Email: Shelvis Smith-Mather

Kenyan update

Nancy and I have cherished this first week and have experienced more of Kenya than we thought we would. We have been exposed to new foods (roasted goat and a food call "Ugali," which is like grits but you eat it with your hands), new driving styles (Kenya don't really use blinkers and signs—they just go), new languages (we are slowly picking up Swahili phrases and words) and new people (they have treated us incredibly well).

Since we have arrived we have been staying with our ministry coordinator, the Reverend Phyllis Byrd, who is a well respected figure in this community. Not only is she a PC(USA) mission worker and an ordained Presbyterian minister, but she is also our contact person for the U.S. embassy in Kenya. She has worked for years in East Africa with churches, ecumenical organizations, non-profit organizations, and Nobel Prize winners.

She has done a wonderful job of connecting all eight of the people on our Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) ministry team in Kenya. She partnered each person with a “host family” who will show us the culture and be a source of support for us while we are in Kenya.

Nancy and I stayed with our host family, Beth Ngiogm, for a few days last week. She has us call her "Scho-Scho B" which means "Grandma B," and I have to tell you, we could not have been given a better host. She is one of the most kind-hearted individuals that I have ever met, and she is a figure worthy of a CNN story! She is part of the Kenyatta family, which is roughly equivalent to the King family in the United States or the Mandela family in South Africa. Her uncle, Jomo Kenyatta, was the first president of Kenya after it gained its independence from the British in 1963. He was elected to the position after being imprisoned for years because of his resistance to British imperialism in Kenya and now has a national holiday on October 20 in his honor! Just about everything in Nairobi is named after him. Scho-Scho B's brother served as the mayor of Nairobi and later as Minister of Finance for Kenya.

Her sister-in-law, Beth Mugo, is now the Minister of Health for the nation, and her father was one of the first trained Africans to serve as a Presbyterian minister in Kenya.

She started an insurance company in 1982 in a one-room office, and now it has 32 branches in Kenya. The main office is a 10-story office building in downtown Nairobi. She was also a school teacher for many years. Two days ago, she took us to a school that she started ten years ago. The school has grown from 60 students to well over 300 kids. And they are beautifully energetic children that I know will help change the world.

This week my ministry supervisor somehow worked it out so for me to be invited to preach for the weekly worship service at the main office for the Presbytery Church of East Africa. The office is the headquarters for all of the Presbyterian churches in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania (over 4 million Presbyterians). It was a huge honor and definitely an unexpected surprise. In all honesty, the invitation was rather intimidating, because I didn't want to reflect poorly on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) during my very first preaching assignment in Kenya. I feared that my sermon's words, humor, or songs might inadvertently offend or embarrass the Kenyan leadership.  In the hours leading up to service, my nervousness grew and grew. Nancy, as always, was a wonderful support and a calming presence. She was even willing to assist me with a skit during the sermon. You should see her acting skills!

God did a beautiful work during the worship service. The prayers and the a cappella hymns echoed throughout the room. The Swahili lyrics tickled my ears and sent chills up my arm. The people welcomed us with a warm ovation and embraced me with open arms. In the end, God was glorified and I completed the sermon without having any eggs thrown at my head. I think that you would have been proud.

After the service, Nancy and I had breakfast with the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (which is roughly equivalent to the denomination's president) and talked about the state of the Kenyan Church, tribal/ethnic division, and the post-election violence in Kenya.

Our time in Kenya has been pretty amazing thus far. Thank you again for all of your love and support, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Bwana Asifiwe (The Lord be Praised!)

Shelvis Smith-Mather