DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Saturday, March 23)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
Joshua Cook and Michael Heitland reached the summit of Kilimanjaro accompanied by guide Saidi and assistant guide Mohamed at 7:20 a.m. in extremely high winds and bitter cold. Joshua and Michael give al...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Friday, March 22)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
Our old friend Yusuf joined us a Barafu Hut on Day 5 of our Kilimanjaro trek. Barafu is the high camp on the Machame Route at 15,360 feet (4,680 meters). We ascended only 2,105 feet, taking 3 hours to hik...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Thursday, March 21)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
Milaji brings hot water to our tents in the morning and offers us a choice of coffee or tea to drink. Milaji is one of 10 porters working on our trek. He has the slightly higher standing job of waiter.
...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Wednesday, March 20)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
Riziki, our cook, came to visit after breakfast to see if the porridge, mango, eggs, toast and drinks were to our liking. Riziki has cooked for trekkers for eight years; he first worked with us in 2007...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Tuesday, March 19)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
Saidi, left, and Mohamed during a rest stop on the trail.
Saidi and Mohamed led us out of the Machame Hut and directly uphill for about 1,200 vertical feet to start Day 2 on Kilimanjaro. We trekked an...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Monday, March 18)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
Mohamed, our assistant guide and another friend on Kilimanjaro, led us uphill from the Machame Gate. It’s ALL uphill from here, starting at 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) and ascending to 19,340 feet (5,...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Sunday, March 17)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
“And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.” - Luke 22:43 (ESV)
I shared during worship an email I received yesterday about a house pastor in China who'd been arrested...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Saturday, March 16)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
More than 50 guides and porters showed up for evangelistic training at Pastor Mosha's old church in Marangu. It was our best turnout in several years.
In the end, after many disruptions and interruptio...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Friday, March 15)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
We landed at Kilimanjaro airport at 3:15 a.m. local time and were reunited with old friend Yusuf, our guide on the mountain. It was after 5:30 a.m. by the time we got into our room in Moshi, completing th...
DISPATCHES: Kilimanjaro (Thursday, March 14)
By Gary Fallesen
President, Climbing For Christ
To paraphrase the words of my boyhood hero, legendary American novelist Kurt Vonnegut: In the air I am beautiful. As we fly – or even as we wait from one airport to the next – there is a gre...