Lodwar Mission Station - Land, Land, Land

Lutherans from Lokichar meet with us in Preparation and Support of the Lodwar Mission Station Land SelectionWednesday was a day of heat, dust, fellowship, and excitement. The General Secretary, Rev. Benjamin, had invited five key members of the congregations in Lokichar about six hours south to come up to Lodwar so they could be a part of the process here. To get to Lodwar from Lokichar, you have to catch the buses that pass through the town of Lokichar around 9pm or 10pm on their way from Nairobi to Lodwar, ultimately arriving in Lodwar around 3am or 4am. Those buses are already full but the conductor is always happy to make a few extra bucks and will pick up anyone they can physically fit into the bus, often standing room only at this point in the ride. Those people from those congregations in Lokichar are NOT NORMAL. Instead of five of them coming on that slow and crowded and uncomfortable bus ride, TWELVE of them came! That’s how eager they were to be a part of this mission work in Lodwar. We spent some time with them all being sure they all understood and were supportive of planting a church in Lodwar. They unanimously endorsed the idea and wanted to spend the whole day seeing the land on offer by the Congressman with us before taking an evening/night bus back to Lokichar. 

Minister of Parliament's Pickup Truck Carries Lutherans Around LodwarAfter loading into the Minister of Parliament’s pickup truck with five in the cab and the 12 from Lokichar in the bed of the truck, we set out to pick up the area chief on our way out of town. Just about 3 bumpy and rough miles out of the center of town the area chief directed us to the first plot which was large but in sight of only one homestead. There was no cellular network signal and no power out this side of town. To me the site was less than ideal although I know the town will eventually expand out this far. But for the immediate future, there were just no people to be seen and you have to put a church where there are God’s people!  Well, I wasn’t the only one thinking so.  There was quite a bit of discussion, some in English, most in Swahili. Rev. Benjamin could tell that there was more to be said that was being held back, so us “visitors” walked away and left the area chief and the Turkanas from Lokichar alone. They immediately switched into the Turkana language and those Lutherans from Lokichar expressed their concerns with the site. They didn’t want to plant a church, much less the anchor church for the Turkana people in a place where there weren't any people. They didn’t want the church to be pushed out to some inconvenient place. That was site 1. 

We loaded back into the truck and drove back a half-mile closer to town and the chief directed the driver off the road again. When we stopped, we were immediately adjacent to a village of about 300 homes, an area for internally displaced people where Rev. Benjamin, Rev. Daniel, and I had visited a few months ago. This land, the chief explained, had been allocated for a university of some kind many years ago but they had exceeded the two-year window of development and it should revert to the government. Within sight of so many homes of the most vulnerable kinds of people, a half-mile closer to town, on land with more contour, this was a much, much better place. God’s people were there! Everyone agreed that this is the place for a church. There was still no cellular network signal or power but being closer to town those things would come before too long. This was site 2. 

Camels Roam just West of Lodwar TownIt now being early afternoon, we headed back to Lodwar Town proper and made a few more visits and connections to other ministries and projects in Lodwar. We dropped off the group so they could head back to Lokichar in good time and dropped off the area chief. Then the Congressman’s personal assistant said, “okay, let’s go.” The congressman had one more plot to show us. So we set off the other direction this time, west, between the two rivers that come together in Lodwar. Although the distance was ultimately about the same, about 3 miles from the center of town, the road was much better - sand the whole way instead of old broken pavement and rock. This time when we stopped, the local area elder met us and walked us over past a couple grazing camels to a plot of land. This plot of land was in an area where Lodwar had already begun a rapid expansion. There was land allocated for a university, land allocated for the county government buildings which were under construction just a half-mile away, power lines within sight, and cellular network coverage already in place. Homesteads were already built entirely around the area and more would continue to be constructed as the County Headquarters opens up and the other institutions build up. In short, it is even better than site 2 for planting the mission station. This was site 3. All the land pictures attached are from site 3. 

Lutheran Pastors and Local Officials Look Out Over the PlotIn the evening, after expressing our gratitude to the congressman’s personal assistant and getting some contact information that will help with the medical clinic we’ll host here in June, we said our goodbyes and settled in to discuss. Both General Secretary Benjamin and Pastor Daniel agreed that site 3 was by far the best place to establish the mission station, with people already entirely around the site and the area under construction with the county headquarters buildings and the institutions that had been allocated land. The proximity of power lines and cellular phone network meant that Lodwar would continue to expand in this direction. So that’s the decision of the church. Rev. Benjamin and Rev. Daniel agreed, though, that we would also ask the congressman for a small plot at site 2 to plant a preaching station there by that village of internally displaced people! The Mission Station isn’t even established yet and the church is already planting preaching stations! This is the site of the Lodwar Mission Station as long as the congressman and the area elders can make the land allocation: http://maps.google.com/?q=3.115578,35.552835 

The Land to be Requested for The Lodwar Mission Station

On Thursday I return to Nairobi and Rev. Benjamin will start the formal process of allocating the land with the congressman. He’ll likely return to Lodwar within the next two weeks with the congressman to hold the wider meetings with all the elders of the area. Praise the Lord for a successful trip, a clear way forward, and a church that is eager to see God’s people in TWO sites reached with the Gospel!