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| Preaching in Nakuru |
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| With our hosts in Kisumu, Ken and Elizabeth |
 Handing out certificates Baricho |
A blog featuring whatever I fancy, often on the Christian faith but not exclusively
Some Kenya Pics
Lord's Day April 28 2024
Once again, this last Lord's Day, while Eddie was holding the fort in Childs Hill, I was preaching to a large congregation in Kenya (this time an even bigger one, more like two hundred, perhaps twice what it was 12 years ago when I was here last). We began with a Bible class led by Dominic Kabaria, one of the elders, on the Trinity. He based his message on Wayne Grudem (who I notice has entered retirement just this week in America) and used the Athanasian Creed, which I ought to know better.
I preached at the 11 am service on John 3:16 and got on quite well I felt. It is intangible but I have the sense that when you prech to a congregation where there has been much prayer beforehand, it makes a huge difference.
After the service, Mark, who is the adminstrator for the Pastors College they have here, led a little gathering of newcomers and others, over a simple meal. Questions were asked and we had good conversation over praying for the dead, the Trinity and the word world inJohn 3:16.
In the afternoon at 3 pm Joshaua Bolaji, my fellow APC speaker, preached on Mark 1:40-2:17. He focussed on the leper, the parlaytic and Levi the tax collector and preached very warmly and effectively. I had never really thought about the fact that the paralytic's muscles would have been wasted away and yet Jesus immediately heals hom and tells him to get up and walk, which he does.
It was good to talk to many of the congregation after, much of the conversation to do with Scripture. The same atmosphere prevailed when we ate with Murungi Igweta and his family at his house on site. Once again, I am forced to accept the words of the Puritan pilgrim John Robinson who said "I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of His Holy Word”. This is also confirmed by the reading I have been able to do while here.
It really is a very positive situation here in Kenya, with a lot to be thankful for.
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| Joshua Bolaji |
Still in Kenya
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| Preaching in Nakuru |
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| At Nakuru with two delegates |
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| Eating at a Java House in Nakuru with Eric |
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| Preaching Baricho with Alex |
Another week in Kenya has passed by pretty much. We are now in Nairobi and I will fly home on Monday. On the previous Monday we left Eldoret after preaching there and headed for Nakuru. One bit of excitement on the way was that we corssed the equator, not something I've ever done by road. We were put up in a nice hotel in the town of Nakuru, which seemed a little cooler than Kisumu. On the Tuesday and Wednesday we held another APC on Romans in Crosspoint Bible Church, a small building with Bible texts everywhere. The pastor was away in Uganda and the assistant was dealing with a pastoral issue but were well looked after by Eric, a deacon, with aspirations to ministry. Numbers were lower than previously, down to around 30, but there was a good spirit and it was good to meet various people, including Erick, converted out of a hopeless life of drink and drugs.
On the Thursday, we drove to Baricho, the little town where our last conference took place. This time we crossed the equator twice and it had soon become old hat. We had some difficulty finding a hotel but managed to locate one in nearby Kerugoya. Not up to the last one, it was fine, however. The two days of meeting were held in The People's Church, Baricho, very efficiently organised by Mercy and Moses Chege. This time it was necessary to translate into Swahili and a young church planter called Alex did very well. The translation element truncated the length of our messages but hopefully we were able to get across some important truths. Numbers were lower again, down to about 25. We followed the usual format of five sessions on day one, four on day two and then a photograph, a Q&A and certifiate giving to close.
We then headed to Nairobi and within two hours were at a large shopping mall where we enjoyed icecream. Cetric is home and Joshua and I are sharing the church flate here in the church grouinds. I enjoyed the road trip, especially the latter part where we were in the Aberdare National Park area, but its good to be almost home.
Early Christianity in Britain
When I was in Aber last my prospective sympathetic Mike Iliff (our kids get married in June) recommended a book to me - Early Christianity. The backbone of this work which takes you from the first century to Wycliffe and Tyndale grwos out of PhD work by Peter Green. Some published PhD theses are hard to read but in this case Brian Edwards has edited the manuscipt and that has made for an easy read of 17 chapters. Much of the material was familiar to me (Patrick, Aidan, David, etc) but mush was not. Some of it isvery interesting indeed. It refutes the Augustine of Canterbury thesis that was promoted in school and argues for a church that last for 500 years before then and also denies that England ever had much to do with Rome, much less the other home nations. This is wll worth getting hold of. SOme of it will surprise you,
10 Sermon Illustrations on Worldliness
1 To be worldly is only to think horizontally and to forget about the vertical
2 Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mould
3 If someone kills your brother you would not be his friend. Given the crucifixion of Christ, why would you want to be the world’s friend?
4 When negotiating hair pin bends in the Alps, the thing to do is not to see how close to the edge you can get but to drive safely all the way
5 Keep the boat in the water and the water out of the boat
6 A characteristic of adolescents is often their eagerness to follow the latest fad - worldly Christians often behave similarly
7 A stick insect can so blend with its environment that it can’t be seen - some Christians look no different to unbelievers
8 If two live electric wires touch there will be sparks. To prevent this there are two options - isolation or insulation. It is the latter that pictures the Christian - in the world but not of it.
9 Gollum and his detrimental obsession with the ring
10 Accents People often pick up an accent from others if they spend time with others, sometimes quite quickly. Others retain their original accent even after years of living with those with a different accent
10 countries through which the equator passes
- Ecuador
- Colombia
- Brazil
- Gabon
- Kenya
- Uganda
- Somalia
- Indonesia
- The Maldives
- Kiribati
Alo Sao Tome and Principe and the two Congos.
Lord's Day April 21 2024
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| Cetric O |
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| Pastor Naphtally Ogallo |
Yesterday I was still in Eldoret and so worshipped at the church where the APC was and where I have been staying, the church founded and pastored by Naphtally Ogallo. He nad his wife Helida have been so very welcoming. There are three main services in the church on Sundays. Joshua Bolaji led the interactive adult Sunday School on Psalm 32 and then in the main service I preached from Deuteronomy 33:27. I hope it was a blessing. In the final session our friend Cetric from Nairobi preached helpfully from John 1:1-18.
At the centre of things
We travelled today from Eldoret to Naruku. I had not realised that would involve crossing the equator but it did. First time standing on the equator line. (I have stood on the Greenwich meridian before now. To stand on both at the same time, you have to be on Null Island, somewhere out in the Atlantic.
In Kenya
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| Preaching in Kisumu |
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| Lake Victoria |
Last Monday (April 15) my wife kindly took me first thing to Heathrow where I caught a KLM 'plane to Amsterdam. From there I flew KLM to Nairobi. That took about eight and a half hours/ I was soon through customs and baggage and out into the Nairobi darkness. This is my seventh time on African soil and second time in Nairobi so the sights and sounds and smells were pretty familiar. I was met by Murungi Igweta, pastor at Trinity BC, with his son Asa. I was taken to the church, where I slept in one of the rooms they have on the compound.
Next morning I was driven to Kisumu in the truck by Cetric and two other young Kenyan men. We had to make an early stop for a tyre change and I enjoyed an Americano at a Java Cafe. Not a drop of coffee since then. I'm appreciating black tea anew. By pressing on without stopping we made Kisumu by nightfall. All three drove in turn. The Kenyan countryside is pretty much new to me and so it was fascinating at first to see kids herding small flocks of sheep and goats or cows. We spotted zebra in the distance at one point. Hawkers were selling a large variety of items at different points and several lorries laden with sugar cane were aso spotted. People everywhere walking or on bikes or in mutatas and carrying varied items. In the end it became a little tedious, however and then night fell.
In Kisumu, we called first at the house of the Baptist pastor Tonny Karwa and his wife, Olivia. They have a fascinating story. I stayed at the beautiful house of Ken Otiwa, his fellow elder, and his wife Elizabeth. Very nice. Ken kindly showed us Lake Victoria. We had two days of conference in the Kisumu church. I guess about sixty came each day. We looked at Romans over nine sessions with a Q&A to close. .There were about sixty there. I was joined for this by Joshua Bolaji, a Nigerian born Londoner who has ministered in South Africa for many ears and is very involved in the African Pastors Conferences (more here). Joshua joined us at the last moment having flown from the UK to RSA to Kisumu via Nairobi in less than 72 hours. It was great to meet him and we have been getting on well.
We next travelled to Eldoret from where I write. Jpshua drove this time. The other two young men returned to Nairiobu. This city is somewhat cooler and there has been a lot of rain. It was a great joy to meet Naphtally Ogallo once again and his wife Helida. Naphtally worked with Keith Underhill in the planting of Trinity, Nairobi, a work I have known of since I as a student. It was the church in Aberystwyth where my son now pastors that sent Keith out. Joshua, Cetric and myself are sharing a three bedroom suite in the church grounds. We are being well fed on the local fare, though we sent out for pizza tonight.
The Eldoret conference is much bigger, the biggest APC I have done, with over 120 present. It is not easy to take in what I have to say, however, with my foreign accent and tendency to speak more rapidly as I warm to the subject. In both places we have left notes.
Tomorrow we will share the speaking at the three services. Looking forward.
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| Eldoret Ad |
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| Speaking Eldoret |
Murder by the Book
Detective fiction is a very enjoyable form of literature. It is pretty undemanding but the plot usually gets you thinking at least. I must have read my first such fiction as a boy when I would go along to the mobile library that used to park at the end of our steet once a week. I don't know what the books I read were but they may have included Agatha Christie I've read one or two of those. The British Library have a series up and running that I have dipped into. When we were in Ross-on-Wye recently there was a lovely bookshop there and I bought Murder by the book artly as a memento. The book contains mostly very good short stories, mainly by authros I have not heard of. I thought it might have had more literary themes but apart from one story that refers to Ella Wheeler Wilcox, who I wasn't sure was real (she is -see here) there was nothing like that. It was more books per se and writing them. I'll probably buy some more some day.
Forgotten Reformer
Miles Coverdale's name will be known to those who have an interest in English Reformation history and the translation of the Bible. He is a forgotten reformer nevertheless and retired headmaster G F Main has done us all areat service by means of his thorough research and his interestingly written book. Mr Main must bequite an expert on his subject, his sources ranging from classic ones like Foxe and D'Aubigne through to some rather obscure manuscripts tucked away in unlikely places. It wasa delight to read this well produced book. I was a little sorry to finish it. Highly recommended. I wonder if a coffee table version with pictures may be considered. Just a thought.
Lord's Day April 14 2024
Family, etc
One reason posts have been a little sparse of late is that we have been spending a lot of time with the family over the Easter holidays.
First, in the week March 24-30 we had visits from our Aberystwyth boys - our fourth son Gwion and his fiancee Lydia and my first son, Rhodri and Sibyl and their four sons. That was a great few days with various activities including a visit to London Zoo one day for me and the six, which was very much enjoyed.
Then on April 6 Eleri, myself and my fifth son Owain (and Alffi the dog) drove to Wales where we met up with Eleri's sister Catrin and her family in Monmouth. We then stayed with her other sister, Fflur, too and her damily in a house in Ross-on-Wye back over the border for two nights. On the Tuesday our two Cardiff sons, Dylan and Dewi and their families visited us. That was a lovely time too. On the Wednesday we headed to Cardiff and after a lttle more family time, Owain headed back to London (with Alffi) by train and Eleri and I headed to Aber. Eleri stayed there all the way until Wednesday when she came home via Merthyr, where an elderly family member's funeral was taking place. I left Aber on Friday April 5. There was a strike that day and so instead of the more obvious five hoour Aber-Birmingham-London trip it was more like seven hours getting from Aber to Shrewsbury to Newport to london on the last traiin. It was also necessary to go by bus from Aber to Machynlleth. Marathon journey then and back late but plenty of time to recover the next day.
At some point my youngest grandchild celebrated his first birthday. It's not been that easy first year but looks very bonny and is full of life.
This last week has mostly been getting ready for my trip to Kenya which begins Monday. I was also busy at the Evangelical Library on Monday, leading the Midweek Meeting Wednesday, leading a men's meeting this morning (Saturday) and preparing for Sunday. Busy days.
Midweek Meeting April 10 2024
Six of us, four men and two women, gathered last Wednesday to look at Romans 3:1-19 and to pray. We all prayed in turn.
Lord's Day April 7 2024
Way behind with this but it's been a busy time. Last Sunday we began with communion, fairly well attended. I then preached from the sermon on the mount again, this time on oaths and vows. Good attendance on the whole. I'd forgotten to prepare a children's talk so I gave my testimony as I do at such times. Eleri was away in Wales so it all felt a bit different. In the evening we were very few so I was not over long (under the hour). We looked at another famous text - Proverbs 3:5, 6. Good day on the whole.
10 Popular Soap Bars
- Pear's amber
- Lux
- Dove
- Wright's coal tar
- Imperial leather
- Palmolive
- Knight's Castle
- Camay
- Shield
- Lifebuoy
Lord's Day March 31 2024
Easter Sunday in Childs Hill is unpredictable. Many go away, some stay and sometimes there are new people. That is how it was last Lord's Day. I preached through most of john 20 and 21 in the two sermons. We had a good number in the morning and many fewer in the evening, as is the pattern. One visitor was a friend of a regular but another was a person in the area who I hope we will see again.
Midweek Meeting March 27 2024
It was a little unusual the other Wednesday in that we had a Bible Study and then churh members meeting before ending with a short prayer meeting. It went fine but I would rather not do it too often. The method of taking two separate nights, I think,works best.
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