Time is growing short

Sunday June 23

Today started with a practice at the church for three of the team who were scheduled to lead worship.  Sunday school followed and then Ryan, Ann and I led the worship part of our morning service.  After the last song Andrea and the kids came up on the platform to join us.  We each shared prayer requests and members of the congregation offered intercessory prayers on our behalf.  Then the pastors laid hands on us as Paul the head of the Missions committee prayed for our safety and success.  After a good message by Pastor Randy a “donut Sunday” was celebrated out in front of the church.  There people greeted us and promised to faithfully uphold us in prayer.  We were also blessed with some small gifts to lighten the hours of the journey.

This weekend it seems as though we are rounding the last curve and heading down the straight-away for the finish line early Thursday morning.  As with a graduation exercise it is not really the finish line but the commencement.  This week has been a busy one planning what things we will bring, shopping for what we lack and getting haircuts we will try to stretch until August.  Ann weighed and packed all of her class materials today. I chose my travel outfit and packed my carry-on checking off all those things on the packing list as I went.  We did not book our tickets straight through to Eldoret because we were advised it would be much more expensive.  We purchased separate tickets from Nairobi.  In reviewing the itinerary I discovered that the international luggage allowances were different from the local Kenyan ones.  Overseas we are allowed two 50 pound bags each free.  On Kenya Airways we are allotted one 70 pound bag each.  It is just the kind of puzzle I enjoy solving but we can’t do it until all the weights are determined.  Any overage can of course be shipped for a not very small price.

We will be taking off from Bozeman on Delta at 6:10 in the morning on Thursday so we will be setting the alarm for about 4:00. The next flight would have left us almost no time in Minneapolis, MN.  This created a five hour layover until our flight to Amsterdam leaving around 2 PM MN time.  About 10:30 PM our time we arrive in Netherlands and there it will be six-something in the morning.  Another five hour layover and we will be off to Nairobi on Kenya Airways flight operated by KLM.  We are scheduled to land around 11:00 AM our time on Friday.  There it will be 8:00 at night.  Our first night in Africa will be in a Wycliffe guest house.  They have also arranged for someone to pick us up at the airport.

On Saturday afternoon we will take off from Nairobi for the short flight to Eldoret, a city of 200,000 to the northwest.  Our friend Silas will meet us and take us to his home.  He has a three bedroom guest wing with a bath included.  The house has no regular power source but has cold running water and a flush toilet.  We are getting more excited as the take-off time grows closer.  We appreciate your interest and your prayers.