Video using our Spiritual Gifts

Check out this video from the August trip.

Video 3 minutes long

Breakdown: On the side of the road

In Nairobi security guards were everywhere. Neighborhoods had gates with guards and the walls around the neighborhoods had broken glass or razor wire on top. Businesses had guards at the front door. The cops carried AK-47's. The police made check points by dragging logs with giant spikes in them across the road. This made vehicles slow down and drive through the barriers in a "S" pattern. We cleared the city with its traffic and about an hour later one of our buses blew a coolant hose.

It was warm so we all got off the bus and looked around. The British left Kenya in 1963. Many of the things the British built have deteriorated since their departure. Check out the telephone poles with no wires in the picture above. Almost every road, town, bridge or city that we visited showed signs of decay. Decay of something that was nicer in the past but was presently wasting away.

Children showed up to see what was going on. We took pictures of them we turned the cameras around to show them the picture. They were amazed. Most of the children we had contact with had never seen themselves before. They did not have mirrors at home so they had no idea what they looked like.

The children were grazing their sheep. They would have to walk for miles to find a spot where their sheep could find something to eat. Some times they would not even go home for days.

Leaving Nairobi to Nanyuki

Breakfast was interesting. Everything was cooked well done. The coffee was instant and I was very scared about what to eat and what not to eat, but the buffet table was huge and I ate like a king.

We ate breakfast, we prayed, had a meeting and loaded everything onto buses for our drive to Nanyuki. When we drove out of the gate I was shocked with the number of people. Nairobi had people everywhere. I was amazed with the traffic both cars and pedestrian.

Cars in Nairobi drive so close together that the hood is the best place for rear view mirrors. Check out the picture of the truck above. We drove for hours and hours to the town of Nanyuki. Nanyuki was our base of operations. We left every morning to drive to the Segera Mission (about 90 minutes) and returned every night.

P.C.E.A. Guest House - Nairobi, Kenya

Kenya is on the equator so the sun sets very early, about 630pm. When we arrived it was dark and the capital city of Nairobi was a ghost town. The streets had very little traffic and I could not see anyone walking around the town. We went to the P.C.E.A. Guest House. The guest house is basically a hotel that was surrounded by a wall with guards and razor wire. The staff was very friendly and they met us outside with a table offering juice. It was a juice blend of passion fruit and grapefruit juice. In Kenya fruit juice is a luxury item and it may be the sweetest thing in a Kenyan's diet.

My bed in the guest house had a mosquito net. I was very tired so I took an Ambien (sleeping pill) and sleep like I was in a coma. I do remember hearing mosquitos flying around and I felt very safe inside the net. At 5am the Mosque next door played it's prayer calls so loud that the windows rattled. My roommate woke up with the Muslim prayer calls but I slept on until about 630am. Breakfast was an adventure by itself because the food was so different and I was not sure what was safe to eat. I had the omelet with cheese and sausage (in natural casings) with instant coffee. We prayed and boarded our buses for an all day ride to Nanyuki, the village that would become the base for our work over the next 10 days.

14 Hours in a Middle Seat

We went to the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport and we waited...
We flew to Atlanta and we waited...
We got on the plane in Atlanta and we waited... 3 hours before pushing back from the gate

I was in a middle seat for 7 hours. The people beside me took Ambien sleeping pills. 4 hours into the flight I had to use the bathroom but I could not wake up either of them, I was miserable. When we got to Paris I was very relieved.

We arrived in Paris after our flight was supposed to leave for Kenya. We rushed through the airport and had to go thru security again. The flight to Kenya was waiting on us. It was about 7am local time and on the way to the gate for the Kenya flight I passed by a bakers booth. I smelled fresh baked bread long before I saw his booth. When I got to the booth I looked at beautiful pastries and bread. I saw one fresh load of bread that just had come out of the oven and it was labeled with a sign that said "5." I don't know if it was 5 francs or 5 euros, but I knew my credit card could handle 5 what-evers. Then I looked around and I could not see any other people from my group. I was completely alone in Charles DeGaule Airport in Paris, France. So I went to the gate and boarded the flight. We sat at the gate for another 35 minutes before pushing back from the gate. Just dang.

I was assigned another middle seat. 3 hours into the flight the girl sitting beside me moved next to her friend and I got an isle seat. Woo Hoo!! When we arrived in Kenya we rushed through customs and into baggage claim. When I got to the baggage claim area the first thing I saw was 4 police officers with AK-47's slung over their shoulders in a group chatting. Wow! What a way to say "Welcome to Kenya."

Shadowfax

I loved my motorcycles. I named each motorcycle I rode "Shadowfax." This is a picture of me in Tombstone, Arizona on a Suzuki V-Strom 650. My most loved bike was a 1992 BMW K-75s. I was wondering how I was going to pay for the trip to Kenya when my dad ran my K-75 into an abandoned house. He broke his shoulder, cracked some ribs and lost a finger nail. He also gave me $3000 for the bike. This paid for most of my trip to Kenya. My tax returns paid for the other $500 for the trip, $425 for shots and $200 for spending money. God loves to take bad circumstances and turn them for good.

Jiggers Video

Jiggers are bugs that crawl into the children's feet. We put a cement floor into the school to protect the children's feet from the bugs. Check out this video to see:

Jigger Removal: 3 Min. Video

Medical Mission Video

After several of you told me how much you enjoyed the video. I decided to show several videos first and then send out my pictures and story. Here is another video about the medical missions that Newspring did around the Segera Mission. This is the largest Medical Mission that the 410 Bridge has ever hosted.

Medical Video: 1.5 Minutes

Video from June 2009

When my church Newspring announced our foreign missions trip, I knew I would go. I didn't have the money, but I knew I would go. The vision was clear: Help some of the poorest people in the world, Make the name of Jesus famous and Show his love. Check out this video made by Will Rodes Newspring's Video director. This Video is performed by the Newspring Band using video from my trip in June and is set to the "Desert Song" by Hillsong United. I am the guy is the goofy hat and can be seen for about 3 seconds. Click below to see.

June Video: 7 minutes