I’ve sat in on a few webinars; isn’t it amazing at the mushrooming ways of delivering content?  You’ve likely seen those “Go To Meeting” commercials on television.  That is exactly the program that we are using for these webinars.

I guess I need to prepare what I am going to say, so I’m outtahere!

The four-day class began with 12 students, ending with 20.  All of the students are either pastors or evangelists.  Some of them receive a small amount of funding from their congregations.  A couple of them are in university classes.  All understand a level of English, though I was glad to be able to occasionally slip in some of my rusty old Maasai.  In the discussion times, pretty much all in Maasai, I surprised myself at my level of comprehension after these many years.  I am sure having been back to the area half a dozen times in the last five years, even if for only a day or two, helped with that.

The class took place at the training institute at Ewaso Ng’iro, and the new program is termed the Mission Institute of East Africa.  The Director of the Institute is James Sinkua, who was born the year I arrived in Kenya.  What a thrill to see him leading the church and the institute.

In my recent trips to Kenya I longed to hear some of the indigenous Christian tunes that had been popular when we worked there.  I had only heard one such song in the last five years, and none except for that once since we left.  So after one break I made a request to the group to sing a song.  They made a valiant attempt, but nobody really knew the words.  So I tried with one or two others, and they did know some more words on those.  The highlight of the course was when one of the pastors, probably about 30 years old, after hearing the song, looked at me and said, “Wow, my father really loved that song.”  Yes, I have aged.

In my home town the powers that be have been arguing for ten years about a light rail system.  Hard to believe. Neither are we putting up skyscrapers at the rate I saw in a couple of Asian countries. 

Read an interesting statistic the other day.  In America we have nine cities with more than a million people.  In China there are 256 cities with more than a million people. 

For the birders out there, I did get 14 lifers on this trip, even though I barely had time to look for birds.  None were unusual; sort of the local equivalent of a robin or starling or sparrow.  But, since I’ve done so little birding in Asia, it is quite easy to get lifers.

Our friends from Kenya, Wallace and Mary, will be arriving at the airport in a few minutes.

Our good friend of thirty years, Jerry, has been diagnosed with acute leukemia.

Enough rambling!

In my session today I am speaking to 5 missionary recruits.  They are headed to countries in Europe and Asia.  All have said their desired term length is 2-4 years.  They will experience culture shock.  My task is to explain the stages so as to help them know what they are going through.  Most have traveled to other countries before; some have lived for months overseas.  This can be both positive and negative.  Some will remember what they experienced and be able to identify.  Others may think since they have been through some culture shock, the second time will be a piece of cake.  I will try to disavow them of this notion!

In this second week, pastor Gene Appel had a great message from Luke 7, showing three vignettes of how Jesus cared for people. He then brought Kenyan Mary Kamau and I to the platform for an interview about the ministry in Mathare Valley of Kenya, which included a great video that you can see (along with another couple about the series and Kenya — see the previous entry in the blog to catch the videos). This week’s video (produced by my good friend John Schmidt), was a grand mixture of humor and heart.

One of the greatest features of this week-end was to be able to tour Mathare Valley right there in Fullerton, California. The missions team had worked hundreds of hours (and at least fifty volunteers) in constructing a very real-to-life replica of Mathare Valley. They outside of the display included “walls” with original sayings from the real walls of the homes and businesses from the valley, taken from photos. Then when you entered the display you were met with the dirt on the floor, the drab setting, darkness, filty running water. What a treat for the senses. But the best were the people who had been with Eastside to Mathare Valley who told stories of real people who have been touched by the Hope Partnership. One lady told us about her microbusiness in making fried potatoes. Then came a man who told us the story of the girl who was abused, but got into the Hope school and just graduated from the 8th grade and was headed to high school — almost unheard of for the Mathare Valley kids. We rounded the corner and saw a shanty which had had a hole cut into the roof in the fantastic “Bring the Light” campaign — literally bringing light to the dark electricity-less shanties so that people can now see inside of their homes. We then got to go into a shanty, being careful not to walk or knock over the meager possessions of the people. I’ve been in the Valley many times, yet I found myself experiencing some of the same emotions and physical sensations I have in Kenya. It was a wonderful experience, and people were able to see first-hand something as close as possible to really being in Mathare Valley.

Two weeks ago (April 11) the church family at Eastside began sponsoring some 300 more children. I do not know how many were sponsored on the week-end of the 18th, and how many will be sponsored by the conclusion of the series (Apr. 25). The goal Gene put in front of the people was the sponsorship of an additional 900 to 1000 children. What a joy to be able to be there and experience what happens when God’s people reach beyond themselves to bless others.

One of our US church partners from Colorado raised funds to construct a community toilet in partnership with a local self-help group. The group had desired toilets and had come up with drawings. This was their project. They began digging. The church came along-side and eventually the building was completed. The bottom floor is divided between men’s and women’s sides. Each side has toilets as well as a shower. Water from the city is available at the toilet for a small fee. The self-help group runs the project as a community development project. The floor above the toilets and showers is a community meeting room which has been used for, among other things, a center for Bible study.

When we were in Kenya we got to pitch in with the self-help group and plant 21 tree seedlings on the small plot. Goats roam freely, so I hope the trees are protected. It would be wonderful, some years from now, to see the area with a dozen trees.

Click here to view the embedded video.