Wednesday 6 July 2022

First Time in Africa: The View from the New Guy

After a long, long day (or was it two days?--Kenya is 10 hours ahead of the Pacific TimeZone, so that kinda messes with you!) we arrived at our hotel at the Nairobi Airport. We were greeted there with signs in the airport that said, “Welcome to Magical Kenya.”  

After a good night's sleep we headed out with our driver, Dan, to the Lutheran School of Theology, an independent Lutheran seminary/farm/small village in the beautiful Kenyan countryside near the town of Kimuka. We were grateful for a four-wheel drive vehicle as some of the roads out in the country were very rough and rocky.  


Driving through Nairobi. Thankful for our skilled driver, Dan!


Kibera slum in Nairobi. Approx 250,000 people live in this largest slum in Africa. 
Kenyan countryside.


A different kind of “jam” than the ones in Nairobi.


The leader and head teacher of this school is Rev. James May, a former LC-MS pastor.  He served us lunch and showed us around their campus, which had been built using stones from their property beginning in 2015.  The students who attend are required to spend half of their day working and contributing to the farm, caring for animals, or helping with the various building projects on the campus, and then half of the day is spent in class and studying.  It was an impressive operation, and although we are not in fellowship with this group, it was encouraging to see the dedication to training up confessional Lutheran pastors and spreading the Gospel.  This school also has a large warehouse full of “Good News” magazines, which teach various doctrines (“teachings”) of Scripture from a Lutheran perspective in French, Swahili, and English.  We were able to pick up a load of Swahili magazines to be distributed among the pastors we will be meeting with during our trip.



School buildings at the Lutheran School of Theology



View from the highest point on the school’s campus.


 

In the evening we arrived at the beautiful home of Jemima Sagala and her family in a suburb of Nairobi called Karen.  They very graciously fed us a meal of rice and beef stew and a flat bread called “chapati” (which looks kind of like a tortilla).  It was all delicious and their generosity and hospitality has been truly heartwarming.  


Jemima’s home


In the morning we plan to pick up a load of Lutheran Catechisms in the Swahili language and make the long drive to the Kisii, where we will begin our work in that area.   

 

Praise the Lord for safe and uneventful travel so far.  Your prayers as we begin our work in Kenya and Uganda over the next three+ weeks are very much appreciated.

 

-Pastor Luke

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