Rachael’s Visit
For th
e past two weeks we’ve hosted Rebecca’s older sister Rachael, who came all the way to Africa just to say hi. Expecting, as we all do when we first arrive, the “slower pace of African life,” I’m not sure Rachael was prepared for the jam packed two weeks we prepared for her. It’s been awesome to catch up, to get her perspective on our work, and to have an excuse for doing a bunch of touristy stuff that we haven’t done yet.We began with a trip to Nakuru National Park (home of the famous Nat’l Geographic shots of a lake filled with like
a kabagillion flamingoes). Rachael arrived at 6:30 a.m. on a Thursday, and by 5:30 p.m. that evening we were looking at rhinos and water buffalo in the park. Karibu Kenya! During this two night camping excursion, we also ended up at Naivasha again, and finally took the boat ride to see the hippos. Very cool, and because Rachael is a 
fanatical photographer with a new camera, our lives are better documented than they’ve been since our wedding.The next week we went on a 4 day work trip that included visits to Nyeri, Ngare Ndare, and Mitunguu. We got to stay with Rebecca’s co-coach at Rosslyn Middle School for a night, followed by another night with Jedida and John in the Ngare Ndare group, and were once again amazed by the extraordinary hospitality of pretty much every Kenyan we know. Mitunguu was also fun, and by the time we got back, we were all completely exhausted.
This week we also visited the elephant orphanage (probably the “cutest” experience on the planet), where you get to see, and touch, numerous baby elephants and even a bab
y rhino that apparently thinks it’s a dog. None of them are more than three feet tall, so you can imagine the googooing that occurred between my wife and her sister. It’s a good thing you can only be there an hour.
All in all, we cherished our last few days with Rachael, and were really sad to see her go. She’s been an encouragement and a reminder that what we do for work is also, as it turns out, quite a bit of fun.
Work
On the surface, our projects are continuing as they have been for some time. We’re still doing the Prepare a Better Business trainings (and getting better at them all the time), the
groups are still meeting monthly, making savings, and growing their crops. Under the surface, however, there’s a lot going on.
In Ngare Ndare, we have at last agreed to grow the butternut squash, and have been working with the group to try to be ready to plant by mid-July. This will require a whole lot of finagling on our part in terms of getting them the inputs that will constitute the loan in-kind, and probably more trips up that way than usual these days. But we’re excited about it all the same.
With our CCS coworkers, we have recently visited the farms in both Embu and Mitunguu
(sunflower groups). The rains, as feared, have gone away as quickly as they came. In parts of Mitunguu, the flowers are, frankly, looking pretty bad, although still harvestable. Elsewhere in the region, our farmers have great sunflower, so that’s going to create some interesting group dynamics as it comes to processing and selling. We’ve also been working on actually getting the processing machines that the groups will use to process the sunflower seeds to create and sell the sunflower oil. This has been a trying process, requiring a lot of difficult discussion with our coworkers and the farmers, trying to figure out the best way to go about all of this. I spent all of yesterday actually driving around Nairobi looking for the machines, and yet we still haven’t completely sorted out how all of this is going to work. Please pray for guidance on this issue, and also that we would remember that the way we deal with the farmers is as important in development as the final product. Development is as concerned with empowering means as it is with financially empowered ends.
In Embeere and Kirinyaga, we are working to get simple, cost-effective irrigation systems installed, while also beginning the trainings. The Embeere group, which is in a drought-prone region, is working really hard, hoping that aloe vera’s drought resistance will make it a good source of income for them. Pray for them as they continue to learn how to take care of this new crop, and for us as we continue to try to understand the marketing aspects of the crop.
In Mang’u, the group continues to sell passion fruit, which is a huge blessing. Several of the farmers have almost paid off their loans, and they sold 70 kilos just yesterday! But many of the farmers’ crops have failed, and the group is struggling to find its way. Rebecca and I recently lead the group in a discussion to try to understand what has worked, what hasn’t, and what could be added to the group to make it stronger. This was all, of course, a great excuse for me to play with beans and rankings again like I did in Bungoma (check out thedudegoestoafrica.blogspot.com for pictures of what it looked like last time). The long and short of it is that we used participatory activities to make sure that everyone’s voice was heard, and that the group will be able to plan how to go forward. One thing we learned in classes back at CC that we’re seeing in real life now is that participation by the community is the most important element of community development. Designing good programs is much less important than empowering the community to design their own. This is a first step in shifting the focus away from us and back to the group.*
Other Stuff
To begin with, we’ve started a garden. Most of you are probably imagining us with a nice little plot outside of our grass thatched hut. In reality, it currently consists of two used tires and a seedling tray in our concrete driveway. Urban gardening is definitely in with the Rhodes family. This is our first effort at growing something from start to finish, and we’ve begun with tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce. We have absolutely no clue what we’re doing, and I honestly never expected anything to come up whatsoever. But about a week ago, on day five, we saw some green! And now, our little tires are just full of little veggies (that will, because of our ignorance, probably never make it out of the tire, but nonetheless)! I have to admit, seeing a bit of the process in our own backyard (tires), got us both pretty fired up.
We’ve also been introduced to some great new opportunities recently, both in terms of work and otherwise. I (Michael) recently got asked to lead a two part Sunday School cl
ass with the new deacons at New City Fellowship. The pastors heard that Bec and I are involved in microenterprise development, and wanted us to talk to the deacons about ministry among the poor. This was an incredible opportunity for us, because we love our church, and had prayed and thought about how God might use us to participate in the conversation about how the church can continue its life-giving, kingdom ministry with and among the urban poor. I spent the entire first session talking about God’s heart for the poor from Genesis to Revelation, and preparing for it was a good way for me to open my eyes again to the radical nature of God’s Word. Whenever I feel like I’ve got a good grip on my economic or political theory, the Scriptures quickly put me in my place.
Rebecca has also been introduced to some new opportunities, and is currently considering committing one day a week to a CRWRC/CCS project targeting high school age girls with programs to help keep them from being vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. This would include health training, as well as informal counseling and community building activities (cottage ministries, and most importantly for my athletic counterpart, SOCCER!). It would also require about a week’s worth of training, and could expand even into some basic economic training similar to what we’re already doing. We think this would be a great way for Bec to continue to use her gifts and abilities to really be a part of God’s kingdom work here. Pray for us as we think through all the ins and outs of this.
We went to our Kiswahili teacher’s children’s home to lead a soccer workshop with kids ages 8-17 last Saturday. We had a blast, I scored my first goal in any soccer game ever anywhere, and Rebecca wowed everybody who participated. Julius, our teacher who runs the children’s home, really is an incredible man of God who is doing really great community work for the kingdom.
We’re also diving more and more into a network or relationships here in Nairobi. Our neighbors, Josh and Emma, continue to be awesome guides around the city, and have also visited our church with us occasionally. This yielded practical returns when Josh came to our rescue after we broke down in downtown Nairobi at 11:00 p.m. (he’s a mechanic). We are growing more and more in our relationships with our predominately Indian-Kenyan Bible Study group, which has also grown into a Tuesday night badminton/Indian food event. And we’ve continued to enjoy playing soccer occasionally with the young Kenyans in the NCF youth group, and getting to know Agnus, our friend and house helper who lives in one of the poorer areas in Nairobi.
Agnus in particular has really helped us to understand the beauty of God’s image bearers who are living in Nairobi slums, and also the vast network of oppressive forces that t
hey face in their daily lives. Just as a recent example, when Agnus got pneumonia recently, she had to get a “loan” from her neighbors . . . at 30% interest per month, while still not really being able to take care of her 8 kids and one adopted addition. Rebecca has led the charge in us trying to help Agnus plan financially, to begin saving with us (because she doesn’t have access to a bank), and to try to make the income she gets support her life.** Now Agnus is putting away her rent money every month with us, and only going home with a portion of her pay from us after working, letting us keep the rest in a “savings account” for a rainy day. This has reminded us that some of the most important work we do among the poor isn’t with big programs or based on education and specialized skills. It is the person-to-person, “walking with” our friends who find themselves in bad economic straits, and trying to apply God’s word to both of our lives together. And that’s something we can all be a part of in our lives.
Peace,
Michael
*Our explanation of our work on the blog is technical because we assume that people that go to the blog want to know more than those who just read our update emails. If you ever have questions or want to know more, please drop us an email at michaelandrebeccarhodes@gmail.com
**Agnus is also part of a cottage ministry that makes beautiful greeting cards. These have
authentic Kenyan artwork on the front, and are made out of recycled materials. The proceeds go directly to benefit people who are doing honest work to provide for themselves instead of turning to all sorts of immoral alternatives or giving in to the despair that surrounds them. If you are interested in placing an order, we’d love to facilitate that. And seriously, they’re really cool.
y rhino that apparently thinks it’s a dog. None of them are more than three feet tall, so you can imagine the googooing that occurred between my wife and her sister. It’s a good thing you can only be there an hour.All in all, we cherished our last few days with Rachael, and were really sad to see her go. She’s been an encouragement and a reminder that what we do for work is also, as it turns out, quite a bit of fun.
Work
On the surface, our projects are continuing as they have been for some time. We’re still doing the Prepare a Better Business trainings (and getting better at them all the time), the
groups are still meeting monthly, making savings, and growing their crops. Under the surface, however, there’s a lot going on.In Ngare Ndare, we have at last agreed to grow the butternut squash, and have been working with the group to try to be ready to plant by mid-July. This will require a whole lot of finagling on our part in terms of getting them the inputs that will constitute the loan in-kind, and probably more trips up that way than usual these days. But we’re excited about it all the same.
With our CCS coworkers, we have recently visited the farms in both Embu and Mitunguu
(sunflower groups). The rains, as feared, have gone away as quickly as they came. In parts of Mitunguu, the flowers are, frankly, looking pretty bad, although still harvestable. Elsewhere in the region, our farmers have great sunflower, so that’s going to create some interesting group dynamics as it comes to processing and selling. We’ve also been working on actually getting the processing machines that the groups will use to process the sunflower seeds to create and sell the sunflower oil. This has been a trying process, requiring a lot of difficult discussion with our coworkers and the farmers, trying to figure out the best way to go about all of this. I spent all of yesterday actually driving around Nairobi looking for the machines, and yet we still haven’t completely sorted out how all of this is going to work. Please pray for guidance on this issue, and also that we would remember that the way we deal with the farmers is as important in development as the final product. Development is as concerned with empowering means as it is with financially empowered ends.
In Embeere and Kirinyaga, we are working to get simple, cost-effective irrigation systems installed, while also beginning the trainings. The Embeere group, which is in a drought-prone region, is working really hard, hoping that aloe vera’s drought resistance will make it a good source of income for them. Pray for them as they continue to learn how to take care of this new crop, and for us as we continue to try to understand the marketing aspects of the crop.In Mang’u, the group continues to sell passion fruit, which is a huge blessing. Several of the farmers have almost paid off their loans, and they sold 70 kilos just yesterday! But many of the farmers’ crops have failed, and the group is struggling to find its way. Rebecca and I recently lead the group in a discussion to try to understand what has worked, what hasn’t, and what could be added to the group to make it stronger. This was all, of course, a great excuse for me to play with beans and rankings again like I did in Bungoma (check out thedudegoestoafrica.blogspot.com for pictures of what it looked like last time). The long and short of it is that we used participatory activities to make sure that everyone’s voice was heard, and that the group will be able to plan how to go forward. One thing we learned in classes back at CC that we’re seeing in real life now is that participation by the community is the most important element of community development. Designing good programs is much less important than empowering the community to design their own. This is a first step in shifting the focus away from us and back to the group.*
Other Stuff
To begin with, we’ve started a garden. Most of you are probably imagining us with a nice little plot outside of our grass thatched hut. In reality, it currently consists of two used tires and a seedling tray in our concrete driveway. Urban gardening is definitely in with the Rhodes family. This is our first effort at growing something from start to finish, and we’ve begun with tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce. We have absolutely no clue what we’re doing, and I honestly never expected anything to come up whatsoever. But about a week ago, on day five, we saw some green! And now, our little tires are just full of little veggies (that will, because of our ignorance, probably never make it out of the tire, but nonetheless)! I have to admit, seeing a bit of the process in our own backyard (tires), got us both pretty fired up.
We’ve also been introduced to some great new opportunities recently, both in terms of work and otherwise. I (Michael) recently got asked to lead a two part Sunday School cl
ass with the new deacons at New City Fellowship. The pastors heard that Bec and I are involved in microenterprise development, and wanted us to talk to the deacons about ministry among the poor. This was an incredible opportunity for us, because we love our church, and had prayed and thought about how God might use us to participate in the conversation about how the church can continue its life-giving, kingdom ministry with and among the urban poor. I spent the entire first session talking about God’s heart for the poor from Genesis to Revelation, and preparing for it was a good way for me to open my eyes again to the radical nature of God’s Word. Whenever I feel like I’ve got a good grip on my economic or political theory, the Scriptures quickly put me in my place.Rebecca has also been introduced to some new opportunities, and is currently considering committing one day a week to a CRWRC/CCS project targeting high school age girls with programs to help keep them from being vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. This would include health training, as well as informal counseling and community building activities (cottage ministries, and most importantly for my athletic counterpart, SOCCER!). It would also require about a week’s worth of training, and could expand even into some basic economic training similar to what we’re already doing. We think this would be a great way for Bec to continue to use her gifts and abilities to really be a part of God’s kingdom work here. Pray for us as we think through all the ins and outs of this.
We went to our Kiswahili teacher’s children’s home to lead a soccer workshop with kids ages 8-17 last Saturday. We had a blast, I scored my first goal in any soccer game ever anywhere, and Rebecca wowed everybody who participated. Julius, our teacher who runs the children’s home, really is an incredible man of God who is doing really great community work for the kingdom.
We’re also diving more and more into a network or relationships here in Nairobi. Our neighbors, Josh and Emma, continue to be awesome guides around the city, and have also visited our church with us occasionally. This yielded practical returns when Josh came to our rescue after we broke down in downtown Nairobi at 11:00 p.m. (he’s a mechanic). We are growing more and more in our relationships with our predominately Indian-Kenyan Bible Study group, which has also grown into a Tuesday night badminton/Indian food event. And we’ve continued to enjoy playing soccer occasionally with the young Kenyans in the NCF youth group, and getting to know Agnus, our friend and house helper who lives in one of the poorer areas in Nairobi.
Agnus in particular has really helped us to understand the beauty of God’s image bearers who are living in Nairobi slums, and also the vast network of oppressive forces that t
hey face in their daily lives. Just as a recent example, when Agnus got pneumonia recently, she had to get a “loan” from her neighbors . . . at 30% interest per month, while still not really being able to take care of her 8 kids and one adopted addition. Rebecca has led the charge in us trying to help Agnus plan financially, to begin saving with us (because she doesn’t have access to a bank), and to try to make the income she gets support her life.** Now Agnus is putting away her rent money every month with us, and only going home with a portion of her pay from us after working, letting us keep the rest in a “savings account” for a rainy day. This has reminded us that some of the most important work we do among the poor isn’t with big programs or based on education and specialized skills. It is the person-to-person, “walking with” our friends who find themselves in bad economic straits, and trying to apply God’s word to both of our lives together. And that’s something we can all be a part of in our lives.Peace,
Michael
*Our explanation of our work on the blog is technical because we assume that people that go to the blog want to know more than those who just read our update emails. If you ever have questions or want to know more, please drop us an email at michaelandrebeccarhodes@gmail.com
**Agnus is also part of a cottage ministry that makes beautiful greeting cards. These have
authentic Kenyan artwork on the front, and are made out of recycled materials. The proceeds go directly to benefit people who are doing honest work to provide for themselves instead of turning to all sorts of immoral alternatives or giving in to the despair that surrounds them. If you are interested in placing an order, we’d love to facilitate that. And seriously, they’re really cool.