Safari to Garsen

 The journey started with a four hour drive up the coast of Kenya. Mombasa to Malindi is a two hour trek on a two lane and thankfully no potholes. The back end of the safari is less smooth with thousands of potholes to dodge. As hard as we tried, we probably hit 100 potholes so when we finally hit the dirt road we were relieved. Above is a picture of our last stretch into the village of Bandi.  

 After making sure the car was still in one piece, we enjoyed the village view. We would estimate there are 200 mud and thatched houses in Bandi and roughly 800 people living there. Aaron felt like he was living a national geographic film he watched growing up, truly rural. 

 The people were very friendly and gave us some of the best hospitality and care we have received in Kenya. They were eager to show us around the village and the "normal" life the Bandi. 

 Dama is outside of a typical thatched house. The thatched houses are for newly weds. As time goes on the couple might decide to build a mud house. It is the duty of the women to build a strong home. 

 The people are primarily pastoralist. They spend days out with their cows shepherding them to a safe and abundant pasture. At night hundreds of cows return home to be milk by their owners. Dama asked "How does the owner know which cow is there's?" One youth responded "When you park your car with other cars do you still know which one is yours?" 

 The people of Bandi are Orma. Virtually everybody marries within their tribe; however, we were told of one Orma in Bandi that married an American. 

 The majority of Orma 99% are Muslims. Women have to dress in a respectful manner, this often means covering everything except the face. Dama says the covering is great for keeping the mosquitoes out but not so great for the heat. 

The Bandi are a very close and committed community.  One elderly man bragged how there were no alcoholics or thugs in their village. The accountability and support in the village is admirable. Still, the Bandi's are sinful people and desperately in need of their Savior. Right now they do not know Jesus, will you pray with us that they might come to know Him?  

Life in the village..."were not in Kansas any more"...

 Walking to my friend's village.

 This is a picture of brother Rai and his family.  His wife stays in the village in order to help Rai's biological mother while he works in the city.   

This is Rai with his father in front of his house.  The father is married to four wives and all four wives live in harmony on the same compound :-o

  The house of one of Rai's stepmothers.

 The tradition maintains that the visitor has to slaughter a chicken.

 One of the chief duties of the women is to fetch water.  

The Genesis: School of Ministry

 Fred, a Christian brother and friend from Nairobi, blessed the opening of the school by teaching inductive Bible Study.  He is one brother I can say knows the Word and has a desire to accurately communicate the gospel message. Only time will tell how valuable he is to the church in Kenya. 

At the end of the class time we prayed for Fred as he was traveling to another part of Kenya for another seminar. The ministry he is apart of is called Intensive Care Ministry. 

Graduation day! July 14, 2012

 The graduate with some family members after the service. Dama is the first of her family to graduate with a Masters degree.

Dama and fellow classmate Professor Kivutha Kibwana.  Kibwana is renowned legal scholar and presidential adviser in Kenya. Dama and Kibwana were the only students to graduate with an emphasis in Islamic studies.

...the happy graduate. 

Dama with her professor Dr. Josephine Mutuku, also the wife of the late Dr. Sesi. We thank God for Dr. Mutuku and her late husband Dr. Sesi as they taught us how to know God and make him known. 

Dama's graduation party!

 Some of the church members from our beloved church family in Nairobi.

 Introducing the graduate with a song (the celebration mirrored our wedding day celebration).

Just a few family members.  There were close to 150 people that came to celebrate. 

The Future of Racism

Fascinating perspective on the future of race, at least in America, from Ross Douthat:

This future is unlikely to be as ugly as the past, because the case for formal segregation and overt racial discrimination isn’t going to come back. Nor, as I’ve said before, do I think that race is going to be the controlling cleavage of 21st century America: Already, I think religion, political ideology and social class can trump the color line as a source of polarization and division, and I expect that pattern to continue.

But I can think of a half-dozen reasons why public expressions of race-based hostility (of all sorts, not just against African Americans) might become more common, not less, as the America of the Boomers gives way to the America of the millennials. These reasons include

• the Internet’s tendency to make the taboo not-so-taboo anymore,
• our growing chronological distance from the institutional injustices whose successful overthrow made racism taboo in the first place,
• our culture’s obsession with genetic theories of just about everything,
• the fracturing of the Christian common ground that undergirded at least some of the belief in human equality,
• the way that diversity seems to increase social mistrust,
• the social gulf that increasingly yawns between upper-class whites who are invested in a multiracial society and lower-class whites who feel like losers in it,
• the potential growth of a grievance-based white identity politics as America becomes majority-minority, and
• the fact that white guilt over slavery and segregation — the foundation of the anti-racist consensus at the moment — will necessarily be a weaker cultural force in a country that’s more Hispanic, more Asian, and more non-white in general.

Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions

Ligon Duncan said that it was the best sermon on missions he has ever heard. John Piper tweeted, “This may have been the most powerful missions message I’ve ever heard. I needed to be quiet with God.” I have to say it was one of the best I have heard. How I wish other Christians would begin to grasp the implications of the gospel.

Listen or watch here:

Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions : Together for the Gospel