API USA Blog
News from the field.
Winter Mission 2021
Friday, December 10, 2021
Saturday morning, the 4th of December, as Moses and Reuben were heading to Uganda, I was heading to Turkana, flying from Eldoret to Lodwar.
That evening, I met with the Lodwar Pastor's Fellowship to plan our 9th annual conference next August. Unfortunately I neglected to take any photos for you.
Charcoal for sale along the road. Most households in Turkana, and in the rest of Kenya, use charcoal for cooking.
Monday morning Pastor Boniface and Pastor George and I traveled to Kakuma to meet with the pastor's fellowship to plan our 2nd pastor's conference in that city. As you may know, Kakuma is the site of the largest refugee camp in Africa, with refugees from all over Africa. This past August we held our first pastor's conference in Kakuma and bussed in pastors from the refugee camp to attend. Holding the conference in the camp presented very difficult administrative and logistical problems, so the pastors fellowship in Kakuma, graciously provided a venue to hold the conference. Over lunch we discussed the next conference to be held in August 2022.
When I am in Kenya, wherever I go, I am always confronted by extreme poverty and hunger. And while I am pondering what more I can do about it, these Kenyan pastors already have a game plan to help. After our lunch, one of the pastors in Kakuma, Pastor John (pictured below), went around the table, gathering up what was left on each plate. I asked him what he was going to do with it, and he said there were street kids just outside the cafe where we were eating that probably had not eaten that day and so he had all that food packed up for them. It turns out that Pastor John has a ministry to these kids who roam the mean streets of Kakuma, doing whatever it takes to survive. He has built a home for street boys and girls on his property, and as he is able, he rescues them from the streets, feeding and housing and educating them. And this is a pattern all across Kenya where many pastors and churches are engaged in bringing the gospel to the lost and the least. The Kenyan government has largely abandoned these kids to the streets, but the church in Kenya, as the church does all over the world, has stepped up to the plate to bring hope and restoration for the overlooked and despised in society.
On our way home, we stopped by the site of a near tragedy last August. As George and Boniface were traveling home from our conference in Kakuma, their driver was distracted momentarily, trying to answer his phone. The car careened off the road as they were negotiating a curve in the road and ended up hanging over this dry river bed, offside wheels dangling over about a 15 foot drop.
Wednesday morning, I flew back to Nairobi where Frank picked me up. Just want to give a shout out to our logisitics director, Frank Maina, who has been such a help and encouragement on all our trips. Frank arranges all the accommodations and transportation for these trips and we couldn't do what we do without him.
Saturday morning, the 4th of December, as Moses and Reuben were heading to Uganda, I was heading to Turkana, flying from Eldoret to Lodwar.
That evening, I met with the Lodwar Pastor's Fellowship to plan our 9th annual conference next August. Unfortunately I neglected to take any photos for you.
Charcoal for sale along the road. Most households in Turkana, and in the rest of Kenya, use charcoal for cooking.
Monday morning Pastor Boniface and Pastor George and I traveled to Kakuma to meet with the pastor's fellowship to plan our 2nd pastor's conference in that city. As you may know, Kakuma is the site of the largest refugee camp in Africa, with refugees from all over Africa. This past August we held our first pastor's conference in Kakuma and bussed in pastors from the refugee camp to attend. Holding the conference in the camp presented very difficult administrative and logistical problems, so the pastors fellowship in Kakuma, graciously provided a venue to hold the conference. Over lunch we discussed the next conference to be held in August 2022.
When I am in Kenya, wherever I go, I am always confronted by extreme poverty and hunger. And while I am pondering what more I can do about it, these Kenyan pastors already have a game plan to help. After our lunch, one of the pastors in Kakuma, Pastor John (pictured below), went around the table, gathering up what was left on each plate. I asked him what he was going to do with it, and he said there were street kids just outside the cafe where we were eating that probably had not eaten that day and so he had all that food packed up for them. It turns out that Pastor John has a ministry to these kids who roam the mean streets of Kakuma, doing whatever it takes to survive. He has built a home for street boys and girls on his property, and as he is able, he rescues them from the streets, feeding and housing and educating them. And this is a pattern all across Kenya where many pastors and churches are engaged in bringing the gospel to the lost and the least. The Kenyan government has largely abandoned these kids to the streets, but the church in Kenya, as the church does all over the world, has stepped up to the plate to bring hope and restoration for the overlooked and despised in society.
On our way home, we stopped by the site of a near tragedy last August. As George and Boniface were traveling home from our conference in Kakuma, their driver was distracted momentarily, trying to answer his phone. The car careened off the road as they were negotiating a curve in the road and ended up hanging over this dry river bed, offside wheels dangling over about a 15 foot drop.
Wednesday morning, I flew back to Nairobi where Frank picked me up. Just want to give a shout out to our logisitics director, Frank Maina, who has been such a help and encouragement on all our trips. Frank arranges all the accommodations and transportation for these trips and we couldn't do what we do without him.
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Bringing hope and healing to the people of Kenya