Itinerary:  Sunday, July 18, 2004 Columbia, South Carolina to Detroit, Michigan. Detroit to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Monday, July 19, 2004 Amsterdam to Nairobi, Kenya.  I planned on staying in the airport until my connecting flight the next morning. Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Nairobi to Kisumu, Kenya

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Sunday, July 18, 2004 (Columbia) THE GUMSHOE As part of the good-bye sayings, one child of mine thought it fitting to slip a piece of gum in my pocket as a secret parting "goodbye" gift.  Not being a regular gum chewer I was not to find the "gift" in my pocket unless entirely by accident. The airport metal detector found it first.  I divulged myself of all metallic items and proceeded through.  "BEEP" and the lights went off. "Hey, I won something!"  I said to the officer who only glared at me. "Do you have anything in your pockets, sir?"  she said glibly. "Please remove your shoes." I removed my shoes and placed them on the conveyor then double checking my pockets, I found the foil-wrapped gift.  I tried to find a place to dispose of it (I don't regularly chew gum) and tossed it over the conveyer toward the small trash can.  Good.  Try to find THAT!  I passed through as if invisible. I picked up my articles, put my shoes back on and turned to once again wave goodbye to my family.  As the sadness of parting formed little clouds over my head I proceeded down the concourse.  Turn, wave, walk.  Turn, wave, walk.  Turn, wa . . . what's this?  I turned my foot again.  My sock must have gotten balled up . . . wave, walk. I found a seat and ignored the sock.  About 15 minutes later I got up due to restlessness and found that I should pay attention to the sock.  Sitting once more I removed my shoe and discovered that the gum had not made the trash can but had instead gotten tossed inside my shoe, had gotten warm (and moist) and was beginning to make itself a semi-permanent fixture the inside of my shoe--in the only pair of shoes I brought for the trip. Gum, anyone?

A YEAR IN DETROIT, MI. I found my flight to Amsterdam and arrived at the gate 15 minutes before boarding.  On the plane they were playing Vivaldi and I mentally noted "Spring" being played as we all settled in.  I got myself comfortable and tried to image what the 7 hour flight would be like.  "It can't be too bad, playing classical music and all." Due to a combination of computer outtages (the plane had to receive orders by fax) and bad weather, we sat on the runway for well over an hour.  I heard Spring turn to Summer, Summer to Fall, Fall to Winter and Winter to Spring. It's like we spent a year in Detroit . . . The flight was not bad at all.

This is Chris.  I met Chris and his family in Amsterdam.  I got off the plane in Amsterdam with a shorter layover than was originally sheduled and had to hurry to find my connecting flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi.  As I stared at the monitors trying to find my flight, I was soon joined by this teenager and his mother looking for the same flight.  It was not long before I was introduced to his father and a couple of their friends also traveling to Nairobi. The father is a pastor in Florida and their entourage was on their way to meet with some Kenyan pastors for a season of ministry outside of Nairobi.  We fell into good conversation and found we would be "travel buddies" (of sorts). We arrived in Nairobi, cleared the entrance requisites together and the family insisted I stay with them to meet their friends.  I was introduced to their pastor friends and was promptly accepted into the fold. After a season of planning and conversation, we all piled into the cars and the pastors drove all of us to a hotel and Chris and I shared a room together.  This was an event completely unplanned on my part because I was planning on staying in the airport until my flight the next morning . . . but God in His infinite wisdom . . . God provided for my hotel stay through the ministry of these pastors and made certain I was well taken care of. The next morning I was picked up at the hotel by Andrew (on the left), his brother Moses (on the right).  Pastor John is in the middle.  Andrew and Moses picked me up from the hotel and took me back to the airport so I could check on my flight on to Kisumu.  These other pictures were taken on the drive from the hotel to the airport (I made the picture large to see detail, such as one of the hundreds of street children living in the bushes)--note the people on the hillside gathering at the market and the living conditions.  The smoke in the air is from unregulated exhaust and the smoke from trash fires used for cooking--some burning right in the ditches along the road.