Emmanuel Baptist Church

I thought I should share a little bit about the church I attend in Nairobi. It is called Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC) and has about 270 in attendance. I have attended for about one year now, and have been a "member" for several months. Since I am an expat (expatriot), I am a member yet still hold my membership at Fellowship Chapel in Bristol, VA. There are lots of great churches in Nairobi, and EBC is not even what I am most used to overall. However, it is the best preaching I've heard here. The pastor's preach the Word solidly, in a expository style which is what I'm used to. EBC has solid beliefs straight from the Bible, that I agree with. We only have a piano player, and sing mostly hymns but it's beautiful. EBC was started 10 years ago, and has just now bought it's own property! Previously we met in a large pavillion tent on the campus of a preschool. We have jsut bought the campus, but are still raising money to cover the costs. Land is expensive in Nairobi. Just today we celebrated new growth with service in our brand new expanded tent! It's twice the size of the old one. Yesterday, two friends and I went to church to help clean the stone slab floor and set up chairs. It was fun to be a part of something new! Both our pastors were thankful for a little extra help. Our head pastor, Joel Weaver, is American but grew up in Kenya as a missionary kid. He is almost as much Kenyan as American. Our assistant pastor, Ken Mbugua, is Kenyan and a wonderful first-time preacher. I truly admire these men of God. Our church is very international with about half Kenyan and half everything else. I really love the mix! We have one service on Sunday mornings, Bible study before when I teach a Sunday school class, and Wednesday night prayer meeting. EBC is very involved in the community, with outreaches in a couple different slums. We have also partnered in starting an outreach in eastern South Sudan. A couple men have traveled there twice now, and are going again next month. So far, they are working on pastoral training and working with youth. They have asked for help to accomodate the children, and I have volunteered to go this coming April. I'll give lots of fun details later on. God has definitely blessed me by bringing me to EBC. I miss Fellowship Chapel terribly, but love Emmanuel Baptist Church as well. It's my second home church!

preparation, safari, school

I arrived back in Nairobi with about 2 weeks before school started. I was planning on using that time to set up my house and classroom, hoping to get more done than I did the year before. I definitely made some improvements, but the time flew by and I didn't get everything done I would've liked to. I was able to purchase a coffee table and end table with my roommate, and after some painting over the break, our apartment officially looks like a home. It has always been a nice apartment, but now it's cozy. oo, and we just got wireless internet again! Which is, of course, a praise. So, with those few home things, and getting to know a bunch of new staff, my first week was pretty much gone without any work in my classroom being accomplished. I did,however, love spending time getting know our new teachers and administration. They are all excellent, and WNS is blessed to have them. I am looking forward to a great year. But before I continue with school...one of my roommate's mom was able to come and visit her! Since it was her first time in Africa, we went on a short, one night safari with her to Lake Nakuru National Park. I went to the same park last Thanksgiving, but it's so great I didn't care to go again. We had a fun time and were able to see a lot of animals! We stopped at Lake Naivasha on the way back home and took a boat ride to see hippos! That was one animal I hadn't seen yet, and we got really close to dozens! It was amazing. oh, and I got really super close to a zebra. That was fun. I probably could've touched it, but I didn't try. He did start to get annoyed a one point and our guard shooed him away as I quickly walked away. I didn't really want to get bit. So, the safari was a nice break from work, and a good start to a school year. When we got back to Nairobi it was time to work. I scrubbed and cleaned in my classroom for a long time, but I must say it's the cleanest it's ever been. The "dust" here (which is really dirt) gets on everything and you can't do anything about it. It's one of those times when you just have to shrug your shoulders and say, "TIA, This Is Africa." After the thorough cleaning, I got my classroom back in order, went through teacher orientation, and started teaching on Tuesday! We had a half day and then full days the rest of the week. It was soooo great to see my students again. We have a new bunch of sixth graders, but kept many of the same in 7th ad 8th! It is very strange to think of them moving up a grade, but I reckon that's what's supposed to happen. Many of them were very excited to be back at school and see me, but most tried to hide it. Our rosters are still chaning, but right now we have about 70 students in middle school. A few more than last year, which is good, but makes our classes large. I'm teaching almost the same classes: US History, World history, World Geography, 7th & 8th Girls' Bible, and the new one, Kenyan History. the new one is the one I'm most woried about. I'm writing the curriculum myself, and have not invested much time in it. Plus, I don't really know Kenyan/East African history. Right now, I'm just planning on making it up as I go. There is a ton of work I have left to do, and am praying I get it all done. I'm already so tired though. But, it's the weekend right now! yippee! I have taken a break so far, but need to get craking asap. Praying for a productive weekend and a great school year! There's lots of awesome ideas and changes floating around, and lots of prayer. I even invited the staff to join me in a prayer walk around our campus. I was very blessed we did it. I know God has great things in store this year. Ok, well that's been my first three weeks back! The end!