Gathering. Kenya Day Three. June 13, 2024

Thur

It has been cold and the bugs have come indoors looking for warmth. It has not been bad, no mosquitoes, nothing that stings, just these comical hoppers.

We were up early for our 6:30 AM prayer and connect meeting. We were given a revised schedule which was a surprise. Our 90-minute slot had been cut to a 60-minute slot. The problem was that our 60 minutes began after the tea break. Nobody will be ready on time. We knew we would start 10 minutes late. They also asked us to dismiss early so that we could send the group on the next item on the schedule. So now our slot was 40 minutes. Also, we were asked to make the session interactive and reserve half of the time for Q & A. We were down to 20 minutes.

Our team met and regrouped. I sent them on to worship and reshuffled and compressed our talk to get it to the desired length.

After completing that assignment I met with Mark Anderson the leader of call2all and we talked about Finishing the Task and how he thought we might be able to help. It was a great conversation. We then went and planted some trees in the compound as a memorial of the conference.

Our session was next and it was in a break-out tent. The technology worked well. And we rushed through the material as fast as we could, but with an eye to understanding. We covered less ground more deeply. It went very well and we left with a challenge for the participants to go deeper with us on the journey.

I then had lunch with Brian Alarid, Eric, and Dr. Master Matlhaope, the leader of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa.

Dr. Master and I connected over my new partners of the BWA Wissam and Everton.

After lunch, I went to my room and began to pack to be ready to leave early the next day. We said goodbye to our friend Eric who was heading home early.

Then Brian and I traveled to Nairobi to meet with Elijah Wanje at the Ridgeways Baptist Church. Elijah is a VP of the Baptist World Alliance and I wanted the chance to meet him and connect.

When I arrived, Jane Mwangi, President of the Baptist Women's Union of Africa, was waiting for me. She had heard I would be in town and came to meet me. It was such an honor. We had just a couple of minutes because the study groups were waiting for us, but we were able to get a quick photo.

Brian gave a talk to the small group leaders of the church and talked about the B.L.E.S.S. strategy. The talk was great and then the leaders needed to leave to join the evening worship.

Pastor Elijah took us to a nearby restaurant and we got to share our stories. After a lovely evening, it was time for me to head back to the conference center. It is about 30 km from the church and a driver was arranged for my transport. The evening, however, did not go as planned. The dinner ran late, the driver would not drive at that time. Brian's assistant got an Uber to do the job. I got a message that the driver had arrived. I went to the small parking lot to jump in the car, but there was no driver. After a series of messages, he was discovered at the church. He came to the restaurant. Then he asked for more money to make the drive. Then he said that he was 'scared' to drive me back to the retreat center.

Pastor Elijah sent him on his way a went to plan B.

The church drivers would take us all to the airport. It was 30 km in the other direction. They would then drive me the 60 km back to the retreat center before they went home. It was a huge blessing. We had a great conversation on the way to the airport. Pastor Elijah and I talked about Southwestern Seminary (he attended at the same time that I attended). We talked about church, life, calling, and the future. A long dark ride is a great vehicle for closeness, openness, and sharing.

I arrived back about 11 PM and went straight to sleep.