The mountains too

This is a normal way to keep warm during the cold June,
July and August months of winter.
Lots of layers, blankets, boots, a hat and warming in the sun.

Mountain ponies grazing in harvested wheat fields.
A run-off stream comes from the snow-capped mountains.

The snow-capped mountains

This is an areal shot of snow-capped mountains in central Lesotho.
Breathtakingly beautiful in June.
I along with two other members of the media team took a ride on a
small plane through the mountains to get this shot.

Lesotho is a small country surrounded on all sides by South Africa. The people that live in these mountains are cut off from the rest of civilization. Not much has changed in the last 100 years. They are literally cut off from the rest of the world during a good snow storm.

We rode mountain ponies to get to one area.

Children saw our progression and took off running over the mountains to get to the meeting site. We watch them "fly" down the rocky mountains, through villages, shouting at each other to hurry. Really beautiful.

The bush trip

This last weekend I visited a family that lives in central Kenya, about eight hours north of my city. Everyday was an adventure in the bush. The nearest paved road is about four hours away. The last morning I experienced something new, riding on a single propeller, four seat plane. This is the beauty of Kenya from the tiny plane.

what us expats call a bush plane, thanks for a great flight

the dry, central Kenya landscape
most of Kenya has not gotten enough rain for planting this season

Mt. Kenya, the highest point in Kenya

a waterfall in the mountains

Slums around Nairobi

Smog and pollution hoover over Nairobi

Landing at an airport for small aircraft.

Kenya is a vast country with many landscapes, from mountains to extreme valleys, huge citys to small villages, the rich to the poor, dry to wet. Hope you enjoyed my flight!

The Water

For the earth will be filled

With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.
-- Habakkuk 2:14 (NASB)

The Agta people are surrounded by water. From the middle of the island, water is only about 15km away west or east. Remember those who are bringing the true knowledge of God to the Agta people.

After her baptism, this Agta woman gathers her shoes as she emerges from the lake.

The Clearification

Previous post is not in Africa. I took a trip to the South Pacific!

The Volcano

Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
-- Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)

The volcano Asog, meaning smoke, blew about 400 years ago creating this natural lake covering "the old town." I hiked up into the crater of the volcano to reach a group of believers. The only way to meet with three other groups of believers was to cross lake Buhi.

Remember those who serve among these tribes, who need not to get tired and need not to become weary.

The Slums

The Ostrich

The Homeschoolers

Kristen and I taught a two hour writing and photography lesson to kids homeschooled here in Nairobi. We had a great time and met some interesting kids. They loved Kristen! (and secretly she loved them too.)

The Safari

My New Year was spent in Ambasele National Game Park in southern Kenya. The park is at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was amazing. So many wild animals. God was good to us and we saw every animal the park had to offer.

Even lions fighting.

It was a great way to start the new year.

The goats

On a farm in North Africa, there lives a goat. This goat, "Bill," lives in a barn filled with other goats waiting for the day it will be given a new home. Bill is weeks old, the newest of the 50 or so also waiting for new homes.

Bill knows he'll live with a widow and her children. Bill will roam the hillside around the widow's hut with other goats eating dead grass. He'll learn the call of his shepard and come bounding down the hill towards home when he hears the call. His bed will be a small corner sectioned off by bamboo polls in the widow's rounded hut.

Every day he'll provide milk to nourish the family. This year the widow and her children will not starve. Bill is proud that he will help a family live longer and healthier lives.

Bill provides a way for workers to visit homes and tell stories about Jesus. Pray for those workers to find ways to share these stories with Bill's owners.