Mission Trip to Mwamba  /  May 14 - 28

An Outreach Event at Trinity Episcopal Church, Solebury

2006 Participants:

Kyle Evans,

Kathleen Davie,

Tara Stedman,

"POSTCARDS FROM MWAMBA 2006"
Kathleen Davie sends a message from Mwamba Mission Trip 2006!
"Kathleen Davie with children in Kitale, Kenya" (2005 Mwamba Mission Trip)
Friday, May 19 Jambo!!!! Today Greg, Kyle and myself visited the home town of Father Emmanual Chemengich called Chemoge, which is about an hour from Kitale. The drive took us up a mountain, which was absolutely spectacular. Words can not describe how beautiful it was. We were fortunate enough to assist the people of this parish physically construct their church which they are calling Christ the King Church.(see work photos) We went and collected the stones, which I am guessing weighed about [ ] pounds. (the amount of weight was empty) Then we smoothed the cement down and fitted the stone into place making sure it was straight and flush. It was amazing to see what tremendous amount of work it was to build a structure with no modern tools at all, and it felt great to be a part of it. The people were so friendly and hospitable. The children were very curious about the color of our skin and came up to me and were poking me. I found this quite funny!!!! It was a tiring but very fun day and I will be glad to go to sleep!!!! Amani, Kathleen Davie

"First Email"- from Kyle
Wednesday, May 17 Well, it is now 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night our time and the Trinity team has safely arrived in Kitale, Kenya. Kathleen and Tara are exhausted, having stayed awake most of the time on the two flights and also trying to take everything in during the drive between Nairobi and Kitale. I am going to try to have them e-mail every day or so with updates. After some rearranging of items in various pieces of luggage at Newark Airport in order to accomodate new weight restrictions, we boarded our 6 hour Virgin Atlantic flight and traveled to London. Kathleen met up with her Aunt and other family while Greg Allen, Judy Fisher, Tara and I went into London for lunch and a visit to the Temple Church. The transportation took longer than expected, so we did not have a lot of time at the church. It was a very moving experience. Standing silently before the stone knights was particularly significant for me. The church feels so holy and sacred. It is hard to put into words. After the brief visit at the church, we returned to Heathrow and boarded our 9 hour Kenya Air flight to Nairobi. Upon dealing with a missing bag (mine of course ), we determined that there had been a miscommunication on the ground travel. We waited a couple of hours to be picked up and then made an 9 hour trip to Kitale.		The challenge of this drive has as much to do with the road conditions as the the traffic flow. Of course, in rural Kenya, traffic flow includes sheep and goats as well as vehicles! Upon arriving at the Diocesan offices, we were first greeted by Emmanuel and Dorcas as well as their daughter Subira and their "adopted" daughter Cherop. It was so good to see them. Dorcas looks absolutely radiant. There is no doubt that she is carrying twins! In time, we made our way to the Khisas and are now resting in the love and comfort of this wonderful family (By the way, we just learned this evening that Doctors Henry and Mary Khisa were in a very serious car accident last Saturday. In their own inimitable way, they graciously opened their home to us despite the challenges of their recuperation. Please add them to Trinity's Prayer list). Tomorrow Greg Allen, Judy Fisher and I will be on retreat with the Mwamba Kenya Board. We are looking forward to meeting the new members of the Mwamba Kenya Board and discussing plans and intentions for the future of this ministry. Kathleen, Tara and one of the Khisa's daughter, Hellen, will have the day to spend in Kitale and visit the Khisa farm. They will need that respite as we have three work projects to complete in upcoming days. My love to everyone on staff. Take care. Amani, Kyle

Map of Africa
The Diocese of Kitale - area in red