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2009
Mission Trip to Africa
Daily
Blogs:
Tuesday, November 3
Thursday, November 5
Friday, November 6
Saturday, November 7
Sunday,
November 8
Monday,
November 9
Thursday, November 12
Group
Reports
Tuesday,
November 3, 2009
Greetings
from Kenya! God blessed our travel--no difficulties in two full
days of travel and the water filter duffles made the trip well.
During the trip our team was able to minister to military
personnel as well as folks traveling home to Kenya. We spent
Monday night at Hampton House owned by our SBC International
Mission Board in Nairobi. Today, Tuesday, we are shopping for
supplies and materials for our teaching and will do our eight
hour difficult trip to Maralal and the northern villages
tomorrow. Charlie and Sandra Daniels and family came to Nsirobi
to meet us last night, and we have already been blessed by our
time with them.
Please be in
prayer for our travel tomorrow, then we will be in six different
villages in the Samburu country the following six days. I will
be preaching in each village as well as in Charlie and Sandra
home village church on Sunday, and our team will be doing one on
one evangelism and water purification as well as ministry to the
children.
Thank you
again, Mimosa Lane, for providing us the funds for the water
purification and for the tremendous send off that you did for us
on Sunday morning...
We love you,
Bob
Thursday,
November 5, 2009
WOW...it is
Thursday evening, and what a day! We traveled this morning up
the mountain on rough trails to a grassy area where eight
villages came together to meet with us. As we traveled up the
mountain trail, we could see the village groups in full color
dress coming across mountains from all directions singing
praises to the Lord. Some walked as far as 10 miles over
mountain terrain and when all arrived, we had over 1,200
including 400 children who had come to hear us. Most of us were
moved to tears as we watched the folks coming in from the
surrounding areas.
Each of us
shared. The elders from each village selected the 25 homes that
would today receive water system training and the initial
systems. In addition to our water training, Karen did training
for school teachers in the villages, Ashley and Carolyn did
activities with the children and shared the bears that our
children had made for them at Camp Gap as well as candy and
other items. We were then surprised as each of us received gifts
that they dressed us in with colorful beads, hats, belts,
necklaces, etc. As they presented them to us, their women
gathered around us to sing and chant songs glorifying God.
The group
presented Charlie and Sandra with a home that they had built for
them there in the mountains so that they do not have to travel
back and forth from Maralal each time they come to be with them.
Area pastors
and translators invited a group who had not received Christ to
listen, and I shared, then gave invitation for them to meet with
us individually and receive more information. Out of 40 to 50
folks in the group, we led 21 individually to receive Christ,
and many of them were village elders who will have so much
influence in their villages.
Tomorrow,
Karen does her children's leadership training, and I conduct the
pastors training/conference while our team does door to door
evangelism here in Maralal. Tomorrow afternoon, we will do
evangelism in a local retirement center. Then back to the
mountain areas and repeat, as the Lord leads, today.
Thanks for
your prayers...we love you, Bob
Friday,
November 6, 2009
It is Friday
night, and another GREAT day! Karen had a good group at the
children's ministry training, and I had a good group at the
Pastor's Conference this morning, and the participants were so
responsive. While we were teaching, our other team members went
with their translators out on the streets of Maralal and had the
experience of leading 51 people pray to receive Christ. Then, we
went to a retirement center for aged adults and a children's
home for the grandchildren of these seniors here in Maralal.
These children's parents are deceased, most dying of AIDS or
killed by bandits stealing their cattle. We had the opportunity
to minister and speak to the senior adults and distributed candy
and the ML teddy bears to over 100 children.
We continue
to be burdened by the level of poverty in this place but
encouraged by the openness to the gospel. Our team members have
all fallen in love with the Samburu people. We have now had the
opportunity to lead a total of 72 people to Christ in the past
two days. Tomorrow, we have another rough trip to another
isolated village area and minister to the adults and children.
Please be in prayer as we will be sharing Christ and providing
them with water purification systems.
We also
continue to be blessed by the ministry of Charlie and Sandra
Daniels as we see fruits of their labor since leaving our church
to come to this place. Their hospitality has also been a
blessing to our team. For those of you who know the Daniels
family, you might enjoy knowing that their older sons, Travis
and Sam, arrived as we did and we have had opportunity to renew
relationship with them.
Again, thank
you for your continued prayers. Internet access is very limited
but I will continue to update as much as possible...
To God be the
Glory, Bob & Africa Team
Saturday,
November 7, 2009
Well, it is
Saturday night, and days just keep getting better. Today,
we traveled to a village an hour out in the bush country and
were greeted by about 800 folks (including 300 children) from
surrounding villages. Again, some had walked hours and
many miles to get to us. We conducted the water system
training as well as the children's activities, again giving away
the bears and pencils. Both went extremely well.
The groups also sang and danced for us and gave each of us gifts
of necklaces and bracelets that they had made.
When we first arrived, they invited us to view the killing of
the sheep and goat that they were going to cook for our lunch.
So, we observed how they kill and drain their animals, drink
their blood, etc. then, as they begin skinning the goat, I asked
if I could skin it, and they allowed me, then Larry, Carolyn,
Paul, and Ashley to have a turn at skinning it. (You can
be assured that Karen was way back from this activity).
They cooked the sheep and goat over the open pit and we ate with
the elders.
Then, I was asked to do an orientation with their new
converts...a new church has recently started in this village.
We then walked about 20 minutes down to a cold, muddy river
where I had the opportunity to baptize 19 adults in the river
while the group sang glory to God. Wow, this was probably
one of the most moving experiences of my life..
Tomorrow, I preach in the home church here in Maralal, and the
ladies are teaching children's Sunday School. Then, we
will prepare 50 waters systems as we go to two different
villages on Monday to again do water system training,
evangelism, children's activities, etc.
Some of you have asked about our seeing animals...we have seen
zebras, camels, elephants, emus, gazelles, impalas, and water
buffalo as we have traveled from village to village. The
country is beautiful and the people are even more beautiful and
so appreciative of our being here.
Thanks again for your prayers and support,
Bob & Africa Team
Sunday,
November 8, 2009
Well, it is
Sunday night (by the way, we are nine hours ahead here), and
when we think that God cannot bless more than the day before
(such as baptizing 19 folks in the river yesterday), He shows us
that He can bless even more. This morning, Karen, Carolyn, and
Ashley taught over 100 children in Sunday School. We were
blessed as the ladies taught the children "Jesus Loves
Me" in English with sign language for one of the
activities. Then, we began worship at 10:30 AM and finished at
2:00 PM (don't get any ideas, Rocky). We were here at Maralal
Baptist Church that seats about 150 and has normal attendance of
about 40. However, people from villages we have been visiting
walked for miles, and we had over 800 people. The building was
completely full including isles packed and folks looking in
windows, and seated outside just outside the windows so they
could hear.
I was blessed
to have the opportunity to preach the message and had people
seated all around and behind me. At the end of the message, the
pastor and I extended an invitation, and 33 people were
counseled with and prayed to receive Christ!! So, after praying
with them, the praise and worship started again, praising God
for these new children of His and continued into the afternoon.
We have
completed 50 more water systems for visiting two villages back
up in the mountains tomorrow...we will also again do children's
ministry and one-on-one evangelism. Please be in prayer for us
as the trips to the villages tomorrow will again be physically
quite hard. Tomorrow is our last day in this area as we head to
the Lake Nakuru area on Tuesday, then back to Nairobi on
Wednesday to fly out on Thursday for the two day flight home,
arriving on Friday evening.
We just
continue to be amazed at the folks hunger for the gospel and the
Samburu Christians' love for the Lord...
Bob &
Team
Monday,
November 9, 2009
I know that
you think I am crazy when I keep saying that each day is better
than the day before. However, it is Monday night, and we had a
fantastic day. This morning, we went up in the bush country to a
village where Charlie had never done ministry. An elder stopped
him on the mountain one day, and asked him to come to his
village. Charlie told him he would bring us today if they would
cut us a path through the trees so that we could get the
vehicles there. Well, we did the water purification systems
training and distribution and the children's activities for over
100 children. Then, we went from hut to hut doing evangelism and
had 57 people pray to receive Christ including some of the
elders and some of the young warriors.
We then went
to another village up in the mountains where a ministry has been
established. In fact, some of them came all the way down to
Maralal to attend our church service yesterday. We did the water
purification systems training and distribution and the
children's activities for about 150 children. Then, we begin
meeting with some of the folks who had not yet accepted Christ.
Thirty two people prayed to receive Christ in this village.
WOW...what a
day--89 people won to Christ! Charlie will now work at
establishing a ministry point at the first village and after
doing training on baptism, he will have the privilege of
baptizing these new converts.
Tomorrow, we
leave for the Lake Nakuru area and will have the opportunity to
be on safari (our one day of rest) on Wednesday prior to
traveling to Nairobi for the long flight back home on Thursday
& Friday. Please pray that we will have the opportunity to
share Christ many times at Lake Nakuru.
This evening,
we tearfully said good-bye to our translators and presented them
with a love offering our team had collected for them. They have
walked with us for five days as we have seen almost 200 persons
won to Christ, have distributed 101 water systems, and have
ministered to literally hundreds and hundreds of children.
We love you,
Mimosa Lane, and attribute much of what the Lord has
accomplished over the last week to your prayers...
Bob &
Team
Thursday,
November 12, 2009
We are back
in Nairobi and will be leaving this evening (Thursday) for our
21 hour flight on the plane with four hour layover in London. We
are tired but so spiritually charged with what God has done with
and through us these past two weeks.
I have asked
each team member to share a brief paragraph on his/her
perception of the trip, and that will be my final Team Report 8
that I will send over the weekend or early next week. Last
night, we had a blessed debriefing and prayer time with Charlie
and Sandra.
Please
continue to lift us up in prayer during our long flight home. We
look forward to seeing you all on Sunday...
Love in
Christ, Bob & Team
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