News for End of September 2004
"Don’t try and make money" says Catechist.
A Christian catechist given opportunity to share with a small group of believers advised them not to bother trying to open a business or find other means to make an income for themselves or their family. It is better, they were told, just to pray and wait. This is because there are these days so many white people coming to Kenya with the intention of leaving money, that they are more likely to make a good living in this way. You don’t even have to ask the white people for money, but they just give it. Trying to make an income for yourself is wasting time, he said.
Give thanks and Pray
Our three new teachers at Yala are so far proving extremely enthusiastic. Such is a great encouragement to the rest of us. Pray that this continue. They begin actually teaching next week (for the first two weeks they accompanied an experienced teacher).
No Food
"My little girl is never quiet" I was told by this mother. "Every night she hardly sleeps, but is constantly asking me for food. ‘Mum, can I have some food please. I am hungry. I want to eat some rice. Please give me some food mummy. Why can’t I have something to eat?’ she keeps saying." This little girl got sick, probably with malaria. When I arrived I found her mum giving her some medicine from a bottle. I advised mum to buy a packet of rice and to feed her daughter. "So maybe I need to do that, and just give her a little bit?" responded mum. Her brother in law meanwhile was convinced that the little girl, so emaciated that she could not even stand up at this stage, needed an x-ray. The little girl was nibbling at an un-ripe mango with salt. It looks as if mum never did buy her any food. The little girl (aged 5) died and was buried on 23.9.4.
More than Ever!
Two young men turning up on the very last day on which it is possible for us to register new students, means that KIST has again broken all previous records, in having one more registered student that we had in the May to July term! The total now stands at 107.
Successful Presentation
Despite strikes in universities around the country, and a rather hesitant professor at the other end of the phone on the morning of 23rd September, my seminar presentation at Maseno University went well. Attended by about 10 lecturers from the university, mostly from the faculty of Kiswahili and African languages, I shared from my research on how language usage in Africa differs from that in UK, and how this makes mutual understanding particularly difficult. The Maseno scholars seemed happy to accept my conclusions, and provided a number of additional helpful insights.
Please Pray
Please pray for us also at KIST in the light of our expanding research programme. We are arranging a number of research seminars amongst our staff, given that we now have a total of four people doing research degrees plus a student-researcher. Pray also for 9th October on which date we intend to visit Siaya town in the hope of opening a theological school there.
Jim