Heading Home

The team is in the airport and ready to board our first flight home.

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The 2019 Kenya Missions team with our missionary partners, Jenna & O’Neal

The goodbyes (or “see you next times”) are always hard, but knowing our partners are in good Hands makes the parting a bit easier.

As I write this, 12 of us are in line to board our first flight, a 2.5-hour trip to Ethiopia. After a short layover, we’ll have a 17-hour flight to Chicago with a brief refueling stop in Dublin.

Please pray with us for smooth and uneventful travel!

The team about to board at Moi International Airport in Mombasa

Smoothest. Travel. Ever.

The 2019 Kenya Missions Team has arrived! Almost a full 24 hours after we met in Waukesha, we landed in Mombasa. We left our second plane perhaps a little sleepy, perhaps a little stiff and creaky, but overall doing very well. The travel could not have gone more smoothly -- praise God!

Beautiful views on our short flight from Ethiopia to Mombasa, Kenya

More good news to report: all of our luggage made the journey, seemingly as smoothly as we did. The twelve of us who landed today made it through immigration and customs without incident and were greeted by Denise, who traveled ahead of us by a few days, and by our partners in Kenya, Jenna & O'Neal Nyanje.

We made it thru customs!

Getting on the bus

After loading up our bus with our luggage, we made the journey to our hotel and began to settle in. It's important to stay awake until evening upon arrival, lest the adjustment to the new time zone drag on longer than it should. Denise will be diligent in keeping us awake (if not alert) with activities to help us acclamate to our new environment and prepare for the next two weeks. We just finished our orientation meeting and will soon be sorting supplies, preparing activities for the school kids, and later going shopping for any essentials.

Orientation meeting at the hotel

Sorting supplies in Denise’s room

The next two days will be our first visit to each of our two schools, meeting the kids and staff, and building the relationships that will serve as the foundation of everything we do here these two weeks. Tomorrow will be spent at Crossroads Academy in Vipingo and Tueaday we'll be at New Life Academy in Bomani.

Be sure to watch the blog and the Facebook Page for updates on what we are - and more importantly what God is up to in Kenya!

One More Flight

We've arrived safely in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! One flight down, one to go!

The last blog post said that we'd arrive in Kenya around midnight Milwaukee time -- this was a mistake. (Chalk it up to an early morning with little sleep!) We actually landed in Ethiopia around 7am local time / 11pm Mikwaukee time. We now have a short layover and then a 2.5-hour flight to Mombasa, Kenya.

The flight from Chicago to Ethiopia was fairly uneventful. Seemed like most of the team was able to get at least a little shut eye.

If all goes according to plan, we will land in Mombasa at 11:30am Kenya time / 3:30am Milwaukee time. At that point, we'll have 12 people going thru customs, which can be an adventure. We'll then have some activities to get settled in and keep us awake until evening as napping just makes the time adjustment worse.

Please pray with us that our second flight and entry into Kenya is as easy as the start of our journey has been!

And away we go!

The travel to Kenya has officially begun!

The team met at the Fox River Waukesha Campus at 4am (Wisconsin time) to get our bags all set and packed up into a trailer for transport to Chicago O’Hare airport.

After spending some time going over final logistics and most importantly spending time in prayer, we loaded up into two vehicles on got on the road!

The first leg of our trip is a 14-hour flight from Chicago to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We then have a short layover, followed by a 2.5 hour flight to Mombasa, Kenya. We should arrive just around midnight tonight Wisconsin time, which will be about 8am Sunday morning Kenya time.

We are currently through security and have a couple hours until we board. Wheels up at 9:30am! Please pray that we have smooth, easy travels.

Keep watching this blog and follow Fox River Missions on Facebook to see additional posts, photos, and maybe even a live broadcast!

Stay tuned and keep praying!

On our way!

The team gathered at the Waukesha Campus this afternoon, did a final luggage (and passport!) check, and boarded the bus to Chicago.

We're currently at O'Hara airport, anxiously awaiting the first leg of our journey. We fly to Istanbul, Turkey, have a short layover, and then fly to Mombasa.

Please join us in praying for safe and expedient travel, quick and easy customs procedures, and that even in our travel, God's love would shine from each of us.