The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi," (which translated means teacher) "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." (John 1:35-38)

The past weeks have been filled with much busyness, activity and travel. It has been, in so many ways, a time of searching, a time of questions and a time of discernment for many of the projects and initiatives weíre involved with. In response to our ongoing, unspoken question "where are you staying?" Jesus has gently said "come and see."

We have found the good news of Christ alive and well and multiplying in the United Methodist people of Nakuru in the North Western part of Kenya; we have been honored to watch Holy Spirit inspire people at writer workshops in Nairobi; to visit with inspired people in South Africa at the Anathoth property where activity has begun; wherever we have traveled we have encountered the risen Christ in so many ways, in so many people, and in so many of the mission projects of the church. Below are a few examples.

Nakuru, Kenya --

Our brief visit with Rev. Josam Kariuki the District Superintendent of the UMC in the district of Nakuru in North Western Kenya was inspirational. This small yet vibrant UMC enclave has only been operational since 2003 but already has 18 small churches with approximately 1,000 members.

Rev. Josem has established a number of very important projects for the people of Nakuru:

1. A 24 hour medical clinic service with a maternity section as well as a medicine dispensary.
2. A schooling facility that will eventually house and educate up to 400 orphans is currently being built with the assistance of VIM teams from the USA. The first intake of students is scheduled to occur in January 2009.
3. Various skills development projects are underway including a sewing project as well as a computer literacy class for all those who wish to acquire the necessary skills demanded of job seekers for computer literacy.

You can view pictures of the various projects in the photo gallery.

Better still, you may want to volunteer your services to assist Rev. Josam and his teams in a more personal way. Whatever you decide, you will be warmly welcomed into the family of Christians making a difference in Nakuru in the Central rift Valley region of Kenya. You can communicate directly with Rev. Kariuki for more information using his email address: rewardcare@yahoo.com or umcnakurudistrict@gmail.com

Nairobi, Kenya --

We spent a marvelous long weekend with the AURM contact person for East Africa, Philip Polo whilst in Kenya. Philip has done a lot of hard work to establish the name of The Upper Room in East Africa. Whilst in Nairobi we were able to run a Saturday afternoon writer workshop. The resultant devotions were of a high quality and have already been submitted to the Nashville office for consideration in upcoming editions of The Upper Room daily devotional magazine. We are hopeful of establishing a meaningful partnership with a leading Christian chain of bookstores to act as an outlet for Upper Room books and magazines.

We attended the Sunday service of The Church of the Nazarene. It was good to worship with our brothers and sisters of Wesley in East Africa and the service acted as a vivid reminder of the global body of Christ that Methodism truly is.

Anathoth Property --

Pine and Minnie Pienaar, who are resident on the Anathoth property, have coordinated the erection of a vegetable tunnel on the property. It was heartening to have willing workers from FNB Bank and the Robin Good NPO alongside to erect the tunnel and begin the task of filling the bags with soil for the first planting of spinach. Minnie arranged that the young children from the Eikenhof community creche where she spends every morning arrived to lend their little hands in support. It was a wonderful sight to see both old and young working side by side ultimately for the good of the Eikenhof community. (View pictures in the photo gallery.)

A preliminary geological survey has revealed that Anathoth, and a good majority of the Eikenhof area sits on a dolomite geological structure. This has meant that a far more detailed and costly survey will need to be undertaken. It will mean that special care with regards to the foundations that are used for the erection of additional buildings at Anathoth will need to be taken. Dolomite formations are a fact of life in South Africa and there are many homes, factories and other assorted structures that are built on such sites so we are not unduly concerned at the news. Forewarned is forearmed in this instance, and we welcome the knowledge before any building commences.

We will be holding a soil turning ceremony, presided over by Bishop Robert Hayes of the Oklahoma Conference of the UMC, on Saturday the 22nd November. Any of you who are in the area are more than welcome to attend, the more the merrier!

Come and see!