Into Durma Land (Homestay #4)

Ferry unloading

We headed out on another ministry trip during our homestay with the Wambua's to the Durma people.  Along the coast one of the key tribes is the Mijikenda.  The Mijikenda are divided into 9 smaller tribal units.  The Durma people are one of those groups.  According to joshuaproject.net (a site devoted to reaching the unreached groups) the Durma are classified as reached.  From our short visit we did not see a strong strong church presence despite the statistics on joshuaproject.  We noticed a number of places for worship for the other Major Religion on the roads though.  But, what we did see of the church is encouraging as we saw Christians serving Jesus in difficult times with great faith.  We also met a motivated Pastor missionary named Boniface who is doing a good work amongst the people trying to establish a number of churches that will touch many communities.  He pastors 5 churches and they span a diameter area of around 23 kms.  We wanted to see as many places as we could on an average Sunday morning.

We began our trip by leaving Mombasa.  The above photo is at the ferry as we headed off the island of Mombasa down onto South Coast.  After getting off the ferry and going south along the coast for a few km's we headed inland.  And it was a beautiful drive...although the road became quite difficult after this portion.  

 

This last photo although beautiful also leaves us with a small story.  As we came around the corner at the bottom of the picture.  We stopped so we could use "the facilities."  After getting back in the car we rolled ahead just a few metres and the kids yelled...there's an elephant in the bush!!  It was a smaller baby elephant.  We laughed that we were so close to an elephant and did not know!  And we were very happy we did not upset them and become a target! 

Once we arrived in the general area of where the Pastor Boniface works in Durma.   He then started us on a whirlwind tour of his ministry.  Which consists of 5 churches and also some Sunday School's.  The first place we stopped was a small Sunday School in a village.  This is how he begins the process of developing a local church in a community.  So here we met with these children and shared with them a few minutes.  The man on the left and the lady on the right in the blue are students from a different bible college doing some internship work with Pastor Boniface.  

Church #1 - Next, it was on to a church already meeting.  We gathered with them for a few minutes singing, greeting, and briefly sharing with them.  We had to do all of our introductions in Swahili which was a good step for us and for the most part we communicated pretty well but it was also a strong encouragement for us to see the need we have to keep learning more of the language.  

Below is church #2.  This was the building they were meeting in but obviously not anymore.  So, with outside help they were able to construct this new half-finished building below.  The most important thing is complete the roof for shade! In Kenya they call the tin sheets mbati.  In each church that we visited we did much the same sing with them, introduce, and Isaac would bring a word of encouragement.  Then we would pick up and go to the next church. 

Church location #3 - There is more I would like to share about this stop but will save it for another post as after visiting this place we were taken to the village beside this church and shown a place of ancestral worship.  

Pastor Boniface

Church location #4 - We were too late to meet with this congregation.  But, this is the main station for the work of Pastor Boniface.  His house is just 100 metres or so away from this church building.  This is where we stopped to eat and visit more casually.  We heard of many of the challenges that still face the Pastor and the ministry in this place.  One quite obvious one for us that we noticed even as we visited was the lack of men in the church.  There were many children, some women, but only  one or two men in each of these places.  Pray for men to begin to attend at these churches.  Obviously, in these cultures the men lead.  So, if the men would come these small little church buildings would soon be outgrown!  The darkness is great and the cultural and social pressure is immense on the men.  They either align themselves with the other Major Religion on the coast or they may be involved in some other form of worship.  Pastor Boniface has faced personal pressure from the community around him even as they try to use their cultural ways to bring curses upon him and his family.

What epic road trip would complete without a flat.  We went over a very rocky patch where they stones were big and sharp.  Unfortunately one of them gouged the sidewall of Isaac's back tire.  Just as we came off the patch of rocks Isaac realized he had a flat.  We pulled off and thankfully we had enough daylight to change the tires and get back on the road. 

As we finished changing the tire we said goodbye to the African sun.