Nancy and Shelvis

photo by AACC

We miss all of you, our friends and family, this holiday season, and we recognize that Christmas is quite a different experience in Kenya.  There are not many Christmas lights hanging on houses in Nairobi, and decorated trees are few and far between. Our homes in the US, filled with traditions and memories, are an incredible blessing to us, yet being away from familiarity this year has brought a new perspective on the Christmas season.  We are learning that “home” is really more than a geographic location.  ”Home” is a place that God calls us all to every day.  We are “home” when we have peace and assurance in our hearts, knowing that God’s love surrounds us, and God’s Spirit guides our journey.

At the Christmas concert we attended this weekend, the choir sang the “Hallelujah” chorus in Kiswahili.  We could not understand all that was said, but one word remains the same across all languages: Hallelujah!  ”Hallelujah” is the message we received, and the message we would like to share.  For in the midst of a dark night, in a family that did not have many material things, a child was born, a child whose life is a reminder that God still dwells among us.  Hallelujah!

We love you all!  Merry Christmas!

Nancy and Shelvis                                                                  (photo by AACC)

Posted on December 21st, 2008 by Nancy
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CWS Office in Nairobi

After completing our one month orientation, Nancy and I started our work at our ministry sites. Nancy is working at Church World Service of East Africa (www.cwsea.org) where she is monitoring projects dealing with poverty and hunger relief in this region. I am working with peace initiatives at an organization called the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA) (www.fecclaha.org). This organization focuses on peace and reconciliation efforts through ecumenical work in nine countries in East Africa (Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, and Kenya). 

Posted on November 20th, 2008 by Shelvis
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Visiting the IDP Camps

The following week, I traveled to Limuru (right outside of Nairobi) to attend an Inter-religious training on Conflict Resolution and Prevention which was held by the National Council of Churches in Kenya. The training was one of many activities planned by the Inter-religious Forum to address the post-election violence (which occurred Jan-March 2008) and to bring about healing.  After the training, the group of religious leaders visited Kenyans who continue to live displaced from their homes in tents near Nakuru. 

Displaced Families Receiving New ID Cards

Many of the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) fled from their homes in fear for their lives ten months ago, and they still feel it is unsafe to return.  Nancy and I joined the religious leaders on this trip and we listened carefully to the stories of those we met in hopes of sharing their situation with the leadership in Nairobi.  After visiting an IDP camp, the religious leaders from Nairobi met with religious leaders from the Nakuru area.  The group represented different faiths, different tribes, and different political affiliations and together they brainstormed about ways to bring peace and unity to the divisions and tension in their country. To read a report I wrote on visiting the camps, please click on the page entitled Report on Visiting IDP Camps (in the column on the right side of this page).

Posted on November 20th, 2008 by Shelvis
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A matatu is a 14 passenger van which is used for public transportation in Kenya.  Although “14 passenger” is printed on the outside of each vehicle, the conductors often cram as many people as possible in the matatu in order to make a larger profit.  Shelvis and I ride matatus to work everyday, and this has led to some very interesting experiences.  To read a short story that I wrote about a meaningful encounter I had on a matatu, please click on the page entitled A Meaningful Matatu Ride (located in the column on the right side of this page).

Posted on November 20th, 2008 by Nancy
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Shelvis cooking a traditional Swahili meal

Nancy and I cherished our first week in Kenya, and we experienced more of Kenya than we could have imagined! We have been exposed to new foods (roasted goat and a food called “Ugali” that is like grits but you eat it with your hands), new driving styles (Kenyans don’t really use blinkers and signs, they just go), new languages (we are slowly picking up Swahili phrases and words) and new people (they have treated us incredibly well).

the fish looked at us

Since we arrived we have stayed with our ministry coordinator, Reverend Phyllis Byrd-Ochillo, who is a well respected figure in this community. Not only is she an ordained Presbyterian minister, but she is also the Presbyterian contact person for the US Embassy in Kenya. She has worked for years in East Africa with churches, ecumenical organizations, non-profit organizations and Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Rev. Phyllis Byrd-Ochillo YAV Coordinator

She has done a wonderful job of connecting all eight members of our ministry team in Kenya. She partnered each person with a “host family” to teach us about the culture and to be a source of support for us while we are living in Kenya.  

Nancy and I stayed with our host grandmother, Beth Ngiogm, for a few days last week. We call her “Sho-Sho B” which means “Grandma B.”  She is one of the most kind hearted individuals that I have ever met, and she is a figure that I think is worthy of a CNN story.  She is part of the Kenyatta family.  The Kenyatta family is roughly equivalent to the King Family in the US or the Mandela Family in South Africa.

Shelvis, "Sho-Sho B", Nancy

Her uncle, Jomo Kenyatta, was the first president of Kenya after the country gained independence from the British in 1963. He was elected president after being released from imprisonment for his resistance to British imperialism. Just about everything in Nairobi is named after him, and there is a national holiday in his honor on October 20^th.

Intelligent, Energetic Students

Sho-sho B started an insurance company in 1982 in a one room office, and now the company has 32 branches in Kenya.  She was also a school teacher for many years, and she took us to a school that she started ten years ago. The school has grown from 60 students to well over 300. They are beautifully energetic children that I know will help change the world.

Posted on October 20th, 2008 by Shelvis
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