Day two began with a meeting with Cardinal Njue at the Basilica of the Holy Family in Nairobi. We then went to Mass at the Basilica. At the conclusion of Mass we had arranged a meeting with Jeremiah Mumo (shown above). He works with some of the poorest children in Nairobi in Kibera slum. We were able to give him 120 handmade rosaries and some Children's Rosary books.
The weather in Nairobi surprised us as it was relatively cool and in the morning it rained. In the afternoon we began our journey to Sultan Hamud. This is a rural area several hours outside of Nairobi. There we met Fr. Wachira who is the Pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in the Ngong Diocese. He shared with us over dinner many stories from his prior parish in Rombo Kenya where he had initiated the Children's Rosary in the main parish of St. Charles Lwanga and 21 of its outposts. He spoke of how the first group began small with only 20 children but over time it grew in the main parish and then began spreading like a brush fire in the outposts. More and more people wanted to be involved with the Children's Rosary. Peace came over the outstations where there had been conflict. Children shared with him how they had prayed for their parents. Some parents suffered drinking problems and did not attend Church. But after some time he had children who came back and shared that things in their family had improved and their parents were coming to Church. When Fr. Wachira was transferred to the Parish in Sultan Hamud he wanted to again initiate the Children's Rosary. He has already begun to begin groups and hopes to initiate more.
We thank all of you who are praying for us on this trip. We can feel those prayers. These first days we had very little sleep. In some cases less than 3 hours since we had not adjusted to the time change. We have also had limited access to internet so we will try whenever possible to provide updates.
Thank you again.
-Blythe
(note: second photo was taken in Sultan Hamud on the walk to St. Martin of Tours Parish)
The Children's Rosary® is a prayer group movement that was begun out of love for Our Lady and Her Son. Jesus tells us "Truly, I say to you unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3). The Children's Rosary is an effort to begin in parishes rosary prayer groups composed of children and led by children. Through prayer of the Rosary Our Lady will guide our young people while at the same time sanctify families and Parishes.
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