African Leaders Come to Connect

Bishop Catherine Mutua and Stanley Gitari from the Kenyan Methodist Church and Maua Methodist Hospital will be in Oregon to participate in jurisdictional Volunteer in Mission (VIM) training and meet with past and future VIM team members.

Teams from the Oregon-Idaho Conference have been partnering with the Kenya Methodist Church since 2006 to work with Maua Methodist Hospital, build homes for AIDS/HIV orphan families, build school classrooms, provide computers, and support other medical and educational programs. In 2018 the Annual Conference Session dedicated the offering from the commissioning worship service to Maua Methodist Hospital.

Both Kenyans will be at the Alton L. Collins Retreat Center as part of a Volunteer in Mission Training event on Monday, Oct. 8. An evening program focusing on volunteer work in Kenya begins at 7:00 p.m. No advance registration is required. Directions are available on the retreat center website.

Bishop Catherine will be sharing about her work in the Meru area of Kenya on Saturday, October 6 at Albany UMC from 10 to 12 p.m. The time to anyone interested in connecting with Bishop Catherine or learning more about Kenya. Light refreshments will be available. Albany UMC is located at 1115 28th Ave SW, in Albany, Oregon (541-928-3505).

Bishop Catherine will be preaching at Christ UMC in Cedar Mills, on Sunday, October 7 at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. The church is located at 12755 NW Dogwood St., Portland Oregon.

In addition, an open reception will be held at the home of Karen and Greg Nelson Sunday afternoon, October 7 from 4 to 6 p.m. for Bishop Catherine. For more details about Sunday afternoon, contact Karen Nelson at pastorkaren@gknelson.net.

Stanley Gitari will be sharing about the work of Maua Methodist Hospital at two locations.

• On Wednesday, October 10 Gitari will be at Rose City Park UMC at 11:00  a.m., followed by a salad pot luck lunch. Rose City Park is located at 5830 NE Alameda St., Portland, OR. Contact Chris Dole at justmechriss@yahoo.com for more information.
   
• On Thursday, October 11, the Newberg UMC United Methodist Women will host Gitari at an open program at 1:00 p.m. Newberg UMC is located at1205 Deborah Rd, Newberg, OR.  

 
Bishop Catherine Kagwiria Mutua is the Bishop of the Kaaga Synod of the Methodist Church in Kenya. She is the first Kenyan woman bishop in all mainstream churches in Kenya. She is a graduate of Kenya Methodist University (KEMU) with degrees in Theology, Education and Counseling. She has pastored churches in Kenya since 1997. She is married to the Reverend Jason Mutua and they have three children.
 
Kaaga Synod is in Meru County and has 27 circuits under it and a Mission in Central Kenya.

Stanley Gitari and his wife Mary have worked at Maua Methodist Hospital for 27 years. In 1985, they graduated from the Maua Methodist Hospital School of Nursing. They traveled to Oklahoma for further schooling, earning master’s degrees. After their return from Oklahoma, they went back to MMH where Stanley became the director of community health. Stanley works with the palliative care program, AIDS orphan’s program, numerous community outreach efforts and the Volunteer in Mission teams from the U.S. He is dedicated to empowerment programs which bring wholeness to communities.
 
His devotion to community health has given rise to a wide array of mission opportunities for volunteer teams over the years. Through his guidance, water wells have been rescued, schools have been built, and medical clinics have been developed.