If you have read Acts or any of Paul’s letters you can see pretty fast that he liked to go where the people where. All the people! Corinth for example was a Greek city that sat on an isthmus between Athens and Sparta. Ephesus was a hugely important port city in Asia where trade came from all of the known world. Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and of course there was Paul’s time in Rome itself. Paul always went to the major hubs and then went to the most populated parts of those hubs and started teaching about Jesus. It was just what he did and what his ministry was about. So I think we can imagine what his missionary journey might look like now, London, New York, Beijing, other major cities I am sure you can think of. The more I learn about Nairobi the more I realize what a major hub it is. Besides being a home of the United Nations it is also where over 100 companies’ headquarters are located and many more major regional offices preside there. Currently Nairobi has a population of about 3 million but if you add in the metropolitan area it doubles it. Estimates show that the population could grow by as much as another 2 million in just 8 years. Besides the African population, there are large groups of Indian and Pakistani expats and from countries all over the world. So yes, I think this would definitely be a city Paul would have established a church.
But what if he had been a camp counselor for a summer? I think he would have been amazing at cabin devo and probably really good at teaching a tent making interest group, and ensuring campers were writing letters home. I’m not sure I would have let him teach canoeing and you definitely wouldn’t want to send him to the prison in the game capture the flag unless you wanted it destroyed by an earthquake. But I honesty think he would have worked at a place like BlueSky. Last summer there were 600 campers and they came from 30 different countries and nationalities. Many of them are in Nairobi for only a few years and have never had the opportunity to hear a clear gospel message. They will later return to their home country or perhaps even a new one with the knowledge and experience of Christ’s love they may never have had an opportunity to receive anywhere else. Ultimately BlueSky exists to make disciples through relational ministry with students using experiential programs that reflect the adventure of following Christ. Paul would have been amazing at that, mostly because its pretty much what he did. Sharing Christ is all about building relationships and for anyone who has ever had any summer camp experience, there aren’t many relationships much deeper than ones formed at camp.
Brett and Bronwyn 