Thursday, December 30, 2010


Lately we have been helping some Masai communities with greenhouse gardens. Greenhouses have become big business in Kenya. Among the Masai, its a really new idea. The Masai, traditionally, are a semi-nomadic people group. They have always lived in the vast grasslands of East Africa, moving with their herds as they follow the rains and looking for grazing land. Today the Masai have settled down a bit more as open grazing lands have been bought up by settlers. Several of our Masai pastors have decided to try farming. They want to use the income from the sale of the vegetables to plant more churches among their people. Its been fun to be a part of this effort. It means alot of travel on really bad roads, many nights out under the stars in the African Bush, but the end result makes it all worth it. Its our desire to focus our efforts on sustainable projects that build capacity among the churches that we are working with.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010


For the past 6 weeks we have been hosting a team of ladies from Convoy of Hope in the USA. They have been involved in all kinds of ministry and community development projects. The team has worked hard and roughed it in some remote areas. Kenya has made its mark in their hearts and they have no doubt left a little part of themselves here. Convoy of Hopes intern program is tops!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

I traveled to Mt. Suswa in the Rift Valley. On Friday I spoke at a church in the village of Olgumi. I was honored to be the opening speaker for a 3 day revival and pastors came from all over the Rift Valley to participate. The same afternoon some friends from Rosslyn Academy joined me for a trip up the mountain. We camped at the top of the mountain and explored some caves that were formed when the volcano erupted many years ago. We are planning to take a group of 50 students from Rosslyn for a few days of camping and cultural studies. The motorcycle was definitely the way to go, its all dirt roads and rough terrain up there.
I'm already looking forward to my next trip out there!

Saturday, July 24, 2010


Kim and I went to the Coastal town of Malindi for a few days of "down time" before school starts. It was a much needed break from the busy summer and a chance for us to spend some time alone, doing nothing! We went for long walks and did not set an alarm and left our phones in the room! We even left the kids in Nairobi!

Friday, July 16, 2010

A team of 12 from Riverside Connection Church in Oakmont, Pa. joined us for ministry in the Masai village of Olentoko. Many people in the Rift Valley are still suffering from the recent drought. We delivered grocery bags of food for 500 families, each bag containing around 50 meals. The people were very happy and quickly began to divide the bags of food we had prepared so that it could be shared with neighbors who weren't able to be at the distribution. We were really humbled by their show of generosity towards their community. Thanks to Pastor Bill Ellis and the team from Oakmont for a job well done. Camping out and living in the dust for 3 days was an incredible experience and the impact in the community was great.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

A greenhouse for a Masai Community

We spent the last two days in the village of Olontoko working with some Masai friends. We have built a greenhouse there and this Masai community is going to try farming! Turning this dry and dusty ground into rich, moist farming soil was a real chore. We are believing for more than just physical fruit in this harvest field! Pray with us for a Kingdom harvest!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Sawyer filters

Sawyer filters are designed to purify water. Im told that they use the same technology as a kidney dialysis machine. We put them to the test on a recent trip to the Rift Valley. The team of 25 college kids had planned to use bottled water purchased at the grocery store but we went through about half of it the first day. We filtered water from this catchment dam and made it through the next 4 days with no problems. The sawyer filters are amazing, light weight, portable and easy to demonstrate. This community now has 4 of these filters and they are seeing the benefits of clean drinking water.

Clean water


On a recent trip to the Rift Valley we learned of some real needs. The Masai people in that area have really suffered from last years drought. Many lost nearly all their cattle which they depend on for everything. One of our pastors asked us about building a greenhouse to try gardening. We returned with a team of young people from Camp Blue Sky to do the construction. In addition to the greenhouse we were able to demonstrate the Sawyer filters. The pastors stock pond provided us with a wonderful opportunity to show the effectiveness of these little filters. The pond was green with "life" and the filters transformed it into clear drinking water that our team used for the week we were there working. We left the filter system with the pastor to use with his community.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Mt. Longonot


We finally got around to climbing Mt. Longonot as a family. The last time we did this, the boys were 5 and 3 and we didnt go all the way around the rim of the volcano. This time we were determined to make it to the top and then hike the entire crater. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time with some close friends, Terry and Leanne Nutter and their three kids. Of course the kids were a mile ahead of us old folks but we had a great time building memories. Mt. Longonot is around 9000 feet above sea level, so it was a long day. The hike alone was nearly 6 hours. Another family adventure!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spring break 2010



We traveled to the coast for some meetings over the kids spring break. We decided to add a couple days for some beach time. While we were there, our daughter Raelyn was baptized in the Indian Ocean. Bryan and the boys went out to the barrier reef to surf several days in a row. The reef is out about half mile and its a beautiful place to see marine life, they saw seals, eels, and lots of fish, including a small shark that swam by under them one day. Great surf, and most importantly, a great memory!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Masai Mara



We traveled to Masai Mara game reserve with our guests so they could see some of Africa's finest. Kenya has some beautiful game parks where you can see animals in their natural habitat. We saw all of the "big 5" and lots of smaller animals that some guest never see, including a Bat Eared Fox and a Cerval Cat. I think most people were impressed with the cats however.

Kim and I hosted a team from the US. A group of executives came to Kenya to look at some development projects and to visit some orphanages that we work with. What a great group of folks. They are from the business world so they had a lot of great suggestions and ideas that we hope to put into practice. In addition to the brainstorming, they have pledged to help us expand the work we are doing here in East Africa. One of the guests treated Kim and I to a hot air balloon ride over the plains of the Masai Mara Game reserve. What an incredible experience. We are thankful for Gods many blessings!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Great day for a ride!


Today I had to go to Naivasha, a town about 75 miles from where we live, out in the Rift Valley. Naivasha sits on the edge of a beautiful volcanic crater lake. A few weeks ago, Kim and I went to a tented camp on the back side of the lake to enjoy our 21st anniversary together. It was really peaceful and quiet there. Lots of wildlife and birds. I left something there so today I went back to get it, and I decided to take the bike. What a great day for a ride. Along the way you pass Mt. Longonot, one of my favorite pieces of East African scenery! Our family will be climbing Mt. Longonot soon, so watch for the pics of that trip.