Second Day at the Institute

Yesterday I was somewhat disappointed with the pace of the construction here, but today I spent more time looking around.  I really am quite impressed by this place.  Consider this, the school campus is about 3 US acres (10 acres Kenyan), and has 21 buildings, 17 are complete except some electrical finishing.  We started in April 2011 and they will have it ready for occupancy, though not quite finished by April 1, 2012.  If I told you the cost per square foot you would believe me.

This is really a first rate technical school by Kenyan standards.  My people tell me they have never seen a nicer campus in Kenya.  Our kids are going to get some great training here, and it will serve as the hub for our mission activities as well.  Our medical teams will train Kenyan nurses here this June and the church here will be able to grow and hold meetings and seminars on this campus.  The name of Christ will be made more famous by the existence of this place and the good work that it will do in His name.

Give praise to God and thanks to the GCR elders who had the vision and trust in us to allow us the freedom and funding to do amazing projects like this one.  I am in the process of posting a new album of pictures of the site and all the buildings.  Enjoy!

VTI 23 Feb 2012

I drove again with Mbuvi for the last time today.  He has been a great teacher, and I am grateful for his patience.  Driving here is really different.  Aside from driving on the left side of the road, there a literally thousands of pot holes, some larger than the vehicle itself.  These can be on highways where 80kph is the normal speed.  You have to brake madly and steer violently, sometimes into oncoming traffic, to avoid them.  Kenyans also don't have very many police cars, so they control speeds with speed bumps.  Some of them are large and well slopped and some are small and violent, but none of them are marked.  You just have to be alert and ready to panic-stop at a moments notice.

In town, the pedestrians walk anywhere they want and the pot holes are even worse.  Some roads are just clearings that today might be passable, and tomorrow might be in the center of a market.  Simple intersections are difficult, and complex ones are nearly impossible to move through easily.  And remember, you have to think, "keep left" when 30 years of experience have taught me to "keep right."

Tomorrow Mbuvi catches a bus back to Nairobi, and Alfayo Bodi will join me here and I will drive us to his home at Ndhiwa.  I'll be there two nights and get to worship at Nayongo, our newest orphanage, which is almost complete.  Not sure what the power and internet will be like there, so my next post may not be until Sunday night.  Thanks for keeping up with my journey and please continue to pray for me and all of our Kenyan partners.