"Jambo" from Kenya

Now I am in Kenya, another land with very friendly people, and not nearly as hot as I expected. It's almost boarder-line cold in the morning! While I have been wary of the reportedly high crime rate in Nairobi, I have been struck by the friendliness of the people at the seminaries I've visited. I spent some time in a waiting room, and every person that came in, even if they were working there and in the middle of some errand, went around to each person in the room and shook their hand and greeted them. I've also been suprised at how many students there are in Kenya from other African countries. I guess I knew that the higher education in Kenya is better than most of the rest of Africa, but I'm impressed by the diversity at these seminaries.

The guesthouse that I'm staying at is very appropriately nice. It has been interesting to meet other missionary families and hear what they are up to. Many are from the Sudan, and talk of the heat and difficulty of working among some tribes or muslim areas. I've also met an old scotish presbyterian from Australia, who has all the advice anyone could ever take about any subject...

Today I rode the bus an hour out of town to a seminary with a nice rural campus. I felt much safer traveling than I expected, and I even got the chance to ride for a while with one of the students from the sem. named Rotich, who gave me some good advice about who to talk to. One of the professors I spoke to highlighted that some of the biggest theological issues he sees in Africa right now involve the treatment of women. Wife beating is very rampant and some say it is related to the common practice of paying an elaborate 'bride price' for a wife. This professor then spoke a lot about how the church needs to confront the culture more on these issues. The dean at the school, Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology, was also trying to convince me to come and do a PhD here, because it is one of the few theological PhD programs in Africa and would prepare me to teach here... I'm not sure I'm ready for all that, but it seemed like an institution that has a lot going for it. You can see a picture of the library above.