Dear friend, We arrived safely here to Kenya last night and all went well – moving one step at a time. Smooth landing – then getting our VISA to enter the country.

Waiting in the very crowded luggage area for our bags to come by one at a time and giving a sigh and prayer of thanks when you see the last one arrive. The luggage push carts were in demand and hard to find but we managed and cleared customs. Once outside we met immediately with the driver of the Mayfield shuttle van who drove us the 30 minute drive to our “home” for two nights – Mayfield Guesthouse http://aimabs.org/ministries/mayfield-guesthouse/

Many of the men who work at Mayfield have known our family since the time Amy and I were married 19 years ago. Some remember when Joshua was a small baby – have watched both of our boys grow over the years – and were absolutely astounded today to see him now at age 15 and over 6 feet tall! One of the staff joked, “Joshua, you must be careful… it seems that the food of America is making you sooo tall! But don’t worry – when you become the age of your father your size will start to reduce.”

Lots of good interaction around the meal table when meeting other travelers and missionaries. The day was full of phone calls to ELI staff around Kenya and organizing luggage for what stays here in Kenya and what goes with us at 6am tomorrow morning when we leave Mayfield to begin our journey to Tanzania to work with the ELI ministry team there. We were able to have lunch with Wendy Twycross – ELI staff who lives in Nairobi and coordinates the amazing Business For Life program – helping hopeful entrepreneurs learn to succeed in business through a powerful, practical one month training course.

ELI Tanzania Staff Andrew Belko called me this afternoon to make sure we were on the same page with our arrival time and to ask if there was anything they should have on the ground to make our journey as good as possible. I also talked with Training Center Directors Samuel Teimuge in Ilula, Peter Maru in Kipkaren River, and Julius Toroitich HR director and exchanged text messages with countless others. We truly have an amazing team of Nationals and Americans working within ELI (over 105 people now).

So – as it turns midnight here – knowing that you are still seeing the sunshine of June 18th (Kenya is 10 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time) – as the boys and Amy are now fast asleep – I sit in this moment of quietness and reflect on the miracles that have brought us once again to this continent and am reminded of the countless stories of Gods faithfulness.

You are an important part of this story and we are truly grateful.

Tomorrow we leave Mayfield at 6am and head to Jomo Kenyatta Intl Airport. – Take Precision Aircraft from Nairobi Kenya to Mwanza, Tanzania. Meet up with Yakobo Yasini, the ELI Tanzania director and Andrew Belko, Tanzania Ministry Manager and others who will take us into Mwanza town for a quick bite to eat before the 2 hour drive which follows much of the lakeshore to the village of Kalamela – home of the ELI Tanzania Training Center Facility and ELI Water Drilling Project. We appreciate your prayers and partnership more than you know!!!

In case I cannot get internet access to post an update – I am able to make a cell phone call that leaves an AUDIO POST on this same blog. We hope that you will enjoy reading some updates as well as hearing others : – ) Thanks again for your prayers and partnership and may God bless you today as you serve Him on your unique mission field.

Empowering lives together,      Don, Amy, Joshua, Nathaniel