My first trip to Africa was to Rwanda, in July 2005, with a group of lay speakers. Then, in June 2006, I went back to Africa, but this time to Kenya. Most of the donations for this adventure were received less than two months before I was scheduled to leave. My flight was paid for just two days before I left. It was a real test of faith.

My flight from Michigan to Nairobi took about 19 hours, and it was interesting because I met an Adventist nurse from Ohio in Brussels. She was on her way for a three-week project in Gambia. Because she was wearing a T-shirt from an Adventist organization in Alabama, I spoke to her. She said I was the answer to her prayers to meet another church member.

From Nairobi, I traveled to Kisii, the site for our meetings in the Nyamira District of Western Kenya. We checked in to the Damside Village Motel. I knew it would be different since they had to fire up a generator to get lights for our rooms. Living at the motel was a new experience for me. Most of the bathrooms did not even have a toilet seat.

The preaching services were held twice daily. My first meeting was in Metamywa, on the main road, right in the middle of the business market. I preached through a translator for an hour only, since the P.A. (public address) system had to be moved to another location for a later service. The 350 people who came were blessed by music from a small, local church choir. I used outlines provided by ShareHim, but had to cut out some illustrations because of time constraints and my desire to make the messages as simple as possible.

People attending services at my location walked many miles. We held the meeting at 5:00 p.m. because they did not want to walk home in the dark. Some areas can be dangerous at night.

On the final Sabbath, 141 were baptized from my site, but the total for all nine sites was more than 1,500. These new members will become part of one of the eight existing churches which the local pastor shepherds.

For information about how you can participate in a ShareHim evangelistic initiative, visit their website: www.sharehim.org.

Leon Earl Jr. is a South Flint Church member, and Bruce Babienco is a Lake Union Herald volunteer correspondent.