Kwaheri Kenya

1st September 2013

The last two weeks have passed so very quickly and thanks to the gracious support of our hosts, Silas and Rahab, we have learned so much about Kenya, about its people, and about ourselves.

So it is only fitting that we have spent our last day in Kenya with our amazingly hospitable hosts; back again at their lively church, and then at home with them for a family meal around their big dining table.

It is an example of their open hearted character that “family” included us, a brother, a nephew, a missionary friend, his children, and our driver!

Born free

29th – 31st August 2013

After an intense few days helping out in the various ministries of Silas and Rahab, it was good to have time to chat things over together while we had a bit of a safari experience in the famous Masai Mara game park.

The journey to the park was another lesson in how varied the Kenya landscape and climate is. We left the lush green fields of Thomson’s Falls very early as the heavy dew lay on the ground and the morning mist still filled the valleys of the rolling country. Within an hour we had plunged down into hot scrubland. Then we were quickly into beautiful parkland where savannah had been transformed into rolling wheat fields picturesquely dotted with acacia trees in a scene I knew my farmer friends back in Suffolk would adore.

Baboons for breakfast

27th August 2013

Ruth and I breakfasted in early morning sun with the sound of Thomson’s Falls in the background, baboons searched for food in the lawn outside, and a walk back to our rooms through blooming flowers. It was idyllic.

However, even though most of the guests were holidaying Kenyans, it was difficult not to feel awkward at the comfort we were living in, and difficult not to feel isolated from the real world that lay outside the gates. And certainly, as we passed through the guarded gate on our way to Nyahururu the manicured lawn was replaced by dusty packed earth, the smooth drive for potholed road, and the colonial lodge for wooden shacks.

Today Silas and I were scheduled to train pastors gathered in a Nyahururu church from the 33 churches overseen by Simon in this part of Kenya and from other churches in the region. But just getting to the church was an adventure as our van inched through the crowded marketplace of rough built stalls to a three story building that stood proud in the centre. The church was literally an “upper room” with a pub below and shops on the ground floor.

A sweet Nairobi Sunday

25th August 2013

Our first Sunday in Kenya started much as our Sundays in England, with church. We had the privilege of attending Kilelesha Covenant Community Church (K3C) which is the suburban home church of our hosts Silas and Rahab. Both the well designed building, the smartly dressed, multi-generation congregation, and the well designed multi-media presentations, would not have been out of place in any major city in the UK and the US.

It was a special youth service and the excellent multi-lingual music ministry of the young praise band, the energy of the guest rap artist, and the culture of clapping God in praise, might have raised a few eyebrows in quiet rural Suffolk. However the clear bible teaching, the obvious love of the church for it’s youth and children, and the church’s dynamic focus on reaching out to make disciples, all made Ruth and I feel very at home. Even the report back from the teenagers about their summer camp showed the same breathless enthusiasm and energy of our own young people.