26 April 2016
I can’t believe how fast these last 2 months are going! This Friday (29th) we will be having a ceremony to officially hand over the leadership of the base to the next generation. Leo Kiwanuka, the week’s guest speaker for the DTS will be the MC; which is so appropriate as he is also on the Regional leadership team and last year came to spent 2 weeks with us just meeting one-on-one with staff and having hours of teaching and encouraging us as a base.
In November last year when Anke & Garry Tissingh (our leadership mentors) met with Fridah, Erick, Karen & myself to begin the leadership transition process, Garry talked about this being like handing over the baton in a relay race. He said in a relay race the winner is determined not so much by which team is the fastest but by how the team hands the baton from member to member. He gave the example from a past Olympic Games where the US team fumbled the baton and as a result came in second. Anyway, that is the picture we are carrying in our minds.
The ceremony will be preceded by a lunch of pilau and kachumbari and then the ceremony part A will be honoring of Karen and myself for our 13+ years of leadership with perhaps some testimonies of God’s faithfulness during those years. Then part B will be Karen & I handing over to Fridah and Erick, commissioning them as leaders and encouraging them that they can do this and then all of us being prayed for by Leo and maybe other pastors and YWAM leaders who have been invited to attend.
When I was talking to Val about the whole thing, she suggested that as a prophetic act, Karen & I should present Fridah & Erick with an Mzee stick. I don’t actually know the real name of this item but it is a carved rod usually about 18” long that is carried by chiefs, heads of households, officials etc. as a symbol of their authority. I sent Fred into Mombasa to the Saturday street fair yesterday to find me one and buy it.
This ceremony will be followed by cake and juice . I am ordering a Black Forest sheet cake this afternoon with white instead of chocolate frosting-- the Nakumatt baker assures me he can do the art work. It will have a simple decorative border and a picture of runners handing the baton during a relay race.
Here in Mombasa we had thunder, lightning and heavy rained all night on Friday so Saturday morning 2 bedrooms and my dining room were mini-lakes. BUT the plants and animals are loving it and even in one week everything has become green again.
