I turned to Audrey and Pamm and said, “You really can’t
understand this place until you see it for yourself.” Audrey and Pamm are
family friends from Minnesota. They have children my age and more like mother’s
too me. They have watched me grow up and they are here to see for themselves
the Africa I have been telling them about for years.
They agreed that pictures and stories really couldn’t depict
with much accuracy the world you can touch and feel and engage with in person.
And yet I still try with pictures and words to fill your heads and hearts with
visions of Africa because I want so desperately to share this awe inspiring
place with you. I want you to taste the dust, to feel the heat, to hear the
sounds of the morning, to see the joy and frustrations of the people, to walk
along the paths I walk and experience the pure glory of God’s creation.
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| The Ngong Hills from afar. |
I took Pamm and Audrey to visit Rebekah and James in
Ilkiloret. I had not seen Rebekah and James since their wedding, and was eager
to find out if life had changed since being “married again”. They were married
in a Maasai wedding 10 years ago, but exchanged vows in a Christian wedding
three weeks ago. Rebekah said it was like going from “analog to digital.” She
also said she was so glad the planning and preparation were over! I asked James
if he thought their wedding would have any impact on the Maasai tradition of
taking more than one wife. James said there were very few Christian men in the
village who had only one wife, but that others were watching them with interest.
“My church has 25 members,” he said. But his wedding was attended by hundreds
of Maasai from the surrounding community, so he has hope that more people will
come to know the God he follows, by following his example.
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| Pamm, Audrey and I with Rebekah (standing next to Pamm) in front of her manyatta. |
Next to the classroom I helped construct in Ilkiloret,
Janet, my former Maasai co-teacher and current Nominated Member of Parliament
for Disabled People, is building a house. She also constructed a road into the
village where only a path existed before. Because of her disability, Janet was
helpless for much of her life; it is such a blessing to see her life
transformed because of the opportunity afforded her.
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| Janet's house, on the left, and the adult education classroom in Ilkiloret. |
On the way home from Ilkiloret we stopped to see Grace and
John King’atua. They are my Kenyan parents and they people who first encouraged
me to come to Kenya as a missionary. I hadn’t seen them in months and wanted to
get caught up on their lives and those of all the children they support. Janet
was one of those children. This year they have five girls graduating from high
school!
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| Grace and John at home in Kimuga. |
I also told them about Daniel and that we were getting
married soon. They were thrilled. John got his Bible and stood and gave me an impromptu
sermon from Philippians 4:4-7. “It’s about rejoicing,” he said “And having joy
in life. Never lose that. Build up peace with God, with your husband, with your
family and with your friends.”
The glory of God’s creation was abundantly evident today in
the transformed lives of His people. In the diversity of culture and custom
that blended together so naturally as Audrey and Pamm and I sat under a tree in
James’ compound, eating a delicious lunch of rice and beans that Rebekah had
prepared. The swirling dust and ever-present flies could not extinguish the joy
of new friendship and the shared slice of life. We did our part to build peace
even before we heard John’s sermonette.
You may never fully understand this place from afar, but at
least by sharing pictures and words I hope you will begin to see how important
it is for all of us to keep doing God’s work. It’s about building up peace.
Rejoice! Shalom!
