I’m sitting in a ‘teacher’s
cottage’ at our seminary, Kenya Baptist Theological College, as I write. Jack began teaching
Baptist History, Faith and Practices at 7:30 AM and for the third day
straight, he will teach until 9:30, followed by chapel, as well as the
10:30-12:30 and 2:00-4:00 classes – and his day is lighter than the students. In our seminary’s plan for allowing students
to be active in ministry while studying, they attend one more class each day
(4:30-6:30 PM) during their three week/four times yearly sessions of their two to
three year programs! Usually Jack
commutes to the seminary, a 30+ minute drive from our home in Nairobi, but thanks
to good rains, the roads are horrid and the mornings are foggy, thus the
overnight stays. We will return home
this afternoon for a few days as he teaches a lighter mid-day load through Saturday,
and return next week for another few long days.
This schedule leaves Jack
exhausted, but he loves teaching and has a good group of students, so he is
happy, which leads to his praise this week – Praise for the opportunity to
train the pastors and leaders of our churches as well as many like one young
woman I met this week, who proudly call themselves missionaries – which they
are! It is exciting for us to see East
Africans fully catching the vision of fulfilling the Great Commission.
Jack’s prayer request is that you join us in
praying for our seminary which continues to struggle as it works through being ‘owned’
by our convention/local Baptist churches.
Pray especially for the Board of Governors (Jack is on the Board) as
they make difficult decisions related to seminary’s on-going ability to serve
and train. Another prayer is for God’s
choice for the new principal to become very obvious and available.
I am finally feeling great again
and have enjoyed the break from Nairobi, but between poor internet and power
outages, I have been frustrated as I have more ideas/plans than hours allow. BUT as I read the blogs/newsletters/FB posts
of our East African IMB co-workers, I become very excited by how God is at work
in our part of the world. When I began
serving as the Internet Connector (Social Networker) for East Africa, my goal was
to ‘connect’ our staff with one another as they learned of the others’ stories,
prayer needs, and blessings, as well as connect them with our supporters in the
States. I overlooked the greatest
personal blessing for me – the special relationships I would develop with our
co-workers as I work with them.
Yes,
part of this is that Jack and I are either much older than most of our
colleagues and/or have served for more years than any of them, many more years
than most, which opens many doors for me to encourage, advise or simply offer
what we all need – a simple, “You can do this” or “You are doing a great job!” And the more I do this, the more I realize
that I am the one the most blessed by these opportunities.
So my praise today is for these
special developing relationships, as I ask you to join me in praying that I
will truly ‘connect’ our staff with one another and with you, our supporters. Pray also that I will be able to offer
strengthening and encouragement as many of our staff face frustrations,
questions, and uncertainties.
I will close today with the
explanation for the photo on the right.
We forgot to bring washcloths with us (not usually provided in East
Africa) and our shower sandals (usually provided in East Africa, but we prefer
our own), so I headed to the nearby town of Limuru for a bit of shopping. After asking and rephrasing in both Kiswahili
and English my desire to purchase a wash cloth, a young store attendant took me
to shelves of blankets, towels, etc. and another man placed a dishcloth (works
great as a washcloth) and a dish towel into my basket.
I then found the clothing corner of the store
for the flip-flops (pata-patas in our part of the world), and a female store
clerk grabbed the two already chosen items out of my basket and was outraged
that I had been given them without proper wrapping. As I chose the needed sandals, another woman
was called in to wrap the items in plastic bags and secure them with several
pieces of tape! I was more than happy to
take my chosen flip-flops as they were, but was told to wait as they were also
wrapped in plastic – and those of you who have lived here will
appreciate the next part – and taped securely shut with at least eight long pieces
of good ol’ strongest-in-the-world East African cello tape!
Yes, I know this
may not sound that interesting to those of you who have never lived in East
Africa, but to those who have, this will bring back many, many memories! And NO, in our almost 34 years in this part
of the world, I have yet to figure out the love for securing purchases with
inches, excuse me, centimeters of tape!!
And yes, my hibernation finally ended last week as I avoided things to set off my allergies, and was able to spot the special scene on the left at our church! Thanks again for all you do to
support us and God’s work in East Africa, BERT YATES
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