Nairobi to Mombasa and Back

We are pleased to say that our trip to Nairobi was excellent but tiring after 28 hours on the journey. Our first full day here was Sunday where we attended a Swahili speaking Methodist church in the poor section of town. Saneta's sister, Lydia, lives nearby with her two children. The experience was beautiful, the music was wonderful, the people were generous and very hospitable. We each were given the opportunity to stand and tell them about ourselves and any message we wanted to give to them. The whole service lasted about 3 hours!! Note to pastors: 1 hour is good.

That afternoon we visited an orphanage in the slums of Nairobi. The children were all abandoned by there parents or their parents died early, mostly of AIDS. Grace is the leader and calls each child a King or Queen to let them know that they have worth and are loved. They live in a palace, even though they sleep 6 to a bed. Even though they don't have enough to eat every day, they are happy and learning in the safe habitat that Grace provides. There is much too much to say in this short blog, but we are eager to share her story with you later.

Monday began the grueling 8 hour trip to Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya. On Tuesday morning we went to Ribe, the home of the first Methodist church in East Africa started by Thomas Wakefield. By his courageous actions, he was able to help establish Christianity on the continent. Before that, the Arabs and Muslims dominated the coast and the culture. Because of his braving malaria and other diseases along with wild animals and the jungle, that area is predominantly Christian today. The Ribe Methodist Church is still going strong with 300 members in a small village. They started a school to improve the quality of education and have done a marvelous job even though they suffer from a lack of services.

Will report more the next time we have access to the internet.

God Bless.

Pre Trip

Dr. Rev. Saneta Maiko is heading a mission team going to Kenya July 25 - August 8. The other team members include Suzana Bacon and Brad Foster. During this trip we will visit orphanages, youth centers, clinics and other potential ministries that Saint Joseph would be interested in assisting. Our objective is to find a ministry that St. Joseph would partner with to help an ailing continent deal with the AIDS crisis. This crisis is the cause of one death every 8 seconds within Sub-Saharan Africa. That means a city the size of Fort Wayne perishes every month. This crisis manifests itself in many social ills including child prostitution, orphans, low life expectancy (which is 48 years in Kenya and as low as 34 years in Zimbabwe), and other health problems. Ours will be a fact finding mission that will enable us to find solutions to some of these problems that are actually working within the Kenyan culture. This is an exciting time and an awesome opportunity to answer a call to mission on the world scene. While it is good to do missions within our country and communities, it is also good to connect to the world wide AIDS crisis, since this problem cannot be corrected within Africa alone. They need much help from around the world. We hope and pray that your prayers will be with us the whole way and that you will connect with us on this blog with suggestions or questions that we can respond to. If you would like to contribute to this mission, you may submit a check made out to Saint Joseph United Methodist Church or you may bring jeans, t-shirts, or dresses for children ages 5-17 to the church. Let us now introduce ourselves to you:

Dr. Rev. Saneta Maiko: Saneta is a Methodist pastor from Kenya and will be leading us on this exciting mission. He has lived in the U.S. for 7 years with his wife and daughter. He is eager to connect Saint Joseph to the many opportunities which exist in Kenya for mission work.

Mrs. Suzana Bacon: I am so excited about leaving on this mission trip. Traveling to Africa has been a childhood dream of mine. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I would actually go there, however here I am just days away from departure. God certainly works in mysterious ways. I feel blessed to have the support of my family and to be a part of this journey. I have been asking God to reveal His purpose for me during this mission trip. I am going to Kenya with an open mind and a willingness to follow whatever His purpose is for me. I am looking forward to sharing with you what God places before me during this visit to Kenya.

Mr. Brad Foster: God is clearly calling me to this ministry. African problems in general, and an ever worsening AIDS crisis is driving me to respond to the cries of the African people. I work as part of the staff of Saint Joseph United Methodist Church and have been worshiping there for 15 years. I have a wonderfully supportive wife and 3 grown children. Having been abundantly blessed, I now have a passion to help others less fortunate within Fort Wayne and beyond.