Here it is! Our very first newsletter from Africa.

ABO (Africa Based Orientation)

After an eight hours flight we have arrived at 8 pm (Saturday the 10^th of October) on Nairobi airport. The first three nights we stayed at AIM's guest house. From there we travelled on to the ABO conference at Nakuru.

We were not the alone! A total of 22 adults and 28 children joined us and they were all ready to serve the Lord at different places. The first week at ABO we have studied the African culture and values. Among our tutors was a Kenyan man who lived in the UK for several years. This made that he could relate to our western culture as well as to the African culture. It was good to talk with other missionaries—some of who already work in Africa for several months or even years. We have learned a lot from each other.

Other subject were healthcare, safety and world-view... What to do when you are bitten by a snake or what are the symptoms of certain parasites. The last week we have discussed how missionaries can make a real change in people life and finally we looked at several world religions.

Visit Local Church

All three Sundays we were assigned to a local AIC (Africa Inland Church). We have introduced our selves on the first Sunday and Jurgen gave his testimony. Our names are not that easy to pronounce so soon Jurgen became 'babba Isaiah' and Katja 'mamma Isaiah' (after our oldest son Issa, which is Swahili for Isaiah). Guest, especially mzungus (white man), can not make them selves scares. Obviously Jurgen could do the sermon and Katja would probably have good ideas to share on Sunday school... Uh? Yes, sure... of course, no problem.

After the church service we were invited to some ones home to eat lunch. That was a great experience. The lady of the house washed our hands and after that she served the food. We have noticed how proud the people were of there property, and thus they had no problem with us taking photos and recording it. The last Sunday one of the elders invited us to his home. It was a bit further away so the pastor suggested that we could take his car. 'Babba Isaiah, you can drive... can you?' Well, of course Jurgen can drive! That is to say, the road... Wow, rally roads are smooth compared to these! Anyway, they wanted to spare us the pain of walking as mzungus are not used to that (and they are probably right on that). The other elders came 40 minutes later and said that the walk did them good. On our way back the pastor drove us and his kids were coming along... 10 people will fit just fine in one car, in Africa it does! All in all, it was a great day and we have enjoyed the hospitality and kindness of our Kenyan brothers and sisters very much.

Video

At the moment of this writing we are back in Nairobi and we have some days to rest. We will flight to Tana, Madagascar on Friday the 6^th of November. It is nice to be here and to walk around on the local market. The children enjoying themselves by playing with their new friends.

We have made some video recording which we will upload when the internet and electricity allows us to. You can view them on our multimedia page (www.jurgenenkatja.nl/?p=89).

How Did the Children Like it?

Vanya said that she really liked it. They have made several nice crafts that had to do something with the African cultures. She said that the lessons about the "do's and the don'ts" were very good. For example they have learned that for children, in an African setting, it would be considered impudent to look older people straight in the eyes. Vanya said that she is happy to know that in advance.

Issa: 'There was a nice playground and the food was good! I also made new friends. We have learned lots about 14 different animals and countries.'

Abbey: 'I liked the teaching about other countries. We also did fun projects. The snacks were great and we also played games.'

Dani: 'The teacher gave me a book and that was all.'

Simeon: '.... '


This was it for now. We want to say thanks for your prayers and encouragements.