall after dark.

Esau, Pastor Nashon and Ron ready to brave the passage to Mfangano.

Justin and Dr. Nyamohanga arrive at clinic ready for anything. By the end of the day they had seen everything.

Don assisting Samuel making a lumber cut. Samuel took on the power saw as a personal mission. There were no serious injuries in the whole construction project. Bwana asifiwe! Praise the LORD!

Vince, Thomas, Daniel and Ron cutting lumber for the church benches at Shalom Christian Center on Mfangano Island. The power saw is running on gas generator. There are power poles but no power on the island.

Amanda Price teaches an impromptu class on birthing calves at the Wednesday cattle auction in Kehancha.

Pictures from Kenya

Allan and Pastor Isaac greet the congregation at Kehancha.

Home again

We made it back to SF. Life seems so different here now. Thank you for all your prayers, the trip was powerful, life changing for us and hopefully for some of the people we met. We will be in church on Sunday, come and ask us questions, we would love to tell you about it.
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In England

We made it safely to London and have arrived at the hotel. We will leave tomorrow morning for our last track home.
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At the airport

After a great night sleep, we are at the airport, ready for the 8 hour flight to London. Thank you for all your prayers. We are all healthy and looking forward to come to share our experiences.

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Narok

We arrived safely at the Seasons hotel. The trip was beautiful and we were amazed at God's creativity. Tomorrow we will make our track to Nirobi. Donna is feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers.

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On the way to Emurutoto

As we approach the last days of our travel we saw Simon and the school, picked up Eunice (senior chairman's wife). Donna has been sick the 24 hours, please pray for her recovery,
We will not have internet coverage for the next couple of days.
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Thoughts on our mission trip

This post is submitted by Amanda:

 

The work is done, and we have begun our long, slow trek towards home.  I think every person in our group has said "When I get home, I'm gonna…" usually involving long, hot showers or air conditioning.

 

I've been thinking, and discussing, a lot about just what makes an effective mission trip.  It is hard in my mind to justify spending such a large amount of money on something that is sometimes little more than a working vacation.

 

First, while every trip has a goal, reaching that goal is not always the most important thing.  If, say, you build a beautiful church, but don't have love or show love to the people you are building it for, how have you really served God?  And if building that church is your only goal, you could have just sent money for local workers to build it.

 

Mission trips should be about relationships.  I think the most important relationship is with the local pastor, because they will be doing the follow-up after you have left.  It's great to have people come to the Lord, but if they don't have a way (or know of a way) to grow from there, the opportunity may be lost.

 

As a veterinarian, I have been trying to determine what the follow-up to my seminars should be.  The two pastors are not farmers, and veterinarians are rare. (There is one veterinarian on Mfangano Island, and there are no cars.)  I have decided that the best method of follow-up is to provide a library on livestock rearing to the two pastors, as well as regular updates that they can pass on to their members and other pastors.

 

Third, I think mission trips should strive to have an impact long after we have left.  I am conflicted on the effectiveness of our medical clinics.  On the one hand, you have to meet peoples' physical needs before you can meet their spiritual ones.  On the other hand, there will be sick people on Mfangano Island tomorrow, and we won't be there to help.  So the clinic itself is a temporary impact.

 

Where the clinics are most effective, however, is that we can do Bible, life skills, and even veterinary training in our "waiting room."  I could have brought a bunch of veterinary supplies and said, "I'm a vet, show me your sick animals."  But without a teaching component, what lasting impact would I have?  Plus, how would I know what drugs or supplies to bring without knowing what their issues are?  So, I chose to stick to teaching.  I taught about calvings at each seminar, but the most valuable part to me, and hopefully to them, is when I just asked for questions.  I learned so much about their needs and concerns, and I hope I taught them a few things.

 

So, with my rules above, was this an effective mission trip for me?  Well, my goal was to simply learn their needs and resources, so that I knew what role I could play.  I never ended up using the few veterinary supplies I brought (except for turning my latex gloves into balloons for the children that were crying).  I can't say that I built my relationship that well with the local pastors, mostly because they are not farmers.  But, I think that by providing them with a library, and building relationships with their members and other local pastors, I can have a lasting impact.  I see that Pastor Solomon has a projector, and I'm hoping to provide short animal health training videos that they can show.  This will allow him to take this information to the many communities that he helps minister to.

 

Please pray for safe travels home for our group and the Kenyans that assisted us, continuing relationships with the people here, and that our presence and teachings here have a lasting impact.  Pray for the Church in Kenya and the educational system to lift up the Kenyans so that they can meet these needs themselves.

Leaving Mfangano

We are packing up our tents to return to Kehancha. We will miss the children and the staff. We found out yesterday that we can sponsor a orphans for $35 a month to receive housing, schooling and food. We also learned that 42% of the island is infected with HIV AIDS.....

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Celebration

We had the privilege yesterday to be part of the dedication of Shalom school. This project is supported by over 20 churches - what a witness to God's grace and mercy.
Today we will continue with medical clinics, community health training, building projects, and children education.
Last night we had a beautiful star filled night while we were surrounded by children and singing together.

Thank you for your support and prayers.
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Tuesday morning

Today we will spend the day celebrating with the Kenyans what God has done at the Shalom Center. Over 200 people are expected and everybody is getting ready for it. We could hear the children practice last night, what a treasure to hear them sing.

Yesterday our teams took a small boat to get to our destinations. Over 160 patients were seen, we cooked rice with the sun, spent time with students to explain God's blessing of the sun, started building the benches, fixed the bathroom/shower situation, taught hygiene classes and learned from each other.

I think none of us will take basic things in the US for granted again.
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Monday morning

It is monday morning on Mfangano island and we are getting ready for our clinics today. Two teams will head out on a boat in various directions to have medical clinics, community development sessions and Bible teachings. We usually see about 80 patients in each group throughout the day. Several of the team will stray back at Shalom school to help with building benches for the school and working with the 60+ children here (many of them are AIDS orphans).

We all are fairly healthy and in good physical and emotional condition.

We are grateful for your prayers so that many will get to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and will find healing for their souls, bodies and communitities.

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On the island

10pm - we made it to the island, set up our tents and are enjoying a delicious dinner. One vehicle broke down on the way but we made it to the lake on time to see a beautiful sunset.
Tomorrow is Sunday and we are looking forward to a Kenyan worship service.

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Mfangano Bound

Today we are on the road from Kehancha to Mbita where we will catch a 50 passenger motor canoe to Mfangano Island. We have a dozen Kenyans with us going too from Pastor Solomon's church.
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Friday evening

Today one team stayed at Solomon's church and after seeing 50 patients we send the other 30 back home to come again tomorrow. Enclosed is a picture we took as we were playing ball with the kids.
Monika met with a pastor today who was so grateful for the solos cooker idea. They have to walk many hours to find any firewood and coal is also expensive and take a long travel. The pastor had written his bike for 2 hours to meet with me and then went back for another 2 hours to hold a small group. Then another hour to get home! Life here is so different.

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Day 2 of Medical clinics

It is after 10pm and we are slowing down and getting ready for bed. Exhausted but encouraged by the good things we have seen today. After our devotion this morning, that pointed us again towards God's heart for the poor, we packed our things and went again in opposite directions. Both teams saw many sick people, Amanda shared her vet skills, Donna cooked Ugali on the solar cooker, Don. Jim and Ron shared Scriptures and Monika did community development projects.
All of us are growing: in our own personal relationships with the Lord, as a team together, and in our love for the people here.
Shay got her hair braided African style, it took 7 hours and she made many new friends.

We wish we could share some more of our experiences here with you, but I guess you will have to come to the celebration next month.

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medical clinic.jpg

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Cows and Bibles

Wednesday two medical teams went out from Kehancha while Jim and the Prices stayed behind at Solomon Rioba's church to do a seminar for fifteen area pastors on birthing calves, using their Bible tools, and cross breeding dairy cows into local stock. It was eclectic, but the discussion was very animated.

At the clinics a lot of people got medicines and four people got saved.

Bwana asifiwe! Praise the Lord.
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Last clinics on Mfangano

Today teams will boat out to remote beaches for our sixth and seventh clinics here. The network of churches cooperating with each other is remarkable. Twenty different churches from a dozen denominations are working together for the orphans and widows.
Today will visit another American doing AIDS research, a big problem here.
Jim and Monika.
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1st day in Kehancha

We arrived safely in Kehancha. It made for a long day of travel, but the welcome we received was sure worth it. After finding our sleeping rooms for the next few days, and the distribution of luggage we had a wonderful meal.
Todays assignment: Wayne and Amanda will give some vetenary training. Jim will be teaching the pastors again. 2 teams are going out to do medical clinics and community develment. Justin is going with Dinah, the young woman that was Monika's translator 2 years ago. Dinah went through some formal training and is working for an NGO. Monika will go with the other team. Ron and Don will do the Bible teaching in each of the camps. Shay will work with the children. Marcee and Donna will help with medical clinics and Vince and Allan will be the "old man" who are there to give some advise. We will also have the eye clinics where we will be giving out glasses.
A full day is planned, we are out in fields. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to bring the fruit, so that God's Kingdom may come on earth as it isin heaven.


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1st day in Kehancha

We arrived safely in Kehancha. It made for a long day of travel, but the welcome we received was sure worth it. After finding our sleeping rooms for the next few days, and the distribution of luggage we had a wonderful meal.
Todays assignment: Wayne and Amanda will give some vetenary training. Jim will be teaching the pastors again. 2 teams are going out to do medical clinics and community develment. Justin is going with Dinah, the young woman that was Monika's translator 2 years ago. Dinah went through some formal training and is working for an NGO. Monika will go with the other team. Ron and Don will do the Bible teaching in each of the camps. Shay will work with the children. Marcee and Donna will help with medical clinics and Vince and Allan will be the "old man" who are there to give some advise. We will also have the eye clinics where we will be giving out glasses.
A full day is planned, we are out in fields. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to bring the fruit, so that God's Kingdom may come on earth as it isin heaven.


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A quiet night of rest.

Today, Tuesday, we are finally making it to our destination. After a great day of driving and seeing some of God's beautiful creation we will finish our shopping for supplies this morning and head for Salomon's place.

One of the wonderful things we found out yesterday was that Dina, the young lady who translated my health education part last time, is now for working for a non profit organization doing the same in the area. What a blessing to know that the skills are being passed on.
We will be working closely with her to support her efforts.

Thank you for all your prayers.
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Made it to Nairobi

Flights were long but uneventful. We arrived 6 a.m. at Nairobi Airport, came to hotel,showered and crashed for a couple hours. Everyone returning to full human status. Pastor Solomon drove in to Nairobi to meet us at the airport and our friend Joseph in customs was very helpful again. One of our drivers is a Christian brother, so our time wit5h him over these three weeks will be especially blessed. Tomorrow is Kenyan Independence Day (Madaraka Day) and we will begin our  trek to western Kenya and Solomon's home and church.

Meal at the airport

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On the road

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Solar cooker

Every day in Kenya and in many countries around the world, women and children spent hours gathering firewood for cooking, while we just turn on our stoves or use our microwaves.

As part of our trip to Kenya we are looking for ways to give people a hand-up instead of a hand-out. One of those opportunities is to introduce them to solar cooking. Since Kenya is close to the equator they have plenty of sunshine year round.

Today Jim and I built our first solar cooker in our backyard as an experiment. We used a cardboard box, aluminum foil, glue, a turkey cooking bag, a couple of stick, and a cooking thermometer.

We pasteurized 3 liters (3 quarts) of water in 1 1/2 hours - heating it to 160 degrees for several minutes to destroy many of the disease carrying microbes.

We also made delicious cornbread in 1 1/2 hours. Ugali should take about the same amount of time.

Much research has been done over the years of how beneficial solar energy is and I have to admit, it never occurred to me to use it in our own home. Who wants to heat up the house and pay for electricity if we can cook outside for free?

We will spend the next couple of days before we leave for Kenya to refine our little stove... but it was amazing to see what we could do!

Monika

Real cooperation

The benches we will help build in Pastor Felix's round church will be a variation on Vince's design used in Kehancha in 2007. These Kehancha men joined in with great spirit after seeing one example bench built, and finished the rest of the 30 benches with little input from us. On Sunday morning we found that some of the men we had been working alongside were the elders and leaders of the Kehancha congregation.

Eat for Kenya, April 24

No it's not Nyama Choma, but it's close! Buy a big bag of BBQ Beef sandwiches and support the Kenya mission. Sandwiches are only $5 each. Include potato salad and chips for only $2 more. Drinks and Cissie's cookies available for a little bit more. Contact any team member for tickets. Pickup April 24 between 4-6pm. Email Jim Grasley for details.

Get your shots

On the meeting of April 5, Allan reminded team members to get their shots. Yellow fever shots are available at the Fresno Health Dept. All members should get and carry an International Certificate of Immunization to show on demand during the trip. Malaria pills are already purchased to start 2 weeks prior to departure.