About AIM-IS. And goats.

I realized that I really haven't described where I am working, so I'll try to give you a brief description.

I'm working for African Inland Mission, with a division called International Services. It's based at a hangar at Wilson Airport in Nairobi. The unofficial motto of IS is "Serving those who serve", so as the name implies IS is here to serve missionaries and make their work easier. There are several divisions to IS - AIM Air is the largest, and it's the missionary aviation department; AIM Care is a missionary counseling center; and AIM Tech is a construction/engineering ministry. There are other services here such as a Finance department where missionaries can set up bank accounts and do their banking, a TAM shop (Technical Assistance Ministry) that repairs vehicles, and a freight department that does shipping and receiving. The Mayfield Guesthouse, where I stayed for my orientation, is also operated under IS for missionaries who are passing through Nairobi on their way to or from more remote missions fields.

One of the coolest things about IS is that it doesn't limit its service to AIM's ministry. I've read that in total AIM-IS serves over 160 missions organizations! Some of the larger ones that AIM-IS works with are SIL and Samaritan's Purse (they both own planes that AIM Air then operates).

So I'm working in the HR/Personnel office that serves the missionaries and employees (Kenyan staff) of IS. It's an interesting perspective, because we're essentially serving those who serve those who serve. For the missionary staff we do visas, work permits, housing etc. For the Kenyan staff we do the typical payroll, benefits, etc (since they are paid staff). The staff is about 50% missionaries and 50% Kenyans. I'm the only non-Kenyan in the HR office, so it's fun to work around Kenyans all day and see how they do business...it's a lot more relaxed!

In other news, the mother of the family that lives next door to us passed way last week, so the funeral services started last Wednesday. Funerals are a big deal here, so there have been services next door every night since last Wednesday. Most of them have been pretty low-key with hymns and preaching and whatnot. A few nights we've woken up to random wailing at random hours. Last night was a different story, though - apparently it was an all night service with drumming starting at around 2am and then more shrieking this morning. Thankfully, I slept through it all...I'm not sure how!

Yesterday a flight came back from Gatab (in Kenya). I guess the people of Gatab wanted to thank the pilot for flying there, because they gave him two goats. So when they opened the cargo door here at the hangar...there were two goats inside. Yesterday afternoon one of the guys in HR called me out into the hallway (the hallway is a balcony that looks over the hangar floor)...and they were slaughtering the goats in the middle of the hangar. Word on the street is that we're having a goat roast for lunch today :) A nice reminder that we're definitely not in the US anymore!

I'm buying my bus ticket today to go with Peter to visit him family, and I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about when I get back.

And for you guys in AEX, I'm offically set to travel to meet Koome on August 1st!!

And that's all I've got for now :)