Kenya Day One -Pictures Tomorrow

We made it safely and we made it together. We weren't sure if Chaewook would get on the same flight to Bangkok, but 5 minutes before boarding started they gave him a seat. The flight went well and we arrived feeling good and grateful that we made it to Bangkok together. We were also able to get on the same flight to Nairobi and both slept well.

Arriving at the airport in Nairobi we stopped to fill out our visa applications. When we finished we looked up and saw a long line in front of us. I commented to Chaewook that next time we should fill out the forms before we landed to save time. He agreed and we got into line expecting to wait for some time, but just then a man came and directed us to another station. We walked down the hall to the next immigration desk, where there was no wait. We walked out and our bags came around within a few minutes, we grabbed them and headed for the door. As we were walking out to meet our driver we stopped by a customs agent. “Open your bags, she said. Chaewook lifted his bag onto the counter. Do you have cigarettes?” She asked me pointing to a Korean Air shopping bag. I told her no and suddenly she lost interest in us and waved us through without searching our bags. We were greeted by our driver Paul and as soon as Mbondo (our mission contact) arrived we were on our way.

The roads in Nairobi had only light traffic because most people are in the countryside visiting family for Christmas. We drove along a new freeway being constructed by the Chinese. It was a smooth road, though at times a little interesting considering there were no lane markers or road signs. I'm not sure if it was 3 lanes or 4 lanes because everyone just drove where they wanted. About an hour outside of Nairobi we ate an early lunch, bought some groceries at the supermarket and continued on our way.
The rest of the trip we were stopped at too many police checkpoints to count, but when they saw a foreigner in the front seat they waved us on without hassling us. We arrived in Tulia in the mid afternoon safe and sound.

As we traveled I found out that God was moving in a very wonderful way. One of our hosts is James Kitengu. James is a pastor and a nurse and has always been a tremendous friend and help to me when I've been in Kenya. He and another pastor named Erastus have planted 8 churches in the last ten years. James is also a nurse and has done clinic work at different church locations. He has a motorcycle, but the engine has not worked for more than two years, limiting his ability to visit churches and run his mobile clinic. A few weeks ago someone at Word of Life told me that they wanted to donate money to missions and I mentioned James need for an engine, but at that point we still needed money for general trip fund. On Sunday our offering was about 650,000 won. Someone asked me if we had gotten enough money for the trip, I said I thought so, but I didn't think we had gotten enough for a motorcycle engine and I wish we had enough to cover the engine. Monday, I got a text message from someone wanting to donate enough to meet the cost. Later in the day I decided to call James to let him know, what I didn't know was at that moment James and Mbondo were having a conversation about his need for a motorcycle engine. He had just finished saying that he wished somehow he could get his motorcycle fixed when the phone rang and I told him that we (Word of Life) were going to buy him a new engine. Pretty amazing timing and it's pretty exciting to be a part of God's provision for a pastor in Kenya.

Tomorrow, we have a youth conference at a local church and are expecting about 100 young people to come. Chaewook will be giving his testimony in English and I'll be preaching about the person God uses from the story of David and Goliath. I'll give another talk about missions from Acts 1:8. We will be very grateful for your prayers.

Praises: We made it safely and we made it together!
We were both able to sleep on the plane and are healthy.

Prayer Requests:
1.For God to move powerfully in the hearts of the youth as we share.
2.For God to call some of the youth to dedicate their lives to missions.
3.For continued health and safety as we travel on motorcycles throughout the week.