News for Mid October 2004

Siaya Theological Centre is born!
(despite slaughtered bulls)

A meeting in Siaya town (20 miles from my home in Yala, deep in Luo-land) on 9.10.04 between a small team from Yala and about 12 local pastors resulted in the birth of "Siaya Theological Centre". Our next proposd meeting is 6th November 2004 at which date we hope a committee will be selected to lead this school, at which we hope teaching is to begin in January 2005. The school is to be modeled on Yala Theological Centre, with which I have worked for the last 11 years. (Teachers will also initially come from Yala.) This is a model designed for teaching in a contextualised way, with the bare minimum of outside inputs. It will also, at least initially, take advantage of the facilities of a commercial school already running in Siaya, under a very helpful Christian brother.

The reason our attendance of pastors was not better, we were told, was because there were some white preachers in town who had slaughtered two bulls to ensure that all who attended their meeting were well fed. We had no money or food to offer.

Pray - for me to use wisdom in considering whether to offer refuge to more orphan children in my home here in Ahono village. This must depend on whether some older children will leave, and particularly the degree of commitment that I have from the ladies helping me.

Pray - for one of our YTC teachers who has been given sick-leave to seek treatment for what is almost certainly leprosy.

Pray - for our clerk at Yala Theological Centre who hurt herself in a bicycle accident on Monday 4th October. She followed me too closely, got her front spokes into my bike stand and landed on the ground. As I send this email she seems to be pretty much recovered - so give thanks!

Pray - for my turn to preach at KIST on 14th October. It is always difficult to preach to theological college students!

Pray - for my proposed time working with the Church of God in Tanzania, from 14th to 28th December 2004. This will be in the Babati area, 3 hours drive South from Arusha.

Its Percussion time!

After reading Psalm 150 here at home, we decided it would be good to follow Scriptural principle and have some accompaniment to our singing at home. So, we have home made rattles galore, whistles of various ingenious designs, musical spoons, serration, singing bottles and you name it! I have cheated a bit, and whereas everyone else has made their instruments from throwaways, I have made mine with a biycle spoke that cost me 2p but has a wonderful ring to it!

Jim