Danny, Dave and Di 2009

Our Travel and Programme - April 17th to 28th 2009
We travelled to Kenya by Kenya Airways departing Heathrow T4 on 27th April at 8.00pm. The flight was direct to Nairobi, landing at 6.30am. local time on 28th. April (4.30am. British time).
The journey from Nairobi airport to the home of Pastor Daniel Gitau, near Nakuru, was much interrupted and took over 5 hours to complete. [See below] We arrived just before 12.00pm. and were able to rest for a few hours before our programme commenced later that evening.
There were other British guests staying with Daniel: the Ven. Fred Tretheway, Archdeacon of Dudley, and his wife Margaret are old and dear friends of Daniel and Fenih, and were the first in England to establish relationships with the Gitau family and the work in the Ndundori Special Zone.

Saturday Morning:    en route from Nairobi to Ndundori, Daniel, Danny and Dave became involved in a roadside incident in which the driver of a vehicle was threatening suicide. After a confused exchange of words and prayer, we left believing we had done all we could: we later learned the driver had attempted to carry out his threat, but had failed. He was later admitted to a local hospital suffering relatively minor injuries only.

Sunday:    Danny was invited to speak at the church in Ndundori. Dave and Di were scheduled to speak at KamwaUra, but with less than one hours notice, Daniel asked Di to speak at another church in Njorro, whilst Dave travelled on to KamwaUra.
On the outward journey a stop was made in Nakuru so that Dave and Di could pray for a woman called Esther. After speaking at KamwaUra, Dave joined Di in Njorro and together with members of the congregation witnessed in the Drinking Bar located next to the church.  This outreach was courteously received by the Bar-Owner and his (few) customers.

Monday:   [Alleged rest day]   A day of frustration: After a visit to the adjoining Centre of Hope establishment, Daniel arranged a lunch in Nakuru at which we met the Provost of the Nakuru Anglican Cathedral and a number of other local prominent figures. This was followed by a visit to Daniel's Office facility in Nakuru following which we were released for an opportunity to visit Nakuru National Park: due to the lateness of our arrival at the Park (after 3.30pm) and the very high costs of entry ($60 per person) we decided to return to Daniel's home to complete our “day of rest” there.

Tuesday:    Danny, Dave and Di travelled together to meet Pastor Leonard Mbae in Molo. En route, we were able to visit the church compound and School at KamwaUra, where we were extremely impressed with the development that is taking place. Our travelling took us on to Molo where we were able to witness the feeding programme for the 'street children' and inspect the Kitchen where food is prepared. During the afternoon, Leonard took Danny and Dave to the site of the recent petrol tanker tragedy.  On the return to Molo, Danny was  invited to preach and lead a time of ministry at the evening meeting in Molo church.
We were enormously impressed by the work being undertaken under Pastor Leonard's oversight.

Wednesday:    Danny, Dave and Di travelled together to meet Pastor Gideon in Ndundori. During the morning we were able to visit the new Clinic compound, and join together for prayer ministry for one of Gideon's patients. Over lunch we discussed with Gideon and his wife Beatrice how the facilities and ministry in Ndundori might be developed. Later in the afternoon, Danny, Di and Dave each brought an impromptu message to the afternoon meeting at the Church: this was one of the most joyous occasions of our visit to Kenya.

Thursday:    Danny, Dave and Di travelled together to meet with Daniel and the entire Pastoral Team in their rented Offices in central Nakuru. Danny and Dave identified a number of projects for which financial assistance from DBC funds [brought to Kenya for the purpose] was considered appropriate, and a document confirming the allocation of monies was drawn up.
The meeting closed after Danny and Dave brought words of appreciation and encouragement for the Team.

Friday:    After a morning of frustration over plans for (and our involvement in) the wedding of Jennifer Gitau to James, Danny, Dave and Di travelled together to the town of Nyahururu, the site of Thomson Falls, for an afternoon at leisure.

Saturday:    Danny and Dave were involved in the wedding of Jennifer to James: Danny brought a lovely message. Once again, we marvelled at the African approach to time!

Sunday:    Danny was invited to speak at the church in Molo: Dave and Di travelled onwards from Molo to speak at Sagatim. Over lunch, we each learned of the tremendous courage that had been shown by Leonard, John Wool and their families during the time of hostilities.

Monday:   Danny, Dave and Di travelled together once more to meet Pastor Leonard Mbae in Molo. We made a visit to the Church and then to the District Hospital where Leonard is the Chaplain. All three of us spoke to a meeting of the Christian Fellowship at the hospital during the lunch-time break.

             
We returned late afternoon to meet Daniel in Nakuru for a meeting with his friend Peter Njeru: Peter is a successful businessman, involved in oil importation, and a generous sponsor of many projects for God's work in the Nakuru district. He is the principal founder of the Centre of Hope Christian Centre adjoining Daniel's home: the centre offers opportunities for young people to gain an education and learn practical skills in a Christian environment.

Tuesday:   Danny, Dave and Di travelled with Daniel to Nakuru to address the weekly meeting of the Nakuru Pastor's gathering, of which Daniel is Chairman. About 120 Pastors and Leaders from several denominations are being drawn together under Daniel's oversight to speak as the voice of the Church in Nakuru. This was a thrilling development.
Daniel took us away early from the meeting in order for us to lunch briefly at his house before departing for Nairobi, the airport and the return flight home. A detour was made to visit the main Chrisco centre in Nairobi before we arrived in good time for our flight at 23.45 non-stop to Heathrow.

Conclusion.
Life in this part of Kenya is almost unimaginably hard for the majority of people: religion plays an important part of community life, but much of what is offered has been tarnished by tribal traditions and worldly corruption. For this reason, we honour Daniel’s vision statement to ‘set Godly standards’.
From time to time, we saw Daniel express himself in a way that was jarring to our model of Christian living; at these times we reminded ourselves that Jesus is not English, and that Daniel is living and ministering in a culture quite alien to ours. That said, there is absolutely no doubt that Daniel is being widely recognised as a leader with trans-local ministry, and is much loved and hugely respected by other Pastors and Leaders in the Nakuru district. The Pastoral team is a model, and speaks of his wisdom in raising quite exceptional leaders.
We consider it a most wonderful experience to have lived among, and ministered to, the communities in and around Nakuru. Our faith was stretched and our understanding of Christianity broadened.   Most of all, we learned more about trust in God, for in the Ndundori Special Zone, there is nothing else.

(below see recommendations following visit) 

John 2005

John returned to the area in March and gave us this report.

Dundori

High in the hills above lake Nakuru this congregation is led by Gideon who is an Oyiengdan independent medical officer and Kenyan by birth. His modest little clinic provides to the surrounding population medicines and treatments which are all too often unavailable from the under resourced local government hospital. As patients are only able to pay a token amount towards their treatment, DBC (Downs Baptist Church) has provided crucial support to this work which struggles to meet its financial needs. There is a vision for a new hospital in the future. A piece of land has already been purchased and is at present being put to good use as a potato field. 

Kamwaura

15 miles to the west of Nakuru, Kamwaura is home to a large group of displaced subsistence farmers. The church/school building is in the process of being extended as 150 children attend daily classes. The gift of £20, which accompanied John to Kenya from the younger children of DBC, is to be used to provide a daily cup of maize porridge for the children as they arrive at school. As some of the children are known to arrive hungry this seemed a better use of the money, on this occasion, than the supply of books. To find out more about Kamwaura Academy follow this link: http://wiki.laptop.org/images/7/79/Great_Commission_Academy_Profile.pdf

Molo

Formerly a prosperous rail junction and 25 miles from Nakuru the picture here is still one of empty warehouses and rusting tractors on once busy farms. Here a nucleus of Christians have been encouraged to build a new tin roofed church where the mud floor is swept before 60-70 people gather on a Sunday. It also provides daily support for people and daily meals for about 25 youngsters who are either homeless or in desperate circumstances due to the impact of Aids on their families. The customers of the DBC Greengrocers shop recently donated £50 towards food for these needy children.