Mid-month news May 2026
Mid-month news May 2026
Jimoharries@gmail.com
Dear Friends,
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Kima International School of Theology (KIST)
Many of you will know, that I taught at Kima International School of Theology, P/T, from 1996 to 2011. This theological school is about 10 miles from where I am now living (1 hour by bicycle).
The theological school has recently taken on other departments, like fashion and design, and nursing and health. The new name is Treliss International Training College. https://titc.co.ke/
I was honoured to be invited to join the faculty (British-English, ‘staff’) meeting on 5th May 2026. It was a great experience to be back at the institution to which I had previously devoted myself for 15 years, now 30 years after I first went there! Many of the staff are one-time colleagues, and one-time students of mine, now much matured.
We are now looking at my teaching again at this revitalized college. I am to teach pro bono. This time I have asked that I teach only using Swahili. The Principal has agreed. Because I am busy for the next three months, we are looking at my starting in September 2026.
The provisional plan, is that I take two hours per day with all first-year students, for two days a week, for the time when I am living in that vicinity of Kenya. On my own calculation, that will be a total of 17 weeks, i.e., 68 hours, in the 2026/7 academic year.
Give thanks for this plan. Pray that it comes to fruition! Pray for my preparation – what I teach is not to be assessed, but attendance will be mandatory. I am putting together a research-element as part of that teaching, picking up where I left off in 2011. Pray that I know, of the many options of Biblical, cultural, and theological topics, on which ones I should concentrate.
Many young people in Kenya are so locked into the formal educational system for so many years from childhood, that they can get to know very little about the ways their society runs. The idea is that I enlighten them regarding ‘African traditions’ and ways of life. You may wonder why a foreign missionary should teach such a subject? That’s a good question. Part of the difficulty for African people, is that the modern and Western is so strongly imposed onto them, that they can barely distinguish between it and their own traditions. Enabling a distinguishing between the two requires as much a knowledge of what is foreign and Western, as what is indigenous.
Home and a Future for Orphans
I’ve been in my new home, looking after orphan children in the new location, for a year now. The local house-mother is in charge. I’m there to support, and pay the bills. Right now, a total of 7 children.
The new housemother expresses being very keen to devote herself to looking after orphans on an ongoing basis. She is putting together a network of younger people around her, that may enable this.
I should say, the need is great. I keep hearing of mothers and fathers dying young and children being left in the lurch, often facing great difficulties.
Please pray for us, for the LORD to guide us going forward.
Tanzania, UK, Tanzania, South Africa, Tanzania
I am due to travel to Tanzania on 16th May. I hope to travel with a German short-termer – show him the ropes, then get him onto a bus going to the other side of Lake Victoria, to meet some of his friends. Then two weeks of teaching, before heading to UK on 1st June, for one month. Pray that the airlines will have enough fuel, to bring me to the UK, and then to bring me back to East Africa again!
My major purpose of being in the UK, is to spend time with mum. Mum continues to be well looked after in a nursing home in Fareham, Hampshire. Give thanks that I have had an offer of accommodation in a family home near Fareham.
In July I am to be in Tanzania, except for one week, when I plan to attend an international academic missions’ conference in Johannesburg in South Africa.
Prayers
Pray for the situation regarding phone-theft. This seems to becoming more common, phones are being snatched, and it seems thieves are at times getting away with significant money.
Give thanks, that every evening, we are having fellowship at my home and with neighbors, together, singing, praying, and hearing from the Bible.
Pray for my travelling and teaching, as mentioned above.
Jim