Rainbows and Other Complex Mixtures

A perk of living at the Kenya Baptist Theological College during the week is viewing the city of Nairobi, located miles away from our mountain-top cottage! I’ve taken hundreds of photos at different times of day, in different weather and I’m still taking photos. This rainbow captured last week was a surprise. I had taken many photos of the city glistening on the horizon after a storm before a bird captured my attention. It quickly flew away and when I turned back to view Nairobi, there was the rainbow!

My fascination with these views may possibly come from growing up in the country between two small towns and not visiting a city of a million until I was an adult. It may also be from watching Nairobi grow from an estimated population 800,000+ when we arrived in 1978 to more than 3 million today.

Two daytime views of buildings in the city of  Nairobi from our KBTC
cottage.  It would take an hour or more to arrive in the city centre by car!

Two nighttime views - the artistic one is when the camera moved!

Last week I missed a photo that I regret not being able to show you. The ‘missed’ photo would have captured the story of the variety of peoples found in Nairobi today and the very complex mixtures of wealth, education, faiths, etc., all which affect our ability to share our Father’s Good News.

To get to our church, Parklands Baptist Church/ Eastgate, we pass railway tracks separating the city from the international airport. A wide clearance has been saved around these tracks and in Kenya this means free spaces for grazing cattle and an abundance of dukas selling everything and anything, even some called a hotel, though this usually, but not always, means only a place to eat and not a place to sleep!

I was focusing on the roaming cattle (yes, I’m still a country girl at heart) along the road and train tracks, a distinct contrast to tall city centre buildings in the background. Then I spotted a ‘building’ of poles with a thatched roof. Under it sat a pool table, surrounded by a bunch of men in their Maasai shukas!

Captured this photo on campus this week
of one of the KBTC Maasai guards.

Maasai often leave their home area to work as guards in the towns and cities, so these men were possibly having fun before going to wherever they sleep, likely in a slum or some out-of-the-way corner elsewhere. Some of the pool players may also have been some of the herders of the cows, sheep and goats which come to Nairobi when rains are sparse where the Maasai live, south of Nairobi.

My first thought was, A SPOT FOR A NEW CHURCH PLANT! My next thought? I wonder how many of these men who work long hours (12 hours is the norm for guards) and usually work at night and sleep during the day, have an opportunity to go to church or a Bible study. How many Believers take note of the guards and others such as the street sweepers (yes, these are still often seen in Nairobi) around them and think of sharing of our Good News?

Two more shopping opportunities near the train tracks!

We are often asked how much longer we plan on being in Africa. WE DO NOT KNOW! What we do know is that God is still allowing us to join Him in His work among Sub-Saharan African Peoples.

The bird which caught my attention which
almost made me miss the rainbow is
now sitting upon her eggs!

Jack remains committed to training Believers at KBTC to share our Good News with the peoples of our world who have not called “on the name of the Lord” because they have not heard or truly understood what they were hearing (Romans 10:9-15). I get frustrated with slow internet and learning the ever-changing twists of social media, but I continue to know that God is calling me to use this tool to share what He is doing among unengaged and unreached peoples and how others can join in His work.

THUS we need your prayers! Pray that we will always be alert and ready to respond to every opportunity to bring our Good News to those without our Father’s gift of salvation.

BERT YATES

* Make sure you move beyond the important information shared next or you will miss a great mini-story!

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Remember to also view the daily Nudges to Action for Sub-Saharan African Peoples, a part of Bert's work as the Prayer Networker for Sub-Saharan African Peoples at  https://www.facebook.com/SubSaharanAfricanPeoples.

For more from Jack's work, visit KBTC's site! Like the daily Bits of our Hearts** posts, it can be viewed by non-FB users. TABS at the top of this page make viewing extra easy!
* https://www.facebook.com/KenyaBaptistTheologicalCollege
** https://www.facebook.com/bitsofourhearts

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Now for a few fun photos of two of our KBTC staff kids who spotted some SAFARI ANTS on the way home from school yesterday afternoon.  Their escort, another of our kids, is a bit shy, but admitted that watching these two was hard work.  From the reaction of the kids just before they ran away, I think the SAFARI ANTS began biting!

And the last photo - one of my favorites of the week.
Getting to know our staff kids is definitely a major
perk of being on the KBTC campus!