THE Bishop of Barking, Rt Revd David Hawkins, has returned from a short visit to Mbeere, Kenya, where he, as representative of the Bishop of Chelmsford, participated in the consecration and enthronement of Rt Revd Moses Masamba Nthukah, as the second Bishop of Mbeere.
Bishop David travelled to Kenya with Wendy Littlejohns, churchwarden of St Mary's Woodford and chair of the Chelmsford Diocese Kenya Link Group.
"A colourful, though serious, four hour service was led by the Archbishop of Kenya, in the company of 15 diocesan bishop's, all the diocesan clergy and 2,000 congregation - all seated under canopies to protect from the hot African sun," said Wendy.
"The service was followed by the inevitable Kenyan hospitality and a meal of rice and meat stew for everyone, which also gave an opportunity for greeting friends. It reminded me of the feeding of the 5,000 before their long journey home."
The Bishop was invited to Kenya because of the strong links that exist between the Diocese of Chelmsford and the four Kenyan dioceses of Kirinyaga, Embu, Mbeere and Meru (collectively known as the Kenyan Dioceses of Mount Kenya East) that encircle Mount Kenya, 100 miles north east of Nairobi.
In recent years, strong parish links have developed between St Mary's Woodford, Holy Trinity Takeley, and the Church of the Good Shepherd Muchunguri and St James Mayori in the Diocese of Mbeere.
In 2007, the first schools links were formed between primary schools in Chelmsford Diocese and schools in Embu and Kirinyaga Dioceses and more are being planned. It is hoped that a group from the Kenyan Dioceses will be able to visit Chelmsford next year.
Bishop David visited Mbiruri Secondary School, 20 miles north of Embu, where exactly 40 years ago, he taught for a year immediately after leaving school.
"I joined the school in its second year of life as one of just three staff members and was required to teach O-level maths, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, English and RE!" said Bishop David.
"It was fabulous to revisit the school and see that it's now a successful, thriving and popular establishment with 20 teachers and 455 pupils.
"In my day it was just a series of mud and corrugated iron houses."
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