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:-

DAY17:24/08/10 (Fort Jesus: Mombasa Kahama)

"Prince Peter & Infanta Raquel."

Morning: Joan and I slept in today and left for Mombasa town as soon as we had finished our prayer time and breakfast.

We strolled down the cool Bombari Avenue and got to the shopping Mall in about 45min-Joan complained that the sun was too hot so we got a free ride from a good citizen who took us to the mall in his car.

Noon: We took the Matatu to the city center and stopped at the General Post Office from where we strolled to the historic Fort Jesus, Our tour guide “Jack” was a very brilliant young man of about 33yrs who spoke excellent English, his manners were so nice that he impressed both Joan and I immediately-Easy and kind personality, gentle and very patient with us. Though he was somewhat tipsy we could'nt help but love this young man.

A Model of Fort Jesus.

His rendition of the historic facts and his deep bass timbre reminded me of Lorne Green and his “The Last of the Wild”

He took us through the coral carved spaces and the Museum and the whole of the Man shaped Fort build by The Portugues explorer, Vasco Da Gama.

Coral Walled Entrace

After the tour we were so satisfied with him that we gave him more than 5times his original asking price (though I had haggled with him earlier to get a very good discount before the tour of the fort and the old city)
We prayed that God would reveal Himself to this young man and many like him around this place-So full of potentials but with little or no opportunities to make anything out of it. Our hearts melted for him and we agreed to keep in touch with him and reach out to him as much as we can.

DAY18:25/08/10 ( Mombasa Kahama Beach Hotel)

Joan and I decided that we are staying “home” today and to hang around the pool side at most.

DAY16:23/08/10 ( Bamburi Beach: Mombasa)

Morning: For the very first time in many days we slept-in and did not have to be up@ 08:00, we went down to the pool side for breakfast.
Our breakfast was made up of a bowl of wheatbiscuits and flakes cold milk, then Spanish eggs and toast (brown) bread with some bacon and susages which we politely ignored.

The hotel staff were so nice you wondered if they were real people, but yes they were and very much so when they are not on the job (we ran into Ali whom we nicknamed Alibaba, once and he was supper nice on the street too, big smile very warm and happy interaction with us)

Joan had a cup of Kericho tea while I had some coffee (we drank our cups with relish reflecting flavor of the time we spent with the people who actually grow and havest these products-we passed a tea plantation near Sotik on our way to Sondu some couple of days back.

Days flow quite slowly here and we did our best to make the most of them. We went out to the shopping mall to buy some food stuff and had to take the famous Matatu (mini bus) for 20 Ksh. (20cents)

Noon: We went for a walk on the beach but most of us were disappointed when we saw how dirty and how unkempt the place was, but strange enough Peter and Raquel loved it and seemed trilled by how soft and sweet the sand was and we all agreed that the people were super nice and friendly and quite entertaining

We haggled with sellers of divers gift items; we also got a good deal to go out and see the marine park and to do some snorkeling.

Some of us had some issues with the whole process of haggling for everything, but it was fun for me and I enjoyed it a lot and I bet the people here love to have that human exchange that is very central to the African way of life.


Evening: We went on a 10 min ride on the Matatu (mini bus) to the Nakumatt shopping mall to buy some groceries and to have a look around

We found the place to be nice and neat.

We made our own lunch in the penthouse kitchen and sat around the table for lunch like one happy family. (Joan and I went out, sometime later to check out some of the nearby hotels and were amazed at how much price value we have at Kahama and wondered how they managed to keep the prices as low as under $17 per person/night (minimum room price) Cecilia and Joan made the food while Caesar and I help with some other tasks.

Joan was not feeling very strong so we let her have some rest and prayed for her speedy recovery

Night: We all went downstairs to the bar area to hang out while they sprayed the apartment with insecticides to eliminate the mosquitoes .

Peter and Raquel were already there having a drink and watching the Manchester Liverpool match on big screen.

Marina and Cecilia were there together while Caesar was nowhere to be found, probably he had gone back to his room early?

Joan and I chatted a bit with our new-found German friend Wagner who has two wonderful daughers of which the oldest is Melanie (11yrs) and her younger sister.

He told us that he works with some Lutheran ministers around the Oyugis area where we had spent about 3 days during our mission outreach. He gave us some of the contact addresses and phone numbers. He and his daughters will be heading to Eldoret by weekend he said.

I found it quite amazing how he handled the girls alone, because their mother who is Kenyan, was back in Germany while he stayed back with the girls.

" Kenya Kaptivated"

We had ample time to share our mission and vision for the people of Kenya and found some helpul insights in what he shared about his own experience working here for the past 12 years.

It was crystal clear to us that there is something captivating about this place and about the people that keep you hooked once you've had a taste of it. Our prayer is that God keep the fire of our passion burning to glorify Him among the nations of this region.

DAY15:22/08/10 ( Goodbye Amboseli Park )

Sunrise Africa: Mombasa.

Since we had done an all day game drive the previous day, we had no other option than to zoom off immediately for Nairobi so as to catch the 13:00 bus to Mombasa..unavoidable to go back to Nairobi to catch a public transport rather than pay the obscene price that private transport would have cost us.

The journey from Amboseli back to Nairobi seemed senseless if you consider that at Amboseli we were closer to Mombasa but the reality on ground due to available infrastructures made it

Mombasa:

Oxygen Bus to Mombasa.

We were met by Maricus who had just come from Mombasa where had some business. He came with the video projector that I had given him for safe keeping but I told him that we still need him to store it and most of the other stuff we left with him.

The bus ride to Mombasa was an 8hr tiresome stretch which was made easier by the interior comfort.
The bus driver drove like a bat out of hell on a truck infested single lane stretch of road. Raquel who sat in "1st", First class Seat said that at one time he controlled the steering wheel with his tommy and at other times with his elbow, while he talked on his cell phone. A clear recipe for disaster but God was on our side all the way-I blessed God who did not let me see any of these.

Sheila, from  our tour operator had booked "first class" seats for all of us@1400ksh each, and for me she had booked an executive seat but Joan would hear none of that so I had to give up my 1600ksh seat for Caesar whom I eyed all the way as he enjoyed the extra large (former airplane business class) seat all the way to Mombasa. Poor me :(

We reached Mombasa@21:00 and we had the bus taxi waiting for us Nasir who arranged for the bus was there also and he made sure that we were safely delivered to the hotel. (Kahama Beach hotel Bombari)

@home in Bamburi Kahama apartment.

We found our accomodation to be excellent for the price at which we got it, especially when we checked out other nearby hotels and realised that we had better rooms for 1/3 of what the others cost.

We retired to our beautiful apartment for the night after over 13 hours on the road.