I wake up at 4:30 am to my alarm. It will be my last day in Kenya. I have to catch a domestic flight to Nairobi where I will teach God’s Word at a church fellowship.
The day starts off on the wrong foot. There is no electricity. So I have to finish packing in the dark, except for using the flashlight from my cellphone. Fortunately, I had done most of my packing and taken a shower the night before. I have gotten used to their method of taking a shower, which is to use a scoop to dip water from a bucket and pour it over you. One of Isaac’s daughters would heat the water and bring it to me. So I had warm, enjoyable showers.
It is now 5:00 am. All of my bags are packed and I am ready to leave. Except, where is Isaac? I knock on the door of his bedroom. Come to find out, he did not set an alarm and was still sleeping! Fortunately, he is ready to go in 10 minutes. We gather hands with his wife Imma and she prays for our trip. As we are heading out the door to leave, the lights come back on. Just in time. LOL
Having consistent electricity is something we take for granted in the USA. In this section of Kenya, the electricity goes out several times every week. There is no rhyme or reason as to the time of day it will happen, or the length of time. One thing I did was to make sure my phone and laptop were always fully charged. Because once the electricity goes out, you lose the ability to charge anything.
One morning, while I was teaching at a church conference, the electricity went out. My microphone stopped working. I asked the people in the back if they could still hear me okay. They said, “Yes.” So, I went on teaching as if nothing happened. It was actually a blessing in disguise. I discovered that I preferred to teach without a microphone. I would not use one again while teaching inside a church, during the remaining ten days I was in Kenya and Uganda.
We go outside and our driver is waiting for us. We should have left the house at 5:00 am. 4:30 am would have been better. Instead, we are leaving at 5:15 am, which is definitely pushing the envelope. On top of that, we need gasoline.
While traveling, I witness a beautiful sunrise. Later on, I see Lake Victoria. I wanted to relish this trip. But it is hard to enjoy these wonderful views because, in the back of my mind, I am thinking that we could miss our flight.
Isaac points out the area where Barrack Obama grew up, as we drive by it. In talking to several different people who live in Kenya, I was consistently told that Donald Trump has done a lot more to help the people in Kenya than Barrack ever did while he was president. Not wanting this newsletter to become political in nature, I am choosing not to expound on that. But many people in Kenya love Donald Trump. And I did not find any fans of Barrack Obama while I was there.
It is 7:15 am when we finally arrive at the airport. We are required to pass 
through security at two different checkpoints. We get through them as quickly as possible and make it to the back of the line, just in time to board our plane. Whew! It is 7:30 am and our flight is scheduled to take off at 7:40 am. We really cut this one close!
While we are in flight to Nairobi, Isaac points out some elephants in the water, visible from our window. We land in Nairobi and while we are waiting to retrieve our luggage, Isaac points out an important governor official to me. Not one to miss an opportunity, I introduce myself to him as being from Virginia. He glances at me with a frown, then continues to walk by me as though I don’t exist. When I shared this experience with some friends of mine from Kenya, they told me that they are not surprised. Generally speaking, government officials in Kenya are not friendly towards the general public.
Two pastors and another Christian believer greet us near the airport. We then take a taxi to the place of our fellowship. Our meeting was supposed to be held at a school. But, as it turned out, there is a school activity that has forced us to find a new location at the last minute. We gather in a very small living room of a pastor, crowding people into every inch of space we can muster. Then I begin to teach.
I am given just over two hours of teaching time and I use every minute of it. 
Several of the pastors are staring wide-eyed at me, as if they have never heard someone teach on these topics before. I move from subject to subject, with my last two areas of emphasis being the unconditional love of God and the eternal rewards we will receive for our faithful service to God in this lifetime.
Afterwards, several of the pastors are so excited about what I have taught that they come up to me asking how they can continue to hear more. I share with them that I am planning to rework some of this material and then I will be emailing it to my host. He will then be able to print copies of it for them. Also, I can send material directly to them by email. They write down their email addresses on a piece of paper and hand it to me.
One man is a schoolteacher. He explains to me that God has led him to do ministry for children. He asks me what materials I can give him in order to assist him in this ministry. Do I have a curriculum I can give him? He wants anything and everything I can offer him.
Throughout my stay in Kenya and Uganda I have been thinking about children quite a bit. Especially the older ones. As this teacher is sharing this need to me, it establishes something the Lord has already been putting on my heart. To put together material that will help older children to have confidence in reading and understanding the Bible. And to train Sunday School teachers and youth leaders. I am now more excited than ever to focus on this goal.
Another pastor shares that he is really excited about doing crusades, because there are many opportunities through them to lead people to salvation through Jesus Christ. I agree. The crusades I have been involved with have been great. Then he asks me if I can donate money for him to purchase the instruments needed for a crusade. Large speakers, an amplifier and an organ are needed. I am definitely interested in helping him with this and tell him that I will get back to him about it.
This turns out to be the smallest fellowship I have taught at during my 17 days of teaching in Kenya and Uganda. But I don’t perceive it at as being the least profitable. I know that quality is very important to God, and not just quantity. There are many records in scripture where Jesus Christ invested quality time with a small group of people. Even one or two at times. We could only fit about eight people in this room, but these men and women are definitely hungry for truth.
Recently I was looking at 2 Timothy 2:2 again and a particular word really stuck out in my mind from this verse. It is the word “faithful.” It is so important that we don’t waist our time teaching men and women who are not faithful. The unfaithful ones are not going to believe the Word of God we are teaching them and then teach it to others. It is the faithful who are going to get the job done. I found faithful people to share God’s Word with this morning and I am very grateful.
We get in a taxi and drive to the airport. I am physically leaving Africa behind and am saddened by that. But I am also uplifted, knowing that the experiences I have received here, along with the spiritual growth, will continue to live with me for the rest of my life.
My first flight lands in Frankfurt, Germany. Once the plane lands, there is always a delay before the passengers are able to exit. During this lag, I spot a rather tall man standing by himself. I go over to him and ask if he is from Kenya. He says, “Yes.”
I begin to share some of the highlights of my trip to Kenya and how wonderful and hospitable the people are there. At one point, I bring up that I had lunch with Kipchoge Keino, the first of the great distance runners from Kenya. He looks at me and says, “Kip Keino is my dad.”
I recognize right away that this is no coincidence. It is now time for us to leave the 
plane. We both want to spend more time together. To our amazement, we discover that we both have a 5-hour layover in Frankfort before our next flight. After going through the security check out, we walk together and find a place to sit down inside the airport so we can share hearts with one another.
I tell James all about my ministry in Kenya. He shares things about his personal life and love for God. He had been visiting his grandmother in Kenya, who is now 105 years old. By the time we have finished talking, I know that I have made a friend for life. And his home is only a 4-hour drive from where I live in Virginia.
There is a Keino school and orphanage right near where his parents live in Eldoret. I now have a strong vision that one day soon I will be visiting there to teach these children the Word of God. My youngest daughter may also be traveling with me. She is on the Cross-Country team at her high school. James 
said that her entire team could visit and train as a distance runner in nearby Iten.
This is the last session of my April mission trip to Kenya and Uganda. I can’t wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to send me there again! A year before this trip, I knew nothing about Kenya and Uganda. God revealed to my heart, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that he wanted me to go there. I responded to that call. What you have read in these segments are the results of that obedience. God also has a plan for your life. As you humbly listen to and obey his call for your life, signs, miracles and wonders are sure to follow your steps. There is no greater joy than to serve the true God, who is all love. And the retirement benefits are out of this world.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
John 15:16
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone to declare it?
And how are they to declare it unless they are sent out? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news about good things!
Romans 10:14-15
And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the holy spirit,
teaching them to obey all that I commanded you. And remember!, I am with you always, even to the end of the Age.”
Matthew 28:18-20