A unique opportunity

Friday, October 30, 2009

Friends in Christ,

Today was unique. Usually we have days where we are scheduled to visit congregations and teach – as we have been doing so far. We were supposed to visit one or two congregations in the Nairobi area, but today we had a change in schedule. Last night Charles called me with a surprise request. Since we have been here we have had another man driving for us. Our driver usually sits in the car when we are on a congregational visit. But while we were in Gatarakwa, he must have listened in because he commented to me after our meeting, "You had a good sermon" – that was all. But last night Charles called and told me that the man who was driving for us was listening to what we were teaching over the past few days and was interested in learning more about the Church of the Lutheran Confession. He had asked if we would come to his house to explain Lutheran teaching to him and a few of his neighbors, and we readily agreed.

The three leaders of our Nairobi district: Charles M, Charles G, (our driver - also Charles!) and Simon.

He picked us up at the hotel at 10:00am and he took us to his house in Tena, which is a large suburb of Nairobi. Tena is replete with one apartment building after another. A large part of the population of Nairobi must call this area home. After winding through a maze of these buildings we pulled into a small walled courtyard which surrounded another apartment compound. We exited the car and were led through some narrow outdoor corridors into the innards of the complex. We then climbed four flights of concrete stairs (this area would even put Texas to shame with its liberal use of concrete!) and were invited into our drivers home and introduced to his family. One by one, others began to arrive and introduce themselves to us. In the end we had an eclectic group of religious background represented: Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, and others. From our visit it was clear that few of these people really knew anything about the Bible, in spite of the fact that they were or had been a part of another church.

We gave them a few Spokesman issues and catechisms and pointed them to the CLC Missions website for more information, and asked them to contact us if they had any more questions. May the LORD bless their study of His Word!

After the meeting, our driver asked if he could learn more and we discussed the possibility of going through the catechism online after my return. I brought a few of the new Sydow catechism workbooks with hyperlinked cd’s and may use one of these to go through the catechism with him during the coming year. What an exciting opportunity we have here with this man, simply because he had the opportunity to hear the Word of God while he was driving us!

In the afternoon we visited a small orphanage that Charles had been working with. They cared for 34 abandoned boys from age 4 to 17. The manager, Lucy, was very well organized and ran a very tight ship. They had crops planted to provide food, and cared for a cow, chickens and rabbits (which were raised for food). All the boys and the manager lived on the property, and the younger boys were schooled there. They washed their own clothes and helped with the care of the animals and crops. It was a very interesting visit.

Rabbit, anyone?

When we were finished, we needed to return to Nairobi, and we wanted to stop and buy our bus tickets to Arusha for the following day. At first everything went smoothly. It was rush hour, but everyone was coming out of Nairobi and we were going in. But as we got closer to the city center, traffic picked up and we became stuck in a mess of traffic. Atlanta, you haven’t seen anything like this! Bus after bus packed full of people, all jockeying for position and cutting one another off, eager to prove that they could get their fare to the destination before the next! From the back seat I was watching the gas gauge which was now below the line marked E. We passed one gas station after another without a stop. In an effort to conserve gas our driver began to turn the car off when we were stopped in traffic. An hour passed, and it became dark and then it happened. As the traffic began to move, our driver turned the ignition to start the car, but to no avail! No, we had not run out of gas – the battery had died! Now we were in the middle of a traffic jam, car horns honking all around us, and we have a dead battery. To make matters worse, we had switched cars and now had an automatic, which meant that we couldn’t push start it.... So, we jumped out of the car and slowly pushed it out of traffic and off the road. It must have been quite a sight – three muzungu’s (Swahili for white man) pushing their car and driver off the road in downtown Nairobi! Always an adventure.

Charles came to the rescue and helped us get back to our hotel, although it was after 8:00 pm and we had to abandon any thought of getting our bus tickets tonight. Charles agreed to pick me up at 6:00am to go and get our tickets to Arusha. In spite of all the excitement at the end of the day, it was a good and very beneficial day.

In His service,

Nathanael Mayhew

"This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).