Heading Out: Surprises Coming

Finally... we leave today for Africa!  This trip will be quite different from any of the others we’ve taken...mmm, feels like I’ve said this before!  Each trip is truly unique and God has so many surprises along the way, for sure.  This trip will be different in that we expect to be in only two locations:  Nairobi and Kitale, both in Kenya.  Instead of trying to get to each country, we found it much more cost effective to bring the church planters from the five other different countries to us where we will meet in Kitale.  Pretty exciting!  The others are coming from Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and DR Congo .  We are hoping that Angel and Steven from the DR Congo, who you may remember are the strategic church planters we visited and continue to work with, will be able to join, us as well. The other unique thing about this trip is that we have three other Americans meeting us in Kitale.  One is Desi (30) who is planting simple churches in inner-city Denver, took Roger’s online course a year ago, and is anxious to have some cross-cultural hands-on experience in another country.  The other two are a couple who happen also to live in Colorado.  Walt is a church planting coach and his wife Sharon is an educator and school administrator.  They are on an exploratory trip to Africa, have interest in starting schools there, and also in coaching church planters.  This couple is, Roger says, my age, not his!!  (Whatever!!!)  He’s met these three folks; I’ve never met any of them.  So, we will have our hands full with “visitors”, as well as working with the nationals! As always, it’s a mad dash to the finish line, weighing suitcases not exceed the 50 pound mar, and Roger’s never-ending grimaces translated meaning, “Do you really have to take that?”  But, as full as our bags are, our hearts are equally full of anticipation and excitement to be with people we’ve come to love in nations so desperate for a message of HOPE.