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.