At Charles de Gaulle airport

We landed on time and had to show our passports and boarding passes right after we deplaned, then went through an extra baggage and body scan before proceeding to the buses that route people to their terminals.  This place is huge! It took several stops before we got to Terminal L, then one moving sidewalk after another before we even got close to L53, our gate.  Sandra and I are enjoying some hot tea for her and a black coffee for me.  I remembered to take my morning meds, the coffee was scalding hot, so it had to cool for a little while.

We got through the security almost without incident, my autorefractor shot right through, while they examined and swabbed the one Sandra was carrying for explosives.  We thanked the security people for keeping us safe.  With our long layover, it was easier not to get testy at delays.

I switched over to my laptop here at the airport, they have free unlimited wifi that is pretty fast, and premium speeds for a fee.  Much easier to write with a keyboard and wireless mouse.  The Zochs have gone to check out the terminal, while we stayed here in a coffee shop 10 gates away to relax for a while, email our families and post updates on Facebook and here on the mission blog.

I was able to gather up all of mine and Sandra's pictures and will see what the Zochs can share.  I also have some great pictures my friends Barrack, Frank and Jarrod got around the clinic and in the immediate neighborhood that no "muzungu" (Swahili descriptive term for white person) could ever get because the situation would change by our mere presence.  I'll begin posting some pictures soon after our return and hope to have a completed nice album to share well before Christmas so our team can share with their families over the holidays.  That's all for now, I'm praying my next post is from Austin.  If it's from Paris, it means we had some more travel fun.  Keep those prayers coming!

An hour from Paris

Our flight from Nairobi left about 45 minutes late, but we've made up for it and will arrive in Paris on time.  It is a pretty full plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Kenya Airways.  This is my first time flying with them.  The food and the service have been very good.  Dinner shortly after takeoff was a choice of beef, chicken or vegetarian.  I had the beef with mashed potatoes, green beans and then strawberry shortcake for dessert.  They occasionally bring a refreshing cold wipe for your hands and face. I like that about as well as the hot towels on KLM. We just had a light breakfast of a croissant, yogurts and fruit salad.  At this point, we're about an hour from Paris and are not sure what to expect. We have a four and a half hour layover, so even if security is very heavy, we should make our Air France flight to Houston.  From what I have read so far, the French are determined to keep all flights operational.  I say good for them.  If that wasn't the case, the bad guys have won.

The only glitch I'm aware of for our travel so far is we understand that the Salem leaders, Paul, Kevin and Catherine got bumped from their very full KLM flight to Amsterdam.  There seems to be a theme here, teams arriving without their leaders.  The other teams arrive in Houston about 45 minutes after we do, and Alison is with them.  I'm hoping she clears Customs about the time we're loading my truck for the ride back to Redeemer with the footlockers, since she's riding with me. I'm glad to have her since after the long journey a second driver can be a Godsend.  There have been times I've made it to Giddings or Elgin and had to pull over for a short truckers nap.
I'm writing this on my smartphone, so please pardon typos and weird spellchecker grammar that may have crept in.  Hopefully, I'll be able to post this and more from Paris.

At Nairobi airport

Sandra and I are at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after clearing security.  She graciously bought a coupon for each of us to get 12 hours of good wifi for my laptop and her Ipad.  Dr. Zoch and Diana went for a stroll to check out food and drink in the rest of this very nice terminal.  I have already posted on Facebook that we are well and that the Kenya Airways staff and security personnel we have talked to all say that the airport in Paris is safe at this point after the horrendous attacks we learned about early this morning as we tried to check-in online for our itinerary.  I flew to London for Thanksgiving shortly after 9/11 and it was the best vacation we ever had.  Nobody was flying, all of the castles and museums had no lines and all of the guides in every attraction were happy to take the time to explain things to us.  I honestly think that flying into Paris at this point is as safe as it will ever be.

We have about 2 hours until boarding our Kenya Airways 787 Dreamliner for the trip to Charles DeGaulle Airport.  We arrive at 6am local time and our next flight is at 10am to Houston.  I just hope that is enough time to clear security and continue on our way.  We thank everybody here and at my Facebook page for their prayers and we promise not to go any faster than our guardian angels can fly!

Sandra, Barrack and I had planned to go to Lake Naivasha for the boat ride out the river full of hippos to the island with lots of water birds and various animals including giraffes, wildebeests, zebras and many kinds of gazelles and other deer-like creatures.  I looked at weather.com and there was a 77% chance of rain at 10am as we would be getting in the open small boats.  We decided to regroup and find something to do around town.  We settled on the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center afterwards.  The program at the Elephant Orphanage was fascinating, as they introduced us to more than 30 elephants of varying size and age, giving the story behind each one.  Some babies had fallen into water wells and had hurt themselves badly trying to escape, others were left behind as too small and sickly while many were orphaned due to poaching for ivory.  Each one has two individual handlers that care for them 24/7.  I got a few pictures, but since I didn't get to go on any of the safaris this time, I turned my attention to the beautiful landscape with dramatic clouds and to the few birds that flew overhead or were in nearby trees.  A warthog came running through the elephant area and out through the crowd, causing a stir among the people.  Our narrator pointed out that animals always have the right of way in the Kenyan reserves.  He came near me and I got a few images of him. After the program, Sandra sponsored an elephant, and will get email updates on how here baby is doing.

At the Giraffe Center, we were given a handful of food each and were able to feed them eye to eye from a balcony on the 2nd floor.  I gave my feed to Sandra and she used it up also.  She said their tongues were really slimy.  None of us held a pellet of food in our teeth as some people do to get a picture where it looks like you are getting a giraffe kiss.  

After the two attractions, we drove back to the Galleria Mall, another upscale mall in Karen, a very nice suburb and had lunch at the Java House there.  We then went to the Little Daughters of St. Jospeph and I got our footlockers in order and made a manifest of what was in each one.  I needed it at the airport and we didn't get torn apart for once.  Catherine had pizza and sodas delivered and he other teams ate heartily, we were exploding, so we took a pass.

We spent time sharing stories of our clinics with each of the other teams, phoning home to assure our families and friends and freshening up in a couple of rooms, one for the men and one for the women.  I went outside to make a call and saw a couple of stunning birds, so I snagged my camera and got a few shots with another bird aficionado, Bill Goodoff. It was my mini-safari.  I guess I have to get back to Texas and practice, practice, practice.  Catherine has said she could book me an extra 3 days after some mission for around $700 to go to the Masai Mara for a bird and animal safaris.  I'd like to try that sometime with a few other people.

That's about it for now.  We'll all try to get word back from Paris.  Keep the prayers coming.

  

Friday clinic - the Grand Finale to a good week

I got up at 5am, since I couldn't sleep any more with a million last day details dancing around in my head and got onto the Internet to check email and maybe make another blog post.  I was horrified to see an email from Citibank about a Fraud Alert on my account.  Moments after my computer chip credit card had been scanned at the Mediterraneo restaurant, purchases in the U.S. began to occur.  The waiter had come to my table and scanned my card, but said it wouldn't connect and that he had to bring a second scanner.  The second scanner went through.  I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the Fraud team and the only option was to cancel the card, a real pain since it's my main business card and is tied into many online accounts.  A nice start to the day, I buy our team a nice dinner and then it blows up in my face. Such is life, I'll get over it and now I have another story to tell!

We breakfasted and got to the clinic a little early, where Pastor James prayed over us and the day ahead and we began work.  It was pretty steady all day long, and when we finished, we had the usual 300 or so patients, even with a day shortened by packing up the foot lockers and recognizing our volunteers for a job well done.  We finished the week with 1546 patients having been served and exposed to the saving Gospel message, a respectable number given how rainy it has been.  At the closing of this clinic, rather than award Certificates of Appreciation, we gave out toothbrushes and toothpaste to everyone.  Sandra had brought these supplies from her dentist and we got pictures of everyone individually getting their dental supplies from Sandra, Dr. Zoch and Diana. It was a nice change of pace.

We said our goodbyes and our "until we meet agains" and got back to Rosa Mystica.  Our driver Mambo walked Sandra to Kentucky Fried Chicken nearby where she bought dinner for the two of them, I believe the Zochs rested until the 7 pm dinner at the compound and I got a shower and went over to Java House for a quiet dinner by myself before going back to Mediterraneo to let the manager know what had happened with my credit card.  It was all cordial, the damage had already been done, I was just trying to give him the courtesy of informing him of a possible problem with his staff or their credit processing procedures.  I said Hakuna Matata ("no worries" for you Lion King fans) and came back to my room to write this blog post, check into my flight for tomorrow night and to begin packing, since we are checking out in the morning.

Tomorrow morning, the team will breakfast at Rosa Mystica from 7 to 8 am and then Sandra, our friend Barrack and myself will head out to Lake Naivasha for a photo safari with Mambo as our driver.  The Zochs chose to remain at Rosa Mystica until he has to check out the condition of our dental equipment stored in Nairobi tomorrow afternoon after several years without doing a dental clinic.

We will all meet up with the other teams at the Little Daughters of St. Joseph compound Saturday afternoon before heading to the airport together for our respective flights.  If all goes well, we will be flying Kenya Airways to Paris and ten Air France to Houston, arriving in Houston around 3pm Sunday afternoon.  We'll gather up our footlockers and luggage, make our way through Customs and Immigration and then depart for Austin, hopefully by around 4 pm.  Stay tuned for more updates as it is possible...

Thursday and it's more of the same

Breakfast and the trip to the clinic were almost identical to the previous days.  In fact, by the end of the day, we had seen 313 people and are at a little more than 1200 for the week.  300 people a day seems to be the theme for this trip.  It's much more usual to start slowly and build every day until we are seeing as many as 700 to 1000 patients a day by the end of the week.  We have had rainy weather on and off and would explain some of this, but this consistency is very unusual.  I'm not complaining, it is just a little odd.

In the afternoon, one of our surgical successes from a previous trip was revisited.  The little girl Blessing, whom we were able to help last year when she was about 2 years old was there with her mother to thank us.  Blessing had been born with cataracts on both eyes and we were able to help her get the surgery she needed to have a full life.  She looked like any other cute little 3 year old girl today and her mother was very moving in her praise for us and the work we do here in Kenya.  We accepted her thanks and told her, through Catherine, since she only spoke Swahili, that cases like Blessing's are what keep us coming back over and over again and that we thanked Jesus that we were being used in this way.  I'll post pictures when I can.

Pastor Kevin headed back to the airport this evening for his journey back to Austin.  We all pray that he doesn't have any more adventures!  The rest of us went to the Mediterraneo Restaurant at the Junction Mall with Catherine and Shara Cunningham, one of our missionaries for East Africa who is stationed in Nairobi.  It was a real joy to introduce Shara and her wonderful ministry to team members who hadn't had the pleasure of meeting her yet.  A good time was had by all.  We all headed back across the street to Rosa Mystica to turn in early, since tomorrow will be a very big day.  First we will run the clinic, and then near the end of the day, we will be taking inventory of our supplies, packing up our equipment and saying our goodbyes.

That's all for now, to be continued as I can...

Wednesday clinic, the week is very consistent so far

We got up bright and early and were all lined up for 6:30 breakfast.  The morning shift apparently didn't get the word, because the doors to the cafeteria didn't open until 7 when one of the other guests began rattling and banging on the barred, locked door leading to it.  We hurriedly made some toast, instant coffee, had some freshly made eggs and chicken sausage and wolfed down a few bananas before loading up and heading for the church.  Traffic was worse than usual, but we still arrived right on time, with very few people waiting for us due to the rain overnight.  We gathered together and Pastor James had Dr. Zoch lead the group in a prayer before we started work for the day.

We had a pretty steady trickle of people all day, with a few slower times and a couple of brief rushes.  I did a little more triage this afternoon and shared in the lives of several interesting people.  One man, Elisha, was an ordained pastor without a church.  He was over 60 and could not find a position after being forced from his old congregation when a younger pastor had come along.  Another man had fallen on his head back in the 80's and he had a large growth on his back right below his neck that he attributed to the aftermath of that accident.  We prayed for healing.  There were several other moving or funny incidents that we were fortunate enough to get some photos of, so I'll try to get them posted along with the pictures as soon as I can after our return to the States.  By day's end, we had seen 312 patients, about the same as Monday and Tuesday.  Typical clinics grow in attendance every day, other than the rainy weather, I have no explanation for this.  My attitude these days is we will serve the people that the Lord places in front of us and care for them as best as we can, with love and compassion.

We returned to Rosa Mystica and quickly freshened up before heading to Pampa, a Braizilian steakhouse with every kind of meat you would expect, plus crocodile and camel meat.  Some of us had the crocodile, nobody special ordered the camel after I related how tough it was on a previous trip at another steakhouse.  Catherine was able to join the team and we had a great meal and good conversation since it was quiet enough for all around the table to hear and participate.

Tomorrow will be Pastor Kevin's final day here in Nairobi, he is flying back late Thursday night to perform a wedding.  I'll get all of our team leader materials, insurance, petty cash etc. from him prior to his departure. I'll need to instruct the team on how we will finish the clinic Friday, pack up and prepare for our journey home starting Saturday night.  Please keep us in your prayers for a strong finish to a good clinic.

Tuesday clinic and Tuesday night

We breakfasted again at our usual 6:30 am and were on the road back to the church at 7:30 am following a nightlong thunderstorm.  We were concerned that the slum would be solid mud, but our friend and driver Mambo was able to maneuver our van through anything that got in our way.  There were a few people waiting in the tent for us, but nothing like Monday when the weather was dry.

We had a fairly steady flow of people all day long once things got rolling around 8:30.  By the end of the day, we had seen 320 people and we had definitely made several lives much better,including a little girl that couldn’t see the blackboard.  She was fitted with some pretty strong glasses and she and her mother were all smiles when she could see clearly.  I got a few pictures of the mother and her and will post them when I return.  Our Internet has been spotty with the storms and is not very fast, so getting many pictures out is not likely until later.

The rest of the team either had dinner at our lodge or got a bite over at the Junction Mall across the street.  Pastor Kevin and I were invited into the home of our East Africa and South Africa coordinator for missions, Rev. Shauen Trump and his wife Krista.  It poured down rain in what some Texans would call a real toad strangler.  I had my poncho with me, I had learned from old-timers over the years that if you hadn't used something you brought in three trips in a row, don't bring it again, with the exception of a poncho.  Krista came out with a couple of big umbrellas to usher us into the house as we stepped through some puddles that seemed to be 6 inches deep.  After removing our shoes, we met Shauen’s parents who are visiting from the States and got to see the couple’s 3 young boys before they were put to bed.  We were treated to a wonderful Mexican meal with homemade salsa and chips, incredible chicken enchiladas with great cheese and jalepenos in them followed by a desert of grilled pineapple that had been marinated in a concoction which included tequila and several other secret ingredients.  We had a nice night of conversation, with no one staring into a smart phone or tablet.  It was refreshing and there was a wide range of topics interspersed with quite a few laughs.  A good time was had by all.  I'm glad to see the art of conversaion has not completely disappeared from the earth as we even looked each other in the eye occasionally!  We are so thankful we got to see these friends this time, since we have had conflicting travel or other schedule issues the past year or two.  I hope we can return the favor with a nice night out on our next trip in June of next year.

That’s about it for now, morning will be here plenty soon enough. Many more stories to come, I’m sure!

Note:I tried to post this last night, but Internet wasn't good enough, so here it is around 6:15 am Wednesday.  Better late than never!