Meeting a Colleague and a Few Pictures

Today we had the Leadership Training Seminar with EAFC students and alumni at NIST (Nairobi International School of Theology). Val Vickery did most of the teaching, but I did a few sessions on poverty, holistic development, and the work of the Chalmers Center. I was excited to have Carlos Chege join me for some of the training. Carlos is a member of the Chalmers Global Fellowship of Trainers, a group of people all around the world who are certified to teach Chalmers training in their communities. There are more GFT members in Eastern Africa than anywhere else, and I was excited to introduce the EAFC students and alumni to the Chalmers' economic development strategies, and then be able to put them in contact with someone who is here permanently and who can assist in training in the future. Carlos is a distance-learning instructor for Chalmers in addition to working full-time with CMS-Africa (not to be confused with the CMS of Peru Mission), a missions equipping and sending agency based in Nairobi.

Carlos and I on the campus of NIST.

I also downloaded my pictures from yesterday, and here are a few of my favorites:

The church plant of James, an EAFC scholarship student where I attended church yesterday.

Nelson (nephew of EAFC country coordinator, Onesimus) praying for the children of the church with Pastor James before they are dismissed to their class.

I was so impressed with the work James has done. The church is only a year and a half old and is a very poor neighborhood, yet they own their building and all the furniture and equipment inside, have a few elders, a women's ministry, a children's ministry, a music ministry, and an outreach ministry to take care of the poor and needy in their community. What a blessing to see the Lord at work around the world, using His people to build the church and minister the Gospel.

After lunch, Onesimus, Nelson, and Onesimus' grandson took me to the Nairobi National Park.

I was down looking at this cheetah at the Animal Orphanage when our tour guide said "let me see if I can get you a better picture." Next thing I know....

...we're in the cage with a few of them!! They didn't seem to mind at all and were calm and let us pet them.Feeding a monkey...I didn't break any "don't feed the animals" rules. Our tour guide said it was ok to give him a few peanuts.

Hey there!

The ostrich checking us out.


And my favorite...
Sorry if this is too touristy, but Onesimus and Nelson were excited (as was I) about getting a picture of me with some Maasai men inside the national park. They all stood around me, then two of them grabbed my hands and they all started jumping. The Maasai are famous for their "jumping dance" which I found quite entertaining. (Oh, and check out their shoes- they're identical to the recycled tire shoes Peruvian campesinos wear!)