To Arusha, Tanzania

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Friends in Christ,

I had my alarm set for 5:40am so I could ready and waiting for Charles when he arrived at 6:00am. I didn’t need it. Russ woke up at around 4:30am and couldn’t sleep so he read for a while. I awoke as well, but went back to sleep. About an hour later I woke up again and saw it was about time to get up. There was no sense trying to go back to sleep. I got up and went down to the lobby from our second story room to wait for Charles in the lobby. All the lights were still off, but people soon began to appear. A young woman materialized at the front desk, and a light flickered on back in the dining room. A young man began hosing leaves off the front side walk while an older man carried chairs and tables out front to get them set up for the days activities. Ah, the beginning of another day at the Southern Blue!

Charles arrived just a few minutes later and arranged to have me taken to the bus terminal to get our tickets to Arusha. I stopped to exchange some money, and then headed to the bus station. Two men greeted us as we pulled up, and were all too eager to help. I told them that I wanted three ticket to Arusha and asked about the price. They told me they were 18,000 shillings and I told them that was much more than last year and I wouldn’t pay that much. “I’ll find another bus to take me” I told them. Then one of them said he would give me a deal. “How much?” I asked. “1,200” he responded. After some quick calculations (1,200 Kenya Shillings would be equal to about $16.50) I told them I’d take them. (After reflecting on this on my way back to the hotel I came to the conclusion that I had misunderstood him the first time, and he probably said 1,800 shillings, and not 18,000 shillings! I had bargained down the price and bartered a better ticket price quite by accident!) It was a good deal, but the bus left at 8:00am and Russ and Larry didn’t know we were leaving that soon. We had to hurry to get packed up, eat breakfast and get back to the bus station for boarding at 7:30am.

Everything went smoothly, and we left right on time. It was a 7 hour ride to Arusha. We rode south across the wastelands of southern Kenya, crossed the border into Tanzania, and passed even more desolate land there. It was very dry, and reminded us of what things must have been like in Midwestern states during the dust bowls era in the 1930's. You would have to see it to believe it. As we neared Arusha, which sits at the foot of Mt. Meru, things began to change. It rained (we drove through the rushing water that was the result of a short, strong burst of rain which must of passed just before we got there) and the landscape turned from brown to green. It is amazing to see what a difference the mountain makes in the climate of an area!

We were the last to get off the 30 passenger bus, and they dropped us off right at the Eland Hotel. We checked in to a “triple” which was really double with three beds. (I walked into our room and told the man that this was a double not a triple and he responded “I get you another bed.” He then proceeded to take the chairs, table and TV out of our room and replace it with a third bed. It was tight quarters, but it worked!

We unpacked and prepared to go out to get some money exchanged and get something to eat. As we were walking out the front door of the hotel, Pastor Malyi arrived to meet us! We visited with him for about half an hour and Pastor Jeremiah arrived as well. We caught up on how things have been going in the Arusha and Moshi districts here in Tanzania, and went over the schedule for the week.


After settling up with the hotel and discussing the cost of the conference here on Tuesday, we sat down to finally get something to eat. It was about 7:30pm and we hadn’t had anything to eat for 12 hours - since we had breakfast in Nairobi. We were all hungry! Both Russ and Larry abandoned their African food staple of chips for something more hearty on this night (usually they both order a plate of potato wedges). Russ ordered pepper steak, Larry ordered the fish fillet, and I ordered Spaghetti bolognaise. Each meal was very good, and cost about $5.

After supper we retired to our room. The Eland is a bit more expensive than other places we have stayed because of the Arusha area, but Pastor Jeremiah and Malyi both insists that we stay here for safety reasons (they are concerned that we might get robbed if we stay somewhere else). It isn’t our favorite place to stay, but we usually don’t stay here very long. This year we will stay in the Eland a total of five nights. We are looking forward to going to Moshi area tomorrow where we will be staying in one of our favorite and least expensive lodging places in East Africa. More about that tomorrow...

In His service,

Nathanael Mayhew

Jesus said to His disciples: “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).

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).

Conference in Nairobi

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Friends in Christ,

While I am here in East Africa I have two main objectives. One is to visit the congregations here and encourage them with the Word of God. The second is to meet with the leaders of our churches and study the Word of God with them and help them grow in their knowledge of the great things God has done for them. There are other responsibilities as well, but these two are the most prevalent. So far we have been doing church visiting. But today we had the opportunity to do the study and instruction. This morning we scheduled a seminar for the leaders of the Nairobi district, which stretches from Mombasa on the coast to north of Nyahururu above the equator. These men come a very long distance to meet and study God’s Word.

My faithful sidekicks - Larry Hansen (standing) and Russ Schmitt (seated).

Twelve men from the Nairobi district came to meet with us in a conference room not far from our hotel. We began at about 10:30am and continued until about 2:00 in the afternoon. As much as we would have liked to have gone longer, many of these men had long distances to travel, and had busses they had to catch.

For our meeting, I explained the Church Year, and the value of following a pericope which can assist pastors to preach "the whole counsel of God." Russ had prepared a study on the Second Article on the Apostles’ Creed and went through that with our men as well. We gave each of the men who came an English Bible, and small booklet on the chief parts of the Catechism, and one of the 2010 CLC Mission Calendars put together by the Mission Board. They were quite excited about the calendars since many of these men and their congregations were pictured on the November page!

After the meeting we met individually with some of the men, and then had the rest of the afternoon to catch up on reports and make preparations for coming seminars and conferences. This short break was greatly needed. I had gone to the Cyber café (there is no coffee at this café!) in the morning and had only enough time to print off sheets for our conference and read a couple of e-mails. The computers here are generally very old, and the connections are very slow as well. So I went back in the afternoon, and it took me about an hour and a half to put a bit of information on the blog and read important e-mails. The Internet here is nothing to write home about!

Tomorrow we will be visiting a couple of congregations and make bus reservations for going to Arusha, Tanzania on the following day. Our work continues...

It is such a joy and privilege to have the opportunity to be a part of the Lord’s work in this way! May the Lord be with these men in their work of ministry and bless the proclamation of His Word through them!

In His service,

Nathanael Mayhew

"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3).

On the road again...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Friends in Christ,

Today started unexpectedly. We were supposed to be ready to go at 10:00 for our visits, but at 7:45am we received a call from Charles saying that he was at the hotel with some of the men from Nyeri and they wanted to visit! We were all still in bed after a long day and late night the previous day, so it caught us a bit off guard. But we got up and Larry and I walked up to the lobby to meet with them. We were updated on what was going on with our churches in the Nyeri area, and had a good visit with these men. We wrapped up at a bit before 10:00, ate a quick breakfast, packed our things, checked out, and were ready to load up and head to Nyahururu by 10:30.

It was a two hour drive from Nyeri to Nyahururu across increasingly dry landscape. When we arrived in Nyahururu we saw corn that had tasseled, but that was no more than two feet tall! Much of Kenya has been facing a harsh drought for going on four years now, and many of the people are suffering. It is a heart wrenching thing to see. Our congregation tried to help as well, but there is little that they can do. In spite of the severe drought, the Bougainvillea tree outside the Miano home boasted beautiful red flowers. If only the corn could thrive like that!

When we arrived we were greeted by Pastor Miano and his wife. They welcomed us into their wooden home and gave us boiled chicken, chapati, and vegetables. Although we were not very hungry we ate what we could, and it was very good.

Following the meal we gathered around the word with a few others who had been able to come, to encourage them with the Gospel during this difficult time of drought. We pray that the Lord would send rain for these people soon, according to His good and gracious will.

After about an hour and a half in Nyahururu we began the long journey back to Nairobi. We made it back to the Southern Blue at about 7:00pm.

After settling back in and eating supper, I set out to go through the over 250 pounds of books that we brought over from CLC members in the states. These books were donated by individuals, schools and churches throughout the CLC and will be put to use here in many ways. Some will be give to the new seminary that is starting in Arusha, Tanzania. Other books like Bibles and catechisms will be given out to pastors and evangelists throughout East Africa. And some children’s books will be given to the Etago orphan school. They will all be put to use in the work of ministry here in East Africa. We give thanks to the Lord for all that our fellow members have done to assist the work here, and ask that you keep the work here in your prayers. There is so much to do, and so little time to do it.

In His service,

Nathanael Mayhew

“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2).

The visitations begin

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Today was the start of our real work here in East Africa. Larry arrived on flight 117 at 7:00am this morning, and made it through customs without trouble and with all his luggage. Charles picked him up from the airport and brought him to the Southern Blue Hotel. We sat down together and enjoyed a very large breakfast of tea, coffee, and fruit juice, fresh watermelon, pineapple and papaya, cereal and hot milk (we don’t drink the milk cold here because of bacteria), toast, sausage, and eggs made to order. I’m not much of a breakfast person when I’m home, but I have to eat breakfast when in Africa, because we usually don’t eat a lunch. My son Luke will be glad to hear that I am eating breakfast!

Today we are heading north to visit several congregations north of Nairobi in the Nyeri and Nyahururu areas. We will be staying overnight in Nyeri, so we packed up what we needed and stored the rest in a storage room of the Southern Blue. At 10:00am we were on the road again. As we journeyed north out of Nairobi the landscape changed from a dirty mass of humanity to a beautiful and lush countryside. We were headed towards Mt. Kenya in central Kenya, a fertile and rich land used for growing tea, coffee and bananas on steep hills.



The first group that we visited was in Mahiga. This is one of the house churches that have been established in central Kenya, north of Nairobi, and in the area surrounding Nyeri. This was a very beautiful area rich in crops, and the birthplace of the current president of Kenya. The homes in this area had electricity brought in by wire, and were furnished with lights and other small electrical devices.

This congregation is fairly new and is served by a young man who is studying with Charles. He and the congregation are eager to hear and proclaim the truth of God’s Word. During our visit we had the opportunity to share the word of God with them and to encourage them in their walk with Christ. In many ways this small congregation reminded me of many of our “preaching stations” or house churches in the U.S. They meet regularly and are served by a willing and able man who going through training with our other men in the Nairobi district.

From Mahiga we traveled out of the rich lands near Mt. Kenya to the more barren and dry lands near the Aberdare Mountains.

Here we visited an older house church in Gatarakwa, which we had visited last year. There were fewer people here on this day because many were working, but the congregation has been continuing to meet, and grow in their knowledge of Jesus the Christ. This congregation was started by a large family in this area, because of their desire to grow in the truth about Christ. There are many other churches in the area; Catholic, Presbyterian, Full Gospel, Seventh Day Adventist, and African Free (i.e. Pentecostal Anglican church), as well as Jehovah’s Witnesses. But they realize that these churches are not teaching the truth and are eager to preserve among themselves and proclaim to others God’s saving truth. Thanks be to the Lord for giving these people such a dedication to hold on to and continue to learn His message of salvation in Jesus! Because of the rural areas of these stations, many of the people are in need of Bibles in their own languages. The pastor comes and teaches and has his own Bible or a Bible for use in the church, but most of the people do not have their own Bibles. This is an one area where we would like to help, but there are so many...

After visiting this station we returned to Nyeri where we checked in to a hotel for the night. By the time we arrived at the Hotel it was after 7:00, so we had been on the road for most of the day. Larry, Russ and I shared a room, which although it was nice, did not have hot water! It was very nicely furnished, but I personally would have rather slept on a mat on the floor where we had hot water, rather than the other way around!

Tomorrow we will meet with the leaders of the churches in the Nyeri area, then will travel north – across the equator – to our church in Nyahururu, and then the return trip to Nairobi.

In His service,

Nathanael

“Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13).

Safely arrived in Nairobi

Monday, October 26, 2009

Friends in Christ,

After an arduous 24 hour trip, we Russ and I safely arrived in Nairobi at 9:00 pm (Kenya time) last night. Disappointedly, Larry did not make it... yet. We had trouble checking in at the airport due to the cancellation of another flight that was headed to Amsterdam via Chicago. These passengers were shifted to our flight, which resulted in having too many people on the flight. I checked in first and made it on the flight, but Russ and Larry were on “stand by” for this flight. By the time we made it to our gate they had one more spot available so Russ was able to get on as well, but not so for Larry. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 4:15 and the next flight out didn’t leave until 8:30. The real problem was that this later flight wouldn’t arrive in Amsterdam until after our flight left Amsterdam, so he wouldn’t be able to catch up with us until Nairobi. So much for all together!

Minneapolis was severely overcast when we took off, and we really didn’t see any landscape below until we had crossed the border into Canada. Soon after that it started to get dark, so there was no chance to see any of Greenland or Iceland. As we passed over England I did get to see the lights of Manchester and a few other cities far below – this was far more interesting than the open ocean. I was sitting beside a woman who lived in Cologne, Germany, and was returning home from a week of working in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. We discussed the differences between Germany and the U.S. as well as other things – it was interesting discussion. We finally landed in Amsterdam at around 6:00am and had a four hour layover waiting for our Nairobi flight.

The flight to Nairobi was much better than the flight to Amsterdam. I was extremely tired and was able to get some sleep after reaching our cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. It was pretty clear and I slept as we crossed most of Europe. I awoke to see the beautiful sight of the Alps in northern Italy and enjoyed seeing several Italian cities along the western coast bordering the Mediterranean sea. We even were able to see some of the mountains of Sicily poke through the clouds in the distance off the toe of Italy! The beautiful blues of the Mediterranean soon faded into the dusty beaches of Lybia. I have never seen land so barren and desolate as that which is found in North Africa. Hours went by with nothing to be seen below except for sand and a few clouds! It makes a person realize just how inhospitable the desert really is.

When we finally arrived in Nairobi at about 9:00 pm it was dark. As soon as we debarked from the plane we could feel the drastic temperature difference from Minnesota and Amsterdam to Nairobi. It was quite warm, though not hot. We had our declaration form and swine flu sheet (anyone entering Kenya from a country with a substantiated case of swine flu had to fill out a page assuring that they were not sick) already filled out, so we passed quickly through the passport check, exchanged money, picked up our checked baggage, and made it through customs in record time (about a tenth of what it took us last year)! In fact we had to wait for Charles this time! With him came several other men from the Nairobi area churches.

We decided to stay at the Southern Blue Hotel again this time, since we had such a good stay last year and because of the convenient location. We settled into our rooms and went to sleep, in eager anticipation of the start of our work tomorrow morning.

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever!” (Psalm 106:1)

East Africa trip 2009

Preparations are being made for the fall visitation to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Russ Schmitt and Mission Board member Larry Hansen will also be travelling with me again this year. Here is our tentative schedule, Lord willing:

Russ, Larry, and I will be flying out of Minneapolis/St. Paul late in the afternoon on Sunday October 25th. We will have a short layover in Amsterdam where we will switch planes and will arrive in Nairobi around 9:00 pm on Monday October 26th.
We plan to visit the Nairobi branch churches October 27th through the 30th and conduct a one-day seminar for our pastors and leaders one of those days.

On October 31st we will travel south to Arusha, Tanzania to meet up with Pastor Jeremiah. We will be there November 1st through the 6th. Here we will also be conducting a one-day seminar as well as visiting Pastor Panpani's districts where the majority of our work is being done among the Masai tribes. We also hope to be able to meet with the leaders of the LCEA to discuss recent issues that have arisen there in the past year. We pray that the LORD would bless these meetings and visitations to the glory of His name!

On Saturday November 7th we will travel to back to Nairobi. On Sunday morning we hope to visit a church in Nairobi and then travel to Kisii in the afternoon. We will be visit the orphan AIDS school in Etago on November 9th and finish preparations for the Joint East African Pastoral Conference which will begin on November 10th and continue the 11th. This will be held in Kisii, Kenya, not far from the shores of Lake Victoria.

After the conference we will be continuing on with Pastor Jeremiah to Uganda to visit the brethren there. We will travel to Uganda on Nov. 12th, visit the brethren on the 13th, and on our return to Kisii visit a new contact in Mois Bridge, Kenya who has requested that we start a Lutheran Church in their village. May the LORD bless our work in this new area of Kenya!

We will be back in Kisii/Etago November 15th through 18th during which time we will be visiting congregations and conducting a one-day seminar for the leaders of the churches in the Etago area.

On November 18th we will return to Nairobi. On the night of the 19th Russ, Larry and I will be flying out of Nairobi. We will again have a several hour stop in Amsterdam, and, Lord willing will be back on the ground in Minneapolis around 1:00 on Friday November 20th.

Please keep us in your prayers during these coming weeks, and ask the LORD to give us wisdom to instruct our fellow believers in the all-important truths of His precious Word; that he would strengthen the faith of our pastors, leaders and all our people there; that He would give us strength and stamina during these very busy and long days; and that He would use this visitation, through the preaching and hearing of His Word, to increase His kingdom! May the LORD, our Trinue God, be with us and bless our faithful proclamation of His Word of Truth.

In the service of Christ,

Pastor Nathanael Mayhew