Steve’s Travel Diary

We are finishing up our long day of the East Africa Apologetics Summit and I must tell you that I have been blown away by what I have heard today as speaker after speaker shared what they are doing individually in this critical area. I must admit that I felt like a rookie in the ministry of apologetics. At the same time, I felt right at home. Click Read More Below and Find Out Why.

Friday has been another long day. Up at 5am to leave for the airport at 6am to catch a flight at 8:30. Then it was just a one-hour flight to Uganda to settle in and prepare for the East Africa Apologetics Summit that was organized by Adventurous Apologetics (A2). We started with dinner at 5pm followed by introductions, and presentations by A2 and ACFAR, African Center for Apologetic Research. They focus on the cults that are present in Africa many of which are prominent in America. I must say that the discussions were similar but different than those I have had at pastors’ seminars.

I am in the airport in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania waiting for my second flight of the day. This one taking me back to Nairobi before my trip to Uganda tomorrow. It’s been a long day already but something came up in my conversation with Joseph (ITEM Coordinator) on the way to the airport this morning that opened up another application of the apologetics ministry that I am seeking to launch under ITEM’s banner.

By God’s grace, after a poor night of sleep Wednesday was pretty much on schedule. It included a way-too-early start followed by two short flights and a meeting with the ITEM team. We were able to refocus the ministry here and make good plans.

After 15 hours of flying and an 8-hour drive in a very small car our team finally arrived in beautiful Mulanje, Malawi late last night. The lodge in which our team is staying is adjacent to majestic Mount Mulanje, which is the third highest peak in all of Africa. After sleeping for precious few hours, I awoke looking forward to getting a hot shower and loosening up my joints and muscles. When I travel to Africa, one of the amenities I’ve learned to ask for in every hotel or lodge I stay in is hot water. I’ve done enough cold showers to last a lifetime.

It is Tuesday evening in Nairobi, Kenya and everything is on track. Chris and Jayson are in Malawi with no internet so I am not sure how much we’ll hear from them until they get to Zambia. As I mentioned, things are on track and tomorrow the schedule picks up steam. CLICK BELOW TO READ MORE.

Dear ITEM Family, this is probably going to be the final report of this trip. The last two days have been used mostly to get ready for the trip home. But even at that, they were not without some angst, uncertainty, and substance. Read on to get the details.

Dear ITEM Prayer Partners, I had the great privilege of being able to meet and spend some time this (Saturday) morning with our Burundi team along with our DRC assistant coordinator Joel Mananga. It was a beautiful morning for a chat as we sat outside our hotel under the shady breakfast nook, where we could feel the cool breezes and see the majestic mountains surrounding Bujumbura. Not a bad place to have a meeting! Certainly, it is better than those ubiquitous cheesy nature backgrounds on Zoom. We heard some very encouraging and exciting testimonies of what God is doing through ITEM’s work in Burundi. One story in particular stands out. We found it hard to believe and you will probably feel the same way. Click Read More.

Dear ITEM Partner, we met today with the ITEM’s Burundian team. This was not on our original schedule but decided to add it at the last minute. I am very glad that we did. Chris had a chance to meet and hear from the team and how God is using them. But in addition to that, I gained insights into the youth culture, which is important since my goal is to get an ITEM youth ministry started using apologetics as a platform. Click on READ MORE HERE to hear from Chris and his impressions of the meeting and more from me about the youth here in Burundi.

Dear Friends and Family, if you grew up in church, at some point you probably sang the words to Louisa M. R. Steads classic hymn “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” The chorus of the song concludes with the lyric “Oh for grace to trust Him more.” We have needed grace to trust Him more today. CLICK READ MORE BELOW.