Life Behind the Lectures

Getting ready does not always go according to plan. Sometimes I am helping my wife prepare, ironing something, making breakfast, looking for my keys, or wondering where I put my books. Somehow, I still make it to class at 7:57, or sometimes exactly 8:00. Thankfully, the classroom is only a minute or two from our home.

I like sitting at the front. I want to hear everything the lecturer is saying and avoid distractions. I listen carefully, take a lot of notes and try to keep my mind fixed on the teacher. My mind can be slow to process things, but eventually I catch up. I usually sit next to brothers, and during the breaks we talk about what we have just heard or new thing in town. Those ten-minute breaks are refreshing. We think about the lecture, catch up with each other and talk about what we are actually learning.

Learning in community

Our classes continue until 1:00 p.m. There is a tea break during the morning, and I often have rooibos. It is not something I grew up drinking in Kenya, but sometimes it feels a little like home. One thing I have really enjoyed at GWC is the diversity of people and cultures. You meet people with different backgrounds and experiences, and there is something beautiful about learning alongside them.

By 1:00, my mind is usually full, so I take some time to rest after lunch. At 2:00, the books come out again. I study until about 4:30 and then go for a run to St James Pool and back. It is about fifteen minutes each way. That little run does something good for me. It gives me time to breathe and refresh before the evening begins. Around 5:30, I go to meet my wife when she finishes work. Going to fetch her is one of my favourite parts of the day. I don't know exactly why, but I really enjoy it. We come home, cook, eat and spend some time together.

Then at 8:00, I go back to my books.

This is one of the hardest parts of being a theology student. I often feel like everything is asking for my attention. There is studying, home, church, ministry, my own life and body, assignments and work that needs to be done. Sometimes I am already thinking about the sermon I need to preach at the end of the week while trying to finish an assignment. My mind can be full of what I have done and what I still need to do. I am very grateful for my wife in those moments. Sometimes she will tell me, “I wish you could spend more time with me, but please go and read.” Her support has been a great gift to me.

I have felt the importance of this work especially while preaching through 1 Corinthians this year. At first, some of the passages felt like an ordeal to preach. But I have had the opportunity to study the book in Greek, work through it for assignments and then preach it. Each time I return to the text, I notice something I had missed before. Sometimes something I have learned in class helps me in the pulpit. Other times, preaching makes me go back and study the passage again. The more I work through the text, the more I see why the hard work matters. The work we do in the classroom eventually comes with us into the pulpit.

Equipped to serve

I came to GWC having already preached and served in the church in Kenya. I have learned many things from people who have walked with me, but I have also made mistakes in ministry. Sometimes, when I learn something here that I did not understand before, I think about those moments and wonder how I might have served differently if I had known it then. That is humbling. No one starts by knowing everything. I want to learn from the mistakes I have made and not make the same ones again.

That is also why studying here matters to me. I want to return to Kenya and serve the church there, God willing through church planting, training pastors and writing theological resources that people can actually use. I think especially about pastors in places where formal theological education is difficult to access. I would love to write books, even in Swahili, that help a pastor in a village understand theology and teach the Word of God more faithfully. When I think about that, the hours in the classroom begin to look different. They are preparation for people I may serve one day.

When I look at my ordinary day, there are many people behind it. There are lecturers who patiently teach me. There are classmates who walk together. There is my wife who sacrifices and encourages me. There are churches, parents, friends, prayer partners and supporters. Some I know personally, and some I may never meet. I am grateful for every prayer, every word of encouragement, every piece of advice and every financial gift that has helped make this possible.

Most of my days are quite ordinary: classes, books, tea, running, church, marriage, assignments and the Bible before bed. But I am learning to see these ordinary things differently. God uses them to shape us, and the people who walk with us become part of that journey.

At about 10:00 p.m., I usually make another cup of tea, read my Bible and go to sleep around 10:15 or 10:20.

Then tomorrow comes.

And I begin again.

I am learning that it is worth it.