Safari!

By Tina

So after the work of teaching, it was time for a bit of Rest and Relaxation. Some have you have seen the pictures posted on Facebook, but if you didn't take the Facebook class (just kidding, we didn't offer one) you haven't seen them, so here are a few of my favorite pictures.

We flew out and landed on the dirt runway about 5 minutes from the resort we were staying at.



Name of the Lodge--

Each of these little huts was a room.

We went on a short drive just after getting there, and another drive before supper. (Below is a picture of the other van taking a picture of a Thompson Gazelle)

Cape Horn Buffalo

Male Impala

Mother Zebra and Baby (we saw lots of babies)

We went on one night drive as storms were coming in--the clouds were so impressive!

Acacia Tree

A Topy ("Another Deer like creature")

Friday morning we went out on a super long drive (5 hours). We got to see elephants, hippos and lions up close.

...and a giraffe from a distance.

Both nights we got rain--which really was a blessing, the area is suffering from a severe drought. But this made driving around on the dirt roads tricky. We got stuck once on Friday and then had even more problems with our early morning Saturday drive. Both vans got stuck.

The guys had to get out and help push.

We were finally free and most thought we weren't even going to go out. But our drivers had other ideas and kept going. We got to see more lions and our first close up of a giraffe.

The lions had just finished eating and were rather sleepy.

We saw these two looking up but they had laid down by the time we got closer. Someone said "You should throw a rock at them" and our driver actually handed Ed a rock. He didn't throw it out the window, no, he opened up the door, got out and then threw it! (The driver told him to not do that again).

...but it did work, and we got the picture we wanted! :)

This guy walked right next to us, and had 4 members of his family hidden in the trees.

It was an amazing time. We all loved seeing more of God's creation up close. We enjoyed the bonding time of being in the vans together--there was lots of laughing during those times. By Saturday though, we were ready to be done and head home. We did all enjoy Saturday night at the Carnivore with our host families, and one more day with them on Sunday. But we were (almost) all happy to be heading home.

More Proof Of Work

Some were feeling bad their only pictures on the blog were of them not working. So, here is some more photographic proof of work:


Did we mention the computer teaching room was small?



Proof that no matter where you go, all IT rooms look the same (grave yards for dead computers).

Mary

This was written by Polly. I added a few pictures I had taken of Mary's work. Tina

Mary lives just outside the NEGST property with her children. She came from the Sudan as a refugee. She has nine children of her own, one of whom is still missing. In addition, she's taken in three orphans. Mary is amazing. Her business is rolling beads from magazines to make beautiful jewelry to sell. She not only supports her family, but uses her ministry to help single mothers with AIDS and Nairobi street boys. She openly and willingly teaches them how to roll the beads and pays them for their work. She's got such a strong ethic, requiring that they commit to learning skills and working hard. No handouts, as that doesn't help them help themselves. But she's always willing to share her last shillings to have juice or lunch for them when they come to bring her the beads or roll them.

Mary is friends with a woman here at NEGST, Christy, who is our on campus contact for vacation Bible school. Christy told us that Mary was worried this month about how she would be able to the next tuition payment for her children (three are currently in school), as all the Christmas orders for beads had been filled and January was a slow selling month. So, we had Mary come to show us her beads. They're beautiful!!!!! She has a gift for taking something ordinary and making it extraordinary. We bought lots of jewelry from her. I wanted to keep buying just so that I could help her as much as possible.

When I had made my purchases, I paid her. My purchases had come to 3,850 Kenyan shillings, about $50. I gave her 4,000 shillings and said, "No change." She looked me in the eyes and took my hand and said, "It's time to pray." We joined hands, Mary, her friend Florence and three of my teammates, and she prayed for us. I was so profoundly humbled. Mary, who is a Sudanese refugee whose husband was murdered in front of her and her children, who was cut by knives by rebels, who came very close to starving to death, who has nine children and a heart for helping those who have nothing … she prayed for us and thanked God that He has brought us to Kenya in her time of financial need when she'd been praying about how to buy food for her family. Mary, who loves the Lord, depends on him wholly to provide for her, who even lived in a church (God's house) when she had no home of her own. Mary, who believes in "sucking it up" (my words, not her's, although I think you get the picture) and depending wholly on God. Mary, who opened her heart to us to share her story of oppression and survival. Joyous, laughing Mary, prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and praise to God. That's a powerful prayer, my friends. I'm privileged and honored and humbled to have met her.



The women of the team looking at Mary's beads.

We're Back!

We made it home after several long days of travel. We're still going to try to update the blog with more pictures and thoughts of our trip. Thanks for checking it out!

A River Adventure

We (Ed & Carol) were able to spend the weekend with our friends David & Patience. We first met David in 2000 when a team from Nairobi Chapel came to Indiana to do the weekend worship service at Grace. David stayed with us for about a week. We have been close friends since and this is our third visit to Kenya and David has been to the US to visit us once. On Saturday, we went upcountry with David to visit with his mom. We had a very nice lunch that his sister had prepared. Then David suggested we go for a walk down to the river that runs through his mom’s farm. The first part of the path was okay, then it took a sharp turn downwards. It was very steep and difficult to keep your footing. As we came into a small clearing, David announced that we were at the river. Now, I expected to see a river, or at least water. The only way I knew there was water was a small trickling sound. As we were making fun of David & his “river”, I snapped the following photo:

On Sunday, we went to Nairobi Chapel and enjoyed an inspiring sermon by Pastor Oscar. We went to an afternoon concert at Nairobi Pentacostal Church to introduce a new CD from Reuben Kigame. David had played guitar with Reuben when he was first starting out. The music was wonderful, very worshipful. I looked over and Ed had tears running down his face, even though all the words were in Swahili. We returned to the guest house where we were staying and were greeted with hugs by Lynette & Teresa – it was like coming home.

VBS Fun

Here are some from the VBS Friday while we played with the kids. Friday is typically Sports Day so we joined in on the fun. First we gave them all the donations people had given to the school. The school has been teaching the kids to pray for their needs and wanted to use this as an example of how God provides.


Then the kids had Warm-up time. This is led by a former soccer player. He takes the kids through an intense warm-up (wore me out at least!). Look at him jumping!

Then the kids were taught Dodge ball by two American volunteers that are here for 2 months. They’d already promised to do this before we got there and we didn’t want to have them break that. That was SO funny to watch! I don't think any child ever got the idea of being "out", they kept throwing the balls back and forth. When they were done, we gave the kids some plastic toy frogs that jump when you push on the back. The kids thought they were so funny!

Weekend Update

Ahh, we need to catch you guys up! The sporadic internet issues are making updating this challenging. While we usually have a great connection from 8-about 8:30, it seems like other people have figured this out and started coming to campus early! So, once again internet is slow and making getting to this blog rather difficult.

Everyone seemed to have a very good weekend with their host families. I’m hoping to get a few short paragraphs from others describing what they did. James and I went to visit friends of ours who are missionaries here, and you can read about it at our personal blog: www.the-miles.org

Monday was another day of training and VBS…it’s fallen into a rather predictable pattern, at least until tomorrow. We all came back to the guest house very tired though. Today we are going to train all day and then we get to go to eat dinner at a student’s house (so yes, a long day). If you can, pray for strength for all of us this evening (which will be morning/mid-day your time).

Tomorrow is our last day of classes, and those are in the morning. Then we’ll spend some time taking tea with various people here and get ready to start packing up for our safari.

Weekend Away

Friday was a very interesting day...no one showed up to our morning classes, and our afternoon classes were very light. So we had a relaxing day. After the last class we headed back to our guest house to grab our bags. This weekend we're all staying with various host families from Nairobi Chapel. This is stretching most of us out of our comfort zone as we venture out with just one or two team members to different people's houses. Posting will not happen over the weekend while we're away, but we'll work to get more up for you in the next week. The next weeks classes look rather full so we'll be very busy! Thank you all for your prayers, and please keep them coming!

Tina, for all

We Do Actually Work Here...Maybe

VBS with the children of the NEGST students (Their School is on the NEGST campus). We had a great time playing with them--but is this really work?

Teaching Classes--This is where the real work is going on! (And I don't know why this won't let me put it further down...I am not a blogger expert, even if I just taught someone how to use it!)

(It is a very tiny and hot room)

Resting after classes:

January 22 Curious to Know God?

It is January 22 and we are in full swing with our computer training at NEGST. Today will be a full day of computer training. Tina Miles and the VBS team will be entertaining the children at NEGST with games, songs, and some special gifts. We have been encouraged at the number of students participating in training classes.

This blog will also be used to answer student questions after we return to the USA.

As I read today's meditation, I thought it applies in many ways to our team, except for the rest part as many on the team are still experiencing jet lag.

And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
—Exodus 33:14-15

In what I have to say I may not be joined by any ground swell of public opinion, but I have a charge to make against the Church. We are not consciously aware of God in our midst. We do not seem to sense the tragedy of having almost completely lost the awareness of His presence.
I do not say that to condemn. I say it with a grieving spirit. I pray that the churches in this day may yet reap the joys and fruits of gracious revival and the deep inward awareness of God's presence.

Revival and blessing come to the Church when we stop looking at a picture of God and look at God Himself. Revival comes when, no longer satisfied just to know about a God in history, we meet the conditions of finding Him in living, personal experience....

Modern mankind can go everywhere, do everything and be completely curious about the universe. But only a rare person now and then is curious enough to want to know God.

Tozer on the Almighty God: A 366-Day Devotional.

Touring

Our tour of the Kazuri Bead Factory:

Beads that have been made drying in the sun. They will be fired overnight and then be glazed.

The finished products.

The guest house where we're staying. Sorry the pictures and text are all wonky here--I don't have the time to play around with trying to make it look better. We hope you enjoyed a bit of what we're seeing!

Sights We're Seeing

The sign greeting us at the airport & the loads of luggage 14 people manage to bring.

Touring NEGST & enjoying the warm sunshine.

We Are Here!

Late, late, late Monday night we arrived in Kenya. Well, we arrived at 8:30…we did not find the Guest House we are staying at until about 1:30. Most of us slept VERY well that night.

Tuesday was a slow day to help us get adjusted to the time change. We slept in, then got a tour of NEGST. After lunch several of our team members stayed on campus for a meeting, the rest of us got to tour the Kazuri Bead Factory. We enjoyed seeing how these unique beads are hand made.

Wednesday was our first day of teaching. This was a challenged as the campus and surrounding area kept losing power. The generator ended up overheating. Internet was coming in and out (so we are VERY sorry we did not get in contact with some of you and for the delay in updating).

Today, Thursday, looks to be a long day. We are teaching all day, starting VBS today and having an open lab from 9-11. Please pray for strength for all the team members as well as for improving health. We’ve had a few people have a few issues (and I don’t feel comfortable sharing their issues here—I’ll let them decide if they want to or not). Internet is doing better this morning, so we hope to get some pictures up as well! Thank you all for your interest and your prayers!

Tina, for all

January 13th, The Secret Garden

Dear NEGST team,

As we approach our time in Kenya, I would encourage any of you that want to share your thoughts on the daily meditations, to take the time to post your thoughts to our blog site.

Tina, thanks for posting. This site can be used as a public journal to express what you are experiencing as you process before, during, and after this trip. You can be anonymous or post with your name. Unlike today's meditation our blog is a public reflection of your "inner secret garden". I would encourage each of you to come here often for reflection of what you are experiencing. You may be surprised that many of your teammates are feeling many of the same things.

JANUARY 13 The Secret Garden
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and
his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
—Genesis 3:8
However we may explain this mysterious "ground" within us, we will not have been long in the Christian way until we begin to experience it. We will find that we have within us a secret garden where no one can enter except ourself and God.... This secret inner chamber is the secret trysting place for Christ and the believing soul; no one among all our dearest friends has the open sesame that will permit him to enter there. If God is shut out, then there can be only everlasting loneliness and numb despair.
Where God is not known in the inner shrine, the individual must try to compensate for his sense of aloneness in whatever way he can. Most persons rush away to the world to find companionship and surround themselves with every kind of diversionary activity. All devices for killing time, every shallow scheme for entertainment, are born out of this inner loneliness. It is a significant and revealing fact that such things have in these last days grown into billion-dollar enterprises! So much will men pay to forget that they are a temple without a God, a garden where no voice is heard in the cool of the day.
Tozer on the Almighty God: A 366-Day Devotional.


Ed Fischer
Qwest Communications
Global Account Manager
Government and Education Solutions
410-694-4745 MD Office
443-962-0915 Cellular
304-257-4669 WV Office
blocked::mailto:edwin.fischer@qwest.com

Direction from Vice Chancellor of NEGST

Dr. Carew,

Thank you for providing the vision and push for this project, and for getting in contact with Ed. It is exciting to get a chance to work on such a project from the beginning. To re-state a bit what is in your last email, it may be helpful to think about the different parts of the site from an audience perspective.

I have been involved in building two public internet sites, and can offer assistance in that area. My previous experience is mainly in “ergonomics” (making things easy to find with few clicks, streamlined design that is not distracting and that doesn’t require a lot of scrolling, etc) and in writing.

I have not worked much at all with intranet sites, especially with the technical functionalities there, but I look forward to learning more about it from Ed.

Public Internet site, audience is everyone. Site managed by C&D, in coordination especially with IT and admissions:
Pretty photos revolving on front page
News: student, alumni, faculty, program updates, donor and other news. All news can be compiled once per month into an e-newsletter, to which people can subcribe.
Submit a news item function (especially for alumni news)
Search the site function
Online donation function
Fund development information
Admissions, including online application forms, submission of application forms, housing application
Information about us: location, vision, mission, statement of faith, descriptions of all academic programs, information about extension and on-campus cohorts, faculty information, student life information
Manage membership in the website: as an alumni, current student, donor and sign up to receive specific news items

Members-only sub-sites, not seen by the general public:

Current student site. Once put in place, sites managed by academic and administrative personnel, with strong IT involvement:
E-Learning and distance learning
E-mail access, even for off-campus students
Online access to grades, records, financial statements
Online course registration
Library access: opac etc.
Payment of fees
Student Council info

Alumni site. Managed by C&D. :
Set up alumni groups by region, by topic of study, search of alumni, edit profile (current job position, etc). I don’t know what privacy laws in Kenya or other countries may have an effect on this.
Make a donation function (again)

?? Donor site. Managed by C&D in coordination with the VC’s office.
Special updates on how the projects funded by donors are progressing. Vision for new projects—more detailed information given than what is on the general site.

Administrative site. Once in place, each section managed by the respective administrative team:
Integrated Management Information System
Each administrative function can provide specifications as to what additional online functions are needed for their department. (Given the small numbers of staff in each department, I would guess that these will be somewhat minimal and could be handled by a normal local area network, other than what is already mentioned above as services for the other audiences. Unless we start having staff working at other locations.)

Thanks again,

Subject: Web site

Here are some of my off-hand thoughts on what functions I would like to see on the website.

Douglas

Dynamic rather than static site
E-Learning
Distance learning
Fund development and online donations
Student Service: Online access to grades, records, financial statements
Online Course registration
Alumni services
Recruitment: Online application forms, submission of application forms;
Admissions
Integrated Management Information System
Marketing and Recruitment
Library access: opac etc.
External (off-campus) access to services through a secure portal: library, emails, etc.
Housing application
Site to register presence and provide services for internal and external publics
Fees payment

Divide into different functions: Academic; Administrative; Student Services; Communication and Development


Vice-Chancellor
Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology
P. O. Box 24686
Karen, 00502
Nairobi, Kenya
www.negst.edu

Getting Ready

I know Ed wanted all of us to get this o' blog a try out before we went--and I'm willing to be the first to take the plunge. (The water is fine guys, come on in!)

I'd have to say I'm still in disbelief that we're leaving in just over a week. I'm at the point where the lists are starting to get made (and getting rather long) and a tiny bit of panic is trying to come in. I can't help but think "What are we doing?!?" Between leaving 2 kids behind and heading up a VBS, I am stepping WAY out of my comfort zone. (I have traveled overseas before, I'm really looking forward to that part.) So, I just keep asking for prayer. Prayer for clear heads, for peace, for the ability to be adaptable & laid back (But not so laid back nothing gets done) and for safety and health. (So many things are going around right now, I've been thankful for the bubble of health God has already blessed us with and I pray it'll stay.)

I'm looking forward to using this to tell you about our days and posting lots of pictures for you to see (I'm a visual learner and love to show things...I feel I ramble too much with words and bore everyone.) We look forward to sharing this trip with you--thank you all for your prayers and keeping up on our adventures!

January 5th Devotional

Dear NEGST team,

Do you begin and end your day with prayer? It is the perfect opportunity to communicate with God to seek direction for the day in the morning and forgiveness at the end of the day. With 13 days to departure, I would encourage you to journal today on prayer, your direct line to God. How does prayer shape your personal, family, spiritual, educational, and business lives.

JANUARY 5
Determine to Find Him

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. —Psalm 5:3

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.

Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.
If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity.

Tozer on the Almighty God: A 366-Day Devotional.