Glimpses of God - Day Eleven
I've tried hard not to overload the community of St John the Divine, or my friends, or family, with stories of my sabbatical - it was a rich and rewarding time which took place from September through November. As those who know me will know that one of the most outstanding parts of my time away was in Mombasa and Voi in Kenya. 
Now there's a lot about the Anglican Church of Kenya and its structures that I understand but I am in a very different place from. And it was very obvious that some of the Students I was talking to that they deeply disapproved of my way of living and some of the theologies I espoused - particularly affirming and inclusive theologies! And yet the welcome and hospitality I received was generous and without any strings attached.
All of the places we went we were made welcome - making new friends, and seeing new places, having new experience, but all of it undergirded by a depth of hospitality and generosity which I have rarely seen!
I hope to return to Mombasa, and to keep connections with the new friends and colleagues who I got to know whilst I was there. I also hope to build up connections between our communities here in Victoria and in Kenya. During one session at Bishop Hannington Institute in Mombasa which I was leading a student asked me 'What can the Western Church do for us?" to which I responded that I think there's more the Western Church has to learn from our siblings in Africa - I know that we could learn something about hospitality and generosity, and feel that in that I certainly had glimpses of God's welcome and generosity. 
1 Peter 4.9-11
Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.