En route to Kenya.

By Kyle Small -
We departed Amsterdam after a brief four hour layover (it is 7 hours on the way home). Layovers begin to disclose personalities. Some want to sit in a chair and wait it out - the bonus is that these guys watch the luggage. Others want to walk aimlessly in order to get some exercise. Still, others have a destination in mind - Starbucks or a wireless hotspot. I like this about our group.

We are now on the plane to Nairobi. Gunnar has met his flight attendant, the two younger women sitting in his row (one is from North Dakota traveling to Kenya to teach English on the South-east coast), and he is the most diligent at walking the aisles. I think that every time he gets up, he meets someone new. Towards the end of the flight he met another missionary couple with campus crusade. They used to live in Minot north Dakota. By the end of the flight Gunnar has connected every passenger to either North Dakota or Denmark. Remarkable.

The movie of the trip has been True Grit. I have yet to watch it (I watched Chronicles of Narnia 3, instead). I think the guys really like it. But I thought it odd when Ron Russell and Ken Carlson were playing cowboys throughout Schipohl Airport (boys will be boys).

John is our watch-out guy. He is always turning around to make sure everyone is with us. We are dubbing him security patrol - he is responsible for our daily health checks (and mere presence). Ken is our even keel guy. He is flexible with whatever is next, willing to help however he can. (He just walked by me as I typed that - we are all working hard to ward off "deep bone thrombosis").

Bill is doing well. He has a quiet presence that is always on the edge of wit. Shawn is our perpetual smiling presence. Whether one of us offers an off-hand remark or simply a statement of a peculiar fact, Shawn nods his head and smiles. He's the rock.

Finally, nothing eventful has happened. We simply sit, walk, pee, and sit. This is a good life. I think we will be ready for a long sleep when we arrive in Nairobi. Tomorrow we wake up, eat breakfast, attend worship, and travel north to Stars For Jesus.

Comments

  1. Anonymous6:43 PM

    Kyle, thanks for the invitation to 'follow you around Kenya.' I think I will. Who are your team members?
    Garth

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:37 PM

    Boy oh boy, that Gunnar is something else, a people-champion. Thanks for the personality sketch on each person. But what about you?

    ReplyDelete
  3. terri8:45 PM

    I hope you are all well and having a great time.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's been a year(s) - Living The Good News between Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

By -
Image
January 5, 2021, was the first day of a very long road. To be honest, it is the most memorable day of a road that began several months before as we left the familiarity of Holland, Michigan, and moved to South Carolina.   Madeline received her first of three brain surgeries at Greenville’s children’s hospital on that day. What was a relatively minor brain surgery (if there is ever anything minor related to the brain), turned into a nine day stay with a feeding tube, and a young girl was now worse off than when she first arrived. The pain of the first surgery turned into a second a few months later. The second was better than the first, but headaches, stomach aches, and intense pain clouded any signs of success.    One year ago, today (February 13, 2023), Madeline entered the incredible children’s hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. We walked the unfamiliar territory of the new hospital in a new city with fear and trepidation. The neurosurgeon is one of the best in the world...
Read more

Returning to the Mitten - Small Family Update

By -
Image
Running - What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger? I went for a run on Thursday morning at the end of April. I was in West Michigan for a consulting project and enjoying a later start to the day. I left my in-laws house to run a route I enjoyed many years ago. Lindsay's uncle has a home on my West Michigan running route, and I decided to stop to say hello while running. I simply wanted to offer a hug and enjoy some connection. It was a delightful pitstop. I said, "I miss you." He said, "I miss you, too. Come home." His demeanor was energizing and directness a bit unraveling. His words fell distinctly on my ears. I continued running and his words wouldn’t leave me. I kept running and wondering if/how I should tell Lindsay about the encounter. Siri called Lindsay while I continued running. I wasn't going too fast (I couldn't if I tried according to my son). I asked Lindsay, "What if I said when we leave for Bethany we will not be returning to South ...
Read more

Moving, Healing, and Times of Transition

By -
Image
               We have a spreadsheet for this season. The final column is for the dog. When I first made the spreadsheet, she wasn’t included. Then the plans were made to pack, travel, and move. Everything made sense until we asked about the dog’s whereabouts. I admit it is nice for the confusion to be about a dog. It’s been a  dogged  two years, yet our family is intact; our home is selling; the children are registered for schools; I get to keep my job; and Lindsay has an incredible opportunity on the horizon. But the real news is some we have been waiting for since February. Madeline had her MRI and CAT scan early in the morning last Thursday. A few hours later the results were available in MyChart. Lindsay called to read it to me. She hadn’t yet read it herself, so we were bracing to hear the words for the first time together. I was so anxious and even as positive words laced the opening lines, I was waiting for the “but.” The re...
Read more