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Pray for the African Churches

Here are some prayer requests for the churches here that we partner with:

Kahawa Sukari:
Pastors Simon Oriedo and Ezekiel Kayeli There is a tremendous need to develop their Children’s ministry. This is urgent… they have lots of kids! They need a person to come and serve in the capacity of Childhood Ministries Director and part-time administrative assistant. They would LOVE a volunteer from the US who would give three months to begin this work. Any takers?

KSBC is also beginning a new building project. Their current facility is PACKED, and they are raising money for a new church building. Pray that God would provide.

Hope:
Pastor Bruce Wandera.

Hope Baptist is in the Mathare slum - site of much of the post election violence. Despite this, they are faithful and growing.

They have also outgrown their space and need to build a church building. They have a plot of land, now just need the means to build on it.

They have a number of men who have a great heart for ministry, but need training. Means are needed to send these faithful brothers to Bible College right here in Nairobi.

The Hope school serves the children of the slum. Right now they have somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 kids. What a ministry! Pray for both the space and resources needed for this school.

Hope wants to grow in the area of rural evangelism, a significant need here in Africa. Pray also for power and growth in this area.

Finally, Hope is also starting a children’s ministry and needs help with that, from money to space to leadership

Included in these requests is Light Way Baptist… Pastor Doki Ogao had to leave our Pastors Meeting early and I was not able to get specific prayer requests from him, but the needs of his church are very similar to those of Hope and KSBC.

I cannot tell you how deep and godly and wise these men of God are here. Keep them covered!

Last Day

Well… here it is.

The day we all knew would come has finally arrived - our last day in Kenya.

This morning we all got to sleep in and enjoy a bit of a longer breakfast and meet at church at 10:30 for the Good Friday service. Here in Africa, the lives of Christians seem to revolve around their local church. They meet together in some form or another probably four times a week at least. Personal space and downtime are not seen the same way here, and community is greatly valued over individual freedom. What a lesson for us - especially those of us who become resentful when the church “asks” for more than two days in a week.

Yesterday was a HUGE day. We all got up at 4:30 am to meet at church at 6:00 and go on Safari. That was amazing to say the least. We have had a big problem uploading pictures because of the 28.8 kbps modem connection, or we would post a zillion pics of the safari (and all our other adventures. I alone have over 500 pictures!). After Safari we had lunch, and then we toured the Rift Valley - about 7,000 feet elevation. It was actually cool for once! We got to the overlook site where there was a little shop that sold African goods and had to negotiate prices. That was pretty cool. Most of spent most of our money there. I did not exchange enough dollars for shillings, so my gifts for my wife and kids were a bit modest…

The drive to the Rift Valley was indescribable. You go through slums, farm country, large estates, mountains. It was breathtaking. The number of ancient vehicles decorated with all kinds of paint and held together by welds and duct tape is amazing. We saw donkeys pulling overloaded carts and camels carrying people. Dozens of these cool Kenyan bicycles where the rider sits completely upright. We also saw bikers going up the mountain roads holding on to the backs of semis to hitch a ride. Mercy!

We came back from the Rift Valley trip and rested for about an hour and then had dinner at a five-star restaurant called Safari Park right here by Kahawa Sukari. I ate like six or seven kinds of meat! For 1950 Ksh ($30) you get all the fresh roasted exotic meat you can eat. The chefs come around and cut it right off the skewer. There was live music, dessert, salad…

Noemi - you keep on asking if Julius is eating… I feel like all we do here is eat. I have gained 10 pounds if I’ve gained an ounce. One of the things I’m bringing home is a belly!

Seeing all the little children makes me miss my kids. I show pics of my family and get lots of questions about Anisa because she is African-American, but seeing the beautiful little girls here just makes me miss her terribly. Some of our team members don’t want to go home, but as much as I have fallen in love with Africa, I love my wife and boys and daughter more, and I can’t wait to see them. I wish they could have come.

I got one last opportunity to preach this morning at the Good Friday service. Once again I was humbled by the thought of preaching to these holy people. I believe God was honored, however.

This afternoon, many of us are doing some final shopping at the fancy mall. I have abstained to be writing to you, faithful blog readers. We will all be going to Pastor Simon’s house for a late lunch at 4:00 and then to the airport afterwards. Then the long flight, and then home.

I will say this… the partnership with KSBC is supernatural and divine. I would urge all of you readers to begin to ask God whether He would have you come on the next trip and bless these churches while they teach you. It is amazing.

Sherry, I love you and I miss you. Ben, Sam and Nisa - Daddy will be home tomorrow, if the Lord is willing.

God’s peace to you all.

Attacked by monkeys!

Hello friends and family!

Africa is amazing. The air, the people, the singing, the food, the ministry… and of course our Lord!

The trip started out pretty hard for me. Woke up the first day very sick after getting no sleep on the plane or for the first night. BUT God has heard your prayers and ours as well… it was a sad way to start the week, but God is good and everything has been amazing from there. I feel wonderful and continue to see the power of God flowing through this amazing team of brothers and sisters. It’s been humbling to get to know the people of Kahawa Sukari, they have stuck by our side and have been so patient every second of the way!!

We went to the park before our basketball camp yesterday and gave food to the monkeys. They seemed shy at first but it wasn’t long before they were jumping all over our backs and necks…. it was a great time!

Mom and Dad thank you so much for the comments and to the rest of our family, friends and my sweet grow group girls (Roxy I read your comment, love you!). Your prayers and kind words are SO encouraging!!! LOVE YOU Miss you all… but not in a hurry to get home yet

>>hugs<<

-KT

Day 3

03/18/08

Africa is amazing.

We worshipped with three churches on Sunday – Craig and KT went to Light Way Baptist in Githurai, and Esteban and Josh went to Hope Baptist in the large slum of Mathare. The rest of us remained here at Kahawa Sukari. To say the least, the way Africans worship and pray is nothing short of amazing. As I was sitting there before I preached, I thought Lord, what do I have to give these people? There is such a joy and depth to their worship. The whole congregation is moving and singing and speaking to the Lord. It’s an overwhelming experience. I even told them that they ought to send missionaries to the US to teach us how to pray and praise. I was serious.

What I discovered is that the thing I have to give them is God’s word. I am but a servant, and if I proclaim the Word accurately then it speaks to them, not me.

Of course our hosts are beyond gracious, and go out of their way to make sure we are comfortable and all of our needs are met. After church we were fed and given tea and entertained. Everyone wants to talk to us and know us and commune with us. We have a great deal to learn from our brothers and sisters here.

If it’s possible, Monday was even more amazing. We did the Youth Workers Conference in the morning, and we just couldn’t get enough. Many of us were tired – Iris had not slept since we left Chicago – but we were energized by the ministry. The people who work with youth here are very passionate, and engaging them and teaching them and learning from them is one of the most refreshing experiences I have had in some time. Ezekiel had to pull us away so we could go to Parklands Boys School for the first installation of the basketball clinic. It was that good.

Today, most of the team went to conduct their Chapel, with Craig preaching. I have to say that driving from Kahawa Sukari to Parklands is quite an experience. It was almost like a scene from a Star Wars movie… a myriad of amazingly diverse vehicles crammed together and moving very quickly on roundabouts and indescribable roads full of people and animals and bicycles. Wow. I stayed here to meet with the pastors of Kahawa Sukari, Lightway and Hope. Very edifying. I cannot stress how amazing the African church is.

Later on we will go to another school for some ministry time, and then back to Parklands this evening for Basketball Camp.

Prayer requests:

Iris has not slept in three days. Pray for God’s strength today and rest tonight. [P.S. God Answered!]

The churches here have some significant prayer requests that I will post later. Pray for their pastors.

We arrived safely in Nairobi on Saturday the 15th at about 8:15 local time.

The arrival was nothing like I had pictured… I had been informed that we would cry upon our arrival when we saw the starving children, that we would be mobbed by people desperate for money and willing to pick our pockets while they helped us with our bags… none of that happened. It was much like an airport arrival anywhere else!

Our hosts have been indescribably gracious and welcoming. Africa is like no other place.

Since today is actually the day we’re leaving, I thought a word of explanation is due… We have very limited access to the Internet here, and even when we do have access the connection is quite slow. WordPress is also slow to load and clunky to use, so what posting that has been taking place has been on our other site (www.totheendsoftheearthkenya.blogspot.com). Now I have some time, so I will post several of the things we have been putting up with the caveat that they are a few days old!

Peace,

Steve

So I get to O’Hare and my luggage is six pounds over weight, ahh!

So I had to scramble to remove stuff out of my floral, grandma-looking suit case. Thankfully, I had a large enough carry-on bag that I also had to check-in. After settling that matter, I could not find my passport! I asked the ticket agent, “where’s my passport?” He said, “I don’t know.” Now, my blood pressure is rising. Everyone else is checked-in and I cannot find my passport.

Thank God for concerned team members. Katie, found it for me, it was in my bag all along.  After the brief panic, we went to our gate and waited for almost three hours before we boarded.

I was in awe of the plane—it was huge. Now we’re in Amsterdam!!! The adventure continues.

Juanita

Amsterdam!

Steve Laughlin, NBC5 Next

Tomorrow we leave for Kenya.

A team of eleven of us who have never been to Africa will be embarking on a mission to assist local churches in Nairobi develop leaders and to reach out to local schools.

To say the least, this is a little intimidating and humbling. A group of people from Kahawa Sukari Baptist Church came here a little over a year ago and asked us to come and do a youth worker’s conference and a basketball clinic. My first thought was, “what do we have to teach them? The African church is amazing!”

Beyond that, American missions to Africa have been a mixed bag. Some have been great and life-giving. Others in hindsight did some damage.

Nonetheless, we were invited to come and share some of the things we have learned about youth ministry here in Chicago, and so we go.