Thursday, December 23, 2010
Encounter Kenya 2010 over but the journey has just began
The team just returned back in New Zealand yesterday. We will miss each other as we had become a family. Before we left Nairobi, we de-briefed on what the trip meant for each of us and I was really encouraged to hear how God had used the trip to shape us for His purposes. It is clear we have been greatly impacted, and I believe the relationships we developed in Kenya will last for a long time. For some in the team, this trip will continue to be a reference point, defining their priorities and vision for the future. To God be the glory for the things He has done. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. This blog will not be able to express the full extent of the impact of Encounter Kenya 2010. If you would like more information please talk to one of the team members. Now it is time to live out the lessons from Kenya. Have a Christ-centred Christmas.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
safari
We just got back from safari last night. We saw heaps of amazing animals while we were there. We saw lions, elephants, buffalo, wilderbeasts, ostrich and heaps of others.
We had a pretty good time but the tour company we had booked with had issues and didn't organise for us to get into the safari park or pay for our accommodation so we missed out on a night and morning of safari which was very frustrating.
In the end we had to pay our own own way into the park. It was lucky we had enough to cover the cost but I hope we get refunded for the days we couldn't get into the park and the money we spent to get in. We also had to wait for a couple of hrs before we could leave the safari lodge because it hadn't been paid which was really annoying.
We had a pretty good time but the tour company we had booked with had issues and didn't organise for us to get into the safari park or pay for our accommodation so we missed out on a night and morning of safari which was very frustrating.
In the end we had to pay our own own way into the park. It was lucky we had enough to cover the cost but I hope we get refunded for the days we couldn't get into the park and the money we spent to get in. We also had to wait for a couple of hrs before we could leave the safari lodge because it hadn't been paid which was really annoying.
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Thursday, December 16, 2010
to the desert and beyond!
First we headed to Marsibit. The drive there was quite the adventure! It was supposed to take us 10 hours but it ended up taking 27. There was fighting between two tribes so it wasn't safe to go at night. When we made it we were hit with heat! We visited a children's home before continuing on to Kargi. It was so amazing! We were in the absolute middle of the desert with nothing to see but sand and thorny bushes. But the people were amazing! At first they didn't know what to do with us mazunkos but as we visited more manyattas they became more and more welcoming. The kids were so cute and there were so many of them! We did vbs with the kids most mornings and then manyatta ministry in the afternoon. They wore gorgeous beadwork and loved singing and dancing. Each of us were adopted by different families from different clans. My new name is Habdola Madacho. Being adopted and spending time with my new family was my highlight. The Rendilles are so beautiful. Our team was amazing as well. By the end our kiwi/kenyan team was like one big happy family! I'm going to miss everyone there so much. The desert does amazing things to you. It really gives you time to notice the small things in life and focus on building relationships. It's been an indescribable experience that I will never forget!
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the road to Marsibit
We set out for Marsibit yesterday and stopped in a town called Isiolo for lunch. This was my first encounter in Kenya with real poverty while we had previously driven past kibera isiolo seemed different, it was the first time I had seen kids with dirty and torn clothes and no shoes.
In isiolo we went to a church compound where we had some lunch. I had some mundasis which are kinda like a savory dohnut. Inside the compound they had a stockpile of relief food for the northern villages. There was perhaps 3 or 4 trucks worth of maize. When I talked to the guys at the compound about it they told me it wasn't nearly enough.
After leaving isiolo we continued north toward Marsibit for the first 150kms the road is newly sealed and in much better condition than those in Nairobi but after this the road turned to a mix of dirt and gravel. It's very dusty and like driving over a sheet of corrugated iron. What struck me about the road is that this is the main road from Cairo to south Africa but its so incredibly rough. You may be able to drive it in a car but it would have been pretty unwise.
We traveled until it was dark when we were stopped by a road block in a town called Laisamis. The police had closed the road to vehicles traveling without an escort. We were told this was due to some unrest between tribes further up the road. This was pretty worrying for us kiwis as we aren't used to dealing with this kind of thing and through our eyes the town we were in seemed very foreign.
Fortunately our guide pastor john knew the pastor of the local congregation and was able to arrange for us to stay with him which was such a blessing. It was great to know God is looking out for us. Another amazing blessing was that there was cellphone reception which made me personally feel a lot more safe.
The pastors compound was about 5mins out of the Laisamis township and contained a concrete block house with two or three bedrooms and some cosy couches. We were cooked a meal by our cook who was traveling with us, and set up to sleep on the pastors porch.
We slept on roll up mats under mosquito nets. Most of the guys were tired and slept till morning but I heard hyena close by throughout the night so I didn't sleep soundly. The others didn't realise what the noise was until the morning.
It absolutely amazing me how hospitable the people are here.
Luke
In isiolo we went to a church compound where we had some lunch. I had some mundasis which are kinda like a savory dohnut. Inside the compound they had a stockpile of relief food for the northern villages. There was perhaps 3 or 4 trucks worth of maize. When I talked to the guys at the compound about it they told me it wasn't nearly enough.
After leaving isiolo we continued north toward Marsibit for the first 150kms the road is newly sealed and in much better condition than those in Nairobi but after this the road turned to a mix of dirt and gravel. It's very dusty and like driving over a sheet of corrugated iron. What struck me about the road is that this is the main road from Cairo to south Africa but its so incredibly rough. You may be able to drive it in a car but it would have been pretty unwise.
We traveled until it was dark when we were stopped by a road block in a town called Laisamis. The police had closed the road to vehicles traveling without an escort. We were told this was due to some unrest between tribes further up the road. This was pretty worrying for us kiwis as we aren't used to dealing with this kind of thing and through our eyes the town we were in seemed very foreign.
Fortunately our guide pastor john knew the pastor of the local congregation and was able to arrange for us to stay with him which was such a blessing. It was great to know God is looking out for us. Another amazing blessing was that there was cellphone reception which made me personally feel a lot more safe.
The pastors compound was about 5mins out of the Laisamis township and contained a concrete block house with two or three bedrooms and some cosy couches. We were cooked a meal by our cook who was traveling with us, and set up to sleep on the pastors porch.
We slept on roll up mats under mosquito nets. Most of the guys were tired and slept till morning but I heard hyena close by throughout the night so I didn't sleep soundly. The others didn't realise what the noise was until the morning.
It absolutely amazing me how hospitable the people are here.
Luke
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kargi
We have been in Kargi for 4 days now. Life here is very different to what I have seen in the rest of Kenya. Kargi is inhabited by the Rendille people. They live very traditionally. The culture here is very hospitable which makes us feel very welcome. Kargi is however very hot (although I have been told that it has been cool while we have been here)
The Rendille people live in villages close to the township of Kargi. The villages are grouped by tribe of which there are 9. Each tribe has a manyatta which is a group of smaller villages. The individual villages consist of a number of small spherical huts called min surrounding a set of animal pens made of acacia branches.
During our time here we have gone and visited a different manyatta each day to tell bible stories. It has amazed me how open people have been to hearing about God. It's very cool that people here are excited to hear about God. When we arrive at a manyatta we walk around the outside of a village telling people that we.are.about to tell some stories. We then sit under an acacia tree and sing some songs, pray and tell a short story.
The children here wear little to no clothes which is a bit weird for us westerners. Another thing that we have found w little wierd is that women here will often not wear anything on the top half. We were told that the Rendille do not consider anything above the waist to be nudity.
Another thing the Rendille do is adopt newcomers into a family. When you are adopted you ate given a necklace to identify your family and a new name. I was adopted into a Christian converts family. My tribe is uruwen and my new name is Galbeitu Ogom. It's quite cool and opens doors to be accepted into the community.
The Rendille people live in villages close to the township of Kargi. The villages are grouped by tribe of which there are 9. Each tribe has a manyatta which is a group of smaller villages. The individual villages consist of a number of small spherical huts called min surrounding a set of animal pens made of acacia branches.
During our time here we have gone and visited a different manyatta each day to tell bible stories. It has amazed me how open people have been to hearing about God. It's very cool that people here are excited to hear about God. When we arrive at a manyatta we walk around the outside of a village telling people that we.are.about to tell some stories. We then sit under an acacia tree and sing some songs, pray and tell a short story.
The children here wear little to no clothes which is a bit weird for us westerners. Another thing that we have found w little wierd is that women here will often not wear anything on the top half. We were told that the Rendille do not consider anything above the waist to be nudity.
Another thing the Rendille do is adopt newcomers into a family. When you are adopted you ate given a necklace to identify your family and a new name. I was adopted into a Christian converts family. My tribe is uruwen and my new name is Galbeitu Ogom. It's quite cool and opens doors to be accepted into the community.
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Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Heart wrenching slum experience- How long O Lord?
Today our team spent the morning in the slums of Kwa-Njenga in the East lands of Nairobi. For some in the team, it was their first time in the slum. Although I have been in the slum many times, I still was moved to tears by what I experienced. We visited 8 homes and stayed for about 30 minutes in each home. The team was split into two so that each team visited 4 homes. In the first home we met a lady who was HIV positive, 5 children, had been married three times and all three husbands had passed away within a period of about 10 years. Second home- a family of 10 children living in a wee place about 10 feet by 10 feet. No regular income, not sure when the next meal will come from. Their teenage children have gone to the streets due to desperation. Last home, we find a woman bedridden due to an illness that has not been properly diagonised. She cannot afford to go for tests. It may be an acute liver or kidney problem or a tumor. She can hardly move. We prayed for healing and hope to follow up her progress. AND YET..... in the midst of this pain, injustice and hopelessness, we felt that God was there in every home we visited. There was a joy and peace behold understanding! Kids entertained us with songs, dance and poems and yet many may not have had breakfast that morning and they were not expecting to have lunch.
After a 3 hour experience that felt like a full day we sat in a coffee shop to de brief. Many in the team said they felt the people in the slums have a lot of hope and that keeps them going in the midst of heart wrenching challenges. But I still long to see justice flow down like a stream. Poverty is multi faceted and requires a holistic multi faceted solution. There are no quick fixes and yet one person like Rachel or Kim at Utu Wema project that we visited a making a huge difference in the lives of about 180 children and their families. And yet they have very limited resources. I think one way we can make a difference is to walk alongside people like Kim and Rachel ( locals in the slum) as they know how to effectively engage poverty in the slum in a sustainable way. I ask .. how long O Lord? But surely God has not left himself without a witness
After a 3 hour experience that felt like a full day we sat in a coffee shop to de brief. Many in the team said they felt the people in the slums have a lot of hope and that keeps them going in the midst of heart wrenching challenges. But I still long to see justice flow down like a stream. Poverty is multi faceted and requires a holistic multi faceted solution. There are no quick fixes and yet one person like Rachel or Kim at Utu Wema project that we visited a making a huge difference in the lives of about 180 children and their families. And yet they have very limited resources. I think one way we can make a difference is to walk alongside people like Kim and Rachel ( locals in the slum) as they know how to effectively engage poverty in the slum in a sustainable way. I ask .. how long O Lord? But surely God has not left himself without a witness
Monday, December 13, 2010
Finding love
Us Nairobi-based lot visted a lot of different projects last week. We have visted a heap of churches and Christian organisations doing their best to meet the practical needs of people here... The basic theory seems to be that God wants to capture all of creation into his purposes - not just salvation of people, but transformation of every aspect of our lives, including economic and health needs. Meeting the practical needs is as much part of expressing God's love as 'saving souls'.
One of my favourite projects is run by Diasy, she runs a micro-enterprise business that gives loans to groups within a community. The model is basically to get them to save money, then approve a loan relative to their savings; they pay it back, and can then work towards another, bigger loan. She started this business because her house maid and house guard approached her for a loan - meetings with them grew to meetings with 40 people, and then she decided to formalise things. She now runs the programme with accountability through her church.. the church is now essentially supporting her vision.
We have seen heaps of examples of people trying in different ways to meet the practical needs of their community.
The church that I have known and seen in NZ has focussed a lot on evangelism (probably up to the mid-late 90s) and community, but has struggled with local mission. I think it has definately struggled with practical mission within the community, perhaps because of a tendancy to over-spiritualise church. I think Christians in NZ acknowledge that God is a Sunday to Monday church, but many churches struggle as a community to give effect to that acknowledgement outside personal frienships of church members. Sometimes our leaders have struggled to mobilise an apathetic congregation, sometimes our congregation has struggled to apply the relevance of Jesus to our communities where we don't talk about God with people until we have earned the right.
The spiritual context is different in Nairobi. The church is unashamedly passionate about Jesus. The community has so many needs (different to those we face at home), but people get on with praising Jesus for what they have. Here you have buses and cars labelled with slogans about faith, God and Jesus. Talking about God with people is normal, and can happen within a few minutes of meeting. Some churches struggle with the few people doing most of the work of the church, others manage to develop leaders and send them out.
I have found the spiritual expression really refreshing and inspiring. Oh, and these guys can SING ; )
I have seen that the Kenyan church has different struggles from ours, and there are a few challenges I'd like to bring back home. The first is about practical mission to meet the needs of the community. I don't think it needs to be done with banners and songs celebrating Jesus. In our context I suspect that love is the gateway to talking about Jesus. Whether it's helping out in Prisons to look after children while parents visit, or helping with trouble kids at school to stay in school... there are plenty of needs. I think there's room to just get started on the practical needs and see the opportunities that creates to talk about God.
Second, I'm not really sure when the NZ church became less confident about the power of the gospel. I'm not sure exactly sure how it can be overcome. I think that materialism has something to do with the problem - that we have so much, and have come to have security in our stuff... when we don't have it we are less likely to trust God to look after us because we are so used to looking after ourselves. I don't know that removing the stuff would solve the problem, but definately I think there's opportunity to take stock of our attitude to stuff and consider how it affects our view of God.
The church in NZ is really blessed...we have abundant resources, we have a mature church that probably needs a bit of a refreshing, and many of us have learned over the years that God is faithful. We have a lot to offer our communities...
Let the love of God explode from us.
One of my favourite projects is run by Diasy, she runs a micro-enterprise business that gives loans to groups within a community. The model is basically to get them to save money, then approve a loan relative to their savings; they pay it back, and can then work towards another, bigger loan. She started this business because her house maid and house guard approached her for a loan - meetings with them grew to meetings with 40 people, and then she decided to formalise things. She now runs the programme with accountability through her church.. the church is now essentially supporting her vision.
We have seen heaps of examples of people trying in different ways to meet the practical needs of their community.
The church that I have known and seen in NZ has focussed a lot on evangelism (probably up to the mid-late 90s) and community, but has struggled with local mission. I think it has definately struggled with practical mission within the community, perhaps because of a tendancy to over-spiritualise church. I think Christians in NZ acknowledge that God is a Sunday to Monday church, but many churches struggle as a community to give effect to that acknowledgement outside personal frienships of church members. Sometimes our leaders have struggled to mobilise an apathetic congregation, sometimes our congregation has struggled to apply the relevance of Jesus to our communities where we don't talk about God with people until we have earned the right.
The spiritual context is different in Nairobi. The church is unashamedly passionate about Jesus. The community has so many needs (different to those we face at home), but people get on with praising Jesus for what they have. Here you have buses and cars labelled with slogans about faith, God and Jesus. Talking about God with people is normal, and can happen within a few minutes of meeting. Some churches struggle with the few people doing most of the work of the church, others manage to develop leaders and send them out.
I have found the spiritual expression really refreshing and inspiring. Oh, and these guys can SING ; )
I have seen that the Kenyan church has different struggles from ours, and there are a few challenges I'd like to bring back home. The first is about practical mission to meet the needs of the community. I don't think it needs to be done with banners and songs celebrating Jesus. In our context I suspect that love is the gateway to talking about Jesus. Whether it's helping out in Prisons to look after children while parents visit, or helping with trouble kids at school to stay in school... there are plenty of needs. I think there's room to just get started on the practical needs and see the opportunities that creates to talk about God.
Second, I'm not really sure when the NZ church became less confident about the power of the gospel. I'm not sure exactly sure how it can be overcome. I think that materialism has something to do with the problem - that we have so much, and have come to have security in our stuff... when we don't have it we are less likely to trust God to look after us because we are so used to looking after ourselves. I don't know that removing the stuff would solve the problem, but definately I think there's opportunity to take stock of our attitude to stuff and consider how it affects our view of God.
The church in NZ is really blessed...we have abundant resources, we have a mature church that probably needs a bit of a refreshing, and many of us have learned over the years that God is faithful. We have a lot to offer our communities...
Let the love of God explode from us.
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