Greenbank Church
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Keith LETTER FROM KENYA It is time for another letter and this time I am pleased to tell you that the college is back to normal. The students returned at the beginning of September to start normal class work. This means I am very busy preparing for classes. Because the students missed so much they are doing a very heavy load of classes this term which of course means a heavy load for the staff but after those months of doing very little I am actually enjoying being busy again. There have been a few staff changes this year and the Old Testament department is short-handed so I am teaching Old Testament which I have not done for a few years so that means extra work preparing since I am a bit rusty. Over the last few letters, I have been keeping you up to date with the story of my two 'daughters' Muthoki and Mwikali and in this letter I have good news about Muthoki. She and a group of her friends have received funding to set up a self-help programme in her home village working with young people forced to drop out of school for lack of money. She has also set up a consultancy to help others do the same. She has a degree in Development. This is something we do not have in the UK as far as I know. Basically it is people who are trained to go into underdeveloped areas and help the local people to set up projects that will assist them to develop their resources and utilise their talents. Mwikali is also doing well. She went back to school last week. This is her last term of primary school. In Kenya this is a very stressful time because so much depends on it. The quality of secondary schools varies enormously and competition to get into the good ones is very tough. Mwikali seems to be quite clever so we are hoping she will get a good place but the work and the stress will be hard. I am due to return to Scotland on leave at the end of this year. I do not yet know the details but my hope, subject to approval by World Mission, is to leave Kenya around the 20th December so that I can spend Christmas with my family. Although it seems a bit early, since I will not have chance to write again and probably will not see you in person till January or later, I will take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I will ask for your prayers for Muthoki and Mwikali and for the college, especially the students who have worked so hard this year. Elaine McKinnon Letter from Keith Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls *** News Flash *** http://www.edenharpurhey.co.uk/ has now been updated. Please check it out. There is now a system in place to ensure regular updates so why not bookmark it and check it every month for the latest news. I have just had the most wonderful evening with the Tuesday night lads. It started out rather weirdly with not much chat and a strange atmosphere but as the night went on things really changed. We had a DJ in to teach the lads how to mix and that went down well. However the most significant things for me happened when I found myself chatting to 2 of the lads who are thinking about the joining the army when they leave school. We were chatting about how they felt about it and it came round to the fact that they might die. So we talked about heaven and found out what they thought and I got to tell them what the bible says. There is a real openness in one lad particularly who is very genuine. We research the jobs on the web and found out the GSCE requirements. This lad was concerned that some of the subjects he was not good at so he has agreed to some help from me. (Much prayer need there it has been a while.) The lads were also talking about how they would send £10 a week back to support club when they were earning and how they would be round for Ovaltine when they had leave and would write. It was all rather emotional even thought they are not going any time soon. God was really giving me a glimpse of the bigger picture. God has been taking me on an emotional roller coaster recently and sorting out a lot of areas of my life and teaching me how to depend totally on him and to genuinely give him everything and trust him in it. Tonight really felt like a big hug from God which was most timely!! On the issue of neighbours I have made friends with my next door neighbour Joan. She is really nice and is very involved in the community. She gave me loads of useful tips and info about the community and its key players and Andy B (my flatmate) was able to fix her laptop so she was over the moon! I have not heard any more from the neighbour who was threatening and have patched things up with Pete and Lil across the road. I had a civil conversation with Pete tonight which is a first! Thanks God. Prayer triplet on a Monday night is going from strength to strength and we are deepening in our friendships and trust and are able to discuss openly any issues which are bothering us. This is a really precious time for me and I am learning so much from Adrian and Cyprian. Work wise God had been good. I have just had my first series of Concerts through from Live Music Now which a performance scheme I was accepted onto as part of Fish Percussion Duo. My teaching going well and I am having to create extra slots to keep up with pupil demand! We are currently making puppets and building a puppet theatre in the cheeky monkeys and that is very exciting. Loads of good stuff is going on right now. (check out the website for more!) *** Prayer Requests *** Please pray about the time with lads, that I may show them Jesus and that God will reveal himself to them. Please pray that I stay on track with my quiet times and prayer life Please pray about my wrists and arms as I have a lot of work coming up and need to be disciplined in my practise and doing my stretches and exercises! Thanks guys. |