Visit from Home Church and Kitale Golf
Friday, January 13, 2006
The Mission Team from Colonial Church of Edina (my home church) arrived last evening. It was great to see Greg and Deb Snell, Jeff Lindsay, Naida Grussing-Nietzel, Joyce Schwartz, Suzie Berge, Dick and Kit Schmoker and Connie (????). With the team was a young woman named Allison from Victoria, BC.They came in tired from their nine-hour car/van ride and a little sleep deprived. It was great to see them.
We ate at the Pinewood Restaurant and this time, knowing the chef’s abilities, I ordered chicken curry (medium spice). The fellowship around the long table was fun with John and Karen Masonic, two ICM students and Kibii and Esther Maiyo with us for the evening.
Deb Snell has a heart for those who are facing hard times and in Africa, friends in this condition are easy to find. Deb invited one of her friends whose wife currently is suffering from AIDS and who makes his income from selling carved soapstone.. Many on the Colonial team bought several items from this man.
Allison, Kit and Dick joined me in the Founder’s Cottage while the rest of the team were housed next door.
Deb Snell came by at 7 a.m. today. She had bought groceries for the whole team. She gave directions and I assisted in the kitchen.
At 7:45 a.m. I left for class. Our worship has been outstanding each day with joyful singing and a different student sharing from the Word. Today, just prior to our break at 9:30 a.m. for chapel, the Colonial Team stopped in. After introductions, I invited Jeff to share a word of greeting and a prayer. Then I asked the students to share a song and a prayer for this mission team.
While we were in the same place, the team from my home church had a separate mission from my own. They left that morning to visit communities at the base of Mt. Elgon to observe and participate in the ministries of John and Karen Masonic. Karen runs a Moms In Touch Ministry with 15 chapters. The women in the groups prayed and shared a testimony with our mission team and our team shared some of their experiences as Christian parents in the USA.
Meanwhile back at the ranch… I was picked up at 2 p.m. by John Mbugua, a local insurance executive with Royal Insurance, for a round of golf at the Kitale Club. This is a well-laid out course with grass in dormancy during the dry season. A well struck ball will run like it was landing on a very rough slate pool table. While the greens were extremely slow for putting they would not hold a ball that came in high, so all the pitch shots had to land 10-20 yards in front of the green.
My round was nothing to write home about, but there was one unusual local feature. On the 10th green there were at least 50 monkeys! They were eating fruit from a nearby tree and just hanging out. I got some good video.
The Golf Captain at the club invited me to return the next day for the Chairman’s Tournament, an invitation I could not turn down. I had dinner with John Mbugua at the club and came home late.
The Mission Team from Colonial Church of Edina (my home church) arrived last evening. It was great to see Greg and Deb Snell, Jeff Lindsay, Naida Grussing-Nietzel, Joyce Schwartz, Suzie Berge, Dick and Kit Schmoker and Connie (????). With the team was a young woman named Allison from Victoria, BC.They came in tired from their nine-hour car/van ride and a little sleep deprived. It was great to see them.
We ate at the Pinewood Restaurant and this time, knowing the chef’s abilities, I ordered chicken curry (medium spice). The fellowship around the long table was fun with John and Karen Masonic, two ICM students and Kibii and Esther Maiyo with us for the evening.
Deb Snell has a heart for those who are facing hard times and in Africa, friends in this condition are easy to find. Deb invited one of her friends whose wife currently is suffering from AIDS and who makes his income from selling carved soapstone.. Many on the Colonial team bought several items from this man.
Allison, Kit and Dick joined me in the Founder’s Cottage while the rest of the team were housed next door.
Deb Snell came by at 7 a.m. today. She had bought groceries for the whole team. She gave directions and I assisted in the kitchen.
At 7:45 a.m. I left for class. Our worship has been outstanding each day with joyful singing and a different student sharing from the Word. Today, just prior to our break at 9:30 a.m. for chapel, the Colonial Team stopped in. After introductions, I invited Jeff to share a word of greeting and a prayer. Then I asked the students to share a song and a prayer for this mission team.
While we were in the same place, the team from my home church had a separate mission from my own. They left that morning to visit communities at the base of Mt. Elgon to observe and participate in the ministries of John and Karen Masonic. Karen runs a Moms In Touch Ministry with 15 chapters. The women in the groups prayed and shared a testimony with our mission team and our team shared some of their experiences as Christian parents in the USA.
Meanwhile back at the ranch… I was picked up at 2 p.m. by John Mbugua, a local insurance executive with Royal Insurance, for a round of golf at the Kitale Club. This is a well-laid out course with grass in dormancy during the dry season. A well struck ball will run like it was landing on a very rough slate pool table. While the greens were extremely slow for putting they would not hold a ball that came in high, so all the pitch shots had to land 10-20 yards in front of the green.
My round was nothing to write home about, but there was one unusual local feature. On the 10th green there were at least 50 monkeys! They were eating fruit from a nearby tree and just hanging out. I got some good video.
The Golf Captain at the club invited me to return the next day for the Chairman’s Tournament, an invitation I could not turn down. I had dinner with John Mbugua at the club and came home late.
posted by Glenn Barth at 6:19 AM
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