Wednesday, October 28, 2009
E minor
October draws to a close, and the rains have come. We wait to see if the rains will grow into the promised El Nino torrent. Now they just begin to assuage the drought. Every other day or more frequently the clouds break into a refreshing shower for a few hours. The sunsets have been better since the rain started.
I heard about a volunteer years ago in Kenya (I think even through the PCUSA, probably the VIM program) who apparently was sticking it to government corruption and whatnot. I heard recently that the denomination who places us, the PCEA, is the denomination of the President, VP, and many lawyers. The ministry here has not so far looked like protests and rallies, only presence. I am a missionary to a country with more Christians per capita than the U.S. I am a presbyterian missionary with a PCEA church some of whose members think "P" is for "Protestant." The language here tends away from denominationalism, and the divide is often between "born-again" and not. I haven't heard a layperson talk about Reformed theology to explain their presbyterianism. The leaders of the churches have studied, but the average churchgoer won't talk of total depravity or perseverance of the saints. They'll know the teachings of Osteen better than those of Luther, Calvin, Schaeffer, and Buechner combined (but that's a weird list). The separation in the situation stems from European and American missionaries arriving from different denominations in different parts of Kenya. Many ethnic groups are mostly of one denomination, as the early missionaries of different denominations went to different areas. Stir that up in a pot with 42 language groups in an area the size of Texas, and the current language trend for interdenominational unity (use of "born-again") becomes more than an authenticity test (which is part of it)--it is a survival strategy. The church must look like a church, and people must be able to communicate about spiritual matters in a unified way in order for those who lead their cows through the streets of Nairobi to tell their neighbors who run the country, brothers and sisters in Christ, of their spirituality.
For church this Sunday, Josh and I went to Gatundu PCEA with the Mercy, the matron of our boarding school. After a short English service with no pew full, we left. Returning for the Kikuyu service a bit later, we found standing room only. We didn't stay long, but we greeted them with a song. "They will know we are Christians by our love," we sang in a key about a third too low. "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord," says the first verse. Mercy said they spoke of it throughout the service as a message from God. The Kenyan people, who worship divided by ethnicity and historical circumstance, gobbled up the message of unity from two wazungu (foreigners). Maybe that's what our ministry here will look like. If we can practice unity here among our Presbyterian brothers and sisters, maybe that's also the best thing we can take back with us to our United States, and work and pray that all unity may one day be restored.
I heard about a volunteer years ago in Kenya (I think even through the PCUSA, probably the VIM program) who apparently was sticking it to government corruption and whatnot. I heard recently that the denomination who places us, the PCEA, is the denomination of the President, VP, and many lawyers. The ministry here has not so far looked like protests and rallies, only presence. I am a missionary to a country with more Christians per capita than the U.S. I am a presbyterian missionary with a PCEA church some of whose members think "P" is for "Protestant." The language here tends away from denominationalism, and the divide is often between "born-again" and not. I haven't heard a layperson talk about Reformed theology to explain their presbyterianism. The leaders of the churches have studied, but the average churchgoer won't talk of total depravity or perseverance of the saints. They'll know the teachings of Osteen better than those of Luther, Calvin, Schaeffer, and Buechner combined (but that's a weird list). The separation in the situation stems from European and American missionaries arriving from different denominations in different parts of Kenya. Many ethnic groups are mostly of one denomination, as the early missionaries of different denominations went to different areas. Stir that up in a pot with 42 language groups in an area the size of Texas, and the current language trend for interdenominational unity (use of "born-again") becomes more than an authenticity test (which is part of it)--it is a survival strategy. The church must look like a church, and people must be able to communicate about spiritual matters in a unified way in order for those who lead their cows through the streets of Nairobi to tell their neighbors who run the country, brothers and sisters in Christ, of their spirituality.
For church this Sunday, Josh and I went to Gatundu PCEA with the Mercy, the matron of our boarding school. After a short English service with no pew full, we left. Returning for the Kikuyu service a bit later, we found standing room only. We didn't stay long, but we greeted them with a song. "They will know we are Christians by our love," we sang in a key about a third too low. "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord," says the first verse. Mercy said they spoke of it throughout the service as a message from God. The Kenyan people, who worship divided by ethnicity and historical circumstance, gobbled up the message of unity from two wazungu (foreigners). Maybe that's what our ministry here will look like. If we can practice unity here among our Presbyterian brothers and sisters, maybe that's also the best thing we can take back with us to our United States, and work and pray that all unity may one day be restored.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Dusty Gatundu no longer
I do my own laundry here. This does not mean I go to the first floor and throw my clothes in the washer or even take public transit to the laundromat. It means I put soap in a bucket, fill it with water, then fill another with just water. Then, washing, agitating (with some friction), and rinsing complete, the clothesline becomes home to jeans, shirts, trousers, and socks. Our cautious site coordinator told us to be more discreet with other items, so they go to the line in my room. The efficacy of this washing style depends on the skill of the operator, but as much as I worked really hard to get the soil (Africans respect it too much to call it “dirt”) out of my cuffs and trouser hems. There are pieces of Africa stuck so firmly in my wardrobe that I cannot but take them with me.
I was counting on that. A year in a place will leave its mark, and this place has things to teach me from language and geography to how to respect people in a different way. I have yet to see what dirt I'd like to leave with the people here to remember and respect my culture. It's easy to be a friend, and sharing the love of Christ is why I'm here. So that's part of it.
There was a wedding yesterday! One of our fellow teachers took us to his family's home, where we learned some Kikuyu, had some delicious food, and learned to slaughter a chicken. We got to the wedding late (I don't think we knew when it started), so we caught people as they were going to the reception from the service. It was remarkably similar in what happened (waiting, food, announcements on a low quality speaker, cake). It was pretty tame--there was no loudness and little dancing, just smiles, family, and friends. The tradition here is to have a married couple for Best Man and Best Woman. Or whatever it's called. They not only help plan the wedding, they advise the couple--early troubles in marriage are not taken to parents or counselors, but to the best couple.
Finished Sir Gibbie--we’ll see what I read next. Last one was Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I recommend either and especially both. I read an edited version of Sir Gibbie which was terribly easy to read for all the ramblings filtered out. Theres a Wilde Picture that I think will be next, but it is on my computer--will need something else for the staff room.
The rain is here almost every day, and my time is up.
I was counting on that. A year in a place will leave its mark, and this place has things to teach me from language and geography to how to respect people in a different way. I have yet to see what dirt I'd like to leave with the people here to remember and respect my culture. It's easy to be a friend, and sharing the love of Christ is why I'm here. So that's part of it.
There was a wedding yesterday! One of our fellow teachers took us to his family's home, where we learned some Kikuyu, had some delicious food, and learned to slaughter a chicken. We got to the wedding late (I don't think we knew when it started), so we caught people as they were going to the reception from the service. It was remarkably similar in what happened (waiting, food, announcements on a low quality speaker, cake). It was pretty tame--there was no loudness and little dancing, just smiles, family, and friends. The tradition here is to have a married couple for Best Man and Best Woman. Or whatever it's called. They not only help plan the wedding, they advise the couple--early troubles in marriage are not taken to parents or counselors, but to the best couple.
Finished Sir Gibbie--we’ll see what I read next. Last one was Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I recommend either and especially both. I read an edited version of Sir Gibbie which was terribly easy to read for all the ramblings filtered out. Theres a Wilde Picture that I think will be next, but it is on my computer--will need something else for the staff room.
The rain is here almost every day, and my time is up.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Update!
It's been a long time. I may have just set up posting by email, which means I don't have to blog from Gatundu (when they have power) or Nairobi (where I've been for the past two weekends, but not again soon). Last time we tried to blog in Gatundu, there was electricity rationing because it was Wednesday. Anyway, we are spending a weekend in Nairobi. Josh and I, seeing an opportunity to travel with the prefects, rode in a packed bus of high schoolers to the giraffe sanctuary and Mamba village Friday (see pics). The giraffes ate pellets from our hands and, if coaxed, from our lips. I need to get the pictures of that online-my previous picture uploading was interrupted and I don't have them today. Mamba village had crocodiles! Their toothy grins and surprisingly squishy flesh
So, we have seen many beautiful things this weekend on our midterm break. The Min. of Ed. actually recommended (mandated? I wasn't sure of the wording) that boarding schools (most of them) not take midterm recess to stem the spread of H1N1. However, students still needed to go home to collect school fees (that would've been today--they would've just stayed at school for the weekend and gone home today anyway), so we let out as soon as we knew that schools nearby also had. I wonder if some politician just wanted to cover his bases with that mandate.
There have been some interesting discussions about polygamy that we have heard. Because of a proposed change in legislation, it has come up a few times. As far as I can tell now, the church does not support second marriages (polygyny, of course), but tradition and government will as long as the man can support a second wife and has the first wife's permission. Josh and I have both been surprised to hear women championing the cause more rationally than men. For obvious reasons a man's argument for a second wife is accompanied with chuckles and grins, but a woman's argument can be based on bitterness. One intelligent unmarried woman lamented that all the good men would not take second wives, proposing (is twice too much?) a situation where good husbands have multiple wives and bad guys have none. I was not converted, but it was the most effective argument for something that until recently was just part of the culture, or as one person told us, part of being "a gentleman."
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