What a long trip to get from Johnstown, Pennsylvania to Eldoret, in western Kenya - 38 hours of travel. On Monday our flights were cancelled due to weather in PIT / JFK. Rich Rohde and I then returned to PIT a/p on Tuesday and learned Delta had sent our luggage on ahead without us. Then the usual travel bumps: flights rerouted, delayed, etc. We arrived into Nairobi late Wednesday night and, to our surprise, our luggage eventually came out of the airport luggage abyss. Now a day behind schedule, we would not have our scheduled day of rest in Nairobi - 8 time zones ahead of EST. We got to our guest house at midnight and then was back at the airport at 6am to catch our commuter flight to Eldoret.
Rich and I arrived into Eldoret at 7:40am today, Thursday. Bishop Chris and Pastor Simon were waiting for us and gave us a warm greeting. When I ask about our schedule for the day, he informed me he had a full teaching schedule for me beginning at 10am - today! I didn't come prepared to teach leadership seminars but - we learned some pastors have travelled hundreds of kilometers to be here. So, with about 5 hours of actual bed rest over the past 2 1/2 days - Rich and I met with the church leaders. We shared our stories and I taught from the Bible - discipleship, Matthew 18:18-20. We then asked the Pastors their stories and concerns and needs. It was very enlightening and helpful as we plan for our spring Leadership Training Conference here.
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| Western Kenya church leaders meet in Eldoret. |
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| Richard Rohde and Pastors in Eldoret. |
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| Dr. Don teaching through Swahili interpreter in Eldoret, Kenya. |
Bishop Chris' church is in the middle of a slum of 600,000 people - it's where our meeting was today. It reminded me of Haiti. Here in the midst of extreme poverty and human pain, is the sweet fragrance of Jesus Christ - in the pastors and the churches. How beautiful is our Lord Jesus Christ. And, what a day!! Truly, Rich and I look forward to a good night's rest.
Tomorrow we go to another city to meet with more church leaders and to teach the Scriptures. I'm excited to see what the Lord has for us! I'll share it with you in the next post.
All in all - God has put us here - it is so clear and amazing.
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf and our friends here in Eldoret..
