Missionary Trip to Kenya, Africa

by Victoria L. Krynock

"Then God said, ‘Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles…’"
Ex 34:10

Our first miracle happened at the airport in Detroit, Michigan as our team was embarking on our missionary trip to Kenya, Africa. Each member had packed one suitcase, (of the two suitcases allowed per person), with gifts. Distributed among those suitcases were 68 Bibles, a chain saw, guitar, tool box, speakers and wire, microphones, a 500 piece flannel graph teaching aid, scissors, gifts for women, toys, soccer balls, and gifts for the host family.

The weight limit per bag was 70 pounds. Our large duffel bag containing the guitar, chain saw and tool box weighed 74 pounds; we should have been charged $450! However, the lady hesitated for a minute, (as the team prayed and the Holy Spirit softened her heart), then gave us a verbal reprimand and let it go through without charge!

Our second miracle was getting through Nairobi customs at little cost. Kenyan customs officials have the right to determine the customs fee. This can be equivalent to the full value of the items being brought into the country. Our fee for everything was $60 and a Spirit Filled Life Study Bible! Imagine that, a Bible for a bribe!

I am certain we will not know all the ways God intervened on our behalf until we step into eternity, but I will share those I do. One of our team members, Mike, has tire marks on the back of his hiking boot where a car literally stopped short of running him over. Ron, was at work helping to put roof trusses onto the school building and didn’t realize he’d grabbed a loose brick on the wall to hoist himself up off the ladder. It let go and he fell about eight feet with the brick landing on his head. Glory to God, he was not hurt.

We also made a heart-thumping run, or sputter, for the border in Uganda to try and arrive before the gate closed. We had been scheduled to minister in the northern part, but due to increased violence in the area, it was cancelled. They could not guarantee our safety. So we were to go to Victoria Falls as a "rest day", but were given the wrong directions. We ended up at a remote section of rapids we think was called Bujakali Falls.

By the end of the day we had been stopped at gun point by the military, bent the rim of one of the tires due to the condition of the roads, and repeatedly tried to repair the car’s exhaust system. The strap from Ron’s water bottle literally belted the exhaust in place. The car also kept stalling at inopportune moments and what was to have been a brief excursion for a time of rest, developed into a harrowing adventure.

After our arrival, we all rejoiced together over a meal even though it was 10:30 at night. We had traveled over three hours in the dark to get back to the village in the bush. After midnight that night, we ministered salvation to the son, and his wife and daughter, of the most feared witchdoctor in the area. It was an awesome way to end the day.

Uganda’s border closed at 6:00 p.m. and was locked for the night. We arrived at 6:20 p.m. The team went to prayer and Pastor James went to the border guards. God granted favor, which is another miracle. There are four gates: two on Uganda’s side and two on Kenya’s side. We could have been denied entry at any one of the four (due to the lateness of the hour) and made to sleep in the car…very dangerous and without food or water. What should have been a six hour round-trip took fifteen hours. Our friends in Kenya rejoiced to see us return safely. They had begun to fast and pray early in the afternoon when they realized something was wrong. No one travels in Kenya after the sun sets (6:20 p.m.) because of the many dangers involved.
After our arrival, we all rejoiced together over a meal even though it was 10:30 at night. We had traveled over three hours in the dark to get back to the village in the bush. After midnight that night, we ministered salvation to the son, and his wife and daughter, of the most feared witchdoctor in the area. It was an awesome way to end the day.

The greatest miracle to watch was the response of the people in the village to the gospel of Jesus Christ. During the crusade it was estimated 5,000 people gave their lives to Christ, including the tribal Chief. The witchdoctors were conspicuously absent until the last day of the crusade. Pastor Julius had to kick a group of them off the stage as they were trying to put curses on the team and the villagers that were arriving. Then the power of God came upon one of them and he was knocked to the ground…and couldn’t get up! Even after the crusade was over and it began to rain, he was still there. God has such a sense of humor!
During the afternoons of the crusade time was given for the training of pastors, women, and new converts. The miraculous aspect of this was that over 50 pastors from different tribes (and denominations) gathered together for one purpose. Tribes that would normally be hostile to one another, were united together. It had never occurred there before.
Miracles…they were continual. Absolutely no one became ill on the trip until the day we were leaving. Then Cliff’s stomach became nauseous. In all we averaged 4-5 hours of sleep a night, slept in beds, on the ground in mud houses (don’t call them "huts"), and in a forest with wild animals. We ate termites, intestines, and slimy green vegetables; walked for miles when the vehicle broke down, and rode in the rain in the back of a pickup truck (to sleep in the forest with the animals).
We bathed in a wash pan and outside in a three-sided sugar cane stalk enclosure by starlight. At no time did we have electricity or running water, (it was carried from the river), and we only used a flush toilet in Nairobi. But we’d do it again in a heartbeat. God kept us healthy and safe no matter the circumstance.

On the night of our departure, the hand of the Lord protected Mike and Julius from being mugged while going to get chicken for our dinner. As Laney, Immaculate, Ron and I waited in the car, another man became threatening and menacing toward us. Timothy, our driver (and young pastor in training) stood guard with his back pressed against my car door window to shield us from him. Several other men began to gather watching the drama unfold.
As Cliff, Mike and Julius returned to the car with our food, escorted by the restaurant owner and his assistant, they quickly apprised the situation. The assistant carried a bull whip with him and only two feet from my car door, literally began to beat the man trying to assault us. Needless to say, that effectively broke up the crowd. Back at the hotel lounge we again ate our meal with thanksgiving.
But the night was not over. Another miracle was waiting for us. We had stayed overnight at the Mayfield Inn, a hotel for missionaries, about 25 minutes from the airport. Had I not listened to the Holy Spirit tell me to hire the Mayfield’s vehicle to transport all of our team and luggage to the airport in one trip, one half of our team would have been left behind in Kenya. The airlines moved up the departure time of our flight by 40 minutes. Our plan was to use Pastor Julius’ vehicle and make two trips; logically it would have worked. However, after processing, we all walked right onto the plane and departed. There would have been no time for a second trip. The exciting part of this story is that I didn’t know the Mayfield even had a vehicle; we’d never seen one! I just obeyed.
Our God is an awesome God. If there was ever a time I saw Psalm 91 come to life, it was then.

04/1999