Dear prayer warriors - this is Dean, DiAnn’s husband.

Just a quick note to let you know I just finished talking with DiAnn after she arrived at the Mayfield Guest House in Nairobi around 10:00 pm Nairobi time.  Everything so far has gone quite well, luggage arrived, obtained airport visa, got some money exchanged for Kenyan Shillings, etc.  Please pray that she’ll be able to get some sleep so she can start her Friday morning on the Africa schedule.  She arrived in the dark so her surroundings will be a surprise upon rising tomorrow morning.  She’s currently in a room that has two twin beds - each with mosquito netting a sink and a mirror.  Bathroom is fortunately across the hall.  This place will seem like the Ritz Carlton compared to what she’ll experience in Southern Sudan.

Here’s a snapshot of her before leaving the house in Houston.

DiAnn Leaving Home 

As it comes to mind, we thank you for lifting up a prayer for DiAnn and all the people in Africa that she’ll encounter during her visit.  I’m including her itinerary along with some background info on the trip’s purpose and goals some or all of which DiAnn may have previously sent to your attention, but I thought I would go ahead and send it out just in case someone may have missed it.
 
Thanks,

Dean 
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Trip Itinerary
   Date    Day’s Highlights
  1-Nov   Depart Houston, Texas, USA for Nairobi, Kenya on KLM routed through Amsterdam
  2-Nov   Arrive in Nairobi, Check-In to Mayfield Guest House - a place that caters to missionaries
  3-Nov   Meet Rosemary Khamati with Sudan Partners & previous research contacts at University of Kenya including James Solomon Okuk
  4-Nov   Meet with Abraham Nhial’s Family
  5-Nov   Meet medical Dr. Kraus & family that work with Sudanese as part of Doctors Without Borders
  6-Nov   DiAnn & Rosemary of Sudan Partners Depart Nairobi for Juba, Southern Sudan’s capital
  7-Nov   Visit local schools, interviewing Juba residents
  8-Nov   Visit local churches, interviewing internally displaced people (refugees)
  9-Nov   Day trip to remote village and assisting as allowed
10-Nov   Visit local clinics, interviewing patients and care-givers and assisting if permitted
11-Nov   DiAnn & Rosemary Return to Nairobi, Kenya
12-Nov   Depart for Masai Mara, Kenya for safari
13-Nov   Masai Mara, Kenya safari
14-Nov   Return to Nairobi, Kenya
15-Nov   Depart Nairobi, Kenya for Houston, Texas, USA on KLM routed through Amsterdam
16-Nov   Arrive Back In Houston, Texas, USA

Trip Purpose and Goals

God placed the Sudanese and their critical situation in my heart back in 2000, when volunteers from the Aid Sudan Foundation approached me to write a non fiction book about the Lost Boys of Sudan. I refused; I was not qualified, but God had a different plan. Through the course of the next two and a half years, I interviewed hundreds of Sudanese refugees and those who worked with them from all over the world. I read books about their politics, slavery, the oil issue, history, culture, and the faith of Christian Sudanese. On my own, I couldn’t have done any of the work necessary to write a book of this type. The result was LOST BOY NO MORE, a Broadman Holman publication, written about the life of Abraham Nhial, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Shortly thereafter, I wrote a fiction novel utilizing my research, WHEN THE LION ROARS, a RiverOak publication.

The proceeds from LOST BOY NO MORE have been given to aid the Sudanese community. A good portion of WHEN THE LION ROARS has also been given to aid the Sudanese. Although the monetary amounts have not been large, my books have provided a way for others to learn about the needs of the people of Sudan.

Recently Moody Publishers contracted with me to write another fiction novel set in Sudan. They are financially supporting a good portion of the funds to send me to Sudan for the purpose of research. The trip would also increase my credibility with the media. This means that radio, TV, and print media would be interested in the book and in me as the author because I would have first-hand information.

Credibility is the key word here. With a trip to Sudan, I can better plead the cause of the Sudanese because I’ve been there and seen things first hand. I can urge people to financially support organizations to aid these people. I can persuade compassionate people to contact their political representatives about the critical needs. I also feel once I return from Sudan that I’ll be positioned to speak with greater authority about the refugees in their community.

Many people do not read non-fiction books, newspapers, or listen to the TV/Radio broadcasts, and may have various reasons for not keeping abreast of the world’s happenings. These people are the ones who need to be reached about the critical Sudanese situation. I firmly believe a fiction book can be a tool to touch many people who otherwise would not know or understand the numerous problems in Sudan.

The following are my primary goals for the trip.

  • To work with a mission team in any capacity I’m capable and needed
  • To visit with the Sudanese people, all ages, at a grassroots level
  • To see how God is working among the people
  • To take pictures of the village and the people
  • I want to be able to report back to the States the conditions of so many of the Sudanese and thus garner support
  • I want to hear, see, smell, and feel every aspect of village life
  • I want to see how they obtain their water supply
  • I want to differentiate between city and village life
  • To obtain information that can be used in media interviews
  • To obtain information that can be used in magazine articles. Thus creating more awareness.