News – Page 6 – Notes from Bob and Ellen

Upcoming Trip to Tanzania

Ellen and I are scheduled to leave next Friday (January 25th) for Tanzania. Our first week we will be visiting our son and daughter-in-law in Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria. They have just moved into a rented house and need help with a few projects. We’ll be a little early for the grandchild expected in March!

The second week is the second ECHO Symposium in Arusha. I helped lay the groundwork for the new ECHO office there so it is exciting to see the progress being made and get a chance to interact with friends and development workers from around East Africa.

After the symposium I will return to work at ECHO in Florida and Ellen will travel on to 2 more meetings in Kenya. There she will be assisting students and their parents with their education needs and plans.

Keep up with us on Facebook: Bob | Ellen

Hurricane Isaac

Today we stayed home and watched it rain! Fortunately hurricane Isaac passed far enough to the west that we did not experience severe weather. But the news from Haiti is sobering. Casualties occurred and the 400,000 still living in camps since the 2010 earthquake have suffered the most.
Our prayers are with them and many friends working there.
And also with those along the Gulf Coast that are in the path of the storm.

April 2012 Update

Ellen is in Africa for a month!

You can read all about it (as well as some other family news) at http://bobnellen.aimsites.org/

Back to Africa myself!

The ministry at ECHO continues to be rewarding. Every week I interact with missionaries and development workers around the world who are striving to help their communities flourish. Most of this is done by e-mail but we have a steady stream of visitors and several week-long classes each year. I also have the joy of interacting daily with our group of ten amazing interns as they prepare to serve in missions and tropical agricultural development.

In May three of us from ECHO will be going to Malawi to consult with the United Methodist Church there. They have a farm that they plan to use for demonstration and training of pastors in effective low cost sustainable agriculture practices. And the timing works out so that I can go a few days early and meet up with Ellen in Nairobi!

Sticking Close to Home

Late Feb. 2012
Ellen has been busy and traveling and I have remained relatively close to home.
In early January I had abdominal hernia surgery which was fairly minor but required me to refrain from lifting much of anything including suitcases. So no international travel for a while.
We have enjoyed time with our son, James, home from Tanzania for a few months.
At ECHO we conducted a one-week class in January and have had a number of visitors here for consultations.
Earlier this month our church in Fort Myers hosted a 4-day missions conference for the first time in many years. Ellen and I were involved in that as both hosts and participants. It was very encouraging to hear from the other seven missionaries present.
In March we are expecting more visitors at ECHO. In addition Ellen and I will travel to Albuquerque for a mini family reunion with our three offspring and in-laws. I am really looking forward to being with them there and also anticipating some good early spring birding in New Mexico!
April brings another one-week class to ECHO but hopefully you will hear more before then.