Medical Team meeting

The Medical Team met to go over details on the medical ministry. We are grateful that Dr. James Brillhart is able to lead that team. James and his wife Louise were missionaries to Togo for 10 years and have done a number of short term medical missions. James is well trained for this and has the heart to minister to the ophans in Kitale. Please pray that the remaining planning and training goes well. Pray for God's leadership in those things that are planned and for those things that cannot be planned.

Here Am I, Send Me

I found this video on YouTube by MercyMe that calls about the call to missions whether around the world or in your neighborhood.

Searching for Smiles

It's amazing what one can stumble upon on the internet. I did a search on "internet cafe" and Kitale and found this blog:
click here. I found it interesting reading of another ministry that occured in Kitale. The need is great.

Google Earth - Kitale

Google Earth is pretty amazing. I downloaded an updated version and tried to find Kitale, Kenya and WOW! I'll see if I can find the Seed of Hope orphanage and the Kitale Club where we will be staying.

Art in the Park

You just never know who you will meet. While browsing around at the annual "Art in the Park", we happened into one photography booth. While looking around, I spotted a sign saying that proceeds would go towards a trip to Ethiopia in one month (but the month was striken, and above it was "week"). We made inquiries and learned that the couple (John's, I think that is his name, is in the picture on the flight to Kisumu) were going with a group from their church, First Baptist Church North Kansas City. They had an interesting story. They had a Kenyan women in their small group and so they planned a short term medical mission trip to Kenya. They contacted the denominational mission board and were told that their trip didn't fit what they did. Undaunted, they planned the trip any way on their own. This year they are going to Ethiopia, again planning the whole trip. We shared that we were going to Kenya and were partnering with Buckner. They seemed impressed and would look up the Buckner website that we gave them. We came away thankful for the Buckner organization and the opportunity to share what Buckner is doing in helping out in short term missions.

Article in the Baptist Standard

Jenny Pope with Buckner called and asked if we would like to do an interview on short term missions. I said, "sure", but wanted to make sure Naomi was in on the interview, too, so we scheduled a phone conference. We were glad to tell of the trip, what it means to our church, what it means to us, and what we hope to accomplish. The face of missions is changing and more like us are getting involved. We hope that this is not just a one time trip for our church, but just the beginning of involvement. Read the article here. We've heard that it may also appear in Missouri's "Word & Way".

Seed of Hope

Buckner sent out it's e-newsletter today and it had an article about the "Seed of Hope" orphanage in Kitale where we will be staying and working with the children. Buckner took over administration of the orphanage this last January. Here's the website for "Seed of Hope": click here . It tells quite a bit. There's a page that tells of the history and a video page which has 2 videos. You'll notice there's quite a bit of German on the page. That's because the couple who founded the "Seed of Hope" orphanage is from Germany. It's good to learn the history and to see where we will be going.

more planning

It's less than 60 days until we go. We have plenty of time, right? And we're there for only around a week, right? However, we work with some limitations, such as, the materials we will work with are ones that we will have to take over on the airplane. We have to make some assumptions because we don't know exactly what resources we will have there, such as stable electricity. So our team is working hard knowing that they want this to be a time the children won't forget, to know that we love them, and that God loves them, too. They deserve the best from us, such as our own children would in our church Vacation Bible School. But even with all the planning, some things cannot be planned for and some things go differently than we planned. Pray that we will ask for God's leadership and direction as we minister to these, the least of his children.

Preparing

Going to a third world country such as Kenya requires preparations that you might not need to make going elsewhere. One of those things is immunizations. This link to the CDC describes health concerns for traveling to Kenya:
Click here . Some of the immunizations are very controlled, such as yellow fever. There are only 4 places in Missouri where you can get that immunization. Pray for the health of our team. Naomi and I traveled to Kenya in 2006 without any problems. But we followed the precautions and got our shots (as you can see in the picture).