A New Mission | Trip #2 | Post #1

I am currently sitting in a KLM plane at Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania. We are waiting for some to exit while we (Mike Evans, Stu Dix and yours truly), along with others, wait to board and take off for Entebbe, Uganda, to begin our next round of pastoral training. We were very fortunate that this leg of the trip was only about 2/3 full, so we got to spread out a bit. This makes our second consecutive eight-hour flights a bit more pleasant. 

Usually, we fly from Amsterdam to Kigali, Rwanda, before turning around to Entebbe. I mentioned to Stu that this was my first time in Tanzania. Sitting in the plane in the dark, he said from his vantage point (sitting in the plane), it looked just like Kigali. 

Many would say I have never been to Tanzania, and I would agree with them. My wife, Carol, would disagree. Ask her about having been in all fifty states—some encounters with states she has not been in much more than my experience in seat 16D (one row short of comfort plus) of Tanzania. 

For those of you who have followed our (the St. Croix Valley LEAD team) exploits, this is actually our third round of trainings. We learned A LOT in our first round and came to some conclusions as to how things would need to be different in order for us to participate in a second round. We met a man named Kris Mobbs, a missionary with Four Corners Ministry. He was able to check all the boxes regarding our concerns and in May of 2022, we took part in the first-ever graduation of the Living Stones Pastoral Training Center. There was much joy as 36 trainees who participated in our three-year process and their families celebrated. 

We are now starting another three-year process with Kris and Four Corners. Men from nine different people groups will be part of this cohort. I am really looking forward to starting another round of training.   

Just met a couple from Kansas who came with their two sons to meet their Compassion child. What a great outfit Compassion is! 

I’m reading a really good book on this trip: Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God by Rankin Wilbourne (I never heard of him either). I’m going to share a quote from it each time I write.  

“The call to be radical can make you exhausted, but the call to be ordinary can make you apathetic.” Page 48. 

Wilbourne is suggesting a third way. We’re off to Entebbe! 

I’m in Entebbe…my bags are still in Amsterdam…let the fun begin!