Welcome to Kenya Woodlands UMC

A team from Houston Texas came to do ministry in Kibera for a week. They set up a “laypeople’s eye clinic,” without the aid of a doctor, but with some training and good equipment, were able to give out 100’s of prescription glasses to needy folks in Kibera who can’t afford an eye doctor or glasses. They were an inspiration to the Slingluff’s and a gentle loving presence in the Kibera slums. Our partners in the slums were very encouraged to have them. Here they are in our front yard, preparing their suitcases for the journey home.

Watch your step

The Woodlands UMC team, 12 senior high students or recent graduates and 5 adults, visited schools and churches in Kibera. Along with the eye exam ministry, they did VBS activities with children and visited some homes and businesses in the slums. As one who moves through the slums regularly, I was struck by how they brightened people’s day by simply greeting them sincerely as they passed. A big part of ministry is just BEING THERE!

Where’s the wild animals?

The team from Texas treated the whole Slingluff family to a 3 day and 2 night safari in the Masaai Mara game reserve. We stayed next to a hippo pool. At night the grunting and snorting of hippos and the barking of wild baboons made for light sleep, so it wasn’t too difficult getting up before the sun for the early morning game drives. I think the boys really enjoyed just being tourists.

Whispering with Horses

Thanks to some super missionary friends that share home school activities with our children, Bethany participates in a ministry of providing horse rides to disabled children in Nairobi. Bethany loves working with horses.

When there's too many goats

Our neighbor Gwen recently found herself with what most Kenyans would call a “good problem,” what to do with an excess supply of goats. They were munching her garden to a nub. Kenyans love goat (nyama ya buzi) that is the meat, especially roasted. Hense few of them would ask what you do when you have a few goats too many!

New Friend in the family and ministry

Pastor Kurea, an intern with Nairobi Chapel has recently been assigned by Nairibi Chapel to work with me in Kibera. With a quiet and gentle spirit, Kurea has been a blessing to our family and our ministry in Kibera. Here he’s posing beside a traditional hut like his ancestors the Meru people used (before Kurea’s time). Kurea chose the “Marriage Hut” because he will be married in early September of this year.

Joining the Over 50 club

Kenya is a young country. The average life expectancy here is 47. So when they say that I’m now over the hill, what can I say. The fact that all the old age jokes sound more like reality than fiction just make them all the more funnier. As Paul Simon sang, “Still crazy after all these years.”