Beautiful Basics of my time in Kenya

Kim's Africa Trip FAQs answered...

The accommodations were more than adequate. We stayed at the pastor's home (in his "yard" actually). We slept in two-man tents with room to stand and zippers to keep unwanted bugs and 'squitoes out. This actually gave us some privacy we had not expected. We had a thin mattress with a sleeping bag and pillow, and found ourselves quite comfortable especially compared to what I think we anticipated. We were given a large plastic tub, shower shoes and a scoop, and each day they would heat water for us to take into a shower room and bathe, so we were able to get clean and even wash hair each day! What a blessing! And as for the potty situation, they had a toilet seat installed in one of the outhouse stalls just for us! Though the smell still took some getting used to, we were very grateful for their thoughtfulness in that matter as well!

The food was really good. We were served mainly rice, potatoes and cabbage - in a variety of forms. Sometime we enjoyed stewed goat meat or beef as well. Their bread, chapatti, is like Indian Nan or flatbread. I loved it. A shredded carrot salad they served one day was a really great treat! And roasted peanuts were a nice treat one day, too. They drink Kenyan tea at meals and at tea time each day. It is served with milk and sugar - heating the tea and milk together, then mixing in the sugar before serving. It was rich and yummy! The Kenyan coffee was to die for, too! And, although I was ready for some good Tex-Mex when I returned, the food wasn't bad at all, and was nothing I hadn't eaten before.

The weather was actually very pleasant. Yes, it was hot - we were so close to the equator. But there was almost always a breeze, and we didn't find ourselves overheated or sweating much at all. It was nothing compared to Texas in the summer! For the most part we didn't need the fans we brought. In the evenings we would begin sleeping on top of the sleeping bag, but my morning we were inside the sleeping bags and awoke to a slight chill. Once again - a huge blessing!

The mosquitoes were almost non-existent. Most of us hardly used our insect repellent. Since it was the driest part of the year, just before the rainy season comes, I'm not sure there were any places for the mosquitoes to breed. We saw some huge moths in the lanterns at night, and a few big bugs, but nothing too creepy or a nuisance to speak of. :)

Which brings me to Some Awesome Highlights...

The wildlife was interesting, sometimes bothersome, nothing we were afraid of, and many times amazing.
- Within the pastor's yard were a few chickens, two cows, and cat and a few dogs. There was a fence made from thorny branches surrounding the yard, so anything else couldn't get in. The rooster crowed a few times at odd night hours, but the most annoying were the dogs who would fight or play fight or howl or bark at all hours. They were less pets and more just protective domesticated wild dogs, so they weren't the kind you'd play with or even get to shut up if you tried. I thanked God for my iPod with nice earphones... and for being so tired that I could sleep through all that commotion ...well, sometimes.
- But outside the pastor's yard, just out and about around Ilmamen, we saw a sampling of different African animals. Zebra, water buck, impala, (I'll include here the huge termite mounds, too.) and several times our team saw a herd of giraffes. HOW COOL IS THAT! When I was privileged to see them, it was at dusk. Their tall, lean silhouettes on the horizon were beautiful beyond words! I tried to capture it with my camera, but failed miserably... Although even the best photographer with the best camera wouldn't be able to truly capture what I saw. Those moments were a definite highlight of the trip... When we noticed them, we stopped and got out of the SUV, and walked toward them out in the night air through the barren dirt fields on trails made by the Maasai. I tried desperately to soak up the amazingly gorgeous scene that God had blessed me with, while I chatted with a new friend about his plans for redeeming Kenya and the African people and the land God gave them. I literally was crying (as I am now remembering it) and was trembling a bit with the overwhelming emotions of the moment, though I kept it to myself. Once darkness fell, we found our way back to the SUV and on to the Maasai home we were to visit. ...More about that later.
- Then there is the experience of the Safari. I'll have to blog separately about that later, as it's just too much to tell here. Suffice it to say that we saw just about every animal possible, and witnessed some incredible moments of animals in their natural habitat in the wild. We felt as if God was smiling as he gave us that incredible sensory safari as a gift. We saw God's creation at it's finest!

The conference was great! 50 pastors met in the church building (think chapel-sized concrete structure), while 50 youth leaders (more like what we would call singles ministers in their ministry to 18-30 yr olds) met in an adjacent building, and 80 women met down the road at the Catholic church (That's where I spent most of my time.) The five-day conference really encouraged them and empowered them. Although they could have gotten teaching & encouragement from a million other people within their culture, I am so grateful that God chose us for the task this time! Several of the women I got to know had husbands that were also attending the conference as pastors or youth leaders. Mom and I were privileged to teach about Marriage and Family, and there were some great conversations about mutual submission, conflict resolution, and loving each other well. Having a Couples Marriage Seminar or Retreat is definitely a follow up event that would be so beneficial. Though cultural differences were there, they really were insignificant when it came to discussing matters of God and Spiritual Life. Some things transcend all obstacles. Love is one of them... and I do feel like I love these people now - rooted deeply in Christ. What a growing experience for all of us involved!

The cultural experience during the conference week was pretty amazing. The women wore their traditional Maasai dress much of the time - striking colors, beautifully beaded jewelry: collars, necklaces, earrings and bracelets. They sang praise songs and songs of testimony in that tribal African repetitious style, and they danced the Maasai way with jumps and bobs in rhythm, which caused their beaded collars to dance along with their movements. I often had to take in the moment and remind myself that I was really experiencing this and wasn't just watching a movie or documentary program. Quite surreal, extremely sensory experiences seemed to be common during the entire week!
Another one of those times was while sitting inside a traditional Maasai home with it's owner/builder/dweller Joyce, who attended the conference. The homes are made by the women from sticks and branches, mud and grass. They mix the grass and mud together to cover the frame of sturdy sticks and branches. This home was probably only 6 feet tall, 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep. We had to duck and turn sideways to make it through the narrow opening corridor, then finding ourselves directly upon the small cooking fire with a bench on the left beside it, we sat on the bed to the right, with another room the size of a broom closet around the corner. Joyce shared how grateful she was to have us in her home, and after taking some pictures in the smoky space and thanking her graciously as well, we emerged to find the men home from shepherding. Joyce's husband showed us around the cow/goat/sheep pens and showed off his herd to us. The three children were attached to us during this time, loving the novelty of their guests that evening. This evening was evidence again of the warmth and love of these people.

The relationships we built were stronger than I had imagined. Cultural and language barriers seemed to melt away in unexpected measure. I met Faith at the very beginning of the conference and because of her well-spoken English I asked her if she was a teacher. Surprised and with much humility, she said, "Oh no, I have two small children, I'm just a mother." When I briefly encouraged her in that extremely important role of mom - being a teacher of her own children - she seemed grateful with her countenance. Later that day she walked alongside me to lunch and said, "Do you think I would be a good teacher?" "Yes!" I answered emphatically. She continued, "I plan to continue my education in university some day." I realized in that small exchange how my initial words, "Are you a teacher?" encouraged her in a passion she held that had been dormant. The whole week, I tried to find ways to encourage Faith and the other women - as we taught about spiritual matters, and as I conversed with them over tea or as we walked along the roads. Faith's husband, Bernard, is in university and is a youth pastor. Their charisma and passion for loving people will be used by God in a mighty way, as they minister as a family. Pauline is another friend I made. She works with the Compassion International ministry there. She teaches classes on housekeeping, health, time management and many other practical things. Her husband is also a pastor. She has a 4 year old boy and is expecting another child in October. God is using their family in an amazing way for His purposes, as well. I hope to stay in touch with Faith and Pauline via e-mail, so that I may pray for them and encourage them still... as they will for me, too. I pray for them and others as close friends. Friends in Africa now... who would have thought?!

The schools made for a lot of interesting and rewarding memories too. We were able to go to nearby schools three afternoons. (They were nearby, but it often took a half hour or more through bumpy, pot-holed dirt paths to get there.) Though all the schools were lacking teachers, adequate supplies, books and equipment, and water, some schools had more funding than others, which meant that they maybe had a couple more trees for shade and maybe painted concrete walls rather than the usual gray. Rocks were used for landscaping and marking lines for seating outside for the pledge or an assembly. The children wore uniforms that were worn, faded and holey for the most part. When they break for lunch to go home and eat, many just go outside to play, since it's too far to walk home for lunch, or since they don't have food. So most children were pretty hungry by the end of the day when we arrived. The kids were very well behaved when in the schoolroom setting with teachers. They recited scripture for us, sang songs for us, and spoke great English - although I sometimes wondered if they knew what they were saying - for the younger ones, maybe not. Then, when we were introduced and we began to share the message of Jesus with them and share about our families and show love to them, they warmed up to us so much that it was as if they were all young girls and we were the Beatles. They surrounded us caressing our skin, having not seen white skinned people much (or ever). They petted our heads and stroked our hair, since this too was foreign to them. They asked for our sunglasses, our watches, our ink pens, and anything we revealed that we had with us. They were not completely rude, but they were so eager to experience us that it was overwhelming for us and we had to be stern with them some to get them to move back. A reprieve from that came when we would begin playing a game with them or teaching them a new song. We were not prepared with supplies, so rocks and sticks became our instruments for fun. At one school when we had lots of extra time to kill, I taught them hopscotch and played "hide the rock" with them for what seemed like forever. But the most intriguing thing to them, and one of my most memorable moments, was sharing my photo album with them. I had brought a dozen or so pictures of my family in a small album to show people I met along the way. I took this out to show them that I had children of my own. And the children were so enamored with white-skinned, blonde-haired children, that they oooed and ahhhed, giggled and stared, and wanted to see them over and over again. I probably showed the pictures 50 times. And by the end of our time together that day, the children asked me to say hello to my kids for me, as if they knew them well. What an unexpected joy that photo album turned out to be - and what an unexpected impact my children had on them without even being there with me!


And finally, I must share about the great organization we worked with…

ALARM is, simply put, an incredible, impactful organization! Working with their staff was wonderful! Carol Makanda is the Director of the Kenyan ALARM Office. She is an amazing woman. She's a mother of two young children, wife to the now Associate Pastor of the 5000 member Nairobi Baptist Church, and she not only orchestrated all of the arrangements for the conference and our accommodations, but she also taught many of the sessions and has an on-going women's ministry in that village and others. Erick Arowo is the youth advocacy coordinator. He set up our school visits and led the youth pastors’ conference, teaching many of the sessions, as well. His passion is contagious. And the Administrative Assistant, Rose Mwai, was priceless. She did much of the leg-work and coordination of the conference and our travels, as well as translating our sessions and teaching when needed. Then there were support staff: Jack and Peter, our fabulous drivers, Emily who cooked wonderful meals for us, and several helpers who stayed with us during the week - fetching water from the bore hole, heating our bath water, cooking and serving us at every turn. These people all made us feel so welcomed, so well cared for, and they work harder and with more passion and love for people, than most people I know. Everything about ALARM has been near perfection, and filled with above-board integrity, meticulous strategy, and clear intention. What a pleasure to partner with such an amazing ministry!


Thanks for reading this far. I know there is so much more I could share. Check back occasionally to see if I’ve thought of another story to share or posted another picture. Hope you enjoyed reading about my amazing adventure!

Jombo!