TOM AND LORI ZIEGLER - A LIFE FILLED WITH GOD AND PEOPLE AND NOT THINGS
15th Anniversary Of The Planting Of The Nairobi Church
Tom and Lori, parents to Nicholas, (13, born in Nairobi) and Trina (11, born in Johannesburg), are editors of the book "Me And My Household" published by DPI. After leaving Nairobi, they served the Johannesburg church, where Tom oversaw administration of our sub-Saharan churches. Tom and Lori are in the Northern Virginia Church of Christ now. Tom is working as a pharmacist and Lori works part-time for the church as the Children's Ministry co-ordinator. What is your fondest memory of the early days in Nairobi?
Our fondest memories are all the dinner parties and things we did together trying so hard to reach out to people in the beginning. It was great fun living in the same complex where Jim [Brown] and Richard [Alawaye] and Bob [Stea] lived, plus having Leslie and Alcides [De Morais] next door as well. The Kenyan people were so welcoming to us in general that we fell in love with Nairobi very quickly.
What was the scariest thing for you in the early days in Nairobi?
We were a bit frightened by some of the rioting early on, since we lived so close to the university. And I remember that we were afraid that we would say offensive "American" things. I think the best piece of advice we got early on was to remember that everything in Kenya was different from the United States, not wrong. I was afraid I would forget which way to look crossing the street, since the drivers were on the opposite side from what I was used to.
What motivated you to come to Nairobi to plant the church?
Tom and I wanted to help as many people as possible know about God and understand the Bible. When the opportunity arose to come to Africa, we thought that was the best place for us to go, since there were already a lot of people in the cities we lived to share about Jesus.
How do you feel that the experience of planting the Nairobi church helped you grow as a person and as a disciple?
Moving to Kenya put both Tom and I in a position of learning to rely on God on a much deeper level than we had ever had to before. It also gave us the opportunity to learn more about ourselves and see parts of our character (both good and bad) that had never been exposed. We learned to appreciate our lives and our health and "things" more than just taking everything for granted. And we learned to enjoy a simpler life filled with people and not things. I also think it helped us to appreciate differences in people and to become much more tolerant. It is so easy to think that your way is the "right way" and living in Nairobi taught us that there are many paths that people must walk in order to find God.
Love to all the disciples.
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