WE TOOK OVER THE AFRICAN INLAND CHURCH LAST SUNDAY

Last week we were invited to teach in a small branch of the African Inland Church (AIC). This church is a huge draw in our Eldoret area. We brought our guard with us to translate. The church was a small mud building with a concrete floor. The AIC meeting went extremely well. The children loved all the activities and lessons that I taught. They colored a scripture person puppet from the Friend and we put them on straws. I'm not certain they ever had an opportunity to do that type of an activity before. The children learned the new theme song for the 2012 Primary Sharing Time, "As A Child of God" and participated in a lesson about the gift of free agency!

So in Africa the children walk to a Sunday School class all by themselves at 8:30 AM. They leave at 10:00 AM and the adults come to hear a sermon from 10:00-12:30. Elder Babcock gave a tremendous 1 1/2 hour talk on Romans 12, initially he was told it would be 2 ½ hours (whew).

Here are his words from an email he sent: William Kipsang, a head school master in the same village area as well as a pastor on Sundays invited me to speak and Sister Babcock to teach the children today. I inquired how long I should plan to speak, he said, "Two and a half hours on the 12th chapter of Romans." I wasn't about to share the meeting time with him or anyone else so I prepared a nine page talk. He requested I not speak about the Prophet Joseph, the Restoration or the Book of Mormon. Having complied, somewhat, we have been invited back again, I quoted several scriptures from the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants and we didn't get thrown out. It was a great and wonderful experience for us, one I shall never forget. Turns out my material lasted one and a half hours which was perfect per the clock. William was very happy with my message and so were the other elders in this AIC congregation but when the take was scattered on the table and the coins rattled around in front of the congregation William took his coins, I received nothing, not even gas money. It was a great day.

It is still like a dream that we are here in Africa, loving the people, growing even stronger in our testimony of the restored gospel, and find ourselves speaking to an African congregation this past weekend. It is beyond any ideas of what I thought a mission would be!

A LETTER FROM MOM AND DAD

It seems now after several weeks we finally finished teaching one of our investigators, Edward. He is text book all the way. At any rate, Edward is an Information Technology soon to be graduate. He is the president of his class and has presented a paper or two representing his college. We are now teaching his cousin James, he has had 4th and 5th lessons now, we will be giving 1,2,3 later this week. I asked Edward on Sunday if he had any questions about what we have talked about. He said, "No, I know everything you tell me true". In the 5th discussion we talk about every member being a missionary, I suggested that many young men go on missions, he said, "that is what I want to do." I worry a little about such hasty aspirations but these people are of Israel and many interesting things happen here, we find them spiritual connected. We hope he is baptized within the next two weeks. James will be right behind him, in every meeting he takes lots of notes. We were at church from 10 to 3, that included a baptismal service which he wanted to witness. Here, one bears testimony immediately after the baptism, we heard an eight year old and twenty year old this past Saturday. They throw the new members in the fire at once in Kenya.

Solomon and Helen, from Nanjait Village are very interesting couple we have been teaching recently. A few weeks ago he flagged us down and invited us to his home and we invited ourselves to give the lessons, they obliged. We have now given 5-6 discussions to members of this village and we are getting very well known. Solomon and Helen have several children, 6 are Kenyan runners with Carolyn trying to qualify for the London Games. They have a son in Houston, TX. Solomon promised the phone number of his son, we are hoping it will develop into a trip to the Houston Temple grounds for Whitni and Brent and Solomon's son. We have given them two discussions. Solomon has a TV, generator and a satellite dish which he said costs him $50/mo. That is a huge amount of change here. They have several sheep and chickens and six calves about the place. They have a good sized shamba (garden) and he assured me they never go to the market. Anyway, he said next time we come he will invite many neighbors, turn on the generator and we will bring our computer projector....this will be a good event. On Saturday Solomon questioned me in depth regarding how long we would be in Kenya, I think he was ready to give me some of his property so we could stay there close by to him. He was very happy to hear we would be around for a year or so. What lovely people these are. I am deeply touched by their hospitality and concern for us.

Weather is finally changing here, it has been dry and the rains are welcomed to knock down the red dust. With down-pour yesterday I had to turn on the headlights of the Nissan. Forgot to turn them off upon arriving home, battery ran down and was dead this morning. Well meaning neighbors said I could put it on a bicycle transport and have it taken to a service station for $1.50 plus a charge. Luckily I did not have the tools to take it out. No doubt that would have been the last time I would have seen the battery. Another neighbor had a Toyota p/u and gave me a jump, the Nissan responded immediately and fired off. One of the neighbors said he wanted a bible, I said the best I could do was the Book of Mormon. I gave him a quick introduction and he was very happy.

Was downtown this morning buying some computer time. I heard a noise like an acetylene
tank rolling and banging on the pavement. I looked and a driver going around a 'round-about' had his back door come open. He stopped on the street blocking traffic, then began to run down the street chasing a ten gallon propane tank that had rolled out of the back. I looked and it was surprising that the other three tanks on the back seat did not take a trip down the street. Luckily there was no ignition, it would have been a disaster.

We are doing well. Will be planning a trip to Lake Baringo soon, you can look it up on the net if you care.

Our thoughts and love. E/S Babcock, still in Kenya, coming up on our third point in a week.

LDS CHARITIES-NEONATAL CLINIC

LDS Charities sent a team of health care specialists to present a neonatal clinic in the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital located next to the Moi University here in Eldoret. Indiana University and Moi University have been in partnership since 1989. Our missionaries do a service project once a week in the daycare for children of patients needing HIV/AIDS treatment at the hospital. We assisted the neonatal team with printing needs and we were invited to come and view the training given to doctors, nurses, and other health care specialists from Kenya.

Those who completed the course received a certificate to train, a special training kit, and some of those baby blankets that many LDS Relief Society women have lovingly made for newborn babies.

It was a wonderful opportunity to be involved in a training that will assist more little babies to live, mortality rates are very high among newborns in Kenya. Over the two-day course in the Women’s Pavilion of the hospital we saw many women come to the facility to give birth, several hours after birth be up and about and doing their own laundry (a requirement here in the hospital), take complete care of the baby, and bring their own food and water for the hospital stay.

The stay in the hospital is short but the women were always willing to stop at our table and show off their darling newborn. These are some of the lucky Kenyan women for we learned about 60% of women give birth to the baby outside of a hospital. One desperate mother stopped one of our Kenyan Humanitarian Missionaries and told him she was sorry to bother him but she was a single mother with a sick child at home, she had no money to pay for the birth of her baby, and the hospital would not let her take her baby home until she paid 600Ksh (about $6.00 American). He took her to the payment desk, her story checked out, paid her bill, and escorted her to a taxi so she didn’t need to walk the many, many kilometers home. Another senior missionary from Kisumu told me the hospital tried to put another woman who had just given birth in bed with one of her friends that had just given birth but lost the baby. Life is just not easy in Africa.

A FIRST DISCUSSION--FOLLOWED BY DANCE MOVES

We were invited to teach down in the village at Rebecca’s home. William Keriche arranged a new group of people to hear the first discussion. He translated for us again and after the discussion told me, “You people, I learn something new from you each time.” These people are sweet, very humble, and very friendly to Elder Babcock and me. Here’s Elder Babcock’s description:

We did visit the village again and had another good meeting with entirely a new group of 20 folks and one drunk. The man who had been drinking assured me he would read and study our pamphlets on The Restoration and The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I will go to his house soon and see the level of his commitments, and I do know where he lives. William Keriche, the man setting up these meetings stated that he is beginning to know the message and could give it himself now. He is a respected AIC leader in the village, so we will see what he is really made of. Sister Babcock and I have built Power Point presentations for the lessons. We open up our laptops, they huddle around us we give them a visual lesson with pictures and scriptures, this discussion was outside on the grass using computer battery power, they loved it and if they are visual learners it is very effective. We are getting well known in this area and it seems to be paying off for us. Despite the fact none of these people are progressing towards baptism yet, we are teaching the gospel and exposing them to the truth with great hopes for the future.

We did go back to visit the family of the “drunk” Jonah. His ninety-year-old grandmother that also attended the discussion at Rebecca’s home grabbed Bruce and started dancing and singing next she came after me. Grandma was singing a song in Kiswahili and I asked what she was singing it was a welcome/happy to see you type of song; my only regret was I did not have my camera on hand to photograph her dance. She is in one picture sitting on a bench in the middle of a row of women. Grandma had some great dance moves. I asked for a lesson!