Giraffe and Fruit of AIMs labor

Two weeks ago Robb and I went to Naivasha which is in the Rift Valley about two hours north of Nairobi. We cleansed our lungs with clean, fresh air, and got reacquainted with quiet. We ventured out to Crescent Island Wildlife Sanctuary, which incidentally hasn’t been an island since 1988 when Lake Naivasha’s water level dropped enough so that the island was then connected to the mainland! It is a sanctuary for wildebeest, gazelle, water buck, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, hyenas, aardvarks (did you know that aardvarks live only in Africa and are nocturnal? I love the internet!), over 200 birds, and many others.

This post is not intended to be a geography or history lesson, but I thought you might enjoy a few fun facts! Before I go into the intended topic of this post I must say a little something about the animals! Joshaphat, our guide on the island, walked us around for about two hours during which time we were up close and almost personal with wildebeest, gazelle, zebra, water buck, and…giraffe!!

We certainly didn’t get close enough to the giraffe for them to eat out of our hands like at the Giraffe Center in Nairobi where the giraffe are more or less tame. I’m sure the giraffe on Crescent Island have grown accustomed to seeing people walking around, however they’re still wild! We watched four adolescents eating leaves from acacia trees then observed very big Mama Giraffe emerge a little way off and just stand there glaring at us as the “kids” ran to her. What an amazing sight!!

Back to the point of this post! In addition to asking Joshaphat, our guide, many questions about the animals and the island, I also enquired about him! Is he married? No, but he has a girlfriend whom he will be marrying next year. Is he from Naivasha? No, he comes here from his village up north every two months to work. What tribe is he from? Maasai. I mentioned that we see many Maasai in Nairobi still wearing their various patterned red shukas (coverings or large cloths) with a rungu stick hanging from their waists and some even carrying a spear. Joshaphat laughed as he told us that we wouldn’t recognize him if we came to his village because he dresses completely traditional when he is at home. (Unfortunately, we only have a picture of his back!)

Because it was a Sunday and we could hear a church service across the lake, I asked him if he has to work every Sunday and miss church. eHe said Yes. Somehow the conversation turned to AIM and the AIC (Africa Inland Church). When Robb explained the relationship between AIM and AIC, Joshaphat excitedly shared with us that he belongs to an AIC church which is one of three AIC churches in the area of his village which were all started by an AIC Kikuyu missionary.

Robb and I were encouraged on several levels. First of all, the missionary who planted these churches is from here – not only an African reaching Africans but a missionary from the Kikuyu tribe reaching the Maasai tribe! This is one of the very things about AIM that we appreciate. Not all positions allow for this, but as Robb likes to say, “western missionaries should work themselves out of a job”, by training, equipping, and moving on!

The second encouraging thing was to hear that the AIC church is successfully raising up national missionaries and sending them out. Lastly, AIMs ultimate goal is being fulfilled: Christ-centered churches among all African peoples. It was not a coincidence that Joshaphat was our guide!