A little over a week to go!

Since my last post here, a lot has changed.  God has blessed us with our largest team from Redeemer ever, with 20 people total.  We had planned to only have one vision clinic, but the Lord had a different idea and now we'll be serving at two different locations.  One team will be in Waithaka, a church plant whose mother church is the Lutheran Church in Kawangware where we have held many clinics in the past.  The other is a church known as Pipeline, a new church planted by the national ELCK church body with incredible support from local lay leaders.  We have had clinics at both of these locations in the past with very good results.  Pastor Kevin will be leading one team and I'll take the other.  Please keep an eye on this space as I will be posting daily (or as much as possible) from May 24th to June 6th.

Another big change is our tour of several locations for photo safaris after the mission is completed.  I had envisioned only 4 or 5 fairly serious photographers wanting to stay over with me.  Out of the 20 person team, only three need to go home, so I'll be showing 16 others the country, people and wildlife I've come to know and love.  Our dear friend Catherine Wangari has worked overtime to book such a large group for some of the coolest locations you can imagine.  She had to come up with three to four times the rooms (in nice places), transportation, drivers/guides, game park fees, etc. and has laid all of the groundwork for a great time for all of us.  We will be heading out to the Masai Mara region bright and early on the first Saturday after the mission for a couple of days of photo safaris in this cattle herding area.  I hope to see my first leopard (been on my bucket list for years!) and possibly an elephant migration nearby.  I know we'll see all of the usual menagerie of animals and birds and many I haven't seen before.  After a couple of days there, we will make our way back to Lake Nakuru, a National Game Park that has large numbers of Pink Flamingos and many other shore birds plus Rhinos, Water Buffalo, Zebras and other animals.  Our final safari will be on Tuesday morning June 5th, when we will stop at Lake Naivasha for a boat ride down a river filled with Hippos and a possible walk with the animals on an island, depending on lake levels and how wet things have been during their rainy season.

That's all for now.  Come back often as I will be posting on our progress many times during the mission.  God's blessings to all of you!