Today was a safari/rest day as our trip is winding down to its finish line. The rest was needed for some. Jacque continues to be sick and thus decided to skip out on all of today’s activities. I and Tyler also decided to skip out on the safari and sleep in and spend the morning and early afternoon with the children at Openhand instead.

Those who went on the safari had a great time and saw all the animals that were in the Nairobi park (Elephants are not in the park. They also didn’t see a Leopard, which is a rare site to see).

I was sad to learn one of the 5 puppies at openhand had died yesterday. It had seemed ill over the last few days.

The basketball rim that was put up keeps coming down and Benson said it will probably have to be welded on.

Tyler and I along with Benson and some of the kids (Esther, Lucy, Joy, Eunice, Gideon, Albert, Agnes, and Enoch) walked from Openhand to Azusa springs school (where the kids get their education) to check it out and play some games. We played mumball with the kids (except we didn’t prohibit speaking…so I guess it wasn’t technically mumball).

Around 4:30 we did our devotional over Psalm 112 (given by dad). After devotionals we loaded up the vehicle to go to Fogo Gaucho for a special dinner with our group to treat Alice, the 2 Esthers and Jennifer (who have taken such good care of us and fed us this trip. They also take care of the children on a daily basis), benson and his wife, and Alice and 3 of her kids (Njambi, Joy, and Emmanuel).

Today we woke up fairly early to go to church in the slums of Injili (where we had a pastors conference a couple days ago). This is the church where Joseph pastors.

Ray was lined up to give the devotional. Instead, he was asked to deliver his devotional as a Sunday school lesson at the church.

He gave his lesson on Psalm 19. His lesson dealt with general revelation and special revelation. He began the lesson with an example. He stated how on the coast of a body of water there are some creatures that survive there that don’t survive and flourish in the deep parts of the water. Similarly, God reveals himself to us through nature in a general way (the shallow/coast part of shore), but the Bible and his Word is special revelation (the deep part of water).

During Ray’s Sunday school lesson Jordan was doing a lesson with the children downstairs.

For the sermon, Tyler preached from the end of Matthew and how God is with us. The translator, as in years past, was Clifford. Other people to remember from the church were Jackson (who led us in worship). He is a young man who lives in the slums, but works at the parliament building.

We also reunited with Davis, whose wife is Melvin. He has 2 kids. His oldest daughter’s name is Vanessa. Davis shared with Tyler how last year Bruce blessed him by encouraging him. Davis shared his desire to start a coffee shop and Bruce told him it would happen. Now Davis has opened a little coffee shop cafe in the slums. He is a hard working man who also works a morning job at a restaurant in Karen (an affluent area of Nairobi near the slums).

We also were briefly reunited with our friend from last year Polycarp. He wandered into the church after the service when lunch was being served. He spoke with both dad and Tyler. He didn’t stick around for long after lunch. This man really need God’s help. Pray for him.

A neighbor to Injili church asked pastor Joseph if we could pray for her sick mom. We did.

The church day ended with Jacque giving a lesson to the women and Ray videoing an interview with one of the members who had come out of a cult. This was a cult where the pastor said, “since he is Gods representative anything he asks you should do.” She ended up selling much of her property to support this church and pastor while her children went hungry. When Ray’s video is done some of this footage will surely be on there. I would be happy to share this footage with anyone interested.

Before this happened, and immediately following lunch, the church surprised Tyler with a birthday cake, card, and book. Yes! Tyler is old now. Actually, he is only 32!

On the way home Tyler asked Alice and Charles if we could stop at KFC. Of course…it’s your birthday. This KFC wasn’t as good as the other one.

Most of us went to bed early. Jacque was feeling quite ill. It would be an early morning tomorrow for those going on safari.

The video is Davis cafe business that he started in the slums.

The pic is Tyler with his birthday cake in Injili church.

Today there were no sermons or obligations. It was a day of shopping, sleeping in, and spending dinner with Alice at her home.

Jacque gave the morning devotional. She wasn’t feeling good, but she muscled through it and it was good.

I went out in the morning to video Benson speaking with a contractor about the needs regarding the greenhouses on the property.

We visited the puppies on the property, one of which appeared hurt.

Evan’s, who grew up in Openhand and is now a young man with a good job, came back to Openhand today to receive a gift that Leroy Cole had sent for him. He also shared with me his plans and dreams. He is a runner and is a very grateful young man.

Before we left to get lunch and do some shopping, we played with the kids a little bit. It was fun to watch them continue to enjoy the playscape and to swing.

We went to a mall called the Galleria. We ate KFC (Ray, Jacque, and Charles got pizza Inn).

We then went to “Kobe strong” where we saw how the women made beaded necklaces and bracelets.

We also went to kisac to buy soap stone souvenirs, as well as the Maasai market shop. The manager of shop, John, remembered us. He asked how Kamar (from last years trip) was doing. He still had a pic in his phone of him from last year.

Dinner at Alice’s house was excellent. She fed us a lot of food, as usual. 2 of Alice’s daughters (Njambi and Joy) as well as her son, Emmanuel, were there.

Njambi showed us pics of her fiancé and even FaceTime called him. Tyler drilled him and dad gave him some advice. Njambi and Edgar are getting married in August of this year.

We also met Alice’s sister Lydia (whom God has healed from cancer) and Alice’s niece.

One of the many funny incidents of the night was when Emmanuel and his friend came out to meet us. Someone asked, “which of them is your son?” Alice responded, “the black one.” They were both black. But, in Kenya they make more of a distinction between the shades of skin…black, brown etc.

Today we traveled to Kyangala church in Machakos county.

Jacque and Salome took the day to visit a friend in Nairobi. They had to bypass roads where there were riots. Some unrest is happening here. Some of it is due to police tearing down the make shift (and illegal) shops that some Kenyans set up on the roadside.

Kyangala is the location of pastor Levi’s church and small Bible college. Due to Leroy Cole’s donation, pastor Levi is expanding the Bible college. The building are nearly complete (see pics).

Levi was a really close friend of my grandpa, Blake Lasslett. It is always a pleasure seeing him.

Tyler preached the first sermon. Joseph preached the last sermon (1 hour and 15 minutes long…whew!)

The views in this location are startling. It is 1 mile above sea level. It was somewhat strange to see them building a petro station in this fairly remote area. Despite its remoteness, there is till quite a population here. Even if many don’t own cars, there are still quite a few motor bikes. Perhaps that is the main customer for the new petro station. There were only 2 pumps set up there(maybe more will be built. Need to observe its completion next year).

We are some mangos straight from the tree.

Met a man going around taking peoples blood pressure. He was employed by the government to monitor the locals health. We met a few drunk man walking by the church. One of them said he donated to Levi the property that Levi’s church is on. This is a lie. He convinced me to buy bananas from him due to my lack of understanding his Swahili. As he was speaking I said “ninafahamu” (which means “i understand”). I meant to say “sifahamu” (which means “I don’t understand”). So, he thought I understood his Swahili and those understand him when he spoke in Swahili asking me to buy his bananas. He later came back to the church with freshly cut, unripe bananas for me to purchase. Alice ended up buying them for 500 shillings. She said they were probably only worth 200/300 shillings. He was also invited to eat lunch with us.

The conference ended well. We gifted them ties (or as Levi called them, “clothes for your neck”) and gave Levi a tithe from our group to support his church.

Our ride home was nice and uneventful. We did not observe or drive through any riots.

Today we went to Injili Bible church located in the slums. To get to this church one must drive through one of the wealthiest areas of Kenya. The contrast is startling.

I was scheduled for the morning devotional, but ended up giving it in the evening.

The day’s event was a pastors’ conference. Tyler preached the first sermon, followed by Pastor Joseph (this is the church he pastors at).

We then had lunch.

Tyler closed off the pastor’s conference with the last sermon (both of his sermons were from 2 Timothy). He then opened up for questions. There were many questions and comments. Most of the comments centered around politicians who come to local churches and give them money for their support. The pastors there seemed to be in consensus that this should not happen.

After conference, Ray Lang asked one of the Pastors what the greatest needs/pressures are on pastors in Kenya. See pic below for answers to this question.

While the conference was going on Jacque, Ray, Salome (Joseph’s wife), and Alice did some house visiting in the slums. For example, they visited Melvin (Davis’s wife) who is a member at Injili.

We had good conversations with the pastors afterward, exchanged info, and took a group photo.

On way back to Openhand we stopped and got some cookies (Ray and Tyler especially craved them from their remembrance from last year). They were good, but dry.

Back at Openhand Tyler drank his last Diet Coke (one can’t find Diet Coke here). I delivered my devotional from psalm 42.

We hung out with the kids. We played on the new basketball court (which Alice had built with brick pavers while we were in Maasai land to surprise us).

The kids enjoy playing on it. Gideon dunked on it. It is little lower then regulation height and needs to be secured a little better, but is a wonderful addition to Openhand.

We then had devotions and went to bed.

Jacque delivered the morning devotional at “hotel Alice”

We packed our bags before leaving “hotel Alice” for our day of ministry in Maasai land. We would be going directly back to Openhand after our day of ministry.

We headed back to Bethesda Church Emukua Dikirr for the sake of picking up Lawrence at his house to go with him to the “Church under the Tree.”

While at Lawrence’s place we were able to get the tour of his finished house and the tour of the surrounding land. I was able to see the widows’ goats grazing healthily. FYI, some of goats gifted to the widows were pregnant.

The “church under the tree” was another 1 1/2-2 hour drive from Lawrence’s house. The roads were more like animal trials. Our excellent driver, “Sir” Charles earned his Sir designation today. This was a very remote and interior area, although there was a school and dispensary here. (A dispensary in Kenya has nothing to do with Marijuana…which is quite illegal here. A dispensary in Kenya is an urgent care facility).

The school and dispensary were still more than a few miles from the “church under the tree,” which is called by that name because the Maasai who meet here to worship on Sundays have no building. The trees are its building and its roof.

Wilfred (who lives in Lawrence’s Maasai community) became pastor of this “church under the tree” Maasai community when they had a vacancy in pastorship. He still lives in Lawrence’s community and borrows Lawrence’s motorbike to minister there.

This remote area of Africa gets very dry and there was a water project located nearby set up by the government.

Before the first sermon Lawrence introduced many of the Maasai, including those who had donated the land to the church.

It never rained that day, yet there were rain clouds in the area. So, Lawrence said, “we have to move quickly today.” He then proceeded to move and introduce everyone slowly.

Tyler delivered the first sermon that day. The sermon was awesome. He spoke on John 4 (Samaritan woman that Jesus meets at the well). Tyler was originally going to speak from another passage, but deftly moved to John 4 after Lawrence told us how water was the greatest need in this area.

I had previously heard Tyler deliver a sermon from John 4 a few times. This was actually the first sermon he gave in Kenya in 2023 when he preached on Sunday at Michael otieno’s Bethesda church in donholm. I heard a pastor once say, “you haven’t really preached a sermon until you have delivered it 3-4 times.” He has now really preached John 4.

It never did rain today.

I am told sometimes elephants wander into the church under the tree. Nearby here (actually not too nearby, about 70 km away in amboseli national park) there are over 1000 elephants according to the most recent census. During dry seasons some of these elephants wander far, even to the current area we were in. Alas, no elephants showed up today.

We then had lunch and also wandered the remote bush landscape.

Joseph then preached the last sermon of the day. It was a very similiar sermon to what he preached in the Maasai conference yesterday.

This was followed by more gifts being exchanged.

Jacque painted some of the kids faces.

It is apparent the “church under the tree” will need some furniture upgrades. One of the benches, made of sticks tied together, broke mid-way through by the weight of those sitting on it.

After the 2 sermons and gift exchanges we dropped pastor Lawrence off to his house. We gave a donation of money to support his church.

We then took the drive back to Openhand which felt like a homecoming. We all slept well that night.

February 16-18 (Monday-Wednesday)

Monday morning we started our day at Openhand. Dad encouraged us with a devotional from Psalm 61. We had to leave for Maasai land fairly early, so we did our morning devotional while we ate breakfast. Dad played a praise song sung to the lyrics of that Psalm. He then gave an encouraging word from that Psalm.

The next 4 hours or so we spent in a Land Cruiser heading to Maasai land. The first part of the trip was on asphalt roads. The last half of the trip was a “deep tissue” massage, which is to say, driving “off-the-beaten-path.”

We arrived late morning/early afternoon to the interior Maasai church (named Bethesda Baptist Church of Emukua Dikirr) pastored by Lawrence. We were welcomed with great hospitality (see video from previous blog post).

Tyler began our conference with a sermon from James chapter 1.

We then had a full lunch of goat meat, rice, veggies, potatoes, etc.

I walked around the property to see where they slaughtered the animals. I observed the state of the well (they call it a bore hole) and asked questions of the different Maasai.

The Maasai sit mostly in their own groupings. Women sit together, 20-40 year olds sit together. Older men sit together, etc.

I delivered the 2nd sermon of the day. It was from the end of James chapter 1. “True religion is supporting widows, orphans, etc. be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

I heard pastor Lawrence tell Tyler that next year more pastors would come to this particular conference if only fellow pastors (i.e. Tyler and Joseph) spoke. When I told dad this, he remarked, “I guess we have to get ordained.”

A pastor whom we had previously had some reconciliation issues with, came to this conference on our invite. Jacque (who had never met him before) felt this particular pastor came across as a Shyster when she hear him speak later. We pray the reconciliation is sincere.

Our intention for these days with the Maasai included more than just sermons, fellowship, and gift giving. We also intended to paint their church building. This didn’t happened due to rain. However, the rain was a blessing. It had been so hot and dry. The Maasai more then anyone else can appreciate rain as a blessing from God.

Day 2 of our Maasai conference began with us waking up at Alice’s farmhouse in Namanga (town that borders Tanzania). Ray McAllister gave the morning devotional on Psalm 84.

On our drive from “hotel Alice” (as our group affectionately refers to her farmhouse) we spotted a wild Maasai giraffe on the dirt road we were driving upon. I exited the Land Cruiser to get a closer pic. As I came closer to it, I scared it away. It began to jog away into the bush. Not to be deterred, I followed it on foot. I soon saw there was a 2nd Maasai giraffe. I am glad to say I was able to get about 30 yards to them before my group called me back to the Land Cruiser.

Upon arriving at Bethesda church dad began session 1 with a sermon from James 2. These passages dealt with not showing preferential treatment to the wealthy.

Tyler then spoke from James 4.

Following this we enjoyed a full lunch of goat meat, rice, mandazis, etc.

Pastor Joseph delivered the post lunch sermon on John 3:18. He commented that John 3:16 gets all the attention, but John 3:18 was the passage that led him to the Lord after he almost committed suicide.

Jacque then gave a tactile lesson on how God guides us with the rod (later on the Maasai actually gifted Jacque a beaded rod/staff).

The last session of the day was exchanging of gifts and name calling (positive name calling).

Since most of our group already had been given Maasai names last year, only Jordan Wilson and Ray McAllister needed names (by the way, these names are official and legal). Jordan was named Nenkai (daughter of God). Ray was named Lenkai (child of God).

Our team gifted the Maasai widows some female goats. After all, true religion includes taking care of orphans. Jacque was the team member who originally had the idea to gift goats to the widows.

Lastly, Lawrence showed us where their new baptistry was located. It was about 50 yards outside the fenced in church property. It is one Maasai staff wide, by 5-6 Maasai staffs long. Maybe, 1 1/2-2 feet high. It functions as both a baptismal and animal water trough.

Another interesting thing to note for the day was at dinner (back at hotel Alice), Ray Lang broke his plastic chair while eating. This caused uproarious laughter from Jordan.

I will be writing about these 3 days (February 16-18) in 3 separate posts. Mainly, because one journal entry isn’t enough to convey these 3 rich days. Also, I think that as time goes by I will process these days differently. So, I want to show that processing by giving myself the luxury of posting over several days.

Being with the Maasai people is like taking a Time Machine to the time of Moses. After 3 full and stimulating days you then take that Time Machine back to your era and are asked to write about it in a way that your family, friends, and contemporaries can understand.

Let me begin by giving the anthropologist’s description of the Maasai people. While the Maasai are one of the smaller tribes in Kenya, they are one of the most well known and most traditional tribes in Kenya. They are semi-nomadic, and live in small round, stick, mud, and dung huts called Manyattas. These are made by the women of the tribe. In an age of overpriced real estate, this keeps their mortgage payments low.

They have a class system. They are quite patriarchal. They are known for being warriors. Although, the government doesn’t technically allow them to hunt and kill lions anymore for the sake of allowing their young men to become Morans, i.e. warriors (but from some conversations with them, it still happens. They just have to be careful no government eye is around while they do it), they are still known for hunting lions.

However, the anthropologist description, and even my own description to follow, is not sufficient. Perhaps, I will begin by simply telling you how I (and my church) got involved with working with the Maasai tribe (specifically, a local Maasai tribe in southwestern Kenya).

This work started with my Grandpa, Blake Lasslett, in the early 2000’s. He, at 64 came to Kenya as a “retired” pastor (of course, pastors never really retire), to serve, preach, and plant churches in Kenya. Soon, he got involved in planting churches among the most interior regions of the Maasai peoples.

My grandpa has passed, but the work hasn’t. From those beginnings, my own church, Phos, has had the privilege of carrying on the torch of supporting one of these church’s.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Perhaps one picture and maybe some videos will suffice for my inefficiency to deliver satisfactory words for this post. Me speak better with words tomorrow.

KENYA TRIP 2026 DAY 3

              “We don’t view our mission trip to Kenya as an invasion into a territory, but participation. Participation into and with something that is already happening here.”

Thus began Pastor Tyler’s devotion that started our day at 9 am on Saturday February 14^th.  His devotion was on Psalm 110. It was a good reminder of what we are doing here. “Jesus is not trying to become King,” Tyler continued “He already is King. We are not bringing Jesus to Kenya; we are not inaugurating Him. We are not voting Him in. Psalm 110 says He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is already in a posture of ruling. So, as we step into churches and places throughout the week, we are stepping into places where Jesus is already King. He is ahead of us and has already been working in the lives of people here. So, we are participating with Him. It is easy to think of missions as us invading this territory and giving them something they don’t have already. They may not have submitted their lives to Jesus yet, this is true. However, Jesus is already at work here. We get the privilege of participating with this work that is already going on.”

What a load off our backs that we don’t have to do everything. Also, what a joy to participate. When I think of the Openhand Children’s Home, that we are currently staying at, it is such a privilege to be one of many who have participated in establishing this life giving and life saving work to so many orphans. However, if we weren’t here in 2026, this work would still go on. God has established it, and He has found many to participate throughout the years. The original land was purchased through money raised through my Grandpa’s fundraising efforts.  A group from Australia built the compound walls of this orphanage to protect the children from wild animals (after news of a nearby lion attack spurred people into action to protect these children). A German group raised the funds to build the main building of this Orphanage. Leroy Cole used his own money to build the Hospitality House, where we get to enjoy staying rent free while working in Kenya. Monroe Baptist Church in Monroe, Michigan supplied water tanks/cisterns for the property. The names and lists go on and on.

This day was also a day to spend with the children in play, teaching, gift giving, and dedication.  I stated at the end of the previously overlong paragraph (sorry to my former English teachers who told me a paragraph should be 3-8 sentences only. Sometimes a paragraph just needs to be 12 sentences long) that the names go on and on. Today we added another name to the list of those who have participated in this work. Eva E. Sandberg donated of her personal funds to a playscape for the children (see picture below). In addition to the playscape we also dedicated today a new solar panel and a new water tank.

In the afternoon, all of us congregated to the main building on this property for teaching and eating. Jacque did the teaching. She led the kids in a participatory lesson. They made a beaded bracelet of varying colored beads which each stood for another aspect of our redemption by Christ.

The gifts we passed out included basketballs, soccer balls, and individual gift bags with a picture to paint, a small ball, and other trinkets. I will try to include as many pictures below to show the joy, fun, and blessing of this day. However, the pictures do not do justice to this great day of participation in this work of God.

There is much more I would like to share about today. However, as the author of Hebrews says, “and what more shall I say? For time will fail me [and my lab top will also die. I still haven’t gotten back my lost luggage where my lap top charging cord is stored] if I tell of…the best mangos you will ever eat, the great food (I love me some chapatis) and goat meat, and such beautiful children that I could spend many pages speaking about.

So, with less then 10 percent battery power remaining on my lap top, I am need of publishing this now. Please feel free to add comments or request more info and/or pics. Also, I will place a picture or link to our non-profit website (S.T.A.R.T.) and church website (Phos) where you can also participate in this work if you feel so led.

Continue reading →

DAY 1 AND 2…TRAVEL DAYS

              Two of the golden rules of mission trips are to be flexible and patient. Why? Because the unexpected always happens. Our first 2 days of the Phos 2026 Kenya mission trip were simply travel and arrival days. What could go wrong? Yet, they have been filled already with those golden reminders.

              Upon arriving as a group at the Detroit Metro Airport on the morning of February 12^th, we immediately had problems checking into our flight. In short, our stern and serious check-in clerk, Leslie, said she could NOT issue our boarding passes without us showing her the original credit card with which all of our 7 tickets were purchased. We were told, and feared, that we may have to repurchase our tickets (we were informed we would get the refund for the original ticket purchase later on) in order to board.

              This seemed a confusing matter. Why would anyone purchasing tickets be required to show the original physical credit card at check in? Apparently, this is part of Delta’s system, which is supposed to protect from fraud by requiring the purchaser to show or swipe the original purchasing credit card. This is from Delta.com webpage under the tab “booking a flight”

              “To safeguard against credit/debit card fraud, the purchaser may have to show us the credit/debit card along with a valid photo ID.”

              Apparently, this policy of showing your purchasing credit card is inconsistently enforced, such that many passengers do not know it is even a policy. My online research indicates that the “physical credit card is usually not needed for check-in on domestic flights, [but] it may be required for verification on certain international routes (especially Africa) to prevent fraud.”

              My reason for venting so much on this topic is two-fold. Firstly, I wish to warn any who may travel Delta (it’s possible other airlines may have the same policy, please check before flying) of this bizarre policy before they travel and forget to carry their purchasing credit card. Secondly, this was a reminder to us to look at all obstacles as trials. Trials test us, and when we pass the trial we are better off having learned perseverance, endurance, and thus having a stronger character.

How did this trial end? After nearly an hour of patience, prayer, and perseverance Leslie (who proved to be lovely and helpful Christian lady) issued our boarding passes without any need to purchase new tickets. As it turned out Ray Lang (the purchaser of the tickets) had a picture of his credit card on his phone (which is apparently good enough to bypass this bizarre Delta fraud policy). I wish I could say the other 2 connecting flights to Nairobi, Kenya were free of problems and that it was “smooth sailing” or “smooth flying from here.”

While it was almost smooth flying from there, I won’t prolong this blog entry further by bemoaning my lost bag and other issues we faced. It is enough that we are here in Kenya over 1 day later (February 14^th at 1:48 am is the time I am now typing this blog entry), reunited with old friends. Alice (who runs Openhand Children’s Home), Sir Charles (our main driver), Jimmy (another driver and friend of ours), and Benson (a good friend, teacher, and worker at Openhand) all greeted us at Jomo Kenyatta Airport at 9 PM on Friday, February 13. We count it pure joy regarding our safe arrival; also, not being charged this year for any of the items we brought into Kenya as gifts. The only hiccup at Jomo Kenyatta airport was Ray Lang’s drone being confiscated until he can get a permit to operate it in Kenya.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Good night all! It may only be early evening for you, but I need to get up in 6 hours. Well, actually 3 hours, since that is probably when the roosters will wake me with their crowing.