Saturday activities and travel home

We were up, showered and had breakfast at 5:30.  I had to make sure that the water pump for our lodge was on earlier than the usual 5:30am for those of us on the 2^nd floor to have any water pressure.  This is just one example of the million and one details that Pastor Kevin and I always need to attend to for things to go well on our trips, whether it is timing of meals, transportation, day trips, behind the scenes issues that make the clinic run or all of the minutia that is required to take a team safely to and from the other side of the world.  We both have a passion for these trips and we want everyone that comes with us to have the best experience possible.  I think the number of people that have comes with us multiple times is a testament to how well the model that Salem Lutheran Church developed for doing these missions has stood the test of time.  We are very thankful for their leadership  and for mentoring us along the way.  We have also been blessed by partnering with Ray and Flora Tacquard of Trinity Lutheran Church in Klein.  We will be tagging along with them from now on, while Salem and others will go at slightly different times.  This will make each group 25-30 members strong, rather than burying our support staff in Kenya with 60 or more people all at once.

We loaded our check-in luggage onto a truck for transport to Rosa Mystica for staging, where it would stay until our departure Saturday afternoon.   Allan was there, ready with our van.  I had promised to leave my travel Bible with him.  He took a liking to it when he saw it up close one afternoon.  On this trip, Pastor Kevin had preached out of it on Sunday morning, Pastor Robert had used it some in triage, Pastor James had read it to several people as they were coming to Christ, our evangelist Immanuel worked with small groups from it, our congregational elder Michael talked with people one on one with it open in his hands and I had given our Friday morning devotion from it for the team and our local volunteers.  Pastor James called this particular Bible a very powerful book because it was in the midst of so many blessed occurrences during the week.   This copy of God's Word had accompanied me for all nine of my trips to Kenya.  I told Allan how special both this Bible and he had been to me and that I wanted him to have it.  He has been one of the keys to our teams functioning so well on the last two trips.  You might ask yourself, “How important can a van driver be?”  Let me count the ways.   First, a joyful, easy going but hard-working driver such as Allan can, along with the team leaders, play a large role in setting the tone for the whole week.  He always had a good word for us, told our new team members many things about Kenya and was a marvelous straight man for my jokes.   Next, no matter what the team needed, such as black plastic sheeting right away as we setup the clinic Monday morning, which was needed to darken several of the church windows so the autorefractor station and the doctors could work properly, he knew where to get it promptly and did so.  Also, while many drivers will sit in the vehicle, reading the paper and waiting for us to send them on some errand, a good one such as Allan actually takes part in helping with translation, traffic control and other tasks.  Another attribute of an outstanding driver is that he will go out of his way to point out local sites to newcomers and explains the history or significance of what is being seen.  When it comes time for a nice dinner, a daytrip activity or just knowing where the best place to shop for supplies or souvenirs is, a solid driver is right in the thick of it.  And, of course, there’s always the actual driving skills, such as knowing the best routes, the right times to be on the road to avoid the heavy traffic and always keeping safety number one.  Our LCMS liaison in Nairobi Catherine always gets us top notch drivers and vans, but she has outdone herself with Allan.  I know other team leaders have their favorite drivers to work with as well, and I have a short list of 3 or 4 others that I would like to work with again when they are available, but for me, it’s got to be Allan.  Our teams have loved him.  He taught me Jambo Bwana, a welcome to Kenya song, and we regaled the team several times singing and dancing to it.  He always wore a different hat every day and the running joke was that I would try to buy his hat from him from morning til dark, which he refused to do.  Saturday morning he brought me a dark blue beret as a parting gift and I presented him with the powerful Bible, in which I had prepared a personal inscription.  The team took a picture of us, him with the Bible and me wearing the hat.  One of my high points of this or any other trip, for sure.

 

We pulled out of Africa Heart for the last time at around 6:15 and headed for the expressway, since we needed to get from the far north of town to near the airport on the southern edge of town for our safari.  We got a good look at downtown as we passed through and Allan pointed out the Nairobi University, a large Catholic cathedral, governmental offices and other landmarks, with an explanation for each.

As usual, our morning in the Nairobi National Game Park was different than any I’ve been on before.  During the drought last November, there were more species in the areas of the park we have access to.  With heavy rains and lots of vegetation since then, the animals that were there were harder to see.  A couple of the highlights this time was a close encounter with a pair of crested cranes, some great shots of a pair of huge ostriches, a rendevous with a very large warthog, some beautiful silhouetted hartebeests standing on the horizon on top of a large bluff and a big herd of Thompson gazelles.  We just missed seeing a male lion, a female lion and their cub right after a kill of an antelope.  We got there a minute too late and learned about it from some folks from Australia. This is one reason I love to come back to the various safari parks, you never know what you’re going to see.  It’s the same reason I enjoy fishing.  You can’t catch a fish without a line in the water and you can’t see the more exotic species unless you continue to show up.

 

After the game park, we had an excellent lunch at the Veranda, sitting outside among palm trees and many flowers.  It's a paradise there.  The rest of the group loaded up on gifts in the shops there and then we headed back to Rosa Mystica to meet the other teams coming in from the mission field.  I bought another nice African shirt from the Lutheran ladies that Catherine knows that work with AIDS orphans in the slum.  As usual, I negotiated the price of the shirt upwards by about 50%.  They always remember me and keep a nice shirt off to the side.  It's a good relationship I have with them. Catherine had 5 pizzas and assorted drinks on hand.  I forced myself to eat one slice of pizza and had an orange Fanta.  All of the soft drinks in Kenya use sugar cane, rather than the corn syrup that is standard in the U.S. and you can tell the difference.  They do have Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, but most people in Kenya have no weight problem, unless the need to put on a few more pounds, so most drinks are sugary.

We still had a little time to kill, so I went to the Nakumatt next door with Catherine in search of cookies for our friend Cecilia back in Austin.  After returning to the lodge, we all said our goodbyes to Shara and Catherine.  I was blessed to run into our friend Bishop Bakari.  He took me by the hand and led me out to the parking lot, where my friend Allan from previous clinics in the slum in Kibera was standing with his youth choir.  It was a real pleasure to see him again and to encourage him in his ministry.  We loaded most of the 30 footlockers on top of a large bus, stood on end and held in place by ropes.  It looked a little sketchy to Pastor Kevin and I, but they all made it to the airport.  Some footlockers and our larger luggage were loaded into the back of the bus.  The remaining seats filled quickly with other mission teams, so our group took one of 2 smaller vans as we headed for Jomo Kenyatta Airport, named after Kenya's first president, at a little after 5pm.

Things went about as smoothly as they ever have as we checked in for our KLM flight and cleared immigration.  Some of us shopped in the duty free shops, while others, myself included, had sandwiches and drinks at Java House, which is similar to Starbucks.  We had eaten at a Java House on our first Saturday in Nairobi and really liked it.  And, I had bought a pound of Kenya AA coffee there to try when I got back home.  We began to go through security afte the Trintiy-Klein teams.  I was one of the last ones being a team leader and making sure my "flock" had made it through when the KLM ticket counter lady said something was wrong with my ticket, which was supposed to be an aisle seat.  I prefer the aisle, because I like to stay well hydrated and strecth fairly frequently, which definitely needs to happen when nature calls.  Since the flight was already beginning to board and the security check line was long, the girl at the counter told me to go through security and she would catch up to me with a revised boarding pass.  I was the last one in the terminal, sitting by the door to the jetway when my boarding pass arrived.  It was the last seat on the plane and in the middle of the aisle.  I ended up in a group of Sudanese Christians that were going to Oslo for a conference.  They were very nice and we shared stories until after the meal was served.  Unfortunately for me, the lady next to me was a very wrestles sleeper and at least 3 times during the night I caught a roundhouse elbow to the head or ribs, waking up with a start.  She was very apologetic in the morning, but this flight has to go down in the annals of all of my travels as one of the worst ever.  I think the only one that might beat it out was an Air Italia flight with Mike Naleieha in 2006, when a group from Redeemer went to Germany and it was about 110 degrees the whole way!

Upon arrival in Amsterdam, most of us went to Starbucks and enjoyed some LARGE coffees while Pastor Kevin kept an eye on our belongings.  It's a really cool airport, with many shops, electric massage chairs, showers that you can rent by the hour (the thought crossed my mind but I didn't have a change of clothes in my carryon) and much, much more.  We had an uneventful flight back to Houston and I got my coveted aisle seat this time.  Upon arrival in Houston, we had one of the smoothest exits through Immigration and Customs checks I have ever seen and the drive home was quick and uneventful.  That is, other than the traditional stop in Brenham for Blue Bell and a rest stop that Corina and I made.  I didn't want to jinx the travel home by breaking tradition.  I am a Lutheran, after all!

As of this writing, I am already working on getting lots of pictures with captions to explain them out on my photo site.  Come back often as I have a few more really good stories to tell, photos will be added for some time to come and I will write a final reflection on what made this mission special after I have some time to process everything we did.  Pastor Kevin can also tell you, when we're leading a trip, the enormous number of details that we need to pay attention to precludes having much time for contemplation.  Many insights come to us within the month after the trip when we look back on the ways that God has moved in each of our lives during these missions.

To see the current state of the picture collection, click the link below.

https://plus.google.com/photos/103425019225851329391/albums/5855216623996007105?authkey=CLD_kqXR3_HC5wE

Friday - The Final Day of the Clinic

We started out with our usual 6:30 breakfast and then our ride to the clinic at 7:15.  Before the ride, our driver Allan and I treated the team to a song and dance rendition of Jambo Bwana, to quite a bit of laughter.  This has been a great team, we have always kept it light and easy and it has made this mission a real joy.  Redeemer has always been known as the fun team and this one was no exception. 

We were missing Pastor Robert today due to illness, but he had to fly back to Texas tonight anyway, due to Confirmation at Immanuel being this coming Sunday. We geared up for what we thought would be a big day anyway.  Our volunteers came through with flying colors and we had seen 439 people by the end of the day.  I helped Pastor Kevin with triage most of the day and probably prayed over nearly 200 people one on one.  An outstanding experience that any serious Christian should experience.  What a blessing it was to both me and the people I met.  More stories on this after I've had time to digest it.  We packed up and had our final devotion, which consisted of Pastor Kevin thanking the volunteers for a good week, giving out the certificates to everyone and finally we formed a prayer circle zebra, alternating between us and the volunteers.  Pastor James led us in a doxology and Pastor Kevin prayed and then led us in the Lord's Prayer.  We said our tearful and smiling goodbyes, loaded up the truck with our footlockers and headed back to the Africa Heart lodge in time for Allan to pick up Pastor Robert for the run to the airport.  We got one last group picture on the lawn and then got cleaned up for dinner.  Africa Heart once again provided a very nice meal, with potatoes, chicken, spaghetti, meat sauce, broccoli and a vegetable combination followed by a tray of cookies.  We were very well taken care of during our entire stay here.

Our final group picture in paradise

Tomorrow, we need to be at breakfast at 5:30 and checked out by 6am so we can see the nocturnal animals returning from their hunt at the Nairobi National Game Park.  I'm hoping for a big day of lions, rhinos, giraffes, the list goes on and on.  We will lunch at a nice restaurant called the Veranda that has a great set of shops attached to it and then will go to Rosa Mystica, our first lodgings, for an afternoon pizza party before heading to the airport for a 10:35pm flight.  More to come as I have a chance, or there may be a gap in the reporting til after I get home.  I have several thousand pictures to sift through and will post them as soon as possible after our return with some more stories and reflections on this trip.  Please pray for our safe travels home.

Thursday's clinic was very good

The dinner at Safari Park was quite a treat.  We arrived before sunset to see the beautiful grounds with every kind of plant and animal imaginable.  The hotel grounds is a huge complex, with may pathways, bridges, various buildings and theaters.  After along walk, you eventually arrive at the dining area that seats several hundred people.  There is a small combo that plays before the meal begins and Allan, our driver requested our theme song for me, Jambo Bwana, as their first song.  It's a catchy tune that welcomes people to Kenya.  Our meal began with a small salad and rolls, followed by some potatoes and other vegetables.  We were instructed as to which of the sauces went with which meats.  Then it was meat, meat and more meat until eventually we had all surrendered.  There was pork sausage, ostrich, chicken, camel, goat, lamb, pork ribs, crocodile and several other kinds of meats, all very good.  There was a fruit and dessert bar that followed.  We couldn't stay for the big Africa stage show, since it started at 9pm and we were all exhausted.  The band saw that we were getting up to leave and played Jambo Bwana for us, since almost nobody had been there in the dining hall before, but now it was packed.  I gave them a big appreciative wave. I slept well until about 2am and then was up for about an hour doing this blog.  I now know why they have the senior special at Luby's at 4pm.  I really can't eat big very late anymore.  Still, a great time was had by all.  We have done several things on this trip that Pastor Kevin had never done, and this was another one I know he really liked.  I've been very pleased to be able to share some of the different things with the team and him that Catherine and Allan have helped us to find.

Our Thursday was packed full of surprises that God had in store for us, just as every day so far had been.  We got off to a slow but steady start under overcast skies which quickly burned off.  We were spared any rain and it was a beautiful day.  Our bullhorn that we had desparately been wanting finally arrived from one of the other teams.  Our good friend and super volunteer,  Barrack, went out mid-morning with our wonderful driver Allan in the pop-up van and people started streaming in more quickly for the rest of the day.  By noon, we had already registered 150 patients and by the end of the day we had seen 340.  For the most part, the clinic flowed very smoothly, with occasional bottlenecks at the triage and reading glasses stations.  Pastor Kevin helped clear the backlog at reading glasses when it occurred and I jumped in with Pastor Robert and Kevin several times to help push more people through triage when it became overly crowded.  Praying over each and every patient individually is a powerful experience.  Of course, we always pray that our clinic will be a blessing to each person's needs, that our doctors and team have the skill, knowledge and wisdom to help in a cure for the problem at hand.  Many times, people will tell us stories of great personal struggles that they may not share with their friends in the community and we lift those up to the Lord as well.  And we witness to those who are not already believers.  It's a nice luxury to reach the point where we have a team with such easily interchangeable parts when a slowdown occurs anywhere.  If we can have the same success with the megaphone, as they call a bullhorn here, tomorrow, coupled with the normal last minute nature of the Kenyan people, we could be in for a very big day on Friday.  I would not be surprised if we saw 500 or more people before we need to shut down, pack everything up in preparation for our departure for home Saturday and our closing devotion and goodbyes.

Francis removes a foreign object

We were again able to refer several people for sight giving cataract surgeries and a foreign object was even removed from a patient's eye by Francis, one of our doctors.  He put on one of the headlamps that we use when assembling glasses, sanitized his hands and then did what he had to do.  Pretty awesome. 

After dinner tonight, I spent some time with Debra getting the certificates of appreciate ready for our closing ceremonies tomorrow.  The volunteers really get a big kick out of being recognized for their efforts and we make sure their full name, properly spelled, is on their award.  We usually have the pastor and team leader call each person up individually to be recognized and to have their picture taken.  It's very special.  It's bittersweet to realize this mission is almost over.  Each of us has been very excited about the human care ministry we've been performing here and the way the Gospel has been spread.  That's about it for now, I've got to get some rest before the big finale tomorrow.  More pictures and stories will continue to be added to the blog over the next several weeks, so please keep coming back to see that take shape. Click on the link below to see what's out there so far. To God be the Glory!

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Wednesday's clinic came with many surprises

I'm writing this as we are getting ready to leave in about 15 minutes for our big nice dinner for the week.  We will be going to Safari Park, an all you can eat steakhouse with many exotic meats and a live stage show of all the tribal cultures.  More on that tomorrow...

Our day at the clinic saw 184 people come through the gate for treatment.  But the numbers don't begin to tell the story.  We had an elderly man get our strongest prescription and he could then read the eyechart very well.  We were also blessed by a visit from our friend Sylvester, the Project Coordinator with the Central Diocese.  Pastor Kevin and I had a long talk with him about the future of our work in and around Nairobi.  Gloria, our friend the nurse, came along with him and did an outstanding job, assisting us in the triage area.

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The boy with keratoconus and his concerned father

A high point for me was when one boy came to the clinic and was diagnosed with keratoconus, a disease that would lead to blindness without treatment.  His father had brought him and was looking for help for an operation that could cost as must as 250,000 Kenyan Shillings (about $3000).  Our doctors knew of a hospital that could do the procedure for about a tenth of that, which is still out of the reach of the family.  We decided to pay for half of the cost and let the community, his family and other sources supply the rest.  These are the kind of decisions we have to make sometimes.  Do we spend the money on about 3 cataract surgeries for older people or do we give a young boy a chance at seeing and being able to lead a productive life?  This one was not that hard, Pastor Kevin and I agreed that the boy needed our help.  No sooner had we taken care of this, than another young boy came in with the same condition, only his eyes were also in a bad way from allergies, possibly infected or worse.  We also are going to give him the help he needs, but his eyes need to clear up before anything more can be done.  Our doctors gave him some eye drops, and if they work, then he also has the possibility of getting the procedure.  We won't know if either boy will get treated, it is up to the hospital to do more screening and then their doctor's decisions will determine the outcome.  Please keep these young men in your prayers.

All in all, a good day, with many blessings around every corner.  More to come tomorrow!

Tuesday was more of the same

To a person, we all had a GREAT night’s sleep after the first day of the clinic on Monday.  We all got to get comfortable in one or more stations of the clinic and started getting used to the wonderful ways of the Kenyan people that we served.  We also had surprise visitors on Monday, our LCMS missionary who oversees 5 east African countries, Pastor Shauen Trump and a husband and wife missionary team from Ghana who share our friendship with Woodie and Margie Arp.  It was a rather full day until we got driven out of the clinic by a torrential late afternoon rain and we had to close up shop around 4pm.

We arrived at the church, got setup in record time and then had a brief devotion led by Pastor Robert.  He read from the Genesis account of Adam and Eve having been formed from dust and then asked us how much we would pay for a handful of dust.  None of us would pay anything.  He then pointed out that God paid with His son on the cross for creatures made out of dust.  It was a very powerful, thought provoking couple of minutes. 

Our Tuesday very nearly mirrored our Monday, seeing a similar number of patients,  Since Tuesday is a market day, many of our patients spread the word about their experiences at the Monday clinic and were able to tell their friends about the care they received and that the clinic is indeed free.  A number of supposedly free clinics turn out to be ripoffs, so people are rightfully leery when they hear "free" and "clinic" in the same sentence. 

We have a new team of doctors with us this time.  Our friend Milliam is out in the country with the Trinity-Klein team.  We have our old friend Lillian with us and two other wonderful doctors, Francis and Patrick.  They have all been most attentive to every patient and every problem we have brought them.  Pastor Kevin and I got to bond with Patrick Monday afternoon when his car was stuck in the mud.  We pushed him out, and while backing up with his front wheel drive car, it suddenly gained traction and sprayed both of us with mud.  Our driver, Allan, accused me of looking like a warthog.  I'm sure he meant it in the kindest sense!  Patrick was very apologetic, but we told him "no worries", it was our welcome to Kenya.

We always have "God things" that happen to us during the day that we share over dinner.  Usually one of the team has some outstanding experience that could only have come from God.  We had 3 of them happen within the space of an hour that the whole team knew about as they occurred.  The first one involved a man named Joseph who came up to the registration tent and marched right for me.  He asked if I knew who he was and I recognized him as the gracious host who had served the group tea out on the tea plantation after our Saturday safari.  The first part of the God thing was that we had not even intended to stop on the way back to town because we were running late for worship services with heavier than expected traffic.  But our driver, Edwin, came into town through the tea and coffee plantation area anyway and turned into a narrow long drive that ended next to an old mansion with a beautiful lawn, flowers and tea fields.  We sat for a minute in front of the house and a maid came out, talked to the driver and before you knew it, Joseph came out and explained that they were closed but he would open up and make us tea and biscuits anyway, there just would be no time for the tour.  We told him about the clinic, and lo and behold, there he was today.  He had taken a matatu, a public transportation van, to Kiambu and then began asking people where the clinic was.  Eventually he found the needle in the haystack.  He brought us fresh home-made cookies and we were able to fit him with reading glasses.  What a blessing!

Joseph with the team

 

Our next two God things happened within minutes of Joseph's having said his goodbyes and blessings over us.  Alice, the woman pictured below, came to clinic and was overjoyed thanking everyone for her sight.  She had come to our clinic in Kiambu last November.  She had lost her husband when she had two small children several years ago and was really having a hard go of it.  We had provided her with a referral for cataract surgery for one of her eyes and now she could see very well out of it.  She was back to have the other eye done, for which we supplied her with the proper paperwork.  It was so nice to see the results of our efforts here bearing good fruit.  Another woman in her mid-70's, Salome, came into the clinic immediately after her, also thanking the Lord and us for restoring sight to one of her eyes through cataract surgery last fall and we also sent her to have her second eye done.  Thank you Jesus!

 

 



Alice

 

Well, that's about it for now.  We have several thousand pictures to sift through upon our return to Texas and I expect to have the best of the best available for viewing within a week or 10 days of our return, so keep coming back for more reports and images of what is starting out to be an outstanding clinic. To God be the Glory!

 

Monday, The First Day of the Clinic

A few pictures are on the web now.  Click the link below to see them.  Many more pictures and captions will be added during the trip and the week or so following our return.  Enjoy!

https://plus.google.com/photos/103425019225851329391/albums/5855216623996007105?authkey=CLD_kqXR3_HC5wE

We all breakfasted at 6:30 and were on the road by 7am.  It’s a real blessing being less than 20 minutes from the church in Kiambu.  We can usually run the clinic a little longer each day if we need to and still be back at our lodgings by dark, an LCMS safety precaution that we fully agree with.  As with every first day I’ve ever been involved with, it was pretty amazing to see the church interior go from our equipment and supplies stored in footlockers to a fully laid out clinic in the space of about half an hour.  Our tents were already up having been erected sometime Sunday.  Pastor James led a brief devotion and we sang a song to kick off the day on a high note.  The vision clinic was ready to go before our target of 9am.

As the clinic actually began seeing our first patients, I went from station to station, refreshing each team member on the various aspects of their jobs, while Pastor Kevin helped smooth out the details of traffic flow through the clinic.  Even with the normal hiccups, fits and starts that accompany getting a new clinic up and running, it was relatively trouble free morning.  I was called over by Pastor James at one point and he was sitting with a man with an obvious growth on his left eye.  Our doctors had already examined him and said he needed a procedure for about 2500 Kenyan Shillings (approximately $30).  He had fallen away from the Catholic church and was going to join our Kiambu congregation.  Pastor Kevin agreed with me that we would pay for the referral to heal his eye out of the funds we brought for cataract surgery referrals.  That was special to me, that we could make such an enormous difference in this man's life for so little.  We saw around 70 patients by noon, about as expected.  We had heavy rains that started around 4pm, forcing an early close to the operation with a total of around 150 people being treated.

If this was my first clinic, I might be despairing right now.  If the weather permits, we will see an ever increasing number of people at the clinic as the week progresses.  In fact, at dinner I looked up what our week was like in November and we saw 147 people on the first day.  Our actual number today was 148 and I felt compelled to give credit to Pastor Kevin in front of the team for defeating my record! We do have a team that laughs a lot, working for the Lord is good for your disposition. 

More to follow as our adventure continues.  Thanks be to God for a wonderful day. 

 

Sunday Worship and Beyond

We had breakfast at 6:30 with the other teams and joined in a group prayer before many of them left for their various destinations.  We loaded a truck with our footlockers and other luggage and then I got a very pleasant surprise.  Allan, our driver from our trip last November, was there to pick us up.  He will be our driver all week.  What a blessing.  I had asked for him and Catherine pulled a few strings so that he could switch with another driver.  He had been slated to go with the team serving in Namonga.  When I spotted him, I literally let out a yell and ran to hug him.  We left for the church in Kiambu around 9:30am and were greeted upon our arrival by Pastor James, who is responsible for the parish comprised of the churches in Kawangware, Kibera and Kiambu.  I am looking forward to working with him.  He has been involved with many of the Vision Kenya clinics in other parts of Kenya with many other teams and he is very dynamic.  We have an experienced group of Nuru (Lutheran Hour) workers and evangelists from other ELCK churches coming to help us.  Also, school is out between terms right now, so I am expecting quite a few of the young people in the congregation will be able to help.  We may have a pretty incredible week ahead of us.  Michael, the lay pastor of the congregation was there early to greet us too.  He was grateful that I had kept my promise to return to Kiambu someday.  It will be a joy serving with him again.

We had a wonderful worship service, following the liturgy in Swahili, their choirs singing for us and we returning the favor.  Jane led us in singing a song for the congregation and we followed up with the Doxology in 4-part Lutheran harmony, always a favorite everywhere we have been in Kenya.  Pastor Kevin was asked to preach and he gave a sermon based on 2 Kings Chapters 6 and 7, using my travel Bible as a reference.  Although it was not the appointed reading from the church calendar, it was a very special message, the main theme of which was that it’s not right to keep a gift as precious as the Gospel to ourselves, but instead are called to share it.   I had the pleasure of introducing the team and said a few word to the congregation.  That wasn’t quite enough for Pastor James, so he had each team member say hello to the congregation.  It was fun.  After worship, we got the schedule down for the first day of the clinic with Pastor James and Michael.  We unloaded the footlockers and stowed them in the church, where local security will keep an eye on them until our return on Monday.

We went to Africa Heart, the lodge we will stay in all week, and checked in before finishing our day by going to the Java House Café, a really nice restaurant that you can think of as half Starbucks and half restaurant.  Regular Java House coffee shops are as prevalent in Kenya as Starbucks, but this is the nicest of them in all of Nairobi.  Everyone loved the food, we ate in an open air section of the café and the weather was perfect.  I bought 500 kilograms (about a pound) of Nairobi coffee beans for approximately $12 and had them ground and bagged.  My mornings will be getting off to a better start for a while!

We returned to the lodge, everyone checked out their new rooms, some showered, others took a little nap.  While waiting for dinner, I met two very interesting guys from a church in California.  One was their Music Director Reggie (are you listening, Rob?) and the other was a dentist.  The dentist had been doing dental missions to Kenya since 1990, and in that time had been put in the position of having to assist in several births, perform operations and do all kinds of things that only God could enable someone to do.  Reggie confessed that he was roped into injecting novacaine and on occasion, doing an extraction or two himself.  We laughed about what most people would call a comfort zone and admitted it's much more fun to live life without one.  They encouraged me greatly, seeing such strong, joyful men of faith pressing ahead in the race.  We met for dinner at 6:30pm and had a very good buffet with lots of veggies, chicken and potatoes.  I led one of my favorite devotions based on the writings of Oswald Chambers, we had a brief discussion of it and then Pastor Kevin laid out the plan for opening the clinic on Monday.  We all called it an early evening, knowing we would need our strength for tomorrow.  Another very full day had come to an end.  Thank you, Jesus!