Winter Mission 2023

Saturday, December 9, 2023

I am back in Nairobi and in the land of reliable internet so it's time for a post.  Last Sunday, Pastor Boniface, John, Frank and I traveled to Baringo County to begin our conference in Churo.  This is the home of the East Pokot tribe where we started pastoral training almost two years ago. Above is the Churo AIC (African Inland Church) where we held the conference with 110 pastors and church leaders this past week.  Since there are no accommodations in Churco itself, we stayed at a Catholic mission lodging facility in a slightly larger village called Tangulbei, about 17 km away. So each morning and evening we jolted our way to and from Churo on some of the rockiest, roughest roads I've been on for a while; which ultimately had some unfortunate consequences I'll get to in a bit.

Frank handled our registration table, as well as his driving duties and emergency vehicle repair jobs. Some of which involved duct tape!



John handled all our media needs magnificently and creatively, as in Churo, we didn't always have access to proper electrical connections. 

I was told that this is the correct,Kenya-OSHA approved method of getting power from the generator to our equipment.

Like in Matete, these pastors and church leaders were dialed in from the first to the teachings presented by Boniface and myself, as we taught on a biblical understanding of the church. 

This is a vital topic in Kenya where almost anything goes as it relates to churches.  One of the resources given to the attendees was Pastor Conrad Mbewe's book, God's Design for the Church: A Guide for African Pastors and Ministry Leaders in Kiswahili.

Pastor Boniface and I shared the teaching responsibilities with Pastor Musa Maklab  and Pastor Julius as the interpreters.



Thanks to Crossway and Ekklesia Afrika, we were able to hand out bibles and two other book resources to all the attendees, R.C. Sproul's, Saved From What, and Mbewe's God's Design for the Church.

The joy on the faces of those who received their first ever bible was something to see!

We also were able to give those who attended food, including maize, flour, beans, salt and cooking oil, to take home to their families, thanks to the generosity of our API Famine Relief doners! The climate and the economy have conspired to severely affect the ability of these people to feed their families and so this generosity was greatly appreciated.

The elderly and the widows were those served first and they were overjoyed to have food to take with them.



On Thursday morning we headed off for Nakuru where we would spend the night before reaching Nairobi on Friday.  All went well, we dropped Pastor Boniface off in Marigat to catch a shuttle home; and we were about 80 - 90 km into our trip when the engine of our vehicle simply shut down. It turned out that a sharp rock had penetrated the oil sump and drained the oil at the same time the turbo somehow allowed water into places it shouldn't be in the engine. The result was a a blown piston and a dead vehicle.

We ended up having to have our vehicle transported to Nairobi for repairs.  John and Frank went with the car and I hitchhiked a ride to Nakuru for the night, and arriving in Nairobi yesterday.  I guess it wouldn't be a mission trip without some difficulties!

Thank you all for your prayers and support for this ministry.  You have to know that these pastors and church leaders are so incredibly thankful to all of you who make this ministry possible. I'll be flying home on Sunday and for those of you signed up for our newsletter, you'll be receiving a full report soon. 

p.s. This is NOT the ride I hitchhiked to Nakuru.