The leaders of our LEAMIS International Ministries mission team left for Kenya on Monday, to do advance work and to conduct a leadership training workshop for some pastors in the Nairobi area. Once the rest of us arrive, LEAMIS founders Gail Drake and the Rev. Debra Snellen will lead the Kisii group (of which I'm a member), while associate missionaries Bob Willems and Frank Schroer will lead a group in the Kibera slums outside Nairobi. Kylene McDonald, a LEAMIS board member and a key figure in the ministry, also went over early.

Since all of our leaders are already in Kenya, we needed an informal "shepherd" of sorts to make sure everyone makes their connecting flights and to help answer customs and immigration questions from our first-time international travelers (we have two or three, if I recall correctly). Dave and Carolyn Schussler were supposed to fill that role before Dave had to drop out of the trip due to a job change. I've now been asked to share that role with Carolyn.

One thing I'll warn our first-timers about is the long wait for immigration, baggage and customs in Kenya. When you're on your first international flight, there's a tendency to think "Wow! I've arrived!" as soon as the landing gear touches the runway. But in a developing country, it may take a while before you get out of the airport. Last year, there was a very long line for immigration. We already had our entry visas; our passports had been sent to the Kenyan embassy in Washington before the trip to be stamped. But we still had to stand in line.

Then when we got to baggage claim, we discovered several missing suitcases. It took forever to deal with the lost-luggage process. While one or two people talked to the airline, the rest of us had nothing to do but stand around, exhausted from jet lag, in the baggage claim area, with the color and excitement of a new country just out of reach a few feet away. We couldn't even go to the gift shop or the snack bar, since they were on the other side of customs. It's at times like this when I really need an attitude check, and I want to warn the first-timers about situations like this.

Customs was almost an afterthought; we were, for all intents and purposes, just waved on through. In all, I think it was two or three hours before we left the airport.

All of the lost luggage did arrive eventually; the most critical piece, and the last one to turn up, contained the equipment for a water purification demonstration Bob Willems was doing. That piece arrived, on cue, the day before it was needed.

On a personal note, I want to thank all of the Times-Gazette readers who have asked me about my trip and who have responded so favorably to this column. Please keep me in your prayers over the next few weeks; I'll have plenty of stories to share with you when I return.

John I. Carney is city editor of the Times-Gazette and covers county government and other topics. His home page is lakeneuron.com.