Three weeks down...

...and we've made it to the Coast!

We are currently in Mombasa, on the eastern coast of Africa, still in Kenya though a slightly different Kenya it is. The people in Mombasa are almost half-half Christian-Muslim, and the Muslim influence not prevelant in Nairobi is obvious here. People in Mombasa are generally more relaxed and generally friendlier than in Nairobi, though the clowns that try and sell you everything from belts to pillows to dodgey African Music CDs are still all over the place and still annoying. On the coast, the typical greeting is "Jambo" - you won't find many people saying that in Nairobi, as it's a very typical tourist-oriented greeting.
We are staying at the Jadini Beach Hotel, and i have to say it's the nicest place I've ever stayed in! It is right on the beach, and is one of 3 linked resorts (the other two being the Africana Sea Lodge & the Safari Beach Hotel) that offer an almost ridiculous (not quite but almost) array of restaurants pools and facilities. The staff are really professional, the location is magnificant (from the reception desk where you check in, the beach is less than 50m!) and the atmosphere is very, very relaxed - it's all good.

We've had a great time so far - just as we're settling we have to pack up and leave! Since arriving Friday night, we had an early evening Friday before heading out on an all day Safari/Game Drive on Saturday. By all day I mean we got up at 4am and didn't get back until gone 7pm. The Safari/Game Drive was awesome, and I have plenty of photo's and video of elephants, oryx, impala, ostrich, not to mention cheetah's (which are rarer than lions) and numerous other animals of different species. We didn't see any lions, but the cheetah's (which we saw twice) made up for that. We spent the day with our driver William, who picked us up fromt he Airport on Friday evening and took us around on Safari/Game Drive. William took us around part of the largest national park in Kenya - Tsavo East National Park. At 11,000 square kilometres and at an elevation of 2000 feet, Tsavo East & Tsavo West make up 20-odd thousand square kilometres of national park, easily the biggest national park in Kenya, boasting plenty of animals and spectacular scenery. Only 2 or 3 hours out of Mombasa makes it a perfect day trip, and we were not disappointed.

Westerners, i.e. Europeans or those with white skin, are typically called "Mzungu" and this word can often be heard in reference to a European or Westerner in Nairobi particularly. The word "Mzungu" actually comes from (it's essentially an abbreviated form of) the Kiswahili word for "dizzy" or "lost", so it's no surprise that (given the calibre of tourists these days) the word is very appropriate. :) hehe

Our last week in Nairobi was spectacular. The hightlight of the week was the all-day partnership summit with the ministry directors from Lifespring Chapel on Wednesday. Thankyou everyone for your prayers! We all felt the day was very beneficial and effective as we discussed how to further develop the partnership between Gymea Anglican Church and Lifespring Chapel. As a group, we were able to come to many conclusions & resolutions. Please pray that as we seek to action these resolutions within specific time-frames we would not be lazy or slack. Praise God for the openness, flexibility and commitment of the Lifespring ministry team!

We spent last Thursday nite celebrating with one of the interns at Lifespring Chapel. FYI the internship program is setup to allow people to experience ministry and give them opportunities to see where their gifts in ministry lie. Krystal, an intern originally from California USA, was scheduled to arrive at a surprise 21st birthday party at a restaurant called 'Carnivore'. Now, I should point out that the title does not imply that when the restaurant has you over for dinner, they "have you for dinner". No - the focus is game meat and we had the opportunity to try zebra, giraffe and crocodile meat, as well as the standard beef, chicken & pork. The croc was particularly delicious, though I don't think i'll be attempting to catch any myself in the near future.

The young crew at T 4 12 (short for 1 Timothy 4:12 I've since been told!) have started a series on 'Entertainment' and we spent last Wednesday evening after the summit with the young crew.

Thankyou once again for your eyes. The next time you hear from me I will be in the UK and Dan, Mon and Clint will be back home!

Now it's time for lunch - priorities people, priorities!

Stay cool, serve Him only.
-Spud.

Two weeks later....

....and our time is coming to a close. :( It has been an awesome two weeks and though I will be glad to return home I know I will miss Kenya.

Our second week in Nairobi, Kenya, was slightly more relaxed as the CCV team returned to the USA after a Safari Trip & well-earned rest, and we continued our involvement with the team from Lifespring.
Here's a summary of the activities we were involved in during the course of the week:

Monday:
* rest and relaxation time after a very busy Sunday, and an evening basketball game with young guys from the local estate. Simon put the locals to shame by scoring the winning goal, and taking the team which had been losing all evening, to victory;
* Meetings with Ministry Directors, pizza lunches and preparation for the missions expo rounded off a more relaxed week.

Tuesday:
* We sat in on the Lifespring staff prayer meeting which is held every Tuesday morning.

* Wednesday: we had for the first time an opportunity to map-out our schedule for the remaining 2 weeks, and a quick trip into the city to Masai Markets which turned out to be a bad idea! After being surrounded by some shady characters, the girls freaked out and Gerald (the only Kenyan amongst us) promptly motivated us to move away from the market area. A scary experience all-round, it reminded us of how quickly a situation can get out of hand.
* a day at the Lifespring office being involved in general activities with the interns;
* "T 4 12" in the evening,

Thursday:
* Leadership Classes with the interns in the morning, meeting with ministry Directors during the day, chill-out with Young people at Pastor Sammy's in the afternoon, and SALT campus fellowship at Nairobi Chapel in the evening;

Friday:
* Danielle & I had a meeting with Web Design 'team' to come to some agreement on how to go forward with Lifespringchapel.com;
* meetings with the Ministry Directors of Lifespring Chapel.

Saturday:
* preparing for Mission expo - we created a 1.5m x 1.5m display that contains information about Gymea Anglican Church, it's partnership links and ministry areas.

Sunday:
* Our last Lifespring Church service, where Pastor Charles from Tumaini Church, Kwa-Njenga, encouraged the congregation to be involved in missions - whether at work, school, home or out & about.
* Clint preached at the Tumaini Church in the morning, and by all accounts the message was well recieved with someone giving their life to the Lord
* the Mission Expo (where our display was one of many others) took place after the Church Service at Lifespring, with a number of displays from Lifespring and other organisation (eg TULIP - Tumaini Ladies Integration Project).
* We had a very late lunch @ Pete & Kathryn's (Kathryn is an aussie girl from Orange, NSW, and will most likely be back in Australia with her husband Pete in Jan 2005
* a visit to the Giraffe Centre (such majestic creatures - and such hideously long tongues!) before our late lunch, and time in the evening with our host family.

We spent today (Monday) back in the Kwa-Njenga slums with Pastor Charles. Charles gave us a complete overview of the ministry work that the Tumaini Church supports. The sheer volume and scope of work is almost unbelievable, yet it is clearly a testimony to the awesome power of God working through people that are willing to do whatever it takes, wherever God takes them. Charles' passion for reaching the people of the slums is matched by his desire to see leaders raised up from the Christians within the slums. Please pray that God will continue to raise up people from within the slums who can eventually take over the running of the Tumaini Church.
We were also privileged to spend a short amount of time with the team from Angaza Trust. Angaza is setup to allow home-less kids and young people the opportunity at obtaining an education. Angaza links with many organisations to help young people rehabilitate from substance abuse, as well as moving away from a 'street' lifestyle. The staff (Caroline, Faith, Joseph and other volunteers) also work to educate men & women on the dangers of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the benefits of abstinence. They also run a sports clinic for where young people can focus their energies, rather than being idle. Please pray that the relationship that exists between Angaza and the Tumaini Church continues to grow to the mutual encouragement and support of both teams & the people they minister to.

This week we look forward to wrapping up our involvement with the Lifespring team, and treking off to Mombasa on Friday morning, returning to Nairobi on Monday (the 12th) afternoon, having dinner with the crew from Lifespring & our host families, then jumping back on a plane to Dubai in the early hours of Tuesday morning (our flight leaves Nairobi at 00:45). As many of you know, I will be leaving the other 3 in Dubai and travelling, not to Sydney, but to London to see a very special person. :) She knows who she is.

Please pray that the Partnership summit (all day Wednesday) would be an awesome time for both the Lifespring leadership team and us, as we meet together to discuss how the partnership between our two churches can go forward. Many thoughts and feelings related to the partnership have already been expressed, so please pray that this time would be beneficial and effective.

On a slightly different note, the MED (Micro-Economic Development) projects, co-ordinated by Joyce from the Lifespring leadership team, has highlighted the need for a separation of roles which Joyce currently performs. Being a social worker to and a loan officer for those who recieve loans for MED projects has complicated Joyce's role. Joyce has highlighted the need for a MED project office dedicated to the management of finances, an office that is separate from Lifespring to avoid a mentality that assumes that because the money is coming from a Church, it is given as a gift and not a loan, and therefore does not need to be paid back. The project office would be set-up to, initially, finance projects that are already established and viable, and then at a later stage, start financing new or experiemental projects. This is a very viable set-up, however the major hurdle is up-front financing because a large pool of money needs to be available to the established businesses from the outset.

Thanks to all for your prayers. Please let me know via email if there is anything you specifically want to know about.

In Christ we have it all,
-Spud, Dan, Mon, Clint.