TravelStream™ news feed for member cubm on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/cubm en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:00:59 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1235217360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1235217360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1235217360/tpod.html Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:00:59 -0500 CUBM in Kenya February 2009

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Nairobi, Kenya

Our time in Nairobi is almost finished. The team on Friday did some sightseeing and shopping and the same was true for Saturday. In between those activities, they sandwiched in some meetings with locals who shared with us all more about life in Kenya and how we can help after we are gone.

The team's health has been excellent and we have our debrief meeting in an hour, before we head to the world-famous Carnivore Restaurant for our farewell dinner. Then it's off to the airport for the trip that will retrace our steps here -- Nairobi to Amsterdam to Detroit to Pittsburgh. We will arrive in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PM.

Once we get back home, we will write more updates and will also upload a lot more pictures (faster connections speeds will help with that). In the meantime, we are grateful to God for his protection and help and we will all be glad to be reunited with family and friends very soon.
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Nairobi, Kenya

Yesterday at Upako Center, we took a few videos. One is of a group of men singing, the other was of one of the skits that the Upako team did for us. The upload speed in the hotel is slow, so we hope you can view and enjoy them. We will have more when we come home.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1235108280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1235108280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1235108280/tpod.html Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:06:31 -0500 CUBM in Kenya February 2009

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Nairobi, Kenya

The team went to visit the Upako Center outside of Nairobi on Thursday. They were excited because Upako included an orphanage, but the team found it to be the most moving and difficult day of the tour. There was no way they could prepare for the experience of ministering to 43 AIDS orphans, most of whom are infected with the HIV virus. They were impressed with Pastor George and Pastor Francis, who give of themselves every day to help those who are hurting.

The team also found that they had to draw the line and refuse to go visit the village after an exhausting day of working with the orphans and the adults with AIDS who came for ministry. As we had discussed before we came, there is need in Africa wherever you go and one cannot possibly meet or even emotionally assimilate all of it. You must learn to do what you can and, when you have reached your limit, say it is time to rest and reflect.

Upako has a training center and school where they are educating ehildren and teaching women to sew so they can have some means of livelihood in a country where unemployment is 75%, corruption is rampant, and the worldwide recession has impacted daily life. The Upako team put on skits for our team and then finished off a draining day by asking the team to go into the field to pray for a little girl who had AIDS and was not feeling well. The team recognized her as one who had performed earlier and they prayed but were touched themselves. The other highlight was when the team asked if they could hug the women in the AIDS support group. From all reports, there was not a dry eye in the place.

At our team meeting last night, the team tried to process the emotions and the experiences of the day, but it was impossible to do - it is a work in progress. Yet all agreed that this trip has changed their lives forever and they received much more than they could ever give, while also realizing that they had more to give than they realized they had.

For his part, Dr. John spent the day with his publisher's work team doing some team-building profiling and exercises. Dr. J reports that the team is doing remarkably well and that they have represented their Lord, churches, families and CUBM with great distinction.

The team decided to take Friday off and Saturday is wrap-up day for the flight out on Saturday night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234982580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234982580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234982580/tpod.html Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:29:57 -0500 CUBM in Kenya February 2009

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Nairobi, Kenya

Tuesday and Wednesday were similar in that the team left at 8:30 and got back at 5:30 from visiting the WAPIS project in the town of Banana outside of Nairobi. Dr. John happened to run into the group and when he asked how the day went, everyone just looked at him and said, "Special." The group continued to minister to the same group of people in recovery from addiction, but Eloise and Tami "tag-teamed" their testimony and touched many lives. On Wednesday, the group broke into men's and women's groups and the sharing was intimate and real. Everyone was touched, whether they were from Kenya or the U.S.

The team visited schools again on both days. They thought they had seen the school in the worst condition on Monday, but they were wrong. The school they visited on Tuesday was a former stable and no renovations had been done. Beverly had so much red soot in her hair when she came back that it looked like she had tinted her hair! Some of the students have shoes and some don't. All were so excited to see the team that they rushed them everywhere they went. It was and is very special.

We had our team meeting tonight (Wednesday) and the team is tired. They are heading to Opaku Orphanage tomorrow and are going to decide if they want to do another day on Friday. The transportation and long days make it grueling, but everyone's health and spirits are excellent. They are laughing and crying together and their confidence as a team in ministry increases every day.

Dr. John, on the other hand, has had his own schedule, which has included a radio interview with his friend Tina on Hot 96 FM, a purpose talk at WAPIS and a numerous coaching and purpose meetings. Tomorrow he will meet with his publisher's management team to do some team-building work.

We are including some pictures and wish we could send more. It's just a time-consuming process. We hope the ones we are showing you, however, will communicate the love that has been poured out to us and that we are returning as best we can. You can click on any picture to get the story behind the picture itself.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234861260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234861260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234861260/tpod.html Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:55:02 -0500 CUBM in Kenya February 2009

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Nairobi, Kenya

Monday was the first day that the team went out to meet and minister to the people impacted by the SARAH Network. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are devoted to working with the WAPIS in the town of Banana, which stands for The Wholeness Among People Project. Banana is about an hour's drive from the hotel.

Pastor Peter Kamau leads the project as well as pastors a church in Banana. The plan is for the team to speak to the people who are in addiction support groups every morning and then move on to visit schools in the afternoon, which is exactly what they did.

In our Sunday night team meeting, we noticed that Beverly Jackson had a word of encouragement for the people, so we agreed that she would start the Monday morning sharing time with the people in support groups, with the rest of the team adding their comments as they felt led. Then everyone would speak during the afternoon school visits. Beverly did a magnificent job, and her white hair here is greatly respected by all Kenyans. It turned out that each member of the team got to speak to one class, so everyone had ample opportunity to share what God had put on their heart.

Meanwhile, Gregory and John went to be part of the clergy retreat sponsored by the SARAH Network in a town called Machakos. They rented a vehicle for the two-hour drive and were told that the road was "bad." That was an understatement. It was like driving on the moon, with craters big enough to swallow the entire vehicle. When they returned, the driver promised to take them a different way with a better road. They reported that you could have fooled them, for the road home was narrower and more treacherous than the first one! When they returned to Nairobi that same day, they hit rush hour evening traffic. At one point, the driver pulled out into traffic and a city bus stopped about two inches from the back seat door where John was sitting. John said he saw about 100 white eyeballs looking at him from the bus in wide-eyed amazement that there had been no accident.

The clergy retreat was attended by 22 pastors from the local area. John spoke for two sessions and Greg spoke in two as well. John challenged the pastors to give God something to work with -- their writings, knowledge and education -- so that they could build excellent counseling ministries directed at HIV/AIDS victims. Greg helped the pastors answer the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and then facilitated the afternoon session that helped the pastors focus on the way forward for the week's retreat and their work among the world of HIV.

Both groups arrived back at the hotel at the same time (and the team said John and Greg looked like they had been through a grueling experience), and words like "fantastic," "awesome," and "special" were used to describe all the day's events. During the evening debrief meeting, the team shared stories, photos and prepared for the return on Tuesday to WAPIS. We share some of the day's pictures with you in this entry. If you click on the pictures, you can see some explanation.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234860060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234860060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234860060/tpod.html Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:56:39 -0500 CUBM in Kenya February 2009

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Nairobi, Kenya

Sunday was a busy day for the team, especially for Pastor John Knight. Pauline Ngigi, our local coordinator, invited John to speak at her church, Harvest Fellowship Center. He was to speak at the first service and then join me at Nairobi Pentecostal Church. After the church heard John in the first service, they insisted he stay and preach at the second service. We didn't know that the Sunday church attendance at Harvest is 3,000 people! The church has invited John and Tami to return and minister for a week-long series of meetings. When you are in Africa on tour, your mantra is one of the forgotten Beatitudes: Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken!

So Greg Sr. and Jr. were with Dr. John at Nairobi Pentecostal for their 10 AM service. We sat within direct earshot of the speakers and I forgot how loud they set their sound levels! My ears were ringing into the night. Africans can do more with the facilities they have than anyone else I know, and NPC is no exception. Their sanctuary probably seats 2,500 to 3,000 and the service was packed, while they had childrens church, Sunday School and a host of other activites happening on their small campus. The singing was great and after the service we joined Pastor Ken and the leadership team for a cup of tea in the board room. It was good to see my family and friends at NPC once again.

After church, the Gregorys and I went to one of Dr. John's favorite hangouts, Nairobi's Java House. They have great coffee and really good food there, and it's just a nice place to hang out. I hired a taxi to take us around for half a day, which cost about $50, but was a good investment. The rest of the team were with Walter, our group driver, in our rented van.

When we got back to the hotel, we met the rest of the team coming back from church. But John and Tami Knight, with Eloise Betts, went right out to speak to couples assembled at the WAPIS project in the town of Banana. When we had our team meeting at 7 PM that evening, John and Tami had not eaten all day! They were not complaining, however, and Tami and John's explanation of their day let me know that it had been very special. Everyone was impressed with the church services, which were all packed with exuberant and enthusiastice worshipers and believers. Tomorrow the team starts their ministry in earnest and I know they are in for a special treat.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234638180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234638180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234638180/tpod.html Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:12:45 -0500 CUBM in Kenya February 2009

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Nairobi, Kenya

After Sunday church, the team will be busy for the rest of the week. Here is their itinerary for the week. Keep in mind that Kenya is eight hours ahead of whatever time it is in Pittsburgh. You can also read more about the SARAH Network on their website, since they are our partners while we are here.

Monday, February 16 through Wednesday, February 18

The team will leave to minister at the WAPIS project, a partner of the SARAH Network. This will be all day and will involve ministry to addiction support group members, school visits and touring the work of the organization. We will leave at 8:30 each morning and return at 5 PM

Monday, February 16

John and Greg Collier will speak at the SARAH Network clergy retreat in Machakos, about two hours north of Nairobi from 9:30 to 4:30.

Thursday, February 19 and Friday, February 20

The team will leave to minister at the Upako Center. Upako is a community based organization in Kawangware slums of Nairobi registered in 2005 whose mission is to provide HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention, care and support services to infected and affected people of Kawangware slums. The Upako Center implements Orphan and Vulnerable Children activities at three different interventions:

1. Child level: Upako Center ensures the provision of food/ nutrition, shelter, education, protection and psychosocial support to beneficiary OVC's.
2. Caregiver/Family Level: Upako center provides caregivers assistance that enables vulnerable children to remain in a loving family situation in which they can maintain stability, care, predictability, and protection.
3. Systems level/Community level: Upako Center works with the local provincial administration officers, local religious leaders and other opinion leaders in the slums of Kawangware to strengthen community structures and networks that support healthy child development and ensure the needs for orphans and vulnerable children are taken care of.

Besides the OVC program, Upako center also provides age and culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS, alcohol and substance abuse prevention education to the local community living in Kawangware slums. Prevention approaches implemented by Upako also address the risks of cross-generational and transactional sex through abstinence programs for youth and be faithful programs for men that foster collective social norms that emphasize avoiding risky sexual behavior.

Saturday, February 21

This is our final day, when we will shop and pack our bags for home. We fly out of Nairobi at 10:50 PM. We will eat at the world-famous Carnivore restaurant and go to the airport from there.

Sunday, February 22

2:34 PM - We will arrive back in Pittsburgh, having flown from Nairobi to Amsterdam to Detroit to Pittsburgh.
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Nairobi, Kenya

The first day was a good start to our visit to Kenya. I (Dr. John) went to conduct a day-long training session for the partners under the SARAH Network umbrella. The rest of the team went with my friend and tour guide, Pauline Ngigi of Safari Market Tours, to the Lake Nakuru Park. It is about a two-hour drive to the park from Nairobi and takes one to and through the famous Rift Valley, that extends from Israel all the way down the eastern side of Africa to Mozambique.

The team saw animals in the park and then ate lunch at the Lake Nakuru Lodge. On the way home, they caught a nap and visited Lake Naivasha, another resort area where animals are plentiful. They came home safe and happy, ready to eat but feeling connected to the land.
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Amsterdam, Netherlands

We made the 24-hour trip with a minimum of hassles, which is always a good thing. All bags but one arrived with us (sorry Greg) but it came in the next night, so everyone has their stuff. We brought over seven suitcases of supplies and literature and we turned most of it over to the SARAH Network when we arrived.

Everyone slept well the first night, thanks to our Jet Zone "no jet lag" pills. These are a homeopathic concoction and you chew one pill every two hours from the time you take off, and they work! I (Dr. J) always run and grab a shower in Amsterdam, and that allows me to travel the last leg feeling fresher and less grungy.

I turned around on the flight to Nairobi and saw everyone on the team sound asleep and many slept for a long time. It can be a grueling trip, but I feel like everyone did a great job of traveling. No one complained, at least to me. By the way, we flew KLM and Northwest the entire route from Pittsburgh to Detroit to Amsterdam to Nairobi.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234384920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234384920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cubm/2/1234384920/tpod.html Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:06:51 -0500 CUBM in Kenya February 2009

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Detroit, Michigan, United States

We are in the Detroit airport on our way to Amsterdam and then to Nairobi. We got all our bags checked through and have a lot of material we are taking over for the SARAH Network and their program partners. Most of the material is concerning substance abuse and its treatment.

Karla Byrd, CUBM director, met us at the airport and we took some pictures and prayed together before we left. Now everyone is wandering the Detroit airport before we meet at 4:30 PM for our 5:30 flight. It is about an 8-hour flight to Amsterdam and another eight hours to Nairobi. Missions work is no place for the weak! I have to run, but we will keep you posted.
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