Based on our 2020/2021 academic calendar, the residential students were scheduled to return to class for face-to-face learning on April 26, but since the country was still under partial lockdown as a measure to curb the spread of Covid-19, we kept guessing as to when restrictions would be lifted. It’s not only the FTC calendar that was affected though; all other learning institutions in the country were ordered to close down for one-and-a-half months. It was good news when the president relaxed the lockdown and allowed the reopening of learning institutions!

Our Online students began their learning for April module during the third week of March and ended in the first of May 2021. As soon as the president announced a lift to partial lockdown, my social media was jammed with messages, mostly from residential students trying to inquire as to when they would return to the classroom for physical learning. They arrived on May 10 and immediately began preparation for their end-of-January semester exams which ran May 17 to 26. The January semester officially came to an end on May 28, and 34 residential students left campus for their homes and ministries. However, a majority of students remained with an academic holdover of assignments they had been unable to complete. Some requested to stay behind for a few more days to wind up their work, especially the seniors in the bachelor of theology class. Many were yet to submit their research proposal papers to their supervisors. They were allowed one extra week within which they wrapped up their work. A total of eight bachelor of theology degree students from the residential, and seven from the modular programs, are graduating this October 2021!

The new Lay Leadership and Spiritual Formation program is finally gaining prominence among Kenyan Yearly Meetings. The first module for the second group took place on June 1-3, on our FTC Kaimosi campus. Targeted groups for this training were Yearly Meeting General Secretaries, General Superintendents, treasurers, and education secretaries, with 35 leaders in attendance. Lessons were tailored to fit their areas of operation.

These included:  General Management of Church Finance; Supervision and Oversight on the General Management of Educational Affairs in Church-sponsored Schools; Administration and Institutional Management with Focus on Church Programs; Strategic Planning and Project Proposal Writing; and Church Extension and Church Planting Strategies. With the exception of a lecturer from the Salvation Army, the rest of the facilitators were drawn from the FTC faculty. The second module for presiding clerks is scheduled for July 6-8. This will be a follow-up of the first one that was held in March 2021.

Whereas we started May with joy and celebration when we hosted the graduation of John Muhanji, Director of FUM Africa Ministries receiving his Doctorate of Ministry degree, the month of May ended on a very sad note. Rose and John Muhanji’s son, Allan Matata Afanda died in a horrible road accident on May 28. His funeral was attended by hundreds of Friends with representation from different Yearly Meetings in East Africa and messages of condolence from around the world.  Allan’s body was interred on the family farm outside Kitale on Friday, June 4, 2021.