Dear ITEM Partner,
Friday was my transition day from Yaoundé, Cameroon to Nairobi, Kenya. The processes and steps were normal but progressing through the steps was, at times, painfully slow. And my early morning arrival in Nairobi had an unfortunate ending. The next few days in Nairobi were not originally on the schedule. I am waiting to see what the Lord has in mind.
TRANSITION
Departure
Due to traffic, the trip to the Yaoundé airport was predicably slow. But we planned for it. But the time it took to check in and get to the gate was not.
Until one travels through third world airports, he/she will not fully appreciate what we have in the west. It took slightly over 90 minutes to get through all of the steps and by the time I got to the gate, most of the passengers were boarded.
Pleasant Transfer in Ethiopia
I have considered the Addis Ababa, Ethiopian airport among my least favorite. I knew they were building a new terminal from the last time I was there. Well, it’s done! And it was a pleasant experience. I take back what I said in a previous report about the Addis airport.
Bummer Arrival
My arrival in Nairobi was on time at 1:20AM. The driver (George) who was to meet me is a good friend of 20ish years. He as not there when I arrived and, of course, taxi drivers are waiting to take arriving passenger to “wherever.” One stood by me as I waited for George, who is never late. The taxi driver offered to call George and did so twice and said there was no answer. After awhile he called a third time and claimed no answer. Then his phone rang. At that time of the morning, I suspected it was George calling the waiting driver. The waiting driver answered, said something, then hung up but said nothing to me. I then left with the other driver but later found out that George had told him to tell me he (George) was on his way. George showed up soon after we departed the airport. I felt terrible.
UNPLANNED TIME IN NAIROBI
My original plan was to conduct a seminar in Yaoundé, which would have kept me there through Saturday (today). But the pastor, who was going to come with me and participate had his visa app rejected even though the paperwork he submitted was the same as mine. That’s another story. As a result, we cancelled the seminar and I came to Nairobi two days early. I will be here through Tuesday. On Wednesday I’ll travel to the DRC to meet with our team there before returning to Nairobi then home.
There are some individuals I’d like to meet with. One thing for sure is going to take place. On Monday I will be taking some books from my own personal library. Over the next few years, I will be donating much of my personal library to the school where my missionary ministry started and this ministry was birthed. More about that tomorrow.
Pray that God will arrange some strategic appointments during my days here.
Thanks for coming along and for caring.
By His grace and for His glory,
Steve
Click HERE to be taken to the photo album with new pictures. And please note that I was zeroed in on getting to the airport on Friday and packed away my phone and camera. So pictures added today come from the internet.