AFRICONNECTION

A Report of Blessings--A Plea for Help

2011-11-21T07:49:00.000+03:00

Well Hello!

Our last blog post to you was sent nearly 18 months ago--sometime the summer of 2010. Since that time, we have bought a condo in a walkable part of San Diego with restaurants and book and coffee shops nearby. Mark is very much enjoying his job at Point Loma and Nan is teaching a parenting class and has been named a part-time university chaplain at our nearby graduate campus. We feel so happy and so fulfilled and that the Lord is REALLY taking care of us.

This post isn't mainly about us, though. It's about a phone call we got and the thinking it made us do.

Our regular readers (or the readers of the first African Voices book NMI distributed last year) have already met Rev. Ermias Mekuria. He's a bright, deeply faithful husband and father of 3 handsome sons. He and his wife Mulu stayed in our home for a few days when they were doing deputation in Southern California earlier this year and they're just FUN. We laughed, went to a couple of Ethiopian restaurants together, talked about our kids, his wife Mulu had brought packets of exotic spices from home and she and Nancy spent HOURS cooking a delicious Ethiopian dinner--it was wonderful.

Rev. Mekuria is the Field Strategy Coordinator for the work of the Church of the Nazarene in the Horn of Africa. One of the things we've noticed about Ermias, John Yual who's the District Superintendent for all of the Sudan and others is a not-entirely-explainable JOY that they carry around with them. This isn't "things are going well for me" joy or "I'm headed into the holiday season" joy. This is "The JOY of the Lord is my strength" joy. It has to be. Because things for Nazarenes in the Horn of Africa are really challenging.

That brings us to the phone call. As he does when he's in the US for denominational meetings, Ermias checks in--we're sure he does it with others as well. He called last Monday morning just to say "hello", to give greetings from his wife Mulu and some of our other friends in the Horn. After we'd chatted for a bit, we asked him, "How can we be praying for you?" And he said quietly--"Well you know we're still struggling with the drought and the famine in the Horn. We'd be very glad if you'd pray about that." It was typical of Ermias: no drama, no request for anything OTHER than prayer.

After he hung up,though, we couldn't get the conversation and the images of what our brothers and sisters are going through in Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia out of our minds. The fact that OUR lives are so pleasant and that WE are headed into a time of turkey and pie and gifts provided some thought-provoking context for Ermias' prayer.

People handle inequity in different ways. Nan and I are trying to think what God would have us do with the challenges in the Horn of Africa in LIGHT of our blessings. We'll let others decide whether it's wrong for there to be such great disparities. Mother Teresa says the poverty that really matters most is SPIRITUAL poverty--the lack of God's empowering and enriching presence in our lives. Our Ethiopian and Sudanese brothers and sisters are genuinely RICH in faith and in commitment to God, and the church in the Horn of Africa is growing as a result. That said, Africans in the Horn are suffering. Nazarenes in the Horn--pastors and laypeople--are watching their children suffer.

We've always said that your mission field may be your neighbors or someone in your church. If the Lord has laid a burden on your heart and you're going to be preparing gifts for an elementary school or fixing dinner for a needy family or doing something extra nice for one of your own KIDS who's been out of work for awhile, and the Lord tells you that's your mission, then thanks for the difference you're going to make and many blessings.

If on the other hand, you are feeling a special sense of God's blessing this Thanksgiving/ Christmas season and feel the Lord suggesting that you might be part of a miracle for a Nazarene family on the other side of the world, then the rest of this blog post is for you.

As it does often, our church, the Church of the Nazarene, is stepping up and providing a way for compassionate Nazarenes to make a difference in the Horn. Rev.Ermias asked for prayer and of course we would encourage you to do that, but somewhere in Ethiopia or the Sudan right now there is a Nazarene mother or father praying for food and water for their struggling children. By clicking on this link: NCM Horn of Africa Miracle you'll be directed to more information and a way you can contribute to the miracle the Lord wants to do in the Horn of Africa. Just imagine, you enter a number and hit a button on your computer and in a few weeks a Nazarene family gets up from their prayers and looks outside to find bags of food being delivered by truck because of you!

We feel so very blessed, we've prayed about how to communicate our gratitude to the Lord with funds to put food and water on Nazarene tables there. If you feel moved, we'd encourage you to give as well. Thank you in advance for your faithfulness.

Many blessings, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas,

Mark and Nancy Pitts

Transition Post--So Long But Not Goodbye

2010-06-30T23:18:00.001+03:00

Well, where to start? As we shared in a previous post, we had made the decision not to extend our commitment to World Mission and Africa Nazarene University beyond its original length, and in fact had to abbreviate it just a bit to meet the wishes of Point Loma Nazarene University, Mark's new employer.

First perhaps a bit about the last few days and weeks at Africa Nazarene and then a report and some pictures from our first days in the US and then finally some things we've learned.

"LATTER DAYS" IN AFRICA

Within the last two months, Nancy and Mark got a couple of things done that had been on the "to do" list for over a year. In late April, Mark flew to Johannesburg and did interviews for the second "African Voices" NMI book we have been asked to do. He spent several hours over two days with Dr. Enoch Litswele (pictured), whose parents became Nazarenes in the 1920's and who has been a Nazarene pastor, educator and Bible college head in Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe. It was fascinating to hear his stories of the history of the Church of the Nazarene, especially in Southern Africa.

During that same trip, Dr. Filimao Chambo stepped away from strategic planning sessions to spend several hours being interviewed. He too, has a lengthy history with the church of the Nazarene. His family has been part of the denomination for over 85 years. From him, though, Mark got a glimpse of the future of the Church of the Nazarene in Africa. Blog readers who have access to Nazarene missionary books will be able to read both of those chapters in a book scheduled to come out in 2011.

Mark also got to visit with Spencer and April Baggott who were in South Africa for medical appointments, and their great kids, Luke and Abbie (pictured)

In May, Nancy and Mark went with Rev. Don and Evie Gardner, our Field Strategy Coordinator and his wife, to the Maasai Mara--kind of the classic Kenya safari experience, and it did not disappoint. We stayed in a tented camp and spent one memorable afternoon with lions walking between our vehicles and roaring within 20 feet of us (pictured). It was a wonderful goodbye to the amazing wildlife of Kenya.

In early June, the goodbyes began officially. We can say without qualification that never in our past lives and we expect never in our future lives will we experience the warmth and kindness of our leavetaking in Kenya. Over the course of 2-3 weeks there was a University "high tea" in the Helstrom Student Center auditorium with 600 people in attendance and ending with our being pulled onstage to begin a kind of African "conga line" of students, faculty and staff that snaked its way 3-4 times around the auditorium floor. Nancy said the highlight was watching Mark dance. Mark felt her smile had a subtext to it. When Mark went by Pastor Bekke, a wonderful preacher and singer from Swaziland, a nation whose Nazarenes tend to be pretty conservative about dancing, Mark said, "Pastor Bekke, please don't tell the Swazi church I was dancing!" Pastor Bekke said, "No, I will tell them you were just happy!"

That same week there was an evening goodbye dinner for faculty and staff. There were also ten other events--goodbye parties with the Religion Students Association (B.Th. grad dinner in our home pictured), the International Students Association, with the Alumni Association, with Mark's staff, with the Department of Religion, the congregation of University Church, with the missionaries--a dozen goodbye events in all. Beyond that, as we tried to complete our packing, we finally had to put a note on our door saying, "We would love to talk but we need to finish our packing" because, in the African tradition which marks intimacy and real friendship, people were dropping by all day to bring small gifts and to make short, really eloquent speeches about something one of us said that touched someones heart. Because Africans value oral tradition, they are more formal in their speech on such occasions, and they make a point of remembering something one of us has said.

On Thursday, we were acknowledged and thanked by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Leah Marangu and on Friday at Graduation we were thanked by our Regional Director, Dr. Filimao Chambo.

Now an acknowledgment and disclaimer: First, the primary point we hope you can gain here there is that Africans are world class in their ability to communicate the importance and value of a relationship. We continue to think about and copy some of the things we have learned from them about relationship.If we had done the same thing on an American campus, there would have been a formal event with a plaque and some nice speeches, but that the level of support here is uniquely African, all out of proportion to the amount of time we have been here from an American point of view.

Second, Mark would say that a good portion of the warmth of the goodbyes comes from having a wife who is SO relational, who opened her office to students and heard their concerns and advised them. African kids have very busy parents and they are lonely for adult mentors. Nancy served that role with them and also with faculty and staff in a wonderful way.

Even so, we do want to thank our African colleagues and students and friends for the incredible, unforgettable warmth of your goodbyes to us. We literally will never forget it and hope to retain relationship with as many as possible of you. That "deal" of buying you lunch if you get to San Diego is a real offer!

Friday, June 18th began with Mark and Nancy participating in graduation (including a symbolic handoff of the ANU ceremonial "mace" from Mark, through the Vice Chancellor, to the new DVC Dr. Rodney Reed) and ended with Mark and Nancy getting on a plane for LA. Due to flying with the sun, we were able to have ANU graduation lunch on FRIDAY with Filimao Chambo, Jon and Margaret Scott in Kenya and a "Father's Day" lunch on SATURDAY with our children and the new grandbaby in LA (see picture).

"EARLY DAYS" IN CALIFORNIA

After our lunch on Saturday with the kids, we crashed in a hotel for a couple of nights to rest up and then picked up an air mattress and a couple of lawn chairs and moved into our new condo (street view pictured--rented at least short-term from Point Loma). Within a week we had installed internet (aaaahhhhh--the luxury of a connection that mainly WORKS and is pretty zippy!), gotten cable, gotten SIM cards or topped up our phones, purchased a car, signed up for Point Loma benefits, and generally started our new life. Our first night in San Diego, we had dinner at George's Ocean Terrace, a wonderful restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean (Nan and Mark pictured there).

In spare moments, we worked on the chapters for the second African Voices NMI book--more incredible stories of capable and faithful Afrricans doing important Kingdom work. Yesterday, in an amazing coincidence, BOTH of our shipments--the one from Nampa and the one from Kenya--arrived within 3 hours of each other! We got bed and other furniture wrestled into place, but as you can see from the boxes in our living room (pictured), still a lot of work to do!

SOME THINGS WE LEARNED

In conclusion, some insights and thoughts about our time in Kenya:

If we had it to do over again, would we make the same decision to spend three years in training and serving, WOULD we do it all again? Our answer is an enthusiastic "yes." It was a real experience with some aggravations and disappointments and challenges in it, of course. Even so, our time at Nazarene Theological and at Africa Nazarene University has been a highlight of our experience-blessed lives.
We’ve learned that twenty-first century missionary training is very different from training and philosophy of missions a century ago. As a result, it’s useful to us in a variety of situations: listen more than we talk, cultivate partnerships, accept and allow for cultural differences, suspend quick judgment, avoid authoritarian language, accept that understanding comes in several layers over an extended period of time.
We are encouraged and blessed by the energy and growth of the church in Africa.
We are constantly amazed at and instructed by the quality and the level of commitment of the denominational leaders in Africa. No one there told us, “Be more like us”, but how do we process the fact that two of the people in this book are training to go back into a creative access area where they may be estranged from their families and their lives will be in jeopardy for sharing the gospel, where one interviewee was part of a house church in which 80% of the members were martyred in 18 months, where several of those we have spoken for these interviews and in other contexts have left jobs or training in engineering, veterinary medicine, or government service to follow the call of the gospel? As we return to the US, what do we do with the example of sacrifice made by some of the people featured in this book?
Our clear and easy “answers” to some of the challenges in Africa have melted away as we understand better the complexity of the circumstances. We recall the essayist who said, “There is a simple answer to every complex life question, and that simple answer is always wrong.”
While it’s true that there is poverty and corruption and disease in Africa, it is also true that Africa is making progress in many areas and that the global church needs to see Africa as a real place—not all safaris or all slums, but a place with gleaming shopping centers and well-travelled and well-dressed people and well-educated people as well as those struggling with the well-documented challenges.
Because we have heard African denominational leaders say such things repeatedly, we believe that Wesleyan-Holiness is a unique and effective resource in addressing some of the key challenges in Africa. The idea of “prevenient grace” is good news to people for whom fatalism about the future is a natural response to great hardship. The idea that Christians are “co-laborers” with Christ is a powerful response to dependency. Our interviewees point to holiness over and over as an antidote to corruption and nominal Christianity if we dedicate ourselves more to imperfectly living it rather than to perfectly defining it.
For ourselves, we are praising the Lord for the new opportunities he is providing, but admit to being in “listening and abiding” mode for his will beyond new business cards and position description. It’s so easy to see missionaries as the front line in evangelism and the Western world as a de-militarized zone, and yet the newspapers provide painful evidence that darkness is at work in comfortable American neighborhoods as well. In a powerful NPR interview before her death, Mother Teresa pointed to spiritual poverty as a more debilitating condition than economic poverty and encouraged First World people to engage close to home as well as far from it. As we said in our deputation services, we do believe this is part of what the Lord is telling us.

Finally, faithful readers of Africonnection and friends and colleagues and "fellow-travelers" on this journey of faith, we thank you more than we can express for your engagement, for your notes and face to face comments telling us you were reading, and for your kindnesses to us in other ways. The Church of the Nazarene, like all organizations, is changing, but we have benefited from the tradition of strong prayer and emotional support for missionaries. Two suggestions for you to consider: first, please do look for other international missionaries to whom you could extend some of your prayer and emotional support.

We'd also ask this--there is a new wind blowing that encourages committed Christians to have missionary hearts in more familiar settings. We hear occasionally from some young people or people in transition who say--"I'm wanting to serve God in a deeper way. Is there some work I can do in Africa?" Now the answer to that question is always "yes," but we worry a bit that the reason it's phrased that way is because serving in Africa (or to some extent in China or in India) has been seen as kind of the "gold standard" for service and commitment.

Even some of our African friends, though, are saying to us--why don't your people serve closer to home? And of course Americans DO serve close to home--in all kinds of volunteer or service organizations, paid and upaid but it would be so wonderful if the church could extend its emotional and spiritual support in deeper, richer ways to those "local, tent-maker missionaries" and to see the work THEY do as part of a new "gold standard." Could you look for someone like that and give them the level of support and prayer you have given us? Many of you will say--I'm already doing that, and we thank you for, as usual, being way ahead of us in your insights and faithfulness, but one final thought--any chance the Lord is asking YOU to be that "new era, local, tent-making missionary"?

For ourselves, we believe this new kind of missionary service is what God is calling us to, but we are feeling our way and praying for God's daily guidance and insight. The path is not clear, the job description and parameters of this new chapter are not set. You won't be getting these blog posts anymore (somehow pictures of lions from the San Diego Zoo just don't have the same "zing" as pictures from Maasai Mara!). But we would covet your prayers and we will be praying for you that each of us can have insights about what God is calling us to do in this new era where ALL missionaries hearts are moved, but only SOME missionaries addresses change. Blessings on you, thank you again, and best wishes as you seek the Lord's will for your own area of service.

So long but not goodbye,

Nancy and Mark

See Amboseli sunset and Pacific Ocean sunset pictured below.

March Update and Transition Information

2010-03-22T16:59:00.000+03:00

It's Saturday morning here--an opportunity for spending a little extra time on our devotions and for catching up on some household chores. It's hard to believe that we've entered the third year since our transition from Northwest Nazarene. A lot of amazing experiences, wonderful conversations, and with God's help, some significant accomplishments in that time. What's the news since our last entry?

In late December and early January, our "last" adult child, Benjamin, came to Kenya, completing the family visits. He welcomed in the new year in Kenya, visited the Nairobi National Museum and Amboseli National Park.In the picture, we got such a kick out of the Maasai, who are famous for their height, being overshadowed by our vertically precocious son! (Yes, and you have permission to slap your leg when you remember that his father Mark is 5'8" and a little horizontally precocious!) The Park showed very clear signs of the terrible drought Kenya has been experiencing. The Maasai we visited with said they had started the drought with over 800 cattle and ended it with 300. We would ask for your prayers for the Maasai and for all people in the rural areas of Kenya and other parts of Africa.

The NMI book African Voices has been released, and should be available for local NMI chapters right now. Since we were primarily just the editors of the inspiring words and ideas of our African interviewees, maybe it's ok if we encourage you to read the book and experience some of the blessing and inspiration and challenge WE experienced as we talked with the leaders featured in the book, including an interview with our new General Superintendent, Eugenio Duarte.

In addition, NMI has asked us to do a second book of interviews, so we are having additional conversations. Interestingly, two of our most recent conversations have been with former Muslims who are now passionate Christians and Nazarenes. They have faced and are facing terrible persecution as a result of their faith. As a result, we have agreed to disguise their names and other details to help protect them from further persecution. One man, for example, was a member of a small house church in the capital city of his home country. Over a period of less than two years, almost 90% of the members of this church were martyred for their faith and only this man and one other are still alive! And yet this man has persevered to become an ordained Nazarene minister and graduate of one of our developed-world Nazarene institutions. We have not finished transcription of his interview yet, but when we do, we'll share some excerpts with you. It is inspiring and challenging to us and we think will be to you as well. An interview we completed just this last Tuesday was with two young men, also both former Muslims, who have been inspired by the truth of the gospel and want to bring that truth to the people of their own country. Will you join us in praying for all three of these men, that God will protect and guide them in their work?

(Picture lovers don't give up--there are two more pictures near the end, including a "pre-grandbaby" picture!)

Some other highlights?

At ANU, Nancy is teaching Christian Beliefs and Spiritual Formation. In a way, though, these are only the small parts of her work. The main part (this is Mark talking here!) is mentoring and mothering a constant stream of students who come in and out of her office.
The University has just completed, under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Leah Marangu, Chancellor Jerry Lambert, and facilitator Dr. Jim Copple, a very significant "Youth Summit" whose goal is the empowerment, education and employment of Kenyan Youth. Millions of Kenyan young people are unemployed, and millions more will be born in the next decade. This summit was co-sponsored by ANU; Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Incorporated; USAID; the Kenyan government and several Kenyan corporations. It was officially opened by Moi Kibaki, the President of Kenya. Nazarenes in the US can be justifiably proud that their University in Africa is engaged with Kenyan government, business and academic leaders, American government officals, and Nazarene officials, is working on practical solutions to some of the persistent challenges in Africa.
Mark is working with departments on several projects. The University is implementing a new academic database and trainers from the US were on campus last week training staff and faculty. The University is introducing several new academic programs next trimester and Mark is helping program launch coordinators in programs including Law, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Counseling, as well as the distance learning delivery of Christian Ministries and Commerce. In addition, he's helping the Department of Religion with a proposal for the start of a new and badly needed doctoral program. It's a bit of a stretch for the Department from a Western perspective, but is a high priority for the denomination in Africa and would make further use of our good group of doctorally prepared Religion faculty.

What's the transition news?

When we accepted the invitation to come to ANU, we agreed that we would be away from the US for three years. As we mentioned earlier, we are nearing the third anniversary of our transition from NNU to ANU. While our intent has always been to return to the US after three years, we had hoped that it could be marked from our arrival in Kenya in January 2008 rather than from our departure from NNU. Nevertheless, since Mark needed to find employment in the US upon our return, we shared our intentions with the ANU Vice Chancellor and World Mission leadership late last year and began networking.

We prayed for a place where we could continue to serve the Kingdom and the denomination, and in our most audacious prayers, we prayed for a place close to our five adult children in LA. By early January, Mark was in conversation with three institutions--one in the Northwest and two in Southern California. By mid-January Mark began talking in earnest with Point Loma Nazarene University about a position as Vice Provost for Academic Administration (the position Keith Bell currently holds, for our California readers).

In mid-February Point Loma very generously invited both of us to come to San Diego for interviews and encouraged us to spend a few days with our children in Los Angeles, including Andrew's wife Birge, pictured with our first grandchild. Two days after our return PLNU offered Mark the position which he accepted, with the transition to happen as the current Vice Provost retires at the end of June.

Leave it to the Lord to answer our prayers so extravagantly! To be called to a Nazarene institution two hours drive-time from our kids with a view of the ocean from nearly anywhere on campus points again not just to God's faithfulness, but to his desire to answer prayers generously--spectacularly, even! Mark is excited to work with the outstanding leadership and faculty at Point Loma as well as to being closer to our children. Nancy is thrilled to be moving within two hours of a new grandbaby scheduled to be born this month. We want to praise the Lord for his faithfulness and answers to prayer, and yet...

We haven't been kidding when we've said what a wonderful privilege it has been to work with the students and staff at ANU. It has been and continues to be one of the highlights of our experience-rich lives. We're already making a list of "things we'll miss in Kenya." We'll share that list with you another time.

It's fairly common wisdom that the transition from the US or the UK to the mission field can be very challenging. Thanks to the wonderful care we have received from ANU staff and our field director, we have really not found it so. What's less well-known is that the return FROM the mission field to the US or UK can be a significant challenge. Would you please pray for us in this regard? We genuinely feel that the Lord is directing us back to the US, but we leave such warm feelings and need and opportunity for service here. We see such sacrifice and commitment here. The question we are asking each other and the Lord is the same one we were asking as we did deputation last summer: how can EACH of us be "missional?" How can we be obedient to the Lord's call for witnesses wherever He has placed us?

We are still almost three months away from this transition, so there will be additional time to talk about some of the highlights of our time here and some of the things we've learned, and to thank those of you who have been such faithful readers and supporters of us on this journey. In the meantime, thanks as always for reading, for inviting us into your churches and lives, and for your commitment to the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas and End of Year Summary

2009-12-24T13:40:00.000+03:00

Hello--We are so grateful to each of you who has read our blog this year and it is our pleasure to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We agree with CS Lewis about alot of things, but we disagree with him about Christmas greetings. He said if he didn't have to write so many Christmas cards he would feel alot more "peace on earth and goodwill toward men." Maybe if there had been blogs and Facebook and e-mail he would have felt differently.

Christmas is a "lower key" event in Kenya--decorations don't go up in shopping centers until late November. Employees typically only get Christmas day off work. Most people go "up country" to the homes of their parents for Christmas Day. This post includes a picture of Nan on a visit to Kisii in Western Kenya, a Kenyan Santa Claus, and a Kenyan "clown" at a children's Christmas event in one of the shopping centers.

University Church of the Nazarene will be having a Christmas morning service at 9AM, followed by candy for the children and tea and mandazis (triangular, lightly sweetened Kenyan donuts). At noon, we will be hosting 25 international staff and students for a Christmas dinner in our home. We'll have students from Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, the US, and even two new students from China. Mark will be making chicken stew, rice, cabbage and the Vice Chancellor has donated part of a goat--a local favorite. Some guests will be bringing food from their home country and all guests will be bringing a story or song from home. We're looking forward to it.

Some highlights of the year:

Completion of Commission for Higher Education Self-study Document--this involved 6 weeks of work for Mark and a team at ANU in preparation for an accreditation visit. One of the things that came out was ANU's success in research, in helping students who come in with some academic challenges to be successful. For example, a student team from ANU has been chosen in a competition with other Kenyan universities, as one of four to represent Kenya in an international competition among Kenyan university students. ANU prepares its students very well.
Publication of "African Voices" as 2010 NMI book. American Nazarenes should see this book among the set of missionary titles being offered in 2010. It was a privilege to do the interviews and edit the book. We hope you enjoy hearing several of our African leaders "in their own words."
Trip to Manchester--described below
Election of Eugenio Duarte as General Superintendent and appointment of Fili Chambo as Regional Director--We have already communicated our respect and appreciation for these men. When you pray, please remember them and the tasks that they are called to accomplish.
General Assembly in June and early July
Deputation in July and August--It was our pleasure to connect with many, many of you during our deputation--in Indiana, Idaho, Utah and California, we enjoyed our time with you.

Nan's October and November Alumni Events

2009-11-07T16:31:00.003+03:00

As coordinator of alumni activities at ANU, Nan oversaw two significant events in October and November. On Thursday, October 29th, the alumni presented a chapel. They shared with students--in ways no one else could do as well--the importance of making good use of their time at the University, On Sunday, November 1, Nancy and the alumni council sponsored the "Second Annual ANU Alumni Bash", this time held at Osiota ("Stone" in the Maasai language) located at the bridge on Maasai Lodge Road.

In fairly typical fashion, the event, scheduled for 1:30, began a bit late, but once it started, provided a mix of good food, lots of laughter, and stronger connections between the alumni and the University.

A survey distributed to the alumni showed that 97% of them (all but one) are employed--a wonderful blessing in a nation where jobs are hard to get. Also, 87% of alumni indicated that their ANU education had prepared them "better" or "much better" than their work colleagues from other universities. We're pleased at the success they are having and at their satisfaction with the education they received at ANU.

Manchester Trip

2009-11-07T14:43:00.002+03:00

In mid-October, Mark took part in a week-long Manchester UK meeting of international graduate theological educators in the Church of the Nazarene. There were representatives from Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological, NTC-Brisbane, Nazarene Theological Seminary in the US, Brazil Nazarene College in Campanos, Brazil; Seminary of the Americas in Central America; Korea Nazarene University; as well as NTC-Manchester.

Although he had met and spent time with several of these people before, Mark continues to be blessed and impressed and "taught" bwith the godly witness of these people:

Dr. David McCullough, the current school principal of NTC-Manchester, served as the van driver for the group during the five days the team was there. He was gracious and patient with the group even though the time included NTC-Manchester graduation and the arrival of his board in two weeks!
Dr. Herbert McGonigle, a world-famous expert on John Wesley, is recovering from an illness, but Mark noticed what a wonderful, attentive listener he was, and how he made every person feel special.
Dr. Abraham Im, president of Korea Nazarene University, the largest school in the Nazarene system, was upbeat and inspiring in spite of recovering from the death of his wife just recently.
Dr. Ron Benefiel, the president of NTS, who had helped organize the meeting with Dr. Jerry Lambert, conveyed by his manner and his words that all members of the team were important and that no one institution was orchestrating the actions of the others.
Dr. San Young Lee(pictured), a second-generation Korean Nazarene with degrees from Princeton, Duke and Vanderbuilt, and academic dean at the Nazarene seminary in the Philippines, gave us an update on how the seminary became a place of refuge for up to 120 neighborhood people during recent storms and floods. In your prayers, it would be especially good to remember Dr. Lee and the faculty and staff at APNTS as they attempt to return to ordinary.

Some other highlights of the trip:

On Saturday, the group attended NTC-Manchester's graduation in the wonderful Whitworth Hall on the campus of the University of Manchester. Like alot of victorian-era buildings, it was built as an academic building but looks like the inside of a church: at the back and on the sides, 40-foot tall stained glass windows. Roof supported by heavy, dark oak beams. At the front, a two-story structure with choir loft and huge pipe organ above and seating area below.

On Sunday morning, the group attended the Longsight Church of the Nazarene in Manchester, and then had meetings Sunday afternoon and Monday.

On Tuesday, after the meetings had been concluded, the group drove two hours in the van to Epworth, and got to tour the second of two pastor's homes in which John Wesley was raised, St. ANdrews Anglican church where his father Samuel was pastor for 30 years, had lunch at the Red Lion Inn where Wesley had stayed as an adult, then visited the Wesley Memorial Chapel in downtown Epworth.Some additional pictures below.

African Lives #3: John Yual

2009-09-16T15:40:00.000+03:00

John Yual

      John Yual was born in 1973 in Southeast Sudan near the Ethiopian boarder among the Nuer tribe. He and his brother and sister were raised by their mother after the early death of their father. John was not allowed to attend school because, at the time, education in Sudan was reserved for Muslims. His family sent him to Ethiopia to protect him from the Sudanese army. There he connected with the Church of the Nazarene. After working as a trainer and church planter, he has been appointed as district s for Sudan, shepherding over a thousand pastors across nearly a million square miles. An early European writer, travelling in the Sudan, called the men of the South Sudan the "natural gentlemen of Africa." This seems a good description of John: tall, intelligent but soft-spoken, communicating a quiet wisdom. In May of 2008 he received his bachelor of theology degree from Africa Nazarene University.
      At the age of 15, John’s uncle Gatkuoth Toang shared from the Bible with him.
      “He told me about the gift of life through Jesus Christ, that Jesus died for my sins, and that when I give my life to Him He will liberate me from being a slave to idol worship. I was amazed at the fact that somebody died for me, and so I tried to know much about the reasons why.”
      In 1989, when John was sixteen, life changed dramatically for him.
      “I was in a cattle camp, and when the troops came they said they attacked our village because there was a rebel. So the Sudan army came at night to attack the place, and one of them said it is better for you young guy to run for your life, don’t be here. In Sudan there are some places where one can only travel at night and not by day for security reasons. The place I was living was not very far from the border of Ethiopia, and I managed to cross to the other side within three days. I was with my friends--a group of young men--and we carried some cattle with the idea that when we reached Ethiopia we could sell the cows and find money to survive.
      John ended up in a refugee camp, and though life there was extremely hard, it was there that he was able to receive schooling and learn to read for the first time.

      Another turning point happened for John in 1995 when a group of Sudanese friends told him about a new church in Addis that had English services. Since he was interested in learning English, John started attending the Church of the Nazarene. What captured his thinking was the doctrine of holiness. At first it brought multiple questions.
      “Does it mean other churches are not holy? In Ethiopia there is the Orthodox Church, and they call themselves the most holy people, and this other holiness I am hearing, is it the same or there is a difference? These were my questions. Finally, I got the message that it is not just an outside adornment but an inner transformation that is revealed outside.”
John joined the Church of the Nazarene in Addis Ababa and began working with the youth. Gradually he was given more responsibility. Although he did not see himself as a minister, when the other pastors at the church immigrated to the United States and Canada, John experienced the grace of God giving him more interest in ministering.
      “My first time to attend district assembly, some church leaders met with us and said we want a person who will train pastors in Ethiopia and some day go to Sudan and start the church. I said, ‘OK, I don’t have a person like that in mind.’ We took a course, and the leaders say they checked the criteria of who will be fit for this job and decided it would be me. They ask me if I would be willing to train pastors, and I say, ‘If it is the plan of God.’ They ask me, ‘What is your priority while you are in the refugee camp?’ and I tell them, ‘To go to America or Australia or anywhere in the world because the life in the camp is terrible.’ I prayed and decided to train pastors, but at the same time my wife’s uncle sent us visas to go to Australia. I say, OK, this visa I was wanting for many years is here . . . what is going on? I prayed about it, shared with my wife, and we say we will go ahead and train pastors. People in the camp say, ‘Are you out of your mind?’

      “In 2003, during the regional conference in South Africa, I was sharing with my field director that in Sudan we do not have a church there. So I asked him, ‘What about we start a church there?’ He said that it was a good idea, but the question was how can we go there? There was no transport, no means of communication, no security . . . how can we go there? He suggested that we can wait until peace prevails, then we can go. I said, ‘Peace may come any time, but our people need Jesus before peace.’ He said, ‘Ok, I cannot stop you.’ After we had finished our course it was February 2003, and by March 2003 I was on my way to Sudan. I went to one of the towns, Gambella, which is on the border, and waited for some people who could walk with me. One could not walk alone because it was insecure. You must be accompanied by people who have their own guns for protection. I found some fifteen young guys who came from Sudan for trade. After talking to them they said it was OK, I can join them, and we went. We had to walk for seven days before we reached the Sudan border. There were robbers who would organize themselves to disturb the border so you could not cross any border without seeing trouble. Even the local tribes were fighting each other because of Arabic influence, and there was no government at all. On our way we found more than twenty people killed who had been walking ahead of us.
      “In my mind I said . . ., ‘OK, the church is not here, how can I start it?’ I said to myself that I must start it by teaching. I called some guys under the tree to talk to them if they were willing to listen to me. I talked to them about what the Bible says they need to do and whether they could accept God.”
      For one-and-a-half months he traveled the countryside, teaching beneath a tree to whomever would listen. In that time he started thirteen churches. That was 2003, and later on in October of that same year thirty more churches were planted.
      “When peace came we were already there. That is how the church came to existence in Sudan.”
      Though today there are more than a thousand Nazarene churches in Sudan, there continue to be challenges with developing and communicating with leaders in the field.
      “Even today in Sudan there is no good communication, especially in southern Sudan where I have been for ministry. Most of my churches in south Sudan I cannot reach them using my car; I must walk with my leaders to visit the churches there. I think God’s grace is how come, without communication, the church is growing. It is something that I myself . . . cannot understand; it is God’s grace that makes all those things to happen. I get letters saying, ‘We have started a church here,’ but I did not know this people, they said that they heard about the Church of the Nazarene so they decided to start one there. They invite me to go, so I send some pastors and my assistant to go and see those places and organize and teach them. What I can say is that it is the grace of God all this happening.
      “The only thing you do as a church planter or an evangelist is to pray, ‘God, if I meet three people, show me one . . . someone who can really buy this vision. If I find ten, give me two.’ Because of this prayer He gives me people, and even when there are many He helps me to identify one. When you want to plant a church you do not ask for qualified leaders, you just ask for people who are willing to serve God. And when you talk to someone, the Holy Spirit will help you to know that this one is real, genuine, and this other one is not serious. The Holy Spirit gives you discernment to know who is who.”
      As district superintendent of three districts in a country that is nearly one million square miles, John has a major challenge communicating with the one thousand pastors he shepherds. However, through the use of strategically placed satellite phones, John can call the pastor with the phone who will then send out letters to the other pastors to gather for a pre-arranged call. It takes some pastors two days to walk to the gathering, but the call from John serves as an encouragement and a planning tool for the pastors.
      John was asked to share his insights on the following topics:
· About holiness: “When we came for the first time in Sudan we started the message of holiness. They actually didn’t just want to know about holiness, but they also wanted to join the Church of the Nazarene. In Sudan we have been going through difficult times because of civil war, and so people need love. When they see you showing love and living a life of love they get encouraged and are attracted to know what is happening there. I think people are interested in those who walk the talk. In Sudan our problem is peace, peace between neighbors. We need a solution where believers can live in peace with our Muslim neighbors. When they see us living in peace, love, and unity then what we preach is able to make sense to them. We don’t preach hatred against the Arabs. To win Muslims we need to spend time, develop a friendship, show love and care, then once we have a good relationship with them, they will want to know more about the gospel.”
· About Africa: “Before coming to Africa Nazarene University, when I thought of Africa I thought of my country only. Now, even if I am doing well in my country, I know that there is more that needs to be done in Africa, in the entire church, and for the sake of the Kingdom.”
· About contextualizing the gospel and church organization: “If we go through the Church of the Nazarene manual, there are parts that do not make sense to Africans. An example is the issue of associate members. In my community you cannot tell people that you are a full member and the other is an associate member in the church. That says to the associate member that ‘we do not need you here.’ We need to remove that part of the manual and differentiate between leadership and membership.”
· About how the global church can pray: In the last twenty years conflicts in Sudan have resulted in more than four million people being displaced and two million deaths. A peace agreement signed in January 2005 gave southern Sudan autonomy for six years, which has resulted in an uneasy truce.
“If war comes, where will our church be during that time? What will be the future of our church if another war breaks out in Sudan? This is the first priority that we need prayer for our people, that God may bring peace because He is the only one who can bring the peace that we need in Suda

Mega-update: Back in Kenya Section

2009-09-16T13:33:00.000+03:00

OK, so what's this about Nancy speaking in a Hindu temple? We'll get to that in a minute. When we got back to ANU, or shortly thereafter, some things had changed. Here are some key items, good and bad:

LACK OF RAIN--When we left, it was green and lush in Kenya. When we returned, it was brown and dry and lots of people were suffering. Only yesterday, we saw two dead Maasai cows in a ditch on the way home. The herd of goats, cattle and sheep that used to pass at a distance from Mark's office window, isn't doing so any more. People and animals are really struggling. Please pray for rain and for enough food for the people to survive until new crops can be planted or harvested.

WATER AND ELECTRICITY RATIONING--Because some electricity is generated by hydro-electric dams, the lack of water is creating a lack of electricity. Here's another instance where good planning on the campus insulates us from challenges: the University dam on the Mbagathi River means the plants and grass get watered and the generators fill the gaps in most electrical coverage. Nairobi is a different matter. People in the city often have electricity only every other day and are dealing with water rationing as well.
TARMACK! It's true that it's on the street to the LEFT of the front gate not Maasai Lodge Road, and it's true that the treatment is kind of "thickness challenged", but it's black and smooth and we're really pleased. (Pictured below: white metal ANU gate to the left. Black tarmack beyond the barrels directly ahead.) Keep praying that Maasai Lodge Road is next.

ZEBRAS--No question zebras are cute and we're seeing lots more of their cuteness these days--up until we left, we'd seen zebras from our balcony a couple of times--and at a looooong distance. Since we got back, we're seeing them directly across the canyon and perhaps a football field and a half away.

MORE INTERVIEWS--We had explained in this blog earlier that we did 10 interviews with current and future Nazarene leaders in Africa as part of editing a book of interviews for Nazarene Missions International. Without going into much detail right now, we're being asked to do more interviews. Dr. Filimao Chambo, our new Regional Director, has agreed to be one of these, so "watch this space" for more interviews with current and future Nazarene leaders in Africa.

OK, now about that speaking engagement in a Hindu temple: We've mentioned earlier that we've struck up a friendship with Mr. Vayas, an active member of Arya Samaj, which means kind of "Aryan community." Last week, Mark got a call from Mr. Vayas inviting us to a celebration of their 106th anniversary as a religious community in Nairobi and a request for Nancy, as an ordained Nazarene minister, to be part of a panel addressing the question, "What can the world religions do to encourage peace in Kenya and the world?"

Before the time of the panel, we were invited into their religious service in another part of the building: religious songs being sung by groups of 3-5 children, women and elderly people sitting on mats around firepots raising aromatic smoke. After that, a world-class cute group of kindergarten and pre-school children presented a one-hour variety show. There was singing and dancing and recitation of what we used to call "pieces." Also, though, in the "we're not making this up" department, one of the features was a 5-year old dressed up like Ghandi and giving advice to the audience.

The panel was the last item of the morning. The other panel members included the chairman of the Hindu Council in Kenya, the education director of the Seventh Day Adventists, a pentecostal bishop, the chair of the department ofr religion at the University of Nairobi, and three other Hindus. Nan (Mark is saying here) did a really wonderful job, and got a big round of applause when she said we were going to have an Indian daughter-in-law in August.

After the panel, we were invited to a great, spicey vegetarian meal. Anyone who thinks vegetarian food has to be wimpy and flavorless hasn't had really good Indian food.

Soooo--that brings us up to date on our own activites. As promised earlier, we'll follow up with our interview with John Yual, DS in the Sudan. We love what we're doing, but if you're reading time is short--skip what we say and read what John Yual says.

Have we mentioned to you lately how much we appreciate your prayers and reading (at least some part of ) the blog? Over and over during our home assignment you reminded us that you are praying for us and the work we've been called to do. Thanks so much. Regarding things to pray about: as we mentioned earlier, please pray for the good American pastors and churches we visited on our home assignment. Please join us in praying for our children. It's hard to be a young (or old) adult these days. Finally, please pray for rain, and in the meantime, for the rural people in Kenya. We know of a bi-vocational pastor who was counting on a sugar cane crop that has failed because of the lack of rain. We have student families who are struggling more than usual with school fees because crops that were the source of payment have failed.

Thanks again for your faithfulness. We are honored by your interest and by the privilege of working and serving in Africa

Mega-update--General Assembly Section

2009-09-14T13:24:00.002+03:00

OK, at one level, we've failed miserably in the last three months. You haven't had an update since June. At another level, we've just been doing the "Africonnection" in person rather than on the blog (how are we doing? Are you persuaded?). Since we left campus in mid-June, we've spent a couple of enjoyable days in Switzerland, participated in a historic General Assembly, done two months of deputation and visited family. Some highlights and pictures of those events:

Switzerland was great. We decided kind of impromptu to spend a couple of days there when the "best fare" took us via Swiss Air through Zurich. We travelled, at IBOE chair LeBron Fairbanks enthusiastic and correct recommendation, by train and then riverboat, up the Rhine River to Schaffhausen (picture of Schaffhausen church clock tower) and Stein am Rhine--beautiful midieval towns near the border between Switzerland and Germany.We went BY European Nazarene Bible College, but were not able to stop this trip. Maybe next time.

It was a wonderful privilege to be part of the General Assembly when so much history was being made. We came a couple of days early to help set up the ANU booth (picture of Nan getting our picture display ready) in the exhibit hall and to prepare for the ANU luncheon. Both were very successful. If you stopped by the booth, thanks so much for doing so. The use of the new IBOE booth "passport" meant that many more people stopped by, and although some of those primarily wanted their passports stamped, many stayed and shared memories of time they had spent at ANU or communicated their hopes that they could come. The maasai bracelets we handed out were a huge hit, and it was all we could do to keep the basket full until all the bracelets--over 800 of them--were gone.

The ANU luncheon was also a historic event. It's program centered around honoring Dr. Harmon and Beverly Schmelzenbach, and announcing a new scholarship program in their honor. Dr. Schmelzenbach gave another memorable speech, encourging those attending the luncheon to support the new scholarship program, and at the end, University President Professor Leah Marangu and Council Chairman and East Africa Field Strategy Coordinator representing ANU, and Drs. Eugenio Duarte and Fili Chanbo presented gifts to the Schmelzenbachs (picture of Professor Marangu and Rev. Gardner presenting gifts).
One of the pleasures of our time at ANU has been meeting the many, many American Nazarenes who feel a special bond with Africa Nazarene University as a result of Work and Witness trips, but also as a result of volunteer teaching, visits from headquarters personnel and other connections. Many of those people were in attendance, including out-going General Superintendent Dr. Nina Gunter, pictured here with Professor Marangu.

Early the following week, we were privileged to witness the election of Dr. Duarte, whom we had featured in our June blog entry, being elected the first "international" General Superintendent. With typical determination and typical modesty, Dr. Duarte accepted the election of the General Assembly. We praise God for this historic moment in denominational history! As we asked "old-timers" what struck them most about this General Assembly, they mentioned this election more than anything else. As we saw African friends and acquaintances after the election, it was clear they felt we had entered an important new era in the church and were overjoyed. We might say that, with the appointment of Dr. Filimao Chambo as regional director, we feel the significance of strong, African leadership is making itself felt in the denomination.

When General Assembly was over, we began our series of deputation services. We'll update you on this in the post that follows this one immediately. Oh, and make sure you read FULL set of blog entries we post so you get a chance to read about Nancy being a guest speaker in a Hindu temple...

Mega-update--Home Assignment Section

2009-09-13T15:09:00.000+03:00

After General Assembly, we began six weeks of more traditional home assignment. We want to thank the great pastors, NMI presidents, people who hosted us in their homes, and members of congregations for your kind words and support. Our typical home assignment presentation was basically a brief report on ANU, and then sharing some of the insights about holiness that we've gotten from our interviews with current and future African leaders.

The Africans don't all agree about a single definition of holiness, but they DO all agree that it is something to be "incarnated", to be implemented, to be reflected in their lives. They also agree that holiness provides a highly relevant response to issues such as corruption, violence, HIV/AIDS and poverty. We have been inspired by the deep commitment of Church of the Nazarene in Africa to the message of holiness.

What we saw on our visits to churches was American Nazarene pastors and churches working hard, attempting to impact their communities, faithful in the work of the church, doing Work and Witness, finding ways to engage their youth. We have great memories of the lilting harmonies and guitar-playing of three men from the 1st Hispanic Church of the Nazarene, of the membership explosion at Zion Community outside Bloomington Indiana as a result of Upward Sports and of their new educational wing (pictured) , of warm fellowship and great food at Spencer, Payette, Parma, New Hope; of an inspiring Celebrate Recovery service at Nampa First, our home church; of the great new church in Hemet California and the group of Work and Witness folks just returning from Hungary to the Highland Avenue church in California. Our time in Hawthorne CA and Brazil IN with family in attendance were also memorable. We continue to pray for the pastors and churches we visited.

In between deputation services, we got to spend time with family. That was wonderful too. We celebrated Mark's birthday in Indiana with a county fair, midway barbecue and turkey legs, and a demolition derby--what could be better!? County fair pictures just below and then more narrative...

The Nampa visit was equally pleasant and WARM in more than one way--temperatures several days above 104! We stayed with our friends Ray and Teresa Burwick, pictured, and enjoyed the friendliness and hospitality of our churches on the Intermountain District. Mark got to spend some time on the NNU campus, hearing about improvements in the library and in the music department and about new programs that have been submitted for approval. Nancy got word the second day we were there that the kids were dealing with a family crisis in Seattle, and she went to be with them. Without going into detail about that, it was a time of some tragedy for the kids, but also a time of healing and affirmation. Nan and the kids felt the prayers of the churches that knew about it and were remembering them.

After Idaho, and a brief "personal" time with Nan's sister and her husband in Seattle area, we went to California to be with all of the kids and it was a really wonderful time. Ben drove us to our first California service in Hemet. Thanks to you, Pastor Mike, for the special introduction and attention you gave to our son. You modeled for us how important it is that we lift up and affirm each other's "kids!" Three of the sons are buying a house together, and we have memories of several barbecues on the patio on top of the garage((daughter-in-law Birge, son Ben and Mark pictured) as well as announcements of an impending marriage for Nathan and his fiance Marli (Nancy pictured with Nathan), and of a child for Andrew and his wife Birge. Ben and Isaac and I visited Gene Autrey's Museum of the West where they posed on a recreated performance stage (Isaac and Ben pictured).

In the next section, we'll talk a little bit about what's happened since we got back. Even looking over these pictures and reviewing the events of recent month, we'd appreciate your joining us in praying for the Kingdom work of these churches and pastors, and for our kids. In each case, and in our own lives, the challenges of the day require wisdom and discernment that only the Lord can give.

African Lives Update

2009-06-06T12:36:00.000+03:00

Well we already shared with you the article about Fidele Senga from Rwanda. Fidele graduated from ANU last week and was honored with one of two "Character and Leadership" awards. If you were going to buy stock in a person, Fidele would be a "stock to watch."

Beyond that, Bwana Asifiwe (Praise the Lord!)--The glory and work of graduation are over. We graduated a record number (225) students and gave honorary degrees to Michael Ranneberger, the US Ambassador to Kenya and to a wonderful Christian lady named Ingrid Munro who has started a very successful self-help ministry to street people in Kenya.

We've finished editing the other interviews we've had over the last several weeks with the people for the book: Regional Director Eugenio Duarte; Central Africa Field Strategy Coordinator Paul Mtambo; French Equatorial Africa FSC Chanshi Chanda; Horn of Africa FSC Ermias Choylie; Recent ANU graduate and new Kenyan Nazarene Jackie Mugane; Benson Phiri, a wonderful B.Th. student from Malawi. Even as we speak, our ANU boss, Professor Leah Marangu, is putting the finishing touches on her article. In the next few weeks--especially since the work is done--we'll be sharing pictures and stories of these people with you. Would you do this? Would you pick one or two of them and make the Lord and yourself a promise that you'll pray for them and for the prayer requests they made at the end of each article.

We'll be at General Assembly in a couple of weeks and will be working part of the time at the ANU booth. We'd love to see you either their or on our deputation tour in July and August. Blessings on you all. Read down to the two additional posts: one for Eugenio Duarte, our great Regional Director, and for John Yual, the district superintendent for Sudan.

African Lives #2: Eugenio Duarte

2009-06-06T12:00:00.001+03:00

On one of the last days of the Africa Region Leadership Conference in April, Eugenio Duarte took time from his very busy schedule to come for dinner at our house. Because he's a Cape Verdian, living most of his early life on an island, we had fish.

Dr. Duarte is a wonderful listener and a very gentle but strong man. We are honored to have him as our regional boss. In what follows, his words are in italics. Here's his interview...

Dr. Eugenio (ew-JEN-eeoh) Duarte (dwawrt) Africa Region Director for the Church of the Nazarene. He was born and educated in the Cape Verde (vaird) Islands and served as a pastor and district superintendent there before being appointed to field and regional leadership roles. He and his wife Maria Teresa have three grown children, and live in Johannesburg, South Africa where the regional office is located.

Infant mortality was a problem in Cape Verde, and it affected Eugenio Duarte’s family. In Cape Verde, medicine was not developed well enough so many children died. When I was born I had some health problems. I don’t think they thought I would survive, but I made it. We were five children, however before I was born I am told that there were eight children. So four of them had died and I am the last-born in our family.

My mother was a very hard worker who taught her children to be the same. She taught us to earn our living honestly and to give the best of ourselves to others. My father was a man of peace. He was a builder with people working for him. One day one of his workers offended him. He was hurt, but he did not tell us. A little later, the worker knocked at the door. When he was let in and shown to my father, he said, “I came to ask for forgiveness, for what I did to you.” And my father said, “Oh, I forgave you before even you came.” That is one of many situations that make me think of him as a man of peace

When Eugenio was six, his eighteen year old sister Magdalena (mag-dah-LAYN-ah), who was attending the Church of the Nazarene, was the instrument of a turning point in his life. It was

announced in church that a school was going to start, and they would like Nazarenes to bring their children. Magdalena decided that she would talk to my parents so that they would allow me to go to a Nazarene

school. She went and did my registration and they took me to school and that is how my connection with the Church of the Nazarene started. To prepare me for school, my mother had crafted a gray school bag for me. It was precious because my mother made it from some fabric she had received from my aunt in the US. I remember the first day of school, I grabbed the bag, because I did not want anyone to mess with it because it was so precious.

A meaningful illustration helped this island boy see his need for salvation. We lived in islands surrounded by ocean, and most of the time the ocean was not friendly. When I was 12, a missionary, Clifford Gay, came to visit the island. That day he was asked to teach in my Sunday school class. The lesson was simple but impressive. The missionary presented salvation as what happens when you are crossing the ocean and the boat sinks. Even if you have no one around who is able to save you, when you have a life preserver, you are safe. That’s how he presented Jesus who is there and ready when you need him. And so I found myself lost and I went to this little room with four other boys and we prayed for our salvation. And that changed my life forever.

When he first heard the message of holiness a devotional classic helped him with the question of earning salvation. At the age of 17 I was in Mindello (meen-DAY-loh) and heard a message of holiness. I was reading The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitehall Smith. One passage made it clear to me that Jesus has already forgiven me and I asked myself, “Then why am I bothered so much if Jesus has done it?” In that room alone, I said, “Lord it is now. I want to leave it all in your hands.” That was another turning point in my life.

Dr. Duarte’s sense of God’s saving and sanctification was clear, but God’s call to the ministry was hampered by a sense of inadequacy. He had talked to his pastor about attending Bible college, but instead of enrolling he first applied to join the Portuguese Army, then worked in business, and finally took a government job on Maio (MY-ew) Island, where he met his future wife Maria Teresa in the local Nazarene church and applied for a government scholarship. It was at this point that the true course of his life was about to be decided and two new chapters of his life began. I had applied for an engineering scholarship from the independent Cape Verde government. I was going to Russia, and everything was set: invitation, passport, visa, and airplane tickets. The day before my departure I took my wife and went to say goodbye to friends. We passed by the Nazarene Church and empty parsonage. I had the keys so I said to my wife, “I feel like going inside and praying.” I asked the Lord to bless me. I said, “I cannot go if you do not bless me,” but he did not. He said, “If you love me, then stay here.” When I said yes I felt that I was a new person again. I stood and said to my wife, “We are not going to say goodbye to anyone because I am not going anywhere.” So, we went back home and I sent a telegram to my DS who had been my pastor when I was growing up. The telegram said, “Do you have a place for a student this October? I will want to join.” I got a reply from my DS who said, “I have been praying for this day for years. I could have not gotten any better news than this!” I went to the capital, to ask them to release me, and the man who was in charge said to me, “You Protestants think going to Russia is going to hell.” I said, “No sir, none of that came to my mind, I have a reason but I know you will not understand.” He asked me what my reason was, and I explained to him about my call to ministry. He said, “Oh, you are crazy! How can you miss this opportunity for higher education?”

Eugenio’s time at the Bible college was productive and successful, and soon drew to an end. After an initial successful preaching assignment, Dr. Duarte served the church as a teacher at the Bible college, pastor of the mother Church of the Nazarene in Cape Verde, and then as district superintendent, gathering many memories of God’s faithfulness in the midst of challenge.

In 1996 Dr. Duarte was convinced that his time as District Superintendent was coming to an end. He alerted his field director and communicated his willingness to move back into the pastorate. God had other plans, though, and Dr. Richard Zanner called him to be the Field Strategy Coordinator in Central Africa. This assignment was followed in a brief period of time by other assignments to lead the Portuguese-speaking field and then the French-speaking field in West Africa. When I was told I was needed to lead the West Africa Field, I went to my office and did something that I don’t usually do. I took the Bible and opened it randomly looking for guidance. I read Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” It was doubly confirmed when I went to the room where my wife was and she had her Bible opened to Isaiah 41 as well.

Dr. Duarte’s connection with Africa Nazarene University became stronger when he became a Field Strategy Coordinator and as a result became a Board member. It helped me to know Professor Marangu better, to know the great leader she is, and to see her relationship with the students. We do not see that type of thing much in Africa...there is usually a distance between senior administrators and students. God is using her example to train leaders.

1n 2006 Dr. Duarte was asked to serve as the Regional Director for the Africa Region. It’s a job that you do not ask for like any other ministry. When the Lord calls you, you do it. If I did not know Dr. Louie Bustle and the fact that he is able to work with you and empower you I might not have taken the position. I knew that he was someone I could go to when I made mistakes and tell him, “These are the mistakes please help me.” I did not feel confident and that kind of relationship had to be in place for me to accept this position.

When asked for his insights on several topics, Dr. Duarte responded as follows:

About Holiness: Holiness is a lifestyle where we allow God to make us like him. And for that to happen it has a starting point but it is not just that one event. I think many people have failed to live the life of holiness because they feel that it is something that happens one time and it is done. We bring ourselves back to the Lord continually so he can keep empowering us. For many people in Africa they believe that once you are half religious then you are good. Africa does not need more religion because we have too many religions, we need something that changes people’s life. Holiness changes people’s lives. That is not a message that many people are willing to listen to because they know that Christ paid the price and they are not willing to pay the price. However, those of us who have paid the price can say that it’s a worth price.
About the African church: The partnership between the church in the West and Africa is growing in significant ways. There was a time when that partnership meant Westerners brought money. Now we are learning that it’s a relationship and it is much more than money which is one of the blessings of the global economic hardship. Now people are learning to understand that we can not wait for the west to give us, because what the west can give us we can also give to the west in some ways. For instance, in Africa we emphasize community rather than an individualistic approach to living. When I go to the US and visit churches people are warm and friendly. They really want you to be part of them and feel at home, but then after the service they do not have time to stay with you because they have to attend to many other things. In America you have clocks but in Africa we have time. In Africa, we make time to be with people and they become part of us in ways they were not before.
About a vision for the Church of the Nazarene in Africa: We have to have people who live a changed life, who are in revival mode, and willing for revival again and again. The vision that I have for Africa is that the church planting movement that has happened in the Horn of Africa will spread through all seven fields...the whole of Africa. This movement is not about us, it is God’s work. It is about allowing God to use us to make it happen. That’s why I invited Howie Shute to come work in the Regional Office to assist us. As I think about how we will make disciples, it is about people discovering what works in their own culture to build relationships. We cannot make disciples the same way that the west does it. I am an African so I will use a different way. We have some great traditional ways of doing it. We may not call it making disciples, but we bring people along by spending time with them. So I want us to explore those ways that God has given to us, and make use of them. And if we do it the way God wants it then the one million member goal we have for this continent is nothing. Actually, when I mention one million members, I always have someone tell me that number is too small. Now my language has changed; I talk about the first million.
About how the global church can pray: We need prayer for the vision to happen. We have an ambitious goal to train 20,000 leaders by 2012. Now we have less than 8,000 leaders and not all of them are trained. So we are believing that God will raise up leaders and those who will train, equip, and disciple them. We see ANU as a power house to help make that happen as we create systems that help us multiple ourselves.

African Lives #1: Fidele Samvura Senga--Beyond the Rwandan Genocide

2009-05-08T21:34:00.011+03:00

As our readers know, we've been

asked to write a "missionary book" for NMI. It has been a deep personal privilege to sit around our dinner table or on our back balcony overlooking the Athi Savannah talking to committed, faithful people about their lives and beliefs. We'll be previewing some of the chapters with Africonnection readers before they go to NMI. The convention of what follows is that the narration is in BOLD and the words from the interviewees are in ITALICS.

Fidele Samvura Senga, the third child of a Nazarene District Superintendent, was born in a Nazarene church and school compound in Isenyi, Rwanda about 20

miles east of the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After high school, he attended Africa Nazarene University where he will graduated with a Bachelor of Theology degree in May of 2009. While a student at ANU, he wrote a grant application for his church's affiliated orphanage and is helping to administer the grant and the orphanage as he completes his studies. (The picture of children and of a building are of the orphanage.)

Because of his work as a DS, Fidele’s father spent many weeks each year away from

home visiting churches, encouraging pastors, and seeing to the work of the district. Even so, some of Fidele’s best childhood memories are of his family and of his parents. Although it wasn’t important at the time, his father was a Hutu and his mother a Tutsi. My father used to be away for ministry but every time he could come he could gather us around the sitting room and ask each one of how the week was. My mother could give him a report both negative and positive and if it is punishment we were to get it there and then, and we moved on with life. My father always gave us a chance to challenge him. He could come and sit all of us around the table and tell us to state what we have seen too extreme on his side, so from there we saw him being like our elder brother than being our father. My mother could understand us more easily than our dad because our dad had to practice justice but my mum could exercise mercy.

Although today many Rwandans remember long periods of living with their

neighbors in peace, when the Rwandan president’s plane crashed in April of 1994, it reopened old disagreements between Tutsis and Hutus. In the four months between April and July of 1994, thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Some estimate the final death toll as high as 800,000. Fidele and his family were caught in the violence. When the Rwandan genocide began, Fidele was up country at St. Andrews, an elite Catholic secondary school. After the president’s plane crashed in April 6^th 1994, I had just joined Form One (9^th grade), but when we heard that all the Hutus were to be killed we were called back home. The Catholic brothers used the school buses to take us to the doors of our homes. When I arrived at the Nazarene compound, there were between 70 and 100 young men with pangas (machetes) who came into the compound to look among the 300 students in our

Nazarene high school for those who were Tutsis. My father and some church leaders had just returned from morning prayers and were sitting outside. The young men said that they wanted to see all the invenzi, the cockroaches, which was the name they gave the Tutsis. My father joked with them, saying, “We do not keep cockroach here, we have students!” When some of the young men started threatening my father others started shouting, “This is our pastor! Stop threatening him!” So they went but still the tension was in the air and those who were in the compound had to find their way out of the country.

Outside of the relative safety of the Nazarene compound, the Rwandan genocide continued. As Fidele and members of his family left to find food and try to rescue people and later as they fled to the Congo, they saw disturbing and unspeakable sights.You could walk out of the compound and find people killed, to the extent it was like a normal thing to find a person lying down across the road dead. The place they were calling the District Commissioners place was really a cemetery run by people whose work was to kill people. Those who had cash could buy a bullet for quick death rather than being killed more slowly by the pangas. People were told to dig their own graves and then were buried while they were alive. A military commander who came to the cemetery found a Catholic archbishop and two priests being buried alive. When those burying them saw the military commander, some ran away and others were ordered to remove the soil, freeing the priests. We did not prepare to go to the Congo. We woke up at the middle of the night and joined the masses of people walking toward the border. That distance of 20 miles took us the full day to cross over. We walked tied together so that no one of us should get lost. You could hear many children shouting, “Mum!” because they had gotten lost. There were many people using the same path—perhaps as many as two million who went into exile at some point, including sixteen thousand Rwandan Nazarenes who made the trip under my father’s leadership.

The family stayed in the Congo until 1994 when Fidele’s father was invited to pursue a Master of Arts in Religion degree at ANU. Fidele’s father continued with his studies until 1996. Although it was officially two years after the peak of the genocide, there was still a struggle in Rwanda for leadership of government, business, and the churches. My father felt that he needed to go back, because there were some people who wanted to take over most of the institutions in the country. Because there was a leadership problem, the church in Rwanda was in trouble. In 1996, my father went back to Rwanda to help the church. Then, in November of 1997 as he was making plans to come back to ANU, he was killed as part of the disagreements about leadership of institutions in the country. My mother was with him and was beaten and unconscious for awhile, but they did not kill her because she was a woman. Later, we discovered that prior to my father’s death 14 young people from the church had been killed in the same disagreements.

After Fidele’s mother recovered, she returned briefly to Kenya to accompany the family back to Rwanda. Fidel’s mother was determined to redeem the family’s experience of the genocide, loss of their father and lengthy separation from each other and from Rwanda. My mother adopted a new lifestyle because she felt like she needed to bring us up in such a away we could forget the past and put our mind on God. So she is the one who was much encouraging us to be involved in the church and to understand how far we had come. And she felt that the only way should could is to pray and encourage us to do the same, even now she has set apart Tuesday as the day she prays for all of us as her children. For me, forgiveness has been a matter of accepting and not dwelling in the past and seeking a way of living a new life. So this idea of forgiveness, it took time for me and for the family members, we decided to do it as a family and let what happened be of the past and look forward for a better life.

A chance trip to a Rwandan Peace and Reconciliation conference brought Fidele into contact with an American Nazarene family who were so impressed with Fidele that they offered to pay for his University education and suggested he attend Africa Nazarene University. Fidele credits ANU with allowing him to meet Nazarene leaders from all over Africa and to sharpen his thinking and his skills. As we had done with other interviews, we asked Fidele some questions designed to encourage sharing some ideas from his own perspective as a young African Nazarene leader in training. Here are some excerpts:

· On moving from bitterness to forgiveness: When the genocide and the death of my father were happening, I did not have much understand of who God was. I did know that God was good. We expected the God of love to be on our side but it did not seem to be true. Even the people we expected to be on our side did not seem to be. I came a book that talked about understanding God. The author was saying that our mind is so much limited that we see thing happening around, and we do not seem to understand. It makes it clear that God does not change with what happens to our lives, he still remains God. His ways of doing things can change but for him he does not change. In that situation, it gave me hope, I was able to figure out that my mum could have died with my father but there is a reason why she is alive. The encouragement we get from mum has kept me moving. Faith with God and her involvement in ministry has helped God make sense to us. I know God loves me the same way he loves other people and He regards me as a special person.

· About what the African church can contribute to the global church: I think in Africa we have really responded to the call of the church as a community, which is one of the strengths of the African community. If our definition of a church is the coming together as a family to worship God, and we can see it lacking from our Western brothers because they are more event oriented and we are more oriented toward people and relationships which falls under social wholeness. If Africa can pass on to our Western brothers the real value of community it will be a good thing. It will make us feel that we all need each other. And the idea of where one comes from, or of white and black, will not be there because we will feel we are all the same.

· About missionaries:. In our church administration class at ANU, we asked one of our professors whether he thinks the church in Africa needs missionaries, and surprisingly he answered that the church in Africa needs missionaries who are born again. I think that was because he has stayed in Africa for long and he knows the challenges that are facing the church in Africa. I think what he meant is people who are willing to forget their identities and learn new ways of ministry; he meant people who can adopt to the fields that they are send into so that they can be more of a support to the fields that they are send into. Without the presence of missionaries one cannot sense the idea of the church being an international church. The idea is for the national church to be able to sustain itself both spiritual and financially

· On the message of holiness in Africa: What I understand about holiness is the desire to walk with Jesus. There are so many things we get from walking with Him. Like the things we get from the Bible, and the people we walk with, and even our community. The holiness theologians will come with many, many theological words explaining what holiness is instead of using a simple word. We are not talking about holiness because it is a denominational requirement but because it is what God expects us to live by. The best witness of our holiness life should be the people who are living around us. They will be able to say that we are Christians and Nazarenes, they will be able to experience and witness about our holiness life.

· About how people can pray for him: I need God to help in the message that I preach to people to be of relevance to them and I may be able to make it simple to them without necessarily complicating their lives.

Africa Region Leadership Conference Report

2009-04-27T20:26:00.017+03:00

An Irish diarist wrote a short poem that we've quoted before but that's accurate these days: "A man who keeps a diary pays, due toll to many tedious days; but life becomes eventful then, his busy hand forgets the pen." It's taken us awhile to do the Leadership Conference post we promised because the Leadership Conference kept us so busy!

The Africa Region Leadership Conference was a gathering of 300 Nazarene leaders from all over Africa. Each daybegan with a devotional, followed by a plenary speaker and breakouts in the morning, and plenary and breakouts in the afternoon and ending with a preaching service in the evening. The days were 14-15 hours long, but very rich. Some highlights and pictures:

The first picture at the top is of our blue T-shirted (mainly) ushers--all ANU "Bachelor of Theology" students, ready to greet our visitors. The next three pictures are of Horn of Africa people. Sudan DS John Yual (left in patterned blue shirt), currently a student at ANU and one of the interviews we'll post later, greets a colleague upon arrival. The group picture is one Mark posted on Facebook, but we're still being taught by the joy of this group that lost eight of its members to Muslim and anamist persecution in 2008. The third picture is of a pastor from Ethiopia who is the "prayer warrior" for the Horn of Africa. Terry Barker, the Education Coordinator there, said this pastor climbs a sacred mountain in Ethiopia for a month several times a year to pray for the work of the Church and the Kingdom in Africa. Each time we begin to complain or to use "entitled" language, we will think of this group that is winning souls and starting churches in the midst of tremendous oppression.

General Superintendent Jerry Porter preached two really excellent sermons. The first one, more earnest and intense, talked about the fact that Jesus was tempted, and that only yielding to temptation is sin. He acknowledged both the crisis and on-going relationship aspects of sanctification, and quoted 2 Peter 1:3-4 as he reminded the audience that we have access to power as well as purity through if the Holy Spirit. In the second, funnier, sermon he encouraged unchanging principles and changing stratgies. One item: he said--don't you just hate those songs where you have to stand and sing the same words over and over? For example, let's all stand and sing this irritating song which repeats the same word 56 times (and then a pianist accompanied him in the singing of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus!)

Rev. Balibanga, from French Equitorial Africa, gave an excellent devotional one of the days. He pointed out that even in the 36 African countries where the Church of the Nazarene is active, the economic, racial/ethnic, and health problems of Africa exist. He said that the Church of the Nazarene must present the nations of Africa and the world not just with holy words, but with holy lives, and with a "new world order" built not on economic transformation or social transformation, but built on a testimony of radical spiritual transformation.

Mark Lowe, Field Strategy Coordinator, quoted George Whitfiled, the famous Methodist evangelist, who said Wesley was right in putting his converts into classes, and observed sadly that his own converts were "a rope of sand." Mark said that without a well-constructed discipleship program, converts from such evangelistic efforts as the Jesus Film were in danger of also being a "rope of sand."

Chanshi Chanda, the Field Strategy Coordinator from French Equitorial Africa, told the true story of an Imam to whom he witnessed and who was saved in a dramatic way. When he returned to his home as an Imam he was given the platform at his local mosque and preached the gospel there. He is now training to become a Nazarene pastor. His wife is not yet converted and, as one might imagine, is having a hard time accepting his conversion. They need your prayer.

In a breakout session, Chanshi said that if he were kicked out of the Church of the Nazarene at any point, he would leave everything but the message of holiness. He said, "Some of us treat holiness as a play word. We treat it as a toy to be played with, but the essence of Christianity is holiness." Chanshi studies online with a Jewish rabbi in Toronto, and says that God's intention for the Israelites is that they be holy and close to God. He said, "We need to take our message of holiness to heart. If we are not strivintg to maintain the church as pure as it can be, forget about 'ministry sustainability.'"

Mashangu Maluleka, the principla of Nazarene Theological College in Muldersdrift, South Africa, preached a powerful, very African sermon, about Moses and the stick. He said that Moses was an African boy. His point was that we need to recognize the resources God has put into our hands, and we need to recognize the "snakes" that need to be killed.

As you might imagine, there were many, many other good sessions, including presentations by Howie Shute, Dr. LeBron Fairbanks, Fili Chambo and several others.

We attended (and mainly listened) in fascinating breakouts where DS's from all over Africa talked about some of their challenges: how to make graceful leadership transitions in a culture where the chief stays in as long as he can and historically has killed rivals. How to make disagreements model holiness and encourage learning and growth. How to deal with members or associate members (policy differs across Africa) who have been saved and repented, but are dealing with the consequences of polygamous marriages.

In between sessions, we did interviews with Dr. Eugenio Duarte and the three FieldStrategy Coordinators who are graduates of ANU: Chanshi Chanda, FSC of French Equitorial Africa; Paul Mtambo, FSC of Central Africa; and Ermias Choliye, FSC of the Horn of Africa. We will be publishing blog posts based on each of those interviews and others we are doing, so we'll save that for a different time.

Below, some additional pictures "just for fun" (apologies for a couple of slightly out of focus but favorite pictures): Dr. Eugenio Duarte and delegates from Sudan; Rev Paul Mtambo, Field Strategy Coordinator of Central Africa (in tan suit); lady drummer from the Horn of Africa; small part of an end-of-conference group photo; we'll blog more pictures at a later time."

ANESA REPORT

2009-04-18T22:34:00.010+03:00

Well, praise the Lord! The ANESA conference was great and we'll give you some quick highlights of it before we go to bed this Saturday evening.

On Friday morning, Regional Education Coordinator Dr. Fili Chambo ( blue shirt in front of screen) led us in singing "Come Let Us Adore Him" and "He Is Lord."

In his addreess, Regional Director Dr. Eugenio Duarte called for a "culture of

spiritual accountability" and "extraordinary prayer" on the Africa Region. He called for ordinary people doing extraordinary work because they make themselves available to the Lord.

Howie Shute (at lunch in red sweater) gave some thoughts about developments in the Horn of Africa:

We need representatives of each of the people groups in Africa to be trained as theologians capable of contextualizing theology for each group.
Great story about the Jesus Film being shown in a particular Ethiopian village with a large Muslim population. Across several weeks after the film, many Muslims were saved, the Imam's children became Christians; the Imam's wife became a Christian. A few days after this, the Imam came to the Nazarene pastor and dangled the key to the mosque in front of him. "Take it," he said. "The mosque is yours." The Nazazrene pastor was astonished but accepted the key. Right now there are three mosques in the Horn of Africa being used as Churches of the Nazarene.
On the darker side, Christians in general face tremendous danger and persecution in the Horn of Africa. 15 of our Nazarene leaders have died because of their faith in the last 8 years, but of these 15, 7 have been killed in 2008 alone. We need to be in passionate prayer for these brave pastors who are literally giving their lives for the spread of the gospel.

There was a very lively discussion of the relationship between multiple, contextualized versions of the Nazarene Course of Study used for training of Nazarene pastors in Africa and the idea of a centralized, unified course of study to be used by all areas. Dr. Fili Chambo mentioned the cost of development of multiple versions, and a desire to pursue accreditation with the Accrediting Council for Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA) as reasons for moving toward unification. More senior Field Strategy Coordinators remember the old days when the Region sent what they often saw as irrelevant, unified materials for them to use. At the end of the discussion--which extended across the tea time--there was an agreement to talk about a "consolidated" course of study (meaning fewer models but not a single model).

Last night, we interviewed Ermias Choliye, the Field Strategy Coordinator for the Horn of Africa (standing and gesturing during the theology conference), for the NMI book we're working on--what a privilege to hear his story of faithfulness to the

Lord. We'll do a blog entry on him at a later date and he will be one of the interviews in the book, but just a kind of funny highlight of his perseverance and faithfulness: He had been an officer in the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia, and a life-long Christian who made the decision to become a Nazarene after meeting Al and Kitty Jones. He quit his job and came to ANU to begin ministerial training. He was housed with a very young student who played loud music and was doing his first studying in many years. He wrote

his wife a letter saying he was

discouraged and coming home, but before she received it, three things happened: He heard a sermon by Dr. Jim Diehl about how he overcame discouragement and frustration as a pastor, his wife sent him an encouraging letter and a picture of herself and his children smiling broadly, and--the Lord "piling it on"--he visited an elementary school as part of a prayer campaign at ANU and the welcome song the students sang was the Christian song "No Turning Back." He laughed and

said at that point he knew he had to stay and see it through! And now the Lord is using him to lead the "Book of Acts" movement in the Horn of Africa. Praise the Lord!

This afternoon, ANU presented some of its plans for distance learning and did two sessions on entreprenurship for Nazarene pastors and congregations. There were presentations by our Dry

Land Natural Resource department, by our lecturer in entreprenurship, by our director of distance learning and by Rod Reed of the Religion Department, talking about how we might help some of our diploma colleges with short courses in accounting, land management, as well as theological subjects.

We just got back from the first evening of a "mini-theology conference" attached to the two main conferences. Two great papers offered:

Rev. Joseph Llilema, a Zambian working at NTC-CA in Malawi (standing at podium in gray suit), presented a summary of his excellent MAR thesis research regarding attitudes toward polygamy in the Central Africa District (Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. His research showed that Nazarene attitudes toward the treatment of polygamists in the church were all over the board and called for the region to establish a clear policy toward polygamy. He cited the Manual statement regarding divorce (saying it is outside of God's plan for marriage but that people can and should be redeemed after divorce) as possible language regarding polygamy and called for the full acceptance of redeemed polygamists as members of the church to be offered the sacrements. As you might imagine, lively discussion followed.
Rev. Gift Mtukwa, a faculty member at ANU (gesturing at microphone in blue mock-turtleneck and suit), delivered a portion of a paper he and Dr. Rod Reed, Religion Department chair, had delivered at Wesley Theological Society meeting at Anderson University earlier this year. His paper examined the idea being discussed in some academic circles in Africa of the idea of "Christ as Ancestor." He concluded that this was not a good alternative to Western Christology because by definition ancestors are tightly connected to family or clan, meaning the idea of Christ as ancestor would encourage rather than calm African ethnic tensions.

It's getting late and we'd probably better close for now, but we'll give you at least one post from the Leadership Conference that begins on Sunday morning. Thanks for your prayers. We can feel their impact!

Request for Prayer and Promise of News

2009-04-16T11:35:00.002+03:00

Hello--This will be a bit of a different blog post. We're asking for prayer for a set of two back-to-back conferences we'll be having at ANU beginning this evening, and promising you some pictures and information from each of them.

The first of these conferences is the two-day ANESA conference. ANESA is the Nazarene organization that oversees education (primarily pastoral education) in Africa. This conference will be led by Regional Education Director Dr. Fili Chambo, and will feature discussion of the successes of the education strategic plan, how to do the current things better and what new strategies may be needed. This conference will include two evenings of papers presented by ANU masters students about topics including polygamy, hunger, the church's role in encouraging peace in Africa, etc. This conference will involve 45 educational leaders from all over Africa.

The second, larger conference, beginning on Monday, will involve an additional 250 leaders for a total of 300 people. It's the Africa Region Leadership Conference, led by our Regional Director, Dr. Eugenio Duarte. Taken together, it may be no exaggeration to say that these two conferences are the most important formal meetings the denomination has had in Africa. They will involve progress reports regarding regional goals, discussions of evangelism and leadership strategies that are working and what additional things can be done.

Soooo--we would appreciate your prayers about these meetings, and for Dr. Duarte, Dr. Chambo and the other global, regional and field leaders who will be presenting and/or participating. We'd ask you to pray for Professor Marangu as conference host and for the many staff at ANU who will be working to assure that visitors are housed, fed, and otherwise made to feel welcome. Most of all, we want the presence of the Holy Spirit to break through in these meetings, for the Lord to guide the discussion and the decisions that are made.

We'll plan on taking our cameras to some of the meetings and jotting down some notes, so at least once for each meeting--more if possible-- we'll send you a report.

Blessings on each of you. Thanks also to Spencer, Indiana; Zion Bloomington Indiana; Highland Avenue, California; Hemet Califormia; and Indianapolis District who have responded so warmly and quickly to our announcement of deputation dates. We still have a few dates left, but our calendar is filling up fast! We look forward to seeing you soon and delivering some of this information in person!

Informal Picture Album

2009-03-28T22:39:00.006+03:00

We thought you might just like to see some recent pictures that highlight why we love Kenya. From top to bottom they are: 1) A picture of an acacia tree at sunset taken on the way back from Amboseli National Park; 2) "Elephant Mother and Child" at Amboseli; 3) Gustav Banda--son of Millie and Agnes Banda, pastors and religion students from Democratic Republic of the Congo; 4) Nancy and family members petting a cheetah at Nairobi National Park; 5) Unknown child taken at the Nairobi Elephant Orphanage; 6) Boys in truck near our home in Ongata Rongai.

Available for Deputation

2009-03-28T21:53:00.007+03:00

One of the real pleasures of the fall of 2007 (seems like a long time ago!) was the opportunity to meet with pastors and congregations in Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, California, Kansas and Indiana. (Some of the churches we visited are pictured in this blog post.) We've just been given permission to extend our June General Assembly visit to do some deputation in July and August. (We may also have some additional dates in November and early December).

If we visited your church in 2007 and you'd like to have us back to hear the "rest of the story", or if you would be interested in having us visit your church for the first time, please send us a note at mnnkenya@gmail.com to let us know how we can serve your church or district. We'd love to make contact with you.

Oh--and a couple of General Assembly-related notes: A special, exclusive note for readers of Africonnection: The Africa Nazarene University luncheon on Saturday, June 27 will feature a message by Harmon Schmelzenbach as the University honors the Schmelzenbach's for their lifetime of work in Africa. If you're interested, drop us a line at mnnkenya@gmail.com to get information about reservations. This will be a historic opportunity for an intimate hour with the Schmelzenbach's. . Finally, again if you're going to General Assembly, we'd love to have you drop by the ANU booth in the exhibit hall.

We're Writing an NMI Book!

2009-03-28T21:36:00.006+03:00

Last trimester, we were privileged to have Dr. Daniel and Carol Ketchum in our home. Some of you may remember that the Ketchums were our hosts while we did our missionary training at NTS. During that visit, we were asked to write one of the books which will be made available to local Nazarene churches.

The book, to be called "African Voices" will feature mini-biographies of 8-10 current students, alumni, and leadership of Africa Nazarene University. People featured in the book will include Regional Director Dr. Eugenio Duarte, ANU Vice Chancellor Professor Leah Marangu (pictured), the three African Field Strategy Coordinators who are ANU graduates, and several others. We've already started the interviews and are hearing wonderful stories. We'd ask you to pray that the Lord will make the Pittses "small", and magnify the words and vision of these significant current and future African Nazarene leaders.

It's Beginning to Look a Bit Like Christmas.

2008-11-30T18:05:00.020+03:00

Even before we left the US, we knew Christmas in Kenya was going to be different. While we were celebrating Christmas 2007 in the US and then on a quick trip to Ireland, we made a

game of which Christmas songs would be least appropriate in Kenya:

"I'm Dreaming of a..." Nope.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a

one horse open..."Nope.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost..." Nope.

On the other hand, most of the songs about the FIRST Christmas still work:

Silent Night, Joy to the World, Away in a Manger....few of the songs about the birth of the Christchild are bound by the Western image of snow and cold. Maybe that's at least partially because the "first" Christmas happened in the Middle East, probably in the spring since the shepherds were watching herds of sheep including lambs.

We're thrilled that we will have five family members with us for Christmas: Mark's Dad Jay, second-oldest son Andrew and his wife Birge, and favorite daughter Rachel and her boyfriend Rich will all be here for visits from a couple of weeks to a month. We'll do some of the usual things we do with visitors, but it will be great to spend the Christmas season together.

What's Christmas like in Kenya? Each week we have four students or four faculty members to lunch at our house, and for several weeks we've been asking people this question. The answers depend a little on the age or on the tribal background of the respondent, but there are

some general themes: Certain kinds of food that were rare on a daily basis were featured on Christmas Day: chicken and rice and chapatis (a kind of East Indian burrito, pictured nearby).

Young men would go from door to door in the small, closely knit villages and ask for food that was cooked in the field by the young people as a special Christmas feast--kind of like "trick or treating for protein"! While it was rare for there to be many gifts to open, everyone got new clothes. Often, people would attend a village church service, led by a lay pastor since ordained ministers were rare in the small villages. Some people, if they thought their clothes were especially nice, would attend multiple church services to let their neighbors see how nice they looked.

What we see around us now is an interesting mixture of old and new customs, African and Western elements. The "Nairobi Christmas" is usually the more Western, especially if families

have young, media-influenced children. There will probably be a Christmas tree (like the one in Ya Ya Shopping Centre also pictured nearby) and other decorations. There will probably be more Christmas presents.

The "up country" Christmas is usually more traditionally Kenyan. Most Kenyans have property in the rural areas--called "up country" wherever they are located. City Kenyans travel to enjoy the rural property, see elderly relatives, and slaughter and eat a goat. Christmas decorations are less common. Often, the most senior relative may give a speech of inspiration and advice at the end of the family celebration.

There's a third variation of Christmas that we are a small part of: the "expatriate Christmas." Several students on the ANU campus will not be able to go home for Christmas: Okon from

Nigeria; Gift and Constantino from Zimbabwe; a pastor named Agnes and her family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We'll plan to have an on-campus expatriate Christmas. Often, these students are far away from family, have limited funds, and are cut off from the traditions of their home countries. We'll have lots of family around us, so we're feeling very happy about our Christmas, but as the news here is full of stories of violence in the Congo and cholera in Zimbabwe, we'd appreciate your prayers for these expatriate Nazarene students and their troubled countries at Christmas time.

So do we miss the Western Christmas? Well sure, a little bit, but to make up for that we often

feel we are seeing the "real" Bible stories laid out before us--shepherds tending flocks of sheep

and goats; pairs of figures walking down rock-strewn trails, robes flapping in the breeze; herds of camels eating the leaves of acacia trees.

The Lord is teaching us not to alter our vision of Christmas, not to abandon our affection for snow and evergreens, but to expand our vision of Christmas and to use the timeless elements of Kenyan culture to reconnect to the quiet, star-lit and non-Western realities of the First Christmas.

As we move more fully into the Christmas season, we want to thank each of you who have been part of the journey we have taken this last year. It took us from the violence at the beginning of the year in Kenya, through some personal challenges to the joy and excitement of Christmas with family. As we close, we'd like to wish each of our friends and blog subscribers a very Blessed Christmas, and to share with you some quotations about the religious and cultural aspects of the Christmas season:

The spirit of Christmas needs to superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world. Stuart Briscoe
They were all looking for a king To slay their foes, and lift them high; Thou cam'st, a little baby thing That made a woman cry. George Macdonald , British religious writer.
Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart, you won't find it under a tree. Charlotte Carpenter.
A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. Garrison Keillor
At Christmas, all roads lead home. Marjorie Holmes
The three grand essentials … in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Joseph Addison

MERRY CHRISTMAS! MARK AND NANCY

The View from Kenya: Election Day USA

2008-11-05T13:28:00.004+03:00

First, an important disclaimer: what follows is not a political statement. Mark and Nancy already have a Savior we love more than any American or world leader. The notes that follow will try hard to avoid anything that looks partisan. We understand that not all votes are counted and that the electoral college in the US has not even started its work. We just thought you might be interested in how election day looks from Kenya. Some observations:

First, the US Embassy has used the American election season as an opportunity to teach students and staff in Kenyan universities how American politics works. ANU had a representative from the American Embassy on campus last week to explain about the electoral college, about the relationship between state votes and the national vote, etc.
Several ANU students and staff (but not the two of us, who were too lazy to get up at 4AM as the invitation would have required) accepted the Embassy invitation to watch the returns from the US Ambassador's residence.
The fact that Barak Obama is half Kenyan has not played in Kenya quite the way most Americans would anticipate it would. Kenyans are VERY tribal. Barak Obama's father was a Luo, a minority tribe. Because of this, members of the Kikuyu tribe, especially, were not initially enthusiastic about Barak Obama's candidacy.
Even so, as Senator Obama appeared to get closer and closer to winning the election, national pride began to overcome tribal loyalties. It may astonish or amuse you to know that tomorrow has been declared a national holiday by Moi Kibaki, our Kikuyu president, in honor of the victory of Barak Obama, a half-Luo American! Banks, government offices, classes and businesses will all be closed because of an event half a world away.
Short excerpt from The Standard, a major newspaper in Kenya: "Kenya’s Kogelo village (Senator Obama's family village) erupted in celebration after CNN projections showed Barack Obama to have won the hotly contested United States presidential elections, beating rival John McCain. After heeding Obama’s grandmother, Mama Sarah, not to celebrate until the elections were over, villagers in Kogelo, who had kept vigil as projected results indicated Obama was ahead of McCain in Florida by 52 to 48 electoral votes, burst into celebration. In Nairobi, residents sang, danced and did high-fives as traditional dancers enlivened the dawn with Dholuo songs and chants of Obama! in several parts of Kenya. 'We won! Victory is ours!' Nairobi residents shouted in the streets as the sun broke through the grey sky."
The Luo's, most of whom live in the western part of Kenya, have ranged from enthusiastic to wildly enthusiastic. Thoughtful Luo's are quietly appreciative that it's possible for someone connected with their tribe to reach this level. Poor, uneducated Luos (understandably but very unrealistically) have declared on television that they see this as having PERSONL impact: more money, new jobs, gifts from America. (The Kenyan man in the cartoon at the left is asking Uncle Sam for new favors because of the projected president-elect.) This comes from the historic fact that, rightly or wrongly, the person who wins presidential elections in Kenya tends to make sure his immediate family and his tribe benefit directly from his time in office.
Kenyan editorialists and television commentators have rebuked Kenya based on what they are observing in the US. "How is it," they ask, "that Barak Obama, a Luo, can be elected President of the United States, but could not be elected a Member of Parliament in Central Province (a stronghold of the Kikuyu who oppose the Luo)?" "How is it that America can have an orderly transition in power from one party to another, that Obama can ask McCain for his help and McCain can call Obama 'my president' when even the hint of a transition in power in Kenya can leave 1400 people dead (as it did in January)?"

Again, we understand that the Kenyan euphoria is not shared by many, many faithful Nazarenes. Even so, just as a historic event connecting Kenya and the US, we thought you would be interested in what the American election looks like from Kenya.

A Hindi "Vacation Bible School Program"

2008-10-29T16:53:00.017+03:00

This past Saturday evening, while Nan stayed home and graded papers, Mark and ANU Chancellor Jerry Lambert accepted an invitation from a professor at the University of Nairobi to attend his temple's annual Duwali Festival--Christmas and New Year's wrapped up in one for the Hindu community. As it turned out, the evening was very interesting but also very moving. The temple itself looked like a modern secondary school with a gym and a nice park-like lawn in the back.

Mark and Jerry arrived 40 minutes early and could see that a worship service was going on in a room on the second floor at the back of gym. As

people saw them, they made motions to join

them in the worship room. As Mark and Jerry took off their shoes and entered the room, they were hit by a wave of heat from perhaps 10 gallon-sized pots with foot-tall flames of incense burning above them. Since most of the program participants were going to be children, it was

mainly children in a variety of regional Indian traditional clothing

gathered around each incense pot with adults in chairs around the outer edge of the room. The part of the

service we witnessed included an explanation of Duwali, a prayer by a child and some singing by

an eldery priest who accompanied himself on a "harmonium", a portable, hand-pumped organ with room for a hymnal on top.

Jerry and Mark stopped for awhile on a balcony after the service, so most of the seats in the front of the gym were taken, but a very determined, elderly Indian lady met them at the door (does your church have a

greeter so determined to welcome visitors?) and, in spite of their protests that they could sit anywhere, ushered them down to the FRONT ROW. As it turned out, the determined woman was the wife of the temple chairman, kind of like the "chairman of the board of trustees", who was a distinguished and kindly-looking professor of mathematics at a respected government university.

As the program began, the fact that he was a teacher became even clearer. He would lean over to Mark and whisper part of what the

speaker was saying or the singer was singing: "When the sun goes down, a little candle gives great light." "The greatest success is the greatest humility." "Nobility of spirit is God's wish for his people." Not everything was serious. There was a Hindi comedian telling corny and familiar jokes: a man who said his newborn twins should be named "Pete" and "Repeat." A man advised to have his daughter eat an apple daily to avoid the advances of an undesirable doctor because "Everyone knows an apple

a day keeps the doctor away." Mark and Jerry silently cheered for a little girl in full, elaborately embroidered Hindi costume who was clearly terrified but began to smile as she concentrated on the dance she had

practiced. Same for a 10-year od who had been asked at the last minute to play the "tabla", a set of Indian drums for the adult traditional singers.

Parts of the program felt alot like a Hindu version of a "vacation Bible school" program: : A lady MC who kept forgetting that the microphone stayed on even when she went behind the curtain. A "rap" by some teen boys in sunglasses that the older people pretended to enjoy to affirm their slightly rowdy boys. After the service and program, we stayed for a great vegetarian Indian meal and fireworks! Great, great evening with good folks.

What's the moving part? The songs reminded us that there are some common yearnings of the human heart, put there by God: love of family, a yearning for something more than money or earthly success, a desire for virtue and, for want of a better word, "wholesomeness." Jerry and Mark were not tempted to join the temple, but they were reminded that in the strangest setting, with people who seem very different than ourselves, there are pathways to conversation about the living God and His son Jesus. We'd ask you to pray that God would give us the right time and the right words.

Another "tale from the road"

2008-10-29T16:00:00.007+03:00

It's beginning to look like we could volunteer to do a whole missionary book on "things that happen on the road." Epaphras, one of the ANU drivers, and Mark were headed toward Kenyatta International Airport about 7PM last Sunday evening in ANU's venerable Mitsubishi Pajero to pick up Dr. Jerry Lambert, our new chancellor; Dr. Tom Parks, dean of the MVNU School of Business and his son Thomas. Traffic was heavy. For those of you who've been here, remember the "rough dip" just after you've left Bomas and before you get to Nairobi National Park? As they started up the hill traffic was fairly light on our side of the road and heavy on the other side. So far, so good.

Perhaps three city blocks ahead of them in the distance they could see th

e headlights of a car that was pulling out of the oncoming lane and coming toward them in our lane. They assumed he was trying to pass several of the cars in his own lane. It didn't take long for Mark and Epaphras to begin getting nervous, however. The car continued to close the distance between them. Finally, the inevitable happened: The Mercedes bumped into the front of the ANU Pajero with a crunch and a tinkle of glass! Since the Pajero is equipped for rough travel, it has an after-market front grill made of strong pipe which was not damaged.

Mark and Epaphras could clearly see that the other driver was seriously drunk. In a couple of minutes, as they watched in astonishment, the Mercedes driver put the car in reverse, turned the steering wheel slightly, put the car in drive and hit the Pajero again! At this point, the Mercedes driver lumbered out of his car and walked shakily to the collision area. Epaphras also got out to hear the Mercedes driver say in Kiswahili what was true: "My car is damaged but yours is not. Drive on!"

As Mark and Epaphras pulled around the Mercedes on the busy Langata Highway, the Mercedes driver had left the car running with its lights on and driver's side door opened and was trying to climb up the bank to reach the fence where Kenyan men traditionally answer the call of nature. Unfortunately, because he was drunk, he was climbing and sliding, climbing and sliding as Epaphras and Mark drove on toward the airport.

Unfortunately, the Pajero did not QUITE emerge undamaged: the combination of rain and a frayed headlight wire meant they completed the trip to the airport and back in the rain without headlights! University Chaplain Randy James came out with his own car to light the way for the Pajero to get back to campus (it's a metaphor!).

Regularly our good readers like you write us or tell us in person--"we're praying for the two of you." We know God expects his children to use their brains and to be careful. Even so, more than anytime in our lives, we're feeling those prayers.

Passing of Mark's Mom

2008-10-02T14:25:00.003+03:00

Tuesday, while we were having lunch with four students in our flat, Mark got a call from his Dad to indicate that his Mom Charlotte had passed away during the night. Those of you who have been reading our blog for awhile and our friends know that she has been in decline for a number of years and has been in a care facility beginning early this year. She suffered from memory loss, but continued to be sweet and cooperative and to be loved by all around her. The funeral service will be in Brazil, Indiana this Saturday, with burial at the family plot in Morristown, Indiana, east of Indianapolis. Mark and Nan will be flying to Indiana this evening to be part of the service and celebration. Charlotte Pitts was a wonderful wife and mother, an excellent elementary school teacher, a warm and welcoming hostess, and a vibrant lover of Jesus Christ. Nancy says when people are pressed, their essence comes out, and Charlotte's essence was sweetness.We will miss her physical presence, but we rejoice in her home-going.

An Encounter with Bandits

2008-10-02T14:00:00.002+03:00

First, the good news: Nancy and Mark, our son Isaac and our automobile are safe on the ANU campus with no physical damage and after a good night's sleep. We have a better understanding of God's grace and mercy, and are a little less skeptical about warnings regarding bandits in Kenya.

Now, the story--on our way into town on Wednesday, a Kenyan Muslim holiday--we noticed a huge sign from the Ministry of Transportation announcing the completion after a couple of years of the new Langata Bypass. Since Langata is a road that leads toward ANU, we decided to take it as we headed home. About 5km down the road, 6 men in dark clothing came out from behind a mound of dirt with pangas (machetes) and what looked like guns and motioned for us to stop. For the next ten minutes, they took watches, cell phones, rings, the car radio, Nan's "second best" camera, and billfolds. Mark remembered a story Wellington Obote, a Kenyan, but now a mission coordinator in Malawi, had told him about reminding his captors that Jesus loves them, and so he told his captors the same thing as they did their work, and Nancy said a blessing on "her" bandit.

Just as they were finishing with us, a car came roaring toward us from the opposite direction and then seemed to lose his nerve and slow down. The bandits yelled at us to get in our car and get going so they could attend to this new "customer." As we moved to do so, we could see that the new driver's speed had angered the bandits. They pointed their guns at him, but the motions they made convinced us that they were either pellet pistols or toy guns...who knew? As the new driver stopped, they knocked out the driver's side and passenger side window, unlocked his door, pulled him out of the car and threw him on the ground. As we drove off, they were slapping him with the flat side of the pangas, which was actually a good sign that they were not interested in doing real injury with the blades. We remained worried about this second customer, but glad he wasn't being cut and glad to have our car and to be uninjured.

After waving down a couple of cars we encountered to warn them of the danger ahead and taking Nan and Isaac back to campus and picking up the University security head, Mark drove back to the Karen police station to make a report, and then to go with the security head and two policeman back to the scene of the crime. They found the broken glass on the road, but no sign of the bandits or the man in the second car.

Last evening, we had a steady stream of staff and students who came with food and cards and to say "pole sana", "so sorry." As we mentioned earlier, as a result of the lightening-fast Nazarene grapevine, we have gotten expressions of sympathy already from around the world.

As you might imagine, we're still kind of processing this. You may not be able to believe it, but we slept well last evening and are able to laugh and joke without effort today. Mark has written earlier about "living in stereo", and that is what we are doing: this robbery happened, but as followers of Christ we can't allow ourselves to be fully defined by our challenges. We must be defined by the "hope that is within us." We are reminded again of the importance of salvation and education in Kenya.

When you pray, we are so grateful for your prayers for us. We always need them, but more importantly, we would appreciate your prayers for Mark's dad as he begins this new chapter without the love of his life. We also can't get those bandits our of our minds. One of our students who is the son of the pastor of the Nazarene church in the slum from which the bandits come said--"I bet I know one of those guys." The police who accompanied Mark back to the scene said they have killed 10 of the bandits in 2 months. We are safe and secure. The bandits are in immediate and eternal jeopardy. Would you join us in praying that the Lord of Second Chances will use Christians in the lives of these young men to bring them to the Lord while there is still time?

What have we learned or been reminded of by the death of Mark's mom and the encounter with bandits: A good marriage is a wonderful thing, a faithful life is its own epitath, the Christian life must be lived in stereo, God is faithful, God's people are warm and loving and prayerful, and the calling of God on our lives becomes purified and tempered as it deals with trials.

Thanks as always for your prayers and for your interest in us. We are privileged to call you are friends. In closing, two Kiswahili exclamations:

Asante sana (thank you very much) and Bwana asifiwe (Praise the Lord)!

Winter Update

2008-09-02T20:00:00.001+03:00

CHANGE OF SEASONS.: One of the things we're having to learn is that, while the climate here is one of the best in the world, the seasons are more subtle and BACKWARD from seasons in the US. All that to say--as you move into autumn and prepare for winter, we are moving into spring and preparing for summer. We continue to enjoy our cozy home, and although you can't see it, we often lit a set of candles in our fireplace which did a passable job of taking the chill out of the air. Many days during the winter months, since none of the buildings have central heating, the temperature in our offices at the beginning of the day was in the "brisk" low 60's before we turned the space heaters on. Nan's sister Patti was here most of August, and to warm ourselves up during one of the coldest (50-80) months of the year, we took a wonderful trip to Mombasa, Kenya's principal seaport city on the Indian Ocean. More on that in another section.

YOUTH CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Two weeks ago we had our first "Africa Ablaze" youth conference: 230 student delegates from 14 different African countries joined excellent pastors, academics, and business leaders who gave presentations on personal purity and holiness, male-female relationships, dealing with the mass media, integrity versus corruption and other issues relevant to African young people. Nan and Patti and I were privileged to attend several services and breakouts, and the wonderful Sunday services featuring Dr. Eugenio Duarte, our Africa regional director, and an evening praise and worship dinner. During his part of the presentation, when Mark asked students if they pledged to take the "fire" from the Africa Ablaze conference to their home institutions and countries, every hand went up. ANU students have pleaded first to do another conference in December (their next break--not possible!) and then to be SURE we do another conference next year, and that's already in the works. Please be praying that the Lord will use these students' enthusiasm and passion to set a fire in Africa that will impact the continent for the Lord!

AFRICAN FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES: We are very much enjoying the people we're working with and want to introduce you to some more people. The handsome man with the mustache to the left is Professor Isaac Kigatiira. (At some Christian institutions in the US, being called "Professor" sometimes means you don't have a doctorate. Here it means you have fully arrived professionally.) He is the foremost East African expert on bees, former director of the Kenya Beekeepers Association, Ph.D. from Cambridge, and the chair of our dryland farming department. That may seem like an obscure "major", but with 85% of Kenyan land arid or semi-arid, there is a huge need for people to teach farmers how to use water carefully, grow crops with low water need, etc. Professor Kigatiira has a wonderful sense of humor and is a passionate Christian. We attended his daughter's wedding on Saturday, and Nancy was asked to pray the blessing on the newlyweds. He just received a second million shilling government grant to support African women who are using bees to grow sunflowers, pressing the flowers into sunflower oil and selling both the oil and the honey! It's changing lives in Africa. When you pray, you might pray for Professor Kigatiira's daughter Kinya and her husband Enoch as they begin their new lives together. You might also pray for the women in Professor Kigatiira's sunflower project, that they can continue to learn how to support themselves and their children.

The gentleman to the right is Dr. Raphael Kiugu. He is a wonderful, positive and pleasant colleague. His office is just down the hall from Nancy's and he is officially Mark's assistant, but they work cheerfully together without having to talk much about reporting lines. He received his Ph.D. at SUNY-Albany and worked for a few years as education coordinator for a Catholic Diocese in New York State. Right now, he is in Germany by invitation of a University there attending a Quality Assurance conference. When you pray, you might pray for safe travel for Dr. Kiugu and that he can stay on top of the important tasks he's doing for the University.

The lady to the left is Charity Waithima, our "examinations officer." Exams are a very big deal in Africa, but Charity, who has a masters degree herself and whose husband is in a doctoral program in South Africa, is up to the job. She was dramatically saved as a high school student and now, in addition to her duties at ANU, is a powerful preacher often called upon to preach in her church or to speak in women's retreats. Just last week when she and Mark met to prepare for Faculty Workshop today, they prayed that her husband might find school fees to do the next semester of his doctoral program. That prayer was answered, praise the Lord, but when you pray, you might pray that the Lord would open similar doors when next semester's fees must be paid.

Can we state the obvious: the stereotypes about Americans are both kind of true and often very not true because individuals can't be captured by any stereotype, any preconception. The same is true here. These are real, wonderful people: bright, very well-educated, capable, passionate about Jesus. We feel privileged to be working with them.

Mombasa Trip--Mainly Pictures

2008-08-25T19:30:00.000+03:00

On Friday, August 22 Nan, Mark and Nan's sister Patti took University transport to the Nairobi train station downtown for our trip to Mombasa. In spite of some challenges mentioned later, it's a wonderful adventure: one of the classic train trips of the world, and for a first class cabin and two meals it's a bargain at around $50 US.

Since we arrived an hour early, we were directed to the station restaurant where we grabbed sodas and samosas (kind of meat-filled triangular egg rolls) while we waited for the train. A little after 6PM we were allowed to board, and promptly at 7, the train started its trip south east from Nairobi to the Muslim port city of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean.

We had signed up for the "early" seating for dinner, so we headed to the booth-filled dining car around 7:15 for meal service starting at 7:30. The place settings in the dining car were almost a history of East African railroads. SOme silverware was marked "UR" for "Uganda Railway." SOme was marked "KR" for "Kenya Railway." Some was marked "EAR&T" for "East Africa Railway and Transport." The linens were marked "RVR" for Rift Valley Railway" the current owner of the railroad we were on. We were offered first soup, and then lamb, or chicken or vegetable curry. We opted for the chicken which tasted good as we ate later than usual. So far so good. When we got back to our cabins, they had been made up with crisp sheets and pillowcases and nice blankets but, long story short, even though we were all sleepy and there was the appropriate rocking of the railroad cars, we could not get to sleep. We dozed, we woke up, we GOT up, then started the cycle again. We were conscious of the train stopping often to pick up and drop off passengers during the night, but we could not get to sleep.

About 6AM, we gave up, got up, got dressed and started looking out the windows. The next few pictures are some of the things we saw. After this picture series, a bit about Mombasa itself.

After a good breakfast and four more hours of travel, the train finally pulled into the Mombasa train station at 11AM--SIXTEEN HOURS after we had left Nairobi. A driver we had arranged for picked us up and took us to our hotel--a kind of faded resort directly on the Indian Ocean. We mainly crashed the rest of the afternoon, but took a walk on the beach in the evening and then spent the next day exploring Mombasa. It's famous for the ancient doors on several of the buildings in the old city. More pictures follow.

Left to right above (if the formatting holds!) our local guide, who for the equivalent of about 8 dollars led the three of us through the old city, past ships under repair, the old Portuguese "Fort Jesus", and the famous arab doors of the old city. We finished up our trip with a visit to the spectacular "Tamarind" restaurant located on a hill overlooking the harbor and Mombasa island. It's their black door you see among other doors below...

Bob and Kim Cantrell from our home church in Nampa are coming in a week and planning to spend part of their time in Mombasa. These are some of the things they will see, and if you come, these are some of the things you will see as well. At the risk of "spiritualizing" things (we're glad to take the risk), the Muslim movement is on the march in Africa. There are many mosques--large and small--in Nairobi and the overwhelming number of places of worship in Mombasa are mosques. We'd ask you to pray for the Nazarene churches and for other Christian churches in the Mombasa area, that God will move in a mighty way and that people will understand the transforming Good News of the gospel.

Matchbox Collection

2008-08-07T19:20:00.019+03:00

In the US, there are lots of choices for lots of things. There's an almost endless selection of fast food restaurants, kinds of toothpaste, and varieties of potato chips. Even so, there are some things for which Kenya offers more choices than the US. Obviously, there are many more kinds of animals and birds and fruits and regularly spoken languages in Kenya than there are in the US. Another area where there's more difference is in different kinds of matchboxes.

As best we can remember, there are only a couple of kinds of matchboxes on offer at Walmart or Safeway or Albertsons. Even these boxes are very utilitarian--either decorated with company ads for matches given away by 7-11 or other companies, or with obvious labels like"Safety Matches." Most matches in the US seem to be used to burn trash or to light cigarettes. Even barbecue grills seem to be lighted more with the fancy propane lighters than with plain matches.

In Kenya, we rarely see people smoking. People mainly and constantly use matches to light charcoal cooking fires or propane stoves, and stores offer them lots of options both in terms of "cover art" and in terms of country of origin. Matchboxes are small works of art and geography lessons. At every grocery store or quick mart, several different kinds of matchboxes are on offer: small, 40 stick boxes; large 200 stick boxes; and packages of 10 or 12 small boxes.

This blog post includes pictures of several diffrent kinds of matchboxes. With the understanding that not everyone is fascinated by matchboxes :-), here's a little information about each one:

Falcon--Made in Pakistan. The back of the package gives the company founder's name: Hussain Almoudi.

Flora--Made in Kenya. This is a good thing. In some respects, the fact that nearly all of the matches are made outside the country is a lesson about one of Kenya's challenges: it needs more national manufacturers and fewer imports.

Zebra--Made in South Africa and imported by a Nairobi company.

Leopard--Made and purchased in Malawi. Back and front are identical.

Sparky--Made in Pakistan. The back of the box says "Approximately 45 splints."

Farasi--Made in Kenya. Farisi means "horse" in Kiswahili. One travel blog writer calls these the "best matches in the world" because they are coated with wax to make them almost 100% waterproof.

Rhino--Made in India. The back text says, "The right match at the right price! Manufacturing perfection, Excellent Quality, That's your Rhino."

Three Stars--Made in Sweden. This is a larger box with 200 matches compared to the smaller 40-45 match boxes.

Rambow--Made in Pakistan. The back text says, "Carbonized Damp Proof. Average 45 Sticks. Superior Quality."

Kangaroo--Made in India. On the back is a picture of Augustine Okocha, a Nigerian football (soccer) player, although on the matchbox his name is misspelled "Okicha."

May Update--Yes, with lots of pictures.

2008-06-08T16:59:00.023+03:00

Wow--alot has happened since our last entry, which may be why it's taken so long to get it out to you. Before we go further, we need to say AGAIN--thank you, thank you, thank you for your e-mails, prayers, occasional letters and other indications of support for us and for the work at Africa Nazarene University. This only works if we are "global partners"--working together, praying for each other and for the good of the Kingdom.
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GRADUATION
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We held our 11th graduation on Friday May 29th (Nan and Mark with several good-lookin' graduates and the University mace above). The graduation set several records.

First, we graduated a record 210 students in 7 undergraduate disciplines and 2 graduate degrees: the Master of Arts in Religion and the Masters of Business Administration.
Second, for the first time we held graduation in our new 3000+ seat Helstrom Student Centre (picture at left of academic procession moving toward the Centre). Dr. Ron Benefiel, President of Nazarene Theological Seminary, preached a powerful graduation message about the importance of reconciliation in a broken world.
Mark was designated to lead the academic procession and carry the very impressive (and probably 35 pound!) University Mace. Enterprising Kenyan photographers come uninvited to take pictures of public events and try to sell the pictures to attendees. Mark had to have University security help keep the 30+ photographers out of the path of the procession as it moved across the campus and toward the Centre.
Nan marched in the faculty procession and took all of the graduation pictures you see here. She is teaching "Christian Beliefs" to over a hundred(!) students and volunteered her class so the platform party could "practice" some new graduation procedures.
There were several features of the ANU graduation that we didn't have in last year's graduation at NNU, our previous institution. One of them was the presence of a Maasai Choir and Dancers you see to the left. ANU has a special relationship with the church to which these Maasai belong and has hired some of its members and is currently working on scholarship opportunities for some of the Maasai young people.
On Sunday afternoon Dr. Jerry Lambert, the new University Chancellor, led a pre-planning session for an important meeting next April about the direction of theological education in Africa. The group, including Vice Chancellor Leah Marangu, Regional Director Dr. Eugenio Duarte; Regional Education Coordinator Fili Chambo; Dr. Benefiel, Dr. Ted Esselstyn and Mark, met to begin planning. SPACEPACE

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MERU "ROAD TRIP"

On Wednesday, the brother of Dr. Raphael Kiugu, Mark's assistant, passed away of a massive heart attack. On Friday, Mark drove with Mr. Raphael Wanjohi (in his classic Peugot 504 Sedan), Mr. John Opiyo (the finance officer), Mr. Paul Kang'ori (the Dean of Students), and Mr. Timothy Kihiko (the Registrar), to the funeral just outside of Meru east of Mt. Kenya (picture to the left is of the mourners gathered around the grave site in a banana grove belonging to the man who passed away).
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This is the second of these trips Mark has taken to a funeral up in the mountains north of Nairobi. Each time it's an education and a special privilege to listen to these men talk about their childhoods, their observations about Kenyan politics, their thoughts about faith and marriage and a hundred other topics.

One of the common mistakes missionaries made in the past and (please Lord) are trying not to make now, is failing to listen and failing to be student as well as teacher. Mr. Wanjohi (to the far right in this picture) has an undergraduate degree from the US and in spite of encountering some racism as a student in North Carolina in the 1960's, has a deep appreciation for his American education and his American experience. He's been an especially helpful guide for Mark to Kenyan customs and politics. Professor Marangu's brother Cornelius (a very successful businessman in the hat) had employed the man who passed away and after the funeral served as our guide to the Meru area. Mark and Nan are both so much richer for the interactions we are having with bright, thoughtful, capable African Christians at ANU and beyond.
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A STUDENT TO PRAY ABOUT
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In our standard deputation message last fall, we talked about a student named Florence who came to ANU for one term, had to leave because of finances, and then came back because 100 people in her village and church had given money to support her return--a wonderful, inspiring story. Do those of you who heard our deputation message remember that story? Well to the right and below...HEEERE's FLORENCE!
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The good news is that Florence is faithful and courageous and hopeful--the kind of young woman you'd like to have for a daughter or member of your Sunday school class or a friend to one of your own children. She's at ANU now taking classes and has already received half of this trimester's tuition and fees from a wonderful, faithful correspondent and blog reader in Indiana, herself struggling with some health issues. The bad news is that her village has given all it can and that Florence needs help to complete the five trimesters she has left in her undergraduate requirements.
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In her testimony, Florence explains how God has been faithful to her through the support of her church, small government grants, and the love and goodwill of the people at ANU. She writes,

"...the role that my church played in my education has remained a challenge to
me. It is the prayer of my soul that God willing I go back and appreciate the
community and church. I have a vision of computerizing all church activities and
starting an IT school for my church."

Such a school would allow other students from her community to gain skills and advance themselves and their families. We're not worried about this young woman. We have seen God's faithfulness through his church and his people. If you have a particular ministry in your church or your community that you're supporting, we praise the Lord for that and you shouldn't fret about Florence.
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If you feel a tugging about this young woman, though, we'd encourage you to get in contact with us so we can connect you with her. We're help Florence a bit ourselves, and at the end of the day it doesn't feel like a we're doing her a favor. It feels like a privilege to use some of God's blessings to us to help change a life and a small, rural community in Africa.
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PRAYER REQUESTS
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Thanks for your continued prayers. We wouldn't say we don't need them AT ALL ourselves, but we're doing fine and we'd really ask you, as you think to pray, to keep these requests for others primarily in mind:

Please pray for our young pastoral students at ANU. They are far from home. They don't have alot of money. They struggle as all students do with grades and making friends. Please keep them in your prayers.
Pray for this meeting in April about theological education in Africa. Pray that God will break into our conversations and just TAKE CHARGE in a way that is clear to everyone.
Pray for Verna Stanton, longtime Nazarene missionary who lost her father over the weekend and has returned to the US to attend the funeral.
Please pray for the Nazarene church in Kenya. Some churches were split apart by the tribal violence early in the year. Healing is happening, but slowly. Please pray that God will guide pastors and district superintendents, and that the church will be a model Christian community that can spread to the nation of Kenya.
Please pray for Mark's dad and mom. Mark's mom broke her hip several weeks ago and although she is in rehab will probably never return to the home. This is difficult for her and for Mark's dad who has been a model care-giver.

Thanks to each of you for your communication and faithfulness. We love you all. We have received word of a Nampa First Church team coming somewhere in Kenya and we hope to see you all while you're here. In the meantime, please let us know if there are ways we can be praying for any of you. We want this to be a true partnership, and would love to join you in prayer for issues in your lives.>
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FUN PICTURE COLLECTION
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Sometimes we just see things that tickle our funny-bones or make us think or that we believe you'd like seeing. Kenyans are deeply exposed to Christian ideas. Sometimes--as in the USA we would hurry to say--these ideas and themes are deeply held and life-changing (see Florence above). Sometimes, they are seen as a kind of good luck charm for a business enterprise.

We've already written about our affection for ancient Kenyan trucks--particularly the Isuzu F-series. Here's an especially decrepit truck with an especially relevant message across the top of its windshield. If you look closely you can see it reads: "All Things Are Possible In Jesus Name"--the fact that it's on a truck windshield doesn't keep it from being absolutely true--hallelujah anyway!
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On the other hand, the bereaved family had hired a bus to bring visitors from Nairobi to the funeral. Mark and the men in the Peugeot gathered with others to drink sodas at a shady site as they waited for all attendees to arrive. Across the red dirt road, this business caught Mark's eye. We'll leave it to you to try to decide why the business owner decided on this name. We're fresh out of credible religious applications :-).
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Well, that's it for now, but..."more later."

April Update--Maasai Village, Isuzu Trucks and More Pictures

2008-04-05T19:32:00.018+03:00

Hello--Welcome back to the Africonnection blog.

We're in the two-week break between trimesters. The trimester ended with a very strenuous two-week period during which students took 3-hour final examinations in each of their classes which count 60% of their final grade. You can imagine the pressure! Faculty have nearly completed grading and having the examinations reviewed by outside experts, and in a little over a week we will begin another trimester.

Some General Updates and Notes

First--We want to brag about the students at ANU. Some of them have prosperous parents, but our business manager says 40% struggle to pay their fees. Even so, they have wonderful, giving hearts. The young man to the right with the "NAZ" T-shirt on is named Dennis. When we had him over to dinner a few weeks ago we discovered that he is a wonderful young man: captain of the soccer team, co-leader of the male students devotional group the "Purpose-Driven Brothers", and a vibrant, unapologetic Christian. Dennis was one of about 30 ANU student leaders and staff who took an ANU bus to a camp for people who had been displaced as a result of the post-election violence. The ANU group brought food, clothing, and as you can see here, some much needed affection to the people like this little boy in the camp. The pastors who run the camp said food had run out and the ANU bus was a literal answer to prayer.
Second--remember Yvonne? We introduced her a couple of posts ago. She's the very impressive daughter of a single Mom in Western Kenya. Their home was surrounded by a gang of young toughs during the post-election violence and more recently her mom told her that her brother had been accepted to University and so the very limited family support would have to be split between two children. During THAT crisis, Yvonne was asked to testify in a chapel service, and without mentioning her OWN situation she told the story of the firey furnace. At the end of her presentation she said--"So are YOU in the fire today? Then now is YOUR time to BE a Shadrach, BE a Meshach, BE an Abednego!" We are amazed by the courage and resilience and FAITH of many of our students here. Anyway--one of our readers felt God leading her and has volunteered to cover Yvonne's school fees! We know you don't want publicity, but thank you, thank you faithful Northwest lady for seeing and responding to the need. At a time when the prime rate in the US is 2%, you invested in an amazing "growth stock."

Maasai Village Day

Two Saturdays ago we took our "blended son" Nathan deep into Maasai tribal lands near the Tanzanian border to visit a Maasai village of 120 people and 600 cattle. (Warning: Multiple references to animal droppings in this section!) The Maasai are a nomadic tribe of cattle herdsmen who claimed and roamed much of Western, Southern Kenya and Eastern Uganda in the days before borders and governments. They are kind of the Amish of Kenya: they've made a conscious decision to reject modern life and embrace traditional culture. That means (out-Amishing the Amish) they cook with fires, live in huts made of sticks and cow dung, and eat only what they can get from their large herds of cattle: beef, milk and cow blood. Oh--an answer to a question you would never have asked: they demonstrated building a fire by rubbing two sticks together and lighting a bit of dried elephant dung (see the picture right). We were braced for an unpleasant smell as the 6-month old dung was lit, but guess what? Elephant dung six months old is mainly grass and leaves, and it smelled surprisingly pleasant--a LITTLE like an old-fashioned autumn. After Nan and Nathan did some haggling for some Maasai beadwork in an impromptu market and prepared to leave the village, some of the Maasai men offered to pose for some pictures. One of Nan is to the left. Another tip: many Africans think it looks undignified to smile in a picture. You would have found these men very personable and warm if you had met them in person as we did. If you think of it, please pray for the Maasai. Their world is changing and they are struggling to know which Western habits to adopt and which to reject. Their culture hangs in a precarious balance and they need God's wisdom and care perhaps even more than most of us.

A Meditation on the Isuzu F-Series Truck

While it's true that we had a little GMC pickup while we were in Nampa, we've never been especially interested in trucks. In Kenya, trucks are fascinating. For one thing, there are no Chevys or Fords or GMC's or Freightliners. Instead, there are the Tata --an Indian-made knock-off of the heavy Mercedes truck; Faw and Foton trucks from China; old Leyland and Bedford trucks from England, Fiat trucks from Italy, a classy old Toyota one-ton model and many other brands. While the most common truck in Idaho was the pickup, the most common truck in Kenya is the Isuzu F-Series medium-duty work truck, introduced in 1966 under the name "Ty", but changed in 1970 to the "Forward" or "F-Series."

We confess we like the Isuzu trucks because, as a couple hovering around sixty, they remind us of ourselves. Most of the Isuzu trucks have been on the road for several decades. Often their paint is chipped, the metalwork is dented, and it isn't unusual, viewed from the rear, for the frame to be leaning one direction while the body leans another. There's a hill between campus and town where we often see eldery Isuzu trucks straining to reach the top in first gear. And yet (here again we choose to see similarities) the F-Series is a workhorse: ancient trucks carring loads of quarry stone, or bags of rice or crews of laborers headed home from a work site. They're making a contribution. They're serving a purpose.

What's the message of the Isuzu F-series truck? Usefulness and contribution are not mainly about attractiveness or youth or even energy. They're about perseverance and durability and faithfulness. The Isuzu F-Series trucks are not fascinating because they are shiney or fast. They're fascinating because in spite of their imperfections they are helping their struggling Kenyan owners keep a job, make a living, deliver necessities, build the nation.

Do you share our empathy with the Isuzu truck? Take heart in two directions: God will continue to be faithful to us, but God also counts on us to continue to be faithful to Him and to His work in the world. God will keep his promise in Jeremiah 29:11, but sometimes God's miracles are the work of his imperfect followers: Babies need rocking. Sunday school classes need teaching. Elementary school kids need tutors. The hungry need food. Adolescents need mentors. The lonely need e-mails and notes and friends. Local government and charities need faithful board members. The ill and frightened need comforters. The lost need to see a way to Jesus.

The modern idea is that the jobs we get bring dignity to us. It's what the African church is fighting right now as you'll see in one of the prayer requests. The Isuzu truck sends a different message: that good and faithful workers bring hope and dignity to any honest work they do. Teddy Roosevelt said it well: "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." We understand and agree with grace theology, but we look at the Isuzu truck and its example speaks to us: "There's meaningful work to be done. Don't let satan distract you with talk about your age or your short-comings. Help make a miracle. Get busy."

Some prayer requests

We appreciate so much the many, many people who say they are praying for us. At the same time, we hope you also hear us saying that we are doing VERY well, and we would appreciate it so much if you would pray about some of the people around us:

Three Nazarene DS's we met at our Africa East Field retreat in Limuru--one in Kenya, one in Tanzania, and one in Uganda, are facing tremendous challenges right now. These are fine men--two are graduates of ANU. You can pray that they will be protected from people who hate them because they are from the wrong tribe or because they have been chosen for their positions over men more interested in titles and perceived status, as we mentioned in the Isuzu post. When Mark asked the DS from Tanzania to read Psalm 84:11 as part of a retreat devotional, the DS gasped and came to embrace us both. He said God had given him this scripture as he accepted the challenging assignment: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." He cried as we prayed that God would protect him and his family from the physical threats of people from different tribes and the anger of a few disappointed pastors. This "jockeying for rank" has been painful for us as Western Nazarenes to hear and understand, but there are so few routes to status and titles in Africa that the desire for them sometimes deeply clouds the judgement and actions of a few pastors. Pray for the DS's, pray for the spiritual and relational growth of this small number of frustrated pastors, and pray for us at ANU as we try to raise up a new generation of church leaders who share the integrity and character of these embattled but faithful DS's.
Each trimester, some of our students do not come back because their families can't afford the fees. God is faithful and miracles happen in this regard every trimester, but please pray that God will give these students faith, and that He will make a way for them to continue their studies. The future of Africa literally depends on a new kind of leadership that graduates of ANU are beginning to provide.

Pray for ANU leadership and field and regional leaders (Field Strategy Coordinators Don and Evie Gardner, VC Leah Marangu, local partner, Mark and ANU faculty member pictured to the left.) Just after graduation, we will be holding a pre-planning session for an October meeting to talk about theological education in Africa and about how to do sustainable compassionate ministries. A brief word about each of these items: There are SO many demands upon university-educated and ordained graduates: leadership, teaching, earning money to support a family, budget preparation, etc, etc. University leadership and regional leadership want to make sure we're giving our students the basic preparation they need for the tasks of a 21st century African Nazarene leader. In regard to Compassionate Ministries, the key word is "sustainable." We've all heard the saying about "giving a person a fish" versus "teaching them to fish." ANU wants to help pastors and churches to find ways to underwrite their OWN ministries and their OWN grassroots Compassionate Ministries projects. We need to talk about how to do that, and about the role that support from the US can play: how can American money support Africans as they "learn how to fish" rather than accepting a single"fish." Can you sense how important this might be? Please help us pray that God will give ANU wisdom as it helps fulfill the desire of the African church to move from a position of dependency ON the US to a position of relatively equal partnership with the US.

Africonnection offers snail mail!

Mark's grandma was"Mary Hazel Pitts" who was a founding member of the Stinesville, Indiana Church of the Nazarene in the late 1920's. She passed away before e-mail came into its own and probably wouldn't have used it if she were still alive. We realize "Mary Hazel's" of the world often don't have access to the blogs and e-mails others send around the world. So, in her honor, we're establishing the "Mary Hazel Club" for the first 20 non-internet connected, senior names and addresses you send us. We've found a service that will turn a blog post into a paper snail mail letter. If you have a senior who would like to join our "Mary Hazel" Club, send us their name and street address and we'll use this new service to send them a paper letter. All they have to do is promise to share it with OTHER non-internet connected seniors. Because we'll be paying a small fee for each letter we send, we'll have to start small, but we'll take first 20 requests for this six month experiment.

Thank you so much for your e-mails, snail mail letters and packages. We appreciate your support so much. Thanks for your faithfulness to God, to the Kingdom and to the Church. We'll look forward to hearing from you, including, as always, how we can be praying for you or your church or family.

Mark and Nancy

March Update with Lots of Pictures

2008-03-30T20:19:00.017+03:00

Hello friends of Africonnection and ANU, LINKS churches, relatives and visitors! Just a note about this blog posting: it will have more pictures than our previous entries. A young friend (these days, that's anyone under 50!) reminded us that his generation loves pictures, and there is that pesky saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. At that rate, you're going to get nearly 10,000 words worth of pictures. If the email you receive doesn't include the pictures, you can go to www.africonnection.org to see them. Thanks as always for your emails, snail-mail letters, phone calls and prayers.

Settled In. It's a little hard to believe we're entering our fourth month in Kenya. Our crates (Thank you Ray Burwick for helping build the crates and Bob and Kim Cantrell for storing them before they were shipped) arrived on March 11 with some things we remembered packing, some things we didn't remember packing, and some things we couldn't figure out WHY we packed! We're nicely settled into our home and had our first guest (the new ANU Chancellor Dr. Jerry Lambert) this past week. The picture to the left is of our living room looking south into the dining room. The second picture is of a sunrise taken from our balcony which overlooks the Maasai plain. The scaffolding of a new faculty-staff 8-plex is visible to the left of the picture

Loving Our Work. Mark's office (pictured left) has a view out across the Ngong Hills, made famous in Out of Africa. Nan's office looks out over the Nairobi National Park and the city of Nairobi in the distance. Major items on Mark's "to do" list are rewriting the faculty handbook, revising the strategic plan, overseeing the committee planning for graduation, chairing the committee that is doing facilities allocation, assisting young faculty in beginning to do research. Nan is the University Alumni Director and is helping a sharp young group of alumni (when your University is less than 15 years old, all your alumni are young!) elect officers, establish a web site and start tracking alumni.

District Assembly. About three weeks ago, we attended a Nazarene district assembly in Nakuru, about two hours northwest of Nairobi. This was the district whose superintendent intervened to stop two warring tribes from fighting right after the election. Two of the churches on the district had had their whole congregations flee the violence, but amazingly the mood at the district assembly was good. To the right is a picture of a Maasai tribeswoman who was a representative to the district assembly. To the left is a picture of one of the 10-12 heart-breakingly sweet children who are part of the host church, a tin-clad building surrounded by basic public housing.

Trip to Amboseli. Last weekend we went to Amboseli National Reserve at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro (pictured to the right). Amboseli is in the middle of Maasai country (Maasai women under a tree pictured at left) on the border with Tan-ZAN-ia (accent on the second syllable here). We travelled in a nifty van whose roof could be raised so we could stand and look at the wildlife from the safety of the van. The park is famous for elephants, and it didn't let us down on this trip. We saw perhaps 18-20 elephants during our three-day trip, including a number of baby elephants. We also saw an event that seemed to come right out of a National Geographic animal show: two jackals seemed uncommonly interested in pestering a Thompson's Gazelle in high grass. In a few minutes, the truth came out: a baby Thompson's Gazelle darted out of the high grass and away from both the threat of the jackals and the protection of its mother. For the next 10 minutes the mother and another female Thompson's Gazelle alternated between running from the jackals and chasing the jackals away from the baby gazelle. When we drove away, the baby gazelle was still alive and the jackals were still hungry.

Precious Students. We always want to introduce our friends in America to people in Africa. Here are some sketches of some of the students at ANU. If you're moved to do one thing by this blog post, we hope you'll chose one or two of these students to pray about on a regular basis. We're purposely not including pictures in this section to preserve the privacy of some precious young people who told us their stories over meals at our home (sloppy joes are a huge favorite--go figure):

Mbior was an armed aide to his uncle who led a rebel faction in the Sudan. After his uncle was killed in a mysterious helicopter accident, Mbior came to ANU and became a very passionate Christian. He wants to go back and assist the Sudanese people and says young Christian leaders are the answer.
Yvonne is the daughter of a single mom in Western Kenya. During the post-election violence they were barricaded in their home with machete-wielding young men outside. Her mother struggles to pay Yvonne's fees to the extent that she has had to move from campus housing to a room in the city.
Fidel was a Nazarene pastor's kid in Rawanda. When the Tsutsi and Hutu conflict broke out, he saw his father killed and his mother raped. He was filled with rage until he said he was out in a clearing in the jungle and the peace of God came down upon him in such a dramatic way that he surrendered his hatred.
Jackson (the saxaphone player) also plays guitar, drums and keyboard. His mom runs a temporary labor service with 200 people. He knows he needs to find a "real job" to support himself but wants to make a CD of jazz and R&B.
Akon is a Nazarene ministerial student from Nigeria. Traditional people in several African countries believe that when people die, unless a huge funeral is planned--with relatives receiving gifts, food and entertainment--the deceased will cause bad luck to the family who remain. When Akon's father died during his junior year in high school, his uncles came and planned a funeral so elaborate (including a post-funeral disco dance!) that Akon had to postpone his final year of high school because his relatives had used his school fees and sold some of his father's land to pay for the funeral. Akon vows that when he is a pastor, he will guide families into more responsible and Christian funeral observances.

Finally... Several of you shared prayer requests with us in a post last month and we have been praying about a number of those things. Some of you have shared answers to prayer. Other prayers were answered in God's way rather than our own. We'd ask you to pray for the students we mentioned above and for ALL our students as they enter final examinations in a couple of weeks. We'd also ask you to pray for our Chancellor Jerry Lambert and our Vice Chancellor Leah Marangu who are at a US-government sponsored conference for faith-based institutions in East Africa. Finally, we'd ask you to pray that some conversations campus leaders have had over the last week about pastoral education and compassionate ministries in Africa will result in real breakthrough's at ANU, in East Africa, and in the entire continent. Thanks for your love and prayers and support. More later.

Diaries and Busy Days

2008-02-11T09:37:00.000+03:00

We both keep journals. In fact, one of the things we did while we were dating was to exchange several years of our personal diaries. It was a little scarey, but since the diaries were our personal, sometimes happy and sometimes unhappy thoughts, it was a very good way to get to know each other very well very quickly.

The trouble with diaries is explained by the Irish poet William Allingham:
"A man who keeps a diary pays
Due toll to many tedious days;
But when life becomes eventful--then,
His busy hand forgets the pen..."

Life has been eventful and rich, and that's part of the reason we haven't written in awhile. We'd like to share some pieces of our work and lives with you...

Some prayer pieces:
Things are going well for us. We are sleeping well and getting exercise walking on campus and up the four flights of stairs to offices and meetings. We would ask for prayers for other people and things:

Remember Kenya. The peace talks with Kofi Annan appear to be bringing the two sides together, but the bitterness and tribal conflict that have occurred will not go away without intentional tribal and even interpersonal peacemaking. People must participate, but it will take God's healing spirit to bring about real change.
Remember Eugenio Duarte, our wonderful Africa Region Director; Professor Leah Marangu, the legendary leader of ANU; and Rev. Don Gardener, who is working mightily with pastors and congregations who have been disrupted and threatened by the disturbances.
Remember our students. Kenya's future and Africa's future genuinely depend on whether students like ours can sustain hope in an embattled continent, learn both job skills and leadership skills, and grow in their relationship to the Lord. That's easy to write down but very hard for them to do right now. Please pray for them.

Some people pieces:
We're meeting some wonderful young people, and since one of the purposes of the blog is to introduce to you African people, we'd like to share with you some of the young people we're getting to know and to ask you to pray for them as well:

We attended a one-day retreat for student leaders. Nancy spoke on "Celebrating Diversity " as an example of excellent leadership. The style of student leaders at the public universities is very confrontational, but Dennis, the student chairman this year, has a much more cooperative style. He already has a law degree from a public university but is working on a degree in Mass Communications at ANU.
Paul and Beatrice are a young married couple from Ghana. Paul is a Nazarene ministerial student (who has training in textile design on the side) and Beatrice is an accomplished seamstress. They live along the dirt road between ANU and the paved road and we often see them as we travel from campus to Nairobi. They have one more year at ANU before they return to Ghana and they begin their life as a pastoral couple.
Lillian and Lulu and Becky are three young women students we had to our house for dinner last Wednesday (more on that evening in a minute). Lillian and Lulu went to high school together. Lillian lives on the Ngong Road which has been the scene of so much unrest in Nairobi and her concerned father asked her not to come home until things settle down. Lulu is a singer and had parts in "Grease" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in her high school's musicals (isn't it fun to think what those productions might have looked like?). The girls are struggling to be hopeful about their future lives in Kenya.
Last week we went out to pizza with Jeanette and Bekka (an American student from Oregon and an American volunteer from Rochester, New York). Jeanette brought her best friend Yvonne, a young Kenyan student who is among the most impressive young women we have met--here or anywhere. She was reluctant to come with us but finally agreed. The American students did most of the talking at first but Yvonne eventually began telling her story: she is the youngest child of a single mother who has four children of her own and has cared for as many as 15 orphans in her home in Western Kenya. Right now the mother, three of her own children and 5 orphans are barricaded in their compound in Western Kenya. The mother is clearly a strong, caring woman for whom Yvonne is a source of intense pride. The family is eating food brought to them by kindly neighbors who can get out because they belong to the dominant tribe. Yvonne lives in a small room by herself in the town near the ANU campus. Her attitude in the midst of these family and personal challenges? Realistic about her family and financial challenges but quietly confident and hopeful. She wants to help other people once she graduates from ANU and has a kind of quiet strength and wisdom that will serve her and Africa well. We'd ask you also to be praying for Yvonne's family, life as a student,financial challenges and her future. She's our personal favorite so far.

Some events pieces:

Water and snake Wednesday--While Lillian and Lulu and Becky were having dinner with us, we heard a splashing sound from the other side of the house. When we went to investigate we discovered that because of the addition being built for the Jameses, our neighbors, a drain had been clogged and our washer backed up spilling an inch and a half of water on the floor in four rooms! The three girls who had dressed up to have dinner with us rolled up sleeves and pants legs, grabbed mops and towels and went to work with us. In a few minutes we had dumped seven buckets of water outside! When we bragged on the girls they said--"It's nothing. We work much harder than this at home!" Later that same evening as we were shutting out the lights, we saw the guard whose post is behind our house throwing rock after rock at the ground. Turns out his target was a "spitting cobra" that had been slithering across the car park behind our house. (The one behind our house was "only" about 3 1/2 feet long and not as scarey, at least in the dark, as the one pictured to the left. ) As the guard held it up on a stick for us to see, he told us that almost exactly a year earlier and in the same place, a similar spitting cobra had spit its toxic venom into his eyes, blinding him. He praised God that the blindness had only lasted for four days, and Verna Stanton, a missionary nurse, said he was very lucky the blindness wasn't permanent. This was the first snake we've been aware of, and the staff reassured us that they spray twice a year to keep the snakes to a minimum.
Furniture arrives! The University has been very thoughtful about putting a few, temporary pieces of furniture and appliances in our apartment while we look for permanent furniture that we like. We went to stores, to a furniture factory in a Catholic orphanage, and to some of the "sunshine stores"--little shops with piles of furniture out in the open along Ngong Road . Last week we got a bed and chest custom-made by a roadside shop and four "camp chairs" with canvas seats for the balcony. Today, much of the furniture arrives: five bookcases made by the estate staff of the University; a comfortable living room suite; three area rugs; and a stove, refrigerator and clothes dryer. It may be awhile until our four crates arrive from the US, but in the meantime we are glad to be getting some of our furnishings in place.

Thanks again for reading this blog and for responding so warmly and often. We have been so blessed by the number of you who say you are praying for us and many of you have honored us by sharing your OWN prayer requests with us. Right now we're praying for a friend facing severe health challenges in Idaho, for a couple we met in Kansas, for the work of a DS in the Northwest, for an older couple in Indiana and many others. We appreciate your prayers and we'd love to be praying for you. If you have a concern you'd like to share with us, we'd consider it a blessing if you let us know about it at mnnkenya@gmail.com so we could join you in prayer. In the meantime, blessings on you and we'll write again soon. Next time, unless something else intervenes, we'll write about what we're learning about God from the people and the Creation in Africa.

Living in Stereo

2008-01-22T13:32:00.000+03:00

Several years ago, while we were chaperoning the NNU choir on a tour of England and Scotland, we spent an afternoon in Festival Hall on the South Bank of the Thames in London. We were drawn in by a really wonderful big band that was playing songs from the 40's and 50's. Instrumentalists and vocalists gave their full talent to the lively, happy songs and a large crowd had gathered. Sharing the hall with the band, however, was an exhibition of the prize-winning photographs of international journalists. While there were some happy photographs in the collection, many of the photographs were of tragedies--fires, earthquakes, victims of war or crime. It was hard for us to get our heads around the fact that the happy music and the sad photographs could exist in the same place.

Fast forward to Kenya today: it's human for us and for our friends to expect Kenya to be "all something." We see the news and think perhaps Kenya is all tragedy or danger. We live our daily lives here and begin to think Kenya is some version of normal. As GK Chesterton pointed out, the world God created is full of paradoxes: we are both the lowest of creatures and the children of a King; earth is both a temporary resting place for heavenly creatures and the place God created with his own hands as our home. Kenya is also a paradox.

Last night the Kenyan news (there are three national TV channels and multiple newspapers) interviewed several people who have been displaced because of the violence. Children in Kenya see education as the one great hope of improving their lives, and one bright junior-high aged boy cried to think his dream of being a doctor was being delayed or destroyed because he was far from his school and without funds for books or the required uniform. An elderly woman seemed fatalistic about ever getting home. We hear sporadic reports not just of battles between protesters and police, but between different tribal groups. Five people were killed with machetes in an isolated village. A heroic priest in Western Kenya invited minority families into his monastery and frantically phoned for police help as young toughs burned the families homes and tried to get into the monastery. (The police arrived in time.) Some of our students arrive with stories of violence in their home towns before they arrived on campus. Several students have arrived a week late and some will not be able to return this semester because of the unrest.

And yet, and yet--outside our windows in the afternoons and evenings we can hear the laughter of students catching up on their friendships after the extended time away. A young gardener named Samuel is creating a tiny Eden around our home as he builds stone walls and stairways, plants palms and flowers and grass. We began our "Holiness Week" emphasis on Monday with Rev. Chanshi Chanda, the director (called field strategy coordinator) of the French Equitorial Africa field. One of our faculty members just received a Fullbright Scholarship to serve as a visiting scholar in an American university. We are beginning the process of introducing distance learning to better serve Africa. Nancy and I saw cheetahs, pygmy hippos and a rhinoceros the size of a tank on the Safari Walk at Nairobi National Park and fed Betsy the giraffe at the Kenya Giraffe Center in the suburb of Karen on Sunday afternoon.

What are we learning, what are we being reminded of: We do not live our lives in monaural. We live them in stereo. There's enough good in any bad to give us hope. There's enough bad in any good to make it worth praying about. With the need for prayer in mind, we'd thank you again for your prayers for Kenya and for ANU and for us, but we would encourage you to continue praying:

For the talks between the opposing political parties which are to begin tomorrow, led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan;
For the physical protection of members of minority tribes in isolated areas of Kenya;
For ANU to continue to be a lighthouse and a model of Christian unity in Africa, and to be even more effective in training its students to be effective, godly leaders in a needy world;
For Nan and me that we might see and do what the Lord would direct us to do on behalf of the Kingdom in this part of the world.

Oh, by the way: the Student Council at ANU is raising money to help the 250,000 Kenyans who have been displaced by the regional violence. If you'd like to make a donation to that effort drop us a line at mnnkenya@gmail.com and we can tell you how.

Faith in Action in Western Kenya

2008-01-05T07:31:00.000+03:00

Many of you have been communicating that you are praying for us and for the situation in Kenya. We want to share a wonderful story that demonstrates the impact of your prayers and those of others in and out of Kenya.

Western Kenya has been a focus for some of the violence after the December elections in Kenya. A Nazarene District Superintendent in western Kenya, near Kisumu, felt led during his own prayers to approach a group of Luo men he knew were gathering to talk about the political situation.

When he went to them they said, "We have heard some Kikuyu are gathering to kill us and we are arming ourselves to meet them." The DS asked this group to stay put and went to the Kikuyu who said, "We have heard that some Luo are gathering to kill us and we are arming ourselves to meet them."

With some difficulty the DS explained to each group what he had heard from the other and was able to persuade the two groups to meet together to sort out the misunderstanding. When they had gathered, he appealed to them as Kenyans and Christians to reconcile with each other. After prayer and further conversation, they calmed down and began to realize the potential impact of the path they had been on.

From their new understanding, the Luo and Kikiyu men shared with the DS and with members of the other tribe, that they was aware of others from their own tribe who were considering violence. It became clear to them that they needed to interrupt the meeting long enough to bring other members of their tribe who were considering violence. When they reconvened, they had a lengthy prayer meeting that ended in hugging and expressions of commitment to peace and to community beyond their previous misunderstanding and beyond their tribal loyalties. The violence that enveloped other villages was prevented.

Why did this happen? The Lord has the ultimate answer. I Corinthians 3:9 may be part of the explanation. It reminds us that we are "co-laborers" with God. Your prayers and the prayers and actions of this District Superintendent are a reminder that each of us, in our own way, are called to be part of the work God is doing in the world. You were impressed to pray and you did. This faithful DS was impressed to meet with unhappy and potentially violent men and he did. This isn't a theoretical exercise or a mere duty we're involved in, is it? The need for prayer continues. Many Kenyans have been displaced by the violence in remote areas. Trust across tribal lines will need to be rebuilt. The work of Africa Nazarene University in training a new generation of leaders becomes even more important. Thanks for your continued prayers and involvement in what God is doing in Africa.

Nairobi Arrival Update

2008-01-03T11:58:00.001+03:00

First, we have to pause briefly and thank all of you who have send e-mails communicating that you are praying and about your interest and concern for us. We had over 60 e-mails in our in-box when we opened it this morning. We can't adequately tell you how much we appreciate your interest and concern and prayers.

We arrived in Nairobi at about 9AM on January 2 and were welcomed by 8 men from the missionary compound and ANU. The arrival and the trip from the airport were quiet and uneventful. We saw two trucks with soldiers in them, but neither truckload seemed to be on high alert. In fact, one of the trucks was parked by the road and several of the soldiers were stretched out napping in the shade. More on the political situation later.

After we arrived, Professor Marangu, our new University boss, arrived with hugs and words of welcome. Nan and I were given the keys to our new car and Rod Reed, a religion faculty member, and I went to the Nakkumatt (the Kenyan Walmart) to get some groceries for our temporary apartment here in the compound. They were nearly out of meat, fresh fruit and eggs, but things seemed calm in the store. We stopped for gas and were told there was a thousand shilling (enough for about a third of a tank) limit on gasoline.

Nan picked up a bug and was exhausted from the flight. She has been sleeping off and on for 24 hours but seems to be getting over the bug. It's good to be able to rest and relax.

In regard to the political situation: the opposition candidate had scheduled a rally for today which the government said could not be held. We are being told that there are some clashes between government troops and opposition supporters near the Nairobi Central Church of the Nazarene (similar to those pictured in the earlier post). The US Embassy is telling Americans to stay where they are. The conflict seems to be entirely between opposing Kenyan political parties and tribes with no specific danger for American or British expatriates. Don Gardener, the East Africa field director, said yesterday that so far Kenyan Nazarenes seem to be safe although understandably concerned. There have been no reports of Nazarene injuries or property damage. We'd appreciate your prayers for the safety of the Kenyan Nazarenes and for all the Kenyans in the slums around Nairobi and in Kisumu, where much of the violence has taken place. Right now, there are no plans for the Nazarene missionaries in Kenya except to stay put and keep a low profile.

Mood-ometer report: Nan's health is a concern, although a relatively small one. We'd appreciate your prayers for her. We know it may be hard as you look at video footage and hear of the very real casualties of this conflict to believe it, but we do not feel in any danger right now. We are concerned for Kenya, our new adopted home, and its people, and for innocent people who are caught up in the conflict and we know conditions can change rapidly. Right now, though, we feel safe and able to rest and --most importantly-- in the center of God's will. Thanks again, very much, for your prayers and interest. We love you all.

Yet Another Change

2007-12-31T20:35:00.000+03:00

We received news this morning that we will be leaving as scheduled for Nairobi tomorrow (New Years Day). It is believed that this is a narrow window of opportunity for us to get into the country before an expected increase in violence on January 3rd (when the opposition leader who lost the election will declare himself the winner).

We will be taken to the guarded/fenced missionary compound in Nairobi to wait out the disturbances.

Last night when we attended the Methodist Church in downtown Dublin they did a traditional Wesley Covenant Service. The prayer of John Wesley below is especially poignant and applicable at this time....
"Lord, make me what you will.
I put myself fully into your hands:
put me to doing, put me to suffering,
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and with a willing heart give it all to your pleasure and disposal."

Amen! THAT is true freedom and peace.
Thank you for your continued prayers.
Nan & Mark

Challenging News from Kenya and Change of Plans

2007-12-31T03:36:00.000+03:00

First a little background: When we were in Kenya in October, political campaigns were in full swing. We saw two different large rallies for the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, and his key rival Raila Odinga. A week or so ago, the elections were held, and the early returns showed the rival Odinga ahead. After some delays, new reports showed the incumbent ahead and President Kibaki's party declared themselves the winners. Obviously, this made the rivals unhappy and suspicious and there is some unrest in the country. One missionary wife in Kenya reports that there has been some violence and some looting, although there have been no election-related deaths reported.

As a result of the unhappiness about the elections, the situation is challenging for ordinary Kenyans and for Nazarene Kenyans and missionaries. The missionaries are staying inside their compound in Nairobi. They report that their street is uncommonly quiet with no sounds of traffic outside.

The picture to the right was taken just outside the Central Church of the Nazarene in Nairobi. We'd ask you to pray for Kenya in general, but especially for the Kenyan Nazarenes and others who live in the slums of Nairobi. Because they don't have refrigerators, they need to shop for groceries every day. With the shops closed because of the unrest, the poor are unable to buy fruit, meat or eggs. Please pray for all of Kenya, for a safe resolution to the election turmoil, and especially for the students and staff of ANU and for the Nazarene missionaries.

Change of plans: We have been monitoring the events in Kenya from our comfortable situation in Ireland. We have felt no waivering of our love for and sense of commitment to Africa Nazarene University or the work of the Lord in Africa. Even so, we received word from our field director, Don Gardener, and from the University Vice Chancellor Leah Marangu that they want us to delay our flight to Nairobi until the unrest stabalizes. Right now we're making alternative plans for a week to ten days. Worse things could happen than being "stranded" temporarily in Europe, but we choose to believe that the creative and redemptive Lord we serve will guide us in turning this surprise into something that benefits the Kingdom. We are safe and warm and dry, but we covet your prayers for our brothers and sisters in Kenya. We'll keep you posted.

Dublin Visit

2007-12-31T01:21:00.000+03:00

Well so far we've had a wonderful time in Dublin. Since our arrival on Thursday, December 28th we've done a Dublin city tour; seen a wonderful concert by the Irish folk band "The Dubliners" with 2000 singing, clapping Irish; attended the Fowcett Family Circus (good acrobats--bad clowns); attended an evening service at a Catholic Church (pictured) last night and an evening service at an urban Dublin Methodist church this evening. Our hotel is very nice with good amenities even though it's a 45 minute ride on a state of the art tram to the downtown area. We'd spend more time talking about that, but we have more important news to share on the next post.

Personal Update 12-3-7

2007-12-03T19:05:00.000+03:00

As we head into the Christmas season, we wanted to make sure to thank you for your prayers and support and to give you one last update, in case the rush of activites keeps us from posting before we leave for Africa December 27.

We’re finishing “crunch time” for handing in projects and papers at NTS. (We’re pretty old to be studying so hard!) Mark just handed in his last paper and Nan will hand in her last one later today. One more online exam after that and then we're done. Kansas City has been a good experience. We've made some new friends and expanded our world.
We did our last deputation service in Chariton Iowa (on the right) on Sunday. The Lord protected us from some icy roads and gave us a good service there. Thanks to Pastor Greg Neer and NMI President Geneva Jessip and to the people in Chariton for their kindness and support. We are not sorry that our time of deputation is over, but we have genuinely enjoyed getting to visit so many churches and see the work the Lord is doing among his people.
Many of you already know, but the “money’s in the bank” on the sale of our house. Thanks again to Arlen Gingrich our realtor and friend and to Eric Forseth another friend who sent the buyer our way! We'd also like to thank each of you who made this request a matter of your own prayer. Once again we're reminded that God is seldom early but he's never late. Praise the Lord! For those of you who wonder, we loved our house while we were there. It was a comfortable and pleasant gift from God, but it has not been hard to trade a piece of property for a new level of adventure with the Lord. We praise Him for the privilege of serving the Kingdom.
While we were in California in mid-November, we got to spend some additional time with our kids. Mark and Ben went to see the Ronald Regan Presidential Library and Museum in the Simi Valley (and to tour a retired "Air Force One" jet that had served five presidents). Nancy got to say a “long goodbye” to Andrew and Birge, who will not be with us for Christmas.
A special thanks to Mary Winkle and Dan Edgar and Bob and Kim Cantrell at our "home church", Nampa First, for helping us get our shipment on its way to Kenya. We had HOPED to have it shipped by the beginning of November, but we're learning to live with fairly lengthy decision-making processes and the shipment should be picked up in Idaho this week for 8-10 weeks on a ship getting to Kenya's port city of Mombassa.
We continue to be amazed at the richness of our lives and the opportunities our journey with the Lord allows us to have. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support! We’re looking forward to Christmas in Indiana with several of our kids there. Just after Christmas, we’ll head for a few days in Dublin (pray for us as we celebrate New Years with the Irish!) before flying to Nairobi January 2. Blessings on each of you and your families as we head into this holy season. We love and appreciate you all!

Unexpected Support

2007-12-01T19:19:00.000+03:00

Just recently we were in King Chef—a “not too bad” Chinese restaurant across the street from World Headquarters—when we struck up a conversation with an African-American man in his 60’s. He first commented on Mark’s small computer, and then on how hard it was to stay up with technology. We talked briefly and then started to eat. He apologized for interrupting and asked us if we were Jewish (not sure why—you get to guess!). In explaining that we were not, we told him a bit about our plans to go to Kenya as missionaries. We discovered then that he is the founder and senior pastor of a 1000+ member Pentecostal church just outside of Kansas City. As we were preparing to go, he said he wanted to contribute to our ministry. We said we’d appreciate his prayers and any advice, but he insisted on writing us a check. When we got back to Headquarters we discovered this black pastor had contributed $200 to our deputation fund! We love the idea that there are common hopes in the Kingdom that are larger than our denominational or ethnic differences!

Introductions #3: Rev Mashangu Maluleka

2007-11-16T19:20:00.000+03:00

As we’ve said other times, one of the reasons our blog is called “Africonnection” is because we want to introduce Africans and Americans to each other. In this post, we’d like to tell the story of another new African Nazarene friend, Rev. Mashangu Maluleka, whose journey took him from an infamous African slum to a position of leadership in the church and community.

At the time Mashangu Maluleka was born in 1959, the South African system of apartheid and so-called “pass laws” were severely limiting the freedom of black African and mixed race residents. His earliest memories are of living with his widowed mother in the house of his uncle in Soweto. It is a notorious slum township southwest of Johannesburg South Africa which also features the homes of Nobel Prize winners Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu on a single street.

Because only male workers could apply for identity papers allowing them to live in Soweto, Mashangu and his mother lived a fugitive life. She earned a little money as a “hawker”, selling small items on the street, but the lack of acceptable identity papers meant the police regularly harassed her and confiscated her merchandise. At night, she had to sleep in a cubbyhole between the top of the toilet and the roof, hidden by baskets and boxes from the police who spoke roughly and shined flashlights during late-night raids. Even though her life was hard, Mashangu's mother encouraged him to read the Bible and pray.

When it was time for him to begin school, his mother sent him to live with his grandmother in Hammanskraal, a rural area less accessible to government control. Even so, as the government imposed still more sanctions, he continued to hear from his family in Soweto.

Although Mashangu was away from his mother’s religious influence, other people continued to point him toward God. One of his teachers at Sekitla High School read the Bible and encouraged him to buy a Bible of his own. A Nazarene uncle invited him to visit and helped him buy school uniforms and his first bicycle. Even so, the turmoil in the country and in his life increased.

In 1976, the government proposed what he described as the “last straw”: that all instruction must be done in Afrikaans, the mixed Dutch and African language of the white minority. As the struggle continued for a number of years, concerned high school students in Soweto began to meet at Orlando High School. Troops broke up meetings and fired on a march, killing a 13-year old student. Many of Mashangu’s friends and acquaintances died as the government attempted to stop the protests. He and other students were spiritually searching but troubled—where was the God of justice in these difficult times?

In the middle of these challenges and questions, his Nazarene uncle invited him for a visit and he discovered to his dismay that the church was having a revival featuring Rev. Nelson Ngobaeni, an elderly but very passionate evangelist. Out of respect for his uncle he attended even though the crowds were small and it seemed the evangelist had received detailed information about his sinful life. Out of desperation, he lied to his uncle about needing to go back to school. On his way out of his uncle’s gate he met the evangelist who asked to speak to him for five minutes.

When he reluctantly agreed, the evangelist invited him to the church that was opposite the uncle's house. He then handed him the Bible open to Galatians 5:19-20 and asked Mashangu to slowly out loud: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Mashangu was amazed to find how specific and personal the Scripture was. When the preacher asked him to read the Scripture again, he started to do so, but then, in frustration, threw the Bible at the evangelist and asked, “What do you want me to do?”

The evangelist asked him to turn to 1 John 1:9-10: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ...” The preacher led him in a prayer of repentance and asked him to write his sins on a piece of paper. As Mashangu completed his list, the preacher took the paper from him and symbolically set it on fire. In spite of the political challenges in his country, Mashangu left that meeting with a new direction in his life.

He enrolled in Bible school in 1978, and in rapid succession became the youngest Bible school graduate, the youngest pastor (1982) and the youngest District Superintendent (1990) in the country. Today he is the principal of the Nazarene Theological College in Muldersdrift, South Africa (see picture, right), a few miles outside of Johannesburg, leading the preparation of young people for the ministry. The frightened and oppressed Soweto boy has become a respected and influential Nazarene leader through the impact of a godly mother, high school teacher, Nazarene uncle and through the prevenient grace of a loving and persistent God.

Prayer request: NTC Muldersdrift is launching a new distance learning undergraduate degree, the first ever authorized by the South African Department of Education. Please pray that God will use this new degree to prepare men and women for the growing pastoral needs in Africa. Also that God will make the hearts of the African Nazarenes to be generous as the school raises the 2.5 million South African rand they need to provide scholarships to under-privileged students. If you get a minute, please send a note of encouragement to this South African brother in Christ at the e-mail address below.

Contact information: Rev. Mashangu Maluleka, malulekamashangu@gmail.com

Thanks Hemet, Vincennes and Princeton!

2007-11-16T19:16:00.000+03:00

From Hemet California to Vincennes and Princeton Indiana, thanks to the churches and pastors who have hosted us in the last couple of weeks. Hemet, about an hour and a half east of LA, is a desert retirement community originally promoted by TV host Art Linkletter. Vincennes and Princeton –right now—are leafy communities in Southern Indiana ablaze with fall color. Thanks to Pastor Mike Hull of the Hemet Church, Pastor Dr. Mike Taylor of the Vincennes Church, and Pastor Gary Arnold of the Princeton Church for your hospitality and kindness during our visit.

Back from Africa

2007-10-27T02:29:00.000+03:00

Wow--where to start? For one thing, it felt like our missionary books had come to life:

we had several meals with Ted Esselstyn who with Mark Moore was instrumental in the starting of ANU;
we met NTC Muldersdrift Principal Mashangu Maluleka (pictured left), and we'll share his story of life as a child in Soweto in a later Africonnection post;
we sat next to Dr. Richard Zanner who was the regional director of Africa during most of the growth that has occurred there.
we had a visit with Dr. Hynd(pictured right), the 83-year old Scottish Nazarene doctor who delivered the current Swazi king and queen;
We also got to meet Eugenio Duarte, and to spend several days with Fili Chambo, the current Africa region education coordinator. These are wonderful men of God. We've already profiled Eugenio Duarte, and we'll introduce Fili Chambo to you in a later post as well.

Highlights:

visiting Soweto, including Mandala's home, a Catholic church where students met and were fired on by South African troops, and the Soweto museum;
attending the dedication of the new Helstrom Student Center at ANU;
walking within a hundred feet of a herd of zebras a couple of miles from the ANU campus;
having a meal with fellow-missionaries Randy and Mary Jane James at the Masai Lodge, near the ANU campus;
attending the launching ceremony for the new Swazi Nazarene Higher Education Consortium (see attached video--sorry about the sound); and
attending a morning worship service with 800 other worshipers at the historic Sharpe Memorial Church of the Nazarene on the campus of the Nazarene compound in Manzini, Swaziland;
waiting at the Manzini airport while a prince and lots of troops prepared for the arrival of the Swazi Queen Mother from a trip away from the country.

Southside and Southport--Thanks for your hospitality!

2007-10-21T02:59:00.000+03:00

We had a genuinely wonderful time in Indianapolis the weekend of October 7, and we're sorry it's taken us so long to post our appreciation! Sunday morning, we spoke at Southport Church of the Nazarene in suburban Indianapolis. The church has a beautifully remodeled auditorium and we enjoyed our time in Hal Hutton's Sunday school class and in the morning worship service very much. Thanks to Pastor Brewer and Hal for your kindness and hospitality.

After lunch at Jonathan Byrd's, which advertises itself as the world's largest cafeteria, and an abbreviated Nazarene nap, we were part of the evening service at Southside Church of the Nazarene. This service was special both because of the high energy music, because of the extra effort that Phyllis Richards and her team made to assure that the media was working right, and because we had lots of family with us. In addition to Phyllis and Pastor J.D. Bailey, we want to thank our "sister" Mary Mercer, Uncle Phil and Aunt Mary, Chris and Tom, and Carol and her daughter and son-in-law for making the trip to visit us--it was wonderful!

Finally, we got to meet the legendary Martha Bean. She is working with two missionary intern couples for the Indianapolis District right now (Us and Steven and Dana Porter), and we all agree that she is a model deputation coordinator. SOOoooooo--thanks to everyone at both of these churches! We have wonderful memories of our time with you and look forward to being with you again!

Thank You Anaheim, Long Beach, and Rancho Cucamonga

2007-10-04T18:40:00.000+03:00

We had a wonderful time in California last weekend, both because of the warm welcome on the Anaheim District and because of a chance to be with our kids.

On Saturday morning we did two presentations at the Anaheim District "Power UP"--a kind of fall focusing rally for pastors, NMI and NYI directors. Heard a powerful message from Gene Tanner, lead pastor at Valparaiso, Indiana Church of the Nazarene. He does podcasts of his sermons and on the basis of the one we heard, we'd really encourage you to check him out (put "Valparaiso Nazarene Church" in iTunes).

On Sunday, we presented in two services at (one of our favorite church names to pronounce) "Rancho Cucamonga Highland Avenue"--about an hour east of LA. The church is attracting a wide range of people, had a strong worship band, has a very successful pre-school and does a restored car rally every year that has become a community-wide event.

Sunday evening, we spoke to a district-wide missionary service at the Long Beach church. The planning team had decorated the tables with African artifacts, had Ladysmith Black Mambazo on the PA, and prepared refreshments. Many veterans of African Work and Witness trips were in attendance. It was a wonderful time of inspiration and celebration.

Monday was a family day. Nan went out with Nathan and Andrew and Mark went out to breakfast with Ben and then on a "photo shoot" of craftsman-style houses east of Hollywood and then to a coffee shop where the picture at left was taken. For lunch we all went down to Koreatown for some Korean barbecue--yum!

Thanks to Karen Benlein, Anaheim NMI President; Pastor John Watkin at Highland Avenue; Pastor Jerry Cordell at Long Beach; and sll of the other wonderful people who helped with logistics, gave words of encouragement, shared their OWN "Africonnections" and otherwise helped to strengthen the bonds between the American church and the African church.

Late-breaking news: October in Africa

2007-09-27T23:20:00.000+03:00

The Nazarene International Board of Education and World Missions surprised us yesterday with the offer of a trip to several education-related events in Africa October 12-23. Needless to say, we are excited about the opportunity. The planned itinerary is:

October 12-13: Kansas City to Amsterdam
October 14: Amsterdam to Nairobi
October 15: ANU Helstrom Student Center Dedication, Ordination Service, ANU Board Meeting
October 16: Further ANU Board Meetings
October 17: Nairobi to Johannesburg
October 18: Regional Office Meetings
October 19: Johannesburg to Manzini, Swaziland (Nazarene Fitkin hospital to right)
October 20-21: Worship and Signing of New Cooperative Agreement
October 22: Manzini, Swaziland to Johannesburg, South Africa
October 23: Johannesburg, South Africa to Indianapolis (for Mark to be with his folks) and to LAX (for Nan to attend a family reunion).

We're very pleased by the opportunity to go and meet many of the people we'll be working with. We'd ask you to pray--not because we're worried, but because it's important--that we begin or continue to establish relationships with Jerry Lambert (current IBOE director), Leah Marangu (ANU Vice-Chancellor), Filimao Chambo (regional director), and the other educators at the nursing, religion and teacher schools in Swaziland. Thank you in advance! We feel and appreciate your prayers.

Things We Like in Kansas City Area

2007-09-24T23:57:00.000+03:00

OK, Kansas City disrespecters--prepare for a sermonette!! Sure, if you just drive from the airport to World Headquarters you're not getting the BEST picture of Kansas City. That said, there's lots to like. Here's a list:

BBQ. Best pulled pork sandwich and fries in the world are at Oklahoma Joe's barbecue in half of a converted Sinclair Oil station at 3200 West 47th street. (If you need trendy, attractive surroundings, your commitment to great barbecue is already subject to question.) We love the barbecue at Eagle Rib Shack and Goodwood's in Boise area, and we love the barbecue and especially the beans at Jackstacks in the Kansas City area, but you have not lived until you've had a super-moist and smoky pulled pork sandwich and a bag of crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside french fries. We also like Gates and a couple of others, but this is the best for pork barbecue. Amazingly good.
The drive from Shawnee to NTS on 63rd via Mission Hills and Brookside. With much respect: this drive puts Warm Springs in Boise and Queen Anne in Seattle to shame. There are perhaps five square miles of beautiful, 1920-1940's era houses that look like a movie set: manicured lawns, mature trees creating a leafy tunnel for each street, interesting shops. It has been aesthetically healing to drive by these houses on the way to school. It's hard to imagine, but they will probably be even more attractive as the leaves begin to turn and Christmas decorations go up. Highly recommended.
Craftsman-style houses. Perhaps it has a TINY bit to do with being "homeless", but we're finding ourselves drawn to the many craftsman-style homes in the area. They're much smaller than the houses above- they are a reaction to the perceived fanciness of the Victorian houses that preceded them. They are characterized by 1 or 1 1/2 story homes with a straight or bowed gable in the front, a porch, a fireplace, often built-in book cases. The homes we're looking at (many on The Paseo as you walk away from the NTS campus) are often poorly maintained and sad-looking, but you can still see the character underneath (it's a metaphor).
The Jazz District. Remember the song "I'm going to Kansas City, Twelfth Street and Vine..."? Well the Jazz District hasn't preserved the WHOLE original section, but six blocks away, at 18th and Vine is a street that preserves the flavor of the original area. It has not only the Peach Tree restaurant, which serves the classiest "soul food" we've ever had, but the Blue Room, which features KC's best jazz (Ellis Marsalis was there last week); the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum--all worth a visit.

Soooo--just a suggestion: if you feel yourself being dragged to Kansas City for a denominational meeting, consider an afternoon away from The Paseo or Troost exploring some of the interesting things to do in Kansas City. We're aware of the Plaza, the Royals (bless their hearts) and the Chiefs, but if YOU have suggestions for other things we should check out or want to arm wrestle about the best BBQ we'd love to hear from you.

Thanks to Summit View and Tonganoxie Churches

2007-09-24T23:17:00.000+03:00

Our thanks to Pastor Dan and Teresa Eller and NMI President Trula Smith at the Tonganoxie Church of the Nazarene and to Pastor Dale and Kathy Jones and NMI President Gail Philip at the Summit View Church of the Nazarene for being our hosts the last two weeks. We continue to enjoy meeting and hearing the stories of Nazarene pastors and laypeople, and experiencing the WIDE variety of people, worship styles and missions of Nazarene churches.

Pastor Dan and Teresa of the Tonganoxie Church have an amazing story of God's patience and redemption in their lives. In his weekday job, Pastor Dale of the Summit View Church is the Director of the Office of Research for the Church of the Nazarene. It was fascinating to hear him talk about some of the information that is available, and some of the studies his office is doing to provide monitoring and decision-making information to the global church.

Thanks again to both of these churches, NMI Presidents and pastoral couples for their kindness and hospitality to us in the last two weeks. We appreciate your commitment to missions.

Personal Stuff

2007-09-10T21:42:00.000+03:00

We're trying to keep this blog focused on the ministry and on Africa, but lots of you (bless your hearts) are asking how we're doing, progress on sale of the house, etc. What follows is a brief update on some of those things:

Our moods are very good. We've gone from being people with huge "to do" lists and lots of responsibilities to being students who do presentations on weekends. We have lots of time to work on assignments, do our devotions and generally "regroup." It's really been a wonderful experience so far.

It looks like we are near agreement on the sale of our house. We're in a very tough market, as you all know, and buyers can pretty well dictate their own terms. Even so, Arlen Gingrich has been not just a realtor but a wonderful friend and brother in Christ, it looks like we will break even on the sale, and we would be looking at other, much less attractive options if Eric Forseth had not pointed a buyer in our direction. Thanks to both of these good men for their help! There are still two couples in the cadre who have not yet had offers on their houses, so we'd appreciate your continued prayer for our situation, but also for the Burnells and the Porters.

As everyone told us, the Ketchums have been great. We have had 3-4 meals with them, gone to an outdoor performance of the Kansas City Symphony together and are enjoying our time with them. Our 1-bedroom apartment has become our comfortable and peaceful home. The picture to the right is of Carol Ketchum (who has an amazing work ethic and a wonderful sense of humor) at the Kansas City Symphony concert. If you'd like to look at some pictures Nan took of the apartment, you can check out this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/nanpitts/KansasCityChapter

Nancy says her thinking is being stretched in the interaction with the good minds in the classes and it's lots of fun to be a fulltime students. Mark wants you to know that he's using some of the extra time to (finally) get some exercise. He's bought a pedometer and is on a "10,000 steps a day" plan, that he's been sticking to faithfully for the last two weeks. For the math-minded, 10,000 steps with a 32 inch stride works out to about 5 miles a day or 35 miles a week--lots of good exercise!

We're enjoying the (mainly younger) missionary couples with whom we're doing the training: Steve and Dana Porter have been at Fairview Village Church in Pennsylvania and are going to Angola. Spencer and April Baggott have been pastoring in Florida and will also be in Angola. Gavin and Jill Fothergill have been in Kansas City (Jill working for World Mission office) and will be part of the Nazarene cross-cultural work in El Paso Texas. Scott and Cindy Meadors were part of the two-week intensive and have already left for Romania. Judy Burnell (who has been associate pastoring in Maryland) and her husband Barry will be in the Eurasia office in Switzerland. Tim and Danielle Whetstone have been Nazarene volunteers in Italy and working with Compassionate Mission in Louisiana and have not yet been assigned. Very good folk. There are also several sweet young children who will be going with their parents on this trip. They range in age from Lucas Baggott who is 5 to Macy Fothergill who was just born on Thursday. When you pray, I'm sure these families would appreciate your prayers.
Our instructor for the two-week intensive has been David Wesley, who with his wife Glynda were Nazarene missionaries in South America for 17 years. David served as translator and regional director for Bruno Rotti. He is now a faculty member at NTS and Glynda is the training coordinator and "mom" for the missionary interns. We are very impressed with both of them: their love for the Lord, their passion for missions and their care for us as the "newbies."

Thank You Wichita Eastridge and Emporia!

2007-09-10T20:52:00.001+03:00

We had a great time with the folks at Wichita Eastridge and Emporia on Sunday. Pastor Will Haworth and his wife Diana took us out to dinner on Saturday evening and were great hosts on Sunday morning. They spent three years as missionaries in Montevideo Uruguay and remember former South America Regional Director Bruno Radi as a young, up and coming pastor. The Eastridge church has a wonderful ethnic and cultural mix that would do many more urban churches proud. (The picture on the right shows Pastor Will getting a toy missionary plane to fly for some of the children in the church.)

Gloria and Daniel, a Nazarene pastoral couple originally from Columbia, are ministering to the Spanish-speaking community, and the church is also reaching the African-American and Asian populations. Even more impressive, it was clear that the older members of the church are literally and figuratively embracing the newer members. Wichita Eastridge makes it clear that they have a local as well as global commitment to missions. Thanks to Pastor Gloria for her warmth and morning solo in Spanish, to Cheryl for help with our media and to Pastor Will and Diana for their hospitality!

We were also impressed with the work going on at the Emporia, Kansas church under the leadership of Pastor Mark Hensen. Dr. Sheryl Lidzy, a professor of communications at Emporia State University, is the newly-appointed NMI President for the Emporia church and clearly has a vision for the work of the NMI at Emporia. Dennis and Sonia Irwin, the primary leaders for the new Celebrate Recovery ministry at the church, spent some time talking with Nancy about her experience with the ministry at Nampa First. After the service, we had a good meal and time of fellowship in the church activity center. Thanks to Pastor Hensen for his help with the media and for his prayer after the service, and thanks to Sheryl and Rusty Lidzy for their hospitality.

We continue to be blessed by the fact that at each church we visit people are attempting to hear the Lord's voice and to establish or strengthen ministries that will meet needs in the community and bring people to the Lord. Thanks to everyone at Wichita Eastridge and Emporia for your time with us this weekend, and for your faithfulness to the Kingdom!

Introductions #2

2007-09-09T04:05:00.000+03:00

In this entry, we'd like to introduce the Vice-Chancellor (President) of Africa Nazarene University and a recent graduate. Both Nazarenes, both passionate in their relationship to the Lord, and both working for the Kingdom.

Professor Leah Marangu grew up in a poor, hard-working family on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. Her father, a Methodist minister with a 3rd grade education, was the best-educated person in the village and wanted his daughter to go to school. Over her mother's objections, Professor Marangu worked as a housekeeper to pay her way through elementary and secondary school in the Meru District. Later, she followed her husband John to Olivet Nazarene University where she earned her bachelors degree, followed by a masters degree and Ph.D. from Iowa State University.

She is the first woman in Kenya to become the head of a university and is well-respected and well-known all over the country. In 1969, she was the recipient of The International Award from Iowa State University for outstanding leadership qualities, character and personality. In 1983, Kenyan President Moi appointed her the chairperson of the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation. She helped develop and prepare school syllabus and textbooks suitable for Kenya’s education system. In 1987 the president honoured her with the Silver Star of Kenya for her contribution to the development of education. In 1989 she received the Maggie Sloan Crawford Award from her Alma Mater, Olivet Nazarene University. It was given to women whose lives and accomplishments mark them as outstanding role models.

An appreciative article in the East Africa Standard newspaper quotes Professor Marangu pointing to the central influence in her life: "I accepted Christ as my Lord and Saviour at the age of 13 years ...Whenever things took a turn for the worse I would cry to God and ask Him to help me, and He was and continues to be faithful." For the Church of the Nazarene to have one of the very few doctorally prepared Ph.D's in all of Africa as the head of its denominational university is evidence of God's blessing on the church and on ANU. More on Professor Marangu later.

Phillip Friday. OK, please take this test: Pastor Friday is the youth pastor and interim senior pastor of the Nazarene Church in: a) Kikuru, Kenya; b) Los Angeles, CA Eastbrooke Church; c) Labourna, Uganda d) Lamoure, North Dakota--read on for the answer. Phillip Friday is the son of Rev. Ganda Friday, a Nazarene pastor, district superintendent in Kenya and now global missionary in Sudan. At the age of 10, Phillip was invited to a Nazarene service in the Lake Victoria District to honor and exhibit the calling of God on the lives of children. Some children who felt a call to Christian music sang or played instruments. Some who felt a call to Christian art displayed their work. Phillip was given an opportunity to demonstrate his call to preaching by delivering a sermon on the 23rd Psalm before the audience of 400 people. He says it was an event which shaped the direction of his life til now.

Later, as a student at Africa Nazarene University, he got a chance to develop his preaching and pastoral skills as the assistant to then ANU chaplain, Michael VanZant. While Phillip was at ANU, his parents were doing missionary deputation work in the United States. As they spoke in churches, they showed pictures of and told about their children, including Phillip who was studying for the ministry and about to graduate as a religion major at ANU.

The following year, the Church of the Nazarene in Lamoure, North Dakota remembered about Phillip as they looked for a youth pastor. At the same time, Phillip was trying to figure out how to get to Nazarene Theological Seminary to complete a masters degree. When the Lamoure church called Phillip with an offer of the youth pastor, he saw an opportunity to serve the church AND to begin his graduate education. He accepted the position and made the trip to North Dakota. The people have always been warm, Phillip reported, but the weather was not. The first winter, the low temperature was 45 degrees BELOW zero! Nevertheless, Phillip has persevered and the youth group has grown. Today, the group regularly has more than 25 teens at activities, and since the senior pastor took another position, Phillip has been filling in.

We had lunch with Phillip in the Headquarters cafeteria last week, and were so impressed with Phillip's warmth, his intelligence, and his deep commitment to God. We are so lucky to have people like him as members and pastors. Oh, by the way, you can help us pray for one of Phillip's challenges: as much as he (genuinely) enjoys his work in North Dakota, he feels a calling to return to Africa to do pastoral and leadership training. Before he can do that, he needs to pay off his NTS debt. We know the Lord has a way to take care of this need, but we'd invite you to join us in praying for financial assistance as he completes his studies at NTS.

What We're Reading #2

2007-08-22T15:47:00.001+03:00

We both like to read and are (usually) enjoying being students again. We thought you might be interested in one quick idea each from several books we're assigned to read or that we've picked up in our "obsessive collecting of books we can't possibly all take on the plane with us":

From The Psychology of Culture Shock by Ward, Bochner and Furnham, we learned that the ability to balance the conflicting demands of head office versus local office is a key skill for expatriate managers.

From Cultures and Organizations by Geert and Gert Jan Hofstede we learned that the distance between bosses and employees is greater in countries who speak a Romance language (French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish) than in countries which speak a Germanic language (Danish, Dutch, English, German, Swedish).

From the wonderful, classic African novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, we are learning the very delicate balance between traditional African culture and the Christian faith.

Thank you Greencastle and Cloverdale!

2007-08-22T15:08:00.000+03:00

This past Sunday, we spent the day with some wonderful folks from the Greencastle and Cloverdale Indiana Nazarene churches. In the morning, we were with Pastor Bob Muncie and his wife Jane at the Greencastle church. The Muncies spent many years as evangelists with the Church and Pastor Bob is a wonderful pianist and songwriter (http://www.bobandjanemuncie.com/ ). After church, we had a tasty deer roast with all the fixings at the Muncie's house and got to spend time with some folks from the church, hearing more about Wes and Laura Sampson's experiences in Malawi and an amazing story about rare stamps in the church children's department from Julian Jarvis.

After the obligatory Nazarene nap, we spent Sunday evening with Rev. and Mrs. Ross Kirkman and the other folks at the Cloverdale Church of the Nazarene. The Cloverdale service was lively and fun. Ryan gets the "most attentive and responsive listener ever" award and Tony played a great offeratory on the piano. They were both scheduled to be baptized after the service with a couple of other folks. Hope that went well. Thank you to BOTH churches for making us feel so welcome and providing more evidence that the Church of the Nazarene is alive and well and serving the Kingdom in Southwest Indiana.

Introductions #1 and #2

2007-08-14T05:35:00.000+03:00

We're in a bind: at the top of our web page we say we want to connect Africans and Americans, but during this training and deputation time we know many more Americans than Africans. For now, the solution is just to acknowledge that and to make the introductions we can. They're important ones, because the former mission fields are maturing and national leaders are taking their rightful place. There are many examples. Korea is sending out its own missionaries. Brazil is starting its own Nazarene university. The African region and African churches are led by impressive national leaders. We'd like to introduce two of them to you.

The first two of these are the Director of the Africa Region, Eugenio Duarte, and Mulonda Batubula, pastor of an embattled Nazarene Church in the Congo.

Rev. Duarte faced a challenging dilemma as a young man: the new national government of Cape Verde, his home country, was so impressed by his work as assistant to the former Portuguese governor that they offered him a "full ride" scholarship to an engineering school. It would have been the answer to many young men's prayers, but it was not the answer to Eugenio's. The Lord led him to the Nazarene Seminary in Cape Verde where he prepared for the ministry. After completing his education, Rev. Duarte continued to distinguish himself--first as a Nazarene pastor, then as a Nazarene field director and finally, in this new appointment as director of the Africa Region of the Church of the Nazarene.

Rev. Duarte deals with the on-going challenges of a Nazarene leader and pastor, as indicated in the regional priorities: Helping children, youth and adults become disciples; Education and training for clergy and laypeople; Developing new generations of leadership; Establishing the church in new African countries; and Practicing Compassionate Ministry. Each of these is worthy of passionate prayer: eternities are at stake.

Beyond the regional priorities of discipling, educating clergy and laypeople, raising up leaders and churches and practicing compassionate ministry, Rev. Duarte must deal with the unique, heart-wrenching challenges of the African continent. Last year, for example, the Nazarene Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was caught up in what has been called "The Silent War." Eight Nazarene churches and Nazarene 2 schools were destroyed. Four lay Nazarenes and 2 pastors from the South Kivu district were killed and 18 injured. Over 2,600 Nazarenes fled into the bush looking for a place to hide.

Byonga Nazarene Church is located in a village that has been attacked 98 times since the war began eight years ago. Pastor Mulonda Batubula has lost 3 children in that time, one by gunshot and two to malaria as they hid in the bush during some of the worst fighting. A faithful member of the Nazarene church since 1993, Pastor Batubula has been arrested 3 times in recent years. Twice the rebels took him because he refused to send young people from the church to fight, and once the government accused him of consorting with the rebels. The district superintendent said of the pastor, “Pastor Batubula says these people need the message of holiness the most. He would choose to die rather than leave the area. He is preaching holiness as the only hope, and trusting the Lord for a better future here or everlasting life."

We are humbled and challenged by this fierce commitment to the gospel. Our own concerns about our new assignment grow small and unimportant when placed in the context of the challenges and concerns of our world-wide Nazarene brothers and sisters. Imagine how these conditions grieve the heart of God. This context makes it even more impressive that at key times as we were trying to make our decision about coming to ANU, Eugenio Duarte sent us e-mails of encouragement and affirmation. Can you see why, as much as we are braced for the culture shock of our own transition, we would ask you to pray for Rev. Duarte and Pastor Batubula and the work God has called them to do? Thank you for partnering with us, and thank you for helping us begin to make the Africonnection: between North American Nazarenes, and their courageous brothers and sisters in Africa. If you'd like to read more about:

Rev. Duarte's work, go to--http://www.africanazarene.org/wmafrica/Region/OutOfAfrica/News/tabid/122/Default.aspx

Pastor Batubula and the Silent War, go to--http://www.ncm.org/news_pr060331.aspx

Next in the "Introductions" series: Professor Leah Marangu, Vice Chancellor (President) of Africa Nazarene University.

Don't forget, if you want to share your comments with other readers of our blog, you can do so at www.africonnection.org.

Notes from the Road #2

2007-08-07T20:21:00.001+03:00

We're in our fourth day at Mark's folk's house in Brazil Indiana--about 60 miles west of Indianapolis and 15 miles east of Terre Haute where we did our most recent deputation. Mark's dad is a wonderful steward of the two city lots the Lord has given them on the north side of town. He plants half a lot in garden and about half a lot in fruit trees, with generous sprinklings of flowers and other landscaping all over the property. We are loading up on fresh corn, tomatoes, onions, peaches, strawberries and other good things from the garden and fruit trees. It's wonderful to be eating healthy again after the "imposed grease/starch/sugar" diet of the road trip.

Thanks to ALL of you who have asked how Mark's mom Charlotte is doing. The answer is, she's doing remarkably well--her energy level is up and her pain level is down. She is still struggling, as always, to keep her diabetes "count" stable, but she has been cheerful and engaged and active! Some of you who are this age (82) or have parents this age may recognize the "Sundowner effect" which brings sadness or loneliness as the evening unfolds. When that happens, Mom's multiple decades as a church pianist are an amazing resource of hope and joy and reassurance as she plays "My hope is built on nothing less..." and "Nothing thrills my soul like Jesus..." and "There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood..." Thanks for your prayers. They're working wonders.

We are trying to get ahead of the reading assignments for the classes we'll be taking later this fall. Nancy is reading Philip Jenkins "The Next Christendom", which Mark reviewed in the blog a couple of weeks ago. Mark is reading "The Gods of Management" which explains four different styles of leadership to prepare us further for those roles on the mission field.

We are making plans to visit Indianapolis Colts spring training which is being held at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, an engineering and sciences school, 12 miles away. We're also making plans to visit our old stomping grounds, French Lick, Indiana--early home of ISU and Boston Celtic standout Larry Bird, and also home to a circa 1920's hot spring and spa which has recently undergone a stunning multi-million dollar renovation.

We'll be in Indiana through August 22 and then drive back to Kansas City on the 23rd to be ready for classes the following Monday. Thanks for your love and your prayers as we venture out!

Thanks Terre Haute First!

2007-08-07T19:59:00.000+03:00

We had a great Faith Promise weekend with the folks at Terre Haute First, Pastor Mark Fleschner and his family, Youth Pastor Jason and his wife and precious baby boy, Phil "The Pirate" Kruger and HIS family, Tom who did all the preparations for the Saturday evening dinner, and lots of others. This is a vibrant church which is retaining the good from the past, but being sensitive to new ways it can serve the Kingdom and its community.

In some respects, the weekend was a model of how God is at work in the hearts of his people and how missionaries like us get to be a tiny part of facilitating that work--kind of divine sub-contractors! For example (and we'll disguise these a little just to respect confidences): one young lady told her mother she wanted to come and spend a year at ANU; a proud Mom introduced us to her daughter who acknowledged a call to missions at NYC in St. Louis just a couple of weeks ago and had been awarded a denominational mission trip; a concerned woman came to us asking how she could help provide a scholarship to a young woman at ANU; a young dad had just acknowledged a call to ministry and asked to stay in touch in case his call might someday include missions. Praise the Lord for how he works in the hearts of his people! We're in the process of following up with each of these good people to help them discover God's will as it unfolds in their lives. Thank you Terre Haute First for making a number of Africonnections this past weekend!

Swahili Lesson #1

2007-08-02T07:29:00.000+03:00

Nearly everyone in Kenya speaks English, but nearly everyone also speaks Swahili, which combines Arabic, African tribal languages and a few European words. To get you ready for a visit to ANU you need to believe that, first, you already know some Swahili words. See how you do on this quick quiz (answers at the end--don't peek!):

1. Simba= a) Hello; b) Lion; c) Welcome

2. Safari= a) Journey; b) Goodbye; c) Thank you

3. Hakuna matata= a) How are you? b) What's your name? c) No problems

Second, here are some words and phrases to add to your Swahili vocabulary:
Ndiyo (n'DEE-yo) = Yes
Hapana (ha-PAN-uh) = No
Asante sana (aSANteh SAnuh) = Thank You
Karibu (Cariboo) = Welcome

Kwaheri (Qwa-HAIR-uh) = Goodbye

Jambo (JAHM-bo)= Hello

Quiz answers: 1-b; 2-a; 3-c

Nan and Mark Road Trip--Utah-Wyoming

2007-08-01T08:59:00.000+03:00

For the first time in several years, we're operating without a looooooong list of appointments and tasks and we are enjoying it ALOT! On Monday we got back from our deputations at Portland First and Beaverton, hopped in the pickup and started toward Utah.

Monday night we stayed in a KOA cabin just outside of Brigham City. Charming, with a swing on the front porch, but "facilities" a hundred yards away! Tuesday morning after a low carb breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we drove on into Salt Lake to tour Temple Square (the temple is MUCH smaller than Nampa First), the Tabernacle and the fascinating geneological library (Mark saw the census information about his grandfather's family and Nancy about her grandmother's and grandfather's family on both sides.)

Tuesday afternoon, we drove through Park City then on into Wyoming. Miles and miles and miles of beautiful mountains and prairies. It's a fooler because it's flatness makes it look like it's near sea level, but much of it is at 6-7000 feet. Tuesday evening, relative luxury--free wireless internet and plumbing in the room! Tomorrow, we head through Cheyenne and on into Nebraska.

Thanks Beaverton and Portland First!

2007-08-01T08:22:00.000+03:00

Sunday we had the pleasure of being in services at Portland First and Beaverton. At Portland First, we thanked Les Hoyle, the district and church work and witness coordinator for the TWENTY-ONE member work and witness team Portland First sent to Africa Nazarene University at a critical time in the institution's history. Thanks to Brent Weiss, the worship pastor, and Karen Garrison, the church administrator, for their graciousness and help. At Beaverton, Youth Pastor Joel and his family met us at the door, Judy Henske arranged a barbecue with African decorations on the tables, Pastor Doug came back from a FISHING TRIP to be in the evening service and we met so many wonderful people. Thanks to each of you for your thoughtfulness and support for us in this new direction in our professional and personal lives!

Christianity Moves South

2007-07-23T19:26:00.000+03:00

As part of our "homework" for our missionary training, we're reading a book by Philip Jenkins called The Next Christendom. Wait! Don't leave. It's really interesting! Jenkins says the energy and enthusiasm for Christianity has moved, especially from Europe, to the Southern Hemisphere--Africa, South America and parts of Asia. He says that far from dying, Christianity is growing and gaining momentum in the South. That's certainly true in the Church of the Nazarene. In 1984, Africans represented 6% of all Nazarenes. Today, Africans represent 20% of all Nazarenes.

Jenkins also says it's wrong to think that Europeans and Americans "imposed" Christianity on the Southern Hemisphere. He points to the Ethiopian Church which is almost as old as Christianity itself, and to the Christians in India who trace their faith to the evangelical efforts of "Doubting Thomas." When I was in India several years ago, I asked a young Christian husband and father how long his family had been Christians, thinking they might have been converted in the efforts of missionaries. He drew himself up proudly and said, "My family can trace its Christianity to the second century AD." That puts Christianity in India long before it was in either Northern Europe or America!

Jenkins visualizes a day when the Southern Hemisphere is sending missionaries to the Northern Hemisphere, and in fact that is already happening. Brazil, Korea and South Africa have each sent missionaries to Europe and America. Jenkins says that much of the commitment to faith in Europe is coming from immigrants. For example, he writes that on any given Sunday in London, half of the worshipers in Christian churches were born in the Southern Hemisphere.

Just as American Christians had to develop churches and styles of worship that fit America, churches in Africa, Asia and South America are having to develop churches and styles of worship that fit who they are. There is both opportunity and danger in this designing process. We'd ask you to be in prayer for Eugenio Duarte (Africa), Vern Ward (Asia), and Christian Sarmiento (South America) as they try to strike the balance between previous denominational practices and emerging regional needs. God is doing a great work in the Southern Hemisphere, and your prayers can help Nazarene leadership as it serves the church and the Kingdom.

Thanks Nampa First and Early Church!

2007-07-23T19:17:00.000+03:00

Sunday, July 22, was a wonderful day that reminded Nan and me why we love First Church! We spoke in both Sunday morning services, had a great and relaxing lunch with Pastor Kent (pictured at right) and Kay Conrad and were the guests at a reception after the evening service. Thanks to the Conrads for your warmth and hospitality and affirmation. Thanks to Mary Winkle, the Nampa First NMI President and the NMI Council for organizing the reception and presenting us with the globe clock. Thanks to Dan Edgar, Doug Ward, and Ray Burwick for helping build and pack the shipping crates. Thanks to Bev Verner, Erroll and Rhonda Carrim, Chris and Cara Werlinger for bringing food or helping with moving tasks. And to the folks in both services and all the ministries at Nampa First Church, thank you for your warmth and kind words and your promises of on-going prayers. We love you!

Our New Home

2007-07-18T07:15:00.001+03:00

When we visited the ANU campus in February, we took this picture of one side of the duplex which will be our home beginning this coming January. It was built in the early 1990's and has housed a variety of American faculty, short-term visitors, and church dignitaries. We love its distinctive style--tile roof, bay window on each side, surrounded by tropical plants and literally "solid as a rock." More on that later.

Our neighbors, already in their half of the duplex, will be Rev. Randy and Mary Jane James, the new ANU chaplain and his wife.

Since we returned to the States, workmen have begun working on an addition to our home. Each morning the men working on our house and on the new student center arrive on flatbed trucks from off campus. The work on our house is relatively short term, but some of the workmen involved in the student center process build small wooden cabins where they live until the project is completed. Their lives are not easy, but we were told in February that ANU pays above the going local rate, and because jobs are scarce, anyone who is employed feels lucky. Even so, we'll be praying for these men and the extended families their wages support.

The material they use for all the buildings on campus is grayish-red rock dug out of a nearby quarry. When we were there I asked more than once about what kind of rock it was, but people didn't seem to have a special term (granite, limestone, etc) for it. As the grandson of an Indian stonecutter, I'll want to investigate further after we arrive! The rock comes to the site in large chunks where the workmen chisel it by hand into building blocks.

These are the first pictures we have had of the remodeling, so we're excited to see (and try to guess exactly) what is being done. It LOOKS like an additional room on a lower level. We didn't know there was a basement when we were there, but our time on campus was short. Stay tuned!

Thank you Kirkland!

2007-07-10T07:04:00.000+03:00

For the last 3 years we lived in the Seattle area, we attended Kirkland Church of the Nazarene. It was, without doubt, one of the most fulfilling church experiences of our lives. For one thing, the Kirkland Church was doing "Africonnections" long before we thought of the word. The church, under the leadership of then pastor Randy Craker and with the logistical expertise of Debra and Charlie Voelker, made multiple trips to Mozambique to do building, lead Bible school, teach pastors, and perform other tasks to assist the Church of the Nazarene in Mozambique.

On Sunday evening, July 8, the church held a barbecue leading into our presentations. So many people came--even people no longer attending the Kirkland church and members of a WAPAC Work and Witness team--to be a part of the evening. Thank you Kirkland FIRST for your longtime commitment to Africa and also for your ongoing support and love!

Thanks Westside!

2007-06-12T06:22:00.000+03:00

Nancy and I spent a very pleasant evening with the members of Westside Church of the Nazarene in Spokane, Washington on Sunday evening, June 10--our first official deputation service! This church has a history of commitment to mission and a reputation for loving hurting people in the community. Thank you Lee, who conducted the service; Gary, who was there early to open up the building; Randy, who brought his projector and laptop when "Plan A" did not work; and Sue who told her inspiring story to us after the service. Thanks to each of the people who stopped by after the service to say they'd be praying for us. We value that more than you know. We enjoyed our time with you and look forward to following up on your interest in Work and Witness teams and scholarships to help Africa Nazarene University. God is doing great things at ANU, and many of them are happening because of the commitment of people like you!

15 Years of the "Africonnection"

2007-05-24T18:55:00.000+03:00

On Tuesday we had two big boxes delivered to our front porch in Idaho. We have been blessed by what we've found as we opened them. ANU has had a number of successes in recent years and wants to thank the churches and individuals who have helped the University. The boxes were full of "thank you packets" shipped from ANU. Each packet includes a signed letter of thanks from Professor Leah Marangu, the University Vice Chancellor; a color booklet of articles and pictures describing the accomplishments of the University in recent years; and a certificate of appreciation acknowledging the work of a particular church or district Work and Witness team or individual volunteer.

As relative newcomers to Nazarene World Missions reading the names of districts and churches and individuals being thanked, the overwhelming impression is of deep, deep faithfulness on the part of African and American Nazarenes: the giving of time, and expertise, and prayer, and financial support.

As we begin our deputation work, we're talking to many Americans who say they were radically affected by their time at ANU. New Work and Witness teams to ANU are forming now who will also be changed by their Kenya experience. In a later post, we'll mention some of the Nazarene groups and individuals who have given of themselves, but the picture of an early Work and Witness team assisting with construction is just an example of the 15 years of "Africonnection" between Africa Nazarene University and American Nazarenes. To those who have come before and those who are still to come we say "Thank You!"

The Africonnection comes alive

2007-05-22T04:55:00.000+03:00

Great Weekend! Dr. Rod Reed, chair of the religion department at Africa Nazarene stayed at our house as he did deputation at Lakeview and College Churches of the Nazarene in Nampa. We got to hear his presentation at the 4PM Sunday service. The presentation was inspiring and so was the reception afterwards: lots of old Africa hands met to talk over their ANU experiences: Virgil Vail (who helped ANU set up generators and its electrical system), Hal and Ruthie Webber(who helped get the accounting system put in place), Don and Judy Murphy (who helped get the campus computer system set up) and two former students from ANU. The Murphy's home was full of souvenirs of their time in Africa and very shortly everyone was telling stories about their time there. The picture is of Ruthie Weber, who helped with office organization at ANU while Hal was working on the books. The Africonnection at work!