Kajiado Diocese
Ballyholme Parish has established a close link with the Diocese of Kajiado in the Anglican Church of Kenya. We support, as our missionary link through the Church Missionary Society, the Briggs family who are serving in the diocese of Kajiado in Kenya. They are involved in various projects in the diocese.
When we first visited Kajiado in October 2004 to present the initial gift to the diocese, we were very honoured to be described as the honorary 19th parish of the Kajiado Diocese. This truly cemented the relationship that has grown from the partnership.
Kajiado is an area roughly equivalent in size to Northern Ireland located to the south-east of Nairobi stretching from the city down towards Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a arid and poor area of Kenya. Despite this the people there have a tremendous faith and we have a lot to learn from them.
Kajiado has recently come out of the worst drought for many years, having had little rain for over two years until earlier this year. It will take a long time for the local popunation to rebuild livestock and crops.
Many parishioners have visited Kajiado over the past three years. As part of our plans for development and the building of a new parish centre the select vestry committed us as a parish to give ten percent of what we raised to help the diocese of Kajiado in their development.
This includes support towards the building of a diocesan headquarters building but it also includes some of us visiting Kajiado with our skills and some of them visiting us with their skills. This is a very exciting part of our own vision for the future that will help us to look beyond our own needs and shores. With the difficulties in the world wide Anglican Church this vision is critical as we seek to protect the unity of the church for which Jesus prayed.