Anita and Colin Smith in Nairobi, Kenya

“Can someone from Kibera [the vast informal settlement outside Nairobi] be ordained in the Anglican Church?”

I posed this question to a class of students from an ecumenical university who were studying at our Centre for Urban Mission, based in Kibera. (It wasn’t a very original question. Forty years ago, our vicar in Bermondsey had asked something similar about dockers in London’s East End. Thousands of years ago, Nathanael asked regarding Jesus: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”)


Please consider a gift to help continue CMS work around the world “No!” they replied. Whether the students were being pessimistic about Kibera residents or the Anglican church, I’m not sure. Either way, they were proved wrong.

On 26 October the Archbishop ordained three Centre for Urban Mission graduates. Lillian had lived in Kibera virtually all her life until she had to flee the post-election violence a year ago. Her classmates, Zadock and Barrack, helped her get out of Kibera with the few belongings she could carry.

Seeing all three of them ordained was a wonderful affirmation of the gifts, calling and experiences that people from Kibera and other “slums” can bring to the rest of the church. I don’t know whether they were the first people from Kibera to be ordained, but three in one day – that must be a first!

Please pray for Kenya, as the country continues to heal from the violence of last year, and particularly for the Smiths, who serve in one of the areas that suffered the most at that time.

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Published: 18:20 01 January 2009  |  1407 views
Last updated: 31 March 2009
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