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April 2001
Dear Friends and Loved Ones,
As you can see, I haven’t changed the channel through which
my letters are sent after all, but I have changed my e-mail address,
so please do make note of that. My e-mail is now: mbennett@maf.or.ke
and, like many of us, I confess I do better at answering e-mails
than I do with regular "snail-mail" correspondence.
I always appreciate hearing from any of you, and I do my best
to keep up from my end as well.
"Young people can develop and use their gifts to further
God’s kingdom, and can make a meaningful difference both
now and for the future of Kenya."
As I write, I hear the laughter of a living-room-full of neighbor
kids downstairs. In our neighborhood, the kids tend to easily
flow from one house to another, often ending up at our house before
they are all sorted out into the appropriate homes at suppertime.
Outreach to our neighbors seems to come most easily through the
children. My two, Justin and Imani, are natural magnets for the
rest. Even through their storybooks, we get into discussions of
who Jesus is, what Christmas means, etc., as we converse in English,
French, and Swahili, between Christians, Muslims, and even Chinese
atheists. Even through our home fellowship group, which meets
here weekly on Wednesday nights, three of the workers who live
behind us come to join us for praise, worship, and prayer.
My primary purpose here in Nairobi continues to be teaching at
Daystar University, where I continue to serve as chair of post-graduate
studies and to teach in the master of arts program. We are excited
as we are in the midst of proposing several new master’s
level programs, including a master’s in counseling psychology,
in religious studies (contextualized theology), and a few others.
We are also pushing to help 23 students finish their master’s
theses in time to graduate in May.
A few highlights from the last several months include a one-month
visit to the States in December. Justin and Imani had the chance
to be with their American extended family and to experience an
American Christmas for the first time. A highlight for Justin,
age 3, was seeing the flotilla of Christmas ships on Lake Washington.
He stood with others outside, shivering, mesmerized by all the
lights reflecting off the water and the magic of carols wafting
over the waves. For Imani, age 19 months, highlights were discovering
Cheerios, Graham crackers, Goldfish crackers, and Grandma and
Grandpa. "Tank," the dog owned by the friends with whom
we stayed for most of the month, was also quite a hit.
For myself, besides being with family and friends, a great joy
was to be part of Urbana 2000. Urbana is a mission conference
for students held every three years, sponsored by InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship. Besides leading seminars, I had the privilege
of giving the final communion address, speaking to 20,000 students,
pastors, and mission personnel, in the midst of a tremendous time
of worship and celebration just before midnight on New Year’s
Eve. Literally thousands committed to serve the Lord cross-culturally,
whether at home or abroad, and it was exciting to see the ethnic
and international diversity represented by those making these
commitments. Racial reconciliation was a sub-theme of the event,
and God did some very tangible and significant healing in the
lives of both individuals and between represented ethnic groupings.
An additional bonus for me personally was to be reunited with
so many friends and colleagues in ministry from over the last
several decades. It was an overwhelming encouragement to have
a small taste of the reunion we can look forward to someday when
we will gather around the eternal throne of Jesus Christ, together
with the nations of the earth!
Back in Kenya, another outside ministry I had the privilege of
being a part of recently was a week-long workshop held in Eldoret,
near the Ugandan border. Sponsored by ALARM (Africa Leadership
and Reconciliation Ministries), the purpose was to train youth
leaders in local churches. How encouraging it was to have participants
respond with a sense of "Aha!" as we talked about issues
youth are facing in the midst of rapid change and problems like
AIDS, and as we discussed how youth are not only to be ministered
to, but can be challenged and equipped to be ministers themselves.
Young people can develop and use their gifts to further God’s
kingdom, and can make a meaningful difference both now and for
the future of Kenya.
So, day by day, we press on. The rains have come, with the promise
of new growth and future harvest ahead.
Joy to you all,
Marta
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 27
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