kenya 4b: 19 may

after that episode, we went on to st andrew's theological college, out in the bush. it has a very different feel to our hotel! its very basic, constructed predominantly from breeze-block and tin. we had tea with the principal and the dean of studies, before joining the whole college at the thursday evening communin service.
it was a very lively service with much singing, several 'presentations' by students, more singing that included clapping, dancing, whistling. it was fabulous to be surrounded by such happy people. and then, after church, was dinner. on the way to dinner the singing and dancing continued until grace was said. we had a table set for us, while the students did not. this is culturally appropriate, though it feels wrong and awkward to be on the receiving end.
following dinner, we gave our gifts of vlerical shirts and text books to the principal for him to distribute as he saw fit. he was dumbstruck - please bless all who receive those gifts, lord.
while there, the stars were out and for the first time since leaving oz, i saw the southern cross in the sky. it was a grand sight, so bright and clear in the dark night sky.
today we drove to meru diocese, a few hours up the road. on the way, we crossed the equator - the first time i've done that, apart from from flying. we arrived at our hotel, the three steers hotel, only to discover that they knew nothing of our booking! that got sorted out after a while, and we went to visit bishop charles, the bishop of meru.
he's a large man, with a large heart for his diocese, but his diocese only has very limited means. he provides lunch for about 40 streetkids, and he introduced us to them at their lunchtime. they get about half a loaf of bread and a large mug of maize porridge - very filling. they were all ages, from about 7-20 years old, some still stoned on glue, all with very poor clothing and personal hygiene, most with big smiles. after being with him for a couple of hours, we came back to the hotel to unpack and rest befoer bishop charles came to us for dinner with a couple of his senior clergy to discuss the programme for the weekend.
tomorrow is a very early start for a tiki-tour of some of the diocese. on sunday we will be split up into 3 groups of 2 to go to various churches. paul and i will go with bishop charles to a rural parish - very poor, uneducated farmers, and not many of them. looking forward to that.
and now its time to sleep. paul's already asleep and snoring. the lights just went out for about the fourth time this evening, and nobody takes any notice, so it seems to be quite normal.
my guts were a bit wrong on the drive up this morning, and i suspect its a reaction to the malarone as i was feeling fine until after breakfast (when i take the pill). i don't really think it was the food.
i've noticed that i'm just letting the whole experience wash over me. i don't have an agenda, just trying to be open to what god may want to teach me. i spoke to justus this morning about yesterday's streetkids episode. he said i had done the right thing. if i gave money, they would most likely spend it on glue. they don't understand the nature of tourism, and so they think that if i gave them something today then another tourist will turn up to give them something tomorrow, and so on. it keeps them dependent and they never learn to think about doing something for themselves. he thinks it better to encourage them, as he did, to go to st stepehen's house where they will be fed and given an opportunity to be trained in something.
and my guts are so full of food....

Tags: kenya, meru

kenya 4a: 19 may

we have 45 mins now, following breakfast, to relax. yesterday we left nairobi after breakfast and drove an hour to the blue posts hotel, at thika. thika is famous for its flame trees, but now is not the season. its a lovely setting, with at least 3 impressive waterfalls of about 15 metres height. the water is reddy-brown, like the dirt - similar to australian outback.
there were some semi-wild ostriches running about - very large birds. i bought a small coin pouch for 350 shillings - about £3. apparently we're supposed to haggle, but i just don't have the heart for it. i know i would pay a similar price in the uk, and these people deserve a fair price, so i feel i must give it to them. on the other hand, as one of our guides said, they wouldn't part with it for anything less than a fair price, and haggling is part of the relationship-building. but i'm not making a relationship, i'm simply making a transaction. i'll probably never see them again.
we moved on to our new base at embu, and checked into the izaak walton hotel. its a very nice hotel, but with a distinct colonial feel. following lunch, we visited the embu diocese cathedral, the stained glass windows of which were donated by our own chelmsford diocese cathedral. it was a very hot day, but inside, the cathedral was cool and comfortable. there were some large native birds resting on the rafters inside that brought to mind some words from psalm 84, '...even the birds find a place to rest in your house, o lord'.
leaving the cathedral, we went into the town to pick up some books from the church bookshop. as we parked outside, we were positioned by a group of streetkids, aged in their mid-teens to early 20's. they approached us. someone in our van had a bag of sweets they were distributing inside our van, which then went outside to the streetkids. one then approached me, and said something i couldn't understand, and i told him so. he tried again, and in very broken english said, 'buy me some milk and bread'. i told him that i can't do that. i had my dog-collar on. i felt terrible. having seen the way they dealt with the sweets, i could only imagine what would happen if i gave money - the van would be swamped with people wanting money. still, i felt terrible. justus, our kenyan driver, said something to them, but i don't know what it was. later today i will speak with him about it.
but the words of john the baptist were echoing, '...whoever has 2 coats, let him give to him who has none.' and other scriptures of that kind were in my head. 'lord, have mercy on them and on me...'

Tags: kenya, thika, embu

Kenya 3: 17 May

as i write this, dusk is falling. because we're so close to the equator, the length of day between seasons only varies by about 10 mins. so, in essence, its dawn at around 0630 and dusk around 1830 - every day!
today was sunnier and warmer than yesterday, with our time split into 3 major chunks. the morning was spent visiting kibera, one of the largest slum settlements in africa with a population of of about 700,000 people living in about 5 square kilometres. its quite something to visit, and difficult to know how to describe it. we weren't supposed to take cameras in, as it was rude to take photos, so i don't have any photos of kibera. but if you've seen the movie, 'the constant gardener', then you'll see kibera as the scenes shot in the slums were shot there.
kibera seems to have grown up in a valley that has a railway line running through it. people live and work in appalling conditions with rubbish strewn about, open drains running down the middle of the tracks that serve as roads - tho the only vehicles that use the roads are wheelbarrows. the roads also look like they become open sewers, and must be diabolical when it rains. houses are made from corrugated iron, mud, and sticks, some concrete, and wood. very, very basic living conditions, though many have electricity (lines jury-rigged to mains supplies), tv, and stereo.
the smell is quite bad, and actually reminded me of the pig-stys on the farm - the smell hits you in the back of the throat. there are people everywhere - cooking, washing clothes, fixing bicycles, selling charcoal - and just about anything else. little children are running everywhere, tons of them, all coming up to us to shake hands and chanting together, 'how are you, how are you?', and when we asked them the same question they all replied, 'fine!' very cute.
our guides took us around to their friends' houses, who all invited us in and talked, and they all asked us to pray for them. our guide (we were in 3 groups) was a young man of 20 years named juma, who had been a christian for about 3 years. he had completed his 'o' levels in physics and maths and was hoping to go to uni and from there to become a pilot in the civil aviation industry. he was a really nice young man, and i prayed for him in his home of 2 rooms that god would bless him in his plans.
while there, we visited the centre for urban mission. this is the outfit where the cms guy we met last night - colin smith - works. he and some of his colleagues explained what they do and why. the big idea for them is that the gospel must be practical, and not just another good idea. they are passionately concerned about the whole person, and so get involved in projects that meet the practical needs that the people of kibera have. the main social concerns are: poverty, stress, sickness, hiv/aids. the anglican church is involved in all of these issues through various projects. there are 2 new anglican parishes in kibera: st jerome, and st phillip; and there are many other churches there too - the majority being independent pentecostal churches that just grow up out of the local community.
and while there is grinding poverty, there is also abundant hospitality. while we were at the centre, we were given traditional milky tea and mandazi (a large, triangular shaped doughnut). but before the food arrived, a young woman brought around a bowl of water and towel for us to wash our hands - very humbling to be served in this way.
the second chunk of the day was slightly surreal. after leaving kibera, we came back for a 3 course lunch with the archbishop of kenya, before going to his offices for discussions with him and some of his staff. he seemed a genuinely nice man, very interested in, and committed to the freedom and welfare of the whole person. this 'social gospel' is very important to the kenyan anglicans. he said something that struck me, 'peace is another name for development'. you can't have development without peace, and so he is concerned to be involved in brokering peace in places of conflict so that development can take place.
the third chunk of the day was a late afternoon visit to the national cathedral in nairobi. they have a gift of a photo from one of the american apollo space missions, with the caption, 'jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.' they also have an incredibly busy sunday schedule of 13 services per day, and a great many other things going on besides! but speaking to one or two 'on the side', it seems that the cathedral is really only for those who 'belong', and so the 'outsider' doesn't get much of a look in. it made me think of how we use some of our cathedrals in england, and how much more open they seem to outsiders and how they can be experimented with.
then in the evening, we went up to the 'fairview hotel' to have a drink and relax. its an incredibly plush place with a beautiful swimming pool. only rich people can stay there. after that, went back to the guest house to watch barcelona beat arsenal 2-1 in the uefa cup. my mate dave was at the game in paris, and we were texting each other throughout it.
what a day of contrasts: from poverty to luxury. uncomfortable to be in both. as rich people, we have options in life. the poor don't.

Tags: kenya, kibera

jet's new album

the aussie rockers from my hometown are about to release their new album, 'shine on', on oct 3.
but you can listen to the whole album right now at myspace.
looking forward to the tour in november!

Tags: jet

kenya 2 - 16 may

thought i'd start a new series on sharing the journal i kept while in kenya in may this year. i've already done one post about kenya, so that's why this one is labelled as'2'.
so, here it begins on the flight over.

good flight, though didn't get much sleep. watched 'walk the line' - great film. magnificent colours in the sunrise through the plane's window. never seen a sky like it. flight got in about 0630, and then we were all packed into 3 minibuses for the trip to the anglican church of kenya provincial guest house on bishop's road, nairobi.
got caught up in rush hour traffic - incredible amount of vehicles. a very slow, and smoggy journey. interesting to watch the locals: so very many walking to work; all very well dressed, clean clothes, taking care to wash the mud from their shoes with water from roadside ditches. at one intersection, i saw a sight that would've made a good photo: hundreds of people, all walking in different directions at great speed, while one young man sat on a bench at the crossroads watching as everyone walked by him and traffic roared all around. it was a picture of human stillness in the midst of orderly confusion.
got to the guest house finally, and were allocated rooms. i'm with paul trathen and we got the new block (pictured). we got into our beds and slept for about 2 hours. got up to have cold showers as there was no hot water, before going into nairobi city centre. got dropped off at the catholic cathedral, bought a stole in the bookshop, and wandered around the cathedral. its quite large and made of prefabricated concrete that gives a stark, harsh appearance. but there is an impressive, plain east window of stained glass.
got some money from an atm and went with lee batson and dave gilmour to a very nice coffee shop. then got taken to yar yar shopping mall, which is quite small in comparison to western standards. while there, a little boy aged about 7, with thick glasses in school uniform, approached me and very politely asked if i could help him with money. i bent down to him and gently told him that i couldn't. he didn't press me, but walked away. we've been told that its not good to give to begging children, as you will soon be surrounded by hoards of them. i felt sad for the poor wee guy. the gap between rich and poor here is immense. and the gap in standards of living between kenya and uk is stark. nairobi looks tired and tatty and is trying hard to catch up with the developed west.
tomorrow we will see that gap in even more stark terms when we visit the slums in nairobi with one of the cms guys who has been working incarnationally here for 3-4 years. he's coming for dinner with us tonight and will speak to us about what he's doing and what we will do and see tomorrow morning. should be good, and i'm looking forward to it.
interesting to note that as we moved away from the city centre the quality of the roads deteriorated while the level of high security gated compounds and houses increased. there's a great deal of traffic on the roads, and while its very busy, there doesn't seem to be any aggression from the drivers - unlike the uk.
there are also more roadside stalls and mini-shanty towns further from the city centre. as we drove home from yar yar, we went through a police check point, complete with officers armed with fully automatic weapons. they were guarding the israeli embassy.

Tags: kenya, nairobi

soul space

tomorrow night is soul space at st mary's walthamstow, from 8.30pm-9.30pm.

come and enjoy the peace....

Tags: contemplative, peace, prayer

questions, questions, questions.......

courtesy of me old mate, si johnston, i've subscribed to a podcast by conrad gempf on his new book, 'jesus asked'.
his publishers gave him permission to read the entire book so that it can be listened to online (though he also asks that you buy it - but that's another question!)
anyhoo, i'm really enjoying the first few installments, as he studies the ways in which jesus asks questions way more than he ever gave answers.
i find the power of questioning is in giving space and opportunity for the other person to really have a go at trying to understand themselves, and be given the opportunity to be heard.
worth having a listen to.

Tags: jesus, spirituality, parables