Finally to Bungoma where we will do the Pathways Training

We arrived near midnight at Pastor silas's and then they had to feed us cuz that's cultural, and then we quickly went to bed and got up at 4:00 a.m.. to take the nearly hour it takes to get to the bus stop so we can be there way early to get on the bus. We are over an hour early to get to the bus which is what you're supposed to do I guess. 

The bus ride was safe and uneventful. We made three stops. Damien and I live kind of dehydrated here but especially for the bus ride.  We traveled through different game parks on the main road  and saw quite a few animals though not as many as we'd hoped to.  It was 10 hours from the time we left till we arrived in bungoma.  Then another 30 minutes or so to to Pastor Abel's house.  Inverted a container into a very nice three bedroom guest house on his property.  He of course had to feed us and his wife kept putting more and more on our plates. Being as exhausted as we were and just feeling out of sores, we weren't really that hungry. But it's great to be here and be getting ready for what's about to happen.

We did walk out of this huge hill by their house and get a great view of the city. That was kind of fun. We also showed the two pastors what a frisbee was and that was fun too.

Then we found out that tomorrow was going to be different. We're going to be both in the same church service. The first one of us will spend an hour preaching and interacting with the church people more like a teaching time than a preaching time. Damian volunteered me for that. Then an hour or so after that, after all the choirs sing Damon will preach. Then after the service we found out we'll be speaking to some men in the church about whatever we think is important than they seem to think we should talk about being husbands.  So we worked on those ideas tonight. 

We're having so much fun and so excited to be here and can't wait to get to the training. I'm hoping we have some free time tomorrow just to explore and see Kenya up close and personal.  

I should mention the pastor Abel's house is kind of a bit off the road and you almost feel like you're not really in the city anymore which is kind of nice.

Going to add some poor pictures of flying ants and kids eating them where they just pick the wings off and pop them in the mouth. I have done that before.

Traveling

Our trip overall was pretty simple and not exciting. We had a long wait in Newark but it was fine. The hard part was that our flight overnight was only 7 hours and by the time they give you a little food and get the lights out you don't have many hours of sleep. Not that we slept well. And the 9-hour flight was during the day so that was really long. We landed at 8:40 pm but by the time we got out of the airport it was well after 10:00 and by the time he got to the house it was close to midnight. And then as African culture goes they had to feed us so we did not get to sleep too long before 1:00 and got up at 4:00 to shower and got to the bus station to get on the bus at 7:00 a.m. One highlight on the plane was meeting A young man who has lived in Belgium since age five because his dad has multiple lives and so he went there with his stepmoms and hasn't seen his real mom since he was five (went for a better life).. And he was flying back to Kenya for the first time since age five to meet his mom. He was 18. It was fun to talk to him on the plane. 

I think the total time of the bus ride will be about 10 hours by the time we actually stop a few times and get there. There are not bathrooms on the bus. And we get to listen to the bus drivers music the whole time. But the seats are pretty comfortable and there's good legroom. Silas, one of the 2 l, is who met us at the airport whose house we stayed at and he is with us on the bus. We would not have known how to do this without him. 

Tomorrow we will preach in separate churches and then mostly have free time the rest of the day. 

Kenya 2026 Pathways Training Pre-Trip

This is the group we are training.  Damian and I are not in the picture.

Damian Peasley and I will be flying to Kenya July 23rd and we will leave Kenya on July 30th and arrive in the USA on the 31st. God willing, that is. 

We are doing the second Pathways training there which is using 2nd. Timothy to help them grow in their ability to understand God's word. We should be working with 16 pastors.

After arriving in Kenya we will spend the night at Silas's house and then the next morning we'll spend 8 hours on the bus traveling to boongoma where we are doing the actual training. 

I cover your prayers for our trip, especially for the pastors to be prepared and to really grow from this. It is vital they are passing it on 

Pray for my wife as she holds down the fort at home. Her mom is being placed on hospice as well. 

Certainly pray for our safety and health and travel to go well.  

Damian is the one closest to me.

Trying it again. travel issues

We got news that our flight that was leaving Thursday night had been changed. They changed Airlines all the way including the start with Rwanda Air. We thought it just left 4 hours later at midnight that same day but then w3 realized it was a whole day later. This allowed us to get some work done and to relax and sleep a little more. But we also had to kill some time on the day of the trip when you have luggage but nowhere to be. So we had a long time at the airport in rwanda. Our flight was delayed a bit. We got on it and the AC wasn't working without the engines running and we sat on the tarmac for about an hour and it was so hot. When we landed in Paris we were on the tarmac for a while before we coule get off. We originally had 2 hours to get our next flight. They sent us to a bus. It was supposed to take us to terminal 2. But the bus driver drove in a circle. He stopped and asked for  information and ended up back where he started. He did it two more times before dropping us off at the wrong terminal. While walking in that terminal we asked for directions and help and we were sent the wrong way. We finally got going the right way and we had to go through security which took a long time. Being in a hurry and with Pastor Johns diabetic gear and such and their extra checking of him he managed to not pick up his watch as we left. When we finally got to our gate, it had just closed and we could not get on it. We had a good delta agent get us to a different flight so now we connect through Atlanta and then on to Des Moines landing at 10:30 tonight instead of at 6:00 last night. We did meet a very kind young French woman in the airport and got to learn a lot more about France and just had a good conversation.  We'll see what happens next.  God is good all time even when things don't go my way. 8 have a four hour drive home after landing. And I get to lead worship.  I saw the Eiffel Tower on our way in. 

and preach - which I can't wait to do. 

Day 3 and Pastor Nicodeme

The biggest disappointment of our training has been that they haven't prepared the homework as well as they should have.  We had to take time during class yesterday to let them prepare more.  But to see them in the text for 15 minutes over and over is just phenomenal.  Really - it's everything I hoped for.  Like all of us there are areas they need to grow in - but they have come so far.  Pray that they get boldness to pass it on well - and to pass it on for life.  I'm handing out little Frisbee today and telling them that when they see the Frisbee, they need to pass on the training. We went to Pastor Nicodeme house after training yesterday (stopped to see Pastor Juvenal on the way because he was sick - diabetic issues - the rich man's disease).  Pastor Nicodeme is our leader here and he has been a multiplier for so many years.  his denomination has been praying about sending their first missionary out of the country - he was on the committee - and over time, he was asked to go to South Sundan.  They are in the process of raising support and he hopes to go later this year.  This is such a huge step of faith at his age (late 50s maybe).  We met his whole family and his key family in the faith (We already knew them but saw how much he's done for them).  He knows I walk a lot here so we walked over an hour to his house.  It was a beautiful walk and I should a lot of kids hands as we walked - the love saying hi to Muzungus (foreigners).  My heart is full.  We say goodbye today - and this will be our last time seeing them this side of heaven probably..  It's bitter sweet - it's my first time going to 3 trainings with one group.  It is so special.  Pray that we finish well.. On a simple note - our flights got changed - 5 hours later and different airlines and stops... Not sure what that all will mean practically.  I have sermon prep to do on the way as well.  God is still working.  thanks for praying

Final day of training

"I used to entertain in my preaching to gather large crowds - I preached the Gospel of entertainment.  Now I’m getting better and better at applying the patheways principles.  My elders have said - your preaching has changed so much… and I am now helping my elders learn to do the Pathways methods - and even others are following what I am doing."

This was one of many such testimonies we heard from these pastors we are training.  I can't describe how big a deal this is.  Each pastor preached messages in class where they stayed in the text throughout the whole message (something none of them ever did 2 years ago).  And they are passing on the training.

  On another note - we got an email that our flights were changed  - to different airlines and 27 hours later.  So we had to stay an extra night.  It did give us time to process the trip more.  We were both also able to do a lot of sermon prep that we expected to have to do on the plane.  So we are still up in the mountains but will be heading out on the bus down the mountain in a few hours to catch the plane just after midnight.  They say the buses to the city are crazy busy Friday afternoon so getting on one in good time will be our first challenge.  Pray for journey mercies.  One other highlight was giving a Bible to each pastor,  In these tough economic times it was such a simiple and powerfully encouraging thing to do,  I want to thank those who gave to help with the trip.  I'm ready to be back in my other home (Africa is definitely a home for me).

Day 3 and Pastor Nicodeme

The biggest disappointment of our training has been that they haven't prepared the homework as well as they should have.  We had to take time during class yesterday to let them prepare more.  But to see them in the text for 15 minutes over and over is just phenomenal.  Really - it's everything I hoped for.  Like all of us there are areas they need to grow in - but they have come so far.  Pray that they get boldness to pass it on well - and to pass it on for life.  I'm handing out little Frisbee today and telling them that when they see the Frisbee, they need to pass on the training. We went to Pastor Nicodeme house after training yesterday (stopped to see Pastor Juvenal on the way because he was sick - diabetic issues - the rich man's disease).  Pastor Nicodeme is our leader here and he has been a multiplier for so many years.  his denomination has been praying about sending their first missionary out of the country - he was on the committee - and over time, he was asked to go to South Sundan.  They are in the process of raising support and he hopes to go later this year.  This is such a huge step of faith at his age (late 50s maybe).  We met his whole family and his key family in the faith (We already knew them but saw how much he's done for them).  He knows I walk a lot here so we walked over an hour to his house.  It was a beautiful walk and I should a lot of kids hands as we walked - the love saying hi to Muzungus (foreigners).  My heart is full.  We say goodbye today - and this will be our last time seeing them this side of heaven probably..  It's bitter sweet - it's my first time going to 3 trainings with one group.  It is so special.  Pray that we finish well.. On a simple note - our flights got changed - 5 hours later and different airlines and stops... Not sure what that all will mean practically.  I have sermon prep to do on the way as well.  God is still working.  thanks for praying

Day 2 Reflections

I think I heard the best round of 4 presentations I've ever heard on a Pathways trip (to be fair, this training is the most advanced training I've done).  It was so good to hear them in the text for the whole 15 minutes.  We could see all the evidence of them having used the Pathways method and tools.  It really was confirmation of the value of this (again - before we came - I don' know if any of them had ever preached a sermon where they actually focused on a text).  We laugh a lot too in the midst of it all and have some robust discussion around Scripture.  We continue to get to know this pastors and the challenge to their lives since their churches have been closed are very discouraging. They've all lost members and have lost lots of money.  Keep praying for God to open these churches somehow.  Pray too for us that we will be able to encourage them and build them up in Christ will also teaching them.  On a very small note, our flights got moved back and changed to completely different airlines.  We have some things to figure out logistically.  Continue to pray for our health and energy. Every night of sleep is different (last night a couple mosquitoes in my room kept me up for a while).  

Day 1 Done

We started ahead of schedule on the first day - that may be unheard of.  It was so good to be back with the men.  It was a lot of review and overall they did well.  The first presentations were really good - and yet with room to improve.  The men are passing on the training which is a top priority.  It was a warm day with no rain and I enjoyed that.  The rest of the week has a chance for rain every day and it could be a bit cooler. The challenges of having their church buildings closed down has really made life hard for these men on so many levels.  It really affects their ability to easily pass on the material.  We are so thankful for such a great first day - and thankful for sleep and feeling healthy.  Pray that the men really understand the training and that we can encourage them mightily.  What a crazy privilege to be here.  

Sunday - a bumpy road can lead you to a beautiful place

Pastor Nicodeme told us he wanted to have each of us preach and to take us somewhere different.  the bus schedule for the place was not consistent on Sunday so he found a friend's car and chauffer to take us.  We drove and drove and drove - around a huge famous lake here.  Most of it was off road in our Rav 4.  We had 3 in the back seat and the whole thing rattled every step of the way.  The views were spectacular.  We each were able to preach in a different church.  My church had 4 choirs and it was over 2 hours before I got to start preaching.  I preached on Elijah and the prophets of Baal - wanted to give them a high view of God. Nicodeme translated.  We ate with some leaders there and then headed back.  Again - amazing views and incredibly bumpy roads. We stopped at two of Nicodeme denominations churches to pray.  One of them was his.  We keep praying that God will open them.  Last night we took Nicodeme and his wife and daughter joy out of supper.  It was a good time together.  So thankful for a great day.  Training finally starts tomorrow.  Pray each pastor makes it there today and that they come truly ready - having done the homework.  Pray for sweet fellowship and that we'd be able to really encourage these pastors who are struggling because their churches aren't open.  Thank you!