in Minneapolis

In Minneapolis

We arrived at our gate a little early and began to look for our next gate, which was G9. We were in A. A cart driver noticed us and wondered our next flight. He confirmed G9 and it was all aboard for a very long ride, maybe 2 miles. He dropped us at a pretty good restaurant near G9. I had a Swiss cheeseburger that was very good but unusual.  Instead of a bottom bun, it was sitting in a metal cup of cole slaw. We ate and chatted for quite a while, since our layover was nearly 4 hours. We went to the gate and took turns freshening up, made phone calls, and I posted the previous blog story. I also rearranged gear between the backpack and my carry-on.  When we were finally boarding, while we were told to have our passports and boarding passes out, a facial recognition scan was all they did. Or so it seemed. We lined up single file in the long gangway leading to the Airbus 330. An officer with a huge black dog went up and down or line sniffing for who knows what. I didn’t see anyone pulled out of the line like I was in Houston one time when I had beef Jerry in my luggage.  That one ended in everyone laughing including me! Once everyone was seated on the huge plane,  we took off for France about 10 minutes late.

We’re waiting for dinner, it’s about 6. 30 pm which is 2.30 am in Nairobi,  meaning we need to sleep as much as we can on this leg of the journey to get a leg up on jetlag.  We need to be sharp by Monday when the clinic starts. I might take some Tylenol PM to help with that once we eat. I’ll stop here and pick it up later in the flight. Thanks for coming along with us via the blog. I hope it inspires some of you to join us in this mercy mission soon.

The Mission Begins! Thursday May 28th Travel

We all arrived for our flight 2 hours ahead. We couldn’t check in at the kiosk with a credit card as a security measure due to an African destination since fraud has been rampant. It was good because we got personal attention at the checkin counter.  I have TSA Pre-Check but Melissa beat me to our gate because I was behind a  nursing mother with formula in 2 carryons and she got extra scrutiny. Our flight to Minneapolis looked to  be on time. Right before boarding, they asked for 23 volunteers to  check their  carry-on since the flight was full. The only problem was that it would be checked through to our final destination and I  had a laptop and about $12000 of photo equipment in mine. I asked at the desk what my odds were being in boarding group 6. “Not great.” Fortunately Melissa was able to check hers and when we were boarding the gate agent waved me through with her. Both Melissa and I had mentioned Nairobi and she put 2 and 2 together and had mercy on me. Thank you Jesus! Something had told me to bring a mostly empty backpack with me. It was in my checked bag last night. This allowed me to move the most important stuff into it quickly when things looked bleak. It is under the seat in front of me as I write this and I’ll rearrange a bit during our layover in Minneapolis.

We’re flying the Delta, KLM, Air France route this time after 3 years of missed connections in London with British Air and American Airlines. So far, so good. Andrea and Elizabeth should be arriving in Nairobi during our layover in Minneapolis.

 

Ready to serve the people of Kenya again in His name in Mlolongo!

 It's that time of year again and we are getting ready to saddle up for our mission trip to Nairobi once again. This year, we have a team of 6, with 5 of us being veterans. That experience will come in handy, as we will be serving in Machakos County in a slum called Mlolongo. This is the first time on of our teams will serves with two local churches, so we expect to have great volunteers with a lot of enthusiasm for spreading the Gospel as we serve the people's vision needs. Many times, the first morning of the clinic looks like things will never work as our team and the volunteers figure out how things work. Usually by Tuesday afternoon, the clinic is running like a well-oiled machine, I expect things will get going much quicker as each one of us will be able to get a station of the clinic ready quickly and also get our volunteers up to speed.  

We were prayed over and sent as missionaries at all three of our church services at Redeemer Sunday, which happened to be Pentecost. It doesn't get better than that! I always read a chapter a day in the Book of Acts for the 4 weeks leading up each trip, reading about how the early church grew in leaps and bounds, being led by the Holy Spirit, always gets me fully charged up for the work we are about to do. 

The Dream Team

If you would like to see any of the services, they are available in Redeemer Austin's YouTube channel. 

In between the second and third services, we divvied up various items we need either for the clinic or for the school in Kongasis. While some of us get two checked bags and a carry-on, we have traveled light for years and will only have on suitcase, a carry-on and the personal item that fits under the seat in front of you. Years ago, we used to take multiple footlockers filled with reading glasses, lenses and frames for making distance glasses, medications, tools and other things necessary to run a clinic. Sometimes, your carry-on was all you got. It's pretty doable for the guys, the ladies had a little more difficulty. Over the years, security has tightened up in Nairobi and we would often have to pay to bring supplies into the country, even though we are an NGO (non-profit) and have government approval. All of the team members pay their own way and for their lodging, with much help from generous friends, so it always seemed a little unfair to have to pay to do good works. We eventually woke up and realized most of what we were bringing had been ordered from China and we were carrying it with us when we could order the same things from Kenya and rent storage space much more cost effectively. I figure out of the 25 kilograms (52 pounds) that we're each allowed to bring in a checked bag, maybe 15 to 20 pounds will be for the clinic and the rest will be personal items like clothes, meds, etc.

Things you can be praying for are uneventful travel with no missed connections since the last three years has seen our teams scattered to the four winds. Some of us ended up in Doha, Qatar through no choice of our own last year, other times I've been in Istanbul or an extra day in London or Amsterdam due to missed flights or delays. Also, the jet fuel situation in Europe is very tight, so we are hoping our flight from Charles DeGaulle to Nairobi actually is able to fly out and that our layover of about three hours is enough. Some of us are traveling starting Wednesday to be able to visit the school on Friday, some are leaving Thursday, staying over for photo safaris and other activities and hope to visit the school on our way back to town Monday, June 8th before leaving that night. 

I will try to update the blog on a daily basis and there will be multiple stories during our travel. We have formed a WhatsApp group for the team, so we will know where everyone is whenever we have WiFi in airports or hotels. This is a big improvement in our ability to communicate compared to when I first went on these missions in 2009. Here I am on my 24th trip and the world has changed little by little!

Blessings everybody, see you in the next post!

Our Masai Mara safaris

It took about five and a half hours for the drive from Karen to the Fig Tree lodge within the Masai Mara National Game Park.  On the way in, we were blessed to see about 100 Crested Cranes together in a field.  I've never seen more than 2 or 3 at a time in about 40 safaris all over Kenya. I knew it would be a great weekend with a start like that. I'm writing this on my phone as we wait in London for our direct flight back to Austin. One more leg to go!

We checked into our "tents" and had a good lunch. They are tents in name only, with nice beds covered by mosquito nets and tiled bathrooms with rain showers. This lodge ran on a generator,  so power and internet were not 24/7, but it was good enough. After lunch we did an afternoon safari and saw 4 of the Big 5. We saw Elephants, Lions on a kill of an Eland, a Leopard in a tree and a large herd of Water Buffalo.  We were only missing a white or black Rhino. Incredible! We started each safari with a prayer that God would reveal Himself through His creation and He did! Thank you, Jesus!

We had a morning safari Sunday and moved to a much nicer lodge run by the Sopa chain. Because we were there at the start of the high tourist season, our reservation for 2 nights at Fig Tree got messed up somehow, even though Catherine had pre-paid. I'm glad this happened.  The food and the rooms were much better. Lots of highlights on Sunday's game drives too, including getting up close and personal with a large herd of Masai Giraffes.

My Coke in the Nairobi airport. Cool!

Much more to follow as I begin editing photos and remember more stories, so keep coming back to the blog or my Facebook page. Blessings everyone!

A bit about the safaris we go on

 In general, the way the safari lodges work is this. There are 3 buffet style meals a day and the food is quite good. We always book all-inclusive packages that include your room and meals. Soda, bottled water and alcohol are extra, but you can bring your own water to meals. Some lodges only have power or Wi-Fi or hot water certain hours due to being on generators in remote locations.  We drove from Nairobi to Masai Mara this time and got to see the countryside, small villages, larger towns and the Great Rift Valley. The bigger game parks have air strips, and you can reach most of them in an hour or two from Wilson Airport in Nairobi. Your drivers from the city can meet you when you land or there are local guides and vehicles for hire. Flying works well if time is limited.  

The rules at the Fig Tree lodge

You might ask “Why do you finish each mission trip with a safari?” There are several answers to this question. The reason I hike and do nature photography nearly every morning is to stay in touch with God’s creation and sharing my photos is meant to glorify Him by showcasing what He has made. From our mission trip standpoint, when we have been praying over our patients in the slums all week, hearing some pretty tough circumstances, we need to decompress in nature, remembering Him whom we came to serve by serving others. I find it is a healthy pause before we go back to our families and friends.  

Besides safaris, the lodges all have swimming pools, spas, gift shops and other amenities. They also often have little field trips to explore local tribal culture, so any of our team members that don’t want to exclusively go on safaris have other options.  

As for safaris, there are morning and afternoon ones, with a break for lunch and some rest.  In the larger parks, an all-day safari can be better. If you notify the lodge the night before, they will pack an amazing box lunch for around $30 per person.  The guides all communicate via radio and if a target species like Lions is a long distance down dirt roads, it’s better to explore and stay out most of the day. You sleep well that night! You’re dog tired. 

There are three Swahili words I’ve learned to use with our guides and drivers. Simama means to stop right away, something has been spotted. Zima means turn the engine off because nothing ruins a picture quite like engine vibration. The final word is trende, which means get going again. Many times we spot animals and birds before our driver or guide does because we are standing up in the popup roof and are about 4 feet above them. Finally, even without radio contact,  if we see a group of vehicles in one place, the odds are good something unusual is happening.  

I hope this has shed some light on what staying in or near a Kenyan game park is like and on the ins and outs of game drives. I have been blessed to have gone on probably 40 or more safaris of a half day or more since 2009. It never gets old because a new adventure is waiting around the next corner! Thank you, Jesus!

We finished the clinic Friday with a bang!

 From the moment we arrived until we left at 5:30pm, the clinic was a steady stream of patients, ending with a total of 326 for the day and 905 for the week. Being in a new location with a new congregation, we expected to possibly have a slow start. It was an unusual week, Monday was a national holiday and Friday was as well. I think maybe Monday worked against us a bit through Tuesday and I think Friday was helpful. Regardless, we have learned some lessons when doing a vision camp in a new location. We need to have more advance notice to congregations in the area, we need to begin the week with a truck driving around with a bullhorn or speaker, we need to be on local radio, and we need to encourage our patients to tell their friends and family as they are leaving the clinic.

The tent full of patients waiting for an eye chart exam

There were blessings to having a slow week, we got to know our volunteers very well and it was sad when we were finally forced to leave today. We got to share in a fair amount of their music, I just love African harmonies and the call and response songs. 

Children from a local school for the vision impaired were treated

We also got to serve the least of the least in the community with love, dignity and respect. This included about 15 children today from a nearby school for the visually impaired and their matron, which is what they call the principal. They would have clogged up the clinic, but this is not our first rodeo. We ran them though each station of the clinic as high priority special guests and got them back to school quickly. 

Our team as we gathered to head in for the last day

I am packing up for a safari with four others to Masai Mara this weekend, a world class game park that is one end of the elephant, zebra, wildebeest and water buffalo migration. We will be leaving our large suitcases at Little Daughters and will be each taking our carry-on and backpack. My backpack is all photo gear, of course! More to follow as I am able, we fly back next Monday night from Nairobi to London and then have a direct flight from London to Austin. Please pray for travel mercies!

Thursday was a good day - June 5, 2025

We had a steady drip, drip, drip of people all day and by the time we were done, we had seen 171 patients. Our best day at this clinic. We sent a truck out with a loudspeaker in the afternoon and more people trickled in. Many people we asked said they heard about the clinic from friends and families we had already seen. That was heartening. We continued to cross-train on different jobs. This allowed us to make new friends and we can mix and match as situations change during our last day tomorrow which may be huge.

Our Internet at the convent is sketchy, so I'll wrap it up for now. Long plane rides starting next Monday night will allow for more stories. Blessings everybody!