Last night, Pastor George, Mama Faith, and I went to have dinner with Rev. Alfred Mugendi Kanga. He is currently serving as the Deputy Secretary General of the PCEA. Rev. Alfred was somehow connected to the CTS Office of Contextual Education (aka the people who arranged this internship) and was the one who placed me in Kahawa Sukari for this internship. I can now officially say I've met all three of the major leaders of this denomination.
This morning I attended my last staff fellowship and it was a worship day (aka my favorite). Instead of a lesson, the Music Director lead us in praise and worship. I also had a brief opportunity to say goodbye to the staff which was a little sad. The goodbyes are coming quickly now and I'm not ready for it. In recent weeks, I've consistently been having good days and I'm finally content (happy, even) to be here. This has been a blessing because it will help frame this experience in a positive way.
I spent most of the day working in the office. I did worship planning for this week's service, worked on my sermon, began working on final paperwork for CTS, and prepared lessons for PPI this Friday. Fortunately it was very productive!
I spent the evening with Rev. Esther Waineina at Kenyatta University. She is the PCEA Chaplain and I was able to attend worship with the students. Their final exams are next week so that had a "small turnout" of 700 students. The have a wonderful problem in the Student Union.... the chapel is too small to fit the students so they gather in a lecture hall. Almost the entire thing is student lead and it was a blessing to take part in. There was a praise band, choir, and a preacher who was hand selected by the students.
On the way home, we had some time to chat about what it is like for her to be a woman in ministry in the PCEA. She's been ordained since 2000 (and was the 13th to be ordained in the PCEA), but shared that there is still so much growth needed. The bottom line is that there is still a glass ceiling looming over the heads of women ministers in the PCEA and their treatment as colleagues in ministry is less than satisfactory. Rev. Esther has overcome many struggles and was such an inspiration to spend time with. She left me with these words of wisdom: "Women ministers fight to become like men but we shouldn't do that. As women in ministry we must embrace our femininity and be ourselves in the pulpit. In doing so, we will be pushed, tossed, and crushed but if we remain steadfast in our faith, God will pave the way for us."
~ Nell in Nairobi