What is teaching in Nairobi like?

Wonderful! It really is. Breanna enjoys the students, the emphasis on specialized learning, and the great support from staff and other teachers. 

While we were in the US in June, Breanna was already designing parts of how her classroom would be set up. The facilities team did a great job constructing and painting cabinets. 

Her classroom turned out great. It feels a little like a treehouse. Rosslyn built the new elementary classroom around the existing trees, and there are a lot of windows and a glass door to let in the greenery and sunlight. And monkeys.

Yes, the unexpected challenge Breanna faces in classroom management is the African wildlife. They unzip students backpacks looking for food, swipe at kids walking past, and have even started gnawing on the shoes left in the classroom.

Unfortunately, this means all those wonderful windows and doors have to stay closed most of the day. 

A view from an AIM AIR Cessna Caravan of the Nile flowing out of Lake Victoria

If a pilot becomes lost, they look for a major landmark on their map, such as the Nile River, and turn towards that. They can get their bearings from there they know where to turn to find their destination. Using this old technique, a single flight becomes a series of course corrections from point to point plotted on the map. 

As a missionary we want to follow God’s course. Sometimes we wake up and realize we don’t see anything familiar to what we had mapped out. God needs to be our reference point. Sometimes the river of where He is working  bends as it flows over this land. If we hope to land at our destination, we need to follow that reference point.  

I myself have been momentarily ”lost” while pursuing God’s call. On several occasions in the past four years, it seemed AIM AIR’s role in mission work may be winding down. Over 90% of our flying is for missionaries coming from the developed world. Yet we know that the center of gravity for missions is shifting. More and more missionaries are coming from the Global South.  

We became so focused on keeping the old model going that we began drifting off course. We became limited in what we would do; worried about protecting our little corner of missions.  

I noticed a clue we were off course 12 years ago. A seasoned American missionary asked the question that haunts me to this day. “Why are you driving with us all the way up here [into a remote region of South Sudan] to survey an airstrip? We won’t be putting any western missionaries in this location.” 

The river was bending. 

Celebration Flights

We participated with AIC Fellowship church in this celebration of this bold new missions initiative. We provided two flights for a variety of people who attended the conference. We flew over the church building, and then out to the escarpment of the valley (where the missionaries will be going). For many, this was their first time in an airplane. They sang the entire 15 minutes – a wonderful mixture of gospel choruses and hymns.
This was coordinated with the two of the Sunday morning services, so those in church could watch the video of the celebration flights.

Course Correction in 2022: AIM AIR can serve our missionaries?

There seems to be a growing desire among influential churches here in Nairobi, Kenya to get involved in missions.  

I learned that middle class Kenyans and westerners have more in common than I thought. Time is precious to both groups and they both share deep seated concern about traveling into the unknown. Especially when the unknown is a harsh desert in the rural parts of Kenya or the undeveloped areas of South Sudan. The difference is most Westerners are aware of the role of the missions aviation ministry. Many of the Kenyan church leaders I’ve talked to had no idea we existed nor that we were here to serve their missionaries and missions initiatives. 

I asked several church leaders if they knew of a missions conference in Kenya that crossed denominations. In the US we have a massive event around New Year’s called Urbana. However here in Kenya none of the church leader could think of an equivalent. The wheels started spinning. 

AIM AIR had a hangar which could serve as a large space to meet. As a bonus, the airplanes on display could spark interest. Maybe church leaders and missions pastors would catch the missions vision. 

I looked around the business leaders forum, and I realized I was not “the pilot” or “the missionary” standing out in the crowd. Instead, we were all equal participants. We were just acting as the Body of Christ. Like in Acts 2, we each contributed what we had. 

Course Correction 2023: Mabawa Ya Injili 

We invited 70 churches from a dozen denominations to attend our mini missions conference in the hangar last March. 35 churches sent representatives. 

The airplanes and a sightseeing flight may have drawn them in, but it was the joy of hearing Kenyan missionaries that fueled their enthusiasm. Many beamed! They had no idea that this kind of work was going on around them. 

We called the event: Mabawa Ya Injili – a swahili phrase which literally means Wings of the Gospel. The event sparked something, and it started growing.  

 A few months later, in February, a large church in Eldoret Kenya, called AIC Fellowship launched their inaugural missions conference.