My Kenya Trip Report

I just returned from spending a week in Kenya—my first trip back since 2008. My husband, Gary, serves as East Africa field director for East-West Ministries, so he goes three to four times per year.There were six of us this time. Gary and me; an East-West (E-W) writer and her stand-up-comedy-guy husband; the E-W VP of development; and a photographer/ videographer.Gary had asked if we wanted to all pay extra and do a trip to the Maasai Mara while getting over jet lag. Because he has been to Kenya so many times, he knew exactly the place to stay that was cheap. And everybody said yes.We stayed in two-bed tents w/ concrete bathrooms attached. Generators pumped in power from 6 AM till 10 PM. So the stars twinkled against an obsidian background. And coyotes howled. One does not leave one's tent after the generators go off!We did a drive through the Mara at 4 PM till dark when we got there, and then up early to get to the gate by 7 AM for the good sunlight. We saw the Big Five—the five most aggressive animals when hunted, which are the rhino, African elephant, lion, African buffalo (water buffalo), and leopard. Seeing all five is quite a coup! The leopard was in a tree eating zebra.We saw lots of lions. Two were mating. My photos of that are still in Gary's suitcase (and he is not yet back). But here is a shot of two lions in a field w/ a harvester (top) who had no clue.Back to Nairobi (4.5-hour drive). Next day we flew to Kitale in W. Kenya, near the border of Uganda. The first day in Kitale, we interviewed kids in the E-W child sponsorship program. I'm happy to say not one of them is in an orphanage, because the program finds their nearest kin and offers support for school, food, and hygiene within the family context, rather than an institution. Administration happens at a local level via the Adopt-a-Legacy International Ministries (ALIM) board. Gary serves this board via administrative support (e.g., spreadsheets), counsel, and fund-raising. And they decide how to distribute the limited funds available.Pastors and other church members take in the totally destitute kids, and these families, when possible, receive funds for school, food, and hygiene help when we can find it. At minimum, the kids get schooling paid for (public school in Kenya is not free). Our kids' uniforms were tattered and definitely the cast-offs from other kids. But the ALIM children are getting an education. (Christianity Today ran a story about how best to invest humanitarian funds, and child sponsorship topped the list.)We heard heartbreaking stories from our kids. Like Caleb, whose house was robbed. The thieves hit his dad on the head and gang-raped his mother. He and his brother found their mother, Pamela, in the field and brought her back. The father cannot work due to injuries. We were able to film Pamela telling her story and emphasizing how important sponsors are to their family and what it means to her children's futures.Then there was Aimee. She lost both parents to AIDS. Her grandmother is raising her. We filmed her grandmother pleading, saying that when she dies, Aimee has nothing...except sponsors, who will make it possible for Aimee to have a life.I know our child sponsorship program is important, but putting faces and stories with the kids reminded me just how much!The next day we drove up Mt. Elgon with an entourage of two jeeps full of white people and three motorcycles. Obama was in Nairobi, and I think some folks thought we were his detail. (The whole country was abuzz with his arrival. They love him in Kenya. We asked why. They said because his family is Kenyan and because they hope the US will bring some security to the border of Somalia in the northeast part of the country.)E-W provided three motorcycles to people who were already walking long distances to minister/share the gospel. That is, the recipients are people who were already sacrificing to do what they needed to do (rather than people with goals/plans that they might begin to accomplish if only they could get a motorcycle). One such person is Rose. She is from a little-known tribe whose members live in the forest. So she was walking long distances in and out of the forest to share the gospel, and she planted several house churches. So E-W gave her a motorcycle. She was part of the motorcycle crew that accompanied us the entire two days we were on the mountain. I'm not sure exactly where she slept....Another recipient is a pastor named Daniel, who has done the same in another remote area. His wife, Alice, thanked me for the vehicle (not that I had a thing to do with it!), because she used to have to get her kids up super early to walk to the church's meeting place, spending half her day walking to/from it with them. Now the whole family gets on the bike and gets around quickly. So they can spend time ministering to people rather than traveling. Alice served us dinner in her home (photo below).Irene (photo below) joined us for the entire time on Mt. Elgon as well. She graduated from high school, and she wants to go to college to be an accountant. But she had to drop out after one semester because she and her parents lacked funds. Her parents are working to pay for her siblings' high school education (as mentioned, public education in Kenya is not free), and they have nothing left for Irene. She asked me to sponsor her. I told her we have 49 kids in the program, and only four are fully sponsored right now. So we can't add any more. I hated telling her that! Hopefully the video team will help us raise more funds.The next day we visited the third house church, Rabbit Church–so called because they are committed to multiplying like rabbits, rather than elephants. That is, members don't wait till they reach a certain level of formal training before sharing the gospel.I ended up being the main guest speaker at each house church, speaking out of John 4 about the woman who ran to tell everyone she had met Christ within minutes after doing so. Little did I know that is the main story used in their training. So they cheered for me. Ha! One of the homes was that of Gladys, who was the first woman to perform a baptism on Mt. Elgon. We are committed to gender equality in this work from the start. And it is a beautiful thing to behold.At Rabbit Church, we witnessed three young men being baptized. The people told me that their standards of living have improved since becoming Christians, because they now belong to a community where everyone helps each other. One woman told of how funds were provided for her husband's medical treatment (he died of throat cancer) in an area where no one typically sees a doctor. People were living out, "Behold, how they love one another."The next morning, we flew back to Nairobi. I left the group to go back to Dallas via Dubai while they went on to Turkana country, which looks desolate as the moon. Many are trusting Christ among the Turkana. Gary had been training James, one of the ALIM board members in Kitale. James had left Turkana land and received an education, and he told Gary that he (Gary) needed to go share the gospel w/ the Turkana and he (James) would translate. Gary told James that he (James) needed to share the gospel, but Gary would go with him. So that is what happened, and it was the beginning of a movement. In Gary's last episode in Turkana, he witnessed a big baptism ceremony held in a camel-watering hole.Today the team is back in Nairobi and going on to Ethiopia, where the crew hopes to film the water well project we're involved with. One group of Turkana gave Gary a goat and a chicken yesterday, which he gave to the next church he visited. I can just see him trying to get those through US Customs!I'm back answering emails and trying to get over jet lag. Alexandra flies back tonight from Baltimore, where she has been staying with our niece.Please pray for the team, and for the ongoing effects of this work. Thank you! And for readers who support us and/or sponsor kids, THANK YOU! We could not do this without your partnership. If you would like to be a part of Gary's support team, please go here. For information on child sponsorship, go here.