Bishop Tim

A bishop is commonly defined as an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Typically this oversight is over other members of the clergy. I've never been one who has liked titles and stated positions; however, in Kenyan church culture, title and position are very important. Due to my staff position with Growing Healthy Churches as Director of Leadership Networks and my work with other pastors, Gilbert introduced me to everyone in Kenya as Bishop Reverend Doctor Tim Brown. He is quite the jokester and so I laughed, but in a way he was serious. Due to my "titles" it allowed us to have access to people and situations that perhaps we would not have had otherwise.

So, during the week in Africa our Kenyan brothers and sisters referred to me as "Bishop Tim." When I told Charity that the pastor's wife at Jubilee Christian Center referred to her husband as Bishop and I that I thought out of reverence for me she should call me "Bishop, "she responded… "ummm…I don't think so."

After seeing how Bishop Allen, the Senior Pastor at Jubilee was treated at his church on Sunday …chauffeur driven Mercedes…two body guards who talked into their cuff links and had secret service type earpieces… escorted down the aisle in the middle of the worship service and applauded when he appeared…personal assistant who took his Apple laptop and iPad to the podium (he didn't use paper notes) … I looked over at Tom and gave a smile and a little bro-smirk indicating that as a "Bishop" perhaps I should receive such treatment. Tom, reading my mind shook his head and simply said, "Forget it Timmy!" Geez, can't a man get any respect? Now I know how Rodney Dangerfield felt.

No one seemed to mind me being a "Bishop" when we went to the Carnivore Restaurant though. Our driver, Ben had called ahead to make reservations and when we arrived the manager of the restaurant recognizing our group, came over to me and said, "Oh, you must be Bishop Tim Brown. Come we have a special table ready for you."

So, today as we departed from Kenyan soil, so did my Kenyan title…"Bishop Reverend Doctor Tim Brown." Now, I guess it's back to just plain ole "Your Highness." NOT!!!!

Africa Part 5

Today we attended church at Jubilee Christian Center in Nairobi. The church was celebrating their 12^th anniversary and approximately 6,000 people were in attendance. The service lasted for 6 hours…that was not a misprint…6 hours!!!! Did I say 6 hours?!? Needless to say my rear is still sore today. I don't want to hear anyone at FBCC complain about the length of our service! The sermon was 1 ½ hours too…so no complaining if I go beyond 30 minutes either!

It was an interesting service in which the Bishop (more to come on that title in a later blog) introduced special guests including a Kenyan Supreme Court Justice, a grammy award winning Kenyan Christian artist, and the group from California. Yep, you got it. We are treated like dignitaries here. Pastor Gilbert was called to the stage to bring greetings from America. After the service we were escorted to a private area to meet the Bishop and the First Lady…yes that's what they call the Pastor's wife. We had a very pleasant lunch with a wonderful couple and learned some more very interesting things about the nation of Kenya.
A few of us went with Ben, our driver to the town of Karen to do some souvenir shopping and Tom was pleased to get some weapons to add to his collection. Tom collects swords and shields from the various places he visits. Kenya is well known for its coffee and it is quite good, so both Tom and I purchased several bags. The place where we shopped wraps all purchases for visitors for travel, so they have wrapped our coffee in white paper with brown packaging tape. It looks as if we are carrying several kilos of cocaine with the scent of coffee. So, with Tom's weapons and our packaged coffee, we may have a very interesting time when we go through US Customs.

Last night we said our tearful goodbyes to the four young guys who run the Faraha Community Foundation. I hope we can further develop a relationship with Dan, David, Kerry, and Chris. This morning we are packed and headed to breakfast and then to the airport for a nine-hour flight to London then on to Glasgow. The remainder of the week will be spent meeting Gilbert's family and friends and exploring his homeland of Scotland. Tom and I are anxiously excited about our dinner and overnight stay on Wednesday at the Dalhousie Castle just outside of Edinburg. We've had a wonderful time in Africa and feel as if we have a better grasp on how blessed we are and the responsibility we have to be more of a blessing to others.

Africa Part 4

Each day here in Kenya has come with its own special moments and experiences and today was no different. Tom and I had the privilege of taking six of the staff from Furaha Community Foundation School with us to Nairobi National Park. The Nairobi National Park is an unique preserved area of savannah stretching along the urban capital Nairobi. Famous for being the only reserve in the world bordering a capital city, the park is one of Kenya's main attractions for tourists and locals; however, this was a first-time, and perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most of these gracious twenty somethings. Although they could probably live outside of the slum, they have determined that their purpose in life is to improve the lives of the youngsters in the Hurmana slum. When they arrived in the matatu this morning, their smiles, joking and infectious laughter reminded me to never take for granted the pleasures and privileges we have in America.

I find it difficult to adequately describe the natural beauty of the open land of Africa. On our safari, we traveled many miles through the savannah and had close encounters with giraffes, hippos, wildebeests, gazelles, water buffalo, rhinos, impalas, and zebras. However, the highlight of my day was knowing that Tom was able to cross off one of the things on his bucket list…"to see a lion in the wild." We were able to get an up close and personal view of a group of three lions resting under the shade of acacia trees.

I also found myself feeling like I do on Christmas when Charity and I watch Abby and Ally receive their gifts. To watch the awe and wonder and excitement on the faces of our new Kenyan friends was priceless. At one point one said, "Driver, slow down, I don't want this day to end." Tom had stocked up on a lot of candy and he and I had great fun watching the staff enjoy a rare delicacy. I wish I would have been recording as they ate Twizzlers for the first time as well as chocolate covered almonds. None of them had ever eaten or seen nor tasted an almond.

After our five-hour safari, we dined at a popular restaurant in Nairobi, the Carnivore Restaurant. This is a "Brazilian" style restaurant with so many types of meat that I don't think I can remember all we had. We had a body part of a male ox (that I shouldn't have to spell out here), but it was quite tasty. We also had crocodile, and ox heart. Those were the "special" meats. We also had chicken, turkey, duck, lamb, beef, ostrich (my personal favorite), as well as a host of others. The staff rarely get to have meat, so again this was a very special treat for them. They are fortunate if they have meat once a month and it's usually some form of goat. They absolutely love chicken and it's uncommon for them to have it more than once or twice a year. They ate, laughed, ate, danced, ate, laughed more, ate, ate and ate, then ate some more. Oh, but our meal also came with ice cream for dessert. I could only take a few bites because I was so full, but they would stand up and dance because they said it shook the food down and allowed for more room for the ice cream. Why? They never get it. They have to choose whether they will buy vegetables or ice cream and they have to have the vegetables to survive. They felt bad that their families could not eat as they did, so a couple of the ladies wrapped up some meat in napkins and put it in their purses to share when they went home…no takeout boxes at a restaurant like this. I chuckled because it reminded me of what Mom use to do with leftovers at restaurants before take home boxes.

When we arrived back at the hotel our friends hugged us and thanked us for the experience of a life-time. They said they would be praying that we would return soon. One of the staff, Leyla, stood outside for an extended period of time, took several deep breaths and said, "I have to take in all this clean air just one more time." With few words Tom and adjourned to our comfortable room with thoughts of just how rich we truly are.

Africa Part 3

Well, tonight as I write this, it's Friday night at 11:11 and some type of frog is belching some tune that Tom and I haven't heard this late of the evening before. I don't know if the frogs stay up later on Friday night or what, but it's loud and makes me either want to go gigging or yell out the window, "shut up!" or maybe I should just start singing hakuna matatana. Anyway, today was a different day than the rest but very intriguing and interesting.

Today we met with one of the lead pastors of Jublilee Christian Center in Nairobi http://www.jcckenya.net/index.htm. This is a church of approximately 4,700 worshippers on Sundays. We had a good discussion about various church related issues, but when Pastor Gilbert from Reedley's Redeemer's Church asked, "So what can American churches learn from Kenyan Churches," Pastor Morris responded that he believed the American church had gotten away from the basics of Christianity like prayer. He shared that after Sunday services their church held a time of prayer that lasted for four additional hours. He said he felt like the American church had many wonderful things to teach Kenyans, however, he felt as if we neglected connected with God through serious times of prayer.

Afterwards, Tom and I had some time with two of the young leaders of Furaha Community Foundation. It was an informative discussion and here are a few of the mind boggling things we learned: 1) It takes only $11 per month for 1 child to attend school, have one meal a day, school supplies, uniform, cover teacher's salaries and other expenses…Let me repeat that…only $11 per month!!!!! How many of you reading this would give at least $11 per month for a child to have this opportunity? 2) Other needs they have are for mosquito nets for families (approximately $10 per person), and 3) medical and educationally trained people to come and train their teachers and staff. These are only a few of the needs they have.

Next Pastor Gilbert and I met with three pastors in the Huruma slum and they their concerns for their community and their craving for training. When Gilbert and I shared the possibilities of training that we were thinking about bringing them, one of the pastors smiled widely and said, "you are an answer to our prayers." The possibilities are so affordable and yet so life changing!

We finised our day by attending a worship service with the kids. They do this each Friday before leaving the school. The music and dramatical presentations were inspiring (as well as Tom's dancing). We left with the smiling faces of children surrounding us and wanting to slap high fives or shake hands with the "marangos" (white people).

Gilbert treated us all to a very nice dinner this evening and I had the privilege of sitting beside and speaking with one of our drivers for the week. Ben is a former military Warrant Officer 2 or "captain" in the Kenyan Army. He now owns a safari company and runs us all over in his vans called a "matatu." He is such a pleasant and friendly person. I asked him, "So Ben, what would you say if you could tell Americans anything?" And he said, "I would say, "Asante," or "Thank you very much!" Why? Because he has personally witnessed the life change that Americans can bring. He also has a dream of coming to California and touring our beautiful state. He also shared so many things that I would love to share but time doesn't allow.

Tomorrow, Tom and I have the opportunity to take six of the teachers from the Furaha school to Nairobi National Park for a safari. Afterwards we are taking them out to eat at a "Brazilian" style restaurant where we will get a taste of the meats of Africa…more on that tomorrow.

Today I was reminded again of how blessed we are and how much we can do with a little. I'm looking forward to the future possibilities we will have in expanding the Kingdom of God in Africa. Blessings to you all.

Africa Part 2

After a good night's rest and a wonderful breakfast the Redeemer's Church Team, Tom and I headed back to the Huruma slum. Today, I learned the difference between abject poverty and relative poverty. Abject poverty is defined as utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched. People who are experiencing abject poverty have no options and therefore have no power to change their situation in life. Relative poverty describes a person as poor in comparison to other members of their society. It is when the vast majority of people in a particular society have access to particular goods and services (ie. telephone, car etc) the minority who are excluded from these goods and services on financial grounds can be said to be poor; however, they still have some options to improve their situation.

Today, I learned that one of the only ways in which children have a glimmer of hope in the slums of Africa is to receive an education. Here's a synopsis of the system here: The children who can afford to go to school have a slight chance of improving their lives. However, affording school is nearly impossible for most of the children here; therefore, no options…If children can make it through primary school, they take a state readiness exam to go to high school. Depending on their scores, they can be placed in a high school, but again the cost of 1. The state placement test, and 2. Attending high school makes it impossible to receive an education. Only a very few of the children can therefore receive a high school education and have the option of college, but again the cost is insurmountable for most. Crazy, right? Here's the real kicker at the Furaha School. Twenty-seven children have the opportunity to take the high school qualification and placement exam. The cost in US dollars per child? You ready…$8…that's right $8!!!! And most will not be able to take the test because that's nearly a month's wage for their care givers. So, to put it into perspective…the entire class could take the test for $200. Now get this…if the entire class passed the exam, they still would probably not go on to high school…why? The cost, right? However, a child could go to high school for about $1,000 a year. We are so blessed in the US. So, Tom and I are meeting tomorrow on strategies for Furaha Community Foundation to get these kids into high school and therefore provide them with at least a fighting chance to overcome their poverty.

We also visited four caretakers of the orphaned children in the school. I have never experienced such horrific living conditions. You and I have probably watched infomercials or specials on TV about these situations in Africa, but a TV program nor any attempt by me to describe it would be inadequate. One heart-wrenching thing I witnessed was this little baby (approximately 18 months) simple sitting and crawling through this slum housing project. One of the leaders of Furaha told me that this was not an unusual site and either the child had been abandoned or the guardian/parents were out trying to find work and simply left the baby there.

We learned about a newborn baby that was pulled out of the "river" by a dog. The "River" is raw sewage and that baby was in a paper bag…newborn…still in the mother's placenta. The dog drug the bag up to a residence and kids noticed movement in the bag, thought it was a snake and opened the bag and took their discovery to a woman. The baby was taken for medical attention and named, "Little Moses." Little Moses is now 8 years old and attends Furaha School.

On one of our home visits, the woman we spoke with ended by saying, "I thank God that you cared enough to come into my house. No one wants to come into my house because of where we live. I thank God for your visit." I thought, "You've got to be kidding me!" All this woman wanted was the presence of someone who cared…"the ministry of presence" is a powerful thing. So, today I've learned. I've grown. I've been challenged and above all, I know that we can make a difference and at least give some in this world an option.

Africa part 1

Tom Watson and I left for Nairobi, Kenya from San Francisco on Monday, January 24 at 5 PM. Ten hours later we landed at Heathrow in London and were off with Gilbert (a great Scottsman, tour guide and pastor buddy from Reedley) and two other gents from Gilbert's church. The Heathrow Express Train dropped us at Paddington Station (and yes there were bears there) and jumped in one of those infamous London cabs and our cabby dropped us off at a 300 year old Pub/Restaurant for fish and chips and bangers and mash. It was quite delicious I might add. The light rain and chilly temperatures prohibited us from walking around town; however, we did take a ride on the London Eye for an awesome panoramic view of the city. We made our way back to the airport for our 9 PM flight to Nairobi.

We arrived this morning at 8:30 AM, had an uneventful experience in customs and were pleasantly greeted by our drivers for the week, Joseph and Ben. We "hired" two vans (aka Mata tutus) to haul us all around all week and after experiencing the traffic here, I'm thoroughly grateful.

We went straight to the slum area known as Huruma to visit Furaha Community Center and the school that Redeemer's Church in Reedley started with the help of four young locals. Chris, Kerry, Dan and David have done an incredible job of starting the school with a little over 20 kids 6 years ago and now the school has 550 kids from pre-k through 8^th grade. 80% of these children are orphans and nearly 60% are HIV positive. They attend school from 6:45 AM – 6:45 PM and will get their only meal of the day at the school. The teachers make $110 a month and the administrators make $190 a month; however, all are grateful for their opportunity to empower themselves.

Tom and I have experienced perhaps a worse situation when we were in Patna, India in 2007; however, the extent of disease seems to be more prevalent here. The people are incredibly friendly and hospitable. We were fed twice today, while those poor children would only receive on meal. At 2:30 PM, we traveled back through the city of Nairobi to the Fairview Hotel http://www.fairviewkenya.com/. The accommodations are very, very nice and the hotel is in the government district of the city. In fact, the Israeli Embassy is just down the street.

We both had much appreciated showers considering that we had been traveling for two days and spent the day in the slum. Gilbert had arranged a dinner meeting with the Stephen Mairori, the International Director of International Christian Ministries. It just so happens that Stephen is a 2004 graduate of the Mennonite Brethren Seminary in Fresno…small world huh? We discussed ways in which First Baptist Church of Clovis and Redeemer's Church can bring training for pastors in the Huruma slum. It seems that we have some very viable options that we will continue to explore.

Both Tom and I are exhausted physically and emotionally depleted. We are looking forward to sleeping horizontally tonight as opposed to trying to sleep sitting in an airplane seat. Tomorrow starts early for us and we will be having meetings and visiting with the residents of Huruma. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to bring hope to the "least" and "poorest of the poor." Many blessings to you all. I will post more pictures on Facebook for anyone interested.

Thanks Dad

Tomorrow is Father's Day and I've had my dad on my mind a lot today. I miss Dad and Mom a lot. My two sisters and I have been truly blessed with loving, Christian parents. Dad has always possessed a quiet strength and has always demonstrated his love through the sacrifices he has made to ensure that his children experience the best in life. He worked the majority of his life deep within the mountains of southern West Virginia as a coal miner. I'm proud of him and the heritage that has established and the legacy that he is passing on through us. I've never been ashamed of my Dad and he has been and will continue to be my hero.

He has always provided for us. I have memories of how stressful "contract" time was. Sometimes, miners would go on strike for weeks at a time as their unions fought for safer working conditions, better health benefits and fairer wages. And in typical Dad fashion, he would make a few calls and off he would go to work at gas drilling rigs so our family wouldn't have to go without. The recent BP disaster in the Gulf reminded me of the time that Dad had a near miss when the rig he was working on had an explosion. He has had several of those near misses in his occupation.

Dad never complained much about work and always had time to attend the activities my sisters were involved in as well as participate with me in sports and attend A LOT of games. We've also enjoyed many hunting trips and still laugh about the time I was chased through the mountains by a wild boar. We have sat on the banks of streams and lakes for hours on end fishing and have great stories from those times. Like the time when we were using Velveeta cheese as bait (trout love it) and Mom took a bite of the cheese. I yelled to Dad and many people around the bank heard me say, "Dad, Mom's eating all our bait." Of course they thought Mom was eating worms.

Dad and Mom made many trips to watch me play college football and during a conference championship game in Salem, the rain was horrific. Most fans either listened on the radio or stayed in their cars, but not Dad. There he stood behind the bench cheering me on and reminding me not to fumble the exchange with the quarterback. Dad got soaked to the bone as he watched us win our conference championship.

We've had memorable trips as a family to Myrtle Beach, Gatlinburg, Charleston, and Pulaski. We've laughed at how easy it is to scare Dad we giggle as he draws back his fist like he's going to whack you. We've listened to his crow calls, his "hooty-who," and the infamous "berrherrr." We enjoy his "two-two bats in the belphry ah ah.' We've joined him in his singing of the morning, like "We three kings of orient are," and "I've got friends in low places." We've blessed him as he sneezes (a minimum of 10 or so sneezes each time). We've cracked up at his sayings …like one my sister shared today. Apparently, Mom fixed a lot for lunch and Dad ate too much so he said, "Barb, I need some baking soda." "Baking soda? What in the world do you need that for Horace?" "So, I can rise up from this table." And just so you know "that's absolutely imperigoric." Oh yea and his proverbs and words of wisdom… like "Don't believe any of what you hear and only half of what you see," and "you can't hurt a man of steel, but you can pee on him and make him rust."

I could go on and on, but there's something for which I can never thank Dad enough and that is his spiritual leadership and guidance in our lives. We were raised to understand that Jesus loved us but it was simply not something shared verbally. Dad demonstrated the love of Christ through his own actions. Of course, Dad's not perfect…only one man has been…but he's pretty close in my book. I was taught a long time ago that "there is no success without sacrifice. And any time you see a successful person it's because someone sacrificed." I recognize that any little bit of success I've experienced in life, I owe to Mom and Dad and their sacrifice for me.

So, on this Father's Day weekend, I just want to say "Thanks Dad." You'll never understand how blessed Debby, Brenda and I are because of your guidance and influence in our lives. You area awesome and make life rich, meaningful and just plain fun. "Now study on that!" I love you! ~Your favorite son~