Some Favorite VBS Photos...

Mambo Sawa Sawa

This past week, Thindigua Parish hosted a Vacation Bible School for over 400 children and young adults! Each morning we began with a time of praise and worship, followed by a brief devotion. Here is a short video to share part of the joy and energy that this time brought to each day!

The words of the song are:

Mambo sawa sawa. Mambo sawa sawa. Yesu akiwa enzini. Mambo sawa sawa. Mambo sawa sawa.

Things are already better. Things are already better. When the Lord is on the throne, things already better. Things already better.

This song has been a powerful testimony to me since I first came to Kenya in 2006. It continues to remind me of God's presence in our lives and God's victory over the brokenness we know in this world. We live in God's kingdom here and now, and that gives us the hope and strength to continue working and praying for God's kingdom to come quickly!

Holiday Programme

April is a busy month here in Nairobi. This is largely due to the fact that all of the primary and secondary school students are on holiday. Instead of closing for 3 consecutive months in the summer, Kenyan schools close in April, August, and December. Last week Loresho Church hosted a holiday programme for children age 3-12, so the church was filled with sounds of laughter and song. The older children spent the week learning to crochet and studying what it means to be "Rooted and Built Up in Christ."

Personally, I volunteered to spend the week with the 3-6 year olds, so we spent our time coloring giraffes and kangaroos, singing Father Abraham, playing "Walk on Water," and generally having a good time! Wednesday we took the entire group on a trip to Kikuyu town to visit one of the first PCEA churches established in Kenya. Friday we ended the week with a "Culture Evening," where children presented information about their various tribes. Each presentation included traditional foods eaten, interesting facts, and how to say God is good in the language. We heard from the Luo, Kikuyu, Kipsigis, Meru, Luhya, and many more. We even heard about a strange community called Darlington in a place named South Carolina where they do something called the Shag :)

What Golf Course?

It is truly by God’s grace that I manage to get anywhere, and I had a good reminder on Wednesday that I never know quite as much as I think I do…

It all began Wednesday morning at 8:00 am. I left my apartment to head to a meeting in Thindigua about 30 km outside of Nairobi. I was running a little late, so I tried a shortcut that worked out perfectly, and I made it right on time! I arrived feeling quite pleased with myself and my navigational skills.

We were meeting to plan for the Vacation Bible School that Thindigua Parish will be hosting the last week of April. There has been an overwhelming response from the community in terms of support and registration, so we all felt greatly encouraged. I was pretty excited when the meeting ended on time, because I had planned to have lunch with a friend of mine who lives nearby. The pastor gave me a lift, and I confidently told him to drop me off in Muthaiga. I walked toward the shopping center where we had agreed to meet and called my friend, Lisa, to tell her I was there. She offered to come and meet me, so I waited.

A couple of minutes later my phone rang, and it was Lisa saying that she was also there. I couldn’t see her, so I walked out to the road.

A few more minutes and another phone call:
Can you see the matatus?
Yes, I see some matatus.
Which side of the road are you on? Let me come over there.

I walked toward the matatu stage thinking she must be near it.

My phone rings again:
What else are you see?
I am near the golf course.
Golf course? What golf course?
Muthaiga Golf Course.

At that point Lisa realized that I was in Muthaiga not Muthĩga, and began laughing hysterically. We were looking for each other on opposite sides of town!

Now, in my defense, both words sound like mu-thê-ga to me, but everyone else seems to know the difference. I eventually made it to Lisa’s house for a delicious lunch... and learned about a whole new part of town in the process!

I Like Bread

This past Sunday was an exciting day at Loresho Community Church and part of that excitement included Holy Communion. During the service, I happened to have a six year old girl, Nati, on my lap. She is a child I have grown quite fond of over the past few months, so we whispered and giggled as the people around us prepared for the sacrament through song. As the minister invited us to the Table, she began a new conversation:

“Do you eat that bread?” she asked me.

“Yes, I eat that bread.” I replied, a little amused.

“I like bread,” she told me quite matter-of-factly, “all types of bread.”

As the elders began to distribute the bread and the wine, I took a piece. Nati looked at it and asked “Can we share it?”

I let her break the small wafer in two, and we each took half.

Sometimes it takes a child’s commentary for me to remember the basic premise of the Lord’s Supper. In all of the holy mystery of the sacrament, there is bread. Ordinary, everyday bread: the stuff we eat for breakfast or take with tea, the stuff that we all need to sustain and nourish us. I agree with Nati: I like bread. All types of bread, and it is always better when it is shared.

Wedding Festivities

Weddings are a part of life no matter where in the world you are living. They bring with them joy, excitement, laughter, and friends. It is beautiful to watch as people commit their lives to God and one another, as they promise to walk together through whatever may come. Weddings also bring with them the particular customs and traditions of the people getting married, and it has been great fun to learn new ways of celebrating the gift of marriage!

A couple of weekends ago, I was privileged to join two very dear friends at their gurariũ. A gurariu is a Kikuyu pre-wedding party (think an engagement party with a twist). The celebration took place at the home of the bride’s parents, and it was full of food, speeches, laughter, and fellowship. My favorite part (the aforementioned “twist”) came after lunch and a number of speeches when I had still not seen the bride. I began to wonder where she was and asked a nearby friend. “Don’t worry,” he replied, “she will come when it is time.” Pretty soon after that, an older woman went into the house and led out a line of women, each completely covered from head to toe. They were all around the same size and height and they all stood in a row before the groom. It was then his task to “choose his bride” from the line-up. I watched the groom walk up and down the line looking for his bride, as the guests waited for his choice. Luckily, he chose correctly, and his beloved was uncovered. I was later told that she has worn a distinct color of toenail polish to give him a clue, but even her feet had been covered! I can only imagine how nervous they both were in front of all of their friends and family!

After the groom chose correctly, both families went into the house for negotiations and returned later to announce their success!! We all celebrated with cake, sodas, and lots of singing!

Maisha Tu

One of the exciting things about living in another culture is the novelty that fills each day. There are new languages to learn, different customs to understand, and, of course, distinct foods to try. Even ordinary tasks seem more adventurous because they are done away from home. After a certain amount of time, however, the novelty begins to wear off. Occurrences that startled or amused or frustrated at first begin to seem quite ordinary and expected. Lately, I have found myself in exactly that place where life is life, in all of its ordinary sacredness. So I find myself just living: creating routines, going to work, having dinner with friends, drinking tea, and building relationships. It is a gift to share life with people around the world, to realize each day that what connects us as human beings is stronger than those things we allow to divide us from one another.

In honor of this, I want to share with you some of the amusing and/or frustrating things that I regularly encounter:

• Riding in a bus clearly marked for 14 people with 22 other passengers (not counting children, live chickens, or bags or maize)
• Discussing the pros, cons, and theological implications of polygamy on a regular basis.
• Eating a goat kidney like a kebab.
• Getting stuck in a traffic jam for nearly an hour and realizing at the end that it was a herd of cows blocking the road
• Dowry negotiations. I have been told that this is not buying a wife; it is a sign of respect. (It still sounds like buying a wife to me)
• Going to the park and having a bag of peanuts stolen by a very aggressive monkey
• Riding through a very nice neighborhood (think of Buckhead) and seeing a camel (or another herd of cows) on the side of the road
• Being called Roline, Lorraine, Loreen, Loline, because Lauren is very hard to pronounce.
• Sitting through a 3 hour worship service in Kikuyu (a language I still can't completely follow). My favorite part is always the Lord's Prayer which makes me feel safe and at home whenever it is prayed.

I don’t write this list to perpetuate stereotypes or generalizations, only to share with you some of the diversity that makes life beautiful and interesting. Each day we have the opportunity to encounter a piece of this diversity as we interact with one another.