Two Weeks in Tenwek

"Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them,“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner."

                                                                             ~ John 5:19

Hi and welcome to my first blog post from Kenya, Africa! I plan to keep these entries short and concise. 

The above scripture verse struck me the other day. We read it during a staff devotion (incredibly, the staff have devotions every morning for an hour to start off each work day -- how's that for a Christian work place), this verse still resonates in my heart and mind. Why? Maybe it's because the devotional book we were studying brought to our attention that Jesus only ever did what He saw His Father doing and nothing else. Do we aim to have this same objective? Or do our own agenda's take centre stage? Do we wait, seek, pray and watch to see where God is working so that we can try and humbly enter into His work, as His servants, and do as the Father is doing? This is something I hope to work on.

Touchdown

Peter and I (we are internship partners here in Kenya) arrived May 16^th.  Jet-legged and tired we were happy to be staying at a guesthouse for two nights in Nairobi before heading off to Tenwek, located in southwest Kenya. After a few restful days in Nairobi we hit the road. It took us four hours of driving from Nairobi to get to Tenwek (a rural oasis), the highway takes you right through the awe-inspiring Great Rift Valley. On route we past many villages, some of whom were inhabited by the revered / traditional Masaai tribes—I am told that we will be working with them to some extent; for this, I am both honored and excited.

Tenwek

My amazing yet temporary residence.

A hike to the top of Montego, in Tenwek.

Tenwek (my abode for the last two weeks) is an oasis in Kenya—comparable more to a resort destination. It’s lush and green everywhere and there are lots of homesteads with plentiful harvests. It is a village centered around a hospital founded by Western missionaries back in the 1950’s. The hospital is state of the art (for the most part) and serves thousands of Kenyan’s; it also acts as a training school for indigenous medical school students (doctors and nurses).  The villages that I work in/with are not so prosperous, and even here in Tenwek people are still lacking clean water and other expressions of poverty exist (unemployment, inability to pay school fees, etc.)

Work Involvements

My work here is mainly expressed by aiding in the task of providing clean water via the Biosands water filter to local villagers, and data monitoring. The filter is simple technology (slow sand filtration) that uses local materials and is extremely effective, and that’s why it is so great. With the Lord's help I also hope to minister the love and truth of God while I am here as well.

My first two weeks in Kenya has been focused on orientation and some field work. I have met the community health & development department (a great team who I will be working with). I have also been on excursions to various schools in near by rural villages to see how they are progressing in health and sanitation practices, and I am glad to report that they are doing well (cleaning hands, building and using latrines, collecting rain water from roofs, etc). This may seem primitive to western readers but here in rural Kenya open defecation is widely practiced and proper hand washing is prodominately out of their health and hygiene agenda’s (these are major contributing factors in contracting many disease). I have also been involved in installations and follow-ups regarding the Biosands water filter, and the beneficiaries feel so blessed to have the filter in their homes, it really improves their health to have safe, clean water, to drink, praise God.

A last note: We (Peter and I) go to Mengit in a week (1 hour from Tenwek, SW Kenya). We will be moving in with a indigenous family on their rural homestead. The mud hut we will be living in for most of the remainder of the trip (five more months) has no running water or electricity -- should be interesting, I am actually looking forward to it. I hope to learn about farming and animal husbandry while I am there. I have met the mother, Sarah, and one of her six children. Sarah is very hospitable, intelligent, warm, and now considers us (Peter and I) her new sons, we call her mama Sarah. 

Me, Fetus, Mama Sarah, and Peter, at the homestead.

I am really enjoying my time here and have met some great people. 


I also know that I am in Kenya by God's grace and need Him daily, I welcome all prayers. Please pray that God would open mine and Peter's eyes to see what God is already doing here so that we can try and humbly (with his wisdom and strength) enter into that work. All honour and glory be to the Lord.

Blessings, 

Geoff