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Culture Lab: Kenya

A Culture Lab is distinct from traditional mission trips in that it’s focus is on incarnational learning labs rather than charity work. Our team will be embedded in local family routines for multiple days in order to foster relational depth rather than transactional brevity. You won’t come back with a list of things you did, but a renewed imagination for how to live. If your goal is to help people, this trip will frustrate you. If your goal is to undergo spiritual surgery, this is it. We’re not looking for people who want to go do good things in Kenya. We’re looking for people open to discomfort and deep learning because they believe discipleship sometimes looks like crossing cultures, receiving hospitality, and discovering that the Church in developing nations has something to teach us about Jesus that the wealth of the West makes us blind to.

FAQS

  • Sharing meals in local homes, collecting and carrying jerrycans of water, visiting the market, experiencing faith through the eyes of a Kenyan, praying through local needs, become a student in the local school, cooking local cuisine, harvest crops, etc.

  • Yes, but primarily through relationship, economic partnership, and long-term solidarity rather than episodic aid. Additionally, part of the trip cost provides local families with clean water and access to education.

  • Yes! Neighborly provides each team member with a personalized fundraising page to send to friends, family, and local churches. See example page.

  • Poverty tourism centers the visitor’s experience; Culture Labs center long-term relationship and local leadership. Rather than briefly observing hardship, participants are invited into shared daily life with host families who shape the agenda, set the rhythms, and are fairly compensated for their time and hospitality. The goal is not exposure but mutual exchange—learning how faith, generosity, and community are embodied in a different cultural and economic context. This immersion is part of an ongoing partnership, not a one-time encounter, so the community is not a backdrop for our growth but a group of neighbors we remain accountable to long after the trip ends.

  • Hopefully, and that’s the point. The trip is designed to excavate our instincts toward heroism, control, and productivity so we can grow in the discipline of humility, presence, and mutuality.

  • While we can’t predict the future, we have a great relationship with the community and you’ll be around people Neighborly has been friends with for over a decade. However, for security reasons, we do not remain in the community overnight. This policy protects our us as well as our hosts; staying past dark can create a false perception that large sums of cash are within the homes, putting them at risk of theft or harassment. Additionally, we will be eating food prepared with families in homes cooked with water that has undergone the same purification treatment that Neighborly provides to locals through our water initiative.

  • Hosts voluntarily participate, are compensated for their expertise, and shape the “labs” they host. We’ve taken our cues from the locally established leadership council who helped design this experience.

  • Moderate. Expect walking long distances on uneven terrain, and participation in daily activities like market visits or carrying water. Flexibility is important.

  • Participant costs fund local staff leadership, host family compensation, transportation, lodging, and long-term community initiatives such as clean water access and education partnerships.

  • Participants must receive CDC recommended vaccinations before departure. See here for latest from the CDC.

  • Including flights, this trip costs $1,680 + Flight for a team of 8 and will decrease as more participants join.

  • Most locals speak Kikuyu, Swahili, and small amounts of English. However, we have staff and local Neighborly volunteers in Kenya just as we do in the United States who are eager to be translators and will be compensated for their skills.

  • This is crucial and maybe the most important question. If all goes as planned, you’ll experience some cultural dissonance in your return which we will help you process through post-trip gatherings.

  • Yes, where mutually desired. Participants are encouraged to maintain long-term friendships and advocacy roles connected to the community.

  • Because this is an immersive environment for observing, testing, and reimagining how culture, faith, and daily life intersect so that participants leave not just inspired, but internally reoriented.