Today I accompanied Rev. Duncan (Gladys’ husband) to his parish outside the city. He takes care of Komothai Parish which encompasses 4 congregations. This is very common - particularly in rural areas. Some ministers have up to 14 congregations. We started the day by taking a tour of each church.
Since it was rural, we were on dirt roads all day. Since it’s the rainy season, we were plowing through mud all day. We were also in the mountain region so we conquered some steep hills too. One of them in particular was so steep that the vehicle just slid down the hill. I prayed the whole way down while I gripped my handbag for dear life. Thankfully we got where we needed to go and back safely. We had three members come in to visit with Pastor Duncan while we were in the office. One was the Women’s Guild Treasurer coming to meet with him about finances. The other visitors were much more interesting. A mother and her daughter came in to talk to Rev. Duncan. The daughter has ulcers and night terrors. They fear her afflictions are a result of her uncle’s involvement with witchcraft. The cure? Reading the Bible more frequently and casting out the evil spirits through prayer. We payed hands on the girl while Rev. Duncan prayed vigorously. After taking lunch at the church, Rev. Duncan and the Evangelist asked me if I would be interested in driving through the jungle. Looking back, I’m not sure what possessed me to say yes, but I’m glad I did. We drove up the mountain and in the last town we crossed paths with the Chief (like a county congresswoman). She hopped in the car with us and was the tour guide on our jungle adventure. Before you picture the Amazon, it was really a road in the middle of a forest. Since the Chief was with us, we got exclusive access to some roads along the route. She lead us to a dam that was beautiful! We got our and hiked around a bit. We also took plenty of selfies.
On the way back down, we stopped by the water facility. They purify water stored up behind the dam and then use it to hydrate their community. We got a special tour and learned how the system worked.
When we got back to the town outside the jungle, the Chief has us pull over on the side of the road (parking is totally not a thing) and get out of the car. She led us into a green shack where we washed our hands and sat at a table. I had no idea what was going on. Before too long, someone brought us two wooden platters. One had ugali (maize flour and water mixture) and specially cooked goat meat. Per Kikuyu culture we are with our hands. When we asked for napkins after the meal, the attendant handed us a newspaper to use to wipe our hands. This is the most Kenyan thing I’ve done so far and it was a very cool experience. Then we took a cup of tea and the Chief sent Rev. Duncan, the Evangelist, and me each with a bag of locally grown tea to take home.
On the way back to Nairobi, we stopped by the hospital to visit one of the Parish members. The member’s two year- old daughter has meningitis so we stopped to pray. This was another rural hospital meaning it did not have many amenities. In the children’s ward that we visited, there were two children (and their mothers) in each of the 12 single beds. Another humbling hospital visit... Tea, sugar cane, maize, and coffee plantations lined the scenic road though the countryside. The views were breathtaking and I savored every sight I saw.
We went back to Rev. Duncan’s house to have dinner with his family and the Ngatia family. Duncan and Gladys’ kids kept us laughing the whole meal. It was a fun family atmosphere and was a good place to finish the day. Phew, I’m exhausted! ~ Nell in Nairobi