Today was a day of three meetings - and if using a gardening metaphor, one would be the sowing of the seed, one would be watering the fresh new growth, and one would be tending to the seedlings as they grow taller.
The 'sowing of the seed' meeting actually came about as a result of my attending Nairobi Baptist church on Sunday, and happening to be walking across the car park at the exact moment that someone who I last saw in 2016, and who I've not done very well at keeping in touch with, was parking his car in that very same car park. Peter spotted me, called over to me, and after we'd stopped marvelling at the fact of being in the same place at the same time, we had a quick catch up and arranged to meet again. Hence today's meeting. Both of us felt very much that the Sunday 'bumping into each other' was no coincidence, but rather a God-incidence, a meeting with a divine purpose. And so it was good today to be able to sit and share and see what came from the conversation.
I'm not going to go into it all now, but suffice to say there were definitely some interesting outcomes from the conversation, and I'm excited to see where those outcomes lead. One of them involved me sharing an overview of the 360Life materials with Peter, and it was lovely to see the enthusiastic response that he had, and his thoughts on how the materials could be useful in a number of the ministries that he is involved in. It was a very encouraging meeting, as well as just a lovely catch-up. The seed seems to have been sown into fertile ground, and now I wait to see what growth comes from it.
The 'watering fresh growth' meeting was a meeting with the African Bible college which meets on the edge of Kibera. The college provides theological teaching and church leadership studies for church pastors who already have a role within a church, but who have not received any formal training in the past. Many of the churches would be described as 'house churches' - fairly small, non-denominational and organic in their growth. The college staff had already been told about the 360Life materials, and were interested to know more. So the seed had already been sown, and the interest was already there. My role today was to give a more in-depth overview of the materials and to tie it in to the context of their college. I presented to 3 of the staff and 12 of the students, and the questions afterwards were indicative of the range of issues that the students aka church leaders are having to deal with on a day to day basis. In many ways its what you'd expect - lots of pastoral issues, lots of stuff dealing with relationships. But the context for them is that they live and serve in an informal settlement where members of 40+ tribes live alongside each other, where poverty is rife, and where premature death is common. Add in a country where mental health disorders have become an area of huge concern, and yet there are next to no mental health facilities or services, and the challenges that these leaders are dealing with take on an extra dimension.
The meeting ended with an overwhelming vote of confidence in the potential for the materials, and a request to explore how to get them taught in the college. Thankfully at that point I was able to hand the conversation over to Natalie, a local Kenyan who is trained up to deliver 360Life materials. She can take the training forwards, rather than waiting for me to return - definitely the best way to move forwards.
The third meeting of the day, the 'tending to seedlings' meeting, was with some staff at Spurgeons Academy. I had delivered the 360Life training to these staff last time I was here, and today I had a lovely time chatting with some of them about how the materials are impacting and influencing their lives as teachers. We discussed how they have improved their teaching styles, how they now have a more enlightened way of dealing with children who are struggling, or have behavioural issues, and how the awareness that they now have of the impact of trauma on children is helping them to support the pupils in the school in a more open-minded and trauma-informed way. It was a really great discussion, with chance to also reinforce and deepen some of the concepts that they had taken on before.
Ever since I came to Spurgeons for the first time back in 2011 (or maybe 2010), I've had a passion for this school. It is a life affirming and life transforming place for all the children who attend, 80% of whom have lost one or both parents. To be able to support those children through equipping and empowering the staff is a joy and a privilege, and today was just one more opportunity to do that.
All three meetings were wonderful today - all three have potential in different ways to reach into communities and to change lives, through equipping those who are serving here day in day out. All three meetings were beautiful opportunities to just be alongside incredible people, who give of themselves in selfless inspirational ways. All three meetings were gifts from God, for which I am ever grateful.
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