The meetings part of my Africa trip are over. I’m partway into the travel remaining. I’m returned from Nairobi, Kenya to Johannesburg, South Africa on the first leg of 33 ½ hours of travel, leaving the hotel at 4:45 am until I touch down in Orlando on Thursday. The reclining cocoons of Business Class sure look nice as I walk past them to the Economy section!

Yesterday, Chris and I met with Dr. Emmanuel Bellon, Vice Chancellor of Nairobi International School of Theology. We were joined by Nicholos Kimolo, Managing Director of Futuristics. Emmanuel’s vision of the need and urgency of distance learning in Africa is motivating. Nicholas seems a very competent consultant and advisor to come alongside and help implement the vision. Emmanuel shared the urgent need for trained leadership to guide the exploding church membership in Africa. Theological education schools in Nairobi do not graduate enough leaders to supply the new churches planted each year in just the city of Nairobi alone. It’s fairly normal for a church to see its trained pastor preach once every 3 months. The interim times are led by lay leaders and women, mostly untrained. There is an urgent need for trained leadership across the African continent.

Emmanuel sees distance education as an effective way to increase theologically-trained leadership beyond what resident schools are able to do. He began working on a plan 3 years ago, and really launched about a year ago. They have contracted Futuristics to help with the technologies needed.

As we talked, we identified several areas where my technology team in Orlando may be able to partner with this distance learning project. We have developed several systems that are needed in this project. It’s exciting to see the Lord enabling the work of our hands to be helpful to this distance learning project in Africa.

In addition to assisting with their current distance learning project, we agreed to a pilot project to test the ability to deliver distance learning in mobile phones. The current distance project seems focused on the centralized components of distance learning. I think the mobile device project can add value by addressing the end-user component of distance learning by providing a way for remote users to be trained without needing to have a computer and a high-speed internet connection.

This has been a very productive time. I am very aware of your faithful giving and praying. Kay and I are privileged to partner with you. We get to be your hands and feet, your personal representatives working with Dr. Bellon and others to develop new ways to help others grow and develop as Christ’s ambassadors.

More photos from Nairobi are online here.

Our September prayer calendar is online here.

On the journey together with you,
Keith & Kay

“We’re having Springbok pie with Chutney for dinner,” said our hostess Marie Dell. Springbok is a South African antelope. It tasted like venison (meat from deer) which I enjoy. But I’d never had it in a pie. A “pie” means a crust, something like a chicken pot pie. Chutney is a spicy relish made from vegetables or fruit. Good dinner!!!

I asked where the Springbok had come from. Marie’s husband Stefan had taken his discipleship group hunting. They had licenses for 5 springbok. We were eating from one of them.

Sounds like my kind of discipleship group! Maybe a transfer to South Africa will be in our future!

Nicholas and Pravani wanted to learn about TOM and other tools to build movements on their campuses. TOM is our nickname for a Facebook application called Together on Mission. TOM helps build movements through several momentum-building activities like

• encouraging praying for one another
• encouraging students to identify their “sphere of influence” whom they hope to influence for Christ
• sharing stories contributed by students of evangelistic opportunities
• helping students find a Bible study group and join it
• reporting statistics of God’s activities on the campus

We recently released TOM version 1. Nicholas and Pravani quickly grasped how TOM could help them with their students. They saw how TOM could be used to launch ministries on campuses where they are not able to go.

More photos are available on our photo site.

Thai Air

Thai Airways flight TG325 was roaring down the runway in Bangkok, Thailand. It was after 1 am and I was sleepily waiting for takeoff of our flight from Thailand to Bangalore, India. I remember thinking, “We’re taking longer than usual to take-off. It seems like we should have rotated nose up by now. Maybe the engines on this Airbus A300 are not as powerful as other planes and the take-off run is longer.”

About that time, the pilot slammed on the brakes. Hard. The seat belt tugged. Kay and I were both wide awake now.

It takes a while to get 19 tons traveling at 170 miles per hour slowed down. Three hundred people on flight TG325 were  hoping there was enough runway left.

There was. The Thai pilot was a professional. He did all the right things and we were always safe.

As we turned around to taxi back towards the terminal, Kay commented that she had prayed twice during the evening for our flight to India. She had felt an unusual prompting to pray. The Lord was preparing the pilot, the flight crew, and us for an aborted take-off experience. Kay’s prayers were a part of that preparation.

That is why your prayers are important. Air travel is pretty routine. Except when it isn’t! We do it all the time. It’s amazing how regularly flights take off and land safely. Baggage arrives as expected most of the time.

God allows things to happen “normally” most of the time. Most things are so “normal” that we forget to “pray without ceasing.” But sometimes, he has special opportunities to trust him built into our daily schedule. I don’t know whether it’s special faith-building opportunities, or whether the always-present-but-rarely-seen spiritual warfare breaks out in a skirmish in our part of reality.

But prayer is a very important part of both faith-building and war-fighting. I wrote a few months ago about an amazing thought from John Piper (click here to view Piper video clip):

God, the sovereign ruler of the universe, has ordained that prayers cause things to happen that would not happen if we do not pray. When James 4:2 says ‘you do not have because you do not ask’, it doesn’t mean ‘you would have anyway even if you did not ask because I’ve got a plan’.

This was a difficult trip from the perspective of airlines and travel. Long flights. Missed connections. Delays. Missing bags.

But in the end, we had one of the most profitable meetings of our global technology leadership that we’ve had. Ever. And we trained 30 leaders in India how to use our measurement system to capture statistics and stories of the amazing things God is doing in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. They will soon train their hundreds of staff. We will soon be even better able to publish abroad the amazing things God is doing throughout that entire region of the world.

And prayer is a major a part. Prayers were part of getting us to Thailand and to India. Prayers were part of the effectiveness of the training. And prayers will help Sam and Robin and Bibisho and others as they lead in helping everyone know someone who truly follows Jesus.

“Prayers cause things to happen that would not happen if we do not pray.”

Got this today from a friend visiting Rwanda. She had not expected to have any kind of internet connection so she did not plan on participating in a conference call today. Life is changing, around the world!

This place in Rwanda has wireless internet!!!  I have no idea how widely they have it at the hotel, for example, I don’t know if it reaches my room.  I’m in the meeting room at the moment.  This is amazing. The “shower” in my room is one where you have to stand in a bucket. That is, adding a shower to the room was an afterthought. It does have an instant hot water heater in the showerhead, but it didn’t work this morning. So, a bucket shower with a water heater that doesn’t work but with newly installed wireless access point!

Enjoying coffee and tea

Kay and I are in Bangalore, India. This has been an interesting trip. We missed a connection in Atlanta due to ground fog delays. We had a great time in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Now were in India.

After arriving late, we slept for a few hours then joined the training session. We have put photos online from our first day.

We are helping train staff in the use of our measurements tool where we are capturing statistics of the amazing things God is doing around the world.

Off to breakfast and another day of training.

Travel 2 days. Sleep 5 hours. Feel better.

Yeah. Some kind of world travelers we are.

One of the things we have learned over the years is to always travel with a carry-on bag. Our bag contains stuff to live for 2-3 days in case luggage is delayed.

So we DID have a carry on with a change of clothes. But we DID NOT carry any toiletries in it. This 3-1-1 security stuff (3 ounces, 1 clear plastic bag, 1 per passenger) tripped us up this time. We decided to put our toiletry kits in our checked baggage so we wouldn’t have to worry about the clear plastic bag rule.

It was a good plan…

…until we missed our connecting flight in Atlanta and spent a night in Atlanta. Then we actually had to LIVE out of the carry-on bag. Kay and I made a quick run to a local convenience store to buy deodorant, a comb for Keith, and a few other things. The thought of flying 10,000 miles without deodorant was more than I was ready for!

Then 30 hours later in Bangkok, no luggage arrived. So we lived out of our carry-on again. We weren’t really surprised. We were originally booked to fly Atlanta-Seoul-Bangkok. Then we were re-booked to fly Atlanta-Tokyo-Bangkok. The Seoul connection was on Korean Airlines all the way. The Tokyo connection was on Northwest Airlines all the way. We didn’t know what to expect would happen to our bags.

At 2 am in the morning in Bangkok, no bags for the Seabourns. Filling out a lost luggage form is never fun, but especially at 2 am after traveling for 27 hours.

This morning, I had a hilarious telephone conversation with the local Northwest ground agent about our missing baggage.

Northwest agent: Sir, your baggage arrived last night from Seoul on Korean Airlines. [Recall that Kay and I had arrived on Northwest Airlines from Japan.]

Keith: That is good news. So do we pick it up and check in for our Bangkok to Chiangmai flight?

Northwest: No, it will be sent directly to Chiangmai. You don’t have to worry with it.

Keith: So, Korean airlines will check our bags onto the Thai Air flight to Chiangmai in Bangkok?

Northwest: No, Korean Airlines flew it directly from Seoul to Chiangmai.

Keith: So, where do we pick up the bags in Chiangmai?

Northwest: They will be on the conveyor belt. They will be on your Thai Air flight with you.

Keith: So did Korean Air fly them to Bangkok?

Northwest: No, Korean Air will fly them to Chiangmai.

Keith: How will they get onto the Thai Air 110 flight conveyor belt if they are not coming through Bangkok.

Northwest: Korean Air will fly them to Chiangmai.

One of the things Kay and I have learned about cross-cultural encounters: You must live with a lot of ambiguity. Ambiguity becomes your friend. At least, ambiguity becomes your close associate.

So, we are in the Bangkok airport about to depart on Thai Air and have no idea when we’ll see our bags. We’ve been chasing these bags, or they have been chasing us for 10,000 miles.

It will be nice to use my own deodorant again.

Update: The bags arrived with us in Chiangmai. I have no idea what happened on the human side, but I’m pretty sure about the spiritual side.

Kay and I sat on the runway in Orlando for an hour then entered a holding pattern near Atlanta. We missed our Seoul flight. We tried standby on a later flight but failed to get on. We are trying to get to Thailand.

Kay and I sat next to P_____. God gave us extra runway time today so we could have a good conversation with him. I gave him a Four Spiritual Laws booklet (a version appropriate for young professionals). I gave him a business card. Perhaps he’ll contact me to talk further. I’ve always appreciated the description of an effective witness: “Success in witnessing is taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results with God.”

God had a plan for us to be a blessing to two hard-working Delta ticket agents in Atlanta who together spent about 3 hours re-ticketing us and trying to find our bags. B____ and K____ commented on how relaxed Kay and I seemed even though we’d missed our flight. I was reminded of a Henry Brandt story and said, “Well, we’re going to be standing here at this ticket counter while you re-ticket us. We have no choice about that. The only choice we have is whether we stand here mad and fuming or calm and peaceful. We think calm is better.”

So we are over-nighting in Atlanta and flying tomorrow. We pray that our bags get found wherever they are in the Atlanta airport and re-tagged Atlanta-Tokyo-Bangkok tomorrow rather than Atlanta-Inchon-Bangkok today!

I had asked friends to pray these things for us. I thought it was a prayer request focused on Thailand and India. But God is giving us a chance to reap the benefit of prayers here in Atlanta.

• Pray that our hearts will be spiritual hearts.
• Please pray for all of us to lift our eyes to see things from God’s perspective, in the light of eternity.
• Pray that we will be adventurous believers, stepping out if faith to trust God to do far beyond what we think we are able to do.

I’ve added two more prayer requests:

• Oumar from Mali wrote today that he has a visa, but he does not have a seat on the plane to Thailand until after the conference begins. He will try again tomorrow to get a seat to arrive in time for the start of the conference. Please pray for Oumar’s plane seat.
• Kay and I have a plane seat but no confirmation that they have located our luggage. Pray that overnight the luggage will be found and re-tagged. It contains conference materials as well as clothes (and deodorant!).

And Atlanta is having tornados tonight! Ahh, the joys of travel. The privileges of trusting God.

Well, I had an adventure tonight.

I thought I’d see the famous street La Rambla on a Friday night, and go to Starbucks and buy a Barcelona mug. I used Google Maps in my hotel room to plan my journey.

The map says it’s 3.1 km, about 2 miles. Kay and I walk about that much frequently in Orlando and it takes us about 25-30 minutes. I thought that would be a good walk. I forgot that in the city, you do a lot of waiting for red lights! So after about 30 minutes, I was about halfway there. I was at the place labeled El Triangle. I was not making much progress, it was 9 pm.

Standing at El Triangle, I saw a Starbucks. The University of Barcelona is across the street, and college kids in Spain need Starbucks too. So, I stopped my journey about halfway there.

Then I decided to take the Metro (subway) back. I like adventures. I studied the route map on the wallof the subway station.

Barcelona Subway map

To get from Universistat to Hospital Clìnic looks really simple.

• Take the red L1 line from Universistat to Catalunya, 1 stop.
• Change to the green L3 line.
• Take the green L3 line from Catalunya to Passeig de Gràcia to Diagonal. 2 stops.
• Change to the blue L5 line.
• Take the blue L5 line from Diagonal to Hospital Clinic. 1 stop.

For some reason I still don’t understand, when I got to the Diagonal station and followed the signs to the blue L5 line, it led me completely outside the station. No L5. I still don’t know what happened. I went back into the Metro station and tried to find any more L5 signs, but the only ones pointed to the exit. So I ended up somewhere in Barcelona, above ground, with no idea where I was. If you’ve ever used a subway map, you know they have little resemblance to reality above ground. Supposedly the Hospital Clinic station was only one subway stop away. But I didn’t know which direction nor how far.

Fortunately, my PDA has Google Maps Mobile installed. I was able to figure out how to navigate the 1.3 km to my hotel. It took about 20-30 minutes.

But I’m back in the hotel. Safe and sound.

Tomorrow, I’ll strike out for La Rambla again. I don’t know if I’ll walk or Metro. I’ll decide tomorrow.

I’m sitting in a restaurant at 2:15 pm Tuesday afternoon. We are 6 hours ahead so it’s 8:15 am in Orlando. I’m in Sitges almost a day before others arrive for the internet ministry conference. So I’m on my own today.

The missionary life of travel is a bit different than tourist travel. I’ve done both. In missionary travel, I am frequently on my own to navigate in a language I don’t understand. Today, I arrived in Barcelona and took 2 trains and a taxi to my hotel in Sitges, about a half-hour south of Barcelona.

Later, I went out for lunch. The following is my humorous experience ordering lunch in Spanish. I thought you’d enjoy it.

I’m glad you could join me for lunch. No one else has arrived for the conference yet so i’m wondering around alone for now.

I just ordered completely in Spanish. I got rissoto something or other for the first course. I recognized rice. I thought “you can’t go wrong with rice.” BUT this rice has little shrimp or prawns. I don’t like shrimp. So that’s what “con gambas” means!

I walked around for an hour, enjoying the sights and looking for a less expensive restaurant. It’s about 65 and partly cloudy.

This restaurant had a “fixed plate menu” that was the most reasonable I found. BUT it was only in Spanish!

If the waiter and I communicated, I’m having filet of sole next. We’ll see!

A “fixed plate menu” is pretty normal in Europe. Choose from several appetizers, several entrees, 2-3 desserts.

I arrived in Barcelona about 7:30. Navigated the 2 trains ok with the help of a lively group of high schoolers who must take the train to school. One thing about being on your own, you have to be willing to ask for help. Often!

Arrived at Sitges train station and got a cab to the hotel. Arrived about 8:30-9 at hotel.

I got my room early. I’ll be sharing with David Oliver from Barcelona when he arrives.

I decided to sleep 3 hours. Then showered. Felt good! I’m feeling really well.

YES! It’s fish! And its good! The flavor is really tasty.

Finished the sole.

I’m having something “caramel” for dessert. I recognized that word. And I ordered café con leche. I hope I remembered correctly from my last trip to Barcelona. It’s what I told the waiter. Where’s my Spanish-speaking son Jonathan when I need him!!!

OK. Dessert is some kind of custard. It’s ok.

YES! I got the coffee right!

I had thought about borrowing a friend’s Rosetta Stone language course this fall to prepare for this trip. Should have.

I had a whole row to myself on the plane. On a 767, that’s only 3 seats. But I lifted the arms up and laid horizontally. It was great! I slept about 3-4 hours of the 7 hour flight.

Well, café con leche is finished. I’ll figure out how to pay and walk around some more. I’ve taken lots of photos.

Thanks for lunch together.

In a couple of hours, I’m off to Spain. I’m going to Sitges, about an hour south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean. Yes, I know. Most of you are stuck in winter, but someone needs to go, so it’s me! Here’s the Hotel Sebastian Playa where I’ll be staying.

I’m meeting with 19 leaders in internet ministry from across Europe. These leaders have found the internet to be very effective in reaching out to seekers in the skeptical, post-modern world of Europe. People want authentic relationships based on transparent communication. Shame is a huge factor in lives today. Young people desperately desire acceptance.

Some of the topics we’ll discuss include:

• creative ideas for student-oriented websites and how to publicize them
• making the most of Facebook to discover spiritually interested students
• how to follow up students who come to faith on the Internet
• understanding eLearning and using it for online follow-up of new believers
• recruiting and training eVolunteers to handle email responses
• ministering to eVolunteers and moving them toward greater involvement
• making the most of an Agape Innovation website / forum to share ideas
• linking evangelistic websites to local universities where you have a Student Ministry
• best practice for getting contacts from website visitors
• how to manage contacts (those making a decision for Christ / having a question) coming from a website

Wow! With an agenda like that, there won’t be much beach time!

Here are some more websites that you might use to learn more about the ministry in Europe.

Main AgapeEurope website

Pray for Europe

Knowing God evangelistic websites

• German
• French

Student evangelistic websites

• Dutch
• French
• German
• Italian
• Spanish
• Many other languages