My Mission trips to Tanzania and Kenya
About twenty years ago a Norwegian-American real estate agent by the name of Berit Skaare went to Tanzania to work on a project on behalf of her church. Her short-term project ended up lasting over twenty years.
In those years she founded an orphanage, a foster care program (that cares for over 1,000 children), several schools, shops and even a 600-acre farm. The ministry that she founded is called the Ilula Orphan Program (IOP).
Here is a video introducing IOP.
A retired United Methodist Pastor, Rev. John Windell, was invited to visit IOP at the dedication of the main orphanage building. While there, the local leaders of the United Methodist Church asked him to return to teach their pastors the basics of the Bible and how to be a church pastor. John agreed and invited me to join him on these trips.
During the year John raises money to pay the travel, lodging and meal expenses for twenty pastors from all over Tanzania to travel to the Ilula Orphan Program orphanage to be trained. John teaches them how to be a pastor and I teach them the Bible.
The common language of Tanzania is Swahili, so we had to use interpreters in our classes. Below is a photo of one such class holding up the books we purchased for them. The pastor in the front row, second from the left is Frank Karoli. He is now a student at a seminary in Texas. New Paragraph
I made about seven trips with John to Tanzania. We were then invited to do the same in Kenya which is just north of Tanzania. We followed the same format except that the teaching in Kenya was all done in English. Not needing interpreters, out visits were shorter, lasting but a week.
Before any travel overseas, we check with the U.S. State Department for any guidance that they might have. They issue travel advisories for each nation which range from exercise normal precautions to DO NOT TRAVEL. These levels are based on crime, terrorism, health issues, and kidnapping.
The current travel advisory level for Kenya is 3, RECONSIDER TRAVEL.
The State Department also advises areas of the nation to avoid. Currently they advise: “Do Not Travel to: Kenya-Somalia border and some coastal areas due to terrorism and areas of Turkana County due to crime. Reconsider Travel to: Nairobi neighborhoods of Eastleigh and Kibera at all times due to crime and kidnapping.
During my trip to Kenya, I was invited to preach at a church in Nairobi. Where did I go? Yes, to one of the “forbidden” neighborhoods of Nairobi, the largest slum in all Africa, KIBERA. What does the largest slum look like? Below are links to videos showing the horrible conditions in Kibera.
Because mosquitos kill more people in Africa than any other creature, we use insect repellent and take an anti-malaria drug. My drug of choice has been one doxycycline capsule daily beginning two days before I leave, each day during the trip and for a month after I return home.
If you have any questions about my travels, feel free to contact me.
Recent Articles
Share this:
Start Here...
Why Study the Bible?
Don’t many consider the Bible to be just a book of myths? Why do we read the Bible rather than the sacred literature of other religions?
How do we know that it is from God? How do we know that what we have today is an accurate translation from the original? Is the Bible complete or have there been some books that have been lost?
We should be able to answer these questions, and there are answers! So start here!
Answers to Common Bible Questions
