Day-8: @ SAYE

Newly Acquired Church Land

SAYE @ Sunrise

11:00

There were 47 persons in attendance for the morning worship session; Sister Florence led the worship session and charged the women to wake up and take their position in Christ.It brings so much joy to just to see the level of empowerment  in the lives of some of our sisters here.

I encouraged the Church to keep the hope of our victory in Christ warm and fresh always and to know that our calling is bigger than the individual's life here on earth and for this reason we must not let the things of this life take away our hope of eternal life in the presence of God.

I gave testimony of how the enemy had attacked my pregnant wife trying to stop me from making this mission trip, the week we spent at the maternity ward thinking that our daughter might be born premature. I shared how I was almost ovewhelmed by the extreme persimism of the medical team and just how dank and gloomy their predictions had been until I came to terms with the fact that I have to ignore thier reports and believe the report of the Lord which said that "By His Stripes We are Healed" that God will cause His blessing to overflow in our lives and raise an inheritance for Himself through us Halleluja!!! I told them how God made it possible for His name to be glorified and that both mother and baby are OK and stable now. Afterward two people stood up to say that they were deeply moved and challenged because I did not give up when this problem occurred and how this has stired them to faith and deeper trust in the Lord; one of them was a nice young man named Geoffrey.

My charge was a prelude to Pablo's short sermon, he spoke on the History of Our Warfare, tracing the origin of the power struggle with the devil-The war that began in the garden of Eden and terminated with the death of God's son on a Roman cross, and of the victory that we have in Christ if we accept His ultimate sacrifice in redemption for our sins.

15 people came out during the alter call, and I prayed for their salvation and later prayed for those who want to reconcile with God and after that we entered the “Healing Has Begun” session. “Chango se Cha Kore” and we all chanted it in unison and the air was so charged with this confession, the people seemed to be ignited by the idea and we started to pray for sick people and to confess healing over their lives and their families. We prayed for healing in families and healing in relationships. That God may renew all broken relationships and families and that the power of the Holy Ghost may flow in the lives of all of us and restore us to Himself

When prayer time was over we went to see that land that has been purchased for the new church building and pray over the land for God to bring the resources for its edification

We had lunch, excellent chicken that tasted like nothing I've tasted in a long time, not for the culinary expertise applied as in the quality of chicken used. It was so good and tasted natural

15:45

Healing Has Begun!

We left Saye and headed for Sondu and Bodi and God saved us from running over a reckless motorcyclist who crossed right in front of our spreeding bus; Our Lord saved us from that trap set by the enemy to cause accident and possible death.

17:30

We arrived at Sondu and stopped to fill the tyre and refresh with some coke and stretch our legs. It had been 3 long days of steady and intensive ministration and traveling on dusty roads and wearing the same cloths.

The women on our team are really valiant, all of them have left their families to go with us and you can't help but respect the love and determination with which they served God and the passion for souls that drives them.

 Our young men also have left their vocation behind to participate in his mission. You can see that the work has taken its toll on all of us, Abel for the most part has handled very well and we glorify God for that.

Once refreshed we got back on the road, en route to Bodi and our Beds if God wills.

Pablo passed some gospel tracts to the police men at the check point and they delightedly accepted it but screamed at us when they realized that it was not money that he had given to them and we all bust out laughing. I learnt that they took bribe from all bus drivers and must have assumed they were getting some at this time.

20:00

I was strongly led to have a one on one with one of our daughters, to listen to the challenges of teenage and growing up in her world. Joan and I nursed her last year when she was seriously ill, we have since developed some serious affection for her and come to love and care for her and to take care of her basic needs.
We were so tired by the time we hit our beds and called it a wonderful day once again

ESPAÑOL

SAYE al Amanecer

Sister Flow

11:00Había 47 personas en la asistencia para la sesión de adoración de la mañana, la hermana Florence dirigio la sesión de alabanza y animó a las mujeres a despertar y tomar su posición en Cristo. Me da mucha alegría a ver el nivel de empoderamiento en la vida de algunos de nuestras hermanas aquí.
 Anime a los hermanos de la Iglesia a mantener la esperanza de nuestra victoria en Cristo cálido y siempre fresco y saber que nuestra vocación es más grande que la vida del individuo en la tierra y por esta razón no debemos dejar que las cosas de esta vida nos aleje de la esperanza de nuestra vida eterna en la presencia de Dios.
Comparti mi testimonio de cómo el enemigo había atacado a mi esposa embarazada tratando precionarme a dejar de hacer este viaje de la misión, la semana que pasamos en la sala de maternidad pensando que nuestra hija iba a nacer prematuro.                                                                 

Les conte  cómo estaba deprimido por el persimismo extremo del equipo médico y cuán negativo de sus predicciones habían sido hasta que llegué a un acuerdo con el hecho de que tengo que ignorar sus informes y que el informe del Señor, que dijo que "Por su llaga fuimos nosotros curados" que Dios hará que su bendición  desbordarse en nuestra vida y criar a una herencia para sí mismo a través de nosotros Halleluja!                                                                   Yo les dije que Dios hizo posible que su nombre sea glorificado y que tanto la madre y el bebé están bien y estables ahora. Después de mi testimonio, dos personas se levantaron para decir que ellos se sintieron profundamente conmovidos y desafiados porque no se dio por vencido cuando se produjo este problema y cómo esto les ha stired a la fe y una confianza más profunda en el Señor, uno de ellos era un buen hombre joven llamado Geoffrey.

Abel con los Niños

Mi testimonio era el preludio del corto sermón de Pablo, quien habló sobre la historia de nuestra guerra espiritual, trazando el origen de la lucha con el diablo-La guerra que comenzó en el jardín del Edén y termina con la muerte del hijo de Dios en una cruz Romana, y de la victoria que tenemos en Cristo si se acepta su sacrificio por la redención de nuestros pecados.
15 personas salieron durante la llamada al altar, y oró por su salvación y luego oró por aquellos que desean reconciliarse con Dios y después pusimos en marcha la hora llamada  la "curación ha comenzado" la sesión. "Chango se  Cha Kore" y todos lo corearon al unísono y el aire

estaba tan cargado con esta confesión, la gente parecía estar encendidas por la idea y comenzamos a orar por los enfermos y confesar la curación de sus vidas y sus familias.

 Oramos por las familias en la curación y la sanación en las relaciones. Que Dios puede renovar todas las relaciones rotas y las familias y que el poder del Espíritu Santo puede fluir en la vida de todos nosotros y restaurarnos a sí mismoAl final del  tiempo de oración, fuimos a ver el tereno que ha sido adquirido para la nueva iglesia y orar sobre la tierra para que Dios nos traiga 

los recursos para su edificación

Our Medical Aid Team

Almorzamos, excelente pollo con sabor a nada de lo que he probado en mucho tiempo, no por la experiencia culinaria aplicada como en la calidad de carne de pollo utilizada. Era tan bueno y de un gusto super rico y natural
15:45Salimos y nos dirigimos de Saye  rumbo Sondu y el Señor nos salvo de atropellar a un motociclista temerario que cruzó delante de nuestro autobús a toda velocidad, y Dios nos salvó de esa trampa tendida por el enemigo para causar un accidente y  posiblemente una muerte.17:30Llegamos a Sondu y se detuvo para llenar el neumático y refrescarse con un poco de coca-cola y estirar las piernas porque  habíamos tirado 3 días de duración de la ministración constante e intensiva, y viajando por caminos polvorientos y con las mismas ropas puestasLas mujeres en nuestro equipo son muy valientes, todas han dejado sus familias para ir con nosotros y que no puedo dejar de respetar el amor y la determinación con la que sirven a Dios y la gran pasión por las almas perdidas que las impulsan.

 Nuestros jóvenes también han dejado atrás su vocación particulares para participar en esta misión. Usted puede ver que el trabajo ha hecho mella en todos nosotros, Abel en su mayor parte ha manejado muy bien y glorificamos a Dios por eso porque el ha aguantado estos dias sin sus pastillas que le hacia mucha falta.Una vez actualizado estamos de nuevo en la carretera, rumbo al pueblo Bodi y a nuestras camas si Dios quiere.
Pablo pasó algunos tratados evangelio a los hombres de la policía en el punto de control y lo aceptaron encantados, pero uno gritó a nosotros cuando se dieron cuenta de que no era el dinero que él les había dado y nos pusimos  a reír. Me enteré de que ellos tomaron soborno de todos los conductores de autobús y debe haber supuesto que estaban recibiendo algunos en este momento.
20:00 Mantuve una charla muy interesante con una de nuestras hijas, para escuchar de los desafíos de la adolescencia y lo que supone crecer en su mundo. Joan y yo cuidó de ella el año pasado cuando estaba gravemente enferma,y desde entonces la hemos cogido mucho cariño para ella y llegar a amar y cuidar de ella y encargarnos de sus necesidades básicas.Cuando nos fuimos a dormir ya estabamos todos muy cansados

Day-5: @Kisumu-Sabatia Eye Clinic.

 @Sabatia Eye Hospital Kenya

06:30.

I had my morning devotion and woke the rest of the team up for our morning meditation and prayer.

It was such a fresh morning and the sweet smell of wet soil, and vegetation was saturated the living room where we sat. It rained heavily the night before and we were delighted to have some less turbid water for bath this morning. Abel had adjusted to the horror of splashing coffee colored water on his skin and is doing quite well at it.

We were joined by Peter, Max and Jeff, all young pastors who take care of us and of our needs. They have come to help us with our morning preparations, to boil our bathing water, provide us with any extra needs and to take our cloths to the ladies to wash-I thought of my white shirts in that water and quickly whiped it off my mind.

We assembled at the pastors house for brake fast and were delighted to see that the whole team were there waiting for us to come. We all sat down for brakefast, and it delighted Pablo and Abel to enjoy tea time with the church member and to crack jokes and ask questions while we enjoyed our meals.

Pablo noted that naturally the people were all silent and he had asked me the first night if something was wrong, and I responded that children are raised here not to talk while eating to avoid chocking on the food, and that it is bad manners to talk with a full mouth (I guess it is everywhere)

Qualitative Eye Treatment.

We took the Patients for the eye clinic in the bus and went around trying to track other people on our Medical list of last year who are yet to be treated; some of them are going for cataract operations. It was such a tough undertaking finding them notwithstanding that they have all been contacted prior to this time and informed it was just hard getting them. Some of them live in very unaccesible places while others were just not reachable at the time. Two people we realised have died withing the past few months.

We had a total of 16 persons in the bus including Dalton our adopted son, who was diagnosed last year with some eye problem that we hope to address squarely this time around.

11:00

We left Bodi and headed for Kisumu arriving @13:10, we went through the Banking district to change some forex against possible medical expenses.

We left Kisumu for sabati as we went through this lovely region, I quietly drank in the serenity and beauty of the landscape and felt Gods peace washing all over me.

The roads were quite narrow and I got the impression that the vehicles moved a tad too fast for such roads and conditions but at anyrate we made it safely to the Friends Church Clinic at Sabati

15:30 @ Friends Church Clinic, Sabati.

Friends Eye Hospital Sabatia

I learned this is the best eye Clinic in the region hence we have come such long way to be seen here.

The personnel were so friendly and nice, yet quite profesional and efficient, for hardly had we arrived and they were already attending to our patients, preparing those with more serious eye problem for extensive examinations and possible surgeries.

The clinic is beautifully build and tended, the lawns are green and the flowers fresh and lovely giving of a very positive healing effect. The total ambiance was quite tranquil and peaceful.

A serving of Tilapia and Ugali 

After all our patients have undergone treatments, we bought the prescribed drugs and eye glasses from the clinic, 3 of them have to return at a future date to continue treatments. I am quite satisfied with the progress made so far and our friends and delighted too.

One patient is 19 year old boy whose life ambition is threatened by his eye problems, he wants to be a doctor and is bright enough to actualize that goal,but his sight had made the challenge even harder.

The other one is a 16year old girl who wants to be a Journalist and News presenter, and is quite determined to pursue her life's ambition if her sight would let her. I promised to find her a female mentor to help mold her dreams.

After the treatments we headed back towards Kisumu.

Tilapia Fish Restaurant

We went to the Lake side shack restaurant, where we had had such wonderful servings of Tilapia fish, and this year we got such wonderful deal and quality; for 200Ksh we had a plate of ledge size fish and ugali (the local dough made of corn mill)

After our late lunch we went to Tursky Super Market to buy some provisions for ourselves and for some families we want to bless.

Dalton Shopping for Toys

It was Daltons Day Out and he went wild in the toy section, I was delighted to see just how delighted he was to see so much fun and to think that he could have some of them. It was his first time shoping at the mall and it made a huge impact on him

20:30.

Dalton @Lake Victoria

We left Kisumu for Bodi and the driver drove like an ex-F1 driver, I simply focused on my iBook and tried not to think of what was happening on the road in front of me since there was pretty little I that I can do about it, I tried to sooth Dalton whom I had to carry on my legs all the time because otherwise we would have had problems with the police at the ubiquitous post on the roads.

It was late by the standards of this place and the roads were pitch black, I had confidence that God will keep us safe and protect us from any harms or terror of the underworld.

We approached a police post and met some officers, who are known to our friends, we took them as escorts till we came to the road junction that will take us off the main road unto the dust tracks that leads back to Bodi.

I breathed easy because we are off the area of potential risks and that we have let go of those two with fully loaded sub-machine guns in our vehicle.

Shortly after this it started to drizzle and eventually rain heavily, making the roads tricky to drive on especially since we have to ascend some 70º+ on rugged muddy tracks, and I was not so sure of the conditions of the tyres. I kept my heart strong in silent prayer even when the propeller shaft started to make some racky noise. In the end and through it all we made it gingerly but safely home to the other side

22:30

We were soaked and hungry and had some very hot chocolate and milk before we went to our quarter

Day-4: @Rakwaro Church

Joan Academy @Rakwaro

06:30

I woke up and had my personal quiet time, then I called Pablo and Abel to join me. We sang and prayed together before our friends Max, Peter and Paul came to help us get started for the day (fix us some hot water for bath, straighten our cloths etc)

08:45 -

We had a warm breakfast of fresh cow milk and sachet Nescafe with some sandwich made of hydrogenated oil,(not my best option but good) I realized that today I will not have some avocado with it because we have ran out of stock.

9:30-

We were supposed to have the vehicle ready to take us to Rakwaro but it is now late-I was told that the had gone to fix the generator at Sondu for film projection tonight at Rakwaro

We set out on foot towards Rakwaro and called the bus driver to meet us on the way. We sang some spiritual war songs, exulting God that He is the most high God, That He is the God of war and of peace, That He is the King of all Kings.

As we went I reflected on the words that the Lord has put in my mouth for this erring church that had broken away from the main body of the Church, following a leader whom we had all loved and trusted but who for some reason had allowed the enemy to deceive her leading her to draw a large portion of believers away with her.

This has been the biggest burden on my heart since March this year and many people around the world have been praying for what God will do in this church and somehow I find it imminent that today will be D-Day

We were finally met by the bus and for the next half hour to 45 minutes we bounced toward Rakwaro on the earth road that the good Lord had watered to dampen the dust that normally would be some problem when we drive on it.

We were met by a group of Toddlers and Kids excitedly chanting “Welcome, our visitors, we will never never forget you” and there was something in their spirit that seem to reflect the fact that they meant what they were singing.

They took us to Joan daycare and Kindergarten and I was amazed by the level of progress they have made with all the challenges and obstacles that they have had to scale since January when they started the school.

Nursery Class Room

It was last year after we saw the large number of orphans and in attended children that the Lord put it in our hearts to charge them with the task of starting a daycare center and voiler! They made it happen and with the scarcest of resources.

The school Patron Mr Samuel Odongo, a dedicated man of excellent disposition, introduced the staff and committee members and reenacted the moments we lived last year when we visited their community and the impact it had on all of them. How this had motivated them to put all hands on deck to get the project going. The school was named after my wife Joan.

The Kids gave us a performance and I was particularly touched by one open letter to AIDS, in which the little girl queried AIDS “who are your and what is your color?” you take away our parents and leave us orphans, AIDS please leave us alone”

Feeding the Kids

I started the exposition on Eph 6 and used the life story of Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon to illustrate our spiritual warfare, how a small group of men were able to subdue the vast armies of Darius of Persia. That what Alexander lacked in stature he gain in statue, his code of discipline and singleness of purpose was unrivaled-that while the Persian armies were arrayed in elegant and flamboyant attires, Alexander formed a formidable phalanx that in his time was the most dreaded weapon of warfare, impermeable to all kind of martial attack.

This is made up of a thousand able bodied men stand in files of 16 rows,

The men who constituted this Phalanx must all be fit and strong to bear their shield and the long spear that would point forward to stop any charge that would come against them.

I encouraged them to put aside all forms of idle thinking to become focused on the objective, not to be driven by gain or grains but to look on to the Lord for the glory of His kingdom, to conduct some spiritual exercise that would make us all fit to hear the shield of faith and stop all the firerry darts the enemy will shoot at us.

As I was still speaking and the power of God came on all the people some busted into tears and others cried openly and their was a small commotion at the time that I had o stop for the pains to ooze out. We prayed for about half hour and they were all crying out to the Lord – I could not make out what they said because they cried in Luo but what does it matter, the Lord knows.

We prayed some prayer of reconciliation and deliverance from sin, hate and anger to be filled with the spirit of of peace, love and unity.

After the solemn moments we went up to where they have prepared lunch for our team and for all the people in attendance, I counted about 200 including the children.

Our medical team had gone to their station to commence treatment immediately-I went to take a look and inspect them.

Medical Aid Workers

I am impressed by the high level of order and organization here-They had listed all the patients to b seen and seated them accordingly so this made them to work very efficiently and no one complained. This shows that a lot of lessons have been learnt from last year when it was chaotic here and people complained.

We treated 30 malaria cases, some gastrointestinal, Cough and others on the whole 57 cases.

We gave out drugs to mothers to de-worm the children, 40 units on the whole.

It give me lots of satisfaction to see the glee with which the kids are stuffing their faces and to think that this is the best of what they might have ever had in their lives, not some insipid awful mix but real well made food for a change-This is my joy!! I know that they need more than one meal, but am sure tomorrow they will be in our next meeting for yet another good meal. Someday God willing they wont have to chase plates of food no more! Food will come to them

19:45

The power generator was not ready on time so we had to leave Rakwaro for Bodi where we eventually projected the Passion of Christ-First of its Kind in this village; it was on a 4x4 Meter screen that we made out of whit sheets last year. The projector has such excellent luminance and contrast that the film just stood out in the pitch dark for all to see.

22:20

We had to stop the movie because it was threatening to rain, so we dismantled the PA system and other electronics.

We had our dinner and retired for the day

SafariMissions 2011

Safari missions blog DAY-1&2

Cairo @Night

The flight from Barcelona went very smoothly and the food was not that bad, I chose chicken and "jollof" rice over pasta and I don't-know-what.

 I thought deeply of all the people who may have gone this way over the years and wondered what was on their minds as they went; What were their dreams and what was it that kept them going against all odds? Which Was it,gain or glory? For it is
hard for anyone to be driven without some strong personal convictions or motivation, if the truth is to be spoken.

 I asked myself what my motivations were? WHAT IS YOUR DRIVING FORCE? I asked myself,and as our plane navigated a nasty turbulence that churned my bowel, my brain turned in reverse, searching the innermost part of my being for the reason behind my commitment to this cause especially in times like this one when I had every motive to relent.

 I realized that Glory It is! my deepest force lies
1. In the joy of seeing a turnaround happen in the life of someone, say a child destined for ruins;Seeing how my little contribution have gone long ways to transform lives, in all the places that God in His mercies had led us to make a difference.
2.The ultimate glory of being clothed with immortal radiance with Christ and to hear Him say to me on that faithful day "WELCOME HOME MY SON! You have done well!" The thoughts of Christ saying WELL DONE to me, fills me with uncanny abilities and great energy.

Egypt:17/7/11
Arrive:-20:10
Departure :-22:03 we roll out from docking bay and taxied to the runway, the nice voice of the flight attendant says we have 4 hrs 40 to Nairobi.
the voice of the imam saying prayer before take off struck me with somber reflection on the importance of faith  in our lives and how people of God often neglect the vital importance of being at peace with God, not just when you entrust your life in harms way but more so at all times. FLIGHING IS RISKY BUSINESS no matter what anyone says.
23:38 I repaire  myself to the business of reading some article on Strategy and Church planting, I would have loved to sleep but that luxury simply eludes me at this moment. Pablo is listening to weird music playing on one of the channels while Abel, who sits behind us, is busy working very hard on making friends with his neighbor a handsome lady that looked very Dutch to me, honing his ability to converse with his limited knowledge of English language
  02:22 @last I was able to sleep a wink but now I must fill out one of those forms you always wonder why they make you fill.
Now we brace for the bumpy flight down to the dark Nairobi Tarmac. TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY

Nairobi: 18/7/11
Arrival:-touch down is @02:37 a very hard landing that squeezed a cry out of a bunch of people, the lady by me yelled something in a strange language, Pablo who was not paying attention was visibly shaken otherwise we are all in one good healthy piece .
Departure:-