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A creepy thought shook me as we four-wheeled our way
shillings paid, through stark safari
dust in Tsavo West Park. Why must you deride us,
recusant rock hyrax, perched high,
peering insouciantly, but not near our rainbowed
hopes, our tourist dreams invested
to roam as you, lilac-breasted rollers, clad full
in seven colors, as you comb
the air for prey, while we lugubriously see
only fleeing hides, dancing
derrieres, growing my despair that it’s really
not your creaturely fear is it?
But like teenage boys in the rear of the school bus,
this is just your chance to moon us.

Water and Praises Flow in the Makueni District

I can’t figure out a way to mute my emotions. Today was simply a highlight of my life. Sixty percent of Kenya’s population lives in rural areas and half of these citizens have no access to an improved water source. For this last-mile community, hidden in the high hills of the Makueni District, water flowed today. Their future is changed. At the commissioning of this water project hundreds from the community came; a celebration erupted, praising God with unrestrained exuberance and overwhelming thankfulness.

School children’s choir singing at Program.

Another thing I can’t figure out is how will I communicate to LWR supporters how much their support is appreciated!

Tomorrow, we take a day off. Kirk Betts and the LWR board will be happy to hear this. We go on a mini-safari in the Tsavo National Park among lions, baboons, antelope, rhinos, giraffes, hippos, monkeys and 450 species of birds.

Then Sunday, I preach at the Lutheran Cathedral on Uhuru Highway back in Nairoba.

A Lesson in Irrigation from Esther

Esther Mambua. If you look closely you can see
the black hoses applying drip irrigation.

I learned a water lesson today from Esther Mambua, a spinach and kale farmer, as we visited LWR’s partner, the Kyeemwea Irrigation Water Project. Of the two ways of getting water to a crop, drip irrigation is preferable to sprinkler irrigation. By applying the water directly toward the roots, the drip method minimizes wasted water and evaporation. Since drip irrigation is more targeted, troublesome weeds don’t indirectly benefit. Weeds seem to be truly a multicultural phenomenon. Did you know that sprinklers can spread diseases and pests from one plant to the next? Thanks, Esther, for the hydrological and horticultural instruction.

Esther’s home which is adjacent to her small farm.

Two Bishops, One Mission

In the same way that the LCMS and ELCA work cooperatively in the mission of LWR, so does the ELCK and the KELC. The headquarters of these two Kenyan Lutheran church bodies provide, predictably, space for administrative offices to support the focal mission of their churches, the promulgation of the Gospel and the care for their members. That’s pretty predictable.

KELC Bishop Zachariah Kahuthu in his woodwork shop

What might be as unpredictable as it commendable is the extent to which both of these leaders are venturing into a new world of entrepreneurial projects to employ members of their community and generate new money. The KELC owns and operates a woodworking shop on the grounds of their headquarters. Jesus was, after all, also a carpenter.

John and Archbishop Obare

ELCK archbishop, Walter Obare, is the visionary behind a major downtown business complex called Luther Plaza. This state-of-the-art center is near completion. It features a 100 bay parking garage, and more than 26 000 square feet. That’s my best calculation. Please let me know if I’m off on this, Rev. John Halakhe. The rental office space includes such tenants as the Molecular Medical Laboratory, the Pakistan High Commission, an educational institute, and a restaurant.

Standing Again with Annastasia

On the drive to the LWR office here there wasn’t much detectable to me that was still broken down from murderous election violence that rocked this nation just nine months ago. The Nairobi staff meeting convened with David Rotich and Grace Gachoki, and was courteously chaired by Annastasia Katunge Mulwa, LWR’s Kenya country program manager. Her first name derives from two Greek works, ana and stasis, meaning literally “resurrection,” or in the verb form, “to stand again.” Her eyes coruscate when she describes the accompaniment process. It’s the way she shines as she relates to local communities with “something brighter than pity for the wingless ones” (Derek Walcott), to stand with them in faith until they stand again.

Planting Hope

Not only does LWR Kenya develop people, we believe also in environmental development. Note the slopes pictured behind Annastasia. Our partners take seriously how this soil has become unusable because of deforestation. Tree roots bind soil. Capricious and careless tree removal leaves the bare soil exposed to wind and rain, causing erosion, leaving the livelihood pursuits of poor, agriculturally-based communities further eroded.

David Kitheka owns and manages a tree nursery with 69,780 seedlings ready for transplanting during the rainy season. His species include: eucalyptus, cypress, grevillea rivella, robusta, and the fruit trees, kei apple, mango and passion fruit. David’s trees plant hope here.

Speaking of trees, the lavender-livid jacarandas inspire me most of all.