If I took a lot of pictures there would be things to show - but I often leave the camera at home - often? Practically ALways. That requires me to think in order to blog - you do not want to be buried in inanities.

I went to a house church for Sunday worship yesterday and was struck, again, by how PERSonal a thing worship is. We may say it is 'corporate', but how is it "in-corp-o-rated"? How do we DO interaction/intertwining/juxtapositioning. There was some. And more than at my local church if you forget the circle dancers who make up 4 - 7 of us each week. Or was I so wrapped up in my delight at singing praises with a group of friends that I was not aware of the interactions? (I just wanted to DANCE and jump about and wah hoo. Gotta be selfrestrained, not 'cause your bro to stumble' and all that!) There are about 10 under 2s at the house and mums keep babies with them, so there is lots of maternal hormone going around. Babies are LOVELY. I know some of the folk some, and a couple well well, but out of the 30 or so there, 20 are very little known to me and I assume that they are believers on their own journeys. Ah well. I do certainly enjoy getting out of Wilmore now and then and being of encouragement to others. Read "gardening."

OUr house is getting an internal face lift. Carpets and painting. I shall put bamboo wood floors in some places and carpet of 38% cornrubble. Or whatever they call it. In 6 weeks it will be super. Come and see.

Above you see the method of heating a room/section of a room a la Kenya. The metal is a tube, punched with holes, with a screen at the lower end of the tube. The tube is sitting in a saucer (to catch the ashes) and this whole thing is mounted on legs which keep the tube/saucer off the floor. Charcoal is placed inside the tube, lit (never found out how it is ignited) and then placed where heat is needed. It is quite effective and never seemed to be a threat. No flames, just red hot glowing coals.

Secondly there are some kids from the
Maasai village. How many of YOU had
to lug around your
sibling for hours on end? I wonder if Mum had to tell big brother to hold the kid?, or if he just picked him up as a matter of course?

I have enjoyed the Potluck we had tonight for the Wilmore Creation Care group. Twenty-five folk and several kittens. Nancy Sleeth and Matthew were the "guest speakers" though they feel more like plain folk. No celebrity status for them!!! Read the book "Serve God Save the Planet" if you want to see where they are coming from. Nancy wrote "Go Green $ave Green" which is VERY practical. And the daughter (now 18) wrote "It is easy being Green" for younger twenty-somethings to read - geared for College kids. WE MUST get the world to be more consumer conscious (read, 'spend less first world' countries and recycle!! etc) Plus compost, sustainable food products, use both sides of the paper, save water, grow a garden, SHARE TOOLS etc and more etc.

I think I should write something of more depth - a piece of poetry maybe. Tomorrow.

Having too much to say is similar to having not enough. . .you get silenced and in this case I am going to resort to photographs to say my piece. And there seems to be a glitch and the child with "National Geographic" look to him will not upload. Tomorrow.

Luggage, a small church, and a lovely 10 year old girl with whom I made friends, and a little lad whose face was besmirched with flies - and no one swatted them or wiped his face. All these things were more remarkable than I can express. Africa is a place of extremes, and one man being set free from Islam is a good thing. Dear Eddy. We pray that you are growing in Christ. He is second from the right in the picture with the corrugated tin church.

It has been a month since I last posted, and what a month!! Trip to Kenya and on to England. Visits with friends and strangers and spiritual food to feast upon. Stolen stuff that is irreplaceable and little worry about it at all. (Where is THAT serenity coming from?) The zebras are contented - so should I be. Thank you Lord.

On our trip twe were fserved food to eat that would have fed an entire Coambodial village. And that was a difficult part of being in Nairobi and environs - we (eight of us from Great Commission Fellowship in Wilmore) were treated like Royalty and given stuff and taken places where we felt privileged and did not wish to be so honored. We are just Americans who are blessed beyond words and pampered as though we 'deserved' it. Our mission was with Armstrong and Rhoda Cheggeh who are the lead pastors of a denomination in Kenya. Our job: to be at the annual Convention for the Pastors of the churches in Kenya who belong to Fountain of Life Churches. The convention was in a large rural girls' boarding school. Two hundred plus pastors and wives and assorted came to the conference and were fed/watered/prayed for and taught. It was incredible the ministry that went on. In a dusty dry arid desert location with few amenities. You should try it one day. I loved it. Except the potty. Nuff said.

One of the hardest things: accepting hospitality. How does one find the courage to serve 'guests' with the food that the children would have liked to have eaten. What is the cultural mandate that says that the fat cat americans deserve to be given the cream of the crop and more besides? Apparently it is the Kenyan culture, and we certainly felt obligated to eat the food set in front of us and bite our tongues and NOT tell our hosts to give the foods to the poor. Isn't it odd? We showed our gratitude with many thank yous and promises of prayers, and were able to bring some monetary gifts that maybe eased the pain for some of the tribal areas in the form of maize and beans, and three bikes for pastors. There is famine in northern Kenya - no measurable rain for 4 years, and crop failure after failure. Children dying from insufficient food. Oh my!

The most wonderful part of the trip was the spiritual conversion of the young man, Eddy.(Below: Second from the right back row) He was the bus driver hired along with the 15 seater, and his work with our group was to drive us hither and yon. Mostly yon. And sometimes with a broken clutch!! Our delight and enthusiasm, our lack of complaining, (I believe) helped Eddy to see that Americans WITH Christ are different from any other tourists. He said "It is because of YOU that I became a Christian!" That is what he said. He was raised by 3 sibling brothers and no parents, and never set foot in a school. We are glad that the Pastor in Nairobi has agreed to be his mentor and bring Eddy into a discipleship relationship. GO Eddy!! The photo is the DAY of his conversion. The man kneeling on the left is the American who preached at that service and led Eddy into a meaningful relationship with Jesus. Eddy had been a Muslim until this picture/day.

The zebras at the top are some of the animals we saw on the Safari that was arranged for us. Eddy drove us through the acres of the Maasai Mara park and found animals for us to oogle at and take photos of. How is one NOT amazed at the variety and massiveness of the flora and fauna? Eddy knew a Maasai at one of the villages and took us to see the extended family. Ooohhh. Ask me about THAT!! It was a National Geographic experience.Here is the picture you have all been waiting for: Phoebe, her young man and his parents, Helen and Colin. "Loooovvvely people" as the Brits would say. We had a delightful lunch and walk around a picturesque British Village - with churhc and river and all. Quaint bridge super panoramic views.

Since coming back to Wilmore I have felt that the event overseas was a kind of watershed for me. Some stuff is "Pre-Kenya" and now it is post. New stuff and new vision. What of? Not sure yet, but new. And exciting. And filled with usefulness. And ministry with you. Be blessed.