Update and Prayer Requests

Hello again everyone!

I just thought I would give some updates as to what I have been doing. Last Friday before I left for Gatab I was able to get on another DC-3 flight. We had been doing inventory at the hangar the previous days and were still doing it then so I didn't have my camera with me. This has made me decide to bring my camera EVERY day. All day Friday the DC-3 was flying back and forth to Homa Bay on Lake Victoria. They were bringing food that was then going to one of the islands in the lake. We flew over 30,000 pounds of food down there! It was a beautiful flight and that part of Kenya is so green! One of the Kenyans from the hangar also went along and he had never been to that part of Kenya either so it was cool to see his reaction.

Thank you for all of your prayers during my trip! It went very well. No problems at all! Jay Mundy and I left around 10:30 Saturday morning and arrived in Gatab Monday afternoon. We could have made the drive in two days but we were taking a route Jay had never taken before so we gave ourselves plenty of time. Gatab sits on top of Mt. Kulal on the east side of the southern end of Lake Turkana. The drive was amazing! Such beautiful country! I never realized Kenya was so mountainous! I am trying to upload some pictures of the trip along with some pictures from the hangar so hopefully the internet will cooperate and I can get a bunch of pictures up.

While we were in Gatab we mostly worked on getting their house set up so that his wife and kids could move up there as well. We rearranged a lot of furniture and did a lot of cleaning. I met several other mission families up there who are involved in a lot of different work. They are doing a lot of construction projects and they also run a small hospital there. I really enjoyed my time up there and would love to make it back there again some time.

Jay and I were picked up and flown back to Nairobi on Thursday afternoon on a 206. It was an awesome flight. The countryside is so cool from the airplane. We also stopped at the airstrip in Kijabe to drop someone off there. Taking off out of Kijabe was a little exciting. You can only take off in one direction and that is down hill. We also had a 25-30 knot tail wind. For those of you who don't know a lot about aviation those conditions add up to the airplane not wanting to leave the ground. Even with very little weight on board we used up every inch of that runway! It was a little exciting for a while! I have the whole takeoff on video so I'm sure some of you will see that when I get back.

Now I have a couple of prayer requests. On Friday after I got back I found out that the Kenyan government has denied my Special Pass (basically my short term work permit). The Human Resource department here was going to see what they could do to possibly appeal that or get the decision overturned. Until then I am going to continue to work in the hangar but if they will not issue the Special Pass I might not be allowed to work with AIM. Please pray that the Kenyan government will approve the permit so I can continue to work in the hangar.

If for some reason the pass is not approved pray for wisdom and guidance for me as I would then look for what options I have. Some of the missionaries in Gatab invited me to come up and work with them for longer if I wanted to so that might be an option but I am not sure. Pray that God will provide clear leading and guidance as this unfolds.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support! You have no idea how much it means to hear how much support I have! It has been such a blessing!

In Christ,
~Nathan