James, his
wife Beatrice, Thomas, Vincent, Jeroge, his wife Ann, Cynthia and I were up and
raring to get started early in the morning. Jeroge (J-rowgee) is a professional
Matatoo driver and the only one I know that actually drives like a Christian. We
felt very safe with him behind the wheel.
We were all so
excited that our Nakuru team was finally headed for our first ASA (African
Shepherd’s Alliance) conference with the ‘bush’ pastors of Kitali! The drive
was so incredibly beautiful the six hours went by very quickly.
Kitali,
Kenya is called the ‘bread basket’ of Kenya and there is nothing but farmland
as far as the eye can see. The Christian leaders out in the rural areas are
called ‘bush pastors’ because they live out in the boonies.
When we
arrived in the evening midst the bustling city of Kitali we had to weave our
way through the multitudes of people rushing home. There were hundreds of Matatoos
(twelve to fifteen passenger vans) and Piki pikis (motorcycles) busily bringing
their customers to their appointed destinations.
We have
witnessed an entire family of four being transported on just one piki piki. There
were hundreds of people trying to get home from their jobs and school before
dark. Notice this particular piki driver was almost sitting on the handlebars to deliver a heavy bag of charcole.
Jeroge drove
James, and I with our wives straight to our Wazungu missionary friend’s house,
Rita and Louie at Restoration Ministries International and had a wonderful dinner,
great fellowship and a good night’s sleep.
We were
warned by Louie that the rain had been excessive and that it had rained the
entire two days before we arrived, so we might want to be prepared to get wet.
Early next
morning we drove through Kitali’s hectic morning traffic and headed out toward
the country and the spiritually hungry people of the rural farmland of Kitali. The
landscape around Kitali is very beautiful, and the sun would shine for the next
two days. Behind these mountains and hidden by the clouds lie Mt. Elgorn, Kenya’s second highest
mountain, and the country of Uganda.
Finally we
descended down a beautiful country road to the shamba (Farm) of our host and
the small tent that we would be spending the next two days teaching the ‘bush’
pastors.
We immediately began teaching and preaching the message of the abundant
corporate life of Christ as revealed in the scriptures and demonstrated by the early
church. People were eagerly awaiting the good news that the church was supposed
to be the family of God. Some had never ever even heard that the church was to
reveal the family of God in their entire Christian life.
After two
and a half hours of teaching it was time for lunch and introductions to our
host’s family. Our host, whose name was Aggrey Masika, turned out to be a very
gracious and hospitable man.
After
meeting his wife and seeing where his children lived Cynthia got a little
‘porch time’ with Aggrey’s wife.
Lastly he
brought us to his mother. She was very sick with Asthma and you could easily
hear her wheezing three feet away. She had suffered a long time and was
confined to her bed. Amma instantly felt the need to pray for her healing and so
she did. The next day Aggrey’s mother’s lungs were completely clear and she rejoiced
with us in the tent. God is so good!
Then we sat
down to a great lunch of lintels and beans. The next day they served a killer
chicken soup with rice. Ummm… so good.
After lunch
it was back to teaching. After hours of sharing no one wanted to leave. It was
amazing how well these people responded. We felt a kindred spirit with Andrew
Strom and his recent newsletter.
Sometimes we
just taught the men…
And
sometimes Cynthia and Beatrice just taught the women.
Teaching
after teaching everyone grew more and more excited. One dear saint asked me after the teaching …
"Is this really what the bible teaches? My God… this is so wonderful."
Part 2 of the ASA Kintali conference will come in a couple of days...
2 comments:
Exciting!
That is Awesome.
Post a Comment