NEWS MID JULY 2010

Dear Friends,

Rejoice - that a lady we visited has found a long lost grandson! Peris (false name) 'disappeared' about six years ago. He made no contact at all with home, we were told. Then ten days ago he travelled to Kisumu, and decided to visit his gran! Happy gran now wants him to stay, but Peris says as soon as he finds the money he wants to return to the Kenyan coast (Mombasa).

"If there really are people who aren't so jealous." said a student reflecting on what he has heard about Westerners. Jealousy (witchcraft) governs so much in life here that it is hard for him to believe that some people's lives may not be controlled by it. "He's doing well, but people keep attacking him (by evil eye)" shared a young mother of her two-month old baby with me the same afternoon. An ex-student of ours, she has already had a 'jatak' cut her baby with a razor blade to remove 'witchcraft substance' no less than four times, she told me.

"For goodness sake tell them that they should not believe what they are told." I said to a mission leader from Germany sending new workers to Kenya. I started. "Did I say that?" I thought to myself? Yes I did. Wow. Knowing what I do and having seen what I have seen, it seems crazy for a Westerner to think that they can understand what they are told by a Kenyan without interpretation. But they keep on trying; and in the process can initiate and perpetuate an endless row of bloopers. Many people do not realise how difficult it is to bridge cultural gaps.

Please continue to pray for peace for the country in the anticipated 4th of August referendum to accept or reject the new constitution. Pray for the Kima International School of Theology graduation ceremony to be on the 24th July. Eighteen students are to graduate. KIST exams are next week. We expect some visitors to join us from Tanzania who will help us to close the Yala and Siaya schools the following week.

Jim