February 4, 2012: Dear Praying Friends, Thank you for praying for my trip to Nairobi, Kenya last week – the Lord answered our prayers! My flights were without any issues; I did not suffer from jet-lag, did not get sick at all, the food where I was at was excellent, and I was able to take part in the meetings contributing to the plans which will further Bible translation through efficient use of technology in Africa. I was even able to make contact with Krista via Skype to keep up to date, which was a blessing for both of us. There were a number of outcomes from the meetings – some assignments for me or others in my department, some action items for my IT coworkers in Africa, and continued learning and a better understanding of ongoing challenges and issues in the African context. In so many ways it is a different world in these developing countries, and therefore many of the solutions we would use in America don’t work in Africa (or other developing parts of the world.) Yet we are seeing gradual improvements in Africa’s infrastructure over time – those gains just don’t happen as quickly as they do in the USA. I wrote up a comparison linked here as a real-life example of one such thing in Africa, versus the USA. On to more fun topics, last Saturday before my long flight back to the USA, my coworker Bill took me to one of the Masai markets in Nairobi to pick up a few souvenirs for Krista. Each of us had two “guides” (like salesmen) to take us around and show us various things. If we thought we might want to buy something we would put it in the “maybe bag” that one of the guides was carrying. Then when we had completed our shopping, they spread all the contents of the maybe bag on a tarp on the ground and we bartered on the price. Of course they started at an unreasonably high price, but we worked our way down to what I was willing to pay – which was still probably more than the things were worth! Anyway it was a fun experience. Photos from my trip, the Masai market, and the conference center where we stayed can be found here. Prayer Requests:
We feel blessed to serve the Lord and we pray that we are worthy of His calling! Because of Christ, Hank & Krista |