October 27th - Goodbye to Etago

Monday, October 27, 2008


Today was going to be a longer day than originally planned because of the unexpected problems with our car’s exhaust. The muffler repair was finished yesterday so we were all set to go this morning on our final congregational visits. All except one thing...


In one of our many brainstorming sessions we had come up with the idea of purchasing cork board which could be cut into bulletin board sized pieces and hung up at each of the churches. Russ took this project up and spent several mornings visiting the local shops in Kisii trying to track down something that would work for that purpose. Well, this morning was our last day here and he wanted to make sure that we had it. Finally he found something that would work, but he had a very difficult time getting it purchased and getting someone to cut the 4x8 sheet into the appropriate sizes. They would tell him "15 minutes", and 30 minutes later they would say "just 15 more minutes"! Talk about having a problem with time!


Because of this delay we ended up not leaving town until about 9:30 instead of 8:00am. But the delay gave me the time I needed to type up the minutes from our Nairobi conference for Pastor Fred. After picking up the boards we were off once more for Etago. This time (with a new muffler on his car) Charles was much more careful, so the trip was a bit slower than in the past. It took us 2 hours to get there, and when we arrived we were greeted by the pastors and church members. We asked to disturb the school classes to say good bye to the teachers and all the students. This would be the last time we would see them on this trip.





After saying goodbye to Pastor Fred and the others who had come to see us off, we were off again to visit the members of Ometembe. This was the congregation we had planned to visit yesterday, but were unable because of our car.




It was about a 20 minute walk to the church from the road. When we arrived the people were already gathered and were singing hymns. We were ushered in and sat down at the front of the church were seats had been set up for us. They sang a few songs, had their choir sing, and gave us time to preach the word. Russ again did the armor of God, Bruce preached about "getting on the bus" as an illustration of how God brings us to faith in preparation for our final destination of heaven, and I preached on the parable of the wedding feast which God has prepared for us in Heaven and invites us to through His word.

Ometembe church service - Pastor Naumann is preaching, Pastor Enosh translating.

After the service, we were asked to go next door to pray for a man who was sick. When I asked what was wrong with him, they said that he was "mad" and he was tied up so that he wouldn’t run away. It was very sad. He was a younger man, who was married and had two children. We all went in and I prayed for him and for his family. We pray that our gracious Lord would be with this family and, if it is His will, heal this man so that he may again provide for his family.

From there we drove to a new congregation in Misesi which is led by Pastor Joseph. Pastor Joseph left the large and liberal Lutheran church (ELCK) and found out about our CLC church in Etago through our missions website. He has been going through a "colloquy" and is very excited about our work in the Kisii area. The church here is a small church but they already have started a preaching station in another area and are eager to learn and teach others. They are very well organized with leaders in the church having certain responsibilities and hope to build a church building for worship this year. Pastor Joseph is an older man with a lot of experience, and we pray he will be a great blessing to our young church body in Etago.

By this time it was late afternoon, and so we had to get back on the road so that we could be back in Kisii before dark. So again we wished this congregation the Lord’s blessings and said goodbye. We made it back to Kisii in good time, and enjoyed a final meal at our favorite restaurant "the Nile."

It was another very good day, with a lot done here with our Etago churches. Tomorrow we head back to Nairobi as we come to the end of the second leg of our four leg trip.

Until next time, Usiku mwema (good night)!

In Christ’s service,

Nathanael