Monday, August 1

Today is a sad day for me, Sylvia is going home.  But we have had fun and Sylvia has made a great impression wherever she has been.  I am particularly glad we did the Alumni Seminar together so the Tanzanian pastors could meet a real female "pastor."  In their country women can only be designated evangelists, even though they do the work of a pastor in a local church.  Things are slowly changing and  many do support ordaining women. 

We came early to Nairobi in order for me to see a doctor.  I got a strange growth called a hematoma on my backside.  It is a collection of blood and can be caused by many things.  But rather than go the route of surgery, which one doctor said I needed, I took the surgeon's advice and went conservative with medication.  It has been helping.  So please keep praying.

Yesterday we went to a huge church in Nairobi, the Nairobi Baptist Church.  They must have had close to 7 or 8 hundred in the service we attended.  We were a little sad that they primarily did western praise songs with a full band.  But at least we felt at home.  Sheila, my cousin, who is traveling back to the states to see her daughter, and her sister, Andrea were with us and took us to an Ethiopian restaurant.  Wow, was that different.  We ate a lot.  Then last night we were finally with Sam Ngewa.  His uncle had died and he been gone all week, home to his village for the funeral.  Today he is off to take a cousin's son to a hospital because he injured his knee.  Sam is very busy.

I will be helping him teach a class on homiletics this week.  That is the subject of preaching.  Then a week from today I start my class on the Theology of Ministry.  But I took time out to learn how to wash clothes African style.  Elizabeth Ngewa thought this quite funny, but wanted to put a cloth on my head and an African wrap around my body so that everyone would say, "Who is that tall African women?" 

John learns a new way to wash clothes.

But he doesn't like it and would like to hang himself on the line.

 Enough for today.  Pray for Syl on her journey home and pray for me.  You are in our prayers daily.  Out of Africa, John

Sylvia enjoys all the beautiful African flowers on campus.

John enjoys the bananas in University garden.

An ibis who has a diabolical laugh.