And They're Off ...
The 2009 Africa mission team will travel to Kenya and Rwanda during their 15 day stay on the continent. They will visit mission agencies and projects supported by the church as well as lead vacation bible school in Rwanda and provide some construction assistance in Kenya and Rwanda. They hope to send periodic updates throughout the trip that will be posted to this sight. Please keep them in your prayers.
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 11:33 PM
Dear family and friends,
We have been running hard since landing in Nairobi on Thursday night.
After a short night's rest, we headed back to the airport Friday morning to catch a flight to Kigali, Rwanda.
Members of Ebrailie's Rwandan church met us at the airport and took our luggage to the PCEA guest house, while we headed for C.P.A.J., a ministry to street children in Kigali. We were met with African drumming, singing and dancing! The director showed us the classrooms where the kids learn skills to help them find employment, such as sewing, hairdressing, and T-shirt graphics/designing.
Then we headed high up into the hills, out of Kigali, to Hannah ministries run by a couple of Ebrailie's friends. This ministry works with child-led households, i.e. families where the parents have been killed in the genocide or died of AIDS. We were honored to be present at the ceremony celebrating the presentation of goats and pigs to children so that they could sustain themselves. The program is similar to Heifer International's where the recipient of an animal must donate the first born of the animal to continue the gift in the village.
Saturday we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial. There simply are not words to describe the brutality and horror of this event. After years of planning and propaganda, the country literally exploded in violence and mass murder. In less than 100 days, from April 1994 to mid-July 1994, nearly 1 million Rwandans were murdered by their friends and neighbors.
300,000 people are buried at the Kigali Memorial.
We then went to Ebrailie's church, Kanombe PCEA, and stood in lines with the rest of the church community to pass bricks up to the workers building the walls of the new church building. We had a wonderful lunch outside in the shade of an avocado tree at the house of an elder. It was prepared by the women of the church.
We then presented a VBS program for the church. We presented a play on Joseph's life and then broke into groups for discussions and crafts/play.
Rob and Baylor went with Pastor John, from Uganda, to talk with the youth, Sandra talked with the women, and a lot of us played with the children.
We met with the elders, Pastor Julius, and other local PCEA leaders by candlelight to discuss the goals, successes and challenges at Kanombe. It was a wonderful day.
Sunday we worshiped at Kanombe! Like most African church services there was lots of singing and beautiful dancing. Sandra delivered a lovely sermon, which was very well received. It was truly a joyous occassion. We had lunch, again, at the elder's house outside.
Sunday afternoon we visited Remera Hospital, located high in the hills and saw the maternity wing that FPC's donation was used to build. This hospital has outstanding AIDS care, but lacks reliable water and no electricity. We also saw the genocide memorial to PCEA pastors and church leaders killed during the genocide.
Monday, we flew back to Nairobi and some much needed rest!
Love to all of our friends and families.
In Christ,
The Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:15 AM
Dear family and friends,
Last night we watched the film "As We Forgive" about the genocide victim-perpetrator reconciliation programs in Rwanda. In 2005, the President of Rwanda released 40,000 confessed murderers from the genocide and released them to go back to their villages. Today, many victims and perpetrators live as neighbors. The healing that Rwanda is undertaking is daunting, but seems to be effective.
Today we went to the Kibera slum to build a mubati (sheet metal) church called Silanga. Kibera is the 3rd largest slum in world and the largest in east Africa. More than 1.5 million people are crammed into about 500 acres. It is dirty, unsanitary, and well beyond poverty.
Before getting to Silanga, we stopped another PCEA chuch in Kibera; Emmanuel. This church, and the manse associated with it were firebombed during the post-election riots in 2007. The church has been rebuilt with funds from our church, as well as other Presbyterian congregations. African Leadership has almost completely finished the build out of a vocational school here. The school is one of the best in Kenya, with courses in everything from auto mechanics, to catering, to hair dressing.
The work at Kibera proceeded much, much faster than expected and we will finish up the painting and touch up tomorrow. The ladies of the church gave us lunch. They were a lively and entertaining group of ladies!
Until tomorrow,
Your Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 3:15 PM
Dear friends and family,
Wednesday: Second day at Kibera and the Silanga church is finished! We will go back on Saturday for the dedication.
Kibera, as I mentioned yesterday, is an enormous slum in Nairobi. We have to drive deep into the slum, down extremely narrow roads to get to Silanga. The poverty is extraordinary by any standard and difficult to describe. When we arrived on site, we finished hanging the mubati (sheet metal) and painting the windows and doors. We painted and hung the cross from the old church, hung the banners, and raised the sign over the entrance: P.C.E.A. Silanga Church. Silanga church members, the pastor, and the ladies guild all worked together with us to raise this church in a very short time.
Again, the people at Silanga were overjoyed that we were visiting them. We have been asked several times by our friends at home why do we travel all
the way the Africa to do this? What is the point? It is important to understand that the people here do not need our physical labor. There are many, many church members and others perfectly willing and able to do this work. This is not Haiti or Jamaica, and the vibe here is 180 degrees from that. Our presence here, visiting - even if we did no work at all - is emotionally and spiritually uplifting to the Kenyan (and Rwandan) churches. Their faith is renewed in knowing that other Christians are willing to come to their aid. They feel loved and nutured knowing that we traveled from so very far away just to be with them. Their hope is restored for a better life and a better way for their community. Faith - Love - Hope - the three words printed below the P.C.E.A. symbol.
Africans, especially the here in East Africa, value personal relationships more than material things. Coming to Africa to remind these congregations that, whatever difficulties they face, we are supoorting them and encouraging them every step of the way, means more to them than any physical thing we could buy for them.
This evening, a gentlman from Emmanuel church, a teacher names Rafael, came to speak to our group. He used to live in Kibera and now teaches at one of the schools there. He gave us a glimpse into the everyday life of the people. Nearly 100,000 orphans live in Kibera and 60% of the families are led by a single parent. While relatively few people live their entire lives in the slum, many spend as much as 10 years of their lives here - and it a grueling existence. Rafael told us that you could buy almost anything in Kibera - guns, drugs, prostitutes, all manner of food (and we saw many, many open stalls selling food) as well as clothes, shoes, liquor, and so on. Still, the average home is about 10'x10' with 5 people living in it. Kibera has a very strong Muslim presence due to the fact the 50% of the population is Nubian, from Sudan. The churches in Kibera were targeted in the post-election violence mainly due to that fact. One Presbyterian church was taken over and P.C.E.A. has yet to get it back, although they have filed a lawsuit.
Emmanuel and Silanga churches, and the schools associated with them, are truly a light in a dark place. We are blessed to be of any help we can.
Yours in Christ,
Your Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 2:16 PM
Dear friends and family,
Today we spent the morning and afternoon working at Embulbul church, not far from where we are staying here in Kikuyu.
We, FPC Nashville, have a 7 year history with this church and the congregation is always delighted to see us. They remember who has visited before and inquire about those who have visited, but are not present.
Our tasks today were mixing and pouring concrete for a classroom floor and painting some renovated classrooms. This church has about 260 children in
its school. For many of the little guys, the food they receive here is all they will receive for the day. The school is adding a second floor to one level of the classrooms - an additional 4 classrooms. The work went well.
During our lunch break (again, the Mamas of the church fixed a wonderful hot meal), we had a visit from an evangelist, David, who works in the northeastern part of country where he evangelizes to Muslims. This is extremely dangerous work. Stu and his group have discussed putting a church up there, but was told it would be burned and the workers would risk their lives as the area is heavily Muslim. Islamic countries such as Libya and Sudan are funneling money into Africa at an alarming rate. The goal, of course, is a united Africa under Islam. These are not the moderate Muslims, unfortunately - they are the radicalized groups. Drew, Stu's foreman, said that when they drove from Nairobi to Mombasa on the coast (about 6 hours) they saw one church; but every 2 kilos was a mosque. They are beginning to build schools with the mosques as well. In a country with little to no national school system, this is very alarming. If the mosque is the only school, then that is where the kids will go.
After lunch we continued with our work, guided by the Kenyan craftsmen. The concrete has to be mixed by shovel in large batches - no cement mixers. But, the work progressed very well and tomorrow we will go back to finish up.
Tonight we went out to eat at a fabulous restaurant called The Rusty Nail. It is one of our favorite restaurants here in the Kikuyu/Karen area as the
food is excellent! Everyone had a wonderful evening.
Yours in Christ,
Your Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 12:25 PM
Dear friends and family,
Today we went back to Embulbul church to finish up some light work. Mostly, we played with the children who LOVE for us to take their picture and then show it to them on the camera screen.
To everyone at FPC who donated clothes and school supplies, most of these went to the school at Embulbul, and they were very much appreciated. We also gave them some soccer balls and a couple of basketballs.
After lunch we walked down the street from the church to visit St. Paul's Children's Home. The Home was started by the current director, Jane, andher mother in their own home many years ago. They gradually expanded to 68 orphans and a very involved operation. Unfortunately, the Home burned down due to an electrical fire last July. Jane single-handedly raised nearly all the money necessary to rebuild the school, complete with modern bathrooms, a beautiful new kitchen, a shop, rec room and several new dormrooms.
Jane is a phenomenally gifted woman. St. Paul's has a very large (several acres) garden for fresh veggies, cows for milk, chickens for eggs, andthey use the animal manure to make biogas for the operation of the school and home. She has a water borehole and gets enough water to sell to thecommunity. She is also installing solar panels to avoid the iffy Kenyapower grid. So, to sum up, this woman has made the entire orphanage,school, and farm nearly 100% self sufficient and nearly completely independent of outside resources. Her "can do" attitude and servant'sheart is surely the drive behind her success. But, we were struck by the slogan on her T-shirt today as she showed us around: "Just Do It."
We decided to help her finish her build out by paying for Stu to make about 80 chairs for the dining hall. She was thrilled with our donation.
We hope everyone back home is safe and sound. It was delightful to visit our friends at Embulbul again and to meet such new, and inspiring ones, like Jane.
Yours in Christ,
Your Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 2:12 PM
Dear Friends and Family,
 Today we celebrated with Silanga church as they dedicated their new sanctuary and classrooms. What a great day, full of laughter, singing, preaching and praising. Today's ceremonies lasted a little over four hours - pretty standard for a celebration like this. The church was full to capacity with several visiting clergymen and elders from all over this region attending as well as officers of the General Assembly.
This church has a particularly heavy yoke to bear as it serves such a needy community; however, as Naomi (one of the women of the church who helped us work) said to us "Good things can come from Kibera. I come from Kibera." Many of the people we work with here have spent at least a small portion of their lives living in this immense slum. They understand very, very well the needs of this community and do an outstanding job of reaching out to the people here.
We presented the church with some communion plates, cups and servers. Elise LaGrone presented a prayer cloth from our 1st grade FPC children to the children of Silanga, along with a candle and personal notes. We also bought some flour and rice for the "Mamas" of the church - the Ladies Guild.
The church minister and elders presented a lovely copper plaque to Sandra for FPC. They gave all the men in the group African shirts and the ladies received warm shawls (very much appreciated as the winter nights here are quite chilly!). We were told many, many times how much they appreciated us, loved us, and wanted us to come back as soon as we could. We have certainly made some truly wonderful friends here.
After many goodbyes, we left Silanga and the Kibera slum behind and headed for home. This evening we went out to dinner at the Java House - very popular with muzungus (white people) - because of its American style burgers and fries. The food here in Kenya is very good, but it is usually the same thing over and over again, so the night out was great. Cheeseburgers and chocolate sundaes were the most popular choice this evening.
Everyone is well and spirits are high. It is especially nice to have our younger team members (Elise, Rob and Baylor) here as they definitely keep our mood light!
Your in Christ,
Your Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 10:13 AM
Dear friends and family,
We had a delightful Sunday service at Embulbul today! It is a joy to be among our friends here at Embulbul. FPC Nashville is considered a true partner and their love for our church is deeply and truly heartfelt. They have asked, again, about past Kenya Mission trip members and would like for us to pass on their greetings and blessings.
We attended the English service first, and then the Swahili service. The men's fellowship, the ladies guild, the youth, the children's choir and the church choir all sang beautifully today. We especially loved the children's dancing.
The church presented the men of our group with beautiful African shirts and beaded belts. The ladies in the group received Maasai beaded collars and very lovely African shirt & skirt sets. Each one was slightly different - all of it beautifully crafted and sewn.
Jean gave the ladies of the church and the staff who cooked for us terrific cross necklaces that she had made. We also gave the ladies rice and flour, as well as some scarves. To the church and as a whole, we contributed several communion trays, cups and servers. We also gave the school supplies, soccer gear and toys (mostly beanie babies). Thanks, again, to all of the FPC members who contributed. Embulbul is very grateful that you have thought of them and went to the trouble of collecting these items.
Ebrailie read the Old Testament lesson in Swahili and Rob read the New Testament lesson in English. Sandra preached a wonderful sermon of the fruits of the spirit. Pastor Philip gave a brief summary of the sermon in Swahili for the congregation.
The seeds FPC has planted at Embulbul have certainly grown and borne fruit. Embulbul is now a strong, vibrant church with a great outreach ministry in this urban community.
Sadly, we will not see our friends here for another year, but it is wonderful know they are healthy and thriving!
Yours in Christ,
Your Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 12:42 PM
Dear friends and family,
Today was our day off from work, and we toured around Karen.
 Our first visit was to the Kazuri Beads Factory. This company was started in 1975 by the daughter of a missionary who wanted to provide work for poor, single mothers. The clay beads are formed and glazed by hand. Then they are sorted and strung into necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Most of the women live in the Kibera slum. Kazuri provides transportation to and from the factory every day, as well as 80% of their medical care for them and their families. The beads are wonderful - I am sure many will appear under the Christmas tree in December.
Next we visited the animal orphanage. Several baby elephants are cared for here. The oldest is about 22 months old. We took lots of photos and even got to pet a few. They even have a baby rhino.
The giraffe center, our next stop, in Karen is always a hit. We fed the giraffes and petted them. Some of us (Rob and Jean!) even got a kiss from one lovely lady giraffe.
We indulged in one more lunch at The Nairobi Java House - the burgers are wonderful!
Next we headed back to Stu's house to meet with Gilbert and David for some real shopping. Gilbert is a great friend of Stu's and Linda's. He brought in many handmade crafts for us to choose from. David, one of our Maasai friends, brought us beautiful Maasai crafts. We shopped 'til we dropped.
Several of you have heard about the new travel warning issued for Kenya. The part of the country that is experiencing this trouble is in the northeast, on the Somali border. Somalis are crossing the border and causing all sorts of trouble. Please rest assured that we are all well, and far away from the that part of the country. Sadly, some of our NGO partners are in grave danger. Please pray for them.
Yours in Christ,
Your Africa Mission Team
From: Barbara Arrants
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 1:14 PM
Dear family and friends,
On our last "working" day, we visited the congregation at Ongata Rongai and the Kimuka Girls School.
Ongata Rongai is located on the edge of Masai Land. The congregation has raised the funds for, and constructed the foundation and walls of a stone church. They are waiting on our promised contribution in order to finish their church. We visited with them in order to reassure the members that, indeed, the funds have not been cut and that they should receive the promised amount by the end of the year. This rapidly growing congregation quickly outgrew their mubati church and is in real need of this new building.
After lunch at Ongata Rongai, we headed into the Ngong Hills to visit the Masai school at Kimuka. This all-girl boarding school is very, very successful and has about 160 students from all over Masai Land and beyond.
We brought the students some encyclopedias and soccer balls. Going to high school prevents the girls from entering into marriage at a young age (usually about 13) to an older man. Some girls are "rescued" from the marriages by the chief, who is a very committed Christian.
Tomorrow we fly to Masai Mara for our safari. We will come back to Nairobi on Friday and take the 10 pm flight to Amsterdam. We should be home around 2:30 pm on Saturday. We have so much more to tell you! We miss you all.
Yours in Christ,
Your Africa Mission Team
|
