A couple of days to go.

Hi all

It's Wednesday night and I leave on Saturday afternoon.  Much to do before I leave and trying to pack everything that I would possibly need for 10 weeks in one small suitcase is a challenge to say the least.  Vacuum packing as much as possible to save space.  I know I am allowed two suitcases but it's bad enough with a small suitcase and backpack when it comes to the Matatu's and buses.  A Matatu is a 7, 9, or 11 passenger van filled with 15, 17, or 19 passengers.  Keep an eye on future posts I will post some pictures of the Matatu's in all their glory.

Still working on my agenda.  Pastor Ososo (DS United Methodist Church Nairobi) will be picking me up at the Nairobi Airport on Sunday night and delivering me to Hotel Camp David outside of Ngong Hills.  I will be spending a few days with him and members of his organization discussing potential financing of some of his districts projects.  A year ago I had the priviledge of looking at so many different projects that his organization is already engaged in.  Many of these projects just need a little infusion of Capital to help them along.

After a brief stay in Nairobi then I will be off to Western Kenya to look at some more projects and investigate the establishment of our own NGO (Non Government Organization).  While in Western Kenya I will be spending some time with Bishop Okaba with Freedom Ministries of Kenya.  I hope to go back to Mt. Elgon in the Kitale area to hopefully lay the ground work to get a small clinic on the mountain to help serve those that have to walk 20 kilometers down the mountain to the nearest first aid station.  I am also anxious to meet up again with the widows group in Kakamega.  This is a very energetic bunch of women who have pooled their resources together and are helping themselves make ends meet.  The women already farm a small plot of land, make charcoal for cooking, and make soap that they sell.  The women want to start a small yogurt business to meet the demand of an increasing market.

Sometime later this month or early next month I will be heading into Uganda to meet up again with Pastor Ososo in Kampala to visit with the Bishop of the UMC East Africa Conference.  I will also be meeting up with Bishop Moses with Freedom Ministries of Uganda to hopefully look at some of the potential orphanage sites he has seen.

Into June it looks like Bishop Okaba will be taking me to Tanzania to show me what he has been doing there since my last visit with him.  The rest of June is still in flux.  Lastly I will be going back to Maralal the end of June or early July and spend two or three weeks helping Ken and Susan Black with the school and church.

I do want to take a second to thank God for giving me the opportunity to serve him and to assist where I can with his people in East Africa.  This is my third visit to the area and with the grace of God I can start to convey some of the successes and challenges the people of East Africa face every day.  I truly hope that my blogs will be informative, interesting, and touch your hearts.  If you don't mind please tell as many people as possible about this blog.  Maybe at the end of this 10 weeks I will be a fairly good story teller.

Thanks and God bless you all.

Dave