Saturday, July 31, 2010

9 Days and counting...

On August 9th my first born son, Will, and I will embark on a journey to Kenya to experience a new life, culture, and land. We will be visiting some friends who are missionaries for Africa Inland Missions. This blog will be the location where we will post pictures, write about our days, and help communicate our experiences.

There is much for us to do to still prepare. We do have passports, shots, and medicine ready to go. But we haven't packed, thought about packing, or mentally prepared all the way. We have checked out all the public library books on Kenya and the Masai tribe (a group of people we're looking forward to spending a weekend with).

Will is most excited about being with the Masai people. We have seen pictures and heard stories from our missionary friends, but experiencing this new culture is something we're both excited about. It should be known that while I am a Presbyterian minister, it is not my goal to go to another land and try to "convert" others to a new way of thinking or believing. Instead, this is a journey of faith to see what God is already doing. There is a small village south of Nairobi called Olepishet where we will be camping out and spending time with the Masai people. There is a very small church there and I would like to see what (if anything) our local church can do to help this small church out.

Additionally, this is a journey of learning and studying as I will be using the information from the trip to help in my Doctorate of Ministry studies. Again, it is all about learning what God is already doing: the question I'm looking to ask local pastors and missionaries is, "What changes have you made to spread the gospel in a different culture?"

If you don't already follow me on Facebook (David B. Parker) or Twitter (revdad27) and would like to do so, please seek me out.

Thanks for the prayers and encouragement. We are looking forward to the journey!
Peace...

2 comments:

Debbie Pittard said...

Will be following your blog closely, David, and praying for your safety.

Mom of 2 boys said...

Awesome, Dave. What a great experience this will be for you two. I can't even imagine how excited Will (and you) must be right now. Good luck on the research and have a safe trip. You will be in our prayers. Mandy