 |
| REPORTS |
| Gay and Christian in KENYA, UGANDA, TANZANIA, RWANDA AND BURUNDI |
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| – Jose Ortiz and Steve Parelli OUT in Africa – a REPORT on their work with Other Sheep Kenya in Kisumu and Nairobi from Thursday evening, July 1 – Tuesday morning, August 5, 2008 Written, Thursday & Friday, September 4 & 5, 2008, Bronx, New York by Steve Parelli, Other Sheep Executive Director |
ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED
KISUMU, Kenya. Thursday afternoon, July 31 – Saturday morning August 2.
Early Thursday morning, July 31, Jose and Steve leave Kampala, Uganda, by bus. We arrive in Kisumu, Kenya, in the
afternoon (after a some what difficult crossing at the Uganda-Kenya boarder).
NAIROBI, Kenya. Saturday evening, August 2 – Tuesday morning, August 5
Saturday morning, August 2, Jose and Steve travel with Rev. Makokha and Anne, by bus, to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving in
the afternoon.
Tuesday morning, August 5, 2008, Jose and Steve fly from Nairobi to London. They remained in Great Britain until
August 21 sight-seeing (on holiday) in England, Scotland and Wales and making contacts for Other Sheep East Africa
in Manchester and Brighton.
END of Report
KISUMU, Kenya. Thursday afternoon, July 31 – Saturday morning August 2.
Early Thursday morning, July 31, Jose and Steve leave Kampala, Uganda, by bus. We arrive in Kisumu, Kenya, in the
afternoon (after a some what difficult crossing at the Uganda-Kenya boarder).
- Kisumu: Half day seminar (9:00AM – 1:00PM) on the Bible and Homosexuality, Friday, August 1.
- The seminar was held in a conference room of a moderate local hotel.
- 17 people attended, mostly clergy and some lay people.
- This seminar came about by the joint networking efforts of Rev. Michael Kimindu (Anglican
priest and MCC minister) and Rev. John Makokha (United Methodist Church minister).
While they were in Mombasa, Kenya, networking, a fellow Anglican priest and personal
friend of Rev. Kimindu who was visiting in Mombasa offered to help give the seminar in
Kisumu by inviting area Kisumu clergypersons to attend. - Rev. Makokha and his wife Anne Baraza (from Nairobi) arrived in Kisumu a day or two
early to take care of preparations. (Rev. Kimindu was in England attending Lambeth
2008.) - Seminar speakers: Steve Parelli was the featured speaker. He presented a PowerPoint
on the Bible and homosexuality. Anne Baraza gave a workshop on homosexuality and
Kenya; Jose Ortiz gave a PowerPoint on Psychology and homosexuality. - Soda and finger foods were served during the seminar.
- Time was allowed for questions and comments at the end of the seminar.
- General response was positive; one Kenyan clergyperson who studied theology in
America reported the need for this kind of material; one pastor visiting from the United
States cautioned Kenyan clergypersons to not go too fast with this material for fear of
division.
- Kisumu: Informal meetings with individuals, Thursday evening, July 31 – Saturday morning,
August 2.
- Thursday, July 31. (1) Jose and Steve arrived late Thursday afternoon by bus from
Kampala, Uganda. The afternoon hours were used to meet with Rev. Makokha and Anne
to discuss with them and show them pictures of the work in Rwanda and Uganda; (2) later
in the evening Jose and Steve were introduced to the Anglican priest (name withheld) who
helped with the seminar by inviting area clergy. - Friday afternoon and evening, August 1. (1) Jose and Steve spent the afternoon with an
area pastor and his wife (and with Rev. Makokha and Anne) touring a Kisumu slum where
the pastor ministers. We were shown their new sizable church building still under
construction: a large two story building which will serve as a community center as well as
a place for worship; (2) in the evening, we dined with Rev. Makokha and Anne at a
restaurant on Lake Victoria: (3) here we met a journalist who works for a major
newspaper in Nairobi; he showed considerable interest in the work of Other Sheep and
took Rev. Makokha's contact information for future reference.
NAIROBI, Kenya. Saturday evening, August 2 – Tuesday morning, August 5
Saturday morning, August 2, Jose and Steve travel with Rev. Makokha and Anne, by bus, to Nairobi, Kenya, arriving in
the afternoon.
- Nairobi: Sunday, August 3. Meeting at FAWE with Other Sheep Kenya
- Jose and Steve, in their shared apartment at FAWE (shared kitchen, dinning and living
area, etc), served a pasta meal to Rev. Makokha and Rev. Kimindu and to six Other
Sheep people. - Following the meal, Jose and Steve showed pictures on the wall of their travels and
ministry in East Africa. - Afterwards, the Other Sheep Kenya Project Support Team met to discuss items of
business. Rev. Kimindu gave a report on Lambeth from which he had just returned the
night before. Rev. Makokha gave an update report on making Other Sheep Kenya an
NPO.
- Nairobi: Monday, August 4. Jose and Steve's last full day in East Africa. Interview with Kiss100
Radio; informal meetings with individuals.
- Jose and Steve, with Rev. Michael Kimindu and Rev. Makokha, go to breakfast at All Pan
African Conference prior to radio interview - Kiss100 Radio interviews all four – Rev. Kimindu and Rev. Makokha and Jose and Steve;
this is a prerecording; the interview was aired the following morning, August 5 (as Jose
and Steve were boarding onto British Airways for London) - Jose and Steve lunch with Rev. Kimindu and Rev. Makokha and discuss Other Sheep
Kenya needs and goals - In the evening, four individuals came to Jose and Steve's shared apartment at FAWE to
discuss personal concerns they are currently facing in their lives
Tuesday morning, August 5, 2008, Jose and Steve fly from Nairobi to London. They remained in Great Britain until
August 21 sight-seeing (on holiday) in England, Scotland and Wales and making contacts for Other Sheep East Africa
in Manchester and Brighton.
END of Report