The revs. Mathius and Bing, who serve among the Murut people in Sabah, Malaysia

Some pastors in North America serve multipoint parishes, spending sometimes hours on the road between congregations, even on Sunday mornings to get to the next place in time for worship. This is not always easy, especially if you factor in all the time spent behind the wheel and in all kinds of weather.

In some parts of the world, some parishes encompass dozens of congregations: pastors may have to travel by motorbike or on foot, and each congregation in the circuit may only get a visit every few months because of great distances.

In parts of Sabah, East Malaysia, pastors of the Basel Christian Church of Malaysia serving among the Murut indigenous population often have to travel distances in their parishes. For some, this involves using a boat on the rivers.

The Rev. Mathius serves a parish centered around Pagalunggan, not far from the border with Indonesia. One of his congregations is an hour away — by boat. Sunday after Sunday, and even on weekdays, he plies the river in his boat, surrounded by virgin rain forest.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. The river has rapids, rocks, and other obstacles. Usually one needs a “pilot” at the front of the longboat to check on water depths, considering the changing water volume during the course of the year. One has to not only protect the boat, but also protect the precious outboard motor.

The Rev. Mathius has to know the river well to travel safely. There may not be time to enjoy the scenery. But this is where his ministry lies, his commitment and passion.

Y. Franklin Ishida
Director for Asia and the Pacific, ELCA Global Mission

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The Rev. Christa Von Zychlin and her husband, the Rev. Wayne Nieminen, are ELCA Missionaries based in Hong Kong.  “Things that creep” is the latest post on Pr. Von Zychlin’s blog, Marathon Angels.

Things that creep…

THIS is what greeted our youngest son in the shower at 5:45 on Tuesday morning.  Sometimes we forget we are living in the tropics, and then the temperature & humidity suddenly soar… and creatures like this one invade our house, and we remember.  Oh yes, we remember.

 Any arachnologists around who care to identify this guy (or gal?!) for us?  Is he as dangerous as he looks to our untrained eyes or is he just a big happy-go-lucky fellow traveler on this earth?

“God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind.  And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:25).*

(*Do I dare say that I beg to differ with God?)

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The Rev. Sam and Cindy Wolff are ELCA missionaries based in Nairobi, Kenya.  Here’s their latest letter, e-mailed to sponsors.  To learn more about ELCA missionary sponsorship, visit www.elca.org/missionarysponsorship.

Dagoretti
May, 2010

Greetings from our home and church in Nairobi,

Cindy finally made it to the States. We were both supposed to go for our son’s wedding last month, but the unpronounceable volcano prevented that from happening. We along
with millions of fellow sojourners were grounded. It was a bitter disappointment but the mother of the groom is now very happy to be back with the newlyweds.

I have mentioned before that many of our members come from the vast slums of Dagoretti, an area just behind our church grounds. Each week Cindy and I, together with other members of our HIV/AIDS support group, go into Dagoretti on home visits.

It seems to me that the slum is not dissimilar to the mud hut arrangements corrugated iron roofs that can be found in villages all over rural Kenya.  But in the slum the houses are tiny affairs, usually no more than one room, and there is no view; no trees, no grass, no space, just thousands of people with many sanitation problems.  There is rubbish dumped randomly, open sewage, goats, sheep, cows, chickens and dogs mingle freely.  One is advised to be careful where one steps.  And yet, children of God live here, fall in love here, set up households, raise fine young children. It is a place where one can celebrate the human spirit as people prevail over a most difficult set of circumstances.

Dagoretti is not a place to be pitied. It is as much of a community as Elm street in any city, USA. There are busy, thriving enterprises; a maize grinding shop, a place to rent DVDs, boiling pots of meat, small eateries, an old woman selling bananas, a young girl braiding hair, a traditional healer, a traditional beer purveyor, teenagers with blaring boom boxes, children playing soccer. Roadside vendors are all over the place, selling what we would consider rubbish. Old electrical items, bits of broken mobile phones, second hand toilet seats, old boots, recycled plastic, old clothes, empty margarine containers.  As in any economically depressed place, crime is sky high and yet, people try and take care of each other.

Cindy and I are celebrities when we go to Dagoretti, well, at least to the children under five.  They follow us everywhere, want to hold our hands and shout “howayou” as we pass by.

We do not have any photos to share with you; pictures without knowing the people only elicit a “poor Africa response.” And Dagoretti is not “poor Africa,” for here live the people we are privileged to serve. Here are good people, brothers and sisters with a strong commitment to their God and a faith that often puts mine to shame.

In Christ,
Sam and Cindy

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