Back in Nairobi waiting for the plane, hoping it will arrive and there is no French interference, although at least we are not going Quantas with all those engine problems.
I gave the final lecture today and then it was time to say our goodbyes and the five hour trip back to Nairobi although we had to stop at Naivasha for a latte – I have gone a whole week without one – and keep getting the shakes.
So we have jointly organised one international conference, taken 3 church services, 1 pastors seminar and taught at the college. Linda has visited several schools and given several talks. She also got to inspect the new toilets at Mogonjet!
I will be glad to get back to work on Monday for a rest!
We already have several invites for our next trip in March which will be around graduation time.
We gave away
21 reflective tags
21 wristbands
13 Ep pens
13 key rings
8 balls
15 magnifing
10 postit notes
Stickers
4 notepads
12 bags
Windup torch
799 pens
590 pencils
19 dresses
15 hairbands
35 Sunday school books
16 bibles
27 hymn books
5 school books
24 red jumpers
Dvd player
30 dvds
27 camera films
9 cameras
Calculator
Laptop
40 bible commentaries and study books.
10 exercise books
8 soaps
16 bottles of water
We came with 5 bags and going home with 3 and one of those is just carrying our empty bags!
Some days we have electricity at the college and others we don’t. This makes planning lessons very hard as most of the presentations are on powerpoint, so I can see them on the IPAD – but they can’t on the screen.
I have been teaching discipleship this week and have 20 students in the class. They have been listening to me, other speakers via Itouch and doing some group work. It seems to have gone well and they have all enjoyed it.
The Principal asked what we would like for dinner. I replied a big mac or burger king. It was a stupid question really as the only option is rice! I suggested samosa or chapatti – but we still got rice. The good things is we eat at the hotel in the evening and have rice – but normally I have fish to go with it and Linda has egg or cheese.
Linda has been out scaring the children and visiting schools, giving away pencils and books. She has given a few speeches as well – she is getting quite accustomed to it now. She hasn’t been offered any more chickens yet.
I did a seminar at Kericho Town church this afternoon on Nehemiah. It was well attended with about 30 pastors from all over the area plus the students. The feedback was good and we had a cup of tea afterwards and a chat. It lasted for 3 1/2 hours and now they are experts on Nehemiah. The Bishop, himself, phoned me this evening to thank me for the seminar – I wonder if he saw us on TV.
Tomorrow is the last day – College in the morning, drive back to Nairobi in the afternoon and then the 2330 flight home. It will be another busy day – I need a holiday!
The look on Linda’s face when I was given a live chicken as a thank you for preaching on Sunday – priceless!
We have arrived in Kericho safely, we stopped at Navaisha on the way, there is a coffee shop there that does a good latte. So we were sitting out enjoying the coffee when we were approached by a small group from Sierra Leone who wanted to have their photo taken with us- that is the problem when your famous –you can’t even drink a cup of coffee in peace.
On Sunday I was preaching twice, the 0830 service at Kericho town although the time has been changed and it now starts at 0800 – so I was late but no problem as the preacher never starts before 0900. I spoke about Peter escaping from prison.
After that we were met by Pastor Rutto and we were going to his church – which was not far. An hour later we arrived – the journey was terrible, the road (or pathway is a better description) was bumpy, the car got stuck in the mud – but we got there finally. The service was in Kalejin so We didn’t understand much about it – but I preached in English. The children kept coming up to Linda and stroking her arm- they have probably not seen a white woman before – or maybe they wanted to be close to a TV star- probably the former as there is no electricity in the village so no tv. I preached for about 40 minutes and it was about 12.15. As lunch was not till 1pm – there was time to fill so I was asked to speak to the men about leadership and Linda went outside with the ladies and spoke to them I got the better deal as the ladies had to sit on the grass.
They provided dinner – it begins with R. After that we wanted to leave as I needed to do some work for College and they produced a pumpkin (not as big as the one I grew I must point out) and a live chicken. I am not sure what they thought we were going to do with the chicken as we were staying at a hotel. Linda started off “I am not having that chicken in the car – Simon do something” I said “what do you want me to do wring its neck”. In the end I spoke to the Pastor and asked them to give it to someone at the church who needed it- he thought it was funny!
We went to Joseph’s house for dinner in the evening – no chicken on the menu. I then worked till about midnight but Linda needed her beauty sleep.
On Monday we were at the college, the day didn’t start well as I forgot the keys to the lock on the bag I leave at the college and Linda had to come back to the hotel to collect them. Having opened the bag and got the projector out I found there was no electricity. This lack of electricity does cause problems with trying to show powerpoints – as I was the only one who could see it. So it was back to old fashioned means – chalk.
I managed to use the Itouch and my portable speakers so we could listen to some of the materials. Its been a busy day and its is warm here but rains every afternoon.
