Welcome to the National Officers Training College

On Sunday 5 July 2009, I took my first unaccompanied drive out of Nairobi and made my way to the city of Thika. This is where the National Officers Training College is located. It took me just about an hour to get there. The NOTC serves both the Kenya East and Kenya West Territories. With the Envoys who are being trained through a module system, there are a total of just over 100 in training.

The purpose of my trip was to conduct a Spiritual Day at the NOTC. This was a last minute change in the schedule so Janice was not able to be there. She was in another city at one of her regional welcomes as the Territorial Leader for Women's Ministries. As this was my first visit to the NOTC as Chief Secretary, they gave me the grand welcome and really rolled out the red carpet.

As I approached the NOTC through a pineapple plantation, I received a call to tell me to stop a few hundred yards outside of the gate and allow the motorcycles to accompany me into the compound. At the gate they had me get out of the car and walk the rest of the way in with an escort of cadets toward where I would meet the Training Principal and the rest of the staff. After being greeted by the staff, the cadets then performed a timbrel drill and a small group presented a vocal number. It is interesting to note that both men and women enjoy playing the timbrel here.

Overall it was a good day and a great opportunity to learn a bit more about how the training programme works here. As the cadets are required to have a good handle on English, I was able to preach without translation--which I must say is quite a bit easier than with translation, but I think that I'll get used to being translated.