After arriving in Nairobi late at night we slept at a hotel near the airport. In the morning we enjoyed a good breakfast and took a late morning flight to Kisumu where one of our Agape Project International Kenyan team leaders picked us up for the short ride to our hotel.
We were a team of 5 Americans and 20 faithful Kenyan team members traveling to a small church in the Majengo area (near Kisumu and Lake Victoria) in Western Kenya for Agape Project International (API) Medical Ministry Camp.
We followed our normal procedure of packing medicines and getting organized over the weekend. On Sunday, we attended Pastor Reuben Lavanga’s small church and were blessed by a warm message and some wonderful worship, singing and dancing. Truly there’s nothing like it.
On Monday we had a short drive to a remote area where our API Medical Missionary Camp was held in a Friends Church which was built in the 1920’s. Fortunately for us, it had electricity! We used our custom-designed software program utilizing about 20 iPads for registration, recording temperature, blood pressure, diagnosis, pharmacy prescriptions and dispensing. It worked beautifully and with no glitches. In the end, we treated 2,000 plus patients in just 4-1/2 days.
The older woman, seen below with Lesley Scherer of API is “Mama Fred” – the mother of the chief of the village. She has 12 children with 3 sets of twins. Lesley is only the second white person Mama has ever seen and she was so excited she practically lifted her off the ground with a huge hug. She lives in a mud hut with a thatched roof and spends her days fetching water, cooking and working in the shamba (vegetable garden).
Charity, the young girl shown below, has just seen the doktari and is waiting to receive her medications. She was treated for some allergy issues and worms (a very common occurrence). All the Kenyan children are the happiest kids you’ll ever meet, even though they may have only one or two sets of clothing and no toys.
After the patients received their medications, they were ushered outside to meet with local pastors who prayed for them and shared the gospel; over 1,100 received Christ this year. These new brothers and sisters were then referred to local churches for further discipleship.
After camp we drove to the Maasai Mara Game Park, stayed the night at a tent camp and then spent the next full day on safari in the park with a wonderful lunch stop at a luxurious park lodge. We had one more night near the park and drove back the next day to Nairobi for inventory and our flight home.
These are trips of a lifetime and a blessing to many Kenyans but, truthfully you may find that you are blessed even more! Come with us sometime and see for yourself. By God’s grace, we have been born into so many ‘riches’ compared to most in the third world. But when you see their smiles and are extended so much gratitude for coming to serve, perhaps they are the ones with ‘riches’ untold. And sharing about Jesus with those who have not heard then seeing the smiles with their new understanding… nothing better!
Agape Project International is a religious non-profit organization of people redeemed and transformed by Jesus and sent out on mission by Him into the world. We offer a two-week Medical Ministry Camp trip twice a year in rural locations that treat 2,200 + patients with minimal access to healthcare. We also equip pastors to serve their congregations and communities, to provide resources to local congregations to build churches and to care for orphans and vulnerable children. Learn how you can volunteer or support their work here.
On MissionFinder, we have over 1,000 ministries offering opportunities like this to serve at home and around the world. Does your church or organization need help organizing mission trips? Check out our partner site, MissionMinder.com. Their easy-to-use software will help you manage all the details for your short-term mission trips and team members online. Unlimited Trips. Unlimited team members. Easy online fundraising for your team members. Try it free for 30 days. Learn more here.
