November Update

Greetings to you all! I have been back in Kenya for a little more than two months now. My time here has felt both strange and familiar, as I have gotten reacquainted with the sights, sounds, smells, foods, and customs of this place. I have joyfully partaken in eating ugali, fresh mangoes, and nyama choma again, patiently (most of the time) relearned the techniques for hand-washing my clothes in a soap-filled bucket, and laughingly attempted to join those around me dancing in worship.
The past two months have begun a busy and Spirit-filled journey, and I have been blessed by amazing people and opportunities: I have preached my first sermon, participated in a wedding, led worship at the All Africa Council of Churches, helped baptize 17 babies (in one service), visited schools and hospitals, and taken countless cups of chai. Whenever I think that I should be in a hurry to get somewhere or do something, I am reminded to sit down and take some tea first. This past Sunday morning, I arrived at church ready to preach in the English worship service, but I needed to print out my sermon notes. I found the pastor, and after exchanging greetings, he asked if I had taken breakfast. “Well, kind of, but I can eat something later.” I responded. “Sit down and take some tea, then we will go,” he said. There was no arguing with him, so I sat down, and by the time we had finished our tea, worship was beginning. I took a deep breath, and we made our way to the sanctuary. The sermon was probably better without the notes anyway.
A large part of my calling and service here involves taking the time to listen to the voices of the people I encounter, it means letting myself be shaped and challenged by perspectives and experiences different than my own. One particular moment that I would like to share with you all occurred during an Elder Training workshop in Kiambu parish. The pastor was giving a presentation on Presbyterian polity and the reasons that we have elders who lead the church. He explained to the new session members, “If you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, we go together.” I have thought back to this statement many times when I sit and take tea, when I spend half an afternoon waiting for someone, when worship services last well beyond three hours because so many people are given a chance to speak, sing, or pray. We go together. It is a belief embodied by both the church and community: we eat together; we take tea together; we pray together; sometimes we move at a frustratingly slow pace, but we move together. We take the time to listen and connect with one another because we need each other. We discern the way forward together, because the Wisdom of the gathered community is greater than that of any one individual. The Spirit lives and moves among us when we gather together as one body.

As I continue to learn, grow, and serve here, I am thankful for all of the support, encouragement, cards, emails, and prayers that I have received from you. It is a gift to be a part of such a loving community. Have a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving holiday!

Grace and peace,
Lauren

Restoration

This weekend was the annual presbytery convention in Kiambu. It was a huge, festive occasion that began Friday morning and ended late Sunday afternoon. We spent three days dancing, praying, singing, studying, and listening for the Word together. Rev Scott Weimer came all the way from North Ave Presbyterian Church in Atlanta to preach for the 3 day convention. The theme was taken from Lamentations 5:21 - Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored.

My favorite part of the weekend was a Bible study that took place on Saturday morning. The entire gathering broke into small groups to read and discuss Lamentations 5. I joined the youth Bible study with others aged 18-35. As we read the words of the exilic community, I was struck by the way they reflect much of what can be seen here in Kenya: land that has been taken by foreigners, young boys staggering under heavy loads, children orphaned by violence and disease, water that is scarce or unavailable, famine, rape, corrupt leaders. It is like the author of Lamentations picked up the Daily Nation newspaper and transcribed its contents into our Scripture. I wondered what would be said about the passage; I wondered how my Kenyan friends and colleagues would react to the words of lament. As usual, I was challenged by the persistent hope of the gathered community.
The Bible study was not mournful; it did not focus on injustice or alienation. We talked of hope, of restoration, of justice. We talked about the ways that the Church must turn toward God by turning toward the world, by caring for creation, by recognizing the interdependence of all things. We talked about the preservation of the Mau forest, about youth empowerment, about water projects and access to higher education. I heard through our time together about the many ways God is already at work restoring the world through this community. For our context, we defined restoration as “bringing back.” We talked of God bringing us back to a place where we can again see the interconnectedness of our lives and our world. We talked of God restoring to us those aspects of our humanity that have been distorted by selfishness and alienation, and God restoring all of creation to its intended purpose. We acknowledged that the Church lives and acts as a sign of hope in the world, until the day when all of creation is restored.

We had a good time of discussion and reflection that took seriously the issues faced by the Kenyan church today, but it took just as seriously the Spirit’s ongoing work of renewal. I am thankful for the voice in Lamentations that cries out to God in the midst of despair, and I am thankful for the church here that hopes and prays and dances on the Way toward restoration.

Kenya vs Nigeria

Here are some photos from this past Saturday when the Kenyan soccer team competed against the Nigerian team in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The game started at 4:00 pm, so I left Westlands with some friends around 11:30 am to make sure that we were there in plenty of time. The energy in downtown Nairobi was infectious: the air was full of laughter, music, and excitement. Everywhere I looked there were Kenyan jerseys, flags were flying from car and matatu windows, and people were decked out in the national colors. Strangers were shouting their support to each other across the traffic…it felt like everyone was ready for the game! We ended up losing 2-3, and Nigeria qualified for the World Cup, but we had a great time anyway!

A Sacramental Weekend

I knew when I left Nairobi Friday afternoon that it was going to be a good weekend: the sun was shining, the traffic was light, and the matatu music was loud. Nicole and I traveled up to Gatundu to join some of the teachers from Icaciri Sec School for 3 kgs of nyama choma (roasted meat) and a night of fun. The meat-eating festivities were quickly followed by a rousing game of Go Fish and a great deal of dancing both to Kikuyu music and Michael Jackson. Saturday morning I woke early to the sound of a persistent rooster and went to have chai with the kitchen staff members. Afterwards, I was able to spend some time with the Form 4 students who are preparing to leave school when they finish their exams on Tuesday. The students at Icaciri have taught me much about how to dance, laugh, speak Kiswahili, walk with style, talk about boys, and share my faith, so I was immensely thankful for the chance to sit and share this special time with them. The morning was as full of laughter and dancing as the previous night.
At around 1 pm, it was off to Banana with some new friends for a wedding reception. Now, I had never met the bride or groom before, but upon our arrival, we were immediately whisked to the front of the venue and given seats among the members of the wedding party. So much for trying to blend into the crowd. During a series of very long speeches, Nicole and I decided to spend some time with the many children gathered around and asked if they wanted to learn a dance. They enthusiastically agreed, so we all practiced doing the Chicken Dance together - I am still laughing at the image in my mind.
Sunday was another early morning, as I headed to Kiambu to preach in the English worship service at Kangoya PCEA. I must admit that I was more than “a bit” nervous, since this was my first time preaching in Kenya, and I doubted whether I had anything relevant to say. As I looked out at the congregation during the Scripture readings, a strange thing happened, one of those moments of revelation: I realized again that preaching is not about what I say; it is about what the Spirit says in and through me. I was nervous because no one in the sanctuary looked like me or sounded like me, but as we stood to sing a hymn, it became clear that we are connected to one another. We all share this gift of life, and we all rely on God’s gracious love. It is a humbling gift to stand and proclaim the Word of God, to speak the good news of our faith, and I pray that I never lose that feeling of nervousness. Later in the service, we celebrated Communion, the physical manifestation of God’s life-affirming grace, and I was glad to be at the Table with the men and women of Kiambu. I thought over the entire weekend and the many sacred, sacramental moments I had experienced: over a plate of nyama choma, walking barefoot in the grass, taking hot chai in the cold morning, holding the hand of a child, and sharing a hug, a story, a laugh. The weekend was filled with ordinary occurrences, yet it was infused with the sacredness that comes when we share ourselves with one another.
I ended Sunday night by eating chapati pizzas in the kitchen with my roommates and watching a bootleg version of High School Musical 3. What could be better?

Lights Please!!

Beginning on Sunday evening around 6:30 pm, the power went out all over Kenya: Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Kericho, all of the urban centers were thrown into darkness. This is apparently due to a "technical" problem at the Aggreko power station. By Monday morning most of the power was back on and work resumed as usual... until 11:00 am when the power went down again and remained off until late Monday night. Now it is Tuesday morning, the power was on at 6:00 am but has currently gone out 3 times since I arrived at work around 9:00. Each time it remains out long enough to shut down everything in the office.

Some of you are probably surprised that this annoys me. I am not very particular about time management or efficiency. I would rather have a good conversation than finish a report. I have learned as much from long car rides, walks any and everyhwere, and late night discussions as I have in any classroom. I believe that sitting with someone can offer more healing than trying to solve their problems. Pretty much, I like to just "be" whether with friends and family, a cup of chai, a good book, or a patch of grass.

However, yesterday when I had a report to finish, a sermon to write, meetings to attend, and emails to answer, I was not so content to just "be" all day long. I grew tired of listening to stories and wanted to get back to work. Haha. Apparently God (aka Kenya Power and Lighting) had other plans, and they seem to include disrupting today as well. As I sit and type now, I am thankful for this reminder that my life is not defined by my schedule or my to do list. I do not really believe that God causes power outages, but I do believe that I can learn something from my reaction to them.

St.Andrews Womens Guild

This is a video from the worship service for Fellowship of the Least Coin. I have been trying to upload it for over two weeks, and it finally worked! The St.Andrew's Womens Guild performed a Kikuyu folk song based on the story of Esther. Even if you can't understand the words, enjoy the music and energy of the song!