Monday, June 16, 2008

Farewell to Amber and Anne

The Kenya trio is down to solo. Amber and Anne left Nairobi on Saturday after completing a two year stint as missionaries in Kenya. Amber will be starting up school at George Mason University in the Fall, studying counseling; meanwhile Anne will pursue business studies at UNC Chapel Hill. They will be deeply missed here in Kenya and leave behind a legacy at Akiba School, Light and Power Centre, and Mudzini Kwetu orphanage in Mombasa.

Interns


One of my new responsibilities at Church Army is to help coordinate and run an internship program to help youth grow and gain new experiences in work and in missions. We now have four new interns, Betty, Brenda, Jacinta, and Winnie, all recent Kenyan high school graduates. They are serving alongside mentors and helping out in areas such as accounting, administration, education, and journalism. They meet for regular prayer and discussion groups and we also have some classes and are reading the book The Purpose Driven Life together.

Kenyan National Prayer Breakfast

On Saturday, 31st May, I attended the Kenyan National Prayer Breakfast. The annual event is organized by members of Parliament. Sam and Lynn Owen also help to coordinate the event as part of their ministry with the Parliamentary Prayer Groups. They invited Amber, Anne, and I, as well as a small group from Light and Power to attend.

The breakfast was a grand event, held at the largest conference hall in Kenya, in the Safari Park Hotel. The President, Vice President, and Prime Minister were all present, as were many dignitaries from across East Africa and around the world. The Main Speaker was retired U.S. Congressman Walter Fauntroy, a long-time pastor and civil rights activist. He shared movingly from his experiences working alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, and he encouraged and challenged Kenyan leaders to promote peace by pursuing income, education, healthcare, housing, and justice for all Kenyans. Later, the President referred to the post-election violence as "our little mistake" and urged Kenyans to move forward in unity. After the President's speech, Lucy's group, 4 Word, sang an a capella song in Kiswahili about forgiveness.

Prayer Breakfast - Photos

Dave with the Light and Power guys after attending the African Youth Leader's Forum annual Leadership Conference following the Prayer Breakfast.

The crew from Light and Power: Hesbon, Henry, and Bishar at the pool on Safari Park Hotel's lushly manicured grounds


Lucy and her friends from 4 Word, shortly after their acapella presentation during the prayer breakfast.

Gangster's Paradise


Last Saturday night, a gang of professional thieves broke into Church Army Africa's offices. They came with guns, crowbars, and steel cutters and made off with computers, cash, and office equipment from the Secretariat Office, the Dental Clinic, the College, and the Centre for Urban Mission. It was the first burglary of this magnitude in the 50 year history of Church Army in Nairobi. Thankfully, no one was injured, and at least some of the losses are covered by insurance.