Date of Trip: December 29, 2008 - January 12, 2009
Trip Leader: Pastor Jeremy Vander Galien (Reporting)

“The Best Yet”

I have been to Kenya on two previous occasions. The first trip I met, by God’s grace, our two future sons, James and Peter. The second trip I took home our two sons. But this trip was special. God was at work in this trip as it seemed whatever we did next was even more blessed than the previous activity. Here are some highlights:

1. James and Peter were able to reunite with some of their family members. James and Peters’ uncles, aunts, cousins, and siblings trekked 2 hours to greet the boys and me. They brought gifts, picture of the boys’ infancy, and letters expressing their gratitude to Mandi and I for taking the boys as our own. Many tears were shed in response to this moving time.

2. I was able to spend 3 days training 8-10 of the local pastors. For about 6 hours each day we gathered, prayed and I taught them what pastoral ministry is based upon: God’s unswerving commitment to His fame. God is ultimately concerned for his glory and the way God is most honored is when we are most satisfied in Him. This was well received and at the end of the three days they were making plans to have us back for a much bigger and longer pastoral training conference.

3. Among our travel group was a doctor, Paul Nelsen. Paul, with us other 5 men as his untrained nurses, began the work of making sure the orphans are well taken care of medically. Paul did routine examines and physicals to put together a database that will be continued into the future so that orphans medical history is available. This was the beginning of what we hope will be better medical care for those who stay at the orphanage.

4. Installing the glass in first floor of the future community center at the orphanage. My father in law, Jim Myers, came along as our handy-man. His main task was to install the windows of the soon to be completed first floor. It turned out that installing windows in Kenya is a bit different than the States, so we hired a man to come in and install all 300+ window panes that we had purchased, praise God – they are all in!

5. Yet, of all of these awesome events, the greatest time was simply spent in getting to know the orphans. There are thirteen precious children that we spent the majority of our time with. We would play soccer, go on long walks, answer various questions about America, and eat sugar cane. Their lives are well worth our time, attention, and resources – in the end we receive far more and greater than we could possibly give.

Our trip was spectacular, at every turn God was doing something greater than we expected. Our hearts, upon our return, are renewed in their commitment to do better and more for those boys, pastors, and area than we have previously done for the glory of God, our joy, and their good. Please do continue to pray, give, and if possible, go – you will not be the same!