Sorry for the long delay in updating the blog. I have had the following written since June 12th, but have not been able to get on the internet to post it. I prefer to compose my blogs on my laptop and then post in an internet café, so that I have access to my pictures, which are also on my laptop. However, I have tried for almost two weeks but the place where I go to post has not had functional wireless internet. So, I will post this without the pictures and try to get them done late. This is a very long blog.

Kenya Excursion
I just returned safely from a 5-day journey to central and western Kenya. We had a wonderful trip and a great time. The trip was planned around a leadership conference in a town called Malaba, that is near the Kenya-Uganda border. It is the home church of one of the KIU students, and he had invited me to come speak there. Once we decided that we were going to Kenya, we thought that it would be good to include some sightseeing, which was a very good decision.

The Team
We departed on Wednesday, June 6th from Kampala with Kevin, Christian, Frank (a recent graduate of KIU), and Kennedy (the pastor of the campus church). We were not sure whether to allow Christian to accompany us or not, but thought that it was such a unique opportunity for him to get to see Kenya. He did really well and was a good travel companion.

The Drive
It was 500 kms from Kampala to Nakuru, which is about 300 miles; however, it took 11 hours of hard driving to get there. Travel in east Africa is exhausting and difficult due to poor road conditions and heavy traffic. We left at 6 am and did not arrive until 6 pm. My whole body hurt after a day of traveling over the many bumps and potholes.

Nakuru
We spend the entire second day of our trip in Nakuru National Park. This was a special experience because it was also my birthday. The park is incredibly beautiful and diverse! I was trying to decide if I had ever been to a prettier place and the only thing that compares is when I went scuba diving in Bonaire. Interestingly, that trip was in 1995 but also fell on my birthday. We were surprised at how cool the temperature was in Nakuru. We had been told that Kenya was much cooler than Uganda, but had no idea how much cooler. Christian and I were not prepared for the low temperatures and did not pack properly. Kennedy was gracious and allowed Christian to wear his jacket for most of the trip. I really like the climate in Nakuru because it was warm during the day but very cool in the evening and morning, which makes sleeping much more comfortable.

This was only my second game park, the other being our trip to Queen Elizabeth in Uganda last January. The park is only a couple of kms from town, but as soon as you enter the gate you can see the beauty. The park is situated around a large lake, with plains between the lake and the surrounding bluffs that encompass the entire park. It makes for very diverse habitats of forest, open plains, and mountains in a relatively small geographical area. We saw many, many animals and I have included some pictures on Flickr if you would like to view them. The lake is full of pink flamingoes and very colorful. We saw zebras, giraffes, rhinos, buffaloes, several types of antelopes, hyenas, and lots of birds. This was my first time to view zebra, giraffe, and rhinos in the wild and it was exciting. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to find some, we never saw a lion or leopard though they are present in the park. Cats are often elusive, and when you only have one day off viewing it is very happen chance on finding them. We had a great time and I got some awesome pictures.

During the whole excursion, I was trying to plan a way that our whole family could come to Kenya. I am not sure if we will be able to do it or not. I am mostly concerned about the expense and safety. They charge $50 per person to get a tourist visa, and then another $40 per person per day for park entry. If we go to parks in Uganda, then we pay no visa charge and we get a resident rate for park entry. Therefore, it is much cheaper and easier to stay in Uganda. Also, the length of the drive and the border crossing is such a hassle. Kenya can also be more dangerous than Uganda with crime. I know how to stay safe in Uganda, but would need guidance in Kenya. The best way to get guidance is to take a Kenyan with you, but our car will not accommodate a 7th person. I would love to spend 2-3 weeks traveling as a family through Kenya and go all the way to the coast of the Indian Ocean. I will continue to contemplate if we can feasibly do it. This is a unique opportunity to see the beauty of Africa, and what I saw of Kenya was incredible. I would like to see more and allow our entire family to as well.

Thomson Falls
We spent the first part of Day 3 going to Thomson Falls, which is about an hour’s drive from Nakuru. It is a beautiful waterfall and was also a place where we found some really unique chameleons. We traveled prepared and had a small animal cage with us just in case we had such an opportunity. We found six chameleons and put them in the cage to bring back to Kampala. I will soon include a picture on Flickr of this unique species. While at Thomson Fall’s we also went to a nearby lake that contained hippos, which provided another photo op. The falls are located on one of the bluffs that surround the Great Rift Valley and in majestic setting. The drive to the falls passed through coffee and tea plantations and provided some great scenery. We left at noon to make our way to Eldoret for the evening. The drive was only about 150 kms (90 miles), but took us over three hours. This was a very difficult stretch of driving.

Elodoret and Malaba
We spent Friday afternoon and night in Eldoret. While in Eldoret I had the privilege of meeting Kennedy’s parents and one of his brothers. They were very kind and I was amazed at how much Kennedy was like his father in both appearance and mannerisms. When they would laugh, it was identical. His father spoke to me about coming back in a few months to help with a church conference, so I will most likely be going back to Kenya in July or August.

We left Eldoret on Saturday morning early so that we would arrive in Malaba for the leadership conference. It was my understanding that I would be speaking in two or three sessions on Saturday and preaching Sunday morning, and I had prepared to do so. When we finally got to meet the pastor, I discovered that the conference would not officially start until Monday, with church services on Sunday to get it started. This was quite a shock to me because we had been planning this event for several weeks. I have been in Africa long enough to know to be flexible, but I have to admit that I was really exasperated with this one. I had spent many hours in preparation and planned three days of our 5-day trip around this conference. I still am not sure how to respond. Do I just ignore it and go on, or try to explain how frustrating this was. I spent a lot of time praying on Saturday to ask God if there was something that I was supposed to be learning from this and what I should or shouldn’t say.

Saturday was a relaxing day that we spent in the pastor’s home. They fed us two traditional African meals that included ugali and sekuma wiki. The food was nice and the hospitality was wonderful. The pastor also has four sons from ages two to twelve, and Christian bonded quickly with them. They spent most of the day playing with the chameleons we had found the day before. Most Africans are afraid of chameleons (actually all reptiles and amphibians), but these boys quickly adapted to the new creature. They took the chameleons out to the rubbish pile and watched it catch flies with its very long tongue. It is really a fascinating site. Christian left one behind for them to keep as a pet. The youngest son was named Simon and was quite shy. Christian was working diligently to befriend him when they told us that he doesn’t warm up to people very quickly. My interpreter told me that he has been trying to get Simon to be playful with him for a long time but has had not success. Well Christian kept trying until Simon finally enjoyed it. By the time that evening came, Simon was always with Christian and fell asleep in his lap. I wish that I had my camera with me because it would have been a cute picture. When we had to leave, Simon was crying to go with Christian. He is really good with little kids. I just hope that he will be as kind and gentle with his own brothers. If we adopt a sister (and brother?), I am sure that he will be a huge help.

On Sunday morning, church was scheduled to start at 9:00 in the morning but did not start until 10:00. This type of delay is not too unexpected. I was helping to shuttle some people to the church, when it was discovered that I had a broken belt on my Toyota. The belt ran the water pump and alternator and a couple of other things, so it could have been a huge problem. I thank the Lord that the belt was dragging under the car and that Frank spotted it. Otherwise, we might not have known that it had broken before further damage was done to the car, and we also would have had a difficult time finding the right replacement if we had not had the original belt. Frank missed church in search of a belt and mechanic to fix it, but thankfully all was well when the time came to return to Uganda. This could have been dangerous if we had broken down out in the bush somewhere. This was truly God’s protection to find the problem early and correct it while we were in a town. It is also the first mechanical problem that I have had with my vehicle in 9 months, for which I am also very thankful.

So, Frank worked on getting the vehicle repaired while we went to church. I did finally have the opportunity to speak to the church at about noon, and spoke on Joseph and his leadership traits. I hope that God will somehow use it, because we spent a lot of money, time, and energy for just a 40-minute sermon that included interpretation into Swahili. This lack of planning seems wrong to me. Or, is it just a cultural difference? Many of the churches here will spend many hours singing but only give 30 minutes to God’s Word. There is a lack of knowledge of the Word and a greater lack of application. Music and dancing are a huge part of the culture, and it is difficult to discern between what is true worship and what is just cultural. When so much emphasis is placed on this worship, and so little emphasis placed on knowing and obeying the Word, it is not surprising that Africa continues to battle corruption in all areas of life, including the church. I don’t want to leave the impression that all churches are this way because I have been to some churches that have a great balance between worship and teaching and have strong bible-based teaching. The fellowship at KIU is one of these churches. However, the vast majority of churches that I have seen and know about follow the pattern of lots of very loud music, very loud prayers with lots of repetition, and very little teaching from the Word. The room that church was meeting in on Sunday was about 60 feet by 30 feet, but they had two huge speakers and an amplification system. I have yet to go to a church that did not have an amplification system, no matter how small. My ears are still ringing a bit from this most recent experience.

There were many kids at the church and we had a great time interacting with them. There were probably twice as many children as adults. Many of them looked quite poor based on the state of their clothes and how dirty they were. Christian entertained them with his chameleons, though the older girls were terrified of them. The children loved having their picture taken, which was fun but prevented me from getting natural shots. One boy tried his best to get in every picture. I finally learned to be pretending to shoot in one direction so that he would go there, and then quickly turn around to take a picture in the opposite direction. There was also a little girl who loved to have her picture taken, but she was so photogenic that I didn’t mind having her in half of my pictures. Spending time with the children got me more excited about starting an orphanage and also adoption. We really feel like God is leading us to adopt a girl, but I am now wondering if we should get a boy as well. Seeing Christian with Simon made me think about it more than anything.

I must admit that I left from Malaba discouraged. I was frustrated by the lack of planning and lack of respect for our time. Church frustrated me because of the lack of priority on God’s Word and the huge emphasis on emotions. As I face these situations and try to discern between what is biblically correct and what is just my cultural preference, I keep looking to the Word for what is right and try not to be biased by my own preferences and traditions. This is a constant challenge, but does keep me busy studying the bible. The cultural differences in time keeping are not such a problem, but the lack of study of the bible clearly needs correcting.

Violence
While we were in Kenya, many people were killed in Nairobi as part of a sect called the Mungiki. The Mungiki act similarly to the mafia in America by intimidation and killing in order to extort money for “protection”. The Mungiki killed around 40 people and then the police retaliated and raided the village slum and killed 12 Mungiki people. It is very sad to see how quickly life can be taken away here and how people so easily accept it.

The last night that we were in Kenya, a grocery store owner was returning to his home and was shot and killed while driving his truck and then robbed. After he was shot, he crashed into a support pillar of a local shop and collapsed the overhanging structure and part of the roof. The accident scene was still undisturbed, with the vehicle amidst the rubble as we drove to church. This had occurred while we slept and only about half a mile from where we were staying.

Conclusion
Overall, I had a great trip. I got to see some amazing landscapes and animals from God’s creation. I had fun getting to spend so much time with Kennedy and Frank and learning more about their cultures and getting to know them better. Christian did very well on the trip and seems to have matured from the experience. I was mostly pleased to see his interaction with the small children. The main purpose of the trip was supposed to be ministry in the conference, but it did not occur. So, maybe that was my main purpose, but God just wanted to work on my flesh some more. Being conformed into the image of Christ is seldom a pleasant experience and I know that I need much more shaping, chiseling, and purification. My patience is tested almost daily by the lack of efficiency, traffic jams, and late appointments.

From Pamela

Out of the blue, a wave of homesickness came over me today in an intense way. I was reading a few emails before church this morning when suddenly I was overwhelmed with pain in my heart for my family and friends. There have been so many occasions of homesickness but for the most part it has been manageable. I momentarily think of those I am homesick for and then I move on. Today was different. I was so overwhelmed with the pain in my heart that I wanted to cry. Some people are embarrassed to cry and especially here in Africa. It is a sign of weakness to the African people, especially for men to cry. Therefore, you don’t see people crying here very often even these sweet children who have plenty to cry about. In some ways, their hearts are hardened in this sense. They can flock to see people being stoned for stealing or a burning tire around someone’s neck for a crime, and they never shed a tear. Honestly, it is beyond my understanding and greatly disturbs me to hear of so many heart wrenching stories told without any emotion whatsoever. (Sorry that was a side note but with a point) If someone sees you crying here, it is so uncomfortable for them that they often laugh because they don’t know what else to do. In light of this environment I am now in, I also find myself holding back tears, which I don’t normally do. Crying is healthy and I did my fair share of crying last year as we were leaving the States to come to Uganda. If I had not cried when I felt the need to cry last year in our leaving process, I think it would have swallowed me up and overtaken me. In the nine months of being here, I think I have only shed a few tears. Unfortunately, this morning as this wave of grief came over me, I did the same thing the Africans do and quickly moved on to something else so as not to feel the reality of my soul. I want to share with you how the rest of my day went as an offering of praise to My Father.

As I hurried off to get ready for church trying not to think about what I was feeling, there was this continued heaviness in my spirit. I was agitated with the boys and feeling short with my words. I knew the day was on a downward spiral, if I didn’t’ cry out to God to help me in my weakness. As we drove to church, I quietly prayed in my heart for God to please meet me in my heaviness and carry the burden of homesickness for me. How often I find myself in such circumstances and don’t cry out to God for help but muddle through the day on my own. What a shame! It was really such a simple prayer of “help me today for I am weak” and God in His great compassion heard my prayer and answered me.

We arrived at church and quickly found our way to our seats as we were right on time, so no time to fellowship before the service. The pastor was preaching from I Thessalonians 2:17-20. “But we, brethren, having been bereft of you for a short while- in person, no in spirit- were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you- I, Paul, more than once- and yet satan thwarted us. For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” The very basics of the message were that as believers in Jesus Christ we should be about investing in people with the gospel and love of Christ. The investment in other people is NO waste of time and worthy of the cost. The last two verses of the passage brought such encouragement to my heavy heart this morning. Our hope, our joy and our crown will be to stand in the presence of God with many Africans that God has entrusted us to share the gospel of Christ with. The closing song of the service was an oldie but a goodie that many of you know “Thank you” by Ray Boltz. Just a few lines…

Thank you for giving to the Lord, I was a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord I am so glad you gave.

As my hope may have been drawn to home this morning, God in His kindness reminded me to not long for my earthly home in the States (wherever that is anyway) but to long for eternity with Him. Also, to be faithful to invest in the lives of people in Africa so that on that day when ever knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, many Africans will be there willingly and joyfully bowing the knee because of obedience and faithfulness to His call.

Prior to coming to Uganda, there was a word of testimony spoken that encouraged me as prepared to leave. The word was this, “Do you not know, have you not heard, it is I the Lord who has called you out. I will go before you and I will go behind you, I will be your front guard and your rear guard. There will be a withered hand reaching out to you and you will offer hope in Jesus name. Do not fear for I will never leave you or forsake.”
Each time I go to my neighbor Selina and she reaches out her withered hand to me, I am reminded that we truly are vessels in the Redeemers hand. Oh that each person we see and speak to would experience the hope of Christ. That is an investment with eternal dividends. The cost is great and very painful some days but oh so worth it.

Even this past weekend we have had the opportunity to host a young woman from Kenya. A young man in Kevin’s discipleship group has been in a relationship with this young woman for four years now and he is trying to discern if she is the one he is to marry. This has been a very weighty decision for him. He is a recent convert and is so hungry and thirsty for truth. It is so exciting to be around him and to share the many truths of God’s word with him. On his many visits in our home, he has shared his family life and traditions with us. He comes from a large family because his father had several wives. It is not uncommon here to have several. You have one for mothering, one for cooking and one you take out on the town and maybe even some more. Anyway, this decision of a wife has become so weighty for him as he realizes it is God’s best to choose one and divorce is not an option. On a recent visit with his father in Kenya, the father told him that there are two kinds of women: ones that make good girlfriends and ones that make good wives. So this young man is trying to discern which one this young woman is. He asked if he could bring her to our home for the weekend and for me to spend some time with her. I was so nervous thinking of all the pressure he was putting on me. It is traditional that many of these discussions take place through the aunties. Long story short, the weekend was such a blessing for all involved and I am confident God will show this young man searching for God’s best – His best for him. In light of what I was sharing earlier about the investment in people, this young man is realizing the error of his culture’s traditional ways (especially in marriage) and choosing to do things God’s way. He desires to choose one wife until death and to love her instead of use her (most African marriages seem like a work partnership or something). This seems like a small investment but this investment alone in this young man can change the way of an entire people.

Instead of overwhelming homesickness, I retire this evening with an overwhelming sense of renewed passion to move forward with the gospel of Jesus Christ to a dark world. We are so humbled by these opportunities and pray for many more like them. Thank you for being apart of this ministry through your prayers for us. ~Pamela

June 3, 2007

Meet Earl
Meet the newest addition to our family…Earl. As you may recall from previous blog entries, we had been hoping to get a pet parrot for our family. African Grey Parrots are known for being excellent pets because of their intelligence and capacity for learning language. They are fairly common birds here, and when you can find one, very inexpensive. In the States, they can cost thousands of dollars, but here they can be as cheap as $4 to $5. We had been searching for one for several months and making no progress. We were thrilled when some other missionaries offered their parrot to us while they go on furlough to the States, and said that we can keep it beyond that if we want. They provided us with a nice cage, bird toys, and the parrot. The best part was that it was all free. He is the coolest bird. He is just learning to speak and likes to say his own name the most. He can say: “Come here”, “good boy”, “good night” and some other things that we don’t understand. He mimics other birds that he hears outside, too. We are very thankful to have obtained a parrot and are enjoying having him in the home. We had also hoped to take one to America whenever we return, but I am told that due to bird flu, that international transport of birds is no longer viable. I haven’t confirmed this yet, but I suspect that it is probably true.


Collin’s Growing Vocabulary
We were having dinner the other night when Collin suddenly announced, quite excitedly, that he knew three cuss words. Pamela said, “oh really…which ones?” Collin replied that he knew the f-word, the d-word, and the b-word. Pamela asked him what the f-word was and he said that he had forgotten, though he was probably trying to recall “fart”, which is supposed to be an unspoken word in our house. Then we asked him what is the d-word. He was kind of grinning sheepishly and said that it was “ditch”. When we busted out laughing, he suddenly remembered that it was supposed to start with a “b” and blurted out the rhyming word to ditch. When we asked him how he knew that word, he said that he had learned it from one of our neighbors in Niceville. He was quite proud that he knew a bad word, and we were grateful that he only knew one as opposed to the three that he professed to know. I hope that you don’t misread this to think that I am proud of my child’s bad language. It is just funny to see Collin, the innocent child, being proud of his “accomplishment”. We are having to explain that this is wrong because he does not even realize it.

Jarvis
We try to minimize the number of people that we help that come and knock on our gate. If you get a reputation for helping everyone who comes, then they will be there everyday. It is a tough balance, because we are here to help, but you cannot possibly help everyone who asks, and many people are lying just to get money. Anyway…earlier this week, a young man named Jarvis came to the gate and Pamela briefly spoke to him and said that I should come talk to him. I was taking a bath and said that she should have him come back the next day. This is also a good tactic to see if someone is really in need or just going house to house begging. She responded that she really felt that I should go talk to him then.

When I met Jarvis, I could tell that he was different from most of the solicitors that I encounter. He was very humble and also seemed to be quite broken and on the verge of tears. Men are just not allowed to cry in this culture and will not allow themselves to be seen if they do. Jarvis began telling me his story and I soon found out that he is HIV positive. He had just recently begun taking ARVs (anti-AIDS drugs) and was very sick from the side effects. It seems that the side effects are similar to some cancer chemotherapy drugs. He was weak and nauseous. He had come to ask me to pray for him because he was fearful of telling his mother that he had AIDS. He had gone home in December to tell her, but he chickened out and said that he had TB. He did actually have TB, but it was a result of the AIDS. He explained that his mother was a Christian and that she would be so disappointed in him that he did not want to tell her. He is also the only son, and his mother is a widow. Therefore, it is his responsibility to take care of his mother as she grows older. He knew that he needed to tell her and that he also needed to be in her care as he gets through the first months of taking ARVs. He also wanted to know if he could wash my car of do other work in our compound to get some money for bus fare home, which is in Rwanda. He was obviously very weak and even having trouble standing and walking. I talked with him for about half an hour and realized that I needed to help him with bus fare and to spend some time praying with him.

He had a very strong testimony and explained that he knew that he had sinned and that his disease was a consequence of that sin. He said that he knew that God was capable of healing AIDS and that he was praying for that to happen, but that he also knew that God might chose not to heal him. He told me that he had only been intimate with one girl ever, but she was HIV positive and knew that she was. It seems that she had acquired AIDS from being raped, and in vengeance was infecting as many men as she could. When I asked two of my African friends about this story, they said that it is very common for people to deliberately infect others out of spite. He said that he knew God had not forsaken him and was still there for him. He also said that God had shown him that he needed to forgive the girl who had infected him and that he had done so. She had actually died recently from the disease. His biggest fear was having to confess to his mom what had happened. I spent time praying with him for courage, for healing, and for God to continue to lead him and keep him. It was both a sad and uplifting time. I was sad for this young man having to live with this horrible disease. I was uplifted to hear such a solid testimony and how he still knew the faithfulness of God during difficult circumstances. Please join with us in praying for Jarvis. He has returned to Rwanda but promises to stay in touch via email.

When I asked him why he came to our gate, he said that everyone in the village knows that we are Christians and that we will help people. This was encouraging to hear, but also somewhat frightening because you never know who will show up with a story of need. We need wisdom and discernment as we make decisions about whom to help and how.

Kenya Bound
I will be departing for a 5-day trip to Kenya on Wednesday of this week, the day before my 44th birthday, which means that I will celebrate my birthday away from our family. I will be traveling with three other Kenyan men, including the campus pastor and two students. The main purpose of the trip is for me to speak at a church conference that is the home church of one of the students. We are going to also try to visit a game park but the rains have been very heavy lately and it may not be possible. Pamela is a bit nervous since this will be her first time at home without me since we arrived nine months ago. I am excited about seeing Kenya and visiting the villages and rural areas as we travel. Please pray for safety for all of us as I travel and we are apart.

Blessings to you all,
Kevin