We arrived at St. Phillips church about mid-day on our day with Bishop Matolo. It was out in the country on a plain, very different from the hillside churches we had visited early that morning. The congregation was led by Rev. Daniel Mutuku, a very friendly and humble man of God who welcomed us with open arms.

We took a small tour of their land where we saw little plots set aside for farming. The church family has started farming and selling various vegetables to sell to help support the building of the church. They want to be able to build a new roof, pour new concrete floors and build an altar. We prayed with them as they blessed the first fruit of their crop.

During this time the beautiful ladies of the church brought us tea and bread. They told us that the Bible says “Visitors do not visit without the church wiping the dust from their feet.”

Stephen and Jessi are getting married! It is about time.

See some more photos on Stephen’s blog and check out how it happened on Jessi’s blog.

This trip to Kenya for the Kiini Project was Jessi’s first trip to Africa and she had a blast.  It’s one of those places that it’s hard not to fall in love with.  Here’s a shot of Jessi from our day with Bishop Matolo in Muchakos.  Also check out some shots that I did for Times Square Church in Texas a few months ago when we were building homes to ship to Haiti HERE.

While we were in Kenya working on the Kiini Project we also had the opportunity to visit one of the Charismatic Episcopal Church’s Bishops, Bishop Matolo. You may recall that I spent some time with Bishop Chunge during my last trip to Kenya, another of the CEC’s bishops in Kenya.

Bishop Matolo lives in Machakos, a town East of Nairobi. We were able to spend a day with him and visited several of his churches and the project that they’re undertaking. Here are a few shots from our time with him!

A pastor for one of Bishop Matolo’s churches prays while we visit.

Some of the women in the above pastor’s congregation.

Bishop Matolo shows us the plans for the future church building they hope to erect around the small, semi-permanent existing one.

Bishop Matolo prays at one of the churches we visit in his diocese.

This church that we visited has a small farm that they use to help provide food for the congregation so that they can save money.  This is a model that Bishop Matolo is using with several churches in his diocese.

The congregation comes to greet us.

We spent some time visiting with the congregation and sharing tea with them, a common custom in Kenya.

The head pastor and his wife are introduced to us.

Bishop Matolo is asked to bless this pumpkin, the first fruit that their fields have yielded this year.

The congregation wave their goodbyes as we head to the next location.

This is the only finished, permanent church in Bishop Matolo’s diocese.

Bishop Matolo is also working on an irrigation project that he hopes will provide more food for the people in his congregation.

The crops in the fields that are irrigated are much healthier than the surrounding fields that depend on rainfall.

The water is pumped from the river nearby to the fields.

Well, it’s much past the 7th day of our trip to Nyeri with Kiini, but due to our lack of internet access we’re just now getting around to posting these. We’re actually sitting in the lobby of the Kenya airport waiting to check in (which they don’t allow until a few hours before the flight) and we happened to find some wi-fi!

Our last day with Kiini was a short one, but we were still able to accomplish quite a bit before we made the drive back to Nairobi. We started the morning just across the street from the Kiini office visiting a disabled man who is part of a group that has benefited from the micro-loans through Kiini. He now runs a small shop making all sorts of metal items, from drain pipes to watering cans and much more. He’s been able to start and sustain his business and provide for his family through support from Kiini.

After that we were able to attend one of the group meetings and see first hand how the loans and bookkeeping work. One of the women’s groups had their monthly meeting and Kiini attended to help with the paperwork and banking to assure that everything was in order and that everyone was doing their part.

Our project with Kiini was amazing and we were really impressed with their hearts and commitment to the community there in Nyeri. They are reaching out and touching so many lives and we were honored to get to be a part of what they’re doing.

Stay tuned for much more on Kiini as we begin our ‘back end’ work on the project from the states over the next few weeks. There will be videos/photos/design and many more stories that you won’t want to miss!

This man, who was born disabled, was empowered through the Kiini Sustainable Initiative.

Some of the items that he makes in his shop.

He demonstrated to us how he makes some of the metal items that he sells there in his shop.

Kennedy of Kiini.

The Utugi Ladies group meeting in Nyeri, a group that Kiini works with.  (Utugi means grace)

Boniface goes over the books with one of the women from the Utugi group.

Sam looks in on the group meeting.

Fraciah, one of the women from the Utugi Women’s group.