Our 10,000 Kilometre Safari

Mike and Donna

After much preparation our three-man team set off overland from South Africa to Kenya and back. Our goal was to respond to a request from the rural areas around Eldoret Kenya to bring Bibles and Christian literature to those who had none, also with the intent of finding those to partner with in future.

We traveled in an Africanized motor home with two fuel tanks in case fuel was scarce, extra jerry cans full of diesel, extra batteries, cooking gas, extra engine parts, tools in case of repair work needed, two spare tires and screens on all the windows to keep out malaria mosquitoes. Everything was locked down, chained, and secure, even the gas caps on the tanks.

We received a generous supply of New Testaments, children’s curriculums, children’s books, pastor’s training books, an Activated booklet course, and hundreds of Activated magazines and from Activated Ministries. We packed every nook and cranny with boxes and boxes of these priceless treasures. We even built a false floor with about 20 of the boxes so that we had enough room for everything and could still walk and live in the motor home during the journey.

We felt like millionaires passing out hundred dollar bills as we were able to give out New Testaments and Activated magazines to the countless police at the checkpoints along the way who eagerly asked for copies and we were met with smiles and encouragement and gratefulness from the police in Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Malawi!

Our drive to Kenya took us through mountains and valleys covered in Baobab trees, past elephant herds, zebras and impalas, buffalo and stately giraffes, to coastal areas that truly looked like paradise, past tea and coffee plantations and Sisal fields, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. Yet in spite of the absolute magnificent beauty we experienced along the way, the most precious, beautiful and outstanding thing we encountered was the people’s longing to have God’s Word in their hands.

After arriving in the Eldoret area, which experienced a great deal of ethnic violence in 2008 and 2009, Tom, one of the four pastors we worked with, implored us to “please bring materials to train our people so that we can make a difference in our own country. We need training even more than the aid to feed us. We need literature! We need resources!”

The truth dawned clearly as we visited schools with no books, churches with no bibles and people who were literate with no libraries or opportunity to have their own books. The materials we brought were like diamonds and rubies and emeralds and the people receiving them were so touched. Our friends William, Tom, Peter and Wycliffe are setting up small libraries for the 150 rural pastors and Sunday school teachers that they work with and the word is spreading in so many directions that we are not able to personally reach.

We will be returning to this area in 2011 to continue to discuss the needs of the area and checking to see what has blossomed in the hearts of these who have received the seeds and Words of life. We can’t thank Activated Ministries enough for sponsoring this venture throughout Africa, into recesses that are untouched and in need. Everywhere we went, life changed for the children, not to mention the parents, the villages and their part of the world! They now have resources that are more precious than gold!