Joanne in Kenya

Ups and Downs

2010-10-19T10:42:00.002+02:00

I want to ask prayer especially at this point for our Form 4 students at the Academy, who will be starting their exams on Thursday 21st Oct. These exams are the culmination of four years of study (their whole time at high school), and they will have a major impact on the rest of their lives. If kids don't pass these exams, or don't get the grade they need in order to move on to university/college etc, they very often end up at a loose end and then get into trouble. Education is very highly valued in Kenyan society (I think too much valued in some cases), and there is a lot of pressure on these kids. Some of them will only have reached this far by their parents/older siblings sacrificing greatly to pay fees, etc, and now they will be expected to move on to university and get a good job in the future so that they can help pay for their younger brothers/sisters' education or support their parents in old age.
So please pray that the kids will be given strength, good health, the mental capacity, and confidence in God during the next few weeks. Pray also that honesty will prevail and there will be no cheating, bribery, or manipulation of results -- both at our school (students and teachers) and also with the external examiners who set and mark the exams -- and also right across the nation. BCFC Academy was the "most improved" school in the district from the mock exam results, and it is not unthinkable (in fact, quite probable) that there are some out there who would not like to see a Christian school rising in the ranks.
We have had disappointments and encouragements alike in recent days -- both in the school and in the work as a whole. I'm not going to go into details, but I do believe that the Lord is moving in hearts -- but at the same time I think that powers of darkness are also at work. Pray for victory in this incessant battle. Pray that God will save souls and regenerate hearts -- nothing else will do. Pray that those who are saved would be given a heart for God and for holiness. Pray for the preaching ministry of the BCFC church -- that the men in the pulpits will be stirred up to preach the WHOLE counsel of God!
I do thank you all for your prayers on a personal level. I know I haven't written here for a couple of months, but I know that you all continue to pray. Keep praying about Liberia as well -- I'm hoping to soon hear that things are moving ahead.

Back in Kenya

2010-08-22T20:45:00.002+02:00

Some of you might be surprised to see me on here again, but plans have really changed in the last few weeks! I was due to go home on Aug.12th as I said in my last post, but just at the end of July I was asked to stay on in Kenya for another couple of months. The situation in Liberia hasn't really opened up yet, and then Miss Noreen McAfee's return from furlough has been delayed for a couple of months for medical reasons. So I went home for a couple of weeks' holiday and I'm now back in Nairobi on my way back to Kapenguria for another wee while! I'm not sure how long exactly it will be, but God is certainly over-ruling in all of these affairs. It's good to know that we have a God over us and in charge of us Who is in perfect and sovereign control, and that He works out all things for His glory and our good.

Winding down

2010-07-16T12:12:00.002+02:00

My time here is nearly up -- and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that! I'm very excited about getting home to see everyone -- family and friends etc. I am planning to visit McDonald's quite soon after my arrival -- can you imagine, I haven't had any fast food for nearly a year! Very healthy of course but I'm rather looking forward to a burger and French Fries and a caramel sundae! I watched some of the World Cup games for the first time in my life, and the ad for McDonald's kept popping up on the boundaries of the pitch (i don't know what you call that). It will be good to be able to understand every word of every meeting I'm in -- especially the prayermeetings. I've really missed the prayermeetings in Ballymena!
But I'm going to miss the people here so much! Especially the kids and young people I've been working with and teaching. Just pray that God will keep His hand of protection upon them all -- there are so many dangers around (physical, emotional, mental, moral, spiritual, etc). There are still several young people whom I'm concerned for spiritually. Of course, there are many who are not saved, and all of those who are saved have needs and problems, but there a few who have been upon my heart especially and we're still waiting upon God to answer and move. The good news is that I don't have to be in the country for Him to work in these lives! So I'll be eagerly awaiting word that He has answered prayer, even from NI or Liberia or wherever I'll be.
The end of term exams are starting next week -- then the kids will be going home for their August holiday in a few weeks' time.
Please keep the political situation in prayer. Kenya has had a new constitution proposed, including several amendments that believers here are concerned about. One relates to abortion -- it leaves a loophole that could be taken advantage of by those who wish to perform abortions. Of course, "back-street" abortions are performed here all the time, but this would be a legal loophole. Another change from the old constitution concern the clause about freedom of religion. The former constitution gives freedom to "manifest and propagate" your religion. But the amended clause only says "manifest"; so the right to propagate is no longer protected. Another issue is that the new constitution allows for the Islamic population to hold "kadhi courts", which some fear is only the first step for Islamic law to gain a foothold here. Kenya is still nominally a "Christian" nation, but Islam is certainly on the rise!
So pray that when this constitution is voted on on August 4th, it will be overturned. Pray also that peace will prevail -- some fear that the post-election violence from a couple years ago will be repeated.
Well, I don't know if I'll manage to get another post on here before I leave, so if not, remember me on August 12th as I fly, and maybe I'll be seeing some of you in Ulster before too long.
God bless.

Checking in Again

2010-05-28T22:38:00.002+02:00

Thought it was about time for another update! It's been awhile! The trip to Liberia went well -- it was REALLY, REALLY busy but profitable I hope and believe. God intervened with the ash cloud and everyone got there on time. My flight was a little bit delayed in Ethiopia on the way home but it was a technical problem rather than weather! It gave me a chance to buy a lovely pair of Ethiopian leather flipflops -- I decided to step out of character and go airport shopping once I finished the book I had with me and got bored!
Most of our days were once again spent in the seminars. Dr. Allison taught this time from a Bible Doctrine course, and I taught the kids in the afternoons, once they got out of school. I also spoke to the women one morning about children's work/Sunday school etc. It was the first time I'd done that, and I hope it made some sense! We also spent a bit of time looking for property or an apartment to rent for me when I go. There hasn't been a final decision made on either of those yet, so pray that things will continue to move ahead and God will open doors.
The wildlife in Liberia (and in the guesthouse) is as friendly as ever! We had the usual visits from lizards, crabs, cockroaches, spiders, etc. I really don't like cockroaches, but the rest of the creatures I can put up with, even in my room. But then the mice saga started again . . . I didn't mind them scurrying around on the floor in my room when I was reading in bed at night with the light on -- at least I could watch them and make sure they left the room again. But then one rather bold fellow got into my suitcase one day when I was out and chewed up a lot of cereal bars and left his calling cards all over (my fault, I suppose, because I had forgotten to zip up the case). And the final straw came one night when I had just switched out the light and was falling asleep -- all of a sudden I felt a mouse crawling on my stomach! (thankfully there was a sheet in between!) I DIDN'T scream . . . . but I did let out a sound somewhere between a yell and a moan and knocked it off and then pulled the sheet over my head. After I stopped shaking (about 1/2 hour later) I searched every corner of the room --no mouse -- and then barricaded under the doors and every crack I could find. I had no more trouble with mice in my room after that - maybe the poor mouse was as scared as I was. But I still get a bit shivery when I think of it. I guess I'm just a weak female after all.
The work in Kenya is going well. I'm continuing to teach at the Academy, and really enjoying it! Keep praying for our kids. One of the young men there has been troubled about salvation for some time now --he's been talking to me and one of the other missionaries, and I had really been burdened to pray for him. I was talking to him this afternoon again, and he told me that he got saved on Monday night! I'm so thankful! "Rejoice with me . . . ." And pray for him please - he's got a lot of temptations to face and he has a lot to learn, even about his salvation (as we all do).
It's hard to believe I only have 2 1/2 months left here! Time has gone so quickly. My brother Stephen and two friends are coming out here at the end of June for a couple of weeks -- can't wait to see them!

Liberia vs the Ash Cloud

2010-04-19T18:31:00.002+02:00

I'm heading up to Nairobi tomorrow so just thought I'd drop you a note now in case internet doesn't work up there. Keep the proposed trip to Liberia in prayer -- we're not quite sure what's happening because of this ash cloud from Iceland! It won't affect me unless it moves a lot, but Dr. Allison and Paulcy Cange fly from US to Brussels and then to Liberia so at the moment I think the airport in Brussels is still closed. So pray that the cloud will have moved to Antarctica by Thursday please! :-) It's all in the Lord's hands, and He's the controller of the weather so we'll leave it there.

How Great Thou Art!

2010-04-09T21:34:00.008+02:00

Kenya truly is one of the most beautiful countries I've been in! I went hiking yesterday afternoon with some of the young people here -- we spent a few hours climbing up and down a mountainside, under a waterfall etc. It was spectacular! I've been there once before -- a place called Tartar Falls, but we went further this time. The majesty and beauty of God's creation made us all think of the power and glory of the Creator!

I went to Rev. Kendagor's for dinner that night, and one of the young men was speaking at devotions from I Cor. 1 -- the last few verses, in the light of what we had seen that day. The God who has made all of nature has chosen us (weak and base and foolish) to serve Him. So all we can say is "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

Don't have time to write much because things are as busy as ever! School closed on 31st March for Easter, but the kids will be back next Monday for "tuition", which just means more classes! They stay for two weeks, then one more week off, then back for the official new term on May 3rd. So I've been marking exams and preparing work for the next couple of weeks. Below are the secondary school students in their closing assembly, just before they headed home -- you'll see their bags and bundles scattered here and there. The umbrellas are to keep off the sun, by the way - not the rain!

The Sunday School term has come to an end in the BCFC churches. Kids have been taking exams for the last few weeks, and now April is the month for Parents' Days, when a concerted effort is made to get family members into the Sunday services, prizes are given out, and special speakers come. I'm one of the "special speakers" in two churches on the next two Sundays, so pray for me and for all the other missionaries and pastors who are taking part.

There is a special youth rally tomorrow in the Kitale church -- youth from all the churches will be gathering there. I don't know much about what will happen, except that I've been told that it lasts all day! (no surprise there really!) Keep the young people in prayer as they travel and as we meet before the Lord. For about 10 months out of the year, many young people are in boarding school or away at university, so it's important when they are at home to take the opportunity to try to reach them, and for those who are saved to have fellowship with like-minded believers, and to be taught as well.

I'm heading for Liberia in two weeks' time! I wasn't sure for a while there if there was going to be a trip this spring (usually it would be at the end of March), but Lord willing, I'll be leaving on April 22nd and returning to Kenya on May 5th. Dr. Allison and Mr Paulcy Cange from Malvern FPC in USA will be going, and I'll meet them there. Pray for us all as we travel, and for the meetings that will be taking place during the trip. Dr. Allison will be teaching the pastors and other adults who are able to come, and hopefully I'll have an opportunity to have some meetings with the kids. So I booked my flights last week, and I'm working on getting the visa sorted -- pray that everything will fall into place swiftly!

Losing your Life

2010-03-24T09:18:00.002+02:00

"Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." (Mark 8:35b)
I was reading the biography of Henry Martyn again -- this young man truly lost his life (as the world would see it) for the sake of the Gospel. He had a brilliant academic career ahead of him -- he was made a fellow in Cambridge at the age of 19 after excelling in mathematics and winning the coveted post of "Senior Wrangler" for the year. He also had a great gift for languages -- during the course of his life, he learned at least 10 different languages (from what I've been able to find) -- Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Portuguese, Bengali, Hindustani, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit. But he gave up his promising future, left behind his family and friends and the woman he loved, and at the age of 25 he set out for India as a missionary. He was already suffering from tuberculosis at this point, and the disease was exacerbated by the harsh conditions and climate of the land to which he went. But he counted all these things as loss so that he might gain Christ, and serve Christ.
Just after he arrived in India, as he surveyed the work of other missionaries around him while he was still waiting for an official appointment, he wrote in his journal -- "I feel pressed in spirit to do something for God. Everybody is diligent, but I am idle . . . I have hitherto lived to little purpose, more like a clod than a servant of God; now let me burn out for God." Some debate whether the idea of "burning out for God" is not simply used as an excuse for being presumptuous and careless with your life, but I cannot help but feel that if more of us had this true desire in our hearts and put it into practice in our lives, we would see much more being done for God in our generation. We are too caught up in our comforts, in our relationships, in our own desires and ambitions. Martyn said, "Let me forget the world, and be swallowed up in a desire to glorify God."
Martyn did burn out for God. He died at the age of 31. But in the few short years that he spent in India and Persia, God accomplished so much through him! He preached the Gospel to many lost souls, opened several schools, and translated the New Testament into Hindustani, Persian, and Arabic.
I am 29. What have I done with my life thus far? More importantly, has the Lord done anything through me? Or have I been so caught up with my own plans and ambitions -- even "spiritual" ones! -- that I have been of no use? "I have hitherto lived to little purpose . . ."
Let me leave you with not the words of a man or about a man -- even such a man as Martyn -- but the words of Christ. "I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." (John 9:4)
"The brightest life on earth was one of loss;
The noblest head was wreathed with sharpest thorn.
Has He not consecrated pain -- the Cross?
What higher crown can Christian brows adorn?
Be we content to follow on the road
Which men count failure, but which leads to God!"

Keep Praying!

2010-03-17T08:53:00.006+02:00

You'll all be relieved to hear that I'm still alive. I've just been pretty bad at communicating with anyone for the past few weeks (Some of you who have sent me emails in the last month or two will say that it's been a lot longer than that!)

So what's happening in Kenya? I've been mostly immersed in the school this past term -- I'm there at least 5 days a week, sometimes more. It's been very busy, but I'm really enjoying it! The term finishes at the end of March -- exams start at the end of this week so pray for the kids as they are working very hard at the moment! Pray for those who aren't saved -- I had asked you to pray for one young man a while ago -- the one from a Muslim background. I've talked to him a bit since that; but like many of the kids here, he seems more concerned about his family problems and other issues in his life than his soul. Now many of them do have big problems at home, and I'm not depreciating those, but human nature tends to concentrate on the issues in time rather than eternity.

There's another boy who's been much on my heart -- he is probably 18 or 19 and comes from a Christian home. He's made a profession (actually he tells me multiple professions) in the past, but he says now he knows he's not saved. He has been in some trouble recently, and I think this has made him start thinking seriously about his condition. He says he knows he needs to be saved, and he is going to get saved some day soon, but he's just not ready yet! He says he's trying to change and do better -- but of course I had to tell him that he'll never be able to change himself. He needs the Lord to give him a new heart and make him a new creature. Please pray that the Spirit of God will convict him and show him his sin. For all his concern and trouble of heart, it is of course his love of sin that is holding him back from seeking God.

Here are a few of the kids I'm working with!

Kazi Nyingi! (Much Work)

2010-02-22T11:12:00.004+02:00

There's not much different here at the minute, but I thought I would just post a note to say hi, and keep praying! I've moved into Margaret's house while she's moved down to Kitale to Noreen's house, so the last week has been busy with all the "flitting", as they say somewhere in Ulster! Kathy is back safely and is working on getting into her routine again. She has taken over all the music lessons again (which is a relief both to me AND to the students, I dare say!), and she's also going to be taking computer classes at the school. She's asked me to continue helping with the school choir so we'll be working together on that. I'm very happy with this arrangement, because I didn't really know what I was doing (having had NO experience of leading a choir) but I was really enjoying it! Maybe in this case ignorance was bliss, and I enjoyed it BECAUSE I didn't know what I was doing. But whatever the reason, I'm glad I can still help.

I was speaking to a lady after church yesterday who was concerned about her soul -- please pray that the Lord will truly give her understanding about the way of salvation.

Luke and Tim are settling in well -- here's a photo of the two of them; it may help some of you to put faces to the names.

Prayer Request

2010-02-11T23:01:00.002+02:00

I wanted to ask you all to pray for a young man in one of my CRE classes. He's 16 years old (in Kenyan Form 2), and I noticed him right from the start of the term because of his willingness to answer questions, ability to think things through -- and his obvious knowledge of the Scriptures when he does answer. Some of the kids are quite shy about answering, and some don't seem to have much Bible knowledge, but this boy stood out to me. I was actually thinking that maybe he was a pastor's kid or that at least he had grown up in a sound Christian family!
I got a chance to talk to him a couple of days ago and was really surprised when he told me that he had been raised as a Muslim until he was 10 yrs old. His father is Muslim, and his mother Christian (nominally at least); his parents divorced when he was 10 and his mother has taken him to a Pentecostal church since that. When I asked him how he knew so much about the Bible, he said he's read it several times. I then asked him if he knew that there was a difference between converting to Christianity nominally and converting in your heart. He said, yes, he knows the difference but he hasn't "done it yet". He said hopefully he will be saved soon. I talked to him a little more before some other kids came in. Please pray for him! Pray that I'll get another opportunity to talk to him soon, and that most of all, the Word of God that he has obviously been reading will pierce his heart and draw him to Christ.

Changeovers in Kenya

2010-02-09T09:37:00.002+02:00

Hi all,

Please continue to keep the work here in prayer. These few weeks have been ones of movement and transition for the missionaries. Dave DiCanio returned from Liberia in the middle of January, Noreen McAfee is flying out from Nairobi today on her way home for furlough, and Kathy Walker will be returning next week from her furlough. So I will be handing back the music lessons and some other responsibilities to Kathy while I continue to teach Christian Religious Education in the Academy, take devotions with the secondary students, etc. I'm not sure what other changes will take place in my "job description" :-) but just please pray that I'll have wisdom and help from God in whatever I'm asked to do.

Margaret will be assuming a lot of the responsibility for the running and administration at the Academy while Noreen's away. Please remember her as she has this added burden.

Two young men from Lisburn congregation have joined us as well -- Luke Campbell and Timothy Patterson. They are taking a year out from university and are going to be helping at the Academy for a few months. Pray that they'll get acclimatised soon and that their time here will be a blessing to them and the young people they're working with.

Mom and Dad enjoyed their trip and are now safely home again! It was so good to have them here. Below is a photo of them with all the missionaries who are here at the moment -- the only one missing is Kathy.

Visitors in Kapenguria

2010-01-18T09:32:00.005+02:00

Mom and Dad have arrived safely -- they are spending a couple of weeks here in Kenya to visit me and also to see the work. It's really good to have them here! I went up to Nairobi to pick them up last week, and on the way back we spent a day and night at Lake Nakuru Safari Park. It was brilliant! We saw all kinds of animals -- zebra, gazelle, water buck, water buffalo, baboons, giraffe, rhino, warthog, a hyena, various types of birds, and even lions! We had gone out at 6:30am (as soon as we could see) to try to find the lions, but sadly found nothing. But at midday, when we were on our way out of the park -- there were three lions right by the side of the road! One was sleeping in a tree, and the other two just lying there looking bored. It seems to be pretty rare to see them -- word must have been spreading all over the park because all these vehicles full of tourists started pulling up. They looked so docile and peaceful lying there -- even cute -- that it was hard to remember that they are wild animals! They do have pretty strict rules in the park -- you're not allowed to get out of your car except at a couple viewpoints. I got yelled at by the rangers a couple of times -- well, our poor driver got yelled at actually. The rear windows in our car only went down halfway, which was really annoying, so at one point I went around back and sat in the boot (it's a station wagon) and left the tailgate open so I could take pictures. They didn't like that. Then the second time, I was still in the car officially cause my feet were standing on the back seat, while I leaned out the window and took pictures of the giraffe over the roof of the car. But they still weren't happy! But I did get some good pictures!

We're back in Kapenguria now of course, and school is in full swing. I had my first CRE (Christian Religious Education) class this morning -- it went ok I think even though I didn't really know what I was doing. This class is with Form II, and we're studying the Life of Christ. Dad preached on Sunday in the school service at Lityei, and then in the local church next door. The people seemed to enjoy the ministry -- I heard some comments from some of the students especially to that effect. A couple men stayed after the church service to speak to the pastors - pray that a true work of grace will be done in their hearts.

Pray for the new school year

2010-01-08T15:54:00.004+02:00

Just wanted to ask you to remember the BCFC Academy as the new school year begins (in Kenya it runs from January to December, with three terms). Classes resume next week so pray for the teachers and students. I'm one of the teachers! (shock) I'm teaching a couple of CRE classes (Christian Religious Education) in the secondary school -- the students will be equivalent to Form 4&5. I'm looking forward to it but a bit apprehensive as well, so keep me in prayer. Then I will be helping with the school choir until Miss Kathy Walker returns from furlough, as well as continuing the piano/keyboard lessons I have been giving.

Miss Noreen McAfee (the school headmistress) will be going on furlough in February so pray for her as she travels, and for the school in her abscence -- that everything will continue to run smoothly.

This past week, all the former pupils have been trickling back into school, and parents and prospective students have been lining the hallway outside Noreen's office to try to get places in classes. The children have to take a placement exam and have an interview (along with their parents), and then places are allocated. To give you an idea of the volume of children wanting to come to the school, 29 kids applied for a place in one of the classes, 10 passed the placement exam -- and there were only two places in the class! Even though signs are put up outside saying that there are no places left in a certain class, parents still come in and plead that their child would be admitted. Parents have been known to leave the office, having just been told that there are no places in the particular class that they're wanting, and go outside and join the back of the queue again -- only to be told the same thing a couple of hours later. So Noreen's had a long week! We are thankful, of course, that places in the school are in high demand!

Holidays in Kenya

2010-01-01T23:06:00.009+02:00

Happy New Year to you all!

The Christmas service went well in Mumias I think. I still find it difficult to speak through an interpreter -- or "interrupter" as it is sometimes called! But I trust that the message got across, and that God will use His Word.

Noreen came down in the evening of Christmas Day -- arriving in time to watch the Queen's speech while we ate our dinner. Noreen and Gillian were very patriotic -- they even stood up for the National Anthem! I managed to make a fool of myself when Noreen texted on her way down saying "ER is on at 6pm". So I figured we were going to watch an interesting program on A&E (Emergency Room) -- I thought Noreen was being very considerate of me, seeing that I used to work there. When lo and behold, it turns out she meant "Elizabeth Regina" was on at 6pm. Needless to say, I was laughed to scorn, and comments made regarding how I was still half-American etc. LOL

We had a New Year's service today (up in the Kapenguria area again) -- a few of the churches got together. The usual Kenyan time pattern -- scheduled for 11am, started at 12 midday, finished at 2:45pm. Then we had chai (Kenyan tea -- very good!) and the kids had orange juice and biscuits! Big treat for them!
Tonight I went over to the Rev. Kendagor's house for dinner -- it was nice to be out and enjoy the fellowship -- and good food! We had rice, potatoes, goat, and chapati (a flat bread that you dip into soup). We always have a time of devotions after dinner at his house -- and the visitor usually gets the honour (??) of bringing the "bread" as Rev. K calls it. I read Deut. 33:25 -- "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." This was actually our motto text in Ballymena in 2005 (some of you may remember). But it's been on my mind all day -- we have no idea what is going to come in the year ahead, but God promises strength for however many days we may have, and for whatever happens during those days. His grace is sufficient for us. I certainly had no idea on New Year's Day, 2009, that I'd be in Kenya on January 1, 2010, but here I am! And God has been giving abundant strength and grace!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T21:28:00.002+02:00

I'm heading down to Gillian Gillespie's house in Mumias tomorrow -- I'll be spending Christmas down there. The churches here all have services on Christmas Day. I'm to speak to the kids in the service in Mumias so please keep me in prayer for that. Then Noreen will join us in the evening and we'll have our Christmas dinner on Boxing Day. We're planning turkey, ham, cranberry, stuffing, the works! Yum!
I hope you all have a great Christmas, and thank you all again for your prayers and support.

Update

2009-12-21T12:45:00.007+02:00

I'm back. The youth camp finished on Saturday -- both camps went well I believe, and please continue to pray that God will bless the Word that was heard. There were about 130 kids at the teens camp -- quite a crowd! They listened well, and from quizzes that were given after the teaching sessions, they must have taken in quite a lot!

We played some games with the teens in the afternoon, including a water relay. I borrowed the idea from memories of the youth camp I used to attend (when I lived in the States). We had to adapt it a bit, but I think the kids enjoyed it once they got their heads round the concept. It was entirely new, even to the teachers and leaders!

We also had a treasure hunt -- Gillian devised this one, and it took Brian and me a while to get OUR heads round it cause it was rather different from how we would do a treasure hunt at home. But again it went over well.

The theme chapter for the youth camp was Philippians 2, especially verse 15 -- "The sons of God . . . shine as lights in the world." Again, the mornings were devoted to teaching, with usually one session in the afternoon as well. The pastors and missionaries who were speaking covered topics like the young Christian's salvation, mind, character, will, actions, and witness. The young people professed at the end of the week that they had really been blessed by the messages. There was also a question and answer session on Friday, which lasted three hours (double the time that was allocated!) I think it was telling that most of the kids (if not all) were happy to hear God's Word and keep asking questions rather than head outside for the games that had been scheduled for after the session.

I was asked to give a presentation on Liberia at the youth camp -- the young folks seemed to be very interested, and several came up afterwards and said that they would pray for the work there.

Please do pray for these young people -- I really enjoyed the fellowship, and it was good to see signs of growth in grace in some of them. Young people in Kenya face a lot of temptation -- not only to things like immorality (which is a BIG problem here and causes a lot of young folks from the churches to fall, never mind outside) but also to more subtle sins like putting their education or their career before God. Kenyans prize education very highly, and parents have been known to say things like "Well, he only got a C- in his exams, so he would do for a pastor." Whereas the kid who has passed his exams well will be expected and required to go on to university and get a good job to support the family. So pray that young folks will hear the call of God and realise that working for God is the highest calling, and pray also that the Lord will touch the hearts of parents and make them willing to give up their dreams for their kids if that's His will. I do believe, from what some of the young people said, that there are a few to whom God has begun speaking about this matter.

Teen Camp

2009-12-08T10:38:00.002+02:00

Very sorry for not having written on here for so long -- it's been so busy! I want to ask prayer for the teen's camp which starts this afternoon (Tuesday)and lasts until Saturday morning. It's held down at the school -- the kids stay in the dorms there, and we'll be going down each day for the lessons and activities. The theme this year is "The Word of God" -- and there are teaching sessions each morning and one session in the afternoon on this theme. Then there's an activity period in the afternoon, and a quiz or video or something like that at night. I'm teaching on "The Assembly of the Bible" on Thursday morning - i.e. the Canon of Scripture. I'm enjoying the preparation, but will have to be careful how I present it because the kids are 13-16 yr olds, and not all of them know English. It will be translated, of course, but I still need to try to present it as simply as possible. So pray for wisdom for me! Brian is teaching on "What the Bible is like" on Wednesday afternoon (i.e. like a hammer, a lamp, a sword, bread, etc.). Then other subjects are "The Inspiration of the Bible", "The Interpretation of Scripture", "Why We Use the AV only", "How to Study your Bible", and so on.
Next week there is a youth camp (17 yrs old and up) - Noreen McAfee is organising it (Gillian Gillespie organised the teens camp). The Kenyan pastors and youth leaders of course are running the camps as well. So please pray for everyone involved in these two camps! And pray that the young people will be able to afford to come, and will have a hunger for the Word when they do come.
I have a few photos to put on here, but will have to do that another time. And I'm sure I'll have a lot of pictures from the camps too!

The call to the Mission Field

2009-11-30T21:40:00.003+02:00

Excerpts from a sermon by Rev. Ian Harris entitled "The Call of God to the Mission Field":
Rev. James Morgan (from Presbyterian Synod of Ulster) said in 1833 --
"As soon as anyone knows Christ, he desires that others should know Him too. His love to Him is the measure of his anxiety that others should know Him too. So far as any Church breathes the missionary spirit, it is characterised by the spirit of its Founder; but so far as it wants the missionary spirit, it is destitute of one of the marks of the Church of Christ."
The work of missions is not some Para-church group ministry -- it is the work of the church in its entirety. Every church member ought to have an interest in missions, and potentially is one whom God could call to the field. The individual or the church that lacks the missionary spirit is destitute of one of the marks of the true church of Christ.

Outreach in Morchichi

2009-11-23T20:02:00.004+02:00

We went to a village called Morchichi on Wednesday evening to stay overnight and then do outreach all day. Morchichi is way out in the bush -- very remote and very poor! It's an extremely dry area -- they have a real problem with soil erosion. It is mostly the Pokot tribe that live there -- in fact, they gave Brian and me Pokot names while we were there! Brian's is "Kiptoo", meaning "one who brings visitors". Brian has been to Morchichi several times during his stay in Kenya, and the people have been encouraged by visitors who have come in during his visits. My name is "Cherop", meaning "one who brings rain". Apparently it had not rained for months, but then it rained just a day before we went.

The people need a lot of prayer -- some of them are caught up in cults, some in Roman Catholicism, and then of course there is the usual strange mixture of tribal religion and Pentecostalism that results in just utter confusion. One of the groups that went out on Thursday actually met Seventh Day Adventists also going round the homes!

We were staying with folks in the church -- well, I was. The men all slept in the church. I had a room to myself, and once I got my mosquito net hung (which took a while with only a flashlight to see by), I was pretty comfortable for the couple of hours that were left of the night! People in Morchichi seem to like staying up late -- we arrived about 9pm, supper was served at 11:30pm, and then people began coming for a late-night meeting! One of the pastors spoke on Romans 12:1-2, and we dispersed around 2am probably. I asked our hostess, Delphin, where the nearest toilet was, and she took me on a ten-minute walk into the bush! We did eventually arrive at a toilet -- a Kenyan toilet that is (a hole in the ground inside a cubicle). So by the time I got settled it was nearly 3am, and then up again at 5:30!

We split up into teams of two or three in order to cover as many homes as possible, and we had a good reception. Four people that our group visited during the morning turned up at the meeting that afternoon, and we were also encouraged by one young lad who said he wanted to be saved. We explained the Gospel to him, and we're trusting that God will indeed do a work in his heart. After about 4 hours of outreach, we headed back to our host family's house for lunch and then on to the church for the meeting. Brian was informed on the 10minute walk to the church that he would be preaching that afternoon! There are times when I'm very glad that I'm a girl so I don't get pounced on like that!

I was speaking today at the closing assembly at BCFC Christian Academy. It's probably the largest audience I've spoken to - about 600 kids, plus teachers and staff! I had to speak through a translator, which I find really difficult at the best of times, never mind when I'm speaking to children. But pray that the Lord would use His Word. I've had III John v. 4 laid on my heart for these kids for a while now -- "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." I'm constantly aware that I'm only here in Kenya for a short time; I really want to take the opportunity to get to know them and minister to them in whatever way I can, but at the same time I know I'll be leaving soon so I almost don't want to get too involved, emotionally at least. But I can always pray for them!

A Missionary Heart

2009-11-15T23:42:00.004+02:00

Back in Kapenguria, Kenya! I arrived here on Tuesday evening, after having spent a couple of days in Nairobi. I visited the Bible College of East Africa on Sunday morning; Monday I spent in shopping -- first time in a long time that I've shopped for a whole day! For those of you who know me well, you will know that shopping is NOT my thing! At least it wasn't clothes shopping -- it was mostly groceries and household things that we can't get elsewhere, and of course a bookshop or two just to relieve the monotony! I plucked up my courage on Monday morning and decided to drive myself rather than get a taxi for the day (Dave had left his car in Nairobi for repairs so I was able to use it). I only had to make a few U-turns throughout the day, so I was pretty proud of myself for not getting more lost! On Tuesday, one of the drivers from the school here came up to drive me back down to Kapenguria (it's a six/seven hour drive on sometimes bad roads so it's good to have company)! We crossed the equator on the way. :-)
I spent the rest of the week getting back into routine -- it's a little different at the moment because Margaret has had to go back to NI since her mother isn't well. Pray for Margaret and her mum, and the whole family circle. She is certainly missed here! Brian and I decided to take an afternoon off on Friday so we headed out to an animal sanctuary. It is possible to take the tour of the sanctuary on horseback so we decided to do that -- they have rhino, giraffe, ostrich, impala, zebra, goats, etc. We hadn't gone very far before the guide stopped his horse and began explaining about the rhino which we were nearing. While the horses were stationary (I thought), I got the camera out to take a picture of Brian.

Unfortunately, Brian's horse suddenly took off, and mine decided to follow! I was turned slightly in the saddle, had my camera in one hand, and was clutching my bag and the reins in the other, so I knew right away that I wasn't going to be able to stay on too long. Obviously, the horse only spoke Swahili, and my English "whoa" was doing nothing to help slow it down, so I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and that I'd better fall off while I could. So I did. Very gracefully of course! (Actually, the guide wanted to know if I was an athlete because he said I executed a perfect roll as I hit the ground! LOL. That was also planned of course! not.) The good news is that my camera is ok. I was walking like an old woman for a day or two, and strangely enough, Kathy's chairs had never seemed as hard before! Anyway, I remounted and we continued on, but we had to abandon the horses shortly afterwards because they were really spooked by the rhino and kept bolting off (or trying to). So we never got to see the zebra or impala, but we fed the giraffe (very beautiful and graceful, but oh-so-slobbery), and then got a ride on the ostrich. You maybe think the men holding on tightly on either side were afraid that I was going to fall off the ostrich as well, but apparently they do this for everyone. They said an ostrich can reach speeds of 120 km an hour!
Brian and I went to the English service this morning at the school. Rev.Kendagor was preaching on the birth of Christ. He quoted John 1:14 as he spoke of Christ's humbling Himself -- He dwelt or tabernacled among men. To show the reality and magnitude of this condescension, Rev. K used the illustration of a missionary he had known in years past who came to the Turkana tribe in Kenya and lived among them -- ate their food, slept on a skin on the floor, etc. He was known among these people as one who loved them enough to live right in their situation so that he could win them. I was thinking as he spoke of some of the huts I've seen here, or some of the filthy shacks in Liberia or the Philippines. I wouldn't want to live in them! But I was just thinking -- would I be willing to live in those conditions if it was the only way to reach those people? Christ humbled Himself more than that in order to save me.
Imagine the filthiest, most debased living conditions that you can -- and then imagine the gulf that exists between that situation and where and how you now live, and then consider the sacrifice that you would haveto make to move down that far. But even if you have the best imagination in the world, the worst-case scenario that you could nightmare up would be nothing compared to Christ's humiliation. It consisted not even so much in the physical conditions that He came to (the manger, the stable, the "no room in the inn"), but it was more intensely the fact that the Creator came to live among His creatures, that the perfectly Holy God descended and condescended to live among the vile refuse and filthiness of fallen sinners (us). Why? Because the Son of Man came "to seek and to save those who are lost." Is this not truly the personification of a "missionary heart"?

last post from Liberia

2009-11-06T20:06:00.006+02:00

My apologies to everyone for not writing for so long! I have unlimited internet access here (although it's slow) – but not much time to write! Dr. Allison and Paulcy left this afternoon, and I’m leaving tomorrow. We finished the workshop meetings yesterday – the last kids’ meeting was packed! A few of the women from some of the churches came in to the last few meetings to try to learn some of the choruses so they can continue teaching the children. They were asking if we could have a teaching session about children's work on the next trip -- I think it would be a really good idea, if we could fit it in. Pray for the Word that has been taught, both to children and adults. Dr. Allison was teaching on Roman Catholicism during these sessions, and there was a Roman Catholic man there yesterday! He was asking some questions, and actually debating a bit with Dr. Allison at one point, but pray that his eyes will be opened through what he heard. At the end of the workshop yesterday, each of the team was presented with a Liberian tunic (or dress in my case) as a thankyou for being there. This is the fifth Liberian costume that I've been presented with, and I really like this one!

I made my debut on the radio on Monday! We went to visit a radio station that is run by a Baptist church in Monrovia – they also have a medical clinic onsite, and a school nearby. This station just went on the air about 3 months ago – apparently it’s the only completely Christian radio station in Liberia. Rev. Richard Wesley – the pastor – says that his vision is to focus on preaching – he wants 80% of the air time to be given to sermons and the other 20% to good Christian music, Bible stories, and announcements. So he went looking for good sermons, and found Sermonaudio, and started airing some Free Presbyterian ministers – downloading their sermons and then broadcasting them. When we went to visit on Monday, the plan (as I thought) was to interview Dr. Allison, but somehow I ended up getting asked some questions too. So I got to give my testimony and tell of my call to Liberia! Then he asked a few questions that were a bit more difficult – like “What difference do you see between young people in the US and those in Liberia?” or “What advice would you give to young Christian women in Liberia?” I can't even remember what I said now because I had to think on the spur of the moment, and I'm not very good at that!

We had a baptism service this morning. 2 men and 4 teenage boys were baptised – they’ve all been saved in the last year or two. One of the men had a family member with him who is a Muslim! She wanted to come along and see what happens at a Christian baptism. So please pray for this lady. Pray for the spiritual growth of the people who were baptised and all the believers in the churches here. The burden on my heart for Liberia is still that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge".

I am leaving tomorrow – it’s always hard to leave here because you just know that there is so much to be done! This time it should be a little easier because we’re leaving Dave behind to teach the pastors so at least that part of the work will keep moving forward. Pray for him – it’ll probably be pretty quiet for him here in the next couple of months, although he’s going to be kept busy!

This is the oven he's going to be cooking in! LOL. The cook was explaining it to us today -- it's just a big pot that you heat up -- burning charcoal below it and on the lid as well; heat it up to 350 F or whatever temp you want (she has a thermometer to check the heat); then you put your cake or bread or whatever you want to cook in its own pan inside the pot and put the charcoal back around it -- and hey presto, you've got an oven!! We went grocery shopping tonight -- he's going to try making pizza tomorrow for lunch before I leave -- he'll be cooking the pizza base in this oven so I'll let you know how it goes!

Sunday

2009-11-01T22:08:00.002+02:00

Just a clarification here! Don't know why the previous post showed up for Nov 1 which is Sunday, but it was from Saturday. Just in case you think we had a swimming party on the Sabbath! :-)

Update

2009-11-01T00:02:00.003+02:00

Happy Reformation Day/Weekend! The pastors and ministers are having a meeting out in the common room, which means that I need to stay in my room -- but I have AC, my laptop, and plenty of reading to catch up on! So no complaints. We had a workshop this morning again -- I had over 70 kids stuffed into one little room! It really is getting to be too much to be honest -- there weren't as many the last couple of days, and it was much easier to keep control and get them to quiet down. Today, although they quietened down pretty well for the story, by the end of the two hours they were getting very feisty and I could barely make myself heard. I had already done a lot of singing with them, but I eventually had to just keep singing their favourites over and over again in order to keep them in any semblance of order while we were waiting for the adults to be finished. I'm not complaining about the number of kids -- it's great to see so many in! But pray for the situation because I do want the kids to hear the message and be able to learn the Word of God. It would really help if we had a bigger room, because then they wouldn't all be crammed on top of one another.

The picture above is of some of the pastors on the beach, along with a bunch of the kids who came over this evening to go swimming. It was so refreshing!

We went to see some property today that is for sale and might be suitable for building a mission house or residence for a missionary (me?!) It's quite exciting because it's a nice property and a very good price! The next step is to get the deeds checked out to make sure that it hasn't already been sold to someone else -- or a few other people! Apparently that happens quite routinely here. And it would need to be surveyed etc. So pray that these matters will go smoothly and if it's the Lord's will, we might even be able to acquire this property. It would be a real step forward!

Below is my newest room-mate! Although the partnership didn't last long. I thought it was a massive spider when it first went scuttling across the floor, but turns out it was a crab. We've seen several inside the guesthouse so I keep my room door firmly shut now!

Liberia

2009-10-31T00:57:00.002+02:00

A quick note from Liberia (the land of the free). Dave -- Rev. DiCanio -- is bullying me into helping with collating and stapling notes for the workshops tomorrow, so I'm going to have to go in a minute. The meetings with the kids are going well -- they're actually listening better than last time! I guess maybe I shouldn't be surprised about that because I've been praying that they would be more settled this time. The unbelief pops up so quickly! I usually spend about 2 hours each morning with them, teaching them choruses, Bible verses, the Child's Catechism, and then the lesson. After that, I'm worn out! Enjoying it tho. The workshops with the adults are going well also. Dr Allison is teaching on Roman Catholicism at the moment, and Rev. DiCanio is teaching homiletics. A few of the young people who got saved a year ago have expressed the desire to be baptised so hopefully we'll be having a baptismal service in the ocean before the end of the trip.
Speaking of the ocean, I'm listening to it right now! A few hundred feet away from me. It's really beautiful! Haven't been in yet, but hopefully tomorrow evening after the meetings.
Better run!

Off to Liberia!

2009-10-25T21:24:00.003+02:00

I’m sitting in a guesthouse in Nairobi, after a very quiet Sabbath day! I listened to the Ballymena Adult Bible Class and morning service, and -- now that I count them up – three other messages on my Ipod while I was taking a walk etc. I don’t know of any church here in Nairobi that would be in any way sound and that I would be able to find, so I opted for the safe option – just to stay put. It’s good to have access to the internet and be able to listen to the services though.
I flew up here from Kitale yesterday – here’s the plane we travelled in. It was quite exciting – probably the smallest plane I’ve ever been on! I got the front seat so I could watch the pilot and co-pilot at the controls. It was a pretty smooth flight too – just a little bit of turbulence as we started the descent. The flight was about an hour long – then I got a taxi and spent an hour and a half or two hours fighting Saturday lunch-time traffic in Nairobi – and in all that time we only went about 25 kilometers!
I leave for Monrovia in the morning. Paulcy Cange will be arriving in Liberia tomorrow evening as well; then Dr Allison and Rev. DiCanio arrive on Wednesday I think. Keep us all in prayer as we travel, and then for the time spent there itself. Dr Allison and Rev. DiCanio will be teaching the pastors each day in the “workshop” as they call it – I’m not quite sure of the subjects they’re covering this time, but it may be things like homiletics, cults, etc. Apparently, I’ll be teaching the kids again while the adults are in the workshops, so please pray for this. Pray that the kids will be settled and quietened so that they can listen. Most of them have no concept of what it is to sit still and listen! A lot of the adults don’t either, it seems sometimes!
I’m not sure of what else is planned for the trip. I’m taking my laptop with me, although I’m not sure if we’ll have an internet connection anywhere. So if I get a chance, I’ll blog while I’m there!

Pray for the young people at the school

2009-10-18T16:13:00.003+02:00

A couple of interesting sights recently! I don't know if this counts as an eclipse of the sun, but it was pretty cool-looking. It was on Thursday past -- did anyone in any other countries notice anything strange about the sun that day?
Now I know you get traffic jams of cattle and sheep in NI, but I've never shared the road with a herd of camels before! They must have been taking these to sell somewhere - I think it's a pretty unusual sight even for Kenya, because everyone was stopping to stare!

All's well with me here -- I was at a church called Kesogon this morning. One of the Bible College students preaches there most Sundays, and today he got up and preached in English!! (Usually the preacher would speak in Swahili, and someone would translate for me.) He said that he just decided to preach in English, although his notes were all in Swahili and he had never done it before. He did a good job though -- I was really encouraged by the message itself, as well as his ability in explaining it. Sometimes that's a problem here -- the students know the truth and the doctrine, but they can't seem to communicate it clearly to the people. But I was encouraged today. Then we were invited to a lady's house for lunch -- now I'm stuffed!!

I've been teaching computers to Form 3 class for a couple of weeks now. They range in age from 17 to 19. I asked them, for typing practice, to type a paragraph about themselves, and some of the things they said were really revealing. A lot of them know the language of Christians -- like saying that the most important thing in life is to know God, and that their desire is to be a good Christian etc. But sometimes I wonder if they just say this to please me or because they know that's the right thing to say. The majority of people in Kenya will say that they are saved -- even if their lives completely contradict that profession. But a few of the kids did ring true in what they said by way of giving a testimony of salvation. It certainly gave me a bit of an insight into their lives and encouraged me to pray for them more. Pray for these kids -- I'm going with Margaret now for their evening devotions at the school; pray that I'll have a chance to speak with a few of them.

Online again!

2009-10-17T07:14:00.002+02:00

Hi folks! Heading out for a prayermeeting very soon, but I wanted to put a quick note on here to let you know that I'm still alive :-) My internet has been down for the last week -- they've been doing some work in the area with the Orange platforms or something. Anyway, I decided to check this morning on the offchance that it's working again -- and lo and behold -- it worked! I don't know how I could have coped on the mission field 50 years ago when there was no internet to keep in touch with people, because I was getting a little frustrated when this wasn't working for a week! I suppose we take all these blessings for granted when we have them.
The missionaries get together once a month for a day of prayer and fellowship, so Brian and I are heading to Kitale now for the morning prayermeeting. Keep us all in prayer please, and I'll blog again soon with a proper update.

Pray for true conversions

2009-10-08T10:53:00.000+02:00

Margaret and Brian were supposed to come to me for dinner last night. There’s a prayermeeting on Wednesday evenings at 4pm in the BCFC church next door (the Bendera congregation) so I would usually make my dinner after that. So I guess I probably started dinner about 6:00pm – put chicken and potatoes into the oven to bake, and started making a dish called BBQ beans – that’s string beans in a sauce which is very good! Unfortunately, the electricity went out half an hour later! We put on the generator which can run the lights and refrigerator but doesn’t have enough kick for the oven. So I took everything out of the oven and started frying it (thankfully I have a gas stove-top). I’m not the best or most organised cook at the best of times, and when something like this happens, and people are expecting their dinner from me, I kinda panic! Oh well, it tasted good once it was made – eventually – like after 8pm! Nobody fainted from hunger while they were waiting, so I guess it could have been worse.
After dinner, we had a time of prayer which I really enjoyed. More than made up for the hassle of the dinner! We were really focusing on the need for the Lord to move in the hearts of people, and the need for true conviction of sin and conversion. We were reading Ezekiel 36 before we prayed – pray with us that God will move sovereignly by His Spirit and regenerate hearts – that He will put that new spirit and heart of flesh into people around here (v. 26). Nothing else but that is going to transform this desolate land into a fruitful garden (v. 35). I was reading this morning in Matt. 9 – v. 18 & 19 tell us that “Jesus arose” in answer to Jairus’ prayer and went to raise his daughter from the dead. Our desire is that we will have that same power in prayer that Jairus had – that as we pray, God would graciously arise and work by the conversion of souls for His glory and the extension of His kingdom!

A Few Photos for Y'all!

2009-10-04T21:56:00.000+02:00

One of the Bible College students -- Andrew is in his fourth year.
I went on outreach for the first time on Tuesday. I did enjoy it, but it was kinda difficult to understand exactly what the people were saying and how they were responding to the message. The Kenyan pastors with whom Brian and I went were very good about translating most of what was being said, but it’s just not the same. I went with Rev. Kendagor and another young pastor called Immanuel. They call it “visitation” here, rather than door-to-door work or outreach, but it’s the same idea. We were given seats at each house we went to – inside or outside, depending on how big the house was. Some of them were only one-room houses.
The first man we stopped with told us that he had been saved four times already and it had never done him any good! He did not seem to be interested in the least at first but of course was very respectful and willing to listen. But as the conversation went on, he seemed to open up a bit. The second home belonged to a young woman (she looked like she was in her middle teens, if even that) who had a 10-month old baby, and 3 other kids in the house. I don’t know who belonged to her and who had just come in to see the white people! Anyway, this girl told us that she knew very little about Jesus Christ and how to be saved. So Rev. Kendagor turned to me and asked me to explain the Gospel to her. I was a bit daunted, but God certainly undertook and gave me the words to say. The men translated for me as I spoke, and then they took a turn speaking. Pray for these people – sometimes I think that they just agree with what is being said in order to keep us happy or get rid of us. Pray that a true work of grace will be done in their hearts.
I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to get out on the visitation. The men go two or three times a week, and Brian has been going with them, but with commitments at the school etc. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to go. I heard on Friday that I’ll be starting to take a computer class this week – it will be two classes on Tuesdays and two on Fridays. Now I’m sure that my brothers will laugh their heads off when they hear that I’m teaching computers, but apparently most of the kids (this is at the school and will be Form 3 – equivalent of Lower 6th or 11th grade) don’t even know how to turn the computer on! So it will be pretty basic. Here's the Standard 7 class that I teach Bible to on Fridays!
I now have a car to drive while I’m here! It’s so good to have some independence again; everyone’s been really good about giving me lifts here and there, but it’s nice to be able to go somewhere when you feel like it (or need to go). This is Kathy’s car – it was in Nairobi for the past couple of weeks getting some repairs done. When it arrived in Kitale on Thursday, I went to pick it up and spent the entire day there getting the rest of the work done on it that they hadn’t finished in Nairobi. It needed a new battery, and four new tires. You can’t just leave the car into a garage and have them do all the work – at least not in Kitale. You have to go to one shop to get a battery, wait until it charges and they install it, then go to another shop and buy the tires (actually we ordered them in the morning and then waited 2 hours while they were brought from Eldoret), then take the tires to another place to be fitted, balanced, aligned, etc. Thankfully one of the drivers that the missionaries use was with me the entire day, and did most of the talking and bargaining – otherwise I would never have gotten the car sorted. As it was, I left the house at 8am to “pick up the car” and didn’t get home until after 5pm! That’s life in Kenya.
Today I went to an “umoja”, which is a joint meeting where a lot of congregations come together to one church. They have these meetings once a month, and today we went to Kerenger. It was a good day – we left here at 10am, spent an hour driving round collecting people (and waiting for them), then travelled about 40 minutes over pretty rough roads.

We arrived about 11:30am, and the meeting started an hour later, which wasn’t too bad for Kenyan time! The preliminaries included congregational singing, a couple of special groups singing, a lot of announcements, etc. We were meeting outside because the church building wasn’t big enough to hold everyone, and the preacher had only spoken for about 10 minutes when it began to rain – downpour. So after a few minutes, when it became obvious that the rain was there to stay, the whole congregation got up, picked up their benches or chairs or desks, and crammed into the church. We sang a couple verses of a hymn and then the preacher started again! I felt badly for him – I’m sure it was off-putting. So altogether the service lasted about 3 ½ hours, which is about the par for these joint meetings. One of the Bible students kindly translated for me, which made all the difference!

Choirs and Cockroaches

2009-09-27T22:06:00.000+02:00

I went to the service at the school today – there’s a service in English that all the boarding students are required to attend. Rev. Kendagor preached, and it was nice to hear a message in English without someone translating the whole way through. Then Brian, Noreen, and Andrew (the Bible College student who lives in) came over for dinner in the afternoon. It’s been a pretty quiet day I guess, but I’m still tired!
I had my first choir practice at the school on Friday – it was fun! They have decided to send one class at a time, so I had Standard 8 pupils (about 14 year olds). There are about 45-50 in the class, and they’re good singers! Of course, I didn’t really know what I was doing – so just made it up as I went along as usual! J They sang in church this morning so we practiced for that, and then we just went over a few of the pieces they already knew. They love to sing – after the class period was over, some of the kids wanted to stay on and sing for another while since that was their last class of the day. So I was playing the piano for another hour, while they kept calling out favourites.
There’s no such thing as personal space here in Kenya – the kids sit on top of each other on the benches during services etc. While I was playing, one girl was leaning on one of my shoulders, and one on the other, and someone else was playing with my hair as they were all singing around the piano. You would see even boys walking along with their arms around each other’s shoulders, and I have seen men holding hands as they walked through the street. It is VERY strange to our “Western” eyes, but the Kenyans think nothing of it – they’re just showing affection to friends. They probably think we’re really standoffish and cold!!
They say cats have nine lives, but I think the cockroach must win the award for most stubbornly holding on to the one life that it has. I saw one in the bathroom last night, but couldn’t be bothered going for the spray etc so decided to let it live this time. So I went on to bed, and was just getting comfy when I heard that sound the cockroach makes (can’t describe it – a sort of a squeak). But it sounded pretty close by, so I switched on the lamp and sure enough – there he was on the floor right beside the bed. Too close for comfort. I grabbed the spray which was handy on the bedside table and went for him. Well, he went leaping and darting all over the room, but I followed gamely and nearly knocked myself out with the amount of spray I had to use. Finally, his jumps got a bit weaker and I finished him off with a flip-flop. I must confess that I’m so lazy that I just set the flip-flop on top of him and just jumped back into bed. Although I did wonder for a minute if I should move him outside the door in case all his friends and relations came to bury him. It was quiet the rest of the night, though, so I guess cockroaches aren’t into funerals.

Good Sabbath!

2009-09-20T21:32:00.000+02:00

I had a good Sabbath today! Brian and I attended the BCFC church in Bendera, which is on the Bible College grounds (where Brian is staying and just across the fence from where I am). They have a prayermeeting each Sunday at 8:30am, then Sunday School at 9am, and the worship service at 10:30. The man who is pastoring this church (who is actually one of the part-time students at the Bible College and is in charge of one of the bookshops here) is one of the very few Kenyans who believe in starting things on time! So the service began at 10:30 sharp, even though only about a quarter of the congregation was there. The others straggled in during the next 45 minutes.
Did I mention before that in Kenya you have to be ready for anything? Both Brian and I, as the visitors, were called up to the front to “bring greetings” and say a few words of encouragement. That’s pretty routine here though. What caught me off guard was when Pastor Choge came down to me while the choir was singing their piece and said he wanted Brian and me to sing a duet!! We had about 3 minutes notice to prepare, and I must give Brian credit for keeping us going because I got a bad attack of the nerves and had to keep taking breaths in the middle of the lines. I just can't deal with singing in front of people unless it’s with a big group.
The service finished around 12:30, and since there’s never an evening meeting here (it gets dark about 6:30pm and wouldn’t be safe to bring everyone out after dark), we had the rest of the day free. So Brian came over and we listened to the Ballymena morning service, then I spent a couple hours studying, then we had dinner and then listened to the Ballymena evening service and part of the Lisburn evening service. So now I’m ready for bed! It was great to be able to tune in to the webcasts though, and to have our souls refreshed by preaching in English that we could understand! Don’t ever take this privilege for granted!

Getting to work

2009-09-17T21:31:00.000+02:00

The group of visitors left this morning – had to say goodbye last night. They’re driving up to Nairobi – stopping at a safari park on the way, and then flying home on Saturday. Pray that the Lord will keep the burden of Kenya fresh on their minds and hearts.
Now it’s time to get down to work. And it is getting rather busy here! I had my first class in the Bible College this morning – I’m teaching a class on Church Music. Here’s the course description from the catalogue -- “This course discusses Church music in both its biblical and historical context, detailing the history of some of today’s most popular hymns, and the use of drums and dance in public worship.” There are four students in the college at the moment – one is full-time and in his final year, and the other three are part-time. Two of them are pastoring churches as they study. I was REALLY nervous this morning (actually feeling sick!), but by the end of the class I was rather enjoying it. This class will usually be on a Monday morning.
Tomorrow morning, I’m taking my first class at the Christian school – it’s teaching a Bible class to 12 year olds. So we’ll see how that goes! I’ll also, Lord willing, be teaching piano to 5 teachers and helpers at the school each Friday, as well as 5 or 6 others on Wednesday and Saturday.
We’re travelling down to Mumias on Saturday, just for the day. It’s about 3 hours away, where Gillian Gillespie lives and works. The missionaries all get together once a month for a day of prayer, alternating between Mumias and up in this area. Kathy is leaving for furlough in the States tomorrow morning, and Dave is leaving on Saturday. He’s going to be ordained at the Ministers’ Week of Prayer in the USA at the beginning of October. Pray for them both as they travel and as they have a short time at home with family and friends. Pray for me too – I’m staying in Kathy’s house, and not only will I be housekeeping for myself for the first time in my life, but I’ll be housekeeping in Kenya! There are a few differences here, like remembering to soak your vegetables in sterilizing fluid before eating, boiling and filtering your drinking and cooking water, making the chai (Kenyan tea) for the watchman each night, washing clothes by hand, trying not to get attacked by our own watchdog (2 dogs are very friendly, but the third really has taken a dislike to me, especially after dark. Apparently I walk too fast! Imagine that!). I’m sure I’ll make some mistakes, but I’ll learn a lot!
Just a quote in closing from a book I’ve been reading recently (thanks, Richard). It’s a great book, and I’d recommend it to you all. It’s called This One Thing by Amy Carmichael, and is the life story of Thomas Walker of Tinnevelly (he was the mission leader in India under whom Amy worked).
“Christ said, ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ Let us be content with nothing less than that in our churches: eternal life, and life more abundant.
There may be zeal for Christianity, without there being spiritual life. There may be liberality in giving, and yet no life. There may be church-going, and lyric-singing, and street-preaching, and all the time no life. Let us confess it on our knees before the living God – we have been too much occupied with outward organization and missionary routine; we have not sought for our Indian brethren, as we should, a Spirit of life form God; we have not loved them, wept over them, *wrestled in prayer for them as we ought to have done. Lord, we blame ourselves today. We are verily guilty, we missionaries, before Thee in this thing. Our strength has often been expended over the externals of our work, and we have failed to attain, in any adequate degree, the main object of our mission, that immortal souls might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. From this time help us all to make a fresh start. And O Spirit of life, breathe upon our congregations.
*(“We have not wrestled in prayer for them”; by that word he did not mean what is sometimes called “wrestling with God.” What he did mean was a wrestle with all that hindered prayer.)
From "Spiritual Life in the Indian Church", a paper prepared for the missionary Conference of 1902 by Thomas Walker .

School Opening

2009-09-12T20:04:00.000+02:00

Well, the big day is all over! It went really well – the Lord gave help and strength and over-ruled in each detail. We were there about 8 am and last-minute preparations were still being made at 10:30, well past the time when it was supposed to start! Thankfully, Mr. Moi was running on Kenyan time, and his helicopter didn’t touch down on the school football field until everything was ready. The school kids were all gathered to sing a welcome for him, and some of the women from the school and church also gathered to sing. Mr. Moi and Dr. McClelland, who was the other “guest of honour”, unveiled two plaques at the front of the main building, and declared the school officially open. Then they had a quick tour of the school, and came up to the other side of the campus (the school has 9 acres, and a road runs through the middle of it) for the service itself. Dr. McClelland preached really well, some of the school kids sang, the wazungu (white people) sang, various presentations were made, and Mr. Moi spoke briefly. The meeting probably lasted about 2 ½ hours, and then we all had some lunch. There were probably about 2000 people there, and when we left the school at 4pm, folks were still in line to get fed!
The traditional dancers did get in after all! Jonny and I had gone up to the top compound to watch the helicopter landing and the first part of the ceremony, and when we came back to where the meeting was held, there were probably a couple of hundred Pokots in their respective groups and costumes – inside the gate! They didn’t cause too much stir though – they stood quietly for most of the meeting, and then towards the end, they began “dancing”. It was mostly just hopping straight up in the air, and back down again while they shook their spears. They had big necklaces of beads or something around their necks which made noise, and they shouted now and again. The funny part was, Mr. Moi left the compound by a different route anyway, so they didn’t even get to dance for him!
We all went to the Kitale Club for a dinner last night – the group of visitors, the missionaries, and as many Kenyan ministers and elders as possible. A few of us got a swim before dinner, which felt SO good after all the heat and dust of the day! Then after dinner, all the visitors were presented with gifts, Rev. Kendagor made a speech, and Dr. Woods brought a word of testimony. Rev. Kendagor mentioned a couple of things about the future of the church that need to be prayed about. One was the need for a more accurate translation of the Scriptures into Swahili, and for accurate translations to be made into all the tribal languages. The trouble seems to be that some if not all of the Bible Societies that are working in Kenya (and I have no idea how many there are – maybe only one!) are not accurate or faithful in their translation work. So the choice for the church leaders is either to give their people an unfaithful translation in their mother tongue, or none at all! Pray that faithful men and women will be raised up, whether in the BCFC or another solid church or organisation, who have the necessary skills and knowledge to translate.
Tomorrow, all the visitors are splitting up into 5 or 6 groups; in each area, people from the churches nearby will gather in one central location, and one of the visiting ministers will be preaching. These big meetings are called “humojas”. Some of them go on for a few hours! Keep it all in prayer, please.

Preparations for the Opening

2009-09-10T21:34:00.000+02:00

I’m so tired I can hardly walk! We were up at the school today to set up for the big day tomorrow. So setting up tables and chairs, carrying desks, cleaning and dusting etc. Then back home for a bite to eat, and back to the school for a couple hours tonight to set tables and put out flower arrangements. The Kenyan way is for the boys to do the outside work and the girls get stuck inside!! I didn’t think it very fair. Brian and Jonny helped to carry stuff, of course, and any other boys whom we could shame into helping.
It was a good day, though; I had a chance to meet a lot of the school kids and get a chat with some of them. They’re all very friendly and affectionate, although some are still shy around white people. Pray for these kids – they have a great privilege in attending a Christian school. We went to the church in Emboghat on Sunday, and one of the young men asked me to come and give a word of “encouragement” to the young people. They were all going back to boarding school on Monday, and some of them (as young as 11 or 12) go to Roman Catholic schools. In other words, for 9 months of the year, they are under the direct influence of Rome, 7 days a week.
The big group from Ulster arrived yesterday. They went into Kitale to do some shopping, and I met up with them after observing/helping with a few piano lessons. The bookshop in Kitale was filled with white people – it looked really strange! They are staying in the Kitale Golf Club, which is about the only place here that would have half-decent accommodation. It’s not bad – the golf course, swimming pool, squash court, etc. I felt a bit in limbo actually when I was with them – I’m not one of the missionaries, but I didn’t feel like one of the “visitors” either!
Keep the meeting tomorrow in prayer, that everything will go smoothly and God will be glorified. Dr. McClelland is preaching, and I know there will be unsaved there. A lot of people from the community are coming because Mr. Moi (the former president) will be there. In fact, some people wanted to do the traditional welcome dance for him, and of course they weren’t allowed, and now they’re saying they will do it right outside the school gates! Mr. Moi has never come to this area before, and it’s quite funny to see how the potholes are being filled up in the local roads and other things made shipshape. Anyway, I’m going to go do a bit more and then head to bed. Keep in touch, everyone!

Sunny and Singing Lessons

2009-09-06T05:00:00.000+02:00

We arrived into Kapenguria on Thursday evening after a long but uneventful drive. Things began happening almost at once, however -- Sunny, one of the compound dogs, managed to slip through the gate and got hit by a car! He's a lovely big lab -- very friendly and affectionate. Margaret Russell and Kathy Walker share a walled compound, a night watchman, and three dogs as protection from . . . . (I haven't been told yet what all the dangers are!) Anyway, Sunny was hit in the abdomen (if that's what you call it on a dog), and he was vomiting and seemed to be in a lot of pain. Thankfully, he seems to have picked up a bit in the past two days and is more in his usual form, although still finding it a bit difficult to eat.

Yesterday (Thursday), I spent the morning helping to get stuff ready for the BCFC Academy official opening which takes place next Friday. Sounds like it's going to be a big event! The former president of Kenya -- Mr. Moi -- is attending as well as some other officials, or maybe they're just his aides. Then there's a group of 22 people coming out from some of the Free Pres churches, and then of course a lot of parents and church members from here. Everyone has to have a name badge -- i.e. "guest", "special guest", "parent", "host", "steward", etc. So I spent a couple hours hot-glueing some badges together yesterday. Then we went into Kitale for a few hours to run some errands and for Kathy to do some business at the bookshop. Kitale is the nearest good-sized town (about half an hour away from Kapenguria), and it's also where Noreen McAfee and Rev. Dave DiCanio live. (Gillian Gillespie lives about two hours away in Mumias.) We ended up going to Dave's for dinner -- pizza which he made from scratch. Yum! Must say I was impressed with the cooking.

Everything takes so long here! Mundane things like going to the bank etc -- you feel like it's wasted time I suppose, but it's very necessary. I guess when we think of the "hardships" that missionaries put up with, we don't think of these very ordinary, day-to-day chores as being part of that, but in a real way they are because sometimes it seems like everything is a hassle. Somebody said yesterday that if living in Kenya teaches you nothing else, it teaches patience.

I'm going to be filling in for Kathy while she's home on furlough -- she leaves in a couple of weeks and will be away for 4 months. Of course, I won't be able to do some of the stuff she is responsible for -- for one reason or another: I don't know the language, I wouldn't have a clue how to begin running a bookshop, etc! But I'm supposed to take over her piano students and at least keep them moving in the right direction if nothing else -- she has 10 students at the moment -- all adults, because there's no way to choose between all the kids who want to learn! So she's begun only with adults. Kathy also trains the choir directors from several different BCFC churches -- she meets with them once a month. Today was one of these meetings. It was supposed to start at 1pm, but at 1pm no one was there yet! So around 1:45, we commenced. It was certainly an education for me. All the Kenyan believers who were there (approx 12 or 13) could "lead" music better than me (since I'd never tried it before) in that they knew how to swing their arms etc. So I pretended to concentrate on singing the Swahili words while watching them out of the corner of my eye until I had gotten the hang of it a little. Then one of the choir directors, a man called Francis who would assist Kathy, taught us all a little of the "do, re, mi" system. This was also completely new to me! I was very relieved when Kathy told me that I should probably let Francis lead the choir training meetings while she's away (since I can't speak Swahili); so my responsibilities will be to play and chip in with suggestions etc. Sounds good!

I was supposed to go with Kathy as she taught one of her piano students this morning. The lesson takes place every Saturday morning at 8:30 am -- on the side of the road! Kathy couldn't find a central location where she could set up the keyboard, so she pulls off the road at a certain point, opens the boot, and sets up the keyboard just outside it. Then Emily walks out to meet her, and they sit in the open boot and have the lesson. Only in Kenya!! I would have taken a picture for you all, but sadly Emily never showed up this morning. Whoops!

Kathy and I are going to the church in Emboghat tomorrow; Alec Wallace from our Randalstown church is going along to speak. Brian Lorimer and Jonny Blaney from Ballymena (both of whom are getting along fine by the way) are going to the church in Moi's Bridge. Jonny is due to preach. Pray for these services, that God will help the fellas as they preach, and that His Name will be glorified.

Was trying to put pictures on here, but having a bit of trouble due to slow connection. I'll try again!

Here I am in Kenya

2009-09-02T19:09:00.000+02:00

I'm sitting in a guesthouse in Nairobi, using the wireless internet. Arrived early this morning, and spent the day running errands with Kathy Walker and getting stuff that won't be available in Kitale. I was able to go to the Liberian consulate here in Nairobi and get my visa for the trip to Liberia that's planned for the end of October. So at least that will cut out the hassle of doing it by post!
I'm really tired, and tomorrow we're heading down to Kitale/Kapenguria area where the missionaries live. It's a 6 hour drive, with a stop along the way to pick up some stuff for the bookshop, so I better get some sleep!

What's the Plan?

2009-08-13T00:39:00.000+02:00

Lord willing, I'm leaving for Kenya on September 1, 2009. I've been asked to help out there for a few months while one of our Free Presbyterian missionaries is on furlough. I'll be based in Kapenguria, Western Kenya, working alongside the other Free P missionaries and the Bible Christian Faith Church of Kenya. I'm not sure what all I'll be doing, but pray that the Lord will give me strength and wisdom to face whatever comes my way. Pray most of all that His Name will be glorified -- made great among the heathen. (Malachi 1:11)