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
No comments:
Post a Comment