Today, at 4:45pm, I booked an airfare reservation that will take me to the unknown plains and hills of Uganda and Kenya, Africa in January, 2008. Lord willing, my prayer of three years is coming true! Through the initiative of my church’s singles ministry– Covenant Life Church–I will be joining a team of 15-20 singles and married couples for 11 days to serve at a local orphanage in Kiburara, Uganda. Located right on the northern, upper edge of Lake Victoria, our team plans to connect with a church there who has developed relationships with Covenant Life’s sister church—ChristChurch—in Wales, UK. Led by one of our Singles Ministry pastors, Jim Winn, our team is looking forward to serving at an annual Christian conference in the local villages, as well as taking care of the orphans on campus.
From there, I will travel separately to join my Dad’s first cousins—Paul and Carolyn Koning—at Rift Valley Academy (RVA), a ministry of Africa Inland Mission International. RVA is a K–12 boarding school serving about 500 students whose families represent a wider range of mission organizations and nationalities. With the campus set in Kijabe, a small town about an hour’s drive northwest of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, it exists primarily to serve missionaries by providing a quality educational experience and a safe haven for their children. When I arrive, the Konings will have already been there for 5 months, so I will just jump into whatever they need me to do to serve! Hopefully, I will be using my experience in classical piano training to assist teachers from RVA’s music program. To learn about their mission trip, and where I will be staying, visit http://koningfamily.wordpress.com/.
Scriptures that keep coming to mind as I reflect on this exciting adventure:
1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.â€Matthew 19:14 “Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.â€
Please be praying that God will already begin working to provide us with safety, health, financial provision, wisdom, and sacrifical joy! More details to come.