Cred Partner gathering – what a treat!

On Wednesday 13^th May, 9 of the 11 CRED partners gathered at central location in Nairobi to travel together to the Links Africa Hub in Embu district in the foothills of Mount Kenya for 3 days of fellowship, learning, building relationships, deepening friendships and journeying together.

Those who were there were (in no particular order): Kenyanito (from IDAK), Harriet (from Acholi projects), Pius (from GNPDR), Aaron (from Chisomo), Bee (from Ellilta), Joseph (from TVST), Alice (from Stepping Stones), Bishnu (from PSD Nepal), and Terry (from F4M). So, between them they represented Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Nepal and Zimbabwe.

And what a wonderful time was had by all. There were sessions on AI and how to use it rather than just fear it; what makes a good partnership: both North-South and South-South; leadership qualities; and raising up the next generation. The high level of participation and discussion in all of the sessions was a good indication of just how much everyone was getting from the content of each session. Each of the partners also had opportunity to share about their own work, and it was great to hear the updates from everyone and see the passion for their work shining through as they spoke.

Some of the partners had met some of the other partners before, so the gathering was also about a time to catch up with each other. But for 5 of the participants, this was their first time of meeting any of the others face to face – previously there had been some zoom communications for some of them – and it was fab to see the conversations continuing over meals, and into the evening, as bonds were made and folks discussed various aspects of work, life, challenges, shared experiences, shared knowledge etc.

And of course, the other great benefit for all of the participants was just the time to be away in a quiet and relaxing environment, to be able to step back a bit from the day to day, to be served rather than always serving, to have a bit of pampering through delicious food and hospitality. Each of those present spends so much of their life giving and giving and giving to others – it was beautiful to be able to give them the space and the opportunity to receive.

As everyone travels back to their home, their family, their ministry – my prayer is that the blessings of these days will last long beyond the time taken to get home. May the learning, the partnerships, and the rejuvenation be shared with the teams of the different projects, and in so doing trickle down for the benefit of all.