Hosts - Greg & Renee Plunkett - We have established our mission base in Butere, Kenya which is 50 kms from Kisumu, which is one of the major cities.  It is a highly populated rural area that remains relatively primitive.

Greg is an Evangelist/Pastor who enjoys preaching, teaching, discipling & sharing the gospel in every way he knows.  In Africa, he is busy speaking at schools, churches, home cells, open air crusades, marketplaces in the countryside, cities & slums.

Renee involves herself in home cells, administrating & coordinating ministry & home base tasks & guest’s needs, sewing, quilting & sharing her love of the Lord however & wherever she can.

Our mission base/home will be a training/hosting facility for visitors from the west for anywhere from 1 to 6 months who want to experience missions in a developing country.  If we don’t have enough room, there is a guest house available nearby.

Visitors will be networked with other ministries in the areas they are gifted in; whether that is in home groups, preaching, teaching, practical things such as building projects, outreach in schools & homes, crusades in the open air in market places, prayer, worship & music, discipleship, children’s/orphan’s ministry.

Part of our vision is to help them implement their God given gifts & abilities & expand the kingdom of God in their own special & unique way.

How you can get involved – drama, mercy ministry (outreach), building, preaching, teaching, sharing, loving, serving, giving, medical outreach, dental outreach, orphans, widows, projects, administration, testimonies, puppets, dance, meat cutting, photography, wrestling…what?

You may question some of these things – i.e. – wrestling – Africans love World Wrestling Entertainment – could be a draw for crusades.  Photography? – taking family pictures & blessing people who have nothing.  Meat cutting – there is a great need to teach proper butchery in the area.

What are you involved in or good at?; Pray, see how the Holy Spirit leads & use what you know & can do for the Kingdom!  Everyone can do something!

In all settings, we will be looking for the following characteristics:

You should write separately to share your personal testimony and your vision/goals/hopes for a visit to IMS; i.e., tell us what you would anticipate doing here, bringing here in the way of gifting or service, and what you would hope to receive from God while here.

Please also suggest approximate dates for your visit.

We will get back to you as quickly as possible once we have received your information

Help with traveling to Kenya – There are many options for air travel to Kenya. We have found it best to book through an agency as booking yourself on-line can run into too many problems & you can get stuck with expensive, wrong tickets.

Visas – You must check your requirements for a visa as they will vary depending upon which country you are a citizen of but generally when arriving in Kenya as a US or UK citizen – you must purchase a visa, which costs about $50US & is good for one entry into Kenya for 3 months maximum.

The latest information regarding travel to Kenya can be obtained from the following websites:-

US - http://travel.state.gov 

UK - http://www.fco.gov.uk

If you choose to travel out of the country, say to Uganda or Tanzania, there is a visa required for each of those places.  Once you return to Kenya, you must purchase another visa.

Expenses/Currency – If you are staying in our home/mission base, we ask for room & board (a reasonable rate) which gives you a bed & bedding & 3 meals a day & a place to wash up.  If you want to snack, you can purchase various things at the local Butere marketplace.  Western type snacks are available in Kisumu & can be purchased whenever trips to the city are available.   Buses are available & very reasonable, but you must go accompanied by a local we recommend.  This is because of customs you would not be accustomed to & to get best prices from street vendors.  There is local price & ‘mzungu’ (white) price.  Another note about local buses – a 50km trip to the city can take anywhere from 1 ½ to 5 hours depending on weather, if the bus is full or not & other circumstances. They don’t operate the way you would be used to in the west.

There are souvenirs in cities nearby if you are interested and some good restaurants as well. We recommend that you bring US dollars. There is a foreign money exchange available & bank machines where you can withdraw funds from your bank account which will be given in local currency, which is Kenya Shillings.. Travelers' checks and cashiers checks are expensive to exchange and are accepted only by certain banks. We don't recommend them! Visa and occasionally Mastercard are only accepted in a few places. They may be used with a pin number to get cash advances in local currency when needed at bank machines (ATM’s).

PLEASE NOTE: IMS is a faith ministry, entirely dependent upon the generosity and responsiveness of the Lord's people to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. While there is a minimal charge for your accommodation with us, we ask that you remain sensitive to the many expenses related to your visit (including correspondence, transportation, ministry, etc.).

Many of our visitors are very generous, both financially and through gifts and supplies they donate to IMS. We require that all donations of supplies or cash donations be given directly to Greg or Renee for distribution to ensure that they are expended in keeping with the ministry's current priorities and needs. If you wish to designate a particular area to benefit from your contribution, we will certainly honor your intention as much as possible.  Donations are never to be distributed to locals by visitors as it creates many problems.

Health Needs – There are no travel vaccines required by the Kenyan government. You should be up-to-date on standard vaccines such as tetanus, typhoid, Hepatitis A, etc. Please check with a travel nurse or your doctor for current recommendations. Yellow fever vaccine is required for Kenya.

Malaria prophylaxis is recommended. Some are daily pills, others are taken once a week. You must bring these medications with you. Also bring strong bug repellent which contains 100% DEET, available in the camping department of a WalMart or similar stores in the US & Canada. Malaria continues to be the greatest serious health danger you may encounter while visiting.  If you acquire Malaria, treatment is available at the local hospital, but conditions there are quite primitive.  Treatment can be a painful series of shots in the backside or oral meds which don’t take effect as quickly.

All visitors are required to have their medical & extended medical insurance in order.  If you get in an accident or have a challenging illness, you will want insurance which will pay to have you shipped back to your country.

Household Duties - Your laundry duties are your own & are fairly primitive, such as scrubbing by hand in a wash basin, wringing out by hand & hanging up – then ironing.  You will be expected to keep your room & area tidy daily.

As we are all there to serve, anywhere else you’d like to help around the base is greatly appreciated.

What to Pack - We dress in a way that is acceptable and modest in Kenyan culture. We are in a rural area that is more conservative than the cities.  Men may wear pants/trousers and T-shirts or button-up shirts. Women may wear skirts or dresses below the knee. Men & women are requested to limit their wearing of knee length shorts to the missionary compound & can be worn in the city. Tops of any sort are acceptable, except thin strapped tank tops and those baring the midriff.

For church services and other times of ministry, the nationals wear their best. It is disrespectful for visitors to show-up in "grubbies." Ankle length dresses or skirts are most acceptable for ministry outreaches or church services.

The weather is warm-hot year round, but evenings will get cool so bring a light sweater or jacket.

We do ask that piercings be removed or covered with band-aids, except for normal ear-piercings for women. Never bring expensive jewelry or watches to Africa.

Other necessities: pillow, towel, iron, (with converter) shower shoes (flip-flops), good sandals that can withstand daily washing from dirt & mud, runners & good shoes for church.  Bible, flashlight/torch, umbrella or light rain jacket.

Electrical outlets are European two prong round —220 volts.

We reserve the right – to ask anyone not complying with IMS standards or our vision or anyone with wrong motives or heart to return home at any time.  We are in Africa to be a blessing, to help in any way we can.  If we are expending too much of our time & energy dealing with out of line missionaries, then it defeats our purpose & goals.