Kenya
Nakuru -
Nakuru is one of the largest urban centers in Kenya, ranked variously as third or fourth by population depending on which sources you read. The people are a collection of different tribal backgrounds and Indian which makes it interesting at election time since the political parties are supported by tribal loyalty. It also means that the Church in Nakuru is fractured along tribal lines. Few churches are integrated tribally. Some go so far as to preach in their tribal language rather than the more commonly spoken kiSwahili. Our meetings have largely been open-air evangelistic meetings with teaching times at the local church. The significance of the first picture is that, on our first visit, it had not rained for a long time. The rainy seasons had come and gone and the crops, the major economic staple for Nakuru, were failing. From the day we got there, every afternoon it would rain and then break just in time for the meeting to begin as a rainbow and sometimes two would form over the city.
Mayanja -
Mayanja is a farming community not too far from Bungoma on the Ugandan border. These pictures are from a church plant that we did there. Twice a week the village holds an open market. Local and travelling vendors come to trade and sell. We planned the outreach to coincide with the market days, beginning on Tuesday and concluding on Saturday. That Sunday, we opened the new church with about 100 new Christians.
Leadership Training in Nakuru and Mayanja -
In both Nakuru and Mayanja we've held leadership training seminars. The Mayanja sessions were particularly special to me because we were able to draw pastors and church leaders from various denominations, many travelling a good distance to be there, including a few from Uganda. It also gave me an understanding that the scope of our training does not end with the leaders in the room. Many are taking the material, copying it and re-teaching it to others. We've received letters from more than 100 miles from Mayanja where a pastor was blessed by the material given to him second or third hand.
