I want to thank all of you who prayed for my visit to Western Kenya. This is what the Lord did:

Flight tickets: Although faithful sisters from the Netherlands sent me Euros, I lacked funds for the tickets. At the last moment, my travel agent received a special 21-day offer for only 
$ 699.00 -- $ 500.00 less than the regular ticket. Praise God! What was still needed the Lord allowed me to pay from the tithes.

I left the new Ben Gurion Airport  on December 8th, and arrived in Nairobi on December 9th.

The first night I spent in the Nairobi Hilton at a low price ($ 90.00). The room and my round-trip Nairobi-Kisumu ($ 163.12) were paid with the ministry’s American VISA. I believe and trust G-d for provision for $ 9,500.00 accumulated during the past years.

I arrived on December 10th two hours late in Kisumu (a town at the shores of Lake Victoria). Bishop Bera, his wife Penina, their two youngest daughters and a pastor had been anxiously awaiting me and were very happy to welcome me. In 2004 Simiyu had declared that for my next visit he would pick me up in his own car. And so it was. Praise G-d!

In Webuye: Pastors from various towns of Kenya (as far away as Mombasa and Mt. Elgon) and from Uganda and Tanzania were awaiting me. They had come with their wives and were excited about my meetings. They had many questions and I spent the entire afternoon into the evening with them, answering questions and teaching.

The next day, Sunday, we held 2 services at a nearby town (Misikhu?) at Pastor Leonard’s church. After the morning service guests were honored with a feast of rice, stewed beef and/or chicken, vegetables, potatoes, sauce, and large flat cakes of bread cut into slices and – sodas, lots of them. We ministered to and prayed for the people during services.

Although white ministers come to Kenya, they go only to the “big” cities. They stay in hotels avoiding the locals, give hand-outs and treat the Kenyans like colonials. In contrast, the Lord had me encourage and build up the people to take charge of their lives and their wonderful country. It happened this way:

On Monday, December 12th, 2005, Kenya celebrated its 42nd Independence Anniversary from the British. Bishop Simiyu and Pastor Herman Kasili (a very spirited man whom the Lord sent from Nairobi to Webuye to join up with Simiyu) were invited and I, as the only white person, was also invited. This was most unusual, since white people are not permitted in to Independence celebrations.
 

However, not only was I invited, but I was even asked to address the assembly. I asked the Lord to put His words in my mouth, and this He did. He challenged and motivated the Kenyans to mature into their independence, to become masters of their own country; to bless Israel and receive a blessing in return by Israeli experts helping them in their quest for authentic independence and prosperity. Afterwards, the officials approached me excitedly, saying that they hoped to meet with me again before my return home.

At the official dinner, I sat on a stage overlooking the entire assembly seated in U-shape, and was asked to close the gathering with prayer. I stood tall, seen by all and seeing all, letting the Holy Spirit have His way. I concluded, arms stretched out wide, with the high-priestly blessing over the assembly. The people were deeply moved. Even the rich factory owner of Pan African Paper Mills (“Panpaper”) from India, Mr. Sabu, himself a Moslem, came up to me and said “Your prayer almost converted me”. He gave Bishop Simiyu his phone # and e-mail address for us to meet with him.
 

Simiyu, Kasili and I met with the mayor and city council of Webuye, discussing their collaboration with Israeli experts. They agreed to provide housing, a plot of land for experiments, and to negotiate with local business people to underwrite financially the coming of an Israeli team.

We also met for over one hour with the rich Indian PanPaper factory owner who is exploiting the people while polluting the environment¹, himself not even having Kenyan citizenship. He was not so excited anymore, hearing my proposal, and called his “Kenyan expert” on forestation and horticulture to join us. However, initial resistance melted as Mr. Sabu saw that I was among Kenyans of great faith in G-d who were strongly motivated and ready to take their destiny into their own hands. We left with an agreement that he would provide housing for the Israeli team, contribute financially and possibly assist with marketing.

We realized that Mr. Sabu came to recognize that his days of exploiting the indigenous people are numbered as Kenyans “grow up” into their independence and learn what their white “masters” failed to teach them. Co-operation rather than exploitation will be a wise policy for the future of this plant. It would seem Mr. Sabu came to understand this during our 1 hour meeting.