Well it's been a LOOOOONG time!!

I guess first of all you need to know I tried to write as often as I could but I really had no Internet connection for most of the time that I was in Africa. The time I did have was squeezed between different appointments so my apologies everyone, I was hoping I could be more consistent.

I've been back for about 4 days so, I'm going to try to do a little bit each day to help you get a sense of what God is doing in Africa and what my part was in His time for me there. Thanks to all of you who prayed for us as we served, you are SO appreciated!!

Getting there…

July 24- 26

So I’m listening to drums as I write this… no kidding. We left Chilliwack about noon and got to YVR about 1:30 for check in. I figured that we should be at check in about 3 hours prior, for an International flight. There was no line at all! So check in was a breeze. The family and I hung out at the airport for a bit before saying our farewells. We met up with Willis and his family about 3:30 and Willis and I headed through the security check point. Once through we realized that since we had checked in at different times we had different seat assignments. One of the attendants said the flight wasn’t full. We’ll see…. The flight is actually quite full once we board. So someone got wrong info.

We left Vancouver without a hitch and the flight was uneventful and we arrive in London at about 10:15am London time. We made our way to the connecting terminal at Heathrow to connect with the Kenya Airways flight that will take us on to Nairobi. This flight is to depart at about 8pm. It’s starting to feel like a long day. It’s here that we meet up with the group coming from Briercrest. We take some time to get to know each other and to pray together. It seems like a great bunch of kids. I take some time to have a nap.

Once the gate is assigned we discover that the flight has been delayed an hour so Willis and I have supper at the English Pub at the airport. It’s a bit different and the food is OK. WE board the plane and find our seats only to discover that we’ll be delayed another hour and a half… It’s dark so I fall asleep again. I wake up once we’re in the air.

Since our flight was delayed out of London we missed the connecting flight to Kisumu from Nairobi. It a regional service so we get to hang out in Nairobi for about 5 hours. We hired a vehicle to take us around the city a bit. The students wanted to get some things at the supermarket. We get to meet Brother Salamba who will be ministering with us through these crusades, as well as Heshbon Willis’ brother–in–law.

We finally arrive in Kisumu at about 6pm. We are met at the airport by some of the African planning committee for these events. After some discussion and a bit of juggling with loading the vehicles. We head away from the airport. Pastor Nathan insists on us stopping at his hotel for some tea. We do, and there is something going on that doesn’t make sense. But we are polite and have a bit of tea and something to munch. But we are asked to hurry.

We arrive at Willis’ house or ‘shamba’ (property) in the dark it’s about 7:30 we get to meet the planning team and some of the significant leaders who have been praying for this time. We eat and around 10:30 we drive over to the hotel they have arranged. It’s called Uncle Sam’s Inn. In a place called Emuhaya. It’s about 10 min from Willis’ place.

Ahhh! Need infrastructure!!!

Now I said drive but I’ve got to tell you the roads here are ATROCIOUS!! The reason it takes so long to get places is that you are forever dodging and weaving pot holes in the road and whole pieces of road that are so bad that it’s easier to drive on the dirt shoulder (most of the time). The road to Willis’ place is an old dirt road that has so many bumps and crevasses, that the vehicles regularly bottom out over them. We are using the family vehicles to get everywhere. They are both Toyota’s one is a four door ‘Tercel’ type into which we pack about 6-7 people. The other is kind of like a Camry hatchback but the very BASIC model and we are able to pack one or two more into the hatchback space so we can get everyone transported to the homes of Willis’ siblings who are putting up these students.

There is electricity, but the village where we are is too poor for people to afford to bring it up to their homes. Willis’ home has a generator and his mom also has a solar cell which helps. The village is called Ebuhando and the people are really friendly… especially to ‘mzungus’ – Swahili for white person. There have been very few in this area so we are quite an attraction. No one has indoor plumbing. Everyone uses pit latrines. These vary from cement floors with a hole in the middle to a pole or stick shack that has a piece of tin as a door. I confess I haven’t been in one of these so I don’t know what the floor is… or even if there is a floor, perhaps it’s just a dirt floor. The poverty is striking. The village has been razed by alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS. There are TONS of children and many are being cared for by a single parent or a grandparent. The need is great but the people are warm and friendly. It’s going to be an interesting time.