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| Karibu (Welcome) to ATS! |
Sitting at 6400 feet above sea level, at the
base of Mt. Elgon, Kitale is a beautiful city.
The internet says that the population is 250,000, although I am told by
residents that no-one actually knows the real
population, as the results of the census taken ten years ago has not yet been
released; to them the number is much lower. It has a small town feel to
it, with the mixture of nicely developed areas, densely populated sections, and
also a rural area, with cows on the road, dirt roads, and room to breathe. In short, after living in Accra (metropolitan
population of 5 million) and close to Monrovia (population of 1.3 million), it
feels just perfect for me.
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| A portion of the breadbasket |
This portion of the country is also known as the breadbasket of Kenya, due to the concentration of agricultural work going on here that provides much of the food for the country. The weather is cool…at least to me. It would reach approximately 75 F by noon,
but rained every day by about 2 pm, dropping the temperature ten degrees. The temperature rose again some days in the
70s again by evening, or would stay in the 60s, depending on how long the rains
lasted. They say that these rains are
normally over by the beginning of September, so it is unusual to still have
rain this late in the year. [The team
found it continually amusing that I was so cold. I don’t know how long it will take this West
African blood in me to adjust to cooler weather! The good news is that I will be fine if I
pack my winter clothes.] Bob would have
absolutely loved this weather.
The Africa Theological Seminary (ATS) is on the outskirts of
Kitale, on approximately ten acres of land, with an additional ten acres
adjacent for future development; the land is currently being leased by farmers
and used for growing maize and bananas. ATS
hosts approximately 300 students, all of whom are in ministry at the
same time as working on their various degrees.
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| Part of the ATS campus, including the house where I will stay. |
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The ATS (ICM-Kenya) team, along with Sheryl
from the ICM-USA team. |
The International Christian Ministry team was
delightful. There were actually two
teams that I met – the ICM-USA team and the ICM-Kenya team. I met some very kindred spirits on the ICM-USA team. This is a very gifted
group of leaders, deeply grounded in serving the Lord with their lives. I know that I will learn a lot from them.
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| Part of the beautiful campus of ATS |
The ICM-Kenya team was very welcoming and affirming of
seeing the need to add Business as Mission as a course for their church
leaders. This is a young team of very
educated and capable leaders, working with church leaders who are making a
difference in the many villages and cities around Kenya and beyond. While I was there, they hosted a two day
alumni conference, focused on teaching Orality and the art of teaching the
Bible through story-telling. I had a chance
to meet a number of
pastors and church leaders, all of whom acknowledged that they are not doing anything to empower
and equip their business members for the Marketplace, all of whom acknowledged
that they tend to see their business members only in terms of donors, and all
of whom extended an invitation for me to start the pilot project at their
church! There was great excitement about
this concept, with many church leaders mentioning that they had never even considered this as a concept. I thank God for this affirmation.
The only disappointment in the whole trip to Kitale was
learning that they don’t eat their food very spicy and plantains are not part
of the regular diet, even though bananas are grown here. However, I think I can deal with that! Hot sauce will remedy the one, and I can
definitely learn to live without plantains!
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| Road in front of the ATS Seminary...look familiar? |
I plan to move to Kitale in mid-January and will start
teaching at the beginning of February. By mid-to-late February, I will travel out to
start the pilot project. At this time it
looks like it may be to Busia, which is right on the Kenya/Uganda border,
although it is very early to tell. The
Bishop of the Church in Busia, who is an alumni of ATS, is the head of sixteen
churches, and is recommended highly by the ICM-Kenya team as a church leader who
knows how to mobilize and support his people.
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| Masai Mara |
When I left Kitale, I was informed that our plane was late and that we would have to make a detour, delaying our arrival in Nairobi by about four hours. I was delighted to then hear that our detour was to the Masai Mara, the large game reserve in south-western Kenya! We flew in a small ten seat plane, and stopped twice in the Masai Mara, allowing me to see elephant, giraffe, ostrich, zebra, wildebeest (migrating to Tanzania), baboons, and impala! What a treat! Being able to fly low over the game reserve allowed me to see so much and I thank God for the free, albeit brief, safari experience!
As you receive this blog, I have left Kenya and am in Ghana. I hope to report on week two next week.
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| Elephants! |
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| The beautiful countryside of Kenya |
