6 Miles

Well, a decision was made by Grace Community Church's leadership to postpone the trip.  Here's a portion of the letter sent out:

Obviously the last couple weeks have been an extraordinary time in Kenya’s history, and none of us could have predicted or envisioned the events as they have unfolded.  We have been burdened as a church for our dear family of Nairobi Chapel and Mavuno Church, and all the other relationships we have throughout Nairobi.  We have been praying, and are grateful that things have not deteriorated any further, and seem to be moving toward reconciliation, albeit slowly.

We don’t have any protocol for political insurrections in our short-term trip preparations, and have never faced a situation quite like this before.  We have tried to walk through this prayerfully and with understanding towards our friends in Nairobi and the commitments you have made as a team.

Our original plan was to wait until Friday to make a final decision. But after further consultations, I have decided that no other information will change the decision at this point and we need to postpone the trip until the fall or next January.  The situation in Kenya will not be stabilized enough for us to be comfortable with the risk we would be taking for your safety.  I know that this is difficult for everyone involved – the people receiving the team, each of you, your families, your workplace.  We want to trust God, follow Him, and take risks for God’s kingdom.  But this risk seems to great, especially since we can reschedule the trip for a time when the situation has settle down, and you can accomplish the purpose of the trip then.

Our team leader added:

We are planning a meeting this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Community Church to discuss our options for re-scheduling for later this year in September and/or early January 2009.  Because of new information and conflicts with September, we are considering another alternative of January.  Grace has agreed to cover the ticket change charge of $ 300.00 per person and any increase in airfares. 
 
Please continue to pray for the people and leaders of Kenya that they can reach a peaceful solution.  We realize these last two weeks of uncertainty have been an inconvenience for you, but it is small compared to the suffering our Brothers and Sisters in Kenya are experiencing and we want to keep them foremost in our prayers

I want to echo that last paragraph.  Thank you all again for your prayers and support.  At this point we are feeling relief over just knowing. The uncertainty of everything was making me dread the thought of going–and I did not want to go in that mind set! This is something I have wanted to do for YEARS and I want to go wtih that excitement in place!