NEWS END OF AUGUST 2012

Dear Friends,

I was shocked to receive a report a few days ago that a Kenyan friend of mine who was living and working in Garissa in Kenya has been killed by Al-Qaida. (The report I have received is that either he was gunned down or bombed, while at his sewing machine on the roadside.) I am sure that we only hear a small part of all that is going on in the battle with Somalia. Pray for peace in Kenya and the East African region as a whole.

I am VERY GRATEFUL to the anonymous donor who has contributed £5,000 towards the cost of publishing books that I am and have been writing. This covers all debts on books I have already published, and will ease the publication of future texts. (Because this money is designated to book publishing, it does not do away with the income shortfall of my general fund.)

I have now moved my office from the Anglican compound of St. Phillips to the Coptic Orthodox compound, also in Maseno (2 miles closer to home than St. Phillips). I have received a very warm welcome here from Egyptian missionaries. Many Egyptians are serving here at the hospital. I have already been very impressed by their dedication, humility, and prayer life. They have given me a one-room ground floor apartment right next to the hospital, with an en suite bathroom. They tell me a larger place may become available in a few months. There is a backup system for electricity, so power cuts should not be a problem. I am invited to share in all meals in the communal dining room when I am here. See here and here for more information about the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Although my Tanzanian colleague only stays with me a few weeks per year, his being African has him fit into my local community amazingly quickly. I discover that we Brits have some deeply ingrained inhibitions; like the desire not to ‘impose yourself’ onto people. Hence we are reluctant to openly share God’s word with people until we have first been ‘granted permission’. My colleague’s polite impositions seem to be appreciated everywhere. Another feature that characterises his expounding of the Scriptures is his assumption that prayers produce prosperity (what we in the West call the Prosperity Gospel) and his orientation to the driving away of demons. Pray that I learn helpful lessons from the time I have spent with Munde, who returned to Tanzania yesterday.

The annual convention of my home church is currently going on in Kisumu. I am attending for two of the three days. 'The glory of God' has so far been a recurring theme.

Best wishes,

Jim