By Dale Avery

Numerous times during my lifetime something happens to me that is against the odds. This occurred again this past weekend. About a year and half ago, my oldest daughter, Megan, and I committed to gong on a church mission trip to Kenya. The dates selected by the team for the trip were July 16 – 27.

For months our team of twenty-two, made up of four adult team leaders and eighteen high school kids, has been planning, training and praying for this trip. About a week or so before we left we were informed President Barack Obama was making a trip to Kenya while we were there – I thought to myself what are the odds that the President of the United States would be in Kenya at the same time as our team. We considered the impact of his presence during our trip and decided it was not necessary to change any of our plans. We knew he was of Kenyan decent, but I don’t think any of us estimated the overwhelming outcome of his heritage and the impact of his office upon the Kenyan people.

A few years back President Obama visited Kenya as a United States Senator to trace his Kenyan roots. But this trip was an official visit and it certainly played out much bigger upon our arrival in Nairobi. My first experience was while I was getting my Visa. One of the employees asked me if we were there to see Obama and I had to explain to him that no, we were on a mission trip. We then boarded our bus to go to our accommodations and on the way there we saw many billboards with pictures of President Obama and American flags.

We found out a couple of days into our trip that the plans for the President’s itinerary were finalized. He was to arrive Friday and depart some time on Sunday. Again, what are the odds – we were set to fly out on Sunday as well. We wondered what impact his departure would have on our flight and getting home. Over the course of the next couple of days everywhere we turned you either heard conversation about or saw more billboards of the President. All the newspapers ran stories about him in every section, they talked about him on the radio and during every personal interaction we were asked about him. When we went to the schools to talk to the kids and to teach Bible stories to them, they always would end our sessions asking us questions about the President and about the United States. Our work with the Kenyan people was amazing and it added excitement to be asked so many questions about the US.

So what about the impact to us getting home? With all the roads to the airport closing for his motorcade we had to leave for the airport 10 hours before our 7:40 p.m. flight. We spent time outside the airport playing cards, talking and eating until we could check-in four hours after we got there. Once we cleared security we were able to relax in chairs and do some last minute shopping. As we were waiting, I heard some say – “there is Air force One” and everyone ran to the windows. It was at that time it hit me the hardest – here we are thousands of miles away from the United States in a foreign country watching the most powerful man in the world leaving on the most impressive airplane in the world. Regardless whether I agree or disagree with what our President emphasized while he was there, it made me extremely proud to be from America! I am glad the odds where in my favor and I got to witness this first hand.

Dale Avery, CPCU, is the assistant vice president – Enterprise Services at State Farm® Corporate Headquarters in Bloomington, Ill.

Avery began his career with State Farm in 1982 as a personal lines underwriter in Lincoln, Nebraska and assumed his current position in 2006. Avery, a native of Missouri, received his bachelor’s degree from Central Missouri State University. He earned his CPCU in 1991.

Dale resides in Bloomington with his wife, Laura and their two daughters; Megan and Jenna.

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