Back Home!

Our church in Seattle has a habit of yelling out, "God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!" I have been saying that to myself these past few weeks.

After 2 long, eventful, fun and exciting years in LA, I decided to return home to Seattle...I didn't have a job to return to; nor a plan to find one. I had been consulting for a friend's company in LA for 4 months, and that friend wanted to offer me a full time opportunity. Over the Christmas holiday Lori and I had talked about me coming home for good. I was a little concerned about coming home without a job, but I knew it was the right decision for my family and for myself. So upon my return to LA, I met with my friend and told him that for family reasons I would be heading back to Seattle. I wanted to preempt his job offer to me because if he offered me, I might have been tempted to stay. He was so gracious and accepting of my decision and made it very easy for me. I will always remember this act of kindness.

No lie, later that day I get a call from a recruiter with an opportunity in Seattle. You cannot tell me that it was merely a coincidence...no way. There is just one catch; the company is about to offer another candidate, so I would be a back-up candidate should the other guy reject the offer. I send my resume anyway thinking perhaps that the recruiter can help me find something in a depressed Seattle job market. He calls me back after reviewing my resume and tells me that I am more qualified than the other candidate, and that I should expect a call from the CEO. He wanted the CEO to consider waiting until after speaking with me to offer the other candidate. Long story short, I end up with the job after a whirlwind week of activity.

I really believe this was God opening doors for me after deciding to put my family first. He just keeps blessing me in so many ways. Each day I thank him for giving me what I need AND want. He is so generous to me, and I don't deserve it.

Another example of this generosity was shown to me last week. I have been asked to lead a team back to Kenya this summer. I wasn't sure I would have any money to travel to Kenya a second year in a row. Wouldn't you know that as soon as I asked God to help me figure it out, I get a bonus check from my client for the exact amount I need to make the trip. Like I said, no way is that a coincidence.

Part of it is my dedication to my New Year's resolution to just "wing it." Don't plan my life out as if I am in control, but to be open to the spirit's gentle and not-so gentle nudgings.

When I say, "God is good!" You answer, "All the time!" Then I will add, "All the time!" The final response is, "God is good!"

Chow!

A Business Year in Review

It is the end of 2009...thank God it is over! It didn't start out that well, but it is ending fabulously. It was a year of learning, connecting, challenge and grounding for me.

2009 started off miserably: The company was in the middle of a giant cash-flow problem that started around October. We had resorted to using all of our sales income to fund production for the next month, and worse, we couldn't take care of short term debts and payables. It was ugly and the CFO and I were getting terrible phone calls, e-mails and office visits from vendors we owed money to. What do you say to people who in good faith shipped goods to us, but now had to wait for payment? All I can do is to tell them the truth...I didn't have the cash to pay them, but they would be paid when investment came in. I think January and February brought 4 different law suits and numerous collection notices. The CEO seemed to not be fazed in the least, living as he normally did, avoiding all reality. January was a great month in one way...the break-even plan the CFO and I put into place was working and instead of burning $350,000 that month we only burned $27,000. The CEO quickly took credit for that and announced to the trade that we were now cash-flow positive in hopes that any investors still interested in us could find some good signs in our announcement. He also found new ways to spend that cash (exactly what cash?)...ramping up the PR and marketing machine once again.

Important lesson #1: Even when you are faced with severe cash issues, stick to your principles and tell people the truth. There is no need to lie.

2009 Continued miserably: Late in March, our old investors decided to help with a small influx of cash...at a ridiculous 100% interest rate! Way to show us how much faith you had in the company guys! That cash was quickly consumed to pay off our most serious payables. That month we also violated our supply agreement for our most important raw material...against better judgement. I had given the CEO one request back in Jan. I needed him to re-negotiate our supply agreement BEFORE we went outside the contract to save money. I could find the raw material at a savings of almost 30% per pound...of course I would take the savings! He waited almost 3 months before jumping in. As the COO, I was supposed to manage the supply contracts, but as my relationship with the CEO soured, he decided that I was not in the best position to renegotiate. I had found numerous violations from the vendor to allow us to negate the contract, which was my advice to him. Kill the original contract and if the vendor could match outside pricing, then negotiate a new deal. The result of his renegotiations? A 15% commission on any material we bought outside the original agreement AND an extension on the supply agreement into the following year. The CFO and I shook our heads...not only did he eat up half our savings, he wed us to this small time supplier for another year.

Is that a ray of hope I see? The spring brought investor after investor to our offices to see if there was anything left to get in a deal. It always ended the same way...each financial representative asking why we weren't at break-even after 4 years of operations. (As a reminder to you all, this is what I have been preaching since week 3 of joining the company) How do you answer that? The CEO kept saying the same misquoted line from our largest investor, "We were lead to believe that topline sales growth was more important than bottom line growth and sustainability." Let me decipher that biz speak...it is better to grow sales while sacrificing profitability and any hope of having a business long term. Funny thing is, he really believed that. He didn't care how much money we lost as long as we could grow sales. Charged with that mission, the sales guys focused on getting the purchase order, rather than on profit. Luckily one potential investor was not scared off...and continued to discuss the opportunity of acquiring the brand. Later I discovered that every single executive that had a say in the deal gave it a thumbs down...all except one, their CEO. He was mesmerized by our CEO and his ability to sell. He did have that one talent...he could get you to believe anything, and was passionate about it. He may not have had the business chops he needed to run a company, but I will give him credit for his sales ability. He could sound convincing, he could sound right, he could sound like this was the best thing for you. So they kept at the due diligence. We kept at the smoke and mirrors.

Important lesson #2: Believe the data, it can't lie. Listen to your advisors, they are being paid to think and to make good decisions for you.

The hope grows: Even after 3 months of digging, uncovering and our feeble explaining, the investor continued toward a close. The CEO promised everyone jobs...against being advised not to promise anything by the investor and by the CFO and I. He was also working his personal deal with the acquiring company. By this time, all meaningful responsibilities were removed from me. Since I still wanted to maintain my principles and could not violate supply agreements and contracts, the CEO decided that only he would run the "sensitive" areas of the organization. He changed ingredients, juice claims, and formulas to meet whatever promises he had made to the acquiring company. "Why yes, we have the highest antioxidants on the market. No, the competitor's products are mislabeled, we clearly use more juice than they do." I managed the production schedules, oversaw the bottling runs, and made sure my suppliers were paid. I hoped a deal would go through to end my misery. I stayed for one reason: There were people in the office more susceptible to office politics and they needed a buffer. I chose to stay to maintain a good office environment, to help them through some tough times, and to help them transition to the acquiring company's expectations. I took the month of July off to go to Kenya with a mission team. While I was gone, the CEO changed the labels to show that we had a higher level of juice than the competition...but he didn't change the formulas, just the label. He waited until I was gone, then bullied his co-founder, the CMO and CFO into complicity. The formulas were finally changed, but only after the new acquiring company nagged me on a daily basis for what was promised in the deal. Surprisingly, the formulas that I finally got were very different from what I had prior to leaving on vacation. When the VP of production at the acquiring company asked me how these formulas ran on the production line, I told him that I didn't know...I had never seen them before. He was dumbfounded and wondered aloud what was going on in our company. I mentioned to him that not only are the formulas untested, the costs were out of line. When I told him that they were, he laughed and said, "That isn't the worst part, your CEO just talked our Sales Execs into a price reduction." So now we were taking down both price and margin at the same time. He ran that up the line to his boss, and I got a swift dressing down by the CEO, natch.

Important lesson #3: The people really are the reason for a company's success or failure.

The Deal goes through!: Months of worrying and scurrying ended with the signing of a deal in August. The CEO's promise of employment for all was sadly mistaken. Only he, the co-founder, and sales group were retained. The rest of us got the boot after transitioning our responsibilities. The total amount of the deal was also kept quiet, and 50% of the cash was being held in escrow for 18 months to settle any and all legal issues. The CEO got his cash, and everyone else has to wait 18 months for theirs...if there is any left after paying legal fees and corporate fees for the old investors. His poor co-founder got screwed more than the rest of us put together. He had been promised founders shares from day 1, and faithfully worked his butt off for the ungrateful, selfish and greedy founder. At one point he worked without pay to help with cash flow, hoping that his unselfishness would be noticed and rewarded when the cash out came. With nothing in writing, the co-founder got only what was approved by the board...his worthless options. Memory fades quickly when cash is involved. Truthfully, I am not counting on getting anything for my two years of enslavement. I expect the old investors will submit their exorbitant fees to "administrate" the old company, and I expect the lawyers will siphon the rest to settle the lawsuits. But I would have donated any proceeds to my non-profit group anyway.

Important lesson #4: Get it in writing!

It gets better...you just have to wait: An old friend offered me a consulting project to help him develop his business and to provide technical help for his flavor company wherever possible. I appreciate his generosity and entered into a 3 month contract. I work 3 days a week at his factory providing technical and business development help where I can. It has been fun helping him identify ways to get his flavor company to grow. He is graciously figuring me into his budget for next year in a bigger role, but unfortunately it is in California.

So the year is ending on a positive note. Mercilessly, the new acquiring company let me go. They were generous and professional and I appreciate how they handled things. I hear that sales are slumping, costs have risen, and they are having supply issues with their contracted suppliers. Who would have thought?

Life is really Yin and Yan. While I write this negative experience to unburden my heart, I have the exact opposite experience with SmartCup. It has been a year of immeasurable successes, great experiences and heart-warming interactions. The balance that SmartCup was able to provide for my life is a salve that I could not have survived without.

Important lesson #5: Find the balance.

I hope all of you have a great New Year's celebration and don't get too caught up in the resolutions thing...it isn't that important to identify what to change, just be open to good change next year.

Chow!

Thanksgiving 2009

I am not sure where to begin in my annual thank-you letter to God and others that have made an impact on my life. A timeline of events might work, but that could be messy. I will just dive in...

Thank you God for how you have taken care of me in uncertain times. For how you have given me what I need, when I have needed it. Your grace and love for me is acknowledged and undeserved by me. Thank you for trusting me with the blessings you have given me, and in the way you continue to bless me.

Thank you Lori for continuing to stand by my side as my wife. You support me, encourage me, and tolerate my bad jokes. You have the hard job of holding down the fort while I am gone, and you do it without complaint!

Thank you to Jeff and Melanie for giving me less to worry about. Your level of maturity, responsibility and growth as adults gives me a measure of confidence about your future. I will never quit worrying about you, but I am worrying less. Now just get yourselves to church a little more, please?

Thank you to my family for constantly encouraging me, supporting me, investing in me, and for believing in me. I feel an extra burden of responsibility to make sure that your belief in me is justified.

Thank you to SunnyD for buying BN earlier this year! You put me out of my misery in the kindest and most generous way possible. I was almost to the breaking point in terms of patience towards others. The buyout also freed me up to do some things that I really wanted to do...like start a company.

Thank you to my partners, Kent Rhodes and Jeff Baccetti. You two support me in every way possible as we build SmartCup. It can seem tough at times, but it is fun, the challenges are amazing and the results are all worth it.

Thank you brothers in Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa and Malindi, Kenya. The work you do with so few resources continues to impress and inspire me. I want to give more to CRF because of your unselfish ways. The way you love the orphans and care for them is from God, there is no other explanation for it. I hate the way others try to take advantage of you, steal from you, threaten your lives, and scare your families. I wish it were an easier life, but I am thankful that I know you and can call you friends.

Thank you Linda Purdy, for all you do for Christian Relief Fund. You lead a tireless group in an uphill struggle on a daily basis. Thank you God for continuing to bless this ministry and its work to take care of children around the world who cannot take care of themselves.

I have made so many new friends this year through my business connections as well a through travel. I am thankful for each of you. I have learned from each interaction, encounter, and conversation. I am inspired and amazed by each of you. My Kenya buddies: Julie, Karen, Audie, Cheryl, Chase, Christian, Laura, Olivia, Amy, Holly, Micah, Sandy, John and Connie, Bekkah, Jason, Eric, Thomas, and Dave. My SmartCup associates: Jana Branch, Scott Greenberg, Bob Hill, Sandy Brawley, Bob Wilson, John Clair, and Brett Schaeffer.

I believe the first Thanksgiving was more like this than what we have made it...it isn't about stuffing ourselves full of turkey, or about kicking off the holiday shopping sprint, or, dare I say, about football. It is about giving God a big Thank You for blessing us, for caring for us, and for delivering us from our struggles. It is a time of thanking others that make an impact on our lives, and for giving us hope.

Be thankful daily, and watch your life change!

Chow!

The Crazy Life

I thought I would be able to relax after being downsized in August. Nothing could be further from the truth. Since being emancipated from the "King of the Amazon", I have been busier than ever. I can't seem to say "no"... Plus I have to keep the lights on somehow.

I did take a short break in August. After finding out I couldn't rent out my condo (some hokey by-law in the Condo Association docs), I decided to put it on the market and find a part time consulting gig to make payments until it sells. It was definitely a downer because I had hoped to move back home permanently, and having that taken away was hard. So I spent 6 weeks in Seattle at home, then drove back to LA to start working.

This consulting project is very interesting. I am working for a friend who owns a flavor house, and luckily I know that business. He is an entrepreneur through and through so he also has a million other ideas that he wants me to commercialize. There are some good ones, and some not-so-good. My role is to help where I can with these initiatives plus manage the technical labs. The staff is great...all hard-working, friendly and helpful. It hardly ever goes that way, but I will take it! The commute is not so great...1 hour each way in traffic. Bleah! I know why road rage was invented on the LA freeways. The things you see daily are enough to curl your toes!

Besides consulting, I am helping get a couple of companies off the ground. Both need investment, but both are market winners. I can't wait to see how they turn out. One is an invention that will re-set the coffee world, and one is a ready-to-drink beverage that is uniquely positioned. Let me know if anyone wants to plunk a couple of million bucks behind either of them!

I have to sit down each morning and make 3 different lists of to-do's, because I need to keep them all straight. Each requires a different set of skills and are at different stages, so it can get confusing and time-consuming. It feels like I have 3 full time jobs.

But I would not have it any other way. What I have learned about myself over the last 12 months is this: 1) I have skills to offer small companies that are just starting out, and 2) I love the excitement and energy of a start-up. No more corporate job for me unless it is a position where finding and buying these types of companies is the job responsibility. I wish it had steadier income (or income at all), but the risk/reward juice is intoxicating.

Stay tuned for updates and news!

Chow!

The Between Journey

Last Sunday brought a close to 20 months of interim preaching by Jeff Berryman. He entitled the series, "The Between Journey". It was designed to bring our congregation together so we would be ready for our new lead minister. He did a great job. NW Church was so ready to receive the Goldman's. We reflected on the things that are important to God, things that we may have been neglecting. I felt ready to welcome a new minister.

Now I have a between journey of my own. I find myself between jobs. Not to make light of this, but I think my between journey is to do the same thing...until my new permanent role comes along, I need to focus on things that are important to God, things I may have been neglecting.

My last position was sort of transitional...as I was hired to help get the company either a new investment or sold. I neglected some things that I normally never do at work, since I thought it was temporary. I didn't battle hard enough with the CEO on ethical issues that I normally would have, and let some things slide. For the sake of office peace, I let him do what I would normally not have allowed. Don't worry, it wasn't anything illegal, just "gray", when I am usually black and white. After a while, I was hoping for a quick transition and couldn't wait for the deal to get done so I could be rid of the negative feelings I was having about the company.

However I did they job I was hired to do and we were sold last month. I learned a lot about myself after 18 months of helping to run a small company. I can no longer work in a corporate world. I like the fast-pace and uncertainty of a start-up. I know it sounds weird, but that kind of excitement is really energizing. Especially if you are good at it, and I like to think that maybe I was wired for this type of environment.

So what next? The day I let people know I was done with my old role, I had a bunch of people call me to present opportunities to me. I even got an offer from a vendor that I had withheld payment from for over 5 months. Wow, was that unexpected.

He claimed that even though he was angry at me, I handled the situation respectfully and truthfully with him, and I saved him some money. He had threatened to take us to court,and to hand our account over to a collection agency. Each time we spoke, I assured him we would pay, and that any of those choices would cost him more money than if he waited for our financing to come in. I guess I made sense to him, and when I made good on my statements, he was confounded. I guess he wasn't expecting me to make good. In fact, all our vendors got paid the day after the deal was signed, as promised. It shows that even under the worst conditions, principles and ethics mean a great deal.

Sorry for that sidebar...

It has been a busy August. I returned home to Seattle in mid August to decompress and to reintroduce myself to my family. I began narrowing opportunities down and decided to pursue these two:

Opportunity number 1 is a company I started with a couple of partners. It is called SmartCup. The company is based on an invention a friend of mine has registered with the US Patent Office. It is a disposable French Press lid. It fits on a standard 16 oz paper hot cup, and behaves exactly like a French Press...drop in ground coffee or whole leaf tea, add hot water, soak and then press down to separate the grounds from the beverage. After enjoying your beverage, you can toss the entire cup. We have created a mass producible prototype and are in negotiations with a couple of coffee and tea retailers. Consumer testing has been amazing to date, with everyone loving the taste of the product. We are gearing up to soft-launch at the National CoffeeFest Show in Seattle later in September. Come vote for us at the New Tech competition!

Opportunity number 2 is a job with a company that two of my friends in Hawaii started last year. They finally got me to agree to join them in running it. It is called Indulge Hawaii, and the product is Plantation Iced Tea. Plantation Iced Tea is a beverage that has its roots in the vast sugar cane and Pineapple plantations of Hawaii. The workers used to drink a refreshing mix of iced tea and Pineapple Juice. My friend Byron decided to make a Ready-to-Drink version. I helped him gratis for the past year or so with some marketing strategy, but he and his other partner went out and made it happen. I couldn't believe how quickly he brought it to market and then got a display at Costco on Oahu! They have since grown the business to include Univ of Hawaii, top resorts on the islands, and now Whole Foods in SoCal. It started on a shoe-string budget and continues to be run on one, so until we get financing, we won't be able to get the word out very quickly or broadly on this delicious Hawaiian treat.

The good news, both of these opportunities require me to remember the principles that God has written on my heart.

To keep the lights on, I will be working with a friend in LA 3 days a week. He has generously told me that he will use me as long as I want to work for him. I can't have nicer business friends.

I feel ready to welcome the next opportunity...

Chow!

The "Beach Boys"

We had a rare day to relax on our last full day in Kenya. Since we were in the resort town of Malindi, we thought we would hit the beach and just walk out to the reef at low tide. Dave and Thomas Bartanen, Julie Rawlins and I decided to risk a walk to the reef and the breaking waves about 200 yards offshore. No such thing as a relaxing stroll on the beach. As soon as we left the protective wall of our hotel, we were set upon by the "Beach Boys"; a roving band of young men intent on selling you something...anything really. They offer an astounding array of goods and services: tourist souvenirs, other trinkets, glass-bottom boat rides, deep-sea fishing excursions...and on the darker side of things, hookers and marijuana.

Malindi Side Story (sorry, gotta do it!)

Malindi has changed. Once a sleepy little fishing village (the world's best billfishing), it has transformed into the Bangkok of Africa...and that is not a compliment. It is now one of the leading sexploitation destinations in the world. Visitors from Europe come to Malindi in search of the bizarre and forbidden: underage sex partners. Malindi is now being run by the Italians, who discovered the resort-like weather and white sand "sugar" beaches a decade ago. They began putting up resort hotels and started booking vacations for fellow Italians. The language is now

spoken by most in Malindi, and the tourist signs are all bi-lingual; English and Italian. How long before the Mafia discovered Malindi? Not very. The business of prostitution has exploded along with gambling and drugs. Places like Kenya have an abundance of unemployed youth, leading to exploitation. It is sad to see young people turn to a life like this just to survive. The government turns a blind eye because of the influx of revenue.

Okay, back to our story...

The Beach Boys made it hard to walk in a straight line. Since they couldn't sell us anything, they went into their Beach Tour mode. Their methods seem innocent at first. "Jambo! Welcome to Kenya, my friend. How are you? Where do you come from? How is my english? Can you help me to understand it a little better? Do you want to experience the beauty of my beach? I can show you many things. Here, we have prepared a nice walking path through the rocks to the reef. Let me lead you. Don't step in the Turtle Grass, there could be a poisonous stone fish there." Non-stop. If you tried to ignore them, they were prepared for that as well. "Everyone needs friends, we are only trying to be friendly. We don't expect anything from you, but to be your friend. How can you refuse our polite invitation of friendship?" They quickly pick up our names as we converse with our own small group, and from that point on they call us by name, or by a nickname they gave us. Our small party of 4 required 12 guides!! Each of them chose one of us as their personal target...mine was Phillip. I told him up front that I had no money and that I was only going to walk to the reef. He assured me that wouldn't be a problem. I wondered why it took 12 of them to guide us, so he tried to shoo 8 of them away to no avail. Phillip figured out my name, my son's name, where I was from, what nationality I was, and why I was in Africa. He gave me a nickname..."Papa Jeff" because I was the father of Jeffrey.

Poor Julie...everytime she wanted a picture, 6 or 8 of them jumped in singing their Jambo song. "Jambo, Jambo Bwana. Habari Gani, Mzuri Sana...plus she was worried that we were going to get mugged by their larger number. After about 15 minutes of the assault, we gave up and let them show us the reef. They were actually quite good at finding things: Cowries, shells, starfish, moray eels, crabs, etc. The only thing we didn't see was an octopus, but they assured us they could find one if we just followed them further down the beach. They wanted us closer to where they all hang out on the beach. It is a small collection of huts with souvenirs, drinks, and more Beach Boys. I could see where that was going, so I figured we needed to get back to our hotel beach. We turned back and as we approached the hotel, their pitch changed tunes..."if you could only buy something small from me, I will be able to buy lunch. I am starving and this is how I make my living. Just one small thing, or pay me some small fee for giving you an excellent tour." The closer we got to the hotel beach, the tighter they encircled us. They milled around in such a way that they blocked us from the wall and ultimately, the safety of our hotel. Good ol' Dave had 1200 shillings and promised each of them 100 when we got back safely to our hotel beach. He didn't have 12-100 shilling notes, so he asked them to pick one representative that he could give the 1000 shilling note to, who could break the bill for each of them. They actually were able to pick one guy to trust. When Dave made his offer, they all rushed Dave to get paid and I motioned to Julie to run for the hotel. She made a beeline for the hotel wall and made it safely. Our relaxing walk was anything but...

I made the mistake of mentioning to Phillip that I enjoyed young coconut water. He offered to bring me some if I could wait. There were coconut trees all around, but he wasn't allowed on the property to climb them; he had to run to the bush to get to a free access tree. He said that it would take an hour to go. I said I couldn't wait, so forget it. He then asked me for bus fare to get the coconuts...again, I said no. He then said he would run to get them, and asked me how many I wanted. I told him if he were to go, I would want two. I then went to the very peaceful hotel pool to cool off. About an hour later there is a commotion on the beach. "Papa Jeff!" I hear someone calling out of my nickname. I see Phillip jumping high in the air to clear the hotel security wall, waving coconuts that he has gotten and cleaned. I couldn't believe that he had come back! Thomas was wondering what was going on, so I sent him down with a 100 shilling note to get two of the coconuts. He came back with two of the most delicious coconuts I have ever had. We all agreed that it was worth the price. It definitely was a win-win for all parties. Phillip had two more, but I was out of money. Ah well.

It seemed like nobody but locals could enjoy a walk on the beach. One mzungu (white) woman walked unmolested on the beach and we asked Phillip why she wasn't being mobbed. Phillip said she was crazy, and called her an unsavory name. Turns out she was living in Malindi and didn't want to be harassed by the boys.

Here is one more story to demonstrate the negative effect the whites have had on Africans. Our money continues to enslave them in what I would term, unnatural trade. Instead of fishing and living humbly, they sell us their services however they can...as tourist guides, sex partners, and even as a temporary friend.

Chow!

Simba, the overweight Lion

One of the things I love about my African friends is their generosity. They are generous to a fault. They give the best of what they have without thought or concern. Whenever we go to their homes for a meal, it is sumptuous...quantities that could feed twice the number present, the best that they can afford and more.

Our group was feted during Sunday worship in Eldoret, Kenya. Each of us Americans was called up by name while a church elder gave an introduction of the visitor to the large crowd present. They regaled everyone with stories of each of us that had previously visited, and for those first-timers, they extended warm thanks for their love and generosity. Each of us was given a meaningful gift. Milton, our fearless leader, was honored with a giant carved wooden lion, his wife Barbie got a georgeous hand-beaded necklace. Julie, the other CRF board member was given a nice wooden giraffe, which quickly earned the nickname of Geoffrey. Everyone in our group got something, with the ceremony of giving the gift as important as the gift itself.

My gift, was especially well-thought out. It was a beautiful soapstone carving of the world map, with Kenya in the center of it. It had a beautiful wooden stand for display purposes. Francis was telling the story of how we started the work in Eldoret together 2 years earlier, and the map represented my travels around the world helping others, but that my heart was in Kenya. It was touching, and he beamed with pride at his selection of the perfect gift for me. However, during the elaborate presentation, it was accidentally dropped on the table and it broke into 30 or 40 small pieces. Obviously flustered, the crowd of Africans tried to quickly piece it together. Unsuccessful at that task, they just handed me the largest piece left. Part of Europe, all of Africa, it was the thought that counted in my mind. It did not bother me a bit, but it embarrassed the elders. We had a good laugh over it, and I didn't think about it again...even though one of the cooks warned me that it was extremely bad luck. She had a deadly serious look on her face. She actually went to the elders to tell them of the misfortune.

Like I said, I didn't have a second thought about it until the morning we were to depart for Kisumu. Francis took me aside after our parting words and songs to talk to me. We said our personal good-byes, hugged and then he dragged me by the hand to his car. He took out a box and presented me with a replacement gift...a beautiful soapstone Lion. It was large, impressive, and a work of genuine African artisanship. He and the elders of the church had felt so badly that my plate was destroyed that they wanted to replace it with something of much greater value. My estimate at the price of this statue put it at two weeks wages for one of them. Far more generous than they could afford. I humbly accepted this gift and named him Simba (Swahili for Lion). He is beautiful...a rosy pink colored stone carved into a roaring lion figure.

There was just one problem with Simba...he weighed in at 5 kilos (11 lbs). We were preparing to leave on a plane that only allowed my baggage to weigh a combined 20 kilos. And here Simba would be 25% of all my allowable weight! I wasn't sure what to do...I didn't want to hand carry Simba for fear of breaking the soft soapstone carving. I couldn't check him in my luggage because he took my total weight over the max. I ended up carefully packing him in my backpack, and moved my books and other non-essentials to my suitcase. I was just at 20.5 kilos on my check-in, and at 18 kilos on my carry-on. Dragging Simba all over Africa was a chore. He crushed everything I put in my backpack with him...ask Julie about how I had to eat my destroyed Rolos...haha.

It was my great fortune that Julie had actually been thinking ahead and had brought a roll of bubble-wrap with her to Africa for just such occasions. She knew we would be bringing back fragile things for the silent auction fundraiser at Christmas. I got an empty box from the Nakumat and re-formed the box into a shape that would protect Simba. I first wrapped him in bubble-wrap and then formed the carboard into a semi-rigid box around him.

Simba only caused one security line snafu. He caused one screener to pull my backpack from the conveyor and inspect each and every pocket. I guess Simba looked like a giant solid mass. The security screener was about to rip apart the packaging when I begged her not to. I told her what it was, showed her one of his legs, and she let me pass.

That lion made it safely back to the US and is right now proudly guarding the dining room hutch. He will make a wonderful auction item and should fetch a great price. I toyed with the idea of keeping him for the sentiment and the memories, but Simba will serve more people as an auction item. For the auction, I will rename him, "The Lion of Judah"...Francis will like that.

Chow!