We have been back from Africa for five days now. Since my last blog, we have boarded that plane I mentioned, spent eight days in Kenya, and made the long journey home. The journey home, while uneventful, was tiring to be sure. We got up at 6:30 am and prepared for church, Easter (more on that later). After church we had lunch and took the three-to-four-hour drive from Narok to the airport in Nairobi. There was a bit of mix up with the planning. There were two. Plan A was to hang in Narok until about 5:00 pm and then head to the airport, be dropped off a bit early and finally do all the check-in stuff, passport control, security, several times, and wait for the plane. Plan B was to leave right after church and check into a catholic Nunnery to rest a bit and then go to the airport about 11:00 and then our hosts would return to the Nunnery, sleep, and return to Narok in the morning. We ended up with Plan C – go straight to the airport and hang out for ten hours before our flight. The only saving grace was that for the first leg of our flight I upgraded to business so we spend a couple of hours in an airline lounge. But we are home so the plan worked.
But back to the last few days in Zimbabwe. Leaving there is always bittersweet. We have such great friends and co-laborers there. We love “our church” even when we visit several. The farewell gathering is such a special time, and this year was no exception. As I reflect on our time in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, we did some good work. This year we were not as busy as some years, going every day out to somewhere. Our teaching times were fewer, but longer. The stewardship message, which needs repeated regularly, is beginning to sink in for several congregations.
On top of that, we were able to see the church building at Mlelezi grow and help paint the bathrooms for the new church. We were there to watch the new roof go on the Dine Church of Christ. We got new beds and mattresses for the Waiting Mothers’ Village at the clinic. We enjoyed the solar electricity in the guest house. And we roughed it in Mozambique in some rather rustic surroundings. We loved it all. But it was time to move our travelling mission on to another country, Kenya. But before that part of the report, let me say, we are already planning next Spring’s return to our second home country. And a special shout out to Mo Davy our host in Chiredzi.
On the Friday before Palm Sunday, we made our way North the 6 hours to Harare where we crashed for the night and hopped a Malawi Airlines flight to Nairobi. It is an OK airline, and I would fly them again (I didn’t book with them, but it was a codeshare with Ethiopian). After two stops and one plane change, we arrived in Nairobi at 8:00 pm. Our host there, Patrick, met us and took us to the aforementioned Nunnery for the night. We had a nice meal and a comfortable bed, which we managed to get into about 11:00. We got up at 5:15 for some breakfast and a three-hour drive to Narok where we arrived before church started. I was the preacher that morning and talked about Jesus making his king, prophet, and Messiah claim as he rode into town. We then checked into our digs for the next eight days. It was a convention center hotel. It was a very nice place with a very affordable restaurant and pleasant room. The bed was too hard, and the internet spotty, but other than that, it was good. I would stay there again.
Monday morning, we started our teaching time. I say Monday morning, but it wasn’t early Monday. We were to be picked up at 9:00, but people were slow in arriving so it was more like 10:30ish. But at some point Monday, we got started. I was teaching between 50 to 60 church leaders. There are 450 churches in this network of churches covering lots of area in Kenya. Three languages were represented and several tribes. I did two, related things. On Monday and Tuesday, I shared the role and importance of the leaders in teaching and modeling stewardship. I talked about some myths that preachers often have about stewardship. The challenge was to start teaching stewardship in their churches. Then Wednesday and Thursday, I shared what they were to teach their churches. It is one thing to challenge them to teach, it is another thing to give them material to teach. Sherry had forty or so women (more really) she taught. Her theme was women that Jesus encountered in the Gospels. Both our sessions were well received. We also passed out ties and scarves on the last day and it was fun watching them come. It is such an important thing we do (well, you do because we are giving away ties and scarves you share.) Friday was a planning day, packing day, and a trip to a Maasai house. This was not a tourist trap house, but an off the beaten-path, real home house. We sat and had chai with a grandma and her granddaughter in a tiny smoke-filled mud house she called home.
Our final day in Kenya was Easter. We have spent now the last three Easters in Africa. It has become our new resurrection celebration home. The last two were in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe and this one in Kenya. (Next year it is back to Chiredzi). It was a three-hour service. I preached on the Road to Emmaus story from Luke. Sherry shared her confetti stick celebration. I love watching the confetti fly and the smiles and laughter of every church we have done it. The day before we were gifted with new Maasai outfits. See attached. They are very special, and it was an honor to wear them for Easter. After church we started home, but I told that story above.
So, what in next? I mentioned the planning meeting on Friday and Saturday. We have been asked to come back to Kenya another time this year and again next year. The latter will be in conjunction with the Zimbabwe trip in the Spring. We have new topics, new people to teach, and more work to do, in Kenya, in Zimbabwe, and in Mozambique. Don’t worry Zimbabwe people, you are still our second home. We will be raising money to make these trips possible. We believe God has gifted us and called us. I sometimes wonder, “Why me? Why us?” I don’t have an answer to that question, but the call is real and the work important. So, this year’s trip is in the books. The next two trips are in the works (August is first). Our experience this year was amazing. We do serve an awesome God.