Trip Calendar

Host Information
Brandon and Ali Heselschwerdt, Lighthouse Baptist Church of Acacia

Brandon, Ali and their children Jeffrey, Hannah, and Esther, are missionaries to Kitengela, Kenya, which is about 30 km outside of Nairobi. The Hesselschwerdts moved to Kenya in 2022 and planted a new church in 2023. The church has weekly outreach, back-to-school ministry and PPTA (Pastors’ Practical Training Academy). He trains nationals in becoming pastors and church planters. Pastor Brandon said their desire would be to reach many new people from their area with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He prays these new believers will become disciples and grow in their walk with the Lord. They are excited to see both spiritual and physical growth within their church.

CONNECT WITH THEM

https://fbmi.org/missionary/heselschwerdt#updates

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Trip Description 

Set in eastern Africa, Kenya borders the Indian Ocean and rises to mountains and plateaus in the center. Most Kenyans live in the highlands, where the capital, Nairobi, sits at an altitude of 5,500 feet. Geographically, it is slightly smaller than the state of Texas.

Due to its location on the equator, Kenyan temperatures are warm all year round. During the rainy seasons in November and April, there are short bursts of refreshing rainfall, making a perfect climate to produce lots of tea, coffee, avocados, and bananas. The hottest month is February and the coldest month is July.

Kenyans generally have three meals a day, with tea in between. Breakfast can be tea or porridge with bread, chapati, mahamri (fried bread), boiled sweet potatoes, or yams. Githeri (mixed corn and kidney stew) is a common lunch dish, while Ugali (ground corn porridge) with vegetables, sour milk (mursik), meat, fish, or stew is eaten for lunch or supper. The favorite drink of Kenyans is tea, and Kenya is the world’s third-largest tea producer. Although coffee is produced in Kenya, most of it is exported, and only a small amount of coffee is consumed by Kenyans.

Kenya has huge areas of land devoted to wildlife habitats. All of the "Big Five" game animals of Africa (the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros, and elephant) can be found in Kenya. Each year, more than one million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras participate in the migration from the Serengeti in neighboring Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya, in a constant clockwise fashion, searching for food and water supplies.

Most Kenyans are Christian (85%), with 54% Protestant and 21% Roman Catholic. Islam is the second largest religion, comprising 11%, the remaining include Hindu, Jews, and indigenous beliefs.

Kenya is active in various sports, including cricket, football, rugby, field hockey, and boxing, however, the country is best known for its runners. Kenyan athletes dominate the world of distance running, as almost 75% of all gold medal winners in long-distance running come from Kenya. Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge is widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, having won the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathons and being the former world record holder with a time of 2:01:09.

For more country information, click here https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kenya/

Services Offered 

Our plan is to offer medical, optical, and physical therapy care to this community. Every patient who receives care will hear the gospel from a member of this local church.

Note: This trip is now closed. Thank you for your interest.

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