Rebirth in the Compound…

After arriving back to our place on Sunday evening, I was rather tired from the day’s full schedule and the wearying return, in tow with the drunken Masai. I entered our compound and unpacked my things, finishing a few matters of business before I embraced the comfort of the bedchambers. Just as I was to go to bed I heard a knock at the door produced from the efforts of Moses, one of our delightful guards at night. He informed me that the weekend night guard wanted to be saved. A spark leapt within my soul and I went out to talk to him.

I discovered that they had been discussing some wonderful issues when I arrived and the other guard realized that although he had lived properly, he could not recall when he decided to make Jesus Christ his Savior and Lord. He shared a few words revealing his need and proper understanding and prayed the sinner’s prayer then and there.

It really was a delightful end to a busy weekend as new life was found in our own compound. How great are the ways of the Lord and the work He allows us humans to participate in! May He be praised!

Return From Nakuru...

After the night of sufficient sleep, we awoke to a sunny morning there in Ronda. We walked to the pastor’s house for some breakfast consisting of plenty of tea and some buttered bread (a definite staple regarding breakfast in Kenya). Again I found the television was on, broadcasting some preaching from Mombasa. We watched this for some time and found that even though Sunday School was to begin at 9:00, the pastor did not leave his own house until nearly 10:00. We followed him about half an hour later and found that the church numbers were down to about six or seven as we lost some of the pastors in attendance from the day before.

Service technically began at 10:00 and was said to last until 1:00. Jackson, my traveling companion shared a few words regarding the Prayer of Jabez after about an hour of singing. Fortunately the Prayer of Jabez has not become so commercialized here in Kenya, being displayed upon paper weights, t-shirts, letter openers, coffee mugs, pens, socks, tattoos, belts and the sort as one may find in the USA. This being the case allowed those people to have never heard the concept and they accepted it with open arms.

It was my turn after some more singing to bring the preaching although it was after 12:00 at that point. It seems to me that if the main service doesn’t start until after the noon hour that it should really be considered an afternoon meeting. Nevertheless, not wanted to get caught up in the technical, I brought a message about the all surpassing glory of the Spirit dwelling inside earthen vessels. It was received well, although with a few less ‘amens’ than the previous crowd.

Service ended for the ‘morning’ session and we were told the elders and pastors wanted a meeting before the afternoon session. We met with them in which they presented their requests and desires for the church, things like new instruments (the Kenyan term involving anything to do with the sound system or keyboard) and so forth. I must say that the small meeting place they had merited no need for a sound system as the human voice was strong enough. Nevertheless, the one they had seemed to do the trick and I am sure it will last for some time. Also they wanted some guidance for the sake of evangelism and reaching the community as they knew nothing of the matter. This was certainly an area that will be focused on and after I am gone Jackson will continue to be assisting them in that area.

The afternoon hours passed on and although we desired to leave by 3:30 pm to head back to Nairobi, the church tied us to another session that began abruptly at the 3:30 hour. Due to our need to reach Nairobi before the late hours we moved quickly and I preached a very short sermon on the imminent return of Jesus Christ. The torrential rains subsided just as we finished and by 5:00 we were on our way by the return matatu to Nairobi. As we were boarding our chariot to be carried back home, we noticed a very drunk Masai man who was in the vehicle. He was not just a bit tipsy but terribly drunk and I knew that would make the ride all the more interesting.

Not more than thirty minutes into our journey he began yelling and complaining loudly in Swahili. I learned that he was complaining of having a full bladder. The shouting probably continued for another hour until the driver finally stopped to provide a reprieve to the full bladdered man as well as the passengers affected by his vocal protests. He warned him strongly to keep it down and he did for the next hour or so until his bladder again grew full. He began repeating himself but to no avail, the driver refused to stop.

We were almost in town when the matatu blew a tire and we were forced to stop. The inebriated passenger was convinced the driver stopped on his behalf and after taking care of business told the driver it was time to go. However, at this point the driver was addressing the needs of the tire and within thirty minutes we were back in transit. We reached town and hopped another matatu to bring us back here to Kibera. By 9:00 we were back in our places of domicile, reeling from the wild journeys of the weekend!

Nakuru Revisited: The Going

Not long ago our neighbor and friend, Jackson Atsango, asked if I would like to go to Nakuru with him to minister at a church he knew of. I checked the schedule and longing for a chance to get away, gladly accepted the invitation. This past Saturday we departed to spend the afternoon there and the first portion of Sunday. The last time I was in Nakuru was in 2005 when I was here with AIM’s ambassador one month team. Although our time there was not entirely the best experience of the city, I thought I would give it another go. I knew the journey would take about four hours but wanted to put the notion to a test. Gross underestimations seem to be rather prevalent here and I was told shortly before leaving that I could be in Nakuru in thirty minutes, a far cry from four hours. Nevertheless, we left at 9:00 Saturday morning and indeed arrived in Nakuru shortly after 1:00 pm.

As we were passing through the town of Nakuru, I saw no small crowd of people walking near us carrying signs, each one progressing in like step. At first I was sure it was some sort of political sort of protest as they have been increasing in number with the soon arriving elections this winter. Nevertheless, they neared and I noticed they were a peculiar looking people, wearing potato sacks and some looked as if they had gotten into a fight with a large mound of talcum powder. I read the sign and then realized the nature of their march. They were advertising a national day of repentance to take place this coming weekend. I think they were calling for the entire nation of Kenya to come to their knees and repent for the various moral ails the country has fallen into. More to come on this.

Upon our arrival in the city itself, I was told we were to go to a slum on the outskirts of town called Ronda. Thinking this name was a bit peculiar for an African slum, I inquired of its origin. It was not at all in any Kenyan dialect but named for some settlers who previously owned the area. In its glory day it was a large garden, providing food and delights for its Western owners. These days it is one of the largest slums in Nakuru. In either case, that solved the origin of the name.

We found our way to the pastor’s house and sat there talking for some time, eventually moseying over to the church to begin our afternoon session. Upon arrival at the church I saw that we were not going to have any problem with crowd control. The church was filled with around nine people, five of whom were pastors and three of those five were from other churches. I could tell it was probably best to go into a home church sort of atmosphere to keep things simple. Moreover, realizing that we were in an area steeped in syncretism, mixing traditional beliefs with the Word of God, I spoke about Jesus being the only way, truth and life. I learned later that at its beginning stages the church was led by a woman who used charms and spells to assist the members of the congregation, a bit of a no-no according to the Word.

The afternoon session ended near the hour of six o’clock and we went back to the house of the pastor for some supper. Since they had very little I felt as if we were taking the very food from their mouths but ate as we were commanded. Despite their low financial position, they did have electricity and a television in their small one roomed dwelling. I have not watched TV in some time and got caught up on all the news around the country. After the news was a Kenyan favorite, Walker Texas Ranger. Everyone here seems to know Chuck Norris and delight greatly in him as the Texas Ranger. Sometimes we get requests asking if we know him. After Chuck Norris came another Kenyan favorite, Dance 360. It is some sort of program from the Western world where people randomly dance for cash prizes and iPods and the sort.

The entertainment faded on the television as did our energy levels. We walked some distance to a small motel sort of place where we were to spend the night. The place we stayed was right over a bar which played loud music until the wee hours of the morning. Nevertheless, we did get some good sleep and rose the next day to embrace whatever it would bring.