Back in the States again

Monday, October 10th, 2011

I just wanted to let everyone know that Russ and I safely made it back to the states this morning after a very long flight from Addis Ababa.  

Sunset over Nairobi from "The Blue Nile" was beautiful - is it just because I'm heading home?

After leaving Ethiopia we had a five and a half hour flight to Rome, Italy where the pilots were exchanged for some fresh ones.  It was 3:30am there local time when we arrived.  We stayed in our seats for the hour in Rome, and then we were off again.  

The lit up city of the port city of Taranto, Italy (I believe) at 3:00am local time.

This time it was a nine and a half hour flight to Washington DC.  Over 15 hours in the same seat is too long!  I was glad to be back in the states, but I think I was even more glad to get off that plane!  That was too much time with "The Blue Nile" - Ethiopian Airlines newest aircraft.  From here Russ returns to Minneapolis and then back to Mankato.  I head on to St. Louis for our Southeastern Pastoral Conference which begins tomorrow morning and goes until Thursday noon.  Then I will get to (finally) return home.

Thanks again for all your prayers.  Please continue to remember our work in East Africa in your prayers, as well as our work throughout the world.  May the name of our Savior be spread and His kingdom come!

In His service,

Nathanael

Coming Home

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.  Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1-2).

Right now, Russ and I are sitting in the airport at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  We left Nairobi almost 4 hours ago and will soon be boarding our plane for Washington DC (via Rome).  It has been another long day and we are looking forward to getting back home again.

We left Matunda at 8:45am this morning, boarding another shuttle for the 5 hours trip to Nairobi.  Mike walked us to the bus stop and waited with us for the hour it took for the shuttle to arrive.  It doesn’t feel like Sunday, having missed church, but we did have a service yesterday....

We arrived safely in Nairobi and Jemima graciously had us picked up from the bus stop, even though she was just coming into town herself.  She had a meal prepared for us, and our room ready in case we wanted to rest up before our flight.  What a wonderful lady!  As it turns out, we had to eat quickly and get back to the airport for our flight out of Nairobi.  Thankfully, the airport is a very short drive from Jemima’s!

The men of the Chotororo seminary - one of the reasons we are here in East Africa!

It has been a long trip, but we are nearing the end.  Thank you for your prayers during our trip.  No doubt our graciously Lord heard them all and answered them by giving us safe travels!  May the Lord of the Harvest continue to bless the work here in East Africa through the seed that is being sown.  Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

In Christ,

Nathanael

A visit to Mike's Home away from Home

Friday and Saturday, October 7-8, 2011

Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting (Psalm 147:1 ).

We left the Jazz Hotel at about 7:00am to make our way to the bus stage for our trip north out of Kisii to Eldoret.  We had a nice shuttle, which meant that we weren’t packed in like sardines.  We each had our own (paid) seat, and there were no stops between Kisii and Eldoret to pick up passengers.  It was about a five hour journey, and we arrived in Eldoret a little after 12:30pm.  We had a few errands to do so we visited the bank, the Bible Book store, the Grocery store and a few other odds n ends.  Finally we were ready to leave Eldoret for Mike’s home in Matunda.  We had another 45 minute ride, but the roads were much improved from what they were last year.  When we arrived, Mary was at Mike’s already and she was busy making supper!  We visited with Eric for a little bit and soon Anna arrived.  She had been at Emmaus church supervising the construction of the second classroom there.  We made a quick journey to the church to see the progress and I had the opportunity to get up on the roof and help the fundi (carpenter) install the iron sheets on the roof!  He looked at me skeptically at first when I asked about coming up, but by after driving a few nails, he saw that I had experience and invited me to keep helping!  It was a nice change of pace!

We returned to Mike’s for the supper Mary had prepared for us (which we enjoyed immensely) and after visiting with the Sagala family for a while, turned in for the night.  We settled into Mike’s house, which is the upper story of a duplex.  He has a kitchen and living room as well as three bedrooms and a bathroom.  It is in a much better location than his previous house, and although he is a little further from church, he is closer to town.  To top off the night, Mike made us grilled cheese sandwiches, which were REALLY good.

 Russ gets a picture of me at work in Mike's living room the night before we leave.

On Saturday we went to the church to meet with the school children, their parents and members since Russ and I were not going to be able to be there for Sunday services.  We began at about 10:00am and finished up at about 2:00pm!  After that we went to a little restaurant for a small lunch with Anna and Mary, and then went to Mary’s house for the rest of the afternoon.  We wrapped up at around 6:00pm, said goodbye to Mary and Anna and walked across town to Mike’s.  It was a somber evening....  While Russ and I are glad to be going home, it is difficult to leave our compatriot behind.  But he only has two more months left and he will be following.

Mary, Mike, Anna and I after our lunch on Saturday afternoon (Mike and I were a little burned!)

Please keep Mike in your prayers during the coming two months.  You can follow his work here:  http://emmausmilimanimission.tumblr.com
 
In Christ,

Nathanael

Final Days in Chotororo

Tuesday - Thursday, October 4-6, 2011

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Colossians 1:28-29).

It was more of the same the past three days.  Five hours on the road and six to six and a half hours of teaching....

On Tuesday Mike and I went out to the seminary to teach, while Russ stayed in Kisii again to get more things done for Wednesday.   We worked through the 14 pamphlets this week.  In the morning I presented the topic of Law and Gospel, and in the afternoon Mike presented “What is Lutheranism?”

Mike teaches at the Chotororo seminary while students look on and take notes.

Wednesday brought something different day.  Instead of taking our typical travel, we hired a taxi to carry out all the books for the seminary and the gifts for the children at the Etago KINSHIP school.  So he took us to Chotororo where we unloaded five boxes of books for the seminary.  We brought two paper boxes of books that were donated by CLC members, two boxes of Swahili catechisms and one box of Kisii Hymnals.  After the morning session, Russ went on to Etago with Pastor Enosh to the KINSHIP school to distribute the gifts he had purchased from the KINSHIP committee.  Toothbrushes and toothpaste, balls, and a few other toys went out to the kids.  In the morning I covered the Charismatic movement and in the afternoon Russ presented a study of the Lord’s Prayer.

On Thursday we had a bit shorter of a day.  In the morning I did studies on Marriage and the Role of Women in the Church.  We broke at lunch and in the afternoon had meetings with the teachers and students about the schedule for the coming year.  We finished up at about 3:30 and said our goodbyes to all those who were there.  I won’t see them again for another year. Yet what a joy it is to come and to teach God’s precious Word of Truth to these men who are eager to study for the ministry!  While this is a struggle, it is worth the effort when we know and understand that the Holy Spirit is at work through His Word.  

When we arrived back in Kisii we had packing to do for the coming morning.  Tomorrow we leave for Mike’s home in Matunda.  We have to be ready to go by 7:00am once again.  We are all starting to wear down a little from the hectic schedule.  We are tried and don’t have the energy we should have.  It has been a very long five weeks, but we are nearing the end.  May the Lord continue to be with us and bless the spread of His Word of Truth in this land!

In Christ,

Nathanael

A hair-raising trip to Chotororo

Monday, October 3, 2011

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

It has been a very busy week.  Originally we were only going to be spending two days at the seminary in Arusha and another two days at the seminary here is Chotororo.  In the course of our visit this year I decided to rework my schedule to enable us to spend more time at each seminary.  We spent a full five days in Arusha and spent four days here in Chotororo.  This was a very beneficial change to make and one I will plan to incorporate in future visits as well.

Even though our stay in Kisii was shorter than our stay in Arusha, it was much busier, for a number of reasons.  Kisii is a main city in the Southwestern Region of Kenya.  This city has become our base of operations for when we come to work in this district which sponsors a seminary at Chotororo and an orphan school at Etago.  While I focused on the seminary, Russ eagerly took up the responsibility of the orphan school.  Mike assisted in both arenas.

On Monday, Daniel Mugeni (from Uganda) and I made the long trek from Kisii to Chotororo.  We left Mike and Russ in Kisii to purchase gifts for the children at St. David’s KINSHIP Academy in Etago and do some printing work for seminary.  Daniel and I boarded a Matatoo at a little after 7:00am for our trip to Awendo which took about an hour and forty-five minutes.  Poor Daniel was not used to this kind of “Kenyan driving” and was almost sick from the crammed in people, wretched roads and chaotic driving!  He says it is much better in Uganda.  We finally exited in Awendo with Daniel almost white as a sheet.  While he sat down to recuperate, I procured two motorbike drivers to take us up the mud roads to the hill village of Chotororo where the seminary is located.  That was almost as hair-raising as the matatoo ride.  We had two good drivers though and made it up the hill without incident.  We arrived at 9:30am after spending 2.5 hours on the road, and began our day at the seminary.  I gave our test in the morning, corrected them over lunch, and went over the test in the afternoon.  We had about 17 men there in total: teachers, students and a few additional leaders from our churches.  We wrapped up the day at about 4:00pm and I had to repeat my trek back down the hill to Awendo, and then on to Kisii by matatoo.  It was after 6:30pm by the time I returned to our hotel in Kisii to meet up with Mike and Russ, and I was beat!  It puts a new perspective on “commuting to work” - that’s for sure!  Five hours on the road and six and a half teaching!

The beautiful view down on Chotororo from the seminary at the top of a hill.

So the next time you think about how much you despise your commute consider having to make it in a bus crammed over the limit with people, live animals and other goods, on horrible roads in a vehicle with no shocks or struts left for your first leg, and then a motorbike up muddy roads unable to be traveled by other means for the second leg....  Then thank God for the many blessings we have in the United States!  I’m thankful I only have to do this for 3 more days!

In Christ,

Nathanael

From one seminary to another

Saturday - Sunday, October 1-2, 2011

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).

On Saturday we got up early to catch a bus for Nairobi.  Pastor Jeremiah’s Son, Elisha, came to pick us up and drop us off at the bus station.  We have spent some time with Elisha over the last couple of trips here, and he is a wonderful young man.  We always enjoy our time with him when we get together, and he is always glad to get together when he can.

A view of the barren terrain between Arusha and Nairobi from our bus.

Our bus left just a little after 8:00am and we had a five hour trip to Nairobi.  We made it to the Kenyan border at Namanga in record time, due to the completed roads in Tanzania.  We only had one diversion, and that was a short stretch where they were working on a bridge.  It was sure a nice change from all the previous years we have traveled on this road!  We got off the bus at the airport and then waited for Andrew to pick us up from there.  He took us to Jemima’s where we were treated to lunch and then supper and welcomed for the night.  What gracious hosts!  In the evening Mike and I made a two hour trip across Nairobi to visit the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, but when we arrived we found that it was closed.  I hopped the locked gate and finally found someone who could give us information about the schedule.  After that we had another two plus hour trip across town again, doubling our traveling for the day!

An Islamic mosque is not far from where we stay in Nairobi.  Another reminder of why we are here....

On Sunday we hit the road once again for Kisii.   It was another long trip on a big bus.  It was after dark by the time that we arrived - almost 7:30pm.  We met up with Daniel from Uganda who came to sit in on our seminary classes at Chotororo this coming week.

This year I have come to realize that I need to change the way I have been approaching the work here in East Africa.  Instead of visiting congregations and running all over East Africa, I will be focusing on teaching in the institutions we have set up and are sponsoring.  I have spent one week in Arusha and will be spending the coming week in Chotororo at the Kenya seminary.  I believe that this is a far more profitable use of my time then traipsing all over these countries visiting congregations, but not really accomplishing much.  I have revamped my schedule this year to incorporate this, and will be implementing this in future years as well.  I pray that this will serve to better equip our men here for the work of ministry as we continue to grow in Christian wisdom, knowledge and zeal for our Savior’s kingdom work!  

In Christ,

Nathanael

Teaching at Arusha seminary

Monday - Friday, September 26-30, 2011

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).

I’ve been a bit behind on my posting since the last two weeks have been so busy teaching at our seminaries in Arusha, Tanzania and Chotororo, Kenya.  Let me revisit for you the week that we spent in Arusha....

We spent five days teaching at the seminary in Arusha.  Each day we began at around 9:00am when we were picked up by Pastor Jeremiah.  It was about a one hour trip through Arusha to Pastor Jeremiah’s church where the seminary classes are held.  Classes began at around 10:00am and continued until about 2:00pm when we stopped for lunch.  We continued teaching until about 4:30 or 5:00pm.  Then we had another one hour trip back to the hotel.

Pastor Gondwe receives a laptop that was donated by one of my members back home.  Pastor Gondwe is our district leader in the Tanga region and a teacher at our seminary - it will be put to good use!

Arusha is a beautiful area - it is covered with bananas, coffee, corn, tomatoes and other plants.  Jeremiah’s church is set into this beautiful surrounding.  We met with the seminary students, as well as some of the pastors from the Arusha district during this week.  We began the week with a review on the two lessons that Mike and I gave at the Pastoral Conference in Moshi.  I covered Fellowship and Mike presented the pamphlet: “What is a Lutheran?”.

On Tuesday, we gave a test on the catechism just like we have given in other places.  After giving the test, we went through the answers and reviewed the Biblical references that provide the support for those answers.  It was once again well received and we had a good review of these Bible Doctrines.

The rest of the week was spent going through the Catechism.  On Wednesday we went through the 1st Article and part of the 2nd Article of the Apostles’ Creed and Baptism.  On Thursday Mike presented more on the study of the 2nd Article and I covered the Sacrament of the Altar.  Friday was concluded with the remainder of the 2nd Article and the Lord’s Prayer.  So we made it through almost the entire catechism in the week we had here.  This has been a good review and we have been able to incorporate some better teaching methods in the classroom.

Mike teaches at the seminary, and Pastor Nathan Lengutai serves as his very gregarious translator.

We have been staying at the Caanan Hotel in Arusha.  I found this hotel on the Internet last year and it has been a pretty good place for us.  It is owned by a Maasai man who we have seen from time to time.  The only downside is that it is a long walk to anything that you might want.  We ate in the Hotel Restaurant most of this week, even though the selection was very sparse, and the food was more expensive then we could have found it somewhere else.  They had a nice menu, but whenever we asked for something, our waitress would tell us that it was not available.  About the only thing that we would have was chicken - either with fries or with rice!  I did get Spaghetti one night and that was sure nice for a change.

Tomorrow we are on the road to Nairobi where we will be for less than 24 hours before we board another bus to Kisii. We pray to the Lord for more safe travel over the next couple of days.

May the Lord bless His Word here in Tanzania!

In the service of Christ,

Nathanael