Civil Unrest

So, I'm supposed to be in Africa right now. Turns out, I'm not. Not because there was a financial situation, quite the contrary. I was overwhelmed from the support of the community and the resources that were redirected towards this effort. It was quite impressive. My hometown community raised over a thousand dollars towards my departure, so after it was all tallied there was very little that I had to cover out of pocket.

However, there is more to traveling overseas to a foreign country than simply financial issues. If you've watched the news at all in the last month or so, you know that there has been quite a bit of civil unrest in Kenya. I'm not a reporter, and don't want to add to any of the misinformation that's associated with current events, but basically Kenya held presidential elections the last week of December and they went badly. The incumbent was accused of rigging the elections and then a clan war broke out. Now, after more research has been done, it's starting to appear as if the clans involved had a preconceived notion that this was going to happen, and even more than that, some reports say that what has happened in Kenya the last month was highly orchestrated and planed to start a full blown civil war in the Eastern African country that is usually touted as one of the most stable.

Anyway, the trip has been postponed until all this settles down as the LCMS doesn't feel that they want to send over people to be pawns in someone else's conflict. Given the circumstances I highly agree. The earliest we might be going would be sometime in October, but that's very much yet to be determined.

I would like to extend my thanks to all the participants of the fund raising and organizing. I feel very blessed to have so many people who will support my decisions and do what they can to allow those plans to come to fruition. Thank you.