May 7- May 10
The North
survey trip that we have been praying about and planning for was amazing. We
had a great trip and I want to share all the details of our trip as best I can
especially since this trip impacts our future as well as our present. First, I want to
say thank you to our pastor, Chad Graves, our associate pastor, Ryan Copico, our
campus pastor, Darren Clements, and Pastor Aaron Johnson from Life Point Church,
Washington, PA, for coming and being a part of this survey trip. You guys were
awesome and made this trip a total success not to mention you encouraged and
energized John, Clayton, and me.
The survey
officially kicked off when Clayton, John, and I left our compound in Malindi at
4:00am on Thursday, May 7. We made the 12 hour trip to Nairobi with no problems
and only hit one major traffic jam outside of Nairobi. Once we were in Nairobi
we went to the Hampton House to get our rooms and unload our bags. After off
loading our bags we decided to run and have some lunch and even catch a movie
before our team arrived.
We jumped
in Clayton’s Land Rover, turned over the key, and….nothing happened. We
continued to try and start the vehicle with no success. Thankfully the guard at
Hampton house had the number of the mechanic that the Hampton House uses and within
a few minutes the fundi (Mechanic) was on site. We explained to him what
happened and he said “no problem,” that he would track down the problem.
Well we have heard that before and with all the problems with my Land Rover of
recent we have become skeptics of “fundis”. We especially were a little uneasy
when we saw that he was using an old turn signal with half a hacksaw blade
attached to it as a tester light. Within 20 minutes and twelve bucks the fundi
had found the problem in a relay switch and the vehicle was fired up and ready
to go. (Repair #1 for the trip)
Well
because of the delay we missed the chance to catch a movie but we still had
something to eat then headed for the airport to pick up the team. The guys made
it in with all their luggage, ready to go. We stopped off on the way back
from the airport and grabbed a bite to eat then got into Hampton House. We
visited a little and got our plan together for the next day and called it a
night.
We took
Friday and Saturday as days to fellowship and enjoy the sites of Nairobi a
little before heading North on our survey on Monday. We were up in the morning
on Friday,had an awesome breakfast at Java house, and got money exchanged.
After breakfast we went to see the Rift Valley and to climb Mount Longonot.
None of the team had seen the Rift Valley except Clayton and me so it was a
great opportunity. After we stopped off to look at the Rift Valley from the
look out points we went down into the Rift Valley and on to Mount Longonot.
Longonot is
an inactive Volcano and is an awesome place to hike. You can hike 2 miles up
the volcano then 4 miles all the way around the rim. Some of us did the full
hike up and around the rim and the others did part of the hike and tracked some
animals at the base of the mountain. It was a great trip except for the storm
that blew in while Brother Chad and I were still on the rim of the Volcano and
the other guys were at the base of the mountain. Brother Chad and I nearly
froze to death from the icy rain not to mention the lighting around us. We made
it down very slowly because of the mud. It was pretty dark by the time we made
it to the vehicle and headed back to Nairobi. Along the way our headlights
completely went off so we had to pull off and get them going again. (Repair #2
for the trip)
Saturday we
were up early and heading North of Nairobi for a rafting trip on the Tana River
that we had scheduled, but in route the company called and canceled the trip due
to high waters. We went back towards town and found a cool place called
fourteen falls then went to the Blue Post Hotel for breakfast. It was a nice
morning. We decided to take the day to get rested, do laundry, and repair the
Land Rover’s light switch before we started to Garissa on Monday.
Clayton,
Ryan, and I ran to town to pick up the part to fix the Land Rover. We were able
to get the part we needed and a few other things we were wanting to pick up for
our Land Rovers. While we were at the
parts place we got the contact of a European mechanic that lives in Malindi.
The parts dealer said that the man is a great mechanic and that he sends parts
to him directly. This was a huge contact since we have been praying for a
dependable mechanic and still have not found one near us.
We spent a
few hours trying to work on the Land Rover, specifically trying to get the
steering wheel off so we could replace the dimmer/turn signal switch. What we
needed was a steering wheel puller but who carries one of those in their
pocket?…if you do please email your resume for an immediate opening on our
team. We finally did get the steering wheel off with the help of Google and
pressure applied in the right places. The switch was easy once the steering
wheel was out of the way. We got it all taken care of in time to run and catch
a late afternoon movie. (Repair #3 for the trip)
We went to
one of the malls near our guest house to watch a movie and while we were there
I got pick pocketed. Boooo! At first I thought I had laid my wallet down at the
ticket counter but after thinking through what I did I remembered someone
pushing me in line to get in the movie and it clicked that they were not just
being rude they “got me”. I stuck my
wallet in my front cargo pocket (big mistake) instead of my regular front
pocket because I was carrying pop corn and a coke. This gave easy access and I
completely missed it when I was being crowded. Well that shot my movie time I
realized my wallet was missing about 10 minutes into the movie so I spent the
movie time out calling Kenya and the banks to cancel all my credit cards and
debit cards. I lost about $150, my debit cards, credit card, AR Drivers
license, Kenyan ID, Safari cards, and my lucky tooth pick.
By the time
the movie was over I had all my stuff canceled and replacements on the way so
we just chalked it up to a hard lesson learned. You always have to have your
guard up in the big city. Clayton and I decided to give the guys a cultural
experience and take them to the Diamond Plaza or “Little India” to have supper.
The picture shows the story best. After a few laughs and the attack by the
waiters was over we enjoyed a great supper and afterwards had sweet Pan for
dessert.
Sunday was
a great day of ministry. We went to the Kibera slums for church services. First, we stopped at the main road and ditched our car before walking down into Kibera
to meet Pastor Julius. We divided up into two groups so we could be at two
different churches. Brother Chad, Ryan, Clayton and I attended services at
Makina LBC. John, Daren, and Aaron attended the Silanga LBC. We all had great
services and the men were exposed to Nairobi slum life, complete with a drunk
dude and crazy guy following them around. Ryan taught SS and Brother Chad
preached at Makina and Daren taught SS and Aaron preached at Silanga. After the worship services we all met back
together and ate lunch at Pastor Josaphat's house at the Makina LBC. We were
fed well and we enjoyed the fellowship.
After we
left the Kibera Slums and walked back to our vehicle we went to First LBC
Dagoreti Corner to visit with pastor Walter Matete. This was the first LBC that
was established by Brother Lynn over 30 years ago. They built a beautiful
building recently and tore down the original building. All that was left of the
old building was the baptistry. It was good to visit with Pastor Walter and hear about the early days of the
work in Kenya.
After our
visit with Pastor Walter we went to the Carnivore restaurant for a big dinner
before we headed North to do our survey work. The Carnivore is a meat eater's
paradise. You eat meat until you surrender. They also serve some game meats
that are really good. We had a great evening fellowshiping and just being
together.
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