Building a Kenya Mission Partnership

From February 5 through February 12 Robert Veitch and Rod Frohman traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to explore the possibility of building a mission partnership with a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. Through connections with Rev. Timothy Njoya, Rod's Princeton classmate and lifelong friend, connections were made with the Kihumo Presbyterian Parish and with the Rungiri Presbytery just 30 minutes outside of downtown Nairobi. The congregation has 300 members and is just 2 miles from a major Presbyterian hospital, the Kikuyu Hospital and the Presbyterian University -- a new institution emerging on the foundations of the Presbyterian College already in existence. Thus the opportunity is available to establish a multivalent partnership with the Kihumo congregation, the hospital and the developing, but not yet open, university. The similarities to Third Church's many connections to the U of R, RIT and Strong Hospital were very obvious to Rod and Robert. The congregation was among the first established by Scottish missionaries in the late 1880's among the Kikuyu people of Kenya, one of 40 tribes of Kenya. Worship in the Kihumo congregation (kihumo means "source") is in Kikuyu.

While in Kenya Robert and Rod participated in a three day networking conference of American Presbyterians and Kenya Presbyterians to learn the best practices of the already existing 40 partnerships between American and Kenyan Presbyterians. (see more information about this partnership at http://www.kenyanetwork.org) The Pastor of the Kihumo Parish, Rev. Geoffrey Hiuhu, two Session members, Mary Hinga and James Njoroge, and Rev. Njoya joined Robert and Rod at the conference in Nairobi at the Presbyterian Church of East Africa conference center. There Robert and Rod stayed three nights at the Guest House in the conference center. Then they stayed one night at the home of Timothy and Leah Njoya. Leah, Timothy's wife, is one of the managers of the African Bible Society. They stayed the remaining time at the home of Geoffrey and Faith Hiuhu. Faith is the Director/Teacher of the Kihumo Parish Pre-School and is a pre-school and K-12 certified teacher.

The pictures (linked below) depict various scenes during Rod and Robert's trip. On Sunday March 18, 2007 Robert and Rod reported their findings and recommendations to the congregation at a noon luncheon. The recipes for the food served can be found here (recipes).

The Kenya Mission Network has more information about the partnership

Photos From Kenya

1. Scenes at Kihumo church	2. Pre School at Kihumo church
3. Rev. Hiuhu's house and family	4. Kikuyu Hospital
5. Presbyterian University	6. Nairobi-- City of contrasts
7. Presbyterian Church of East Africa conference center	8. Timothy Njoya's home