New life in Kenya : First visit to Kitale January 22

It is truly a privilege to share significant events with Salvation Army leaders in this Territory. For the second Sunday following, we have been given responsibility to lead the installation ceremony of Divisional Leaders, this time in Kitale. We begin by learning a little about the city. Kitale is a large city that is a hub for the area that surrounds it. Many Kenyans travel to Kitale when they are en route to other places, like Turkana in the north of Kenya or to other countries such as Uganda, Sudan, or Ethiopia. Our driver explains to us that from Monday to Monday, Kitale is always bustling with crowds of people and sure enough, we saw just that. We drove through the heart of what we would call the 'down town' of the city where we saw streets lined and lined with market places, buses, motor bikes, and crowds of pedestrians. I have been told that Kitale is where much of Kenya gets its food supply. There are many large farms that provide produce for the country. Many people have moved to Kitale because they are able to secure larger pieces of land for their families. The Kitale Division serves about 36 corps, one of the largest divisions in the Territory. This is a very difficult time of year for this area because of the long, hot dry season.

Arriving at DHQ we were warmly greeted by the leaders and shared breakfast together. We had left our home at 6:30 a.m. so the spread before us was welcome - eggs, samosa, arrowroot, muffins, and locally grown bananas. And an excellent cup of tea. Yet, they have no running water in their home. Morris noticed people bringing water while we were having our meal. This was a reminder of the things that are second nature to us in Canada but not necessarily so here. The warmth of the welcome was inspiring with no complaints or even mention that they live without running water.
Following breakfast a few children were waiting to give us the official welcome. Always so heart warming to be greeted by children!

Before long we hear the sound of the Army band - the march of witness has begun. We make our way to the reviewing stand and greet hundreds of soldiers from each of the seven centers in the Division who have come to celebrate, worship, and welcome their leaders. Throughout the morning service, we revel again in the beautiful singing. There is lots of dancing, which we are now becoming quite familiar with. When they present us with welcome gifts of some African attire, we are led out to dance with them (robed in our new clothing) as a sign of our appreciation. (See photos below). Kitale Citadel Songsters favored the crowd with a beautiful selection (unable to post it here but hoping I can post it on facebook) and several youth items are also included. The new Divisional Commander challenges the congregation to move forward with a deep trust in God and a commitment to keep extending God's Kingdom.

We are reminded of security challenges today with the site of armed soldiers present. We understand that particularly in this election year (will write more on that later), keeping crowds safe is very important. The government has advised The Salvation Army that for any gathering of more than 300 people, there will be government security present. We have no fear for our safety and are grateful for the efforts to protect the people. People are obviously unhindered by any threat of safety right now as so many have traveled freely to this event. We were apprised in a private conversation following the meeting that there has been vandalism to The Salvation Army's property (quarters and halls) in recent years and some further discussion will address this concern.

Travelling to and from Kitale gave us our first glimpse of African baboons. A familiar site in the forest area of our drive. Like tourists, we call to our driver to stop the car so we can get some photos. It's not as easy as it sounds to pull over on the side of the road but we did manage to get a couple shots of the animals.

Tomorrow we go to the Training College. So, until then ...

Some photos of our day:

Warm welcome by the children.