We sat around a long wooden table in a small bright conference room last Wednesday.  Mr. Wowe (Woe-way), the head teacher of the Woodley School, Eunice, the administrative assistant, and Ann, the first form teacher were quietly sitting together.  I sat across the table beside missionaries Verna and Darryl Stanton.  To the right were Anthony and Walter, leaders in the SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) organization on the campus of ANU. Finally at the head of the table sat Dr. Kiugu, head of academics, and Rose Karimi, the sponsoring faculty member of the SIFE organization. 

We prayed and I unfolded the dream I had for the little Woodley Church of the Nazarene School in Kibera.  A generous former student of mine, Tom, had donated just enough money to make its future a matter of intense analysis and prayer.

Eunice began. The school teachers and parents had decided on a project which they would be willing to work at so that they might earn money for their school.  The gift from Tom would supply the raw materials, the school would produce items to market, the SIFE students would train the school in marketing, finance, and bookkeeping and the money would go toward a specific goal.  Each 100 Kenyan shillings that the school would raise would be matched with the remainder of Tom’s gift.  Africa Nazarene University would hold and disperse the money as needed and the SIFE group would audit the books to be sure the money was appropriately handled.

You cannot imagine the ecstasy I felt when I saw God put all these pieces together.  Many people had been praying for this potential project and I have a dream that it will make a long term difference in that little school….  that the love I sensed from the teachers there and the stories of Jesus would be available to more students. That the school would become well known for its ability to educate poor children and it would make an impact in the second largest slum in the world.

The next day in chapel, the Work and Witness team from Kansas City announced that it was so impressed with the work the SIFE had been doing in its 2006 award winning project, that it would be contributing a generous sum to this year’s project. They were completely unaware that that project now underway was the little Kibera School.

Now, only God could have done all that.  The converging roads traveled by each of us at that table had been forged by the finger of God. The prayers of His people and the needs of that school had intersected in the lives and dreams of a handful of people who will be teaching Woodley school how to fish.

It started out to be a trip to the Nairobi National Museum which features the works of Richard Leaky, world class paleontologist.  On the lower floor, I am told, there is an African art gallery and down the path a bit is a snake farm which was of great interest to John.  When we pulled into the gate a uniformed guard brushed us out and pointed to the parking lot some distance away from the entrance.  Large construction vehicles were bumping about near the main building.

"Is the museum open?" James shouted over the noises of the machinery.

"No, it is closed for renovations for a month, but the snake farm is open," the  guard looked hopeful.  Deja vue, 2006!  Same answer as then when we tried the museum.

The five of us decided to move on to other things and we backed out into the crowded roadway and headed north toward the Village Market mall.  Within a minute or two Richard Schuster (librarian from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University) began a description of the Hindu temple we were passing on Forest Road. 

"Will they let us in if we asked?" I stared out the van window at the very ornately carved temple.

"Yes, and they have a tour you can take," Richard added.

We retraced our route to turn into the parking area of the temple and stepped out into a beautiful green park laid out before an intricately carved Jesalmer sandstone castle.We deposited our shoes in racks at the base of a broad stairway and entered the darkened, quiet temple.    We faced the idols of several holy Hindu people, Maharaj, and Swami. Brightly dressed east Indian women and men were walking swiftly around and around the figures.  The carvings were intricate beyond description and represented over one million man hours of volunteer labor.

We spent an hour or so learning about the tenets of Hinduism, the country of India and  Indian history via diorammas, a video, countless placques and the indecipherable words of a Hindu guide.  It was remarkable how closely some of these beliefs parallel the gospel of Jesus Christ and His beattitudes. 

Today, I asked Joseph Kisoi, professor of ethics at ANU, if he believed muslims and Hindus would get to heaven.  He wisely suggested it is not our place to judge, but to preach Christ and Him alone as our salvation, but to recognize the good hand of God in many places.  Interesting thought.