This is the time that it always starts to get real! We start planning for the next year's trip after about a two month break after we return from Kenya in early August. We communicate details of the next year's trip to interested people in November and have a planning and informational meeting in December. By the end of January, people make their decision and commitment if they are joining the team. From that point on, time passes as a blur and we are boarding our flight to Kenya before we know it. That time is now upon us.
If you've been on a previous team, you know what I mean. The anticipation of going back builds momentum and there's a real excitement to get back in-country. A significant part of this trip is in relationship building, and we look forward to seeing friends we've made over the previous twelve trips. We have come to love the SWOK staff and feel that our lives are intertwined with theirs. We get to build on family relationships and get to work with and spend quality time with the SWOK sponsored education students on our daily projects serving around Nakuru, Kenya, where we are based for the eleven days we are in-country. And another benefit of working in the same area year after year is that we get to see first hand the tangible improvements in areas where ministry efforts have been focused. One of these is the Gituamba community where we have had a hand in building and expanding and adding to the Jeannette Keyton Conely Primary School every year.
We are blessed this year to have a US team of ten, with eight veterans of multiple trips and two first timers. Our team is composed of Steve Trandahl, Sarah Harris, Joshua Peterkin, Charlotte Peterkin, Dale Plumber, Debbie Plummer, Sandy Stevens, Josh Stevens, plus Andi and myself, Jim. For three of us, this is our thirteenth trip. The trip has gotten more complicated since Andi and I move to Waco last summer. Our team is now composed of individuals from three states: Texas, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We have held all of our monthly planning meetings by Zoom, but now the complicated part of the logistics begins. Andi and I leave on Monday morning to start the drive back to Pennsylvania with all the team supplies. All the packing and organizing begins on Wednesday at Bethlehem Church in Thornton, and we are ready to leave by next Sunday morning when a charter bus takes us in the early hours to New York and JFK for our non-stop flight to Nairobi via Kenya Airways. We arrive on 7/20 and travel the following day by van to Nakuru where we will be based until we return on 7/31.
Africa and Kenya specifically have a way of getting into your system and drawing you back and never really letting you leave in spirit. We have met wonderful and amazing people there and we cherish the opportunity to get to spend this time with them each summer. Another reason I look forward to going back each year is that it redirects my focus. It is so easy to live in a first-world country and get the mistaken impression that everyone lives like we do. THEY DON'T. In spite of the impression you might get from the mainstream media and the discontent shown by so many, we in America live in the greatest nation on earth. We are blessed beyond measure, and I honestly don't know why. We have "progressed" to the point that all we want is more, and we have forgotten that everything we have comes from God. The Kenyan people are humble and thankful in spite of their circumstances, and they praise God for how He has blessed them. Their faith and thankfulness is amazing and humbling. I look forward to going to Kenya each year for many reasons, but a major reason is that it recharges my “gratitude quotient” and refocuses my priorities. The Kenyan Christian operating philosophy seems to be solidly based on Habakkuk 3: 17-18, which says "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
Other team members will be posting updates throughout our trip, but I have gotten in the habit of writing a blog post every day. I don't mean to speak for everyone, and the blog is from my observations and perspective, and some might not agree with everything I write. I take full responsibility for what I write so if you don't agree with something I say, don't blame others for my words.
I also don't want to offend anyone, and it's not my objective to be preachy or get overly religious, but I need to be true to what I believe. This is a team made up of Christians from six different churches, and our charter is to go do what we can to help and "be the hands and feet of Jesus". We do what we do because we are Christians and we believe we have a moral obligation to help our brothers and sisters wherever they are. The fact that we go doesn't make us any better than anyone else, and it doesn't "earn" us anything. Although Jesus calls us to do good works, we do them out of gratitude for His sacrifice and the grace He showed us in saving us. That’s the reason we go. We want to exemplify the words of Isaiah 58: 10-11, which says: "...and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." There are plenty of non-Christian groups that do similar humanitarian projects, and their efforts are equally valid. The need for such efforts is huge, and there’s more than enough work to be done. There is plenty of work to be done in Kenya, and we feel the Lord has called us there. We have been blessed to work with the same group of individuals for the last twelve years, and we have established relationships with brothers and sisters there. We're thrilled to be working with them again this year.
We are blessed to be able to work through and for SWOK with Bill and Chat Coble and their team of fantastic Kenyans. They have become dear friends, and we look forward to seeing and working with them each year. When you get a chance, take a look at the SWOK website. (http://startwithonekenya.org/) If you feel so inclined, their ministry can always use funds, and you can donate easily through their site or through the link on this blog. Your funds will be used wisely. Their mission is difficult, but their philosophy is simple: Start With One. If you look around in Kenya, the possibilities are limitless but complex. Everywhere you look, there are problems and issues, and it would be easy to become overwhelmed with the magnitude of the work that needs to be accomplished to improve the lives of the people. But you're not going to get anywhere if you don't get started somewhere.
So you Start With One -
One problem.
One individual.
One school.
One church.
One community.
And eventually, if you keep at it, you'll change One Nation.
And you look forward and you get started. And you know what? Positive change happens, and the ball gets moved forward toward the goal. I've personally witnessed it. In the last twelve years of going to Kenya, I have seen positive progress every single year, and when I look back on the same issues and places, the improvement is phenomenal. Start With One Kenya has a multi-faceted mission, including clean water, construction, vision care, education, improved health care and access to economic opportunities. Over the two weeks that we are in Kenya, I hope to give you a window through this blog into the phenomenal work that SWOK does. Stay tuned and you'll get a chance to see how your sponsorship of this Team has helped SWOK to make a difference.
As a side note, you'll see a sidebar on the left side of this page. You can click the "Follow" button if you'd like to receive an automatic email notification any time I publish a new blog post, and you can also leave comments to blog posts in this sidebar if you'd like. The next post won’t go up until we are on the ground in Kenya on July 20. Stay tuned!
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