A Full Day

I love the feeling at the end of a day where you worked hard especially when you get to be part of something that is lifegiving; you are tired, but you are fulfilled. Today I was able to share a brief outline of Methodist history, polity, and Theology with leaders of First UMC Moheto parish. I say parish because there are 4 churches in Pastor Kennedy’s district, and they all work together, learn from one another, and participate as one church in multiple places. Today was wonderful, but by the end of the day I was ready for a rest.

Part of Pastor Patrick’s work over the last few months has been to work on a Methodism curriculum to help train lay leaders of First Moheto, modeling the curriculum off our newcomer class. Pastor Kennedy asked Central to help create a curriculum that can be shared digitally with the possibility of in person zoom teaching in the future. Patrick is developing the curriculum as his ordination project for the Western North Carolina Conference and has already recorded some of the teaching sessions.

I used Patrick’s outline to each 30 lay leaders from Kennedy’s District and wow are those leaders dedicated. We started at 11:30 AM with worship, took one break for bathroom and tea, a short lunch break, and finished around 5:30 PM. In total, I was teaching for close to 4+ hours, which is entirely too long to listen to me talk. Pastor Benedict, one of the District’s pastors, served as my translator and worked so hard to understand my southern US accent and translate it into Swahili. My favorite part of the teaching was the dialogue with the lay leaders as we worked together on questions surrounding theology and polity.

After the session I went to see where Elnora (Kennedy’s wife) sells fabric and plastic goods to market shops on the Tanzania border. What struck me in the moment was that we were walking to go see some dresses and the market shops and suddenly, I hear, “Pastor, Pastor.” We are 20 miles or so from Moheto and there is someone who knows Kennedy and knows him as pastor. Pastors in Kenya are pastors for the entire community. The UMC pastors I have met know everyone in the town/village where they serve, and they are truly connected to the community. Moreover, the members of the community are connected to one another and rely on one another for all aspects of life. Kennedy, Elnora, and I ate dinner together at the hotel where I was staying, our waitress was one of Kennedy’s students when he was a teacher 11 years ago. It was a wonderful day.

I forgot one thing about the day that made an impression on me, lunch. Members of First UMC made lunch for one another and for the leaders gathered for training. Everyone sat around table, shared laughter, and love with one another. It was a beautiful sight. I am reminded once again that relationship and table do not need translation. It is no wonder that when Jesus knew he was to die and could do anything with his disciples, he ate with them.

Until tomorrow,

Peace,

Luke

St. Paul UMC, 3 Schools, and Hospitality

The word of today was hospitality. When talking to Pastor Kennedy about the young women that Central UMC supports to go to school he uses the word vulnerable. In a meeting with the Central UMC missions council we asked, “What criteria do you use to determine which girls receive scholarships?” Today I began to understand what Kennedy means by vulnerable and why we might be asking the wrong question. Rather than criteria, I wonder if we could reframe the question to capacity. How many children is it possible for the community of Central to sponsor? I say this because in the villages around First Moheto and St. Paul’s (campus church of First Moheto) I did not observe or meet a family that is not vulnerable.

Please don’t misunderstand this statement, the folks I met were generous with their time, sharing their homes, and even food; however, many students come from homes that do not have clean water or electricity. In West Kenya private schools that give children the best education and possibility for moving forward with education—most public schools have a 35-50:1 student: teacher ratio—are structured with Day School and Boarding options. If students are Day School students then they walk to school in the morning, home for lunch, and back to school for the afternoon. Additionally, when students go home for lunch break, many don’t have any food at home to eat. Some students walk distances of 5 or more miles, and school runs from 8 AM until 5 PM. That is a long day for anyone, but imagine you are a 3rd grader, and this is how you must learn. Boarding students receive meals as part of the tuition, don’t have to walk to and from home, and are able to rest rather than use all their energy traveling to and from school.

I visited Pastor Elnora’s (Kennedy’s wife) church, St. Paul’s UMC, which is 15 or so miles from First Moheto UMC. St. Paul’s started First Moheto almost 5 years ago with 6 people and now it has grown to over 100 people on Sunday, and the structure where the church worships is not big enough for the current congregation.

From St. Paul’s we visited three schools and two families of students that Central UMC supports. The schools I visited were St. Augustine’s School, Kuweye Secondary School, and St. Mary Bera Girl’s School. At each school we visited with students, several of whom are able to attend because of Central UMC scholarships. Other students are able to attend because of another UMC church in the US or because of the generosity of First Moheto UMC. At each school Pastor Kennedy reminded the students of the importance of working hard in school and the opportunity education brings, Pastor Elnora shared a blessing with each of the children, and I encouraged the children that there are people all over the world through Central UMC that are praying for them and cheering them on. We then, with permission, took a picture with the students and one of the school administrators. The students were a pleasure to meet and talk to and so kind and respectful. Several of the students are in Form 4 (12th grade) and will take a national test in October to attempt to score high enough for college. Attendance at school for Form 4 students is imperative if they are going to have an opportunity to move forward.

And my day ended with the same word that started my day, hospitality. We ate dinner with Kennedy, his family, and some of the staff from the First UMC Moheto Medical Clinic (more on the clinic in another post). We sat around table and talked about the day, the experience, and our hopes for the future. The conversation was rich, the food was delicious, and it felt like the Kingdom of God was truly on earth.

Blessings,

Luke

St. Paul’s Giosashi UMC

St. Augustine

Kubweye Secondary School

St Mary’s Girls School

Leah and Christian’s home near St. Paul’s UMC

Lay Leaders of St. Paul’s Giosasha UMC

Arrival and First Day

Dear Friends,

I am on the third plane in a 20ish hour period and it will be my last one for a week! This flight is to Kisumu which is north of Moheto but closer than Nairobi.

After Kennedy, his wife Elnora, and son Ben picked me up from the Kisumu Airport we then began a 4 hour car ride to Migori where I am staying for the first part of the week. The ride took us along Lake Victoria the second largest lake in the world and through numerous towns and villages. The color of the day was green, everything is so green. Here is the route we took to travel to Migori.

When I began to work with Missional Wisdom Foundation in 2011, Elaine and Larry taught me that context is one of the most important factors for any type of ministry. While I am no expert of the East African context, Kennedy is, and in just a few short minutes my eyes were opened to the unique nature of the Kenyan context. Just one thing that made an impression on me today is that to cover the District where Kennedy presides it is a 4+ hour drive from one end to the other. On the road from Kisumu we passed multiple roadside markets where most of the day to day economy happens, scores of children from elementary to high school walking home from school (some having to walk 5km one direction), and various levels of housing. To the right is an example of the roadside markets that are scattered between villages.

In Migori I am staying at the Calabash Hotel (Calabash is a plant, not a way of cooking fish). To the right is a picture of my room and dinner from last night; the accommodations are perfect. I am about 10-15 mins from Moheto and it is easy to access the area from Migori.

Tomorrow I will visit several of the girls that Central UMC in Asheville supports through scholarships and a couple of their families. I cannot express how thankful I am for this opportunity to visit with and learn more with our sister congregation First UMC Moheto.

More to come…

peace,

Luke