Nairobi, Kenya (July 2018)

I made a trip to three countries in East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

The first stop was Nairobi, Kenya because I purchased the round trip tickets between Bangkok and Nairobi.

I had several purposes for my visit, but one of the major ones was exploring the possibility of collaborating with African International University (AIU), one of the best known Christian universities in Nairobi. It has developed from NEGST or Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology, one of only two theological seminaries in the entire Africa which offers the MDiv degree programs. Dr. Caleb Kim, a friend of mine and Adviser to SfK Ministries on Islamic Studies, serves as Dean of Institute for the Study of African Realities, which offers doctoral degree program on Islamtic Studies. He also teaches at Fuller in Pasadena, California.

Caleb and Manok, Caleb's wife, have served in East Africa for almost 30 years. At this school alone, they have served for almost 20 years. They extended warm hospitality to me while I was staying at the guest house on the campus, called Kijiki Guest House. Kristin and I stayed at the same guest house 10 years ago before we traveled to Rwanda for an exploratory trip to Urwego Opportunity Bank.

I had a meeting with Professor Beatrice Warue, Dean of School of Business and Economics at AIU. The one hour meeting was very productive. She asked me to draft an MOU to document our conversation to explore further discussion. I was excited.

I met up with Martin, Africa Regional Director for Partners Worldwide, a Christian ministry that equips and empowers micro enterprises through microfinance. SfK and PW share so many common grounds, but we could not come up with any concrete way to collaborate. But it was joyous to meet a like-minded brother in Christ on holistic mission through business.

I attended the worship service at African International Church (AIC) Ongata Rongai which is led by a senior pastor who used to be one of Caleb's students. Not only the senior pastor but also his leadership team members were so nice and pleasant in welcoming both of us. They also showed strong interest in BAM after a short presentation after the worship service. I wonder what the Lord has in store.

While we were waiting for the senior pastor to guide us to the church, we stopped over a doughnut shop where all doughnuts were shiny glazed with sugar. In the front, there were buses that were hand-made and colorfully painted. I smiled because they are truly African.

I had an opportunity to meet up with JP Im and his wife over dinner. I was grateful that they made a long trip to AIU Campus to pick me up and to bring me back to the campus. They are one of the early missionaries from Korea to Africa. Both teach at Handong Global University and also serve younger missionaries by renewing their minds and attitudes. JP Im is also involved in BAM activities in Korea.

I had a reunion in 5 years with Missionary Myungha Hwang. He used to serve in Rwanda and also briefly in Ethiopia before he relocated to Kenya. The meeting was short, but sweet.

In the evening before I left Kenya, I invited the Caleb couple and also the Jongdo Lee couple to dinner. We used to get together to brainstorm about Integral Mission, which has solidified my conviction about God's calling to BAM. Dr. Jongdo Lee has established a college that offers a bachelor's degree in Theology along with other diploma programs. He showed a strong interest in redesigning the college curriculum with a focus on programs like BAM in partnership with SfK Ministries. I look forward to witnessing what the Lord has in store.

The most exciting event of my visit to Nairobi was meeting Kamal Said. He is the third generation of Iranian born in Kenya. He was a Muslim along with all his family. He met Jesus almost 20 years ago and he lost almost everything, financially and socially. Due to 90% of his business tied to the family, his businesses went under. Most of his assets were in his wife's name and his wife left Kamal with all assets. So he became broke. He was left in the world's largest urban slum called Kebera, working at a garage. He lived a tough life there. He met Caleb Kim 16 years ago and with $200 Caleb gave to him, he started a business and now has grown into auto repair garage, a guest house, a travel agency and an automobile sales business under Karen Huduma Ltd.

I met him for three days out of five-night stay in Nairobi. Although he has not taken any training from SfK yet, I have recommended to the SfK Life Investment Committee for approval on a $30K unsecured working capital loan to help Kamal. This exception was because he lost $195,000 deposited with Imperial Bank that collapsed in 2015. He later recovered only $10,000, thus draining his working capital and subsequently downsizing his business. The SfK Life Investment Committee approved the loan and we are now working on loan documentation. He requested me to mentor him on this journey and Caleb also asked me to invest some time in him. I agreed. I wonder what the Lord has in mind.

Kamal made an introduction for me to meet Wanjau, Director of a venture fund in Africa for Navigators. We exchanged what we were doing and agreed to further pursue for collaboration. I am waiting for his response and I hope that the Lord will open the door of opportunity for collaboration with NaVenture as is called. He could provide a lead to several countries where NaVenture has strong presence. Look forward to finding out what the Lord has in mind.

Overall, my trip to Nairobi Kenya was extremely productive. - Jeffrey

Bangkok, Thailand (July 2018)

I stop over in Bangkok often primarily to take care of some matters with Sky Bay Thailand.

I made a stopover in Bangkok on the way to Kenya and also on the way from Rwanda to Chiang Mai.

I had to spend time with the new CPA to see how things may be expedited. I had a meeting before I headed to Africa and again after I returned from Africa. I have not heard solid answers as to when all past issues will be taken care of. It is frustrating. Some issues lie on the laps of Sky Bay Thailand. Patience is a virtue.

At Peter Lee's house, I was almost forced to experience the virtual reality video. It was an interesting experience. Peter has two children: Sungmin and Daeun. Both are so cute that I rejoice spending time with them. Under the challenging circumstances, Peter has raised his children very well. Praise the Lord!

Chae Yeon Park, a young sister in Christ has recently relocated to Bangkok to start a missional business. She is a member of Heart to Heart, an international NGO that focuses on helping children in developing nations. She is a YouTuber, someone who makes a business out of making and posting video clips on YouTube. She had a great sense of making creative description on situations. It is a wonderful talent suitable for copy writing. She will focus on creating video clips that are geared towards educating children on cooking. The idea seems a bit unfamiliar to me. But we will see.

Thai foods are always inviting and delicious.

I went down to Chonburi, Thailand to conduct a due diligence on Park Rudin, a fabric doll manufacturer. After a couple of hours, we have mutually agreed to discontinue the due diligence and to term out the bridge loan we made to the company through Sky Bay Thailand. Probably, the owner Ms. Park is not ready for running her business as a missional business.

I had a meeting with Paul who is helping Night Light, a freedom business in Bangkok that has been in business for the past 17 years or so. We met at City Light Coffee, an affiliate company of Night Light, located right at the heart of the red light district of Bangkok: Nana.

Paul is an Australian involved in construction business. Apparently, he and his wife have been challenged by the need of the freedom businesses and have relocated from Australia to Bangkok Thailand last year. He is working at Night Light part time as a consultant. The CEO Annie was traveling to the U.S. so I was asked to meet him instead. We had a good discussion about how SfK may collaborate with Night Light. When Annie returns, he will discuss about holding a strategic planning session probably with six key personnel within the company. We will see.

My trip to Bangkok is always short and primarily for business. But, it is good to have a place to visit. - Jeffrey

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (June 2018)

Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan, one of the Central Asian countries. It was the first Central Asian nation that I have visited. -stan represents 'land." Thus, Kyrgyzstan means the land of Kyrgyz people.

On the first day I arrived, we had dinner together and enjoyed Kyrgyz foods. It included horse meat and horse milk. I normally do not enjoy eating red meat, but I thoroughly enjoyed a special desert.

I attended a Lion's Den event, in which people present their business plans in front of a panel of judges. These judges will ask questions and review each business plan's feasibility. These judges are called Lions, in reference to the Lion's Den where Daniel was thrown into. Like Daniel, only those who survive the Lion's Den will be granted financial support.

Out of 12 business plans submitted, only 9 were presented. They were from Uzbekistan and Khazakstan along with Kyrgyzstan. 4 business plans received approval from the panel and they will go through a 2-week training and their loan structuring is likely to change. We will see.

Among the chosen 4, one proposal to run a mini bus service for the children of expats was quite touching and inspirational.

In this event, I met a lot of Koreans. Some I knew, but others I met for the first time. John Koh described the Korean presence as an invasion, but we all enjoyed taking part in the event. Vladimir Lee, Mr. Kim, Alex Chi and John Koh.

I met Brad from New Zealand, who introduced coffee to this country with the brand name of Sierra Coffee. It was brief due to his other priorities, but it was good to meet him.

Denny Cho has a long history of education. He has one bachelor's degree, three master's degrees and one doctoral degree. He used to work for an aerospace company for long and served as a pastor in Philadelphia, PA. Now he is running an IT solution company in Bishkek. He also plans to start a university that offers degree programs in logistics, business and IT.

James Haw (Heo) has been living in Kyrgyzstan for the past 13 years or so. He now manages a building and also a medical clinic. He is a graduate of USC, a Trojan. So we shared interesting life stories.

I also met many people from different countries. How the relationships will develop is yet to be seen, but for now, I appreciate the opportunity to meet these people and look forward to witnessing what the Lord has in mind.

VJ from Tashkent

Slava from Almaty

Anagul from Almaty

??? from Bishkek

Andrew with Emerge

I was a bit confused about the schedule and I ended up having one more night to stay in Bishkek. I took advantage of the extra slack time to visit the Issyk-Kul area. Issyk-Kul means "warm lake" and is the name of the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan, 10th largest in the world and the world's second largest saline or salt lake after the Caspian Sea. It is saline because it is a land-locked lake. It is at 1,607 meter high from the sea level and approximately 670 meter in depth. The lake is situated between snow-capped mountains on both south and north sides, but the lake never freezes, due probably to the salt water.

I made a trip to this lake by getting a ride from Vladimir Lee who runs an Ophthalmalogist Clinic, along with Mr. Kim who runs a second-handed clothing store in Bishkek. Both are also interested in chicken farming. Mr. Kim and I stayed at Dr. Lee's house and we received warm hospitality of his family with wonderful organic foods.

Actually, the way to Issyk-Kul was the part of the Silk Road. As we were driving up and down, I felt the agony and patience that the caravans had to employ in make the journey. Along with the snow-capped mountain, I saw a snow cat statue. Also, I bumped into two Kyrgyz people who worked in Korea for several years and spoke fluent Korean. I saw what the Turkish call Yurts and what the Mongols call Gers, the temporary housing, on the roadsides for doing businesses. At times, cows and goats were crossing the highways claiming their right to share the road.

Every two years, there is a Nomad Olympics. Apparently, Kyrgyzstan is winning in most of the games. So the Olympic games are continuously held in Kyrgyzstan. It takes place during the first week of September and apparently it is one of the major sports events in the region. A lot of activities center around riding the horses.

The return trip was not easy either. From FRU to Almaty, Khazakstan. And another flight from there to BKK. Then, from BKK another flight to CNX. A total traveling time of approximately 20 hours.

But, I had a stop over in Almaty, Khazakstan. It used to be Khazakstan's capital, which has since been changed to Astana on the other side of the country. Almaty was quite modern and clean. Shopping malls were huge and very clean. Almaty and Bishkek used to be in the similar shape as Bishkek, but now they are completely different. Almaty is far better and bigger than Bishkek. Khazakstan has resources, but Kyrgyzstan has chosen to partner with Russia after several years of partnership with the U.S. It has since declined quite a bit. I ate a hamburger with Daniel's family and Ka Leong's couple, which required wearing a pair of black gloves. But it was inconvenient.

In Almaty, I saw Daniel who runs a sizable oil and gas business, now operating in 13 countries. The number of employees in Khazakstan alone is more than 1,000, he said. In 2012, the gross revenue topped at $200 million, but has since contracted somewhat. But, it is still significant.

He showed me a construction site where he is investing $25 million to build the top quality international school, K - 12. The scale was quite enormous. The president of Khazakstan will come to cut the tape. I bet it will draw a lot of attention right at the center of the city. I was pleased to see him in action. I met him at the Lausanne Consultation in Chiang Mai in 2017.

I saw Ka Leong and his wife, from Singapore, again at the airport because we got on the same airplane. It is a blessing to meet good people.

It was a short trip but filled with the joy of meeting a lot of people and of learning a lot about the country and cultures. Until, we see each other, take care! - Jeffrey