Kenya 2

So I'm a bit behind in posting more pictures from my trip Kenya a few weeks. But here they are!

The Students watching class.

Ugali!

This is Artimecia. Its a herb that helps you if you get sick. It even helps you with Malaria.

The AFOCE-Europe Kenya Class!

The Hotel room where I stayed.

Cooked bananas!

The Kenyan Dish Washer

The Road to the AFCOE-Europe Kenya Extension.

The Kitchen!

Karibu Kenya

       So its a bit overdue for me to write a blog post about Kenya. (Actually its a bit overdue for me to write any blog post at all) But better late than never.
       A few weeks ago I was blessed and privileged with the opportunity to go to Kenya for a week. Why Kenya? Well, as many of you already know I have been working together with AFCOE (Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism)-Europe for the past couple of months as one of the staff there. Now starting this course (Mid-February) AFCOE-Europe has started an extension of the classes here in Kenya. They did this because many people in Africa are longing to be trained as missionaries and come to a school like AFCOE-Europe, but are not able to because of how difficult it is to get a visa for Africans. So now there is an extension of AFCOE-Europe in Rongo, Kenya and this is where I went and spent a week.
       The reason I went was to see what needs they had there, and to make sure things were running well, as well as to talk with the Evangelist who is overseeing the project down there and see how we can best support the project there. Then I would bring back a detailed report with me to Germany.

        But enough of why I went. Here's what happened when I went:
 

Here is one of the first sights I saw in Kenya: the Rift Valley. I flew into Nairobi and were I was picked up by Evangelist Jared Oreto who is overseeing the project in Kenya. We then made our journey to Rongo by car, which took about 6-7 hours. Nairobi is up on a plateau, and this picture is taken when we were coming down from the plateau overlooking the valley.

This is Jared Oreto, he is an Evangelist in kenya and he has his own ministry there in Rongo called Revival Time Ministry. His ministry does a number of things from preaching, to singing, to putting messages on the radio, to selling books at a little shop in Rongo. This is really a man of faith and God is really blessing his efforts there.

This was about the most exotic wildlife I saw in Kenya. There were a few of them by the road waiting for handouts of fruit and vegetables. And no there aren't elephants and lions running around everywhere, they are just in the big game parks so I didn't get to see any of them.

When you first get into the rift valley it is very dry. Its very hard to find water there, especially since they havn't had rain for 3 months. Then when the dry period is over they will get more rain that they know what to do with.

The closer you get to Rongo the greener it becomes.

Here are some pictures from the market that we drove through.

See those motorcycles, those are African Taxis. And the fancy ones like this picture have an umbrella.

My First meal in Africa. Small sweet bananas, beans, and chopate (don't know if its spelled right). The Chapati are almost like thin pancakes.

Here's a picture in the classroom at the AFCOE-Europe Kenya Extension. When the electricity goes out people are used to it and they just make do. They just light some lanterns and keep studying and singing! Doesn't stop them a bit!

The Walk to the Outhouse.

There are two Avocado trees on the property with Avocados that were almost ready to be picked. But the Avocados there are huge!!! And they taste very good!

The Red Kenyan Soil

Going to get water at the well.

An Kenyan Sunrise.

 The plan is to build more permanent structures on the property. They have already started making some bricks.

The Two in the middle are the latrines. And the ones on the ends are "Showers" these are rooms where you bring a bucket of water into and then wash yourself with that bucket of water.

(I stayed at a hotel nearby most of the nights. Not much of a hotel, but a hotel nonetheless, and it had running water. But it cost like 6 euros a night to stay there so it wasn't quite a Hilton.)

Ahhh Kenyan food is soo good! In the middle there are a type of Yams. And in the pot on the top right there is a type of Peanut soup. Also they just eat onions and garlic raw and whole with nothing else besides. 

I was told though that the garlic keeps the mosquitoes away though so I ate some before bed. Since they have had a drought lately though there weren't really many mosquitoes though, which was a blessing.

Here is the little book shop that Jared and his wife run in Rongo. They sell Bibles and other christian books that are not easy to get ahold of in Kenya.

Jared has translated the Great Controversy by Ellen White into the local language. This is a huge blessing for people who don't speak English. He has also translated a few other books into the local language but they have yet to be printed.

Here's a picture of the outside of the Book store.

 So I had my try at eating sugar cane with just my teeth, but its very difficult as my teeth are not used to it. The Kenyans can eat sugar cane very fast because their teeth are so strong!

It was such a blessing to be in Kenya. I will post another blog post with more pictures in a few days.

Ah and as for the title, Karibu means "welcome" or "welcome to" in Swahili. Swahili is the national language in Kenya. A lot of people also speak English at least to a degree because they learn it in school. But then each tribe has their own language. I was in the tribe of the Luo where they speak Luo.

A Mighty Fortress is Our God!

      A Couple weeks ago a few of the students and I went up to Königstein for the afternoon to see the castle there and also the mountains. I've been there before in the spring, but it was nice for some of the new students to see it.

It's a beautiful town.

Here's the town from the Top of the tower.

The remains of the castle. I can only imagine what it would have been like to visit this castle in the days of its use.

The Group of us that went. Johannes (Austrian), Me, Harri (Finnish), Sherry (Chinese), and Silja (Finnish). 

We actually all went down inside the castle where it was pitch-black darkness. Like you couldn't see anything. And it really brought to mind when in the Bible it talks about Utter Darkness. Like your eyes just keep trying to adjust, but they can't there is no light there at all. 

10          Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
    prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
    and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
    they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
    and cuts through bars of iron.

So many people in this world are in utter darkness, but God is light, and has also called us to light the world with the knowledge and glory of Him. When we came out of the darkness it was amazing to see everything in the light again. So it is the same, and much greater, when people who are in darkness come into the light of God's love for them.

A mighty fortress is our God,

a bulwark never failing;

our helper he amid the flood

of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

doth seek to work us woe;

his craft and power are great,

and armed with cruel hate,

on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,

our striving would be losing,

were not the right man on our side,

the man of God's own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is he;

Lord Sabaoth, his name,

from age to age the same,

and he must win the battle.

And though this world with devils filled,

should threaten to undo us,

we will not fear, for God hath willed

his truth to triumph through us.

The Prince of Darkness grim,

we tremble not for him;

his rage we can endure,

for lo, his doom is sure;

one little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,

no thanks to them, abideth;

the Spirit and the gifts our ours,

though him who with us sideth.

Let goods and kindred go,

this mortal life also;

the body they may kill;

God's truth abideth still;

His kingdom is forever.

Amen.

Indonesian Style in Köln

      So last weekend I went to visit a friend of mine who lives in Köln (For Americans it's the German name for Cologne). It was only about 2 and a half hour bus ride from Frankfurt, and I got a good deal on the tickets. I left Friday morning and returned Sunday morning, so it was just a short trip.
      My friend picked me up at the Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) in Cologne and then since it was almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon we decided to look for some place to eat. But since my friend has only been there in Cologne for a couple months studying he didn't really know where to go to eat, so we ended up just getting some some stuff at the grocery store for the next couple of days and then heading back to his apartment. Then when we got there we just ordered pizza.
      Anyways enough details about the food.

      I really think that God worked it out for me to visit my friend at just the right time. He has been going through some difficulties in his life, and we were able to talk and share with each other and pray together. It was really some blessed time that we spent together. I don't believe that anything in our life is a coincidence. I really believe that God really does care greatly for his children here on earth, and that He does everything for their good.

     After praying and eating together my friend and I went out to explore Cologne. It started getting dark, but It was kind of nice to see the city lit up at night. We went to the KölnerDom (Cologne Cathedral) and we also went out on he bridge across the Rhine to view the city. After an hour or two we headed back to his apartment and got to bed.

      The next day we headed to the local Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cologne. It was a very warm and welcoming church, and what was a real blessing was that they had an English Sabbath School group! It was led by an American Pastor who is starting up an English Speaking church in Cologne. For church the German pastor along with some of the members shared an experience they had in Mozambique this summer building a school.
      After Church a family invited my friend and I over for lunch. They are from Indonesia but have been living here in Germany for quite some time. My friend also is from Indonesia. So for lunch we had Indonesian food, which was very good. The family was very warm and friendly to us.
      After eating we sang a few songs and then with one from the family as a tour guide we again went to visit the Altstadt (Old part of the City) in Cologne. She was very knowledgeable about the city and gave us a very good tour. Then we returned to their home and they shared some more food with us, which was a great blessing. It really was a wonderful Sabbath.

     We then headed back to my friends apartment, talked some and then went to bed. In the morning we ate, and then I had to get to the bus station, and then I headed back to Frankfurt.

The Football (Soccer) Stadium in Cologne.

Some Church Building or something that was partially bombed out during the Second World War and they never completely restored it.

The Main Shopping district.

I don't know the name of this church but it was quite impressive.

Here's the Cologne Cathedral.

Even after a couple hundred years its still not completed. They are still working on it.

A Little dark inside so it was a little blurry.

The Cathedral by night. On the right there are thousands and thousands of padlocks, where people "Lock" Their love together and then throw the key in the river.