A Tale of Two Groups

Well, we've recovered from our jet lag just in time, because things are really beginning to speed up in Nairobi! We're currently in the process (literally) of moving into our apartment, and looking down the barrel of an incredibly exciting/busy next couple of weeks. This last week really gave us a good deal of perspective on the issues and opportunities that we'll be navigating over the next two years, a perspective which we'd like to share a bit with you.

A Tale of Two Groups

The Mang'u farmers' group is made up of sixty farmers who got together with Planting Faith to grow passion fruit. Used for juicing and eating, with both a local and an export market, taking up little space, and providing continuous yielding for as much as 5 years, passion fruit has the potential to be a high yield, relatively low risk investment for these farmers. After helping with the group formation, Planting Faith made loans "in kind" to all the farmers in the group (seeds, fertilizer, etc). But this loan comes with a unique twist: once the farmers began to harvest they pay their loan off to the group itself instead of to Planting Faith. What this means is that after the loan has been paid off, the group of poor farmers will have the money from their loans plus interest in a bank account that they own which they'll be able to loan out to themselves for more investments in their farms in the future. If the group repays, then they'll have access to a long term source for loans for their farms. The Mang'u farmers have recently started harvesting, and with the help of Planting Faith have been successfully selling their passion fruit to multiple different buyers and beginning the repayment of their loans.

So this is where we come in. Part of my job with the Mang'u group and other groups like them is to help mentor them as they repay their loans, and begin to think about how to manage their loan capital in the future. We'll begin to encourage the farmers to begin saving in the group, which will yield interest from the loans that are made and will allow them to have access to money when business opportunities or emergencies come up. We'll walk with the leadership of the group as they deal with 5-6 farmers who neglected their crops, and therefore are having trouble paying their loans. And we'll help the farmers think through what new ventures they might embark on once the loans are completely paid off.

The Kirinyaga farmers' group is composed of around 50 farmers who are even now gathering together to begin planting aloe vera (the stuff for your skin, for all you male readers). One exciting part of this group is that it is reaching out to some of the poorest folks in the area: the landless poor. Most people in rural Kenya have inherited some small plot of land (the shamba), and land is a requirement for participation in most of our projects. But in this area, the local church has decided to offer 30 of the farmers in the group land on the outreach ministry compound to serve as a demonstration for other farmers they're trying to reach in the area. These farmers haven't met altogether yet, so our job with these farmers is much more complicated. We'll work with the local church outreach staff to come up with a set of policies and guidelines for the group, to help them begin saving even before they receive their loan, and to insure accountability among the group to work hard on their farms and to repay their loans well. Then Rebecca and I will split the responsibility of teaching a Christian business course to the farmers (Rebecca with the women and me with the men) that covers such practical issues as how to market your goods and to keep business and personal money separate, while also enforcing the life-giving message that we're all made in God's image and called to productive work in His kingdom.

Overall, Rebecca and I will be working with eight groups like the two described, each with slightly different issues. Some of them have planted crops that have failed, and we'll be meeting with them to help refinance their loans on new terms. Some of them are growing sunflowers and processing sunflower oil with a machine purchased through their loan, and will need help in deciding how to manage the use of that machine. But what's clear from this past week is that every group will give us the opportunity to learn from and with God's people in Kenya, to build relationships around the common goal of Jesus' kingdom.

Visiting with these and other farmers, feasting on fresh fruit and chai provided generously and enthusiastically by poor members of a nation that is in an absolute food crisis, I'm reminded of the incredible resilience of our poor brothers and sisters around the world. Kenyans suffer everything from some of the (literally) most corrupt politicians in the world to inexplicable crops failures and seasonal patterns. And yet joy and hope persist. The farmers we've met have done incredible things on their tiny farms, and many of them participate in self organized saving groups that help them send their kids to school and invest in small businesses. Life here among these farmers is literally on the edge. And yet we can even now see their incredible commitment to make it, to survive, to provide for their families. We know that we will learn so much from the faith that fuels the people we've met; pray that we can assist them in their search for a better life.

Some Fun Stuff

My visits with farmers also included a four hour trip up to Ngare Ndari, which is right at the foot of Mt. Kenya, Africa's second tallest peak and one of the largest free standing mountains in the world. I saw a hippo, zebras, gazelle, and a baboon all on the road, so needless to say, it's pretty far out there. The area up there is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, with vast golden plains, rolling hills, occasional out and out mountains, and all over shadowed by the mountain that the Kikuyu believe was the home of God himself. Considering that it rises a full 15,000 feet from the low plains, one understands why. We drove in with a rainstorm off in the distance to the west, and the sun dancing on the mountain to the north.

Rebecca has gotten her share of futbol this week, and I, typically, have had my share of shouting at her on the field, this time as a coach as well as a player. Becca was asked even before we arrived to "help with the middle school girl's soccer team," (this is kiswahili for "you're the coach"). With only two practices prior to their first game, the Rosslyn Eagles have won two games and tied a third under Becca's direction. Rebecca has a team of 20 girls, of which 4 are American and the others represent close to 10 other nationalities (thanks to the ICF class for preparing us, by the way!). We're both so excited about this incredible opportunity for her to use her skills. Bec also got to play in a 6 a side tourney with a bunch of locals on Saturday, which was another opportunity for me to ponder the importance of yelling all sorts of ridiculousness at athletic officials.

Going Forward

And so, we continue to be struck by what God is doing in us and in the nation of Kenya. Please pray for us as we try to get to know and build rapport with both the farmers and the local church staff who is also heavily invested in our projects. Pray for wisdom and cultural sensitivity, and a Pentecost-type acquistion of Kiswahili (we've made it through 2 lessons!). Pray for the Kenyan nation as a whole, which has experienced 2 national tragedies in the past week, a downtown supermarket fire and a gas tanker explosion. Both tragedies killed dozens, and are closely connected to the abysmal failure of the political structure here, which has done nothing but point fingers at one another and collect salary. Kenyans are grieving and angry over these events, so pray for them in their losses and difficulties.

Most importantly, pray that God's kingdom would come "on earth as it is in heaven" through all of us and in all of us, that we would see His heart for the poor and the vulnerable of the world, and that we would cast all our hope for them and for ourselves on Jesus, who has risen from the dead and who is setting and will set the world to rights at last.

Peace from us,

Michael

Traffic Jams and Giraffes

We're here! Our first week here has been a great time of learning and of getting excited all over again about the work that we are getting to do. In the chaos, both of us have been hurriedly trying to get into our apartment, Rossetta Stone some Swahili, and recover from our heinous jet lag. Michael has already become a proficient Nairobi driver. It's just the same as driving his Camry in the States, except it's a manual transmission with the driver side on the right, stick on the left, there are no lanes, no rules, no lights, a billion drivers, and a million pedestrians, and occasionally herds of cows in the road. Honestly, the driving here is lunatic, with people and cars darting in and out at each other at ridiculous speeds. But Michael keeps saying that really, it reminds him of Memphis driving. It's still sometimes hard to remember which way to look as we're still getting used to left side of the road driving, but every day becomes a little bit easier. I have driven some, but only with an automatic, and I am still several driving lessons away from being able to drive the manual. I have, however, pored over several Nairobi maps and am beginning to feel like I know my way around town.

The Tiptons have been incredible hosts, and we can tell that not only will we love working with them, but that we'll enjoy getting to hang out with the whole family (Horace, Anne, Horace Jr., and Mary Shea). Anne took me shopping three or four different days this past week for apartment furnishings, which included a mattress, a refrigerator, a stove and a table (check out our virtual tour!). She also encouraged me to drive places so that I would get a feel for the roads and how to get different places. Michael has been shadowing Horace in the field, meeting farmers and even selling one group's passion fruit in town (check out the picture, they're quite tasty).

Just yesterday Michael and I got to go with Horace to Thika, which is the central location to many of the Planting Faith farmers' groups. We met with an Anglican microfinance guru named Peterson and some of his staff, to discuss ways to strengthen and improve the loan program that Planting Faith is operating and which Michael has been asked to facilitate. Later that afternoon we drove out a few more miles to Mang'u to meet with some of the farmers from a group that is beginning to harvest and sell their passion fruit. We got to see some of their crops and learn some about the techniques of how to prune, when to pick, and how to sell the fruit, as well as to learn about some of the issues facing the group from a financial perspective (loan repayment, marketting the passion fruits, etc.) which Michael will be involved with in the days to come.

This weekend Michael and I got to put our driving/navigating skills to practice when we went across the city (a two hour drive in traffic, think Atlanta in rush hour times a million) to see my two good friends, Karis and Abby. It was so good to be with them, to catch up, and to look forward to seeing them much more in the months to come. They're doing really great discipleship ministry with folks from some of the largest slums in the world (more at karabsinkenya.blogspot.com).

We also got to meet Michael's "African brother," David Khisa (see picture), who many of you will remember as Michael's traveling companion, translator, and housemate from his last visit in Kenya. David's father is an Anglican pastor in Bungoma, Kenya, and David recently landed a great job in Nairobi, so we're thrilled to be reunited with Michael's best Kenyan friend from his last visit. When Michael asked about David's parents, he laughed and said they were very excited to get to meet their new daughter-in-law (me!) very soon.

Not only did we get to see Abby, Karis and David, but today we also went to The Giraffe Sanctuary near the Nairobi National Park and got to feed and pet giraffes. The Sanctuary is designed to educate and to protect an endangered giraffe species. It was awesome. One fun fact about giraffes: a full grown adult eats about 75 lbs. of food every day! So they never got tired of taking the food pellets out of our hands or, in Michael's case, out of his mouth (see video).

The agenda for next week: starting Kiswahili language lessons, moving into our apartment, coaching and playing soccer, meeting the Bishop of the Thika Diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya, and meeting and learning more about the different farmers' groups and their specific needs and assets.

Please be praying for us as the pace of life picks up for us in the coming weeks. By our next blog we want to share more about our specific responsibilites, but suffice it to say that though now we are mainly observing, by mid-February we will have significant responsibilites with many different farmers' groups. Pray that we will be good listeners and learners in the coming weeks as we prepare to begin teaching and mentoring in about a month.

We miss you all, and love your posts and emails. Please keep them coming. Jesus Christ is bringing His kingdom in Kenya, and we've already begun to see bits and pieces of it. So stay in touch.

Love,

Rebecca

The Countdown Continues . . .

8 days and counting till Rebecca and I head off for Kenya for the next two years. Needless to say chaos is the order of the day, with many melancholy good-byes to lots of ya'll mixed in between. But we're ecstatic about the opportunity to get over to Nairobi and begin our work with the Tipton Family, founders of Planting Faith Ministries.

For those of ya'll who followed the dude goes to Africa blog (remember that guy?), expect more of the same. For those of you who didn't, we want to make this blog the best way for you to keep up with us and our wanderings (including swanky pictures of us in tribal wear). We hope to post (almost) weekly, so it should be the place to be for news about the Rhodes.

For those of you who are still wondering what we're doing: in brief, Rebecca and I will be working with Horace and Ann Tipton of Planting Faith Ministries to help subsistence farmers move to a sustainable economic level through the good news that Jesus came to save whole persons and communities from the effects of sin "far as the curse is found." Planting Faith empowers groups of extremely poor farmers to diversify their farms so that they are growing profit crops as well as food for their families, and to export those profit crops to Nairobi, Europe, and the US. I'll be helping teach a Christian business training to new groups of farmers and helping with the loan program that the groups use to invest in these new crops. Rebecca will be teaching with me in the class, helping start new microbusiness programs (soapmaking?), helping with logistics for short term teams, and even coaching a middle school girls soccer team.

We couldn't be doing this without your prayers, financial support, and encouragement. So we hope you'll stick around, learn about how we're seeing God's kingdom in Kenya, and stay in touch. Cause we need ya'll.

Peace,

Michael Rhodes