Gabe on the Lunatic Express!

This is Jill, writing on Gabe's blog to update you on his trip: They arrived safely in Nairobi on Saturday morning and Gabe was able to call me later that day for a short phone call. They have spent a couple of days in Nairobi working with a slum area with a ministry that helps Street Children. This is an email he sent me about that experience:

"We are getting ready to head to the train for our ride to Mombasa. MITS (Made In The Streets) was great. It was difficult for all of us and the students were very moved by the experience. One of the guys at MITS did a debriefing with the group and there were lots of tears expressing how they were affected. We went out on foot and visited several of the locations where street boys congregate, shared testimonies and prayed for them. It was very shocking for most folks - especially when they heard there are poorer parts of Nairobi than Eastleigh. Thanks for your prayers - they were much appreciated. Nothing bad happened at all so I know we went under God's protection."

As he said, they should now be finished with their 14 hour overnight train ride from Nairobi to Mombasa. This train is called The Lunatic Express and is the railway that the movie 'The Ghost and the Darkness" was written about. You get on the train at 7 pm and after supper in the dining car, you sleep in your train car in little beds that fold down from the wall. It's a pretty neat (although somewhat dangerous, based on the wreck history the last few years!) experience. It's an economical way to travel and since you travel through the night, it is a good use of time.

The Lunatic Express

Train going through Tsavo Game Park

Train car where you sleep

I'll post more as I hear from Gabe. He should be in Kilifi now, which is where we lived for 4-5 years, so I know this will be the most special part of the trip for him - to see old friends and spend time with some of the brothers and sisters there who are very dear to us.

Thank you for your interest, and your prayers. Avery and I are being well taken care of with my family here in the Dallas area.

I'm Off!

Just a quick post to sign off for a while. I'm headed to El Paso today to meet up with the group, then tomorrow morning early we head to Denver, then London. We have 14 hours in London, then fly all night to Nairobi. Whew. It's a long trip, but well worth it!

I'll try to email and/or blog as I can to update you on my progress. Can't make any guarantees there will be much computer time, though. If you do need to email me, please use this address: kachejefwa@hotmail.com. It's much easier to check while I'm traveling.

Thanks for your prayers as I travel - both for my safety and for Jill and Avery!

Kenya Bound!

It's time to load up and head back to East Africa! This coming Wednesday I'll be heading out to Kenya for a 2 1/2 week excursion leading a group of ambitious university students from Las Cruces, NM on the mission adventure of a lifetime. This trip kind of sprung up on me - my former colleague from Kenya, Jaime Swift, called me up about a month ago and said his church was sending a group of college students to volunteer at the MCRC (Maarifa Chrisitan Resource Centres) that we helped begin years ago on the Coast. They had a better turn-out than expected and needed an additional "experienced" guide to come along. Of course I had to say yes! Thanks to the church there, the college minister Greg Bowles, Jaime and Intercede (the non-profit that continues to support and administer work at the MCRC locations in Kilifi and Kaloleni, I have yet another chance to continue my involvement with what God is doing along Coastal Kenya.

Please be in prayer for our group as we travel and try to be of service to our good friends in the Kilifi Area. God is good and we are looking for a grand time of serving our brothers and sisters!


The group from New Mexico State University.


A "dhow" is a traditional Kenyan boat commonly found along the coast where we will be working.


Our ministry will largely focus on helping MCRC, who in turns focuses on working with Kenyan youth.


The Board of MCRC has planned 2 weeks full of activities and we really appreciate their willingness to host us and get things organized! From left to right are: Fredrick Kaingu, John Kenga, Duncan Ziro, Daniel Kahindi, Mike Thethe and Luganje Nyale.

Avery's First Camping Adventure

Avery has been having lots of first lately. This weekend we decided to renew an old passion - camping out in the wilderness. I had a full set-up of gear when we lived in Kenya, but we chose to give all that stuff away to people who needed it more than we did when we moved home. It's been nearly 5 years now and we are just now able to afford replacing alot of the gear, but mostly Avery is now old enough to enjoy the experience!


We took a quick overnight trip to one of my favorite places in the Texas Panhandle - Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque, TX. It's a beautiful place, right on the edge of the Caprock and full of Canyons - as you might have guessed from the name!





One of my favorite parts is the fact that it is the home of one of the Texas State Bison Herds. The American Buffalo is one of my all time favorite animals and you can see them in the "wild" here at Caprock Canyons. They have recently added an interpretive center with a full-body mount of a buffalo and Avery was very impressed.




We decided to camp at the Little Red sites. They were atop the South Prong of the Little Red River. They were nice, secluded spots with a shelter and picnic table. Avery had the time of her life - as can be seen here "helping" to set up the tent. We actually picked a horrible evening to camp. Friday night the wind blew and blew hard as a Norther' crashed in. Every time you'd nod off, the tent would be whacked with a huge gust and feel like it was going to go sailing off into the nearby river. We had fun, anyway.





Whoa. The green wrinkly man popped in from the darkness...




One of the best parts was cooking out. There is a burn ban in effect, so we couldn't have the traditional campfire, but it was fun trying to come up with supper (Frito Pie) and breakfast (biscuits, sausage and eggs) over a gas burner in the WIND.




Saturday morning was actually gorgeous and we took about a 3 mile hike into the canyon. We traveled along the Canyon Loop Trail because it is wide and relatively easy - very important when you are pushing a 4 year old in a buggy. I was glad I went to the trouble to fix the 3 flats on her buggy - it made the hike really fun for her and I didn't have to carry her on my back the whole way!


We would love to explore some other parks in the area and would always love to have camping guests along! If you are interested, let us know and let's plan some quick weekend trips over the summer. There are lots of places within about a 2 hour drive so its easy to go after work on Friday and be back for church on Sunday - or stay all weekend!