Nairobi Here I Come

The leadership of our religious community, the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers, has invited 35 or so Brothers and associates to a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.  It is part of a process  of planning called: "A Way into the Future."  It is held in Nairobi which is central for our brethren in India, Australia, Africa and Europe.  The delegates from North and South America have to travel a bit.  Since I hate sitting on airplanes, [I really do], I was asked to go.  It is a very long trip.

You want me to fly where?  And that will take how long? 

I leave from New Orleans on Friday, the 30th of September and fly via Miami and London to arrive 23 hours later at 8:55 PM Nairobi time, October 1.  The meetings begin on October 2!  One hopes it all begins gently.  We are assigned groups: Community, Finance & Fundraising, Leadership & Governance, A Learning Organization, and Mission.  I am, happily, assigned to the Mission group with 5 or 6 others.  The members of the Mission group include Brothers from India, Africa, Oceania, Europe and me!

We are together for the week to be oriented and make initial plans with the chair who has been appointed.  After that we will communicate by Skype and other forms of communication.  No more travel, D. G.   We end our sessions on Saturday and I will fly out on Sunday evening the 9th, and stop in London, returning to NOLA [via Chicago] on the 13th.  It will break the trip and I will visit the Ursuline Sister who has led our August visitors these last two years.

I will probably not have access to a computer until I get back in mid-October, so the Monday morning posts will skip two weeks or so.  Do say a prayer for God's blessings on the meetings--and for volunteers to come and join our community in New Orleans this year.  We are still asking folks to consider it.