We are about 6 hours from Nairobi as I write this, onboard a
British Airways Boeing 747. It’s an
older plane, as was our 777 from Houston to London. Neither of the planes this time around had
USB or power outlets, a very nice convenience on long journeys. However, I always come prepared and have a
power brick my brother gave me a couple of years ago that is good for about 6
full charges on my phone. It’s a
lifesaver!
I’m working on a laptop that I’m going to give to my
friend Barrack at the end of the trip.
He has been a real blessing to the Nairobi area with his ministry for
the street youth. Over the years, I’ve mentored
him in photography. He has a real
natural eye for beauty. A couple of
years ago, I gave him a hard time about having a dirty screen on his laptop. He went crazy with window cleaner on it and
some got down into the computer, frying it.
He uses laptops and cameras to promote his ministry, so this was a
crushing blow and I felt terrible that I was at least indirectly responsible
for his predicament. I brought him a
better refurbished laptop on our next mission trip and all was well for the
time being. Then, last fall, he was the
photographer at a wedding, supplementing his income. I had taught him to always have a backup
camera at weddings or other once in a lifetime events, since if a camera
failed, it was all over. So, he had
rented an expensive camera and he had both cameras, the laptop and his nice
smartphone in his backpack as he left the wedding. The worst happened. He was held up at gunpoint and lost everything. He is currently paying the camera rental shop
back and has only had an inferior smartphone to document and publicize his
ministry since then. He also lost all of
the wedding pictures. What a shame! I’ve moved into a more powerful laptop for my
photography and other business needs, so I’m handing a very good laptop with a
touchscreen down and am also going to supply him with a good Nikon P600 superzoom camera to get him back on his
feet again. It’s the least I can
do. He will be joining us for a couple
of photo safaris on this trip and hopes to help some with our clinic as
well. It will be good to see him
again. Friendships like this result from
our mission philosophy of doing short term missions with long term
commitment. Everyone is blessed so much
more than when you perform a one and done mission, leaving the people you
served wondering if they did something to keep you from coming back or
what. I know that I have lifelong
friends halfway around the world because of our persistent efforts with the vision
clinics. Thank you, Jesus!
Our time at Heathrow couldn’t have gone much smoother, with
the exception of needing to take a bus to Terminal 3 from Terminal 5. We went right through security and it didn’t
seem much tighter than normal except when an agent pulled me off to the side
and swabbed both of my sneakers and ran it through an explosive detecting
machine. I don’t know if my feet smelled
funny or what, but I was soon waved through.
We had coffee at an Italian coffee shop and the ladies
shopped for a little while at Harrod’s next door. Our gate assignment was announced promptly at
9:30am as promised, which is not the usual case, and we had plenty of time to
get to our flight. We boarded and took
off right on schedule. We should arrive
around 9pm Nairobi time, go through immigration and customs checks and then
ride to Little Daughters of St. Joseph, the convent where we will spend the
first 2 nights. This time, we don’t have
any of the big red footlockers that tip off the security people to our medical
supplies, usually triggering an inspection and tariffs, taxes, fees or bribes
to exchange hands. We hope to blend in
with the other tourists. We’ve been able
to do this because we are now storing most of our inventory with Catherine in
Nairobi and replenishing much of it within the local economy. We only brought
about half of a footlocker of supplies this time and split it up among our
suitcases. Here’s hoping we shoot right
through. I expect to be showered and in
bed by midnight. If the past is any
guide, I may get 4 hours of on and off sleep.
We will breakfast around 7:30 and be on the road by 8am for
a photo safari at Lake Naivasha. This is
the place where we take a boat ride on a river filled with hippos and then
motor out to an island for a walk with the animals including giraffes, zebras,
water buffalo, water bucks, elands and others.
I’m trally looking forward to it, since I know Diane and Elena won’t
fully comprehend that they are in Africa until they spot their first giraffe!
More to follow at day’s end Saturday. We will be 8 hours ahead of Austin, so if I
post something at say 8pm, it will be available at noon in Austin. Blessings everybody!
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