Highlights from Ephesians.

Yesterday we had a full day seminar (meeting) at Nkoaranga, which was the last of the meetings that had been organised for Glen Osburn on this trip.

The preacher there, Aminieli Mbise, had told Glen that he wanted Glen to preach on, "Ephesians, Ephesians, Ephesians". So that was what Glen did!

Glen and Mbise at work!

In his first session, Glen taught on Ephesians the 3rd Chapter and did a great job. The way it works here, we have a translator for all our teaching - as we cannot speak Swahili. Mbise did a wonderful job keeping up with Glen and the brethren were appreciative of his work.

After Glen had finished his first talk there followed a lively Q&A session, where the brothers asked Glen some great questions.

Glen preaching

For his second session, Glen preached on Ephesians Chapter four - dealing firstly with the 7 "ones". He ten moved on to the structure of the church starting with the apostles, prophets, then the evangelist, pastors and teaches. Again this was warmly received.

We then stopped for a short lunch break. The brethren supplied us with a bottle of soda and a bread roll. Previously they had the women cook for these meetings, but they found that the woman missed out on the teaching, so this is their solution - it works really well.

After lunch it was my turn and I taught on the Bible being the word of God, using Hebrews 1:1-2 as a basis. I was told to keep it short, so they received a "whistle stop" lesson.

It was a great day and the brethren there really showed their appreciation for our coming up the mountain. They are very good people and they LOVE Glen and Reba.

Tent Meeting

The Philips church of Christ in Arusha was happy to host a tent meeting with brother Glen Osburn

Reba and Anne at the Orphanage

While Glen and I were out doing home studies, Reba and Anne were visiting the orphans (James 1:27)

For more great photos, check out the orphanage's web page: http://www.cradleoflove.com/

House to House with Glen Osburn

Glen and Reba

We are blessed to have two of the most beloved and respected people we know with us at the moment - Glen and Reba Osburn. We have know them since 1988 - Anne was baptised by Glen and I would not have become an Evangelist without the encouragement of Glen and being able to sit at his feet and learn. Reba is a constant encouragement and a wonderful example of a faithful Christian - we love them to bits.

Since they came last Wednesday night (11.30 pm) we have been busy with studies and seminars, as well as taking a little time for ourselves.
We have visited brethren's homes and had some wonderful studies with small and large groups.

Glen taught at Nkoaranga church on Sunday and everyone was up lifted.

We have been to Arusha National Park and seen some wonderful sites.

Today we had our first seminar - this one at the Makamira church building. Glen taught on Ephesians His wonderful lessons were followed by some great questions by the men gathered.

On Friday we start a 3 day meeting here in Arusha town. We have hired a tent, so it's going to be a "Tent Meeting".  Come back here and see the updates.

Island Study - Video blog

A little bit of luxury

In Kenya the hotels are not too bad, but Anne and I were longing for a little bit if pampering. So we looked into our personal budget and decided to splurge out with a night at the famed Sameta Lodges in Ugembo (the village where the church is). It was going to cost us about $100 but when we looked around and saw the big bath (a novelty here in Africa) the large lounge area in the suite and the huge bed, we were won over. We arranged to stay there the next night.

That day I dropped Anne off as I went to the church building. They were very nice and they let her in the suite at 9.30 am, when she arrived. She spent the day relaxing, having a nap - all together well deserved.

I arrived at the lodge very tried from a very full day of teaching. The first thing that Anne told me to do was have a long soak in the bath. That was when things began to go wrong.

I started filling up the tub but before too long the water ran cold. That was when I discovered the hot water system. It held 23l or 5 gallons. That equates to one inch in the bottom of the tub. The bath was out.

We went down for dinner and waited and waited to be served. Eventually Anne went to the kitchen and told them we were waiting. The chef aroused a waitress we had not noticed. She was laying over a table in a dark corner, looking like she was asleep, but she was talking on her phone which was attached to a distant wall socket.

Each item we ordered something we were told they didn't have it. Eventually we asked what they DID have. We ended up ordering spaghetti and fish. Then the wait started. The kitchen is designed so the clients could look in (they told us this in the brochure). I wished that I couldn't. Their activity was not what I would call rushed. After a while I stopped looking. About an hour and a half later we got our food.

Never mind we said as we went up to our big suite and that lovely large bed. That was when we realised there was no mosquito net! Sure enough we spent the night hiding under the sheets as the buzzing little insects performed kamikaze tactics.

Before we left the dinning room that night they had asked what time we would like breakfast. I told them at 7.30. I headed down there at that time the next morning and found a sleepy, yawning crowd in the kitchen. I took pity on them and just asked for some milk (there was tea making facilities in the suite). They seemed to want to make up for their short comings and gave me some milk in the largest mug I have ever seen. So I took this with thanks and staggered up the stairs with about a litre of milk.

Our "little bit if luxury" was not all that we expected it to be, but Anne and I loved it. Each little "hiccough" started us giggling and sometimes laughing out loud!

I am sure that the locals here think that mazungus (white people) are crazy. At Sameta Logdes they are sure of it.