Please tell us about your family and their interests.
My name is Paul Muindi Mbandi and my wife’s name is Rodah. The Lord has blessed us with
three sons (Joshua-16 years, John-12 years, and Alexander-9 years). Joshua is beginning his sophomore year September 2008. He loves sports, especially basketball and he likes business studies. John is in 6th grade and he loves basketball and he is interested in engineering, especially building. Alexander is in the 3rd grade; he loves soccer and running and likes mechanics, especially working on cars. They all like riding bicycles and camping.Rodah loves proper management of resources, human resources as well as other resources. Having worked as a teacher for five years, she also likes training people (especially women) in the management of resources. She likes to have a family getaway time for reflecting, thanking God, and planning as often as possible. My passion is training and ministering to Christian ministers. I also like camping.
Tell us about your work and how God called you to it.
God started calling me in 1979 during my second year in high school immediately after accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.
One day I found myself emotionally moved as a result of seeing an older church elder who was illiterate struggle with preaching during a Sunday worship service at my local church.
After completing my fourth year in high school, many church leaders had recognized my call to the ministry. Some asked me to consider joining a Bible college. I resisted the call at that time and joined Advanced Level High School to prepare to enter university for a degree in medicine. However, after completing the Advanced Level Certificate, the Lord clearly directed me to Scott Theological College where I received four years of pastoral training. After graduating with a Bachelor of Theology degree in March 1988, I worked as a pastor for almost five years.
In 1993 the Lord opened an opportunity for me to further my studies with
my family in the USA in order to be trained as teacher of teachers. Through God’s grace and provision I was able to complete a Master of Arts in Theology and Master of Arts in Religion at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in 1997. In May 2004 I completed PhD in Theological Studies at Trinity International University. In addition to supporting me and being a mother of three boys, Rodah was able to complete a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Columbia College-Missouri.
I currently work as the Deputy Principal Academic Affairs at Scott Theological College in Machakos, Kenya. My main job is to ensure quality training, facilitate educational growth and guard the academic integrity in keeping with the mission of the college and the requirement of the Commission of High Education-Kenya. I also conduct leadership seminars nationwide in the areas of biblical preaching, leadership and management.
Where are you living and what is it like to live there?
We live in Machakos, 64 Kilometers southeast of Nairobi, on Nairobi-Mombasa Road. Scott Theological College campus is a five minute drive from Machakos between the mountains. The weather and the view around Scott is one of the best in Machakos district.
We read in our newspapers of the unrest in Kenya after the elections at the end of last year. Has the socio-political environment in Kenya improved?
The socio-political situation in Kenya has greatly improved since the formation of the coalition government. At the moment, the government and non-government organizations are working hard to resettle the Internally Displace People (IDPs) back to their homes. However, there are 
many economic and security challenges because some families lost everything during the post election violence in December 2007 and January 2008.
The regions affected by post election violence were mainly the agriculturally productive ones. This has resulted in a shortage of food and very high food prices. The prices of many food products have increased by almost 30% since December 2007. The economic situation has worsened due to the general inflation, which is also affecting other countries. The fuel prices are especially affected in Kenya with one liter (3.8 liters per gallon) of gas costing more than $1.50 (about $5.70 per gallon).
How can we be praying for you as a church?
- Pray that in the midst of our busy schedules we will always set time apart for our personal and family devotions.
- Pray for God’s grace and wisdom in my added responsibility as the Deputy Principal Academic Affairs.
- Pray that the Lord would provide $ 9,900 to pay for our new ministry vehicle that is so needed due to our challenging roads.
- Pray that the Lord will provide more scholarship money for students. It is always hard for the college administration to tell a student to discontinue his/her studies when we know the student is clearly called in the ministry.
Please contact us at postgraduate@scott.ac.ke for more prayer needs and church building projects that you can support.
