well, today my guts have been somewhat evacuated of food! a mild case of diarrhoea first thing this morning meant that i haven't had much to eat today, save for some toast, bread, bananas, water, and a bottle of coke. apparently coke and bananas are an effective remedy for the runs. paul and sue also had it, but a bit worse than me and so they stayed at the hotel today as they didn't think it wise to travel. a good move as it turned out.
we set off this morning at 0730, as bishop charles wanted to show us around his diocese - it is enormous, and widely varied. our first stop was a little foster home for hiv+ children. you can read about them in a previous post. but to continue their story a little, the diocese has started a project of building a multi-purpose building that will serve the needs better. at the moment, they've only excavated the ground, as that's all they can afford to do. that's typical of their approach - they do what they have money for, and then stop until they raise more. very pragmatic!
after this, we headed off to the bishop's parish, where we saw his church and a brand new one they're building beside it. again, the new one is incomplete, and needs about 1.4m shillings (about £12k) to complete it. we had a very early lunch of meat, bread, and tea, before heading out into the wider countryside.
we went to the first anglican church in meru, started by canon john-peter back in 1963. he's a remarkable man, gifted in pioneering new churches and schools. he's started 17 schools in his time, and has served in many areas of the diocese that he knows so well. he and i got on well together. this first church that he started is in an area susceptible to drought, and the people are poor. there is a dispensary there, but its not well used as people can't afford the medicines, and there aren't many medicines stocked anyway.
from there we went to the lowlands, and the country changes from lush and green to become dry, red dust, rocky with vegetation more akin to the aussie outback. we visited several schools, all of which were empty as its saturday. then moved onto another township with a small, very poor church run by the rural dean, rev phillip. he has 4 parishes to serve, which he does on foot as he has no transportation. one of his big wishes is for a bicycle, so i'm going to suggest tonight that we all pitch in and get him one. they cost around 6k shillings, which would cost us about £10 each to contribute to.
it seems that the bishop's strategy is to show us how poor his diocese is, in the hope that we will provide financial aid. they are indeed poor and in dire need of better facilities, though they really have little hope of raising funds internally as their income is from predominantly poor people who are heavily dependent on weather and the success of crops and livestock.
in this country, there seems to be something of a connection between buildings and the gospel. rev phillip told us about how the poor state of their church - little more than a tin shack with red earth floor and benches for pews - is a distinct turn-off to new people who come. just down the road from his church is the government's district commisisoner's office. when new staff who are anglican arrive and come looking for the local anglican church find this tin shack, those new people only come once, and don't return. this has a direct effect on ministry as people like those in the d.c office have money which could be fed into the church. but if they don't come, they don't give. if they don't give, the parish can't pay its quota to the diocese. if it doesn't pay its quota, the diocese doesn't pay the stipend (wages) of the priest. and rev phillip has now been without a stpiend for a year! but still he is faithful and does his best with no money and no transport in a crappy little tin shed church that few people come to. bless him.
it seems that colonial anglicanism has left a legacy that demands its form in buildings, vestments, etc., be upheld and maintained at the cost of simply doing interpersonal ministry. if rev phillip was not tied to buildings then he would have finance available for a bicycle and a stipend. 'meaning' and 'form' have been fused and confused here as in the west. the propogation of anglicanism is as important to kenyans (and many english) as the propogation of the gospel. lord, have mercy on them and on us.
we had some strong conversation about gospel and culture over dinner in the evening.
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