Ritchie's African Life: Outreach and Open Air in Gatamayu

Recently, Pastor Paul got a new church van that we put to use very quickly. It is like a Matatu (the public transportation), but it's our church Matatu. It is a 5-speed -- and I might add that the stick is on the left of you and the gears start with 1 on the far left and up (so it follows the same as we have in the States). I haven't driven a stick in a few years, so I was in for a surprise. I drove 9 other people from church to Gatamayu (an hour and a half away from Nairobi -- near Naivasha).

We went with an Impact Team from our church in Nairobi to help a new church plant. We had outreach in the morning and then we had an Open Air (like a mini-crusade) in the afternoon. The outreach was good and very interesting. This is a little city where the houses are spread far apart. All the groups went out for about two hours. We were telling people about Jesus, praying for people and inviting them to the church and Open Air. Let me tell you ... we walked forever. we had about 30 minutes left and I asked the guy that was with us how long it would take to get back to the church. Um, he said it would be about an hour. So we booked it. It was great to be able to talk to people and especially about Jesus. We made it back on time and each group testified about their outreach and then we ate.

Then we did an Open Air meeting around 3 pm. We set up in the city center near the water tank. We played music, did skits and then had Pastor Safari preach. It was awesome to see people interested in the Word and to see some give their lives to Jesus. At 4:30, we packed up and had to head out, if we didn't leave soon, it would get dark and be hard for me to see to drive. It gets dark around 6:30pm.

So, here is another adventure ... on the way out, I was following a Matatu that was carrying another group of our people to the city of Naivasha. Luckily, it didn't rain, but we were driving on dirt and muddy roads. Well, I got stuck. You get to see the picture below. The people in my car had to get out and help push, but that didn't do too much. There was a small truck in front of us, and they helped get us out. We also needed to push-start that truck in order to pull us out. Crazy! We made it out ok and I lived to drive the church van again.