Two Sabbath Days

31 May 2010- College and Church

Saturday morning we went to the home of Michael and Lillian.  They are both administrators and faculty at Comtiah College in Kisumu.  We enjoyed their hospitality at home and then moved to the college campus for worship.  Michael and Lillian are members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church so this was their Sabbath.

After worship with the students we toured the campus, the homes where boarding students live, and the second location and office suite in downtown.

Comtiah is a new college offering education for those who do not qualify for University or cannot afford to go to University.  They offer certificate programs and degree programs in areas such as business, IT, social work, community development, and accounting.

The reason for our visit was a desire to develop a partnership between Umoja and Comtiah.  Right now Umoja gets students through secondary school and then they are on their own for college.  But Comtiah offers a special program for orphans.  For about $47 per semester an orphan can attend college.  This gives them the opportunity to develop job skills they can use for life or they can earn the money they need for the university later.  There is real possibility it seems in this new area.

Sunday morning we traveled to Chulaimbo again.  We attended worship at the Anglican Church of Kenya.  The pastor is Charles and he is also the chair of the Umoja Board.  We met Charles last fall when he and Joseph visited Indianapolis.

Charles made it perfectly clear that with two visiting clergy in the congregation he had no intention of preaching.  So Jack read the scripture and prayed and left me the fun of preaching.  Most of the service was in English but Charles translated the sermon.  Much of the music was familiar.  Since this denomination was started by European missionaries in the early 1900’s we felt pretty much at home.