Mt. Elgon

A Faith That Can Move Mountains – Or Build on Them.

I don’t imagine very many outsiders have had the privilege of standing on Mt. Elgon, looking out across the valley below. It is a valley dotted with huts made from mud and sticks with thatched grass roofs.  There are no electrical lines.  There are no telephone lines.  There is no road.  I’m not sure there is really even a path in some places.  Only experienced drivers can navigate the bumpy slope.  There is often unrest among the neighboring tribes.   Yet this unlikely place is the site of the future GFE Pastor Training Center.  

We were privileged enough to be at the ground breaking celebration.  The congregation gathered under a tin roof supported by a wood frame.  It is not a temporary structure erected for the day’s festivities.  It is their regular place of worship.  Nearby string stretched taunt between sticks marks off the dimensions of the new Center.  There is also a stack of stones, not imported from some distant quarry but pulled from that very ground.   These stones will be used to lay the foundation and build the building.  Mike Curry, who partners with GFE and was the visionary for this project, highlighted God’s goodness by asking “Do you know what the most expense building material in the US is?”  He explained to the pastors and congregation that it is the very stone that God has provided as part of the land. 

It has taken years of prayer and trust in the Lord to get to this ground breaking.  It will likely take years more to get everything built.  But when I stood on that spot with those people and saw their joy I knew that someday many outsiders will make the bumpy ride up the slope of that mountain.  They will come to train pastors who are eager to learn.  They may even be able to see the little wood and tin structure standing as a testimony to God’s power and faithfulness.

I may never have the privilege of seeing the finished structure. Yet I count myself blessed to have sat in the shade of a tin roof and felt the gentle breeze on my face as I gazed across a beautiful valley and witness the joyful thanksgiving of a people with faith.  A faith that did not move past this difficult mountain but trusted God to build on it.

These three pictures were taken on the "road" to the site of the Pastor's Training Center on Mt. Elgon.  Good thing we had to skip lunch that day.

 

Most of the homes we passed were a traditional
hut like the one on the right.  Some, like the one on
the left, had tin roofs.



The local congregation and their place of meeting.  As
honored guests we sat in chairs while everyone else
sat on little benches, the ground or just stood.



We were treated to a performance
of song, musical instruments and
dance.





The view is beautiful!  This picture does not do it justice.



These are just a few of the GFE pastors who recently
completed an intensive training course under Bishop
Ben Bahati. 

  
Many of the pastors who were training under Bishop Ben had never had the chance to become legally married to their spouses.  So recently GFE held one massive wedding ceremony and made all the marriages "official".


Shy but sneaking a peak.
(You know I can't go a whole post
without adding one "cute kid"
picture.)



The Congregation

Left - Bishop Ben Bahati, head of GFE, takes a turn at the groundbreaking.  Center - In the background you can see some of the stone that has already been gathered from the property.  Right - Bishop Ben, Jeff, and Ben's father who has been designing and constructing buildings in Kenya for a very long time.  He will be heading the construction of the new Pastor's Training Center.