Out of Africa, or rather into it, Part 1

Last summer we spent our days tending to our community garden, going for long walks, drinking homemade smoothies on our front porch and talking to our neighbors. John worked on his motorcycle, and Claire experimented with baking bread.

This summer will be different.

This summer we will be going to Kenya for two months. This summer we will be leading a small team of Aviation students on their internships. This summer will be spent practicing Swahili, eating fresh tropical fruits, praying that our matatus(15 passenger taxis) don't crash, working on airplanes with Kenyans, and visiting villages only accessibly by small aircraft.


We will be serving primarily through aviation with Africa Inland Mission. We are enthusiastic about joining in the ministry at the hanger knowing that we will be part of a vital cog in the machine that moves the gospel work to as yet unreached peoples. We will be working alongside Kenyans in the hangar, as well as living alongside them in the city. We are eager and humbled to see and participate in the work that God is doing in Nairobi and all over east Africa. In many ways this 8 week trip will be a preview trip for what our lives will look like when we move to Kenya long term.


There is a lot that has to happen with us leading this team and it can easily feel overwhelming when we consider the position of responsibility we are in.

It is by faith that we are taking this on. Faith because neither of us has ever lead a missions trip before (and Clarissa has not yet even been to Kenya). Faith because Nairobi is a crazy city often referred to as "Nairobbery". And faith because we have to raise around $7000 extra on top of the monthly support we are currently depending on for our work at Moody.

We need a lot of faith.

However, we are thankful and are often reminding ourselves that our faith is not just wishful thinking, but it is trust in a God who is faithful. And as we were recently reminded by our upstairs neighbor, if God isn't bigger than all these things, then we are in big trouble.

We need faith, and we have hope. Please pray for us:

• That God would give us deep trust in Him
• As we raise these additional funds.
• That we would be brought together as a team on this trip.
• That we would be useful and not burdensome to the long-term missionaries we partner with in Nairobi.

If you would like to partner with us for this trip you can send checks to

Proclaim Aviation Ministries
PO Box 356
Worthington, MN 56187

Or give through their website. www.proclaimaviation.org and click on the donate tab.

Please be sure to specify that your gift is for our Kenya trip this summer in the comments section at the bottom, as the money is handled differently than our monthly support.