The-Ends-Of-The-Earth

Kenya Youth Camp 2011

2011-12-17T23:26:00.002+03:00

I had received great strength and abundant blessing for having had the opportunity to attend the 2011 Kenyan Youth Camp held during the first week of December. The camp has been taking place every year for almost 10 years, however this was the first occasion for me to participate.

One of the first blessing we experience was the weather. Kenya had been experiencing a drought for the past several years, but for the past month the rains had watered the thirsty land across all of Kenya. When the dry lands in the Northern Regions of Kenya are getting rain, you can expect the Highlands of Kisii to be getting rains in almost Biblical proportions. The shuttle drivers who were scheduled to pick children up in remote villages around Kisii and bring them to camp had already told the leaders if the rains do not stop they can not get in to pick up the children. The night before camp the rain ceased and remained sequestered until the day all the children had arrived back at their homes, then the torrents returned.

This camp was not only for the Kisii children, but all of Kenya. We had over 200 youth from various tribes and distant regions, some hundreds of kilometers away; places such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilgoris, Kericho, and Kuria land. What a tremendous opportunity for the children for all areas of Kenya to come together in a unity of faith and teachings.

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As the children gathered together in a large hall they were taught several classes each day concern their spiritual welfare. I had the privilege to teach the first class of camp, but all the ministry took a turn at giving inspirational lessons to help mold these young minds. For the most part the youth were prepared with scriptures, pencil and paper when they came to the class. They were attentive and willing participate and take notes during each day’s lesson. __________________________________________________

After some serious studies the students engaged in more physical, but less mental activities. However even the egg carry or sack race had spiritual lessons attached to them, such as faith, endurance and so forth.

Some of these fun activities were very challenging, such as putting all the books in the scriptures in their proper order.

Steven, the leader of the Baboracho Mission hold up the scriptures and challenges the youth to see who wants to take the challenge . Many children were eager to take the challenge, and some came very close to getting them in the correct order.

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Food preparation for two hundred is never easy, but when all your cooking is done outside over a open fire , it take a greater effort. To prepare the maze to be ground into maze flour for ugali, it first had to be spread out on a tarp so the the sun could cook off a chemical that had been applied to keep the maze kernels from molding in the sack.

The youth cheerfully engaged themselves in helping to prepare the meals. These girls are cutting up a green leafy vegetable which will be boiled before eaten. It is a good source of vitamins and is called sukumi wiki in Swahili, (translation- push through the week).

A couple of the men that attended who the Kisii township church came and volunteered to endure the smoke filled room as they stirred a huge pot of maze flour and water being boiled over a open fire to create the Kenyan staple, ugali. After they had the ugali prepared they would turn their attention to cooking the waiting orange barrel of sukumi wiki.

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The Staff

The mass group of brave men which make up the camp staff are the leaders and ministry of about thirty missions and locals . They are pictured above taking a needed break, but waiting for the next opportunity to help. I had gone over to visit with them and was instantly bombarded with all kinds of questions concerning the work in the world, the New Jerusalem, taking the Gospel to the House of Israel, the work in Mexico and how it got started. I think we could have visited all day had I not been called away for some other activity.

One morning when I showed up at camp the leaders were in enjoying their breakfast consisting of a cup of hot tea and a half a loaf of bread. One of the men ran over to me and laid his loaf of bread and cup of tea before me and said I could eat it. When I told him I already had breakfast he made sure I did not want it before he would consume the only breakfast he would get.

Since all the leaders were gathered together, they asked me to spend some time one afternoon during some free time to teach them or speak to them whatever was on my mind. I took advantage of the opportunity to speak about the importance having every office of the ministry and workers in the churches, it takes all of us to be a complete body. I encouraged them to labor with their might and to work together. After several hours we all left encouraged and motivated for the service we can do for the Lord.

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Hold Fast to the Rod of Iron (Word of God)

Much to my surprise, I was introduce to speak to the class about holding fast to the Rod of Iron, or word of God through their life. With only the time I had to walk to the front of the class room to prepare I ceased the opportunity and spoke for about 40 minutes before the children head outside to have a practical lesson about holding fast to the word of God.

They were all instructed that they would blindfolded and asked to follow a rope, representing the “rod of Iron” or “word of God” until the reached the tree of life to win in the game.

They were told that many obstacles would be in their way, and if they let go of the rod of iron they would could fall into the depth of filthy water representing the depths of hell. As you can see from these picture, this was a serious exercise and to let go of the rope would actually bring your life into peril.

Reaching the Tree of life

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I had an extraordinary time that I am so thankful for being able to experience with the youth in Kenya. I am pictured here with a small girl named Holly, who lives with Sister Margaret, but is the daughter of Paul and Ester, from the Maasai land. Holly is a future camper, but came several times to camp with Margaret. Every time she saw me she would squeal, “mzungu” (whiteman) and come running and jump in my arms. If I was teaching a class she would just stand there holding my leg until I was done and could hold here. I put my sunglasses on her once and the glasses were never safe from her again. I feel so blessed to have so many friends here in Kenya, from the old to the very young.

The Curry Cart

2011-11-10T22:51:00.001+03:00

Traveling outside one’s own homeland can be an adrenaline-charge; being faced with unfamiliar culture with all its new sights, smells, tastes and customs. These things of which we are unacquainted provide the intrigue, but also add to a degree of trepidation.

India is not really new since we have traveled there for several years, but it still holds a degree of concern and wonder for me. Most of my apprehension comes from the language barrier, wherein we typically only have one English speaker/translator with us at any given time. Another point of my disquiet comes from having to depend on someone else for everything we do and everywhere we go. I guess my freedom in East Africa, being able to move about at my own will and pleasure has given me a more, at home feeling; more so than when I travel in places where I constantly depend on others.

On Monday, October 24th, after fifty plus hours of airplanes and airports, Duane Ely and I had arrived at the little Rajahmundry Airport, India. This airport is still two hours away from our final destination that we can only reach by car. We had gather our luggage and rolled it out into the little covered area where we were to meet our hired car and translator. The helplessness of being in a country like India was apparent as Duane and I discussed our options if the car and translator did not show up, since there was no sign of them there to meet us. We knew we could not reach our destination of Amalapuram. Would we have to spend the next week in a Rajahmundry Hotel until our departure flight? The ugly companion, Uncertainty, had already made itself known. Waiting at the airport would not be the last time we sat and waited in uncertainty for our car and translator, rather it was almost a daily event. I had often thought that traveling in East Africa was an exercise in developing patience , but anymore I think Africa was just a stepping stone to prepare me for bigger exercise of keeping my composer in India and keeping my mind from suspicion as I ponder what is really going on. Truth be known, it is most likely the product of being a different culture, where any number of things can stand in the way of a schedule or agreed plan, and I mean anything like stopping for a cup of coffee, or go visit a friend.

Our first full day in India we conducted two services. The first was at late morning to early afternoon. We met at a congregation called, Anampally. There was a lot of singing accompanied by a drummer who tastily keeps the beat and provided the tempo for the songs. Eventually it came time for me to preach concerning the Restored Gospel of Christ.

Late that same night we headed out of our hotel to attend another service at Murmalla. I must admit, give the previous three days of travelling and a twelve and a half hour time change, we were ready to go to bed more than we were ready to head out to another service. This meeting was held in an actual church building, which is apparently owned by the leader of this group. After a long drive, we held a service which lasted until 10PM. They honored us with the traditional garland of marigold flowers, that seem to weigh about 10 pounds each; I was blessed with two of them to wear while Duane preached. Duane had the opportunity to tell this new congregation about the Church of Christ Beliefs. These independent groups seem to be a mixture of Catholicism and Pentecostal. Again there is so much we can and should teach them about our beliefs, but that will take time. Even though this group was not part of the Church of Christ, we found them very receptive and inviting, so we felt very much at home among them and look forward to going back in the future. The service was followed by a meal at the leader’s home then a long drive back to our hotel. Arriving back at the hotel about midnight, we were exhausted and ready for bed.

Fortunately for us, the following day was national holiday so we would only have one service in the morning at a place called Padamady. We were told that this was also a new place, but in fact I personally have been there at least four times, and I suspect that other missionaries who have been here without me have also been here. I took the opportunity to preach at this congregation. The pictures seem to be blurred, which is actually is due to the camera lens fogging up in this highly humid environment.

Much to our joy, as we longed for some rest, there was no evening service this night. We were told that all our people would be busy celebrating the India Holiday called, Dawali. The celebration calls for a lot of fireworks and lights. Dawali is defined as; “One of the major Hindu festivals, it is celebrated to commemorate the victory of good over the evil, when Lord Rama defeated Ravana and rescued his wife Sita from his custody.” Foregoing church services to celebrate a pagan holiday dedicated to false Gods, does not seem to actually be victory of good over evil. But personally the nights rest did me well, in spite of all the noise of fireworks.

We held services at one of our established congregations, referred to as Beach, being located among the rice paddies and coconut palms and near the Bay of Bengal. The leader at Beach Congregation is a young man named Jacob. On this particular trip, Jacob’s oldest son, Abraham, decided to travel with us from the time we were picked up until we were dropped off at the airport. As we met at Beach, Abraham took the duty of playing the drum as we (they) sang. You can see him pictured here. As we travelled to other places, Abraham was always in the service, following along and helping with whatever we were doing. It was a delight to have such a young man show this much interest in the work.

A late night service was in store for us once again as we traveled to Marlipalem, a congregation meeting in a small building constructed of palm branches. This location was also a new congregation for us to teach at. We were welcomed in with the plating of a marigold garland around our necks, I in fact ended up with two of them and Duane got three to wear. It was my turn to preach so just for fun I kept the garland on, so Duane would have to leave all three of his on. It is difficult to tell a group everything they should know in one sermon, but I tried to give them a good overview of our beliefs and we hope they will invite us to come once again for further teachings. After the preaching service, we had to do administrations, just as we had done at ever other location. To do administrations at an India congregation means you administer to everyone in the congregation. Everyone coming up for a blessing is traditional of a Hindi service and I believe the request for administration is just a carry over from that practice and not according to scripture. I keep striving to teach them the proper use of administration, but as of yet the message has not been delivered even though I have tried, bringing more concern for me on how effective we really are in this land. For this exercise of fifty or more administrations/blessings we both took off our flowers.

It is my desire and prayer that someday the churches in India will come to a understanding about the use of administration, because I believe when they do they will have blessing more abundantly.

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We attended yet another new congregation that meets in a permanent church building. The pastor of this church, is the father of one of our members, so I suppose that is how we got the invitation to come.

The pastor is pictured here with some of his family.

We had a pleasant service followed by the administrations. After the administration at the church we walked over to a nearby house to pray for a very sick girl, just as commanded in the scriptures.

That evening we attended another late night service at Mogulamore. We were very excited to go to this congregation since it is the congregation of a man named John. John has been attending services for several years, and is always diligently following along in the scriptures as we preach. I refer to John as the best member we do not have. He is pictured here playing the drums at a meeting. Not only is he a good drummer, he is a very pleasant and humble man, always a joy to be around.

John is hesitant to join the Church of Christ because we require baptism. He states he has been baptized and he believes in only one baptism as stated in the Bible. I geared my sermon to that particular subject. John came and thanked me afterwards and invited us back. I hope the Spirit will make known to him the truth of such things. Of course we were honored once again with the garland of flowers.

After the meeting and administrations we went to a nearby home to bless a newborn baby.

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Our final day was a joint Sacrament service for all the congregations. We traditionally hold this meeting at a building we rent in Amalapuram. However, on this day we were told that building was not available because the owner was trying to sell it so we could not meet in it. We held our meeting in Gollaville, across the street from Sharrat’s home. Sharrat is our translator and host while we are in India.

The congregations gathered in a temporary building and first listened to a sermon from Duane Ely, then I conducted a communion services and had testimonies afterwards. One testimony was that we had prayed for a young child last time Duane and I were there, and the child was greatly blessed. You can see the mother holding the child below. The child could not hold food down until the administration. Now the child can keep food down so today they had me feed the baby, as well as several others women came up and gave it a spoon of food. The baby has some serious problems, and cannot walk, so we prayed again for the baby, and your prayers would be appreciated also.

After the service we were fed lunch then we headed off to the Bay of Begal to perform a baptism for one man and four women. We returned to Gollaville to perform the confirmation service and welcome our new brother and sisters into the Church of Christ.

Pictured below is Brother Sharrat and his young family. They are expecting another baby in December.

We were delivered successfully back to the Rajahmundry airport for the long journey home.

Twiga Tracks

2011-09-27T15:00:00.001+03:00

Our time in East Africa has come to an end and it is time for us to make our departure for the long trip homeward. We have weathered severe storms, negotiated muddy and rutted roads, we occasionally melted in the hot weather and other times chilled in the cold weather. We took a lot of pictures, shook hundreds of hands, preached, and taught the Gospel to hundreds of people, administered to many and now leave looking forward to our next opportunity to come back.

Our last few days in Kisii we visited Kiagware, where Priest Moses Mokweri is the leader. He brought up a young family that had just lost the father and now they are forced to live on there own. Anytime children loos either a mother or father, they refer to them as orphans. These children have their mother, but I don’t know how she will care for them.

We had very nice spirit filled services at Mesisita, where you see Placido preaching one of the two preaching services, and the next day, Sunday we he met at the Kisii Township church.

Our final meeting was at Ibencho, which requires a long hike down a steep mountain forest to reach the church building. When we reached the church we were joined by a good sized group with many children who sang a few songs with the acting out of the lyrics for us. Our time was well spent and I believe that Placido enjoyed Himself and meeting the peoples of East Africa. I know they liked him.

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Some additional pictures from this trip:

Twiga Tracks–Kenya & Tanzania

2011-09-23T21:42:00.001+03:00

I had spent the first three weeks of my trip in East Africa with my wife Becky, but the day finally came that I dropped her off at the International departures terminal, at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi. We said our goodbyes then I hiked over to the international arrivals terminal where I would meet my father, Don McIndoo and Placido Koyok Matu. By the time I got to the arrival terminal I found that their plane was already on the ground since they arrived thirty minutes earlier. They would still have to clear customs and collect their luggage so I still had a short wait and they were not standing on the curb waiting and wondering where I was.

We reached our hotel in Nairobi about 9:30 PM and had a good rest before embarking on a days journey across Kenya to Kisii where we would spend much of our time, except the days we headed down along the western side of Tanzania.

After our arrival in Kisii I gave our brothers no more time to rest, the next day we would begin our work visiting several congregation in the Kisii lands. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so am going to use a lot of pictures and less words.

Our first day we met at Nyabitumwa, where Teacher Evans Nyaata is the leader. Placido had his first opportunity to not only meet a congregation in Africa, but to speak to a congregation in Africa. We were surprised, (not really I half expected it,) that Evans wanted two services that day. So after the morning peaching from Placido we had lunch in Evan’s home then we hike back up to the church and I preached the afternoon service.

Placido greets Brian, the son of Elder Moses Ohuru, during the service at the Kineni Local.

Heavy rains kept Kisii Highlands very wet. I was convinced to provide a few iron sheets to the congregation of Nyamanchero, situated on the highest and steepest mountain in Kisii. The iron sheets were to keep them dry during the frequent rain storms. However, the area is so steep that a river of water flowed through the area where they met. As soon as we sat on a chair the back legs would sink into the ground and try to toss us in the mud.

My father is is seen climbing from the road to the church. And Placido is pictured greeting the members during the service.

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We spent a week in Western Tanzania visiting some established congregations and making new contacts.

After the service at a very small village of only a few shops along the road called Mirare we sat in the leaders home to have a meal. We were joined by a man named Joel, pictured on the far right, who happens to lead a church also called the Church of Christ. His church that has a building in Mirare and I noticed this building claiming to be the Church of Christ for a couple of years now, and always wondered about them.

Joel attended our meeting than sat with us discussing our doctrines and beliefs for a very long time. He was in no hurry to stop the conversation. He seemed amazed at what we were telling him and hungered for more. We did meet up with Joel once again on our last day in Tanzania when we held services at Kitembe. At that time Joel brought with him three other men from his organization that had churches in other near by villages. They are anxious for us to return and teach them more.

Pictured from left to right;Elder Moses Ohuru, Apostle Placido Koyok, Apostle Don McIndoo, Elder Michael Otero, Tanzania coordinator Michael Ouma, and Joel.

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As we journeyed to to a village called Geniva we encountered a heavy rainstorm. With six of us travelling together, two people had to sit in the back of the truck with all the luggage. Elders Moses and Michael volunteered. Unfortunately I missed seeing a dirt bum in the road, and as Moses tried to brace himself against the back door he pushed the back window out. I could not see what happened because the luggage was pilled to the roof in the back camper. So Moses held the window for quite a while keeping it from falling completely out onto the ground. When we reached our first stop, four of us stood out in the rain, reinstalling the window to keep our luggage safe and dry. We were soaked, but cool, for the rest of the day.

Geniva’s has its only little building where we held our services.

I took a photo inside without a flash which really depicts what is like during the service. I have also included a picture outside of the congregation.

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Nyangero is always an interesting place to take a new comer. The roads to get there is only a foot path full of large boulders and the countryside is primative. Nyangero is found back and deep in the Tanzanian bush and is named after this interesting balancing rock formation.

The congregation of Nyangero meets near the leader’s home under the protection of a few trees and a make-shift shelter. You can see us as we prepare to get started on our service.

Placido preaches at Kitembe.

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Once we returned to Kenya, we scheduled ourselves to visit some of the other tribes besides the Kisii. The first tribe was among the Maasai. We had a service at our organized mission located at Kilgoris.

After the service we had a group picture taken including our Kisii brothers Moses and Michael and our Mexican brother Placido. Below the group photo is a photo of Placido Koyok standing next to Paul Koyok and Paul’s wife.

A group of Paul’s children and his brother high-jacked the truck. I did not worry about them taking it too far, it took him almost 15 minutes to drive the 100 yards to Paul’s house from the church.

We continued on the next day by driving past Paul’s house and into what is called the Maasai Interior. In a rustic setting we held a service under a tree. Occasionally one of the women would get up, grab a stick and start chasing cows that wandered into the wrong place, but the service went on and soon the cowgirl would return to listen.

For the last several years Paul has been telling me he wanted to take me to where the Moran (Maasai warriors) live. Today was the day, so we drove for another hour back farther into the bush across fields and though thickets of trees until we reached a small compound. Most of the Moran were out somewhere (making war or what I don’t know exactly), but their mothers were there and wanted us to take their picture. Paul is the one kneeling and wearing American style clothing. Paul wants to bring me again so I can talk to the Moran; I am not sure if he thinks I can convert them or what, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

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Kuria tribe was next on the agenda. We have two congregations among them and they are about two hours outside Kisii next to the Tanzania border. Pictured here is one of the leaders, Elijah, who has worked hard to spread the news of the Church of Christ in his area. He is taking time to speak to the people, reading excepts from an article printed in the Zion’s Advocate that moved him. Many people don’t realize how important our publications are. They are read all over the world in some of the most remote places you can imagine. Your effort can make a huge difference in someone's life.

Going to the other tribes located so far away from our home made for long days, and we usually got home after dark and too often we found the electricity off . But when that happened I had to think, the people we just visited don’t have any idea that the electricity is off, they are in the dark every night. I have a lot of reality checks here in Africa.

Twiga Tracks

2011-09-12T07:52:00.001+03:00

As Becky and I continued with the work here in Kisii, we headed to Baboracho. I was very much surprised to find that they had a building to meet in. The last time I was at their congregation we met under a temporary shelter made from a few iron sheets held up by wooden poles. This day as we walked up the hill to their their property there stood a nice church building complete with doors and windows. Not only did they have a building to worship in they had a shiny new choo (bathroom) as pictured below, with walls constructed from the scraps of iron sheeting they used for their roof.

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We spent our Sunday by meeting with the members of the Risa Local, where Elder Simon Monari is pastor. As usual, all the guests have the opportu nity to greet the congregations and bring greeting from their families, home congregations and in our case the brothers and sisters who live in America. Becky is giving them greetings as they intently watch and listen.

Due to the passing away of the Tanzania Coordinator, Brother Elphas Odira, I needed to appoint a replacement on behalf of the Missionaries In Charge. I wanted to accomplish this as soon as possible for two reasons; first, it seemed that there were some ready to appoint themselves, and secondly, we needed someone ready to take over and make ready for our coming trip to visit the Tanzania congregations. Since I did not have enough time to go to Tanzania and meet with the man we the missionaries decided should be asked to take the position, I asked the young brother named Michael who lives in the same village as did Elphas Odira, to come to Kisii for a few days so I could speak with him. After our preaching service at Risa , Elders Moses Ohuru, Michael Otero and I sat down with Michael of Tanzania and asked him if he was willing to volunteer for the position of coordinator. I explained the duties of this position and why we selected him. Michael, pictured in the striped shirt on the left, accepted the duties and said he felt it an honor to serve God in whatever capacity he could.

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We were scheduled to hold services at one of our established missions called Mgwagwa, however we got word from their leader that it was not possible for them to meet on a weekday.

The leader of a group from a small village called Nyaineke had been in contact with Margaret asking her about our church and desperately wanted someone to come and teach them our doctrines. Since the day was free due to the cancelation , Margret told me we should go visit this man and talk to him about our church. When we arrived I found a small group of abut twenty people gathered under a makeshift shelter built for short people, waiting and ready for formal teachings. Not quite what I was expecting , but a tremendous opportunity to teach about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I always tell people they should always be ready to tell about the Restoration story, now was my chance to do so on very short notice.

We hope to go back and continue to teach and minister unto this group, and maybe someday they too will be a part of the Church of Christ.

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The last day Becky and I had in Kisii together we attended service at the Kebabe Mission. There was a small group there for our service however, we had a spirit filled meeting. Elder Moses Ohuru came with his wife, Nora and his oldest daughter, Tanya. They are pictures here singing a song at the beginning of the service. Priest Peter-Moses had joined us that day and gave a heart felt testimony of the blessings of God and how the church has enriched his life. Even though we were small in number we met and worshipped and studied the word for several hours. After our service, as custom in Kebabe, we retired to the home of Sister Nina who graciously overfed us as we sat in her home visiting.

After lunch many pictures were taken. This one of the women includes; from Left to right, the wife of Kebabe's leader Priest Kepha (name unknown, sorry), Sister Nina our hostess, Sister Margret the Kenya Coordinator, Sister Becky my wife, and Sister Nora the wife of Elder Moses Ohuru.

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Leaving Kisii we launched off on a week long trip to Arusha, Tanzania. Reaching Arusha is a two days journey by car and I wanted to spend several days there teaching. Duane Ely and I had gone there once before back in the month of May, but we only had one day to meet with the groups and see if they really had any interest or not. On this trip I spent three days teaching the Apostasy and Restoration to two different congregations.

One congregation is a two hour drive outside Arusha near the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The other group is in the town of Arusha. One positive aspect is that both congregations have one of our member that came from western Tanzania attending with them.

I spent the first and the last day teaching at the group near Mt. Kilimanjaro. They meet in a metal building erected in a small dusty town. A large group came to hear the teachings and asked for more in the future. There were some among the group that seemed extremely interested and followed along in their Bibles and took notes of everything that was said.

After the services we greeted each other and visited outside, before driving the two hours back to our hotel.

The other congregation that is in Arusha town and hold their meetings in a rented class room is much smaller, but equally attentive to the teachings.

Starting the church in Arusha will be a big commitment for the missionaries to continue to feed and nourish them with the word of God. However, if God has prepared the way for us to go there, and they are truly converted, I can only thank God for increasing my borders and opportunities to serve.

The same night I took my wife Becky to the Nairobi Airport and put her on a plane bound from home, I picked up my father, Apostle Don McIndoo and Apostle Placido Koyok Matu from Mexico. They will spend the next three and a half weeks here with me continuing our labors in East Africa.

Horn of Africa- A Glimpse of Tanzania

2011-09-09T21:10:00.002+03:00

In the past article I spoke about the hardships upon those who live in a green belt. On our recent trip to Arusha, I had the occasion to see the effects of the drought on those living in the dry desert areas of Africa, or the northern parts of Tanzania. It seemed that the people living in these dry zones had learned to adapt to the lack of water and do not depend on a great deal of rainfall. But the area I always considered dry before now seemed uninhabitable, at least to me. Having been born and raised in Arizona, I am no stranger to the desert and dry land. As we headed south from the border of Kenya towards Arusha we pasted a land that was home to hundreds of Maasai nomads. I considered the likelihood of my survival if by some misfortune I was dropped off in this area and had to survive off the land for a few days. The only way that I might survive is if I could hike the thirty of forty miles to Arusha, which is situated on the side of Mt. Meru, and is a good source of water. But these Maasai do not hike into a town for water, even in these days of extreme drought. They continue to herd their cattle though the trails of deep dust, and the old women still go out and gather bundles of dried sticks to make their fires for the evening meal.

The people in this area make their humble homes from sticks and sunbaked mud with a barrier fence of dried out thorn branches around the home to keep out predators. You often see some of them sitting along the side of the roadway waving an empty water bottle at passing motorist, hoping someone will stop and give them a sip of life giving water.

I stocked up on bottled water to pass out to those along the road on our way back to Kenya, however, in the morning hours that I passed through the area I found no one waiting for a drink, rather they were busy with their daily tasks.

I cannot imagine how these people survive in such a hostile environment and endure such a brutal life. The safari goers that come to Africa neither experience nor see any of this, but I hope these pictures speak some truth about the real Africa.

The Horn of Africa

2011-08-29T20:13:00.002+03:00

I understand the duty of the Church is to preach the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world, and that is what I spend the bulk of my time doing while I am in places such as Kenya. However with preaching the gospel also comes the duty to share the burdens of our members. One burden our members in Kenya and Tanzania have to shoulder is famine that has plagued them for the past several years. I recall a few years back when I came to Kenya with my father, the claim of a drought and famine was obvious. Even the normally green highlands of Kisii were burned and everything was brown. The need for help was obvious and the next General Conference year we, The Church set a budget line item for Catastrophic Relief to care for such events. In recent years the Kenyan highlands are green and lush, the rivers are swollen to their banks, and we experience rainstorms almost every night, yet our people tell us they suffer from famine and lack of food. The plea for help did not seem to warrant use of Catastrophic Relief funds from what we could see with our eyes. In my mind the rains, the lush green forests and fields seemed contradictory to the idea of famine, so I went looking for the answer to this mystery famine. This article is not one of my normal posts about the missionary work, rather it is about the burden your brothers and sisters bear, and why there is reported to be a famine in a lush green rainforest.

This problem of famine has manifested itself in the part of Africa known as, “The Horn of Africa”. This part of Africa includes several countries, Sudan, Ethiopia Somalia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. It received this peculiar name because of the shape this combination of countries looks like a head with a horn reaching out into the Indian Ocean. Perhaps you can see the resemblance?

Searching news articles about the the Horn of Africa the most common headline uses words such as Drought, Crisis, and Countdown to Calamity.

Certainly the lack of rain is for the most part in Northern Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, while the Highlands of Kenya are green, there still is a problem with the production of crops and the lack of food. The climate has changed and the rains can not be predicted as before for planting. The farmers, making up the majority of the Kenyan citizens, plant when they believe the rains have come, only to have it dry up again and the seedling shrivel away. A costly second planting my also be destroyed by too much rain causing the crops to rot away where they stand. A field which should bring in 60 sacks of maze recently have average a yielding of about eight sacks. When I arrived on this trip I learned that the Kenyans are ready to plant but, there is no seed available in the seed stores. They were ready to use kernels from a previous harvest for replanting, but they soon learned that you can not successfully plant seeds from a crop of hybrid plants, the seeds are sterile. So today the plowed fields lay bare and in wait for available seed to plant, how long, no one knows.

On top of not bringing in their crops as before, they face a increase in shortage and high cost of food. This truth became apparent to me when I stopped along the road to buy an avocado. Produce bought from little venders sitting along the roadway has always been very cheap. But today, a 10 shilling avocado cost me 30 shillings. Everything is that way, the maze they buy cost three times as what it was only a year ago. Consider the excerpts from the following articles:

NAIROBI, 11 August 2011 (IRIN)

EASTERN AFRICA: Tough lifestyle changes as food prices continue to rise - Drought, poor rains and continuing high fuel prices have combined to keep food prices in East Africa high, with consumers forgoing basic staples and many traders being forced to shut down their businesses.

WRI Insights - Famine in the Horn of Africa

Submitted by Heather McGray, Aarjan Dixit and Samah Elsayed on August 24, 2011.

As the climate changes, the global community and national governments both need to take action to prevent the kind of humanitarian disaster underway In parts of the Horn of Africa. Early action can help communities confront climate change, take advantage of ecosystem services, and prevent future food-related tragedies due to drought and other extreme weather.
People relying on agriculture and livestock rearing for their livelihoods make up over seventy percent of the total population of east Africa. Over the last two years, the eastern part of the region has faced two consecutive failed rainy seasons. The UN reported that dry-lands of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia were facing “one of the driest years since 1950/51.” This extreme lack of rain has reduced the ability of people in the region to grow their food. Pastures have dried up, making it impossible to sustain cattle. With animals and agriculture in jeopardy, the main sources of food and income for many in the region have been greatly threatened. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) declared a famine in parts of Somalia on July 28, 2011.

Not only are prices up, but the value of Kenyan Shilling has drastically fallen. Only a few years ago the exchange rate was at 62 shillings to one US dollar, but today it has been as low at 96 shillings to the dollar, and we know that is not because the value of the US dollar has gone up.

Possible I am sounding like an advocate to help these people. In a way I am a advocate that their need is real and they are not just crying wolf, which I must admit I considered to be a possibility in days past. It is a difficult situation, and answers on how to help do not come easy, since everyone is in the same dilemma and there is no real end in sight. I fear the headline, “Countdown to Calamity,” may be all to real and accurate.

I hearken unto the words of King Benjamin, as good counsel in this situation: “I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants , And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order: for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.” Mosiah 2: 43-44

Twiga Tracks–August 2011

2011-08-26T21:03:00.001+03:00

Having been in Kenya for some time now, it seems only fitting that I post some of our activities. Due to circumstances I am here in Kisii with my wife, this is not her first trip, but this is the first time that only the two of us are here. Being in Kisii was not our original plan when we booked our flights. Our intent was for me to go to Tanzania and take Swahili lessons , however because of the present famine in East Africa, the funds allocated for classes was better used to help feed some of our members that lacked food. More about this East Africa famine and the affect it is having on East Africa will be coming in an article called, “The Horn of Africa” which I will post in the near future.

Becky will stay here with me for three weeks, then the day she leaves I will be joined by Apostles Donald McIndoo and Placido Koyok for the balance of the trip. This will be a first for Placido and for the East Africans.

After arriving in Nairobi and getting a little rest, Becky and I drove across the Rift Valley and up into the Kisii Highlands. I had a meeting with the committee scheduled after we got to Kisii, but that was delayed so the committee could attend the funeral for the husband of one of our members. A free day in Kenya is always a blessing, there is much to do to clean up the house and do some repairs to make the house livable once again. We were blessed to find the rains had come to the Highlands and our water tanks were full. We are going to be able to shower and flush the toilet; we’re living the good life.

Eventually Becky and I were able to meet with the committee, Elders and Moses Ohuru , Michael Otero and sister Margaret Moraa. We discussed many issues about the church and set a schedule for the balance of my time in East Africa.

Our first service was at Ramba, where I preached which is a given until my father and Placido show up. I tried to convince Becky to take a turn, but she declined. Ramba was once a large congregation until the leader went against the church and had us move off his property, or rather his elderly mother’s property where we had constructed a building. Today we meet in a very temporary mud hut with a iron sheet roof. The elderly mother who owned the land where we previously met now walks about a kilometer through the mud so she can still come to the Church of Christ and worship with the few faithful followers. Today Ramba’s leader is a young man named Abner, but since Ramba is in the Northern district, Elder Simon Monari oversees this mission. Simon is pictured here standing while introducing me to speak. After the service we met outside for a picture and to send our greeting to those reading this blog.

The eight ministry of Kenya and I met for several hours in the office for prayer and discussion about the work. They had many good ideas on how we can improve our outreach and help the work progress. I gave them some ideas on how they could go about putting their ideas into action.

From left to right, seated is Teacher Isaac Odimu, kneeling is Teacher Evans Nyaata, standing in front row is Priest Moses Nymira. On the back row, left side is Priest Moses Mokewri, then Elder Moses Ohuru, Elder Simon Monari, Priest Kepher Machuma, and on the far right is Elder Michael Otero.

We have many things planned for the weeks to come and I will keep you post on our activities.

Goodbye to a dear Friend

2011-07-26T01:00:00.002+03:00

I write this post in memory and to say goodbye to a dear friend and an important figure in the development of the Church of Christ, Tanzania, Africa.

Elphas Odira died at age 72 on 21st, July 2011 in a hospital in Mwanza Tanzania do to complications of a stroke. Elphas is survived by his wife, Angelina, eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, and 19 grandchildren. Elphas was a retired school teacher, who taught English, and he has served as the Coordinator for the Tanzania Church of Christ since 2002. Let me tell you a little of his story on how he helped the church take root in Tanzania.

In 2002, after the church was established in Kenya, a young Elder named Moses Ohuru told the missionaries that he knew a man in Tanzania among the Luo tribe that lived along the banks of Lake Victoria, who may be interested in the church of Christ. Moses had not seen this man for many years, but with great effort he went to Tanzania and was taken back into the bush on the back of a bicycle where he located Elphas Odira and told him about the church. Indeed Elphas was interested and told Moses the church missionaries were welcome to come.

Pictured here is Moses Ohuru and Elphas. Elphas is in the pink shirt.

Later that year we headed to Tanzania meeting Elphas at the border town he escorted us to his village. The trip was interesting as we constantly turned off one road to a smaller more primitive road, that at times seemed impossible to negotiate even with a Land Rover. Eventually we ended up in the middle of no-where, a place I would describe as the-ends-of-the-earth. Out here in the middle of no-where was a small village called Kitembe, which is nothing more than a dusty road running through a couple dozen small adobe-brick buildings. We passed through Kitembe and continued on the road which now was a deep wadi with big granite boulders threatening our oil pan and undercarriage. We straddled the wadi and climbed over the boulders until we turned again onto a footpath with boulders and sharp sticks hidden in tall grass along each side of the path. Eventually we ended up at Elphas’ home, small block structure with a tin roof. A crowd of about 40 people sitting under a tree in the yard. Under the tree we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, and several times after that first meeting we returned to teach and preach at the home of Elphas. After each service, they would take us in the house and stack the table full of ugali, fried goat, boiled goat, fish, chipati, rice, sukumi wiki, and tea.

A church building was constructed on the Odira family property. When we met in Kitembe Elphas was always there to welcome us in.

After the church was well established Elphas wasted no time in spreading the news of his church and arranged for us to go many new places where he had family members or contacts that might be interested in the gospel. A good share of the 30 congregation we have presently in Tanzania can be attributed to Elphas making the contact, and he was always there to introduce us and arrange for our meetings, part of his duties as a coordinator.

We worked him hard and he took advantage of our drive time to catch up on his sleep.

Goodbye dear friend and may God bless you for all the help you gave the church in setting deep roots in Tanzania, Africa.

Twiga Tracks– Final Report May 2011 Trip

2011-05-22T21:04:00.001+03:00

We have cruised into our final week, and I say cruised because we have been doing a lot of driving, more driving than anything else. We allocated our finale week to do what we were called to do: spread the gospel to every creature, rather than do pastor work among our congregations. The Tanzania coordinator has been speaking with a man in Arusha for some time about the church. Apparently this man had come from Elphas’ home village of Kitembe situated on the western border of Tanzania. Also, this man named David, had attended church there and heard our teachings, but moved to Arusha in central Tanzania before being baptized. For some time I told Elphas to keep in touch with him just to see how much interest we really had in Arusha. The invitation to come to Arusha still stood, so off we went on a two day drive.

We had hoped to have two services at this place, but Elphas, our Coordinator is very uncoordinated. Our nine A.M. departure ended being a noon departure as we sat around waiting for a variety of unimportant things to get done. What we did learn was that we actually had a group interested that lived in the town of Arusha and another group located about a hour and a half drive to the east of Arusha near to the town of Moshi. Moshi sits at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Both groups would be with us as we headed to the Kilimanjaro location.

Finally on the road out of Arusha and after the long drive we pulled into a little dusty town. Those in the car said stop, so I did, in the middle of the road. They all got out and walked away leaving Duane and I sitting in the car all alone. Finally Moses Ohuru came and told us where to park and showed us a building that everyone went into. The sign on the building said, “Bureau of International Affairs, Investigations.” As much as I asked those with me, no one would tell me a thing. It took time but finally I found out that we were under investigation having come into this region without a permit. They had to be notified and inspect all our documents, interview us and so forth. Another hour wasted.

It was three o’clock before we ever set foot in a building where we would hold a service. I spoke some about the church and how we were different form other churches, then Duane preached an overview about the church, the apostasy, restoration, Book of Mormon, and the plan of salvation. That was a lot of material so it really had to be a brief overview. One thing I noted was, they were attentive and seemed genuinely interested in what was being taught.

After the service, the committee of the Kilimanjaro church and those present from the Arusha church wanted us to sit and answer questions, which we obliged. Some of the questions I had to tell them it would take a several hour class to truly answer them, and they are anxious to get those teachings. One question I particularly liked was when they asked us how were they suppose to act so they would be like the Church of Christ. They had strong Pentecostal influence, so showing their willingness to change was encouraging.

We left Kilimanjaro area at sundown and had to drive back to Arusha in the dark, not the safest thing to do in Africa, but we made it. We headed to the restaurant and ordered food, and finished our supper at eleven P.M.

We had to get to bed, we had two more long days of driving ahead of us, beginning the next morning. Before we departed Arusha we learned of yet another group that is interested in our teachings. We had gone to Arusha in hopes of spreading the gospel to one small group and left with the potential of three wanting our teachings and becoming missions of the Church of Christ.

We headed out of Arusha until we crossed the Kenyan / Tanzania border and headed towards Mombasa road. We had decided to send Elphas back to his home on a bus from Arusha so that we would not have to back-track into Nairobi during rush hour traffic, then drive back out in the morning through rush hour traffic. Thus we found a hotel at the intersection of the Mombasa road and the road to Arusha. After beating down the hundredth mosquito off our hotel room’s ceiling we were beginning to question our decision about not going into Nairobi. We survived the night and drove another eight hours until we reached Mombasa.

We held Sunday services with our brothers and sisters in Mombasa, first came preaching then a Sacrament service. We still fight the battle of competing against the Pentecostal churches that rent building near our rented building, but in spite of the clamor, our service went well.

We will head back to Nairobi, on Monday, and while Duane and I will catch a airplane back home, Elder’s Moses Ohuru and Michael Otero will stay in Nairobi to speak with a man, a Bickertonite, about our church. Later this week they will make a trip to Busia, Uganda to follow up on a contact that Michael has been communicating with for a year.

We felt our time was well spent, and we were able to fulfill our duty as missionaries of these last days.

I am looking forward to the opportunity to return and continue this work

Twiga Tracks - Back in Kenya

2011-05-16T13:24:00.001+03:00

We did our best in western Tanzania and were prepared to make a early departure and head back to Kisii town, but sometimes the best plans of men fail to come about. The morning we were to leave Duane was sick, and had been all night. We waited around the hotel until he had enough strength to get down the stairs and out to the car. Once in the car he reclined his seat and endured the several hour trip back to Kisii town. When we reached the house, Duane headed to his bed and that was the last I saw of him until the next day. Fortunately the next day he was able to get around. Now it is a week later and some of the symptoms are still hanging on, the bugs of Tanzania are sometimes hard to shake.

Anyway, we were back in Kenya, and we planned to do something new, something different than we have ever done before, that is not to have a plan. That is so uncharacteristic of me, but through the years there had been so many times that things came up that I really needed or wanted to do, but we had no flexibility in the schedule to accomplish them. So breaking out of the mold of setting a schedule with something planned for every day, this time we left all the days open after our return from Tanzania, which equates to about half of our time. Now we had time to pursue whatever opportunities came our way, or accomplish anything we deemed necessary or wisdom to do such as reaching out to new contacts. So far it is working good for us.

The first thing we decided was to have a leader’s meeting. We had discussed this at our first planning meeting, but now that we had time we were face with a problem. Do to a shortage of food, caused by the government trying out an experimental new variety of maze seed to see if it would grow better, and it did not, almost no one had their crops in and because of that they now needed assistance with some food. Since we spent any extra funds that we had to provide this assistance we had to tell the Kenyan committee that we could not afford to have the leaders meeting; we could not spend money we do not have. Generally we would have to pay transportation, housing so the leaders could come the night before and be in town the next morning when the meetings began, and three meals for about thirty leaders. The committee decided that this meeting was really needed and told us to come prepared to teach, and they would find a way to finance the meeting. They found a way without asking us for a single shilling. They brought in the mattresses they use for the youth camp and had the leaders sleep on the floor of the Mesisita church. Margaret Osaka organized a group of women to prepare meals, and they took the transportation from somewhere out of the money we leave them to run the affairs of the church.

We used the time to teach them about the emergent and progressive churches. There has recently been a rash of new, modern and post-modern churches coming to Kenya and trying to buy members with the promise of food, cattle, paid ministry and so forth. They were telling the people all the standard lines of the importance of the church is world peace, feed the hungry, education and so forth without any meat of the gospel. We followed up the class on Modern and Post-modern churches with an afternoon class on strengthening the congregations and our duty as leaders to warn and teach the members. There was great participation throughout the day’s lessons.

Overall we felt the time was well spent and the leaders went away with some needed information and motivated to do the work of strengthening their congregations.

In the above picture , standing in about the center of the group is a tall man dressed in all red. This is Paul from Kilgoris, a Maasai. Paul had been asking me for a year or more to accompany him into the interior of Maasai Land, where people are much more traditional, where the “Moran” (Maasai warriors) live, where civilization, as a Kenyan knows it, is not to be found. Paul said his sister is living in the interior and there is a group in her village that want to know more about his church. So our next opportunity was to head to the interior of Maasai Land with Paul.

We Picked up Paul’s wife, Ester near their home in Kilgoris, Paul had gone ahead to prepare for our arrival at this new location. Ester would show us the way. We drove along rutted and rocky roads, down cattle paths, often already occupied by a heard of cows making their way to water, and across savannas of tall grass until we finally reached a spot near the village leaders home.

A couple of chairs were set up for us under a small gnarled tree to provide some shade for us against the equatorial sun. Even though it did not look like there could be more than a half a dozen people living in the area, a good size group came to hear our teachings. We tried to convince them that we could rearrange our chairs so that they could all join us in the shade, but they sat far back in the sun, if you could vision pews in your mind, they had all sat on the back row. I don’t think they really understood how long a Church of Christ minister talks, because half way through my teaching, almost all of them had moved up and found a place in the shade, more like being on the front row. As I taught more and more people came including some of the Maasai Moran and took their place in the shade to listen.

Following our teachings, as typical their were speeches made by some of the village leaders, and they invited us back for more teachings. They got excited for us to take their pictures, and we were thankful for digital cameras because everyone wanted their picture taken countless times.

I had said civilization as a Kenyan knows it was not to be found, but that was not completely true. Before we could leave we and all the congregation first had to have a cup of tea. We were grateful for the tea since typically a Maasai would make a small puncher wound in the artery of a cow’s neck and collect a gourd of blood to drink. The tea was much more appetizing.

In case you are wondering, I really don’t think that these Moran will join the church, at least not in the near future, but they do make for an interesting picture. We do have hope for some of them such as Paul’s sister pictured above standing next to Paul and holding her baby. Paul will keep in touch with this group and Moses and Michael will return to teach them more. Hopefully, I too will return there on my next trip, and someday we just might have a mission in the interior of Maasai land.

The next day we followed up on an invitation to meet with another a new group. A leader of a church in Keroka had come to one of our services and asked us to come and teach his congregation about the Church of Christ and our beliefs. Keroka is a good sized town we pass through every time we come and go from Kisii to Nairobi. I have for years wondered why we did not have a congregation there, so I was excited for this opportunity. This group group and the leaders belong to the, Harvest Gospel Ministries, International. They had asked us to come on a Sunday but we choose to go on a Saturday and keep our Sundays for our own established congregations and our members. There was not much of a turnout for our teachings, they say it was because we came on a Saturday. That excuse did not instill much confidence that this was a group hungering and thirsting for truth or righteousness. Moses, Michael and Peter-Moses are planning to return and do more teachings. Personally I think the Harvest Gospel Ministries, International are hoping we will join them. I could be wrong, but time will tell.

As I said, we would spend our Sunday with an established congregation. Come Sunday we went to a place called Omaro. They had been meeting in a rented building for the past several years, but have recently moved to a spot near the leaders home. They meet under a temporary shelter made with a stick framework and a bamboo roof. All though I was in the sun the whole time I was preaching, I was happy they did not have the bamboo roof over the spot where I was, since my head was about three inches above the framework to hold the bamboo. We had a pleasant service with this small group.

After the service we needed to administer to one of the members who was home sick with a back problem and could not make it to church. We Travelled like a Kisii, on foot, for quite a ways until we reached her home and found her laying on a mat out in her yard. After spending some time with her we hiked back to our vehicle and headed back home.

We will be heading out of Kisii on a long drive for the the remainder of our meetings and to purse another opportunity laid before us. I will keep you posted.

Twiga Tracks–Tanzania Trip

2011-05-13T21:13:00.001+03:00

We packed out bags with cloths for a week, and few snacks to hold us over in times when eatable food can not be found, and departed the comfort of our Kisii home and headed out to Tanzania.

Crossing the border is never really easy, given all the check points and forms required to cross into Tanzania with a Kenyan vehicle. To add to the confusion, seems every time we cross the border they have changed the process in some way or another.

Border crossing is merely an inconvenience and as long as we just go with the flow and not let it bother us, we eventually make our way across and on to the hotel in Tarime where we would spend our first of several nights.

We held several services in Tanzania, some at established congregations and others at new places where we have no baptized members. Our first service was at a Mirare, a congregation that has only been around for about a year. After a preaching service we walked to a nearby river to conduct a baptism for seven men and women. The first to be baptized that day was a crippled older man. I convinced him to to leave his crude walking sticks stuck in the sand on the bank and I would help him down into the water. He jabbered at me in his mother tongue, (Luo), all the way down into the water. I suspect he was warning me that I better not let him sink or fall. I didn’t although at times it was difficult.

After the baptisms, we returned to the spot under the mango tree where they worship to hold the confirmation service.

We sat in the shade of the Mango tree for about an hour while Moses Ohuru and Elphas Odira completed the baptism forms. We were kept company by our brother Francis who always has a big smile on his face, except when you try to take his picture. I thought that Francis looked like a kid wearing his fathers cloths in his the suit that might have originally been sold at a “Big and Tall” store even though Francis would be considered thin and small.

The next day we headed deep into the bush which I will refer to as a new location even though Smith Brickhouse and Dennis Trudgen had been there a few months earlier and began teaching the people of Mika. It is new because we yet to have any members nor have we established a mission there.

The road, or better said, the path to Mika enlighten one to just how hard of a life some of the people in Tanzania live. I recall driving through a small village, with small, one room, mud huts with dirt floors and thatch roofs stood on the parched ground along each side of the path. The villagers poked their heads out of their dark huts, and the naked children stopped their playing to stare at the white men motoring through their merger little village kicking up even more dust to coat their dark skins and tattered clothing. All around them was only granite boulders, dry ground and a few desert plants. For the life of me I do not know how they survive in such a hostile environment.

We continued on a Mika, a little greener place, but still a hard existence I’m sure, and met with a small group waiting for us under the trees. We taught them about the importance of choosing the right church to join, and the need to be truly converted to the beliefs of that church before you make such a commitment.

While we waited for the women to fix us a meal of white rice and tea, the choir sang several songs.

The next few days we met at some of established congregations, such as Milimu, also back deep into the bush where none expects to see a motor vehicle, and Mwanza, which is in one of the largest cities along the western border of Tanzania. The women at Mwanza decided that they needed to dress us for the occasion, although I am sure what the occasion was exactly.

Our final service in Tanzania was at another new place, this time it was a place where no man has gone before, or at least no minister of the Church of Christ had gone before. Mwanza Buriga sounds like it would be near the large city of Mwanza, yet if you thought that you would be wrong. We had to drive three hours from Mwanza to reach Mwanza Buriga. When we arrived at Mwanza Buriga a good sized group waited for us under the trees where we held our first service with them. Duane taught them about the our church and the Gospel of Christ. After the preaching we administered to twenty people. We said our goodbyes and promised to return then we headed out for another two and a half hours of driving to reach the hotel were we would spend our final night in western Tanzania for this trip.

Just for fun

2011-05-10T19:29:00.003+03:00

Many times after a big rain storm we witness the flight of the flying termites. These creatures at about three inches long, with a three inch wing span, and they come out by the thousands and swarm to a light source.

Inside our house they find such a light source, so we have to shut all the windows, which does not completely stop them from coming in since the windows don’t shut real tight.

In an attempt to detour them away from us, we turn on the porch light to attract outside of our living room.

Shortly after finding the light, they loose there wings and die.

As you can see form this picture, our porch light maneuver worked pretty well, as several inches of flying termites perished on our porch.

The next morning we had a gathering of colorful birds coming to the buffet outside our door.

The last time Duane saw this flight of the termites, he asked Brother Moses Ohuru if the termites came into their homes after a rain also. Moses said, "They do." Duane asked him, what they did about it. MOses answered, "We eat them."

Twiga Tracks - Second Week

2011-05-02T21:23:00.002+03:00

We have accomplished our second week in Kenya. We held services at some of our dedicated locals, but no matter how many times you go anywhere, you always have to be ready for the unexpected.

We went to Getuka, a long lived congregation, and the site of the very first church building . I went there expecting to see many old friends and have opportunity to preach to them. I had my sermon ready which I felt would be appropriate for this congregation. Imagine my surprise when I arrived and found the building full of grade school children. Apparently the local school had closed it doors without any warning. Not wanting their children to miss out the Getuka Mission decided that they would take all the students in and keep teaching them. They say that they have several years to meet Kenya’s regulations for a school. Our members did show up for the service, but the children outnumbered the adults by at least 10 to 1. I had only minutes to prepare a sermon geared for grade school children who would be the majority of my audience . You can see one of the friends I made after the meeting.

With the current food shortage we discovered those affected the most were our members in the Maasai lands. Knowing that, we planned to have a meeting at Kilgoris, among the Maasai. We took with us 140 lbs. of beans and rice to assist them. We did not give them the food until after the service and we were ready to go to prevent them from cooking it to feed us.

Not one, but two days were spent down among our Kuria Tribe members. Kuria land is about a hour to hour and a half away from Kisii near the Tanzania border. We tried something new and asked the coordinator from Tanzania to meet us at a near by town so we could plan our schedule for the time we would be in Tanzania. We also thought it would be good for him to meet the two congregations in Kenya near the border. We arrived in Migori, the spot in which we would meet Elphas, but in typical Elphas fashion, he was no where to be found. It seems every time we go to Tanzania we have to hunt the town over in search of the illusive Elphas. This time he had wondered off onto some back street to get a cup of tea. The cell phone service was not working that day, so Elphas spent the whole day drinking tea and we met with him after the serivices at the end of the day for about 10 minutes sitting in our vehicle sheltered from a tremendous rain storm.

Elphas missed out because we had some very nice meetings at our two congregations. The first day we met under a small temporary shelter, erected on a plot of ground owned by Sylvester’s mother. Sylvester is the leader and he told me on my last trip that I really needed to go to their congregation because his mother is too old to travel, by foot, to the other local to meet with us. He wanted her to meet us since she is providing the land for the church to meet. After the meeting we met in Sylvester’s home with a gathering of the men to partake of lunch.

The next day we met at the congregation where Elijah is the leader. Elijah (pictured in the black suit) has been the driving force behind the church being in Kuria land and has faced many discouragements and setbacks. The building they had been meeting in washed away in a rainstorm earlier this year. Elijah took the parts he could salvage and erected another place on higher ground. After the service and meal in his small dark house we went out in Elijah’s yard and blessed his new born daughter, Emma.

Teacher Evans Nyatta, invited us to his congregation on Sunday. He was holding three days of services trying to reach out to those living in his village of Nyabitumwa. We would be there the final day and he wanted both of us to preach. Another surprise lay in store for us. The service was not at his church building but in a large field across from the little shops that make up the village. He had a makeshift shelter setup to shade the speakers, a PA system, and abut a 120 people sitting on the ground singing songs and waiting for the meeting to begin. Truth be known, he had a good turnout with many members coming from several of our other congregations to support his efforts. Not many from the area actually came to the meeting, but I did note that there were about 60 people standing at the shops watching and listening. This was the first time I actually appreciated a PA system.

After the preaching and some songs, I looked over and saw that a young woman named Rachel, the daughter of Elder Michael Otero, had collapsed in the shade behind our vehicle. They were trying to revive her as she agonized in pain and was only partially coherent. We loaded Rachael up in our truck and drove her back to Kisii which took about a hour. When we arrived there we found Robert, Rachael’s brother and Anna, her mother, already at the hospital because Rachael’s sister, Phyllis was also very sick and had been admitted to the hospital. Michael was not with us that day and it took some time to track him down and be notified. The last report is both Rachael and Phyllis have been admitted into the hospital and will be there at least four days. Michael will not be able to make the Tanzania trip with us, but he should stay home and take care of his family. We will keep him and his family in our prayers.

Twiga Tracks – East Africa - April 2011

2011-04-26T20:32:00.003+03:00

It has been an one entire week since Duane Ely and I departed our homes in Phoenix Arizona and flew half way around the world to East Africa, landing at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyata International Airport late Tuesday night. Taking a taxi to a downtown hotel, we rejoiced in the opportunity to finally collapse in a semi-comfortable bed, which was much better than a coach seat on a Boeing 747.

A week before leaving home I had written the mechanic and asked him to replace the tires on our Toyota before we arrived. Seems the time they could change the tires was the same day we would be there to pick it up and had planned to drive across Kenya to Kisii town. We held out hope that we would break free of Nairobi and head to Kisii, but by 4PM all hope was lost and we spent another night in the semi-comfortable bed at the downtown hotel. We did have the Toyota in our possession before returning to the hotel so our plan was to get an early start the next day. The plan went as hoped.

We made our way out of the highlands where Nairobi sits along the Eastern edge of the Great Rift Valley, then down the steep escarpment on a narrow two lane road full of overloaded semi-trucks into the valley itself. We began to cross the grass covered savanna were Maasai graze their cattle, herds of gazelle run though the tall grass and an occasional heard of twiga (giraffe) graze on the tops of acacia trees. After several hours we started our accent up the Western slope of the Rift Valley to the cloud covered Kisii Highlands.

We arrived at our home in Kisii just before the storm. We had beat the rain , but the power was already out in the house. Eventually the power returned and we had lights however we found the refrigerator was not working. With some investigation we found the surge protector to the fridge had melted, probably from a electrical spike, but it saved the appliance, foe which we were most thankful.

Home once again in the Kisii Nyumba,(home). We unpacked, made supper, cleaned up the mess that floats in through the gaps under doors, around windows, and though the ceiling, then we had time to rest.

Our first meeting was with the eight members of the priesthood, all of which live in the Kisii highlands. We were able to pray together and discuss many important issues concerning the work here in Kenya. We felt our time had been well spent and we were able to encourage them to keep up the hard work the do as they have to minister to and care for thirty locals and thousands of members, which is no easy task. Good to have willing servants.

The following day we met with the committee to discuss our schedule and other administrative matters. One of the biggest concerns they brought before us was the lack of food in Kisii at this present time. Apparently the Kenyan government wanted to test a new type of maze seed and only made the test seed available for sale on the market at the time of the last planting. Unfortunately, the new seeds did not germinate well in many places, including the Kisii Highlands. It took some time for the proper seeds to reach Kisii, and by that time the rains ceased for a considerable time . Eventually the rains did return and they were able to plant their crops but the harvest will be months delayed. Until then there is a lack of food. According to the February 28th issue of Time Magazine, pg.28 there has been a spike in the cost of agricultural commodities in recent months. They say that people in poor countries spend a much higher percentage of their available funds for food. Kenya ranks second in those statists spending 45% of their money for food, trailing Pakistan by only one percent. At this time we have not worked out a plan on how to help them through this trial, but as our committee says, distributing aid is a difficult exercise to do without offending people and hurting feelings among our members.

We were privileged to hold Easter Services with our brothers and sisters at the Kisii Township Local. The Sunday School children gave a short presentation, the choir sang a beautiful song, and I was able to preach the Easter Sermon.

India – February and March

2011-03-07T02:48:00.001+03:00

Duane Ely and I have just arrived home from a trip to India. When we get home from a trip, I am often asked, “Did you have a good trip?” Of course I always answer, yes. Any time you can go minister the gospel and work in God’s service it is a good trip.

The major difference I see about our travels in India and in other countries, is there is usually only one person, Sharrat, whom we can talk to. Sharrat acts as our translator and guide throughout our trip. Not being able to communicate one on one with the congregations and members, I have a hard time getting a read on if they are spiritually growing or not. With that said, I trust that God knows how the work is going, and I can only do my part to the best of my abilities and let the Spirit do its job from that point on.

We were scheduled to leave the hotel at 10:30 for our first meeting, however Sharrat finally arrived just about noon. He said that they had locked us out of our building. The owner had sold the building which we rent so he decided to lock it up. We chased down the landlord and he provided the keys for us to get in and use the building for the weekend.

Much to our surprise, the first meeting was a class for a group of men that came from various congregations. Sharat had told us we would meet at the town church for the first two days, but only when we arrived at the first service did we learn it was suppose to be a study class. Duane had volunteered to do the first service, so he had to dig out a lesson then improvise to make a half-day class, which he successfully did.

The following day we held a Sacrament Service and preaching with the congregation of Alapurem, the town church. After a lunch of spicy curry chicken and saffron rice, we headed off to a beach at the Bay of Bengal for a baptism and confirmation service. A few days later we held a second baptism service at the same beach.

We held preaching services during the day time and also some of the evenings. Most of the groups meet in humble little building or sometimes on the front porch of someone's house.

There is always a element of surprise in everything we do. For reasons unknown, it has been my experience that when you are working in a foreign field, the missionaries never get all available information, in fact most of the time we get only the slightest amount of information when we make the effort to drag it out of someone. We were told that we spend one evening teaching a group of young men that wanted to hear about our church. Only after we arrived did we find out that it was an entire congregation of about 60 people. The pastor of the congregation is Sharrat’s father-in-law and brother-in-law. Having thought we were going to speak about the difference between the Church of Christ and other churches and teach about the Apostasy and Restoration, we came with a lot of material. Our plan was for both of us to speak. We may have given this group more than they expected or wanted. We felt our time was well spent, but only time will tell if the effort will be fruitful or not.

So if you are wondering; Yes we had a good trip to India.

Twiga Tracks - Nigeria

2011-02-10T02:39:00.004+03:00

Duane Ely and myself have just returned to our homes from a trip to visit our churches and members in Nigeria.

When we arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, we found Nigeria to be just as we had left it.

The weather was hot and the humidity was high, sometimes as much as 90 percent. Nigeria seems to be about the dirtiest place on the earth, at least among the places I have been. A thick cloud of brown smog hung in the air, cutting viability to about a half mile, and the smell was like standing next to bonfire of burning truck tires.

We attended services with a preaching and a communion services at each of our five congregations, as well as a study with a couple of our leaders.

As we met at the Alunde congregation, pictured here, the neighbor fired up machine that had an exhaust pipe about 6 feet away from our buildings window. As we met the gas engine belched clouds of exhaust into the church. We continued on hoping that we had sufficient ventilation in the church to keep us from being asphyxiated. When we finished the service the machine was throttled off. Our members did not say anything about it, but I had to wonder if the neighbor was trying to drive them away.

Two of our congregations are several hours north of Ibadan, the city were we spent the first days having services at three congregations. When we left Omu-Aran to drive to Ado, we headed out of town on the road heading north only to be stopped by a group of angry men that threw nail studded boards across the road to force us to stop. They then packed logs in front and back of all our tires so we could not move. Each man wore a bright yellow safety vest, imprinted with the words, “Task Force, Revenue Drive.” At first the yelled at us for being on the road proceeded by wanting to charged us about $100 to drive on it. I guess it was appropriately named, this was a government sanctioned kidnapping and robbery. After about forty-five minutes of arguing and negotiating our brothers paid the government robbers off and we headed on down the road.

We used a different vehicle on this trip, one that seemed to be safer than the one used on previous trips . However, with that said, on our last day as we were heading back to Lagos the driver informed us that the brakes had not been catching. We had noticed him putting brake fluid in several times during our journey, but we did not know that was not resolving the issue. So we stopped in a small town, where in the middle of a dirt lot covered with discarded auto parts a typical African mechanic changed the front brake shoes, giving no concern to the gouged and worn discs.

God was with us, and we made it back to the airport and home safely.

New Maasai Children's Choir.AVI

2010-11-11T02:07:00.000+03:00

New Maasai Choir

2010-11-11T02:06:00.000+03:00

A Ride Through the Tanzanian Bush

2010-11-11T01:40:00.000+03:00

Twiga Tracks – East Africa #4

2010-11-07T18:43:00.001+03:00

As far as we knew, we had been scheduled for Sunday Services at Nyabitunwa congregation, home of Teacher Evans Nyaata. Evans and his wife live just down from the church which is perched on a high hill overlooking the Maasai land in the valley below. In fact the edge of Evans’ property is the very edge of Kisii Highlands, go past his property and you are in Maasai land.

We made the long drive and very bad dirt roads until we reached the little village consisting of about a dozen old wooden buildings that sell a few p roducts, this is the village called Nyabitumwa. I was prepared to drive up the hill away from the shops and towards our church when I was told to stop, someone was to meet us there. Sure enough someone did, Evans’ elderly father. He directed to continue on straight past Nyabitunwa and onto the Maasai land. We drove on roads, paths, across fields, through fences over boulders, down mountains until we reached a small isolated block building overlooking the Maasai valley. The building look much like a school, and when I walk in I immediately turned around because I thought I just interrupted a class in season of grade school children.

Upon closer inspection among the fifty or so young children there were about thirty adults also sitting there waiting our arrival. This was a brand new group among the Maasai, that Evans has been working with trying to bring the Gospel to. They are in a area called, Olenkaroni. I had prepared myself to preach to our established church in Nyabitumwa, so I had to regroup quickly to preach to this new group of old and young, many of which would hear about the Restored Gospel for the first time. After my preaching the Elders, (Old Men) among the group were given opportunity to speak.

The old man I have pictured here speaking is Evans’ father, a Kisii man. I marveled as he stood and told the people that they need to believe in this gospel and become brothers with those of the Church of Christ. The reason I marveled so much is that only a few years ago, the Maasai from this area (Enemies to the Kisii ) had broke down the door to his home and shot him. Yet he showed no fear and came to encourage them to join the Church. The Old man sitting in the front with his arms crossed took his turn to speak. He stood and said he did not want to speak in Kiswahili, but would speak in Maasai, then instructed a young man to translate for him. He introduced himself then welcomed us to be in their area and to preach the gospel in the their lands. When he sat down I stood and shook his hand saying, “Ashe Oling”, the room erupted in laughter, because the white man just thank him in Maasai.

Much like the early days of Kenya and most of African History, in order to visit an area you must first get permission from the village elders. Fortunately for us, before our arrival, Evans had already obtained their permission, since we drove our vehicle across every one of their properties and in some cases we had to take down their fences in order to proceed on. I am pictured here with the Maasai Elders and Evans and his wife. I am the one that looks like a ghost.

After the service we were all invited to Evans ‘ home for lunch. These village Elders took there place in the back seat of my truck and would be riding with me, and unfortunately trying to direct me back out of this isolated location. I had expended all my Maasai communications with the Ashe Oling and they were not about to speak Kiswahili to me. So though a series of grunts and grown, excited tones and finger pointing. It would be good to make friends with these elders if we have any desire to continue to teach in this area, so we all laughed and enjoyed each other company and lack of communication and eventually we did make it out and to lunch.

During lunch the man that would only speak Maasai took and interest in what I was doing to my tea. I had little pills I put in my sugar free tea. So like giving trinkets to the natives to make friends I gave him a saccharin tab and he put it in his mouth then quickly spit it out. I taxed all my Kiswahili skills to convince him to let me doctor his tea with it, and it would be sweet. He gave in and he could not get over that which I did. He left with my bottle of sweeteners, but he left happy.

After I arrive home I will post some video of this group singing during our service . I think you will enjoy watching them.

The following day was even a longer trip back towards the Tanzania border to another village amongst the Kuria tribe.

After a encouraging and thought provoking sermon about our duty as Christians, we walked past several large fields growing tobacco. Apparently this lower evaluation is a good area for tobacco because about half the fields are growing it. We passed by the tobacco fields and headed down to a small stream that ended in a pool suitable for a baptism service. We baptized seven people that day into Christ’s Kingdom. Those baptized will attend two separate congregation some distance from each other. We have a total of three congregations among the Kuria people, but the enthusiasm for the gospel they exhibit I would not be surprised if we do not many more in the near future.

A hike back up the hill for a confirmation service and Moses Ohuru and Elijah took to the business of doing the necessary paperwork.

We rejoiced in the opportunity to worship at the Risa Local, where Elder Simon Monari is the Pastor. Being a school day the children where not present for the service but we had a good turnout of the adults. I was the speaker of the day. Margaret referred to me as her Black Missionary. I assume it is because of the shirt I was wearing, but who knows, I am becoming very comfortable here in Kenya. It was my turn to preach and while doing so I really appreciated the clear panels they installed in the roof to let the light in. It made the place bright and beautiful as the light reflected of their white washed walls and blue pews. Our time was well spent and we left Risa in a blinding rainstorm, but all made it back to their homes safely.

We continued holding services at various locals from the northern to the southern districts. A special moment was going to Kababe and being joined by our oldest African member, James Omundi. James normaly attends church at the Sengera Local, but knowing we were passing his home on the way to Kababe he stood by the road and waited for us to come by so he could join us. Little did James know that I had every intention of stopping by his home to see him after the service, but we enjoyed his fellowship, and a touching testimony he bore about coming to the Church of Christ, and how it changed and saved his life. Before we parted company James requested a picture of him with Sister Nina of Kababe and my father. My father is the one in the stylish bight green with pink leopard patterned hat. James loaned him the hat for the picture. We finished our last service at Kisii Township Church. We had a very nice service that lasted several hours, then we headed home to pack. Monday morning we will load our bags into the truck, drive halfway across Kenya and board a airplane late at night to return home. It was a good trip and we will greatly miss our brothers and sisters here in East Africa.

Twiga Tracks –East Africa #3

2010-11-01T20:27:00.001+03:00

As we continued to labor in Kisii, we took the opportunity to spend one of our Sundays meeting with the Kineni Local, where Elder Moses Ohuru is the pastor. It seems like small compensation to preach at the locals of Michael Otero and Moses Ohuru given the fact they travel every day with us so they can act as our translators and help with whatever else comes up. Their congregation willing submits to their absence on church days for weeks on end while we are in East Africa. If we can help encourage their locals and show our support to them, it is the least we can do, not to mention it is always a blessing and great encouragement to us to fellowship with groups strong and dedicated to being the Church of Christ.

Moses’ wife, Norah is pictured here leading the children’s choir in a special song before the preaching at Kineni.

Not all congregations are as large as Kineni. Some missions meet in small dark buildings such as Nyachogochogo. The few men who met together were diligent in following along in their books and taking notes.

At Sai, the congregation is few in number and always has been. The goodness is that you can always depend on attendance by almost every member when we make arrangements to go there and preach. They meet in a rented building but hope to someday have property and a building of their own to worship in. As faithful as they are, I suspect that someday God will provided a way for that to happen.

We held services at Nyamarambe, the congregation of Teacher Isaac Ondimu. We blessed a baby named Brian after the preaching and before the eating, however, truth be known, Brian was eating during the preaching. He was adorable as to be expected, but somehow I failed to get a picture so you will have to take my word for it.

Our Saturday service was held at Kericho, a long drive north-east of Kisii town among the Kilengi tribe. Kericho sits high in the western mountains of Kenya and the area is pretty much dedicated to growing tea. In fact Lipton Tea advertizes that they buy their tea from the growers in Kericho Kenya. The next time you have a cup of Lipton tea you might consider that one of your brothers or sisters may have picked that tea for you. The large tea plantations hire people from all over Kenya to come pick their tea leaves, a labor that is done strictly by hand. Many of the large plantations provided small homes to their workers. The homes are usually painted white, which makes them stand out against the bright green tea fields. They look accommodating and attractive as you drive by, but in fact they are small dark buildings, just large enough to hold a couple of chairs and a coffee table in the living area and a small bedroom enough for a double bed. Modest accommodations, with no electricity, running water or bathrooms. In a few areas where they have not planted tea one can see the very impressive natural forest of Kenya. It is easy to see that Kenya is apart of the rainforest that stretches across the center of the Africa continent. We arrived at the Kericho church building after a two hour drive then we waited an hour for the members to arrive. By the time we started only four adults a a dozen children had come to church. We were told the members were at work . They had asked for time off to come to church but their request was deigned. We continued on with those who were able to come. You can see Elder Michael Otero enjoying the teachings of the day.

Having a poor turnout at a service can be disappointing, especially when you spend a eight hour day to do it. Any disappointments were quickly forgotten as we entered into a new week, rich with unexpected blessings and opportunities opened before us as we ministered the gospel. That report will be coming soon. I will leave you with a this view of a sunset over our Kisii home.

Twiga Tracks – East Africa 2nd Report

2010-10-26T19:45:00.001+03:00

Arriving back in Kenya from our Tanzania trip we stopped near the border at a village called Masaba. The members at Masaba are of the Kuria tribe, the most recent tribe and location we have added to the church. Masaba is the only one of three congregation in Kuria land that I have visited, however we have plans to visit another one of these congregation later in this trip. Masaba had met in a small temporary building they recently made of mud walls and an iron roof. With the recent heavy rains the building flooded and destroyed the building. They are in the processes of rebuilding on a higher point of ground. When we got there they had three walls and a roof. I took this picture standing outside looking inside through the missing back wall. We had arranged our preaching schedule so that my father could preach at Masaba.

After our songs, testimonies, prayers and sermon we gathered outside and greeted all the members. Masaba’s leader, Elijah then took us to his house where his wife welcomed us in to their humble home and with great joy she fed us a big meal of rice, beans, and chicken washed down by a steaming cup of tea. Elijah is pictured here sitting in their tiny living room in front of the small window used as the only source of light for the room.

Leaving Kuria land by mid-afternoon, we headed north for a hour and half to reach Kisii town where we dropped Michael at his house just before reaching the town. Michael had not felt well when he got up that morning and by the time we reached his house he was very sick and had almost lost his voice. After dropping Michael off, I then dropped my father off at our home so he could do his laundry; he had used up all his clean clothes in Tanzania. I then drove another hour and a half to deliver Moses to his home in Kineni and then return to our home. The vehicle he drives was being worked on while we were in Tanzania, but somehow the job did not get finished so he was without away home after our long trip.

The next morning we headed out of Kisii town to the Maasai land near a town called Kilgoris. The leader is named Paul and is seen pictured here with my father. After our preaching service we blessed the newest baby of Paul and Ester. The baby is named, Duane Ely and he born the day we left Kenyan back in May.

A young lady named Rispa is pictured here at the Mochengo Church. Rispa is giving a testimony about a dream she had.

Her dream goes that she was making food for the missionaries that she knew were coming. She met them on the path as they approached the church. She told them that she was preparing the food and that was why she was not in church. They told her that it would be better for her to be spiritually fed then for her to be away from church cooking food. Rispa told us that she thought of the story of Mary and Martha, and how Mary had chosen the better part by being with Jesus. She said she had prepared the food before we came this day so she would not miss the service and she was so happy because what was spoken in the sermon encouraged her so much.

A long drive to the Northern District we were able to meet at Ramba. Ramba use to be a big congregation, but the pride of man whose family owned the property on which me met, wanted to take over discouraged many people and caused to have to move our church to a different area. Sitting in the back row is the prideful man’s elderly mother who walked over steep hills so she could be there. Elder Simon Monari is seen sitting on the front row in the red sweater, and next to him is Ramba’s leader Abner. We were happy to Abner at church. The last time I was there in May, Abner was too sick to leave his house. When he was a young boy he was struck in the head with a large rock; he bears an eight inch scar across his forehead bearing witness to his injury. Since that time Abner has been prone to seizures, sometimes worse than others. We pray he will find complete relief from this affliction some day.

After our service the weather was threatening a heavy rain storm, but what we found is the rain had already struck the area which we would drive many kilometers on steep, muddy roads. As we made our way out of the back roads we had the highway in site, only to come across a frightened American woman parked in the middle of the road blocking all traffic from going anywhere. After waiting considerable time to see what she was going to do I finally went to talk to her and tried to negotiate a plan so we could pass each other and go on. She most defiantly told me that I could back uphill three kilometers in the slipper mud if I wanted to, but she was not going to move because she did not want to end up in the ditch.. I suggested she move over a foot or two so we could try to get by. Again I was told to leave and she would not move then rolled up her window so I could not talk to her. I was not the only one held up by the stubborn white woman; two other trucks had also waited for her and apparently got the same reception when they tried to hold a conversation. After sitting in the road for a half hour she finally moved over a couple of feet, and those not afraid of the mud carefully slid past her. The one hour trip turned into a four hour trip that day. The next day I passed both of the other trucks that had experienced the blockaded with me, they flashed their lights and waved as we passed, apparently we are in a club now. I hope there is no club meetings scheduled in the near future.

Twiga Tracks – East Africa

2010-10-22T23:39:00.001+03:00

Late at night on the 7th of October, 2010 my father, Donald McIndoo, and I touched down at the Nairobi International Airport after a 24 hour flight. We were tired, as to be expected, but more than that, due to some recent medical issues that surfaced on our India trip, I had a little trepidation about going away on this trip to Africa. By the time we checked into our usual hotel, all my concerns had been pushed back into the recesses of my mind and the joy of being back in East Africa was at the forefront of where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing.

After a good night’s sleep, we headed over to pick up the 4WD truck which was ready and waiting for us. After a trip to the supermarket to pick up some supplies that cannot be found in Kisii town and filling up the fuel tank with $6 per gallon Diesel we were on the road. We would cross the Rift Valley then head up into the forested Kisii Highlands situated 6000 feet above sea level. The rains are heavy so we will have no concern for water which we collect off our roof into a tank, along with an occasional dead bird.

We would only be in Kenya a few days, holding services at Mesisita and Omaro before we headed south to spend a week in Tanzania. I wasn’t until we arrived back in Kenya from Tanzania, where internet service was not possible, that I could finally write an update to this blog. However, the moment I sat down to write, the power went out, so I will press on until the power comes back on or my laptop runs out of battery.

Accompanied by Elders Moses Ohuru and Michael Otero we put the forested Highland in our rearview mirror we entered Tanzania and met up with Elphas Ordira, the Tanzanian Coordinator.

In contrast to the Kisii Highlands, Tanzania supports vegetation that thrives in an arid land, such as agave, euphorbia, lantana and desert trees that look like mesquite. We had many heavy rain storms, but the dry, dusty, brown land quickly drank up all the moister and the dust was back. Those who do not appreciate a desert and think such a description sounds absolutely awful, let me assure you that Tanzania, even though lower and hotter is indeed beautiful. With consistent temperatures, (since they are near the equator), these agave and euphorbia and a few other tropical trees growing amongst huge granite boulders is a sight to behold.

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Getting there is a long drive almost two hours, and part of it is along a desert footpath.

Taking a long drive almost two hours, part of which is along a desert footpath we arrived at Nyagero, the place of our first meeting. Nyagero supports my claim to beauty in Tanzania. Nyagero is named because of a balancing rock, but the word really means the top lump of ugali on a plate. I think you can see the idea in these pictures.

We met in the leaders small but colorful painted home for a few minutes, Moses shown relaxing, before we went outside to a crude shade structure and makeshift pulpit set up for the preachers. A few wooden benches sat under the trees for the small congregation to sit on while listening to the sermon. After our preaching we administered to several people, including the leader’s wife who had been feeling sick for several months and needed to go to the hospital, which she had not been able to afford to do.

After our meeting we were fed a typical Tanzanian meal of rice, fish, chicken, tea prepared in the most rustic kitchen one can imagine, a fire pit amongst the rocks.

We continued visiting churches the northern most area of Tanzania for the next couple of days going places such as Nyamesieki. This group is trying to build themselves a church but only have the footer for the foundation as of now. We met under a tarp supported by poles to keep the sun off the congregation. Nyamesieki is the location pictured on the title of this Blog. Once again we were fed and I managed to capture a picture of the cook in her kitchen. What stood out to me during these first two meetings was something I longed to see among the men. At both meetings an enthusiastic man named Michael, rode his bicycle three hours from his home in Kitembe to Nyagero the first day and Nyamesieki the very next day so he could be at the meetings. Michael was always taking notes until we were ready to read a scripture then he was on his feet to do the reading. After the service he rode another three hours to get home.

Driving about 80 Kilometers further south we met at Kibakari who are also meeting without a building. They are presently meeting outside, but are in the process of building a church building. They had made their own bricks for the walls, but have not yet managed to transport them all to the site of their church project. In spite of not having a building we met under the shade of a mango tree and had songs, prayers and preaching. We returned to the leader’s home, his name is Wilson, where he would be fed lunch. Before we ate we went to the tiny home of one of our members. A young woman in her twenties got out of bed and sat down so we could administer to her. She was suffering badly from a swollen bleeding infection in her breast. She was scheduled to go to the hospital the following day for surgery, but she had not gone. She did not have the money and the available money sent to Tanzanian for aid had all been used. Unfortunately the only thing we could leave with her was our concern and our prayers. As I backed out to leave I could see her sitting in her tiny house. I could only imagine that she was thinking that her only hope of survival was pulling away. For several days I had agonized over not being able to help her more. I am not sure I am over it yet or if I ever will be.

Leaving Kibakari after lunch we headed out on a four hour long drive along the coast of Lake Victoria we headed to the lakeside town of Mwanza. Our services in Mwanza are always scheduled for Sunday. Since it is one of the larger towns in Tanzania most of the men work and can only meet on Sunday. We had previously purchased land that had a building on it for them to worship. For some unknown reason we were meeting on this Sunday in the old rented building. I am told that some of the people still meet in it so we were all joining them this day. We had a full house for church, but that house is only about 10 feet by 15 feet in size. I preached staying firm in the old paths of truth. After the sermon we had testimonies and songs before closing and departing.

Heading back north we stopped to have services at another lakeside town called Musoma. Thomas, the leader, had walked many kilometers to come to the meeting from his home. He is hoping someday to get a bicycle to make the commute a little easier. The group is one of our oldest and has recently increased in numbers. We met under a tarp stretched between two houses. They put two large couches under the tarp for us to sit on with a short table for us to put our books on. The rest of the adults sat on plastic chairs in a semi-circle around us, while a large crowd of children sat, lay, rolled around on a papyrus mat on the ground in the middle of the circle. I made a comment how good it was to have children and how important it was for them to be here even in their young years. As soon as I made that commitment about the children, it seemed as if it turned into a competition among the parents to make sure there child was the best behaved child, sitting upright and not making any noise. They were so intent on correcting their children, they became more disruptive then the children were. All in all it was a very good meeting; I might even say the best meeting I remember ever having in Musoma.

We spent our night in Tanzania, but in the morning we crossed border back over into Kenyan and held a service at one of our groups located near the border. We will finish out trip laboring in Kenya.

Twiga Tracks - India – Final Report

2010-09-11T22:38:00.001+03:00

The rain continued throughout Saturday night. We did not know what effect it might have on us until we got out of the hotel and started out to the service. Many people have been driven from their homes because of the rivers have breached their banks and the water is up to the roof lines.

Sunday’s service would be held in Amalapuram, the town’s congregation. All the congregations were invited to come to participate in a preaching and Sacrament Service. We intended to leave the hotel at 10:30AM but Sharat said we had to wait a little bit for the car. At 11 AM we still were waiting and by noon, Sharat finally informed me why we were waiting. I was told that a church family from Anam Pally congregation was walking on the road when one of the young girls, named, Alakya was struck by a car. Our driver had picked them up and taken her to the hospital. Having only received cuts and bruises, the hospital released her. I was able to meet up with her before church and talk to her a little and administer to her.

Alas we had reached the church building that sits back a couple hundred yards from the roadway. Today this short walk to church would be though standing water. I took off my shoes, dad wore his, but we trekked through the marsh and mire to reach our service. We joined with about a hundred brothers and sisters of India and we too went barefoot as we preached and gave to Lord’s Supper. We had a good preaching service by brother D. McIndoo then a Communion by Brother B. McIndoo, followed by testimonies and about a hundred administrations by brothers McIndoo.

Late Sunday afternoon we headed to the beach at the Bay of Bengal for a baptism service. I stood in the heavy surf trying to encourage the candidates that they would not drown as waves crashed over their heads, may showed great fear in the eyes. One man particularly was afraid and he threw himself on his knees in about six inches of water and started throwing water on his head. Somehow I communicated to him that I must baptize him, he could not do it himself. I got a hold of him, but it was like wrestling a six foot octopus to get him to allow me to immerse him; a huge wave assisted me in my endeavor. AS I conducted the baptisms a huge storm rolled over and threatened to soak the spectators watching from the beach.

The rain storm had subsided and with all six people baptized and cloths changed we held the conformation service on the beach.

On The following days we held services in villages set back in the jungles. A devoted man named Sudarshan oversees three different congregations, and they we anxious to have us come and teach. Often we met on front porches or in empty rooms that only had a few mats on the floor and a couple of plastic chairs. The jungles are beautiful and the settings for the service are remarkable, but a picture in no way captures the flavor of this place. My father had taught them the duties of being a good Christian and church member; I taught them how to build a spiritual church, using my model church.

View Full Album

After our final service, we headed back to Rajahmundry, were we would spend the night then fly out the next day. Two of our young members, Pinky and Brown, live and go to school in Rajahmundry and we met them for supper. As always they wanted a class after supper and on this day they wanted to see my church building presentation. We went to our room, and there I gave the final presentation using my church building. These two young people are sharp and have studied the scriptures. It did not take much effort to get them to participate and answer the questions I pose while constructing Christ’s spiritual church.

We had departed India and arrived home safely. We thank you for your prayers on our behalf as we ministered the gospel in India.

Twiga Tracks – India (#2)

2010-09-06T15:34:00.001+03:00

Having spent a cozy night in our hotel, we headed out for our first service of the trip to a small village called Komara Giri Patnum. Here, there is a young enthusiastic man named Jacob. I call him enthusiastic because he would have us come to his village twice a day every day if he could persuade us to do so, among other things.

Our driver had parked on the main road and we walked up a concrete path lined with tropical foliage growing in villager’s yards until we reached Jacob’s property. We of course could hear the singing being broadcast via PA system long before we could see Jacob’s house. Even when we had arrived I still did not see Jacob’s house. He had torn it down and leveled the ground, for as he puts it, God had told him to build a bigger church, and this was the only place he had to do it. He was now living in a makeshift structure near where his block home had once stood.

We proceeded by the home of the future church to where we would hold our service. The building was temporary, a A-frame structure that looked more like a thatch roof sitting on the ground. Both ends of the building were closed off with old planks positioned close enough together to prevent any real circulation in the room, which would have been nice on this hot humid day. Ducking through a four foot doorway, we entered the building where about thirty people awaited us. We became instantly greeted by the hot fetid air in the room. We sat back and listened as various members of the congregation took turns at the microphone to sing a song that was broadcasting to the entire village. The congregation joined in the singing but they could not be heard over the two large horn speakers mounted on the roof. At the end of their singing, Jacob’s sons came and placed a garland made of marigold flowers around each of our necks. These garlands are a use as a badge of honor and reserved for dignitaries, pagan god’s, and respected guests, and I hope we were the later.

After about an hour of singing, it came time for my father to deliver his first memorable sermon in India, with Sharat translating for him. He stood in the very small space between the pulpit, that Jacob somehow obtained, and a palm tree log that had been split in half and the two halves were positioned at each end of the building to hold the palm frown roof up. About forty minutes into his sermon my father began telling a story from his experiences in Mexico. I had looked at him and noticed he was perspiring, but that was no surprise I was soaked myself. Halfway through the story he stopped talking and stared across the room for a several seconds then fell back hard against the split palm log holding up the roof. I started to stand and ask if he was Ok, but before I could reach him, he had crumbled into a pile on the ground. In about thirty seconds he was back among us. We do not know exactly what caused the problem; the long demanding flight, irregular eating and sleeping schedules, or the lack of our anticipated good hot cup of coffee in the morning. It might have been a combination of all of the above, but my father said, “If nothing else, they’re not going to forget me.” With Brother Don sitting in a chair and two brothers fanning him, he finished his sermon, preaching for another thirty minutes. He is a diehard missionary. After the sermon Jacob’s family presented my father with a colorful scarf, often used in India. They draped it over his shoulders and I snapped a picture, then it came off, it is too hot to add another layer of covering.

After our meeting Jacob and his family exercised their genuine hospitality. As I had told my father, “they will kill us with kindness,” and when you’re diabetic those words are literal. The food started coming; curry chicken, gari, puri, apples, bananas, coconut water. They pile it on your plate and won’t stop even when you tell them enough! enough! After we were filled to capacity, here came a round of fried eggs, and they only want us to eat four or five of them. As we ate, Jacob’s children stood behind us with a fan trying to see to our comfort.

We made it back into town by late afternoon and I took advantage of the time to go hunt out some sort of water heater. I managed to find a submergible water heater for about 350 Rupees, about seven US dollars. We were in business; hot water bucket baths, hot coffee, and our own dehydrated meals for supper for the duration of the trip. We will be living the good life.

We returned to Jacob’s congregation the next day also. This time I taught a two hour class about building Christ’s church, using a small model church I had built out of wood. I had given the class once before in India and the new congregations here had requested I bring it and give the lesson to them.

It seemed hotter than the day before. I actually think the temperature was cooler, but the humidity was higher. This time I was in the hot seat, standing before the congregation teaching for two hours. I was soaked by the time I was done: the only thing dry on me was my pant legs from the knees down and my shoes. I mention that because shoes don’t always stay dry.

After the class we administered to everyone in the congregation then had another round of Jacob’s hospitality and once again had an over indulgence of curry chicken and accompaniments.

Watching the weather reports prior to making this trip, they promised thunderstorms every day. For the first two days of our trip, we had seen clouds but not much rain. But the thunderstorms and rain did come. After an all night rain we set out to Somi Devar Palem, where Raju is the leader. The roads were flooded, water lapping at the top steps of the roadside businesses.

Somi Devar Palem was high enough we did not have to wade, but everything was muddy as we walked to the church and to Roju’s home for lunch. We ad a good meeting with my father preaching without further sleeping on the job. After administering to 90% of the congregation we headed for lunch of gari and curry chicken.

On the way back from the service we stopped to see Sharat’s wife, of about a year and his four month old son, Timothy. Sharat coordinates our meetings, makes our hotel and car/driver reservations and usually translates for us while we travel in India.

The rain continued thought out the night, and I will continue later.

Twiga Tracks – India

2010-09-04T15:13:00.001+03:00

I have heard it said, “Don’t be a tourist, be a traveler,” and travel we did. Getting there is sometimes more than half the work.

Don McIndoo and I escaped the hot summer day in Phoenix by setting out to an even hotter and humid setting on the other side of the world. We embarked on our journey Monday morning. Saying that it was not going to be an easy trip would be the understatement of the year. The journey was as fatiguing as I promised my father, it would be. After five separate flights and a long drive we finally reached our hotel in Amalapuram, India, a dirty little city swarming with small motorcycles, three wheeled auto-rickshaws and overloaded trucks all honking their horns at anything that moves. Time check of arrival: 5 PM Wednesday. Granted, there is a twelve and a half hour time difference, but that still makes for a long day.

On the 4^th leg of the trip, we had arrived in Hyderabad. My father was seated in the front of the airplane, I was in the back. They had me exit out the tail section and head to a bus that would transport me to baggage claim. My father did not see me make my exit out the back, but I was unconcerned believing we would end up on the same bus. It was only when the bus had pulled away that I saw the front of the plane exited into a jet way to the second level of the airport. Armed police barred the entrance back to the secured jet way and my father waited there as he was sure I must still be on the airplane, even though they told him was empty. I finally found an airline employee willing to go up to retrieve my father stranded in India with a missing son who had the tickets to the next scheduled flight.

The front of the hotel is only about 20 feet wide and faced with dirty black marble. You are embraced by hot fetid air as you enter the dark lobby. Like most business during the daytime hours, they had all the lights off, not to save energy, but to cut down on the heat. There is not much to see in the lobby anyway, just the top of the desk clerk’s head as he lounges on a short chair behind a tall count and a old red couch situated in the corner, often occupied by a long haired, bearded Hindu staring into some other realm.

Exhausted, we are taken to the room we will call home for the duration of our stay. I am not complaining, I knew from past experience to what we were heading, but I would like to briefly acquaint you with our India digs. The main room has pink painted walls, flaunting every stain and smudge it has ever acquired since its one and only painting years ago. The room is modestly furnished; two twin beds with broken down thin hard mattresses over a piece of plywood, covered with one sheet and a stained wool blanket. There is a beat up coffee table and end table that match a single wall cabinet that is about to fall apart. However it is air-conditioned, you have a choice, cold or hot and if the power goes out, which it does several times a day, you have to head down stairs and ask them to reset your breaker. The room comes with a ceiling fan that has high speed or off. Then there are the cool things you just don’t get everywhere; a TV that turns itself on at its own will, and a florescent light that never completely turns off, it is kind of like have your own personal aurora-borealis above your bed all night. The bathroom is hot since the AC does not pipe into it. The mirror and tiled walls are covered with spattered stains of what I don’t know and am probably happy I don’t know. It has a toilet and for the first time, we got one that flushes and has a thin plastic seat. A small sink is mounted to the wall and its faucet is so corroded and green I am truly surprised that it runs water. The shower sprays into the room soaking everything, but no shower head. When I pointed out the lack of head on the shower, they said, “Use the bucket”. Yes, they supplied a plastic bucket and it sat in the corner of the room. The shower had a hot and cold valve, both delivering cold rusted water. And the final assessor is the faucet eight inches off the floor next to the toilet, used in place of toilet paper, (you have to sort that out in your own mind).

The first morning we tried to outsmart the no hot water to bath dilemma. I had brought a submergible water heater with me in order to heat water for bathing, to heat water for some dehydrated meals we brought with us, (hotel has no restaurant) and to heat water for instant coffee in the morning (since no one can make coffee without sugar and cream.) When we plugged in the heater it sent out a big spark and burned up.

After our cold bucket baths and no hot coffee we struck out to the street in hopes of finding a roll of toilet paper and a bar of soap, neither of which comes with the room, not a necessary commodity here in India.

We were settled in for the duration and ready to go to work.

Karibu Kenya.wmv

2010-07-08T21:55:00.000+03:00

India Children Sing

2010-06-17T00:36:00.003+03:00

Congregations Singing

2010-05-31T06:11:00.001+03:00

Twiga Tracks – Final Report – May 10

2010-05-29T02:03:00.001+03:00

We have come to the end of our April - May trip, in fact we have arrived home earlier this week and I am writing this report from my home in Phoenix, Az. Our trip had been shorted by the volcanic activity keeping us from departing for East Africa as scheduled. The same volcanic activity also threatened to extend our trip as its eruptions were canceling flight throughout Europe just days before our departure. However, the day we left the volcano ceased and we made our way home unimpeded and thankful.

Duane, Moses Ohuru, Michael Otero, and I packed our bags and left Kisii, Kenya and headed south to western Tanzania. Soon after we crossed the border we received a phone call from the Tanzania coordinator, Elphas Odira. He informed us that our brother, Tobias Simbo had died early that morning. Tobias had been sick for some time, in fact I had asked for prayers from him on our trip last November. You might remember his picture I took in his home when we went to administer to him. Tobias was a great help and a dedicated worker in Tanzania. We hoped someday he would serve in the ministry, but that was not to be. We will return to Tobias a little later in this report.

We had the opportunity to do what we are called to do on our first full day in Tanzania. On our past few trips a couple of men that were leaders of some small groups of people had attended our meeting and listened to our teaching. Now they had asked us to come to their groups and teach them about the Church of Christ. We held a meeting at a place called Mtana, but also at our meeting was two other groups from nearby locations, called, Masurura and Begi.

We arrived meeting spot in Mtana and were greeted by Francis, our leader from Riogoro who had been working with these groups. Francis is pictured in the white suit. After parking, we followed host to a type of ground level tree house that would serve for the church. We marveled as person after person entered into the round shelter made of broken limbs woven together creating walls around the perimeter of a tree which provided the roof. When we entered we found about a hundred people gathered in the makeshift tree house shelter waiting to hear our message. Many wanted baptized, but we asked them to wait and receive more teaching when we returned. We explained we did not want numbers, but true converts, so they need to make sure they have a witness of the truth of our teachings before they are baptized. Hospitality is a must in Tanzania, so before they would allow us to depart they had to first feed us. By mid afternoon we finally were able to depart on for our five-hour drive to Mwanza, the furthest southern church we have in Tanzania.

Our Sunday Service was held at Mwanza in the little building with a thatch roof full of holes. In spite of discomforts the people gathered to worship and hear the word preached.

The following morning we would backtrack towards the border, stopping half way to hold services at Kibakari.

We had recently purchased land in Kibakari for them to build their own church on rather than renting. This was their first time to meet on the new plot of land. We gathered under a tree to be out of the sun and rain. Directly behind were we met we could see the foundation they had begun for their future building. Gathered with us at Kibakari were the members from Pida, and Geneva. We had songs, testimonies and preaching. That afternoon we drove back to the border town of Tarime to spend the night near Kitembe where our Brother Tobias would be laid to rest the following day.

May 18^th, 2010 was the day the church members met with friends and family of Brother Tobias Simbo to lay his body to rest. I really never know what to expect during these types of ceremonies, even though I would be preaching the funeral sermon.

We arrived and parked the car in the midst of several hundred people gathered around Tobias home. Some people sat in a circle visiting one with another under a tree, others stood by the Tobias’ coffin contemplating his mortality in sadness, and a few women were in the business of great whaling. Off to one side there was a large group making food to serve the guests before they left.

After our arrival, the circle of people under the tree came closer together. The leader of Kitembe church officiated and asked everyone to gather in and keep a space in the middle for those who would speak. He invited a church member to read, the History of Tobias in the Church of Christ. After the history was read the family was welcomed to come and say some words about their loved one. The first to enter the open circle and speak was introduced as his mother, but relationships are different than what we are use to. It sounded more like it was his mother’s sister, who might have raised him. A brother-in-law came and spoke. He testified how Tobias had great faith that God would lift him up from his affliction, but if not he would be received into God’s Kingdom.

I was deeply touched as a pretty and young woman entered in the circle. With a soft voice and a collected demeanor she said she was Tobias’ wife of four years. She told us that Tobias was a good man and a good husband who took care of her and made her be good. She explained that she had given him two children and she cared for his other three children from his first wife who died five years ago. A long pause followed as she interlocked her fingers and placed the palms of her hands on top of her head. Large tears ran down her cheeks and her voice quivered, “I don’t know what to do. My roof leaks, I have these children to care for. I can only hope for help from my church family to carry me through.” Another long pause then she spoke, “I will miss you Tobias.” Then she walked off and stood by his coffin.

I was the next to take center stage and speak to the congregation, some were believers and some not. I preached about preparing in this life as Tobias did. I reminded them that we all will go to meet our maker and stand in His judgment. A lot of our members felt that the words God gave me to speak had made a real impact on those there. I guess time will tell. After I finished preaching, they carried the little white coffin out into the yard only a stones though from his home, where a deep hole had been dug. Tobias is gone from this world, and he is a friend and worker that will be missed by all that knew him.

Our final day in Tanzania was meeting with another new group in the border town of Tarime. A small group of eleven people met together in a hot little room, no bigger than ten feet by six feet. We did not get to start the service until they fed us breakfast, regardless that we had breakfast at the hotel only thirty minutes earlier. Following breakfast, Michael, Moses and I all spoke a little concerning the Restored Church of Christ. After we finished Duane preached a sermon-Lesson about the restoration. We had been invited back and hope we have a new congregation in Tarime someday.

After returning to Kenya we held services at four more locations, including Sunday Service at Mesisita wherein Sai, Getuka, Omwaro, and Mwata had also attended with us. It was a blessed day, but when church and the meal was over we had to head back to our house to pack for our journey back to Nairobi in the morning and flight home in the evening.

We thank God for this time and blessings he had granted us on this trip as we engaged in a variety of things, including a ten-year anniversary celebration, weddings, baptisms, baby blessings, funerals, outreach to new contacts, fellowship with Brothers and sisters.

Na Mungu awabariki sana!

Twiga Tracks

2010-05-19T19:45:00.005+03:00

With only a few days left before our wives and Duane’s daughter, Michelle had to leave Africa for home, we scheduled ourselves for Sunday services at Kineni, one of our four official organized locals. It is a form of torture to take my wife to Kineni just before she leaves Kenya. The congregation is so delightful that we feel like we are at home and you are leaving your family when you have to go.

The pastor, Elder Moses Ohuru and his wife Norah were impeccable hosts when they took us into their home and fed us after the service. I managed to get a picture of Moses’ entire family after church, including his mother who has finally agreed to leave their families land and old home and move to the house Moses built near the church in Kineni. Moses, being the youngest son, has the responsibility to care for his mother in her old age.

Moses’ youngest child and son, Brian managed to walk all by himself to me. If there are no more sons then Brian will be the one to take care of Moses and Norah in their old age. One can say we had a good day of fellowship and worship.

Since Duane has never preached there and Kathy has never been to the Kilgoris congregation we decided that it would be our next stop, and the last service for the girls. The Kilgoris congregation, as usual, welcomed us in, sang songs and listened intently to the sermon.

They have a crop of sweet kids, most of which belong to the leader, Paul and his with Ester. Ester recently gave birth to her fifteenth child, however they only have thirteen, after loosing two. That is not a surprise due to the high child mortality rate here in Africa.

Duane and I took the Girls back to Nairobi then off we will go to Tanzania.

Twiga Tracks – 10th Anniversary

2010-05-13T15:24:00.001+03:00

May 7th, 2000 – that was the date of the 1st Church of Christ service in Kenya. Smith Brickhouse and I had hired a car and driver in Nairobi and suffered the agony of terrible roads for many hours on end before arriving in Kisii Kenya.

The following day, 7th, May 2000 are large group of about 100 people gathered in a field outside the home of Nina Osaka where the first service in Kenya took place, (pictured here) :

Now fast forward ahead ten years to 8th May 2010. In a rented building in Kisii Town, 1200 people, (according to the registration upon their arrival), gathered together to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Church of Christ in Kenya. Only about a thousand could get a seat inside, while the others stood in the back or outside listening to the service and rejoicing in their longevity.

Just a little history about how the work started ten years ago. After our initial service in Kababe , we invited all interested people to come to a series of classes held in Kisii town. For a week we taught the Restored Gospel of Christ.

After we finished our week in town, several of the students took us to their villages so we could teach there also. We met under trees or many times crowded into small dark thatch roofed, mud walled huts, such pictured here in Sengera.

Among those people who received these first teachings were Elders Moses Ohuru, Michael Otero, Simon Monari, and Priests Moses Nyamira and Moses Mokeri and our coordinator, Margret Moraa.

Ten years ago in the month of May there were twenty-six people baptized. (You can see them pictured here).

At our Anniversary meeting, not all twenty-six of those original members were in attendance. Some had passed away, while others had decided to walk another path, the broad path mentioned in the scriptures. But eleven original members were present and stood and testified words to encourage the people to endure as they had done, for they had been blessed by remaining faithful through the trials, persecutions and struggles over the past ten years. I am sad to report because of my position on the stage and a strong backlight I was hindered from taking good pictures during our meeting. However, I will show this picture of James Omundi, and elderly man that was among the first baptized. James has always remained faithful and a great support to the church. He was the first of the original members we asked to speak, while Margaret translate into English for our benefit.

Congregations that had never met one another, from the eastern coast to the western border of Kenya now sat together and worshiped together truly knowing they were one in Christ. One of the highlights was when several different choirs came up to sing. A dull roar went up in the crowd which was predominantly tribes from the Gusii people, tribes such as Kisii, Kilengi, and Kulia. We had called for the Kilgoris Congregation to come and sing. About eight Maasai men and women dressed in traditional attire of red robes and beads took stage. Gusii and Maasai had been enemies throughout the years. Maasai our a traditional people and easily converted to the Christian faith. Though many of the congregations had heard rumor that we had members of the Maasai tribe in the church, now they witnessed them first hand. The Maasai sang a traditional song in a traditional way and the congregation cheered and were greatly uplifted to have been in a meeting together.

Duane preached a sermon, to probably the largest congregation of Church of Christ members ever assembled in on modern days. Following the sermon I gave a presentation with a slide show of the history and progress of the Church of Christ in Kenya over the past ten years.

For your benefit, the history includes us returning to Kenya, even many of the Kisii thought we wouldn’t, because that was their experience with most churches who had come there before. We had continued to teach in the villages, drawing large groups eager to hear the gospel message. We converted many more to the Church, we performed the ordinances of the gospel among them by blessing their little children , conducted baptism and conformation services, as seen in theses historical pictures.

Another major advancement for us, was the purchase of our own vehicle, a Land Rover. Oh the days of the Land Rover, who could ever forget them? Those whom have been here during those days never will forget. Our Land Rover was a blessing, it afforded us the freedom to come and go as we needed, however it was in a need of constant repair. Everyday it seemed the same, repair the Land Rover in the village to get home, head to Jolly’s shop to get it running for the next day.

In 2004 we had upgraded, and the fix and repair day has stopped.

On the 8th of May, 2010 we met together for five hours in celebration , memories and worship. We had received a great blessing that day. The rains have been very hard here in Kisii; every day and night it rained. If rained as usual the night before the Anniversary meeting, about half of the people would not have made it out of their villages. That night, and that night only, there was no rain and it seems that everyone that wanted to come was able.

Throughout the past ten years, thirty-four people from America have come to visit the Kenyan churches, those that came included six Apostles, one Evangelist, six Elders, one Priest, one Teacher, four brothers, and fifteen sisters. Nineteen of those who have been here had sent their greetings and letters of encouragement to the anniversary celebration. The letters were read and greatly appreciated by the people in Kenya.

Today we have thirty strong congregations and eight men in the Priesthood, called out from among the Kenyan people. These men are diligent in their service to the members and dedicated to spread the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to whomever God has prepared to receive it.

Twiga Tracks

2010-05-07T22:18:00.001+03:00

Our labors continue by attending services at some of our established congregations. Sunday service was at a long time running congregation called Magwagwa.

Duane preached and I had to take a picture as he stood behind the pulpit that proudly bore the name, Missouri.

We also went to the newest congregations in Kenya, about 75 Kilometers outside Kisii on the Tanzania border. Fifty-seven people from two new congregations met together in a small mud walled building at a place called Masaba. The walls of the building have eroded from the rains and there are holes in the walls large enough to throw a country ham through. The members there are from the Kulia tribe , a close cousin to the Kisii tribe. Their native tongue is similar to the Kisii, but they have some different customs, many of which would not be acceptable to church of Christ members. Our people have been able to separate themselves from such customs.

After or worship and studies we drove a small group to a nearby stream, running only because of the heavy rains. Walking a ways back into the bush to a secluded spot, we baptized eleven souls into the body of Christ.

One courageous man who had only one leg, entered the fast moving water with his crutches sinking deep into the mud, and was also was baptized. I have to admit I was surprised when he came back from changing his cloth he carrying his crutches in one hand and was walking on two legs. I never figured anyone in the remote villages of Kenya would have a artificial leg, but he did.

We finished the day by going to the home of the Masaba congregation’s leader, named Elijah. He lives in a typical Kulia home, consisting of a couple of very small rooms with tiny holes for windows in the mud walls. Seven of us sat around a table in a room no more than 5 feet wide by 8 feet long. The room was too dark to see anything until your eyes adjusted then you could make out shapes. Ambient light came through the door opening , but when a down pour of rain came, the door went shut. Elijah stood in the other room, holding the tin roof together to stop a stream from drowning his bed. Elijah’s family of four live in the house, everyday. What excites me about Elijah is, he is focused on learning and sharing the gospel; he is content with what the Lord has provided in his temporal life.

We have spent much of our week preparing for the Kenyan 10 year anniversary meeting, going to be held in Kisii town on Saturday, May 8th. The first meeting in Kenya was held on May 7th, 2000. My next report will tell you how that went, and maybe some historical pictures from back in 2000 will be included.

Twiga Tracks

2010-05-01T22:14:00.001+03:00

DELAYS – is a suitable word to defines our April trip to Africa. The Icelandic volcano disrupting all flights in and out of Europe caused week long delay for us to start our journey. However, one week to the day after our scheduled departure, Duane, Kathy and Michelle Ely along with Becky and myself were airborne and about 24 hours later we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya.

The plan was to get a nights sleep then in the morning get a early start on our long drive from Nairobi to Kisii. We made our way over to pick up our truck, loaded it up with our luggage and a few groceries we can only get in Nairobi.

As a preventative measure to keep from being arrested at a police check point along the way, I decided to make a quick check and make sure everything was in order on our vehicle. What I found was another delay and another day gone. The vehicle inspection had expired in March and we could not drive without a current inspection. we got the inspection done by 5PM, to late to start on a 5 hour trip across Kenya. The three weeks the women had planned for in Africa had quickly whittled down to were they were only going to have a few days of meetings in congregations.

The drive from Nairobi to Kisii was unremarkable, unless it had been your first trip to Africa then the herds of giraffe, zebra and gazelles mingled amongst spear packing Masaai in their traditional red tunics would have caused you to pause and maybe even take a picture or two.

On our first day in Kisii I experienced a Kisii wedding for the first time. At first they told me I was going to perform the ceremony. I was a bit apprehensive about the notion. I had no idea what they would expect, and their is no such thing as a rehearsal to work that out. I was wondering what kind of vows they took, do I ask the bride if she is willing to haul a five gallon bucket of water on her head from the river and chop the firewood every day? I could not talk about, “Love” , there is no love involved in this, they have arranged marriages. Then while speaking to Margaret over the phone about the idea of me doing a wedding I asked her if it were even legal for me to do a wedding. Seems it wasn’t, only Moses Ohuru and Michael Otero are registered with the government to do wedding in Kenya for the Church of Christ. I was off the hook. The plan was altered and I would preach a sermon concerning marriage before Moses took over and gave them their vows. That, I was willing to do, it would provide a great opportunity to talk about God’s plan which forbids polygamy which is legal and practiced in Kenya, as well as speak to the congregation about the duties of husbands and wives.

We arrived at Mesisita Chrurch on the Wedding Day at the scheduled time , 11 AM. The place was all but empty, except a few men setting up a canopy in the church yard. They said they were running a little late. About 12:30 the bride, groom, wedding party, including the officiating minister finally arrived along with about a hundred guests, the other four hundred guests arrived at their leisure during the service.

The ceremony started with the wedding party of more than twenty young men in suits and ties followed behind thirty young girls and young women dressed in special gowns as they all paraded up the isle in typical African fashion (more of a dance), while a PA system played music loud enough for all the neighborhood to hear. In the back door , down the isle and out the front door they went, not once but twice before they took a seat and the bride came in escorted by her grandfather and grandmother to meet her groom. Before turning the bide over to the groom, the grandfather gave him a real lecture.

Eventually I did preach, then Moses officiated the ceremony, which had several things in common to the way I would think a service should go, then several things that I would have not known, like the raising their hand in slow motion and putting on the rings or the big ordeal about giving them their marriage certificate.

Cake followed the ceremony. I thought their was not enough cake for the five hundred people, but the cake was cut up and the bride and groom walked around and fed family, friends, special guests a bite of cake. I think most people got a bite during the event. All in all it was different but I found it most interesting to learn a little more about this culture.

I am also very happy that they have made it a practice to find a spouse within the church, because if they did not the girls would have to leave the Church of Christ and go where her husband went to church. The groom came from Nyamarambe local and the bride from Sae. May God bless their marriage.

Trip Cancelled

2010-04-19T00:45:00.002+03:00

The plan was for Apostle Duane Ely and myself, accompanied by our wives Becky and Kathy and Michelle Ely to be leaving this week for Kenya and Tanzania. We planned to hold a special meeting in celebration the 10th Anniversary of the work beginning in Kenya later this month.
All immediate plans of departure were abolished earlier this week with the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland. A blanket of ash spewing from the volcano has filed the airspace over Europe and closed the airspace to our connecting flights.
They say it is undetermined how long this might last, days weeks or years. Apparently volcanic ash introduced into a jet engine turns to glass and stops the engine, not a good thing at 30,000 feet. I am surprised how little coverage has been in the news about this event that has stranded thousands of passengers in European airports for the past five days. I am just grateful that I am not one of them and I am stranded at my home waiting until it is safe to resume our trip.
When we make it to Kenya I will keep you informed about our activities.

Twiga Tracks- Nigeria

2010-03-03T03:26:00.001+03:00

Come; let me introduce you to Nigeria. You should consider yourself fortunate to experience Nigeria from behind a computer monitor and in the comfort of your own home. There is nothing romantic about the place, and no television travel host will be going there for your entertainment. The only draw for us is to do the work of the Lord.

As we stepped off the airplane into the jet way we were met by a blast of very hot and extraordinarily humid air. Nigeria is in the Northern Hemisphere so January and February are there winter months also. Who would have dreamed January and February were their hottest months, due to it being their dry season. There would be no escaping the searing heat until we stepped back on to the airplane to leave.

Because of tailwind we arrived in Lagos an hour and a half early. Normally I would appreciate the reduced time spent in an undersized airplane seat, but this situation left us standing on the curb at the Lagos Airport waiting the hour and half for our contact to pick us up.

Eventually we made it to our hotel. There is nothing special about the establishments which we stay. They do have air conditioning as long as you have electricity and the only thing reliable about the electricity is that you can count on it going off, a lot, leaving you in a sweltering hot room. One should consider himself lucky if he can score a hotel room that has a toilet seat. Searching as if we were looking for buried treasure, we managed to find two rooms with seats in the fifty room hotel. It is a real plus if the toilet actually flushed also, we did not score that big. Hot water, showers, cleanliness are all option not to even consider looking for because they are not to be had.

After a night’s sleep we would wake at sunrise to the Muslim’s call to prayer blasting from the many Mosques’ minarets throughout Lagos. Lagos as well as any large Nigerian city, is an assault on the ears. People are always arguing and on the verge of a fist fight, horns are honking, generators are chugging away outside every business, and hawkers stand along the roadway calling for customers to come into a business.

Our first day we made the two and a half hour drive from the coastal town of Lagos to the north-east to Ibadan where most of our church congregations are found. Leaving the coast and heading inland did bring about a slight drop in the humidity.

We had hired a car and driver, which in this case was a small dangerous Daihatsu, so dangerous in fact that some countries do not allow them to be imported. Ours was old and held together with rusty wire. Our driver had tendencies to drive as fast as 80 MPH.

Trying to get a Nigerian to drive slower is like asking a hummingbird not to use one wing, a fish not to swim, a teenager not to text; you get the idea. There was a constant reminder of the great danger on the Nigerian roads as we past overturned trucks and dozens of twisted balls of steel and rubber along the roadway that were once Daihatsu, Toyotas, and other cars going 80MPH. Old bright yellow or green Land Rovers with rear ends raised by adding leaf springs and now serving as tow trucks stood at the ready along the road to extract the next fatal crash from the asphalt and dump it on the roadside as stark reminder of the danger and almost certain death. No one seems to see the message and the erratic driving continues. At one point in our trip, our driver tried to pass an eighteen wheeler truck. The truck did not want to be passed so he laid on his horn, pulled up alongside and then deliberately swerved into our lane crushing the left side of our car. Fortunately, because of traffic we were only going about 40MPH at that time and managed to walk way. We settled in to the backseat, without seatbelts, kicked back and endured the ride as if we enjoyed it, depending on the Lord to deliver us safely to our destination. The air is dirty from constant exhaust belching from generators, semi-trucks and old cars. Smoke fills the air from burning tires and rubbish. We were glad to be wearing sunglasses to keep the chunks out of our eyes, while the black haze filtered through our hair and caked up in every crease of our face and ears.

The filthy air is only part of the great pollution in Nigeria. The area is a sea of rust, and open sewers. Trash is built up everywhere you look.

Sinister looking policemen in black shirts and automatic weapons in hand are ever present and have road blocks set up every few kilometers. You never have the feeling they are there for your protection. That is the way it is in Nigeria, no matter where you are or what you are doing, there is an uneasiness lingering in you.

Even though it is predominately Islamic faith in Nigeria, there are more self-proclaimed Apostles, Evangelist, Prophets, Faith Healers, and Miracle Workers than anywhere else that I have been. Huge churches are everywhere. The majority of billboards depict a preacher leaning forward with microphone in hand, advertising his church. Posters by the thousands are pasted on every flat surface advertising a special healing or miracle service. I think this is a type of Nigerian scam. Most of you have received the e-mail telling of a million dollars waiting for you; just send your bank information to someone in Nigeria. They are famous for scams, and it is not all via internet. It is so bad, they have to write on their houses that the property is not for sell and remind them of the ordinance 419, about scams; otherwise someone will sell their house as if it was their own then leave with the money. Priestcrafts are a legal way to get rich with others money and not go to jail.

The traditional wear is loose fitting clothing that looks like pajamas; however in this heat I can see the benefits of their clothing. You can see it in the pictures of the leaders. The women’s clothing is similar but a little more fitted. Often a woman will adorn herself with a stiff, almost paper like cloth tired around her head. Such a headdress would be worn at all formal functions.

With that introduction to Nigeria, let us press forward. We Sunday morning at the congregation called Olunde, where Joseph Aluko is the leader. They have recently got the roof on the building so we were able to meet out of the sun. Duane preached a sermon then I conducted a Sacrament Service. After the service we were fed some type fried cracker that resembled fried pork rind.

Immediately following our morning service we headed to Joseph Omoo’s congregation called Akobo. We got there an hour before the congregation and as we waited, Joseph gave us cold bottle of something to drink. Apparently his wife made this concoction of plants and water. Duane spent the night with head in toilet; we suspect it was the effect of the mystery concoction. At Akobo we also held a preaching service, Sacrament service, and a baby blessing. Pictured here is of Joseph (the younger man), and an older man giving a testimony.

We held a study class for three of our leaders at the church office, then later that night we held a preaching and Sacrament service at Oloriha Oko congregation. This congregation has been struggling since their leader had died a few years ago. They use to have a good sized group, but now they only have a hand full. A young man has stepped up to be their leader, but he has been a little shy and has had a hard time keeping them together.

With all the congregations in Ibadan cared for, we drove four hours further north to visit two more of our groups. North of Ibadan we were able to pass through less populated area of Nigeria. As we drove through the countryside, we saw glimpses of Nigeria’s natural state. It would have been a beautiful jungle at one point in time, before civilization polluted it.

The buildings in these small country towns, once quite ornate when the British built them, look deserted, but they aren’t they just look that way.

Food stands are set up along the road to sell the staple foods of Nigeria. I have pictured a truck load of huge white fleshed yams. They eat them pounded and are similar to a mashed potato; just with no flavor. Along the road there is often someone holding a fresh killed, “bush meat”. We saw two kinds of bush meat trying to be sold, a small dik-dik deer and a giant rat.

Reaching Omu-Aran we held an evening preaching a Sacrament service. That congregation told us that they were going to have to vacate their present rented building and are hoping to buy a place of their own to meet at.

Whereas most of our American congregations use a piano, the instrument of choice in Nigeria is a drum. This is not just a drum to keep the time, but a complete set of drums and the drummer really bags it out, and I can never see the drumming being relative to the singing. I am not used to it, and I doubt I ever will be used to it. All but one of our congregations have a drums set and I do not intend to buy them one.

The next day we made another two-hour drive from Omu-Aran to the town of Ado for our final services, again preaching and Communion.

Waking up in our hotel the day we were scheduled to leave, we were informed there was no water. We drove six hours back to Lagos, faces black with grime as we arrived early afternoon. We hoped to clean up in the airport but found that the restrooms had no soap or towels. For unknown reasons they had the air conditioning off and a thousand people were packed in the hot building where we spent the next eight hours waiting for our flight. The heat was almost unbearable and our clothing was soaking wet. We were anxious to get on the airplane, but that was delayed two more hours from mechanical problems. Although we were wet and very dirty they let us on board and we made to America. We had missed our connecting flight from Atlanta to Phoenix, but eventual we made our way home, with a successful trip behind us.

The INDIA EXPRESS - Final

2010-02-10T02:48:00.005+03:00

We got her licked, and the Job done, for this trip anyway. I have included details of our final days of our January India trip as a well as a photo album of some of the interesting sites and people of India. I hope you enjoy.

View Full Album

Sharat took us to the side of the road near to where we had parked the car. He pointed out a painted coconut lying on the ground. He explained that the people paint these and hang them on their house to ward off evil. I had to wonder if they were trying to ward us off, but if they were it did not work. We moved unabated around the thick stands of coconut trees and rice paddies, visiting our churches and holding services. We could see the indigenous people at work peeling coconuts on a sharp sticks anchored in the ground, or planting rice in the recent plowed and watered fields. Others were bathing their water buffalo in one of many canals, while the women were washing their clothes downstream in the same canal.

Occasionally a Hindi parade or celebration would pass by and their high pitched flutes and snare drums would compete with our blaring PA systems, but nothing brought us to a halt.

Duane and I cannot speak with any authority on the subject, but as we trek through the palms among the thatch roof buildings, we suspect this area looks very much like the Philippines .

One of our evening services was at a village near the Bay of Bengal. Jacob, the leader, and his family are very hospitable and always try to take good care of us, the best they know how. As we sat up front waiting for the entire congregation to arrive, they brought us a glass of hot milk heavily laced with black pepper. In theory it was suppose to clear our throats, yet it seemed to have the opposite effect on me. This building seems to have been built to suit Jacob’s 5’2” stature, but as I preached, my head was only a few inches below the low hanging ceiling, and a nearby florescent light attacked a multitude of flying insects to swarm my face as I spoke. Never-the-less we had a complete sermon and pleasant meeting with 20 plus administrations which lasted till until 10PM. A large meal of curried chicken, eggs, fruit and India breads followed the meeting . The time pushing 11Pm we left the little village and made the long drive back to the hotel in the city.

Sadarsan, seen here singing, is one of our congregation leaders. A little over a year ago, he came to us, and asked through an interpreter, if we would allow him to try and spread the word about our church in his village and the villages around his area. Of course we gave him the go ahead and now he leads three separate congregations. We held services at all three, each having a completely different style of place to worship. As you see pictured, one meets under a shade shelter between two buildings, another meets in a small wooden building with bamboo walls, another meets on the front porch of a home and finally we have the one near Sadarsan’s home where we met under a canvas awning erected in the middle of the road.

After our morning service and meal of curry chicken serviced on a banana leaf, we drove a couple hours back to Rajahmundry where we met with Pinky once again and had a study class in the evening.

The following morning after breakfast, we started our forty-seven hour , five flight, trip home .

The INDIA EXPRESS

2010-02-05T02:36:00.004+03:00

On or first full day in India we had services in the town of Alalapuram, were we have one of our congregations. Joining us were the members of five other villages in this general location.

I won’t make a big deal about the names of each of these places, because if your anything like me, names like Komargiripatum and Somidevarpalem I cannot remember nor pronounce them. It should suffice to use the leader's name of each group. If you want the village name, let me know I will tell you, but I will give you a test later and spelling counts.

Our first service was on a Sunday morning. I marvel how God gives me so many opportunities to exercise and practice patience in my missionary work. We were suppose to leave the hotel at 10 AM. Sharat who had a room across the hall came to get us at 11:20 AM. My nerves were strung as tight as a banjo string. I tried to keep them in check, but I guess only Duane or Sharat can tell you if I did or not.

We finally left the hotel and went to the upper room of a large building where the Alalpuram group meets, with Sharat as their leader. As stated earlier, joining us were the members from the various missions so we could have a Preaching and a Communion Service together.

The congregation was waiting for us as we arrived. As custom, the women in their traditional bright colored dresses called sarees, made themselves comfortable sitting on mats positioned on the concrete floor.

While most of the women sat on one side of the room, the men, in common western attire, but without ties, shoes or tucked in shirts, sat in chairs on the other side of the room. Typically the women outnumber the men three to one at any given service, and our membership reflects the same. The group was attentive and several gave their testimonies during our meeting.

After our service, everyone was fed to capacity with well seasoned rice and a couple of curry dishes. While the congregation finished eating, Duane and I took to the task of administering to about thirty men, women and children.

______________________________

Late Sunday afternoon we assembled ourselves in two vehicles then headed to the Bay of Bengal to perform a baptism service. There were eight candidates from the various congregations.

Here at the Bay of Bengal we clearly satisfied the scriptural requirements of using, “much water” to perform a baptism. Duane and one of the leaders held on tightly to the fearful baptism candidates as they watched the monster sized waves, one after another, coming towards them. Timing had to be perfect or all would be washed away and out to sea. None were lost.

As the sun set behind the dunes and palm trees , we conducted the confirmation service, there on the beach., followed by the Hand of Fellowship to our eight new members of the Church of Christ.

Confirmation and Hand of Fellowship

One of the most remarkable events also occurred on this day at the beach. Being a weekend, and a public beach, as one might expect, we were not alone at the beach. We walked past the crowds and down the beach to an unoccupied spot, but we were clearly in the view of the beachgoers. Two white Americans walking on a beach in Southern India, surely did not go unnoticed. Just about the time Duane had entered the water and started to baptize, I saw a large gang of young men in their late teens and early twenties, coming towards us, then stopped a few feet away. I was ready for them to disrupted, ridiculed or even persecuted us in this predominantly non-Christian nation.

But in a few moments a young man stepped out of the group and walked over and began practicing his English on me, wanting to know where I was from and what we were doing there. After I explained he politely asked if he could take a picture with me. I complied. This group walked a few feet away then stopped and watched.

A few moments later, a second group of young men arrived on the scene. They approached and tried to talk, but they only knew a few words in English and my Talugu and Hindi was even more limited. They too wanted to know what we were doing, but he could not understand my word, baptism. Soon the first young man came back to my rescue and translated the word. They were overjoyed to know what I was telling them and I could detect they were all talking about the Christian practice of baptism, and that is what we were doing.

What touched me was their curiosity to know what we were doing in their country and then the respect they gave, even if it was not what they personally believed or practiced in their homeland.

I have seen this in Africa also, as we ask swimmers to let us use their swimming hole for a few moments, and they just sit quietly on the banks of a river or stream and let us do our ceremony.

In the same circumstances I believe the demeanor of Americans would be greatly different, and we are predominately a Christian Nation.

The INDIA EXPRESS

2010-02-02T05:42:00.005+03:00

The alarm rang in the darkness early Thursday morning. Forty-seven hours and five flights later Duane Ely and I arrived in AP India. For the majority of you that have never been to India, let me try to acquaint you with exactly where we were on the sub-continent sitting east of Africa and below Asia and is almost surrounded by the Indian Ocean.

First leg of our journey was to fly across the United States. Then in Minneapolis we caught a trans-atlantic flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Changing planes once again we made our way across Europe then dropped down over Afghanistan and Pakistan then into the Northern regions of India and landed at Delhi.

The Delhi Airport was covered with a dense fog, which had a odd glow because of the airport's amber lighting. As we took a bus from the International Airport to the Domestic Airport, all we could see was an occasional tail section of a nearby jumbo jet looming out of the amber glow. After several hours in the airport we caught a flight straight south to the southern half of the sub-continent until we reached the city of Hyderabad. At Hyderabad we boarded a small prop plane and flew further east until we landed at Rajahmundry.

At the Rajahmundry airport we met by Sharat who acts as our India coordinator – translator - escort. Also there to meet us was a young lady recently baptized named Pinky. Pinky is in Rahajmundry to go to school.

We went with Sharat and Pinky to have some lunch before driving the remainder of our trip.

After lunch, we wedged ourselves into the back seat of a rental SUV and had a driver drive us for a hour and a half south-easterly to the city of Amalapuram. Amalapuram is located along the East coast of the Bay of Bengal. This small town was our home for the next several days. From Amalapuram we will visit six churches in the area, some taking over an hour to drive to.

We checked into a zero-star hotel, by 4PM Saturday, and we had nothing further planned for the day; except sleep.
Now that you know exactly where you landed in India, come join me next time for the villages, people and meetings.

INDIA

2010-01-26T14:08:00.003+03:00

Coming soon will be a report of our travels to Southern India. Hope you come back and join us for a week in INDIA

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Photos from Years past:

2009-12-14T01:13:00.002+03:00