I have not posted in a while, mostly because I have been busy.  The past 2 weeks I was serving as the Acting Director of AIM’s International Services.

In addition, the World Cup started.  This is the first time since 1998 that I have missed watching a match live, but I have been able to watch most of them.  Yes, I am a freak.  If you have been reading this blog, you should have already known that.

This past Sunday we went to the church in Karuri.  That is the first church in Africa where I was privileged to preach, back in March of 2007.  It is Pastor John Njuguna’s church and I really enjoy being with him and his family.  They are trying to raise money to build a permanent structure.  The current one is wood framed with mabati (corrugated steel sheets).  It is probably around 25 years old.  Termites here are brutal, so you can imagine.  When we sold our house in 2007, we used some of the proceeds to help build a house on that property for the pastor.  Now we get to be a part of building a church there.  And so do you, since we do not have any money of our own

Sunday I preached at Kabete.  Cammy had a sore throat, so she and the boys stayed home.

I taught from Hebrews 11 and the start of 12, and was really convicted myself.  I told them a story about when I was learning to drive.  I was going to Forest Home with my sister and her husband.  They asked if I would drive some of it.  So there I was, 16 at the wheel of a large van driving up the highway full of those very dear to me.  I spent so much effort trying to keep the van in my lane.  I kept adjusting the wheel this way and that, bouncing from one side of the lane to the other.  Then my sister said, “Do not look right in front of the van, look ahead where you are going.   Your hands will follow your eyes.”  Good advice, and not just for driving.  We spend way to much time adjusting the here and now, and we fail to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” and focus on where we are going.

I really love Kabete, I even told them it was “mahali ya moyo wangu” – the place of my heart.  (They are trying to teach me Kikuyu, but that is going very slow.)  There is something really different there.  It helps that it is outside the city, so on Sundays they go to church, that is the only plan.  In fact, just as we were all preparing to leave the church, the pastor’s daughter asked me if I was leaving.  I replied that I was “free” for the afternoon.  So completely on the spot, lunch at the pastor’s house was organized.  They roped in some ladies to cook and a couple of the elders to be guests.  It was good food too.

Some of the members of Calvary Chapel Amarillo, TX were out for the dedication of the new children’s home.  However because of the bus accident the actual moving in has been delayed.  Stephen let me know they were going to be out there for prayers, so I jumped on my bike and headed over.  It was really muddy, but I made it there.  The kids were all there too, so we had a great time.  I asked the older boys, “Kiwanja ya mpira iko wapi? Niko tayari kucheza.”  (Where is the ball field? I am ready to play.)

We learned this Sunday that the last of the injured from the bus accident had returned home.  She had a rod put in place of her shattered femur at the AIC hospital in Kijabe.  She made it back up to the Nyahururu area safely.  Thank you for your prayers and those who helped pay for her surgery and other expenses the church incurred in the process.  God is good.

I got a report from Pastor Edward of the church in Soweto where I taught the last computer class.  We helped fund the certificates they gave out at an Inductive Bible Study seminar they gave near Voi.  They do these as outreaches to different parts of Kenya to teach pastors how to study the Bible.  All the money we have is by God’s grace and your support, so it was really you putting the smiles on these faces.  Well, some of them are smiling, Kenyans do not often smile in pictures, even when they are happy.

The other picture is from our computer class.  I really had fun doing that.  I feel very privileged to be able to use my skills for His Kingdom.

I finished up the “Computers for Pastors” class in Soweto on Saturday.  We spent the whole day covering the World Wide Web and Email.

I had a lot of fun showing them the blueletterbible.org, especially using the Greek to read through John 21.

He said to him the third time, “Simon, [son] of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”

On the first reading, you completely miss the meaning.  Why was Peter grieved?  The English makes it seem like it is because Jesus asked three times, however if you go through the Greek, even without knowing what each word means, you will catch a lot more.  If you look at v.15 and v.16 you will see that each time Jesus asks He uses agapaeo and Peter answers with phileo.  Then in v.17 Jesus changes the question.  That is what grieved Peter.

Seeing the ease with which they could access so much information really opened some of their eyes.  I could see how excited they were.  Especially Pastor Edward, who is the head of the Bible school, he is studying for his masters.  Cybercafes are everywhere, and while none of these pastors have a lot of money, they are not out of reach for a few hours per week.

We also covered email, and I walked each student though setting up an webmail account, then logging in and sending me an email.  I tried to respond quickly to each one, so they could see a reply.  Below are my favorites of the ones I received.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday I did the first of 2 days at the Bible School in Soweto teaching “Computers for Pastors.”  There were 13 students, and I hope they all make it back for Saturday.  Once again, the response to anyone having using a computer before was very small.  However, there are some really bright people there, and they are learning fast.

They do not have electricity there, so we had to run a generator for the whole time.  At our first break, there was an announcement in Swahili that everyone had to pay 50 shillings to help pay for fuel.  They must have thought I would not have understood because I got a strange look and then some laughter when I gave them my 50 shillings.  Fuel is back up close to 90 shillings per liter (about $4.55  per gallon).

I am looking forward to Saturday.

I spend all of yesterday at Christ Harvest Revival in Kawangware where they have been running the bible school for pastors in the slums.  A few months ago, I was asked if I could teach some computer classes for the pastors.

I went in with 5 laptops and an outline of what I was going to teach.  High up on my outline was to gauge the groups previous experience with computers.  Most of the computer use here is at cybercafes, where a cheap place runs at 1 shilling per minute.  50 shillings per hour is a fairly normal wage for unskilled labor, so the cyber costs more per hour than most of them can earn in the same time.  Out of 26 students, only one had ever touched a computer before.  I thought I might be in for a long day.

It was a great time for us all.  All were very eager to learn, and some picked things up really fast.  We rushed through the basics of interfacing with computers, menus, applications and documents.  Then we touched on the three big office applications; word processing, spreadsheets and presentations.  The second half of the class was dedicated to the internet.  It was great fun showing them blueletterbible.org and some other bible resources.  At the end of the day, I had most of them set up with an email account and asked them to send me an email.

I had not been looking forward to the long days of doing this, close to 1o hours, but when I got home I knew it had been a great day.  Cammy asked me how it went, and I replied, “It was one of those things I would never choose to do myself, so I am glad God made me do it.”  I sound like a boy I know, who I should post about.

Next week I will be on the other side of town near Kayole, in the Soweto slum teaching other students.  Perhaps when that is all done, I will post some of the best emails I receive.

A while back I mentioned that I was responsible for auto repair here at AIM-IS.  One of the things we want to do is get out and help missionaries where they are, and not make them drag their broken carcass of a vehicle back to Nairobi.  This is the kind of thing I mean.

Try to imagine the kind of engine that would use a part like this… Can you?  The engine it was in couldn’t.

Last Sunday we went to Harvester’s Christian Church in Karuri.  Pastor Stephen had put me on the schedule to preach there.  I do not think he realized at the time, but that was almost exactly 3 years to the week that I was there, my first preaching experience at a church in Africa.  Karuri is Pastor Stephen’s first Harvester’s church.  It has a special place in his heart, and is where he and his family lived for about 10 years before they started the church in Umoja II.

The people are always so welcoming when we get up country.  After church we had chai and bread in the parsonage we partially funded with proceeds from the house we sold in La Mesa.  Then we were off to Muchatha for lunch and fellowship with people from all the area churches.  Churches here are a lot closer together, especially outside of Nairobi.  Almost no one has a car, so walking distance is an important feature when looking for a church.  This generally keeps church sizes smaller and so it is a good idea from time to time to get churches together for fellowship.

We are home for the holidays!  After our recent miscarriage and trip to the hospital, Cammy’s and my parents got together and decided to fly us back to California for Christmas.  I will be here until December 31, but Cammy and the boys are staying through most of January.

I wanted to be careful not to post anything here so I could surprise a few people.  I had a great time at SCEA (my old job) on Tuesday.  Some of them were pretty surprised to see me.  I got to eat a carne asada burrito off the lunch truck and enjoy a few (4 maybe) Dr. Peppers with the guys.

We had the pleasure of sharing with our church, Calvary Chapel of El Cajon, on Wednesday night. It was a day that I had looked forward to for a long time.  From the beginning of God calling us to work in Africa, I knew that a big part of our ministry was going to remain here.  God could have called anyone, from anywhere, to do what we are doing.  But He chose us, and I know there is purpose in that.  So it was a real pleasure and joy to go back to our church family and share what God has been doing, and that He has allowed us to be a part of what He is doing.

As some of you have noted from pictures and now seeing me in person, I have lost some weight living in Kenya.  Some of it is the diet, you eat less when it is not as appealing.  Some of it is the reoccuring stomach bugs that I seem to pick up often.  I have already had 2 double doubles at In-N-Out and 2 carne asada burritos.  It should work out well that I came to California in good shape, and I’ll go back to Kenya looking “healthy” as they say.