Guilt vs Humbled

Good afternoon from the country side! We are currently driving in our bus from Nairobi to our location tonight in Nakuru. We began this morning with an orientation session at the Scripture Mission Compound at the LCMS office. We opened by reading Acts 8:26-31. This section is the first time the scripture went out of Israel. Any guesses where it went? Take a look at the passage to find out :)

A few facts from the orientation: there are 2.5 million people in the LCMS in the United States, 6 million in the ELCK (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya), 5.5 million in Tanzania and half of the church in Ethiopia is under age 18. Take a moment to consider those astounding numbers again. Think of the numbers in Africa vs the United States.

We were introduced to the difference between our one pocket society and Africa's two pocket society. In the USA, if we are asked to keep our boss' money overnight we would never spend it. Meaning the boss' money is theirs and ours is ours. In Africa, if they need the money they will use it. Reverend Shauen Trump stated that the people may be sad, but they understand. I thought this was something very culturally different to me.

A Swahili proverb states, "A person is people." This means that a person's identity is rooted in everyone who came before him.

Another comparison would be Relationship vs. Task. To Africans, it doesn't matter what is accomplished during a meeting. What matters to them is spending time with the people they are with. Time is unlimited to them, and they do not value time the way we as Americans do.

"All cultures are equally corrupted by mankind."~Reverand Shauen Trump

We learned that we cannot give people, children in particular, direct gifts. If we give gifts they have to go through the highest ranking church official. Because of this, I may or may not be able to purchase items as gifts. I may have to give them money instead and they will decide where to best use it. Although I had initially planned/wanted to purchase items and give them to the children, I understand the reasoning. If one child is given a soccer ball and the next isn't, that could cause issues. Another thing would be that they may begin to expect gifts from travelers. So we will have to see what the next days bring.

Or first stop was the ELCK Headquarters in downtown Nairobi. It was neat to see this location and where their church is run. It was not a very big building, just some offices and a conference center.

Lunch was our first taste of African food. I ordered fish and it was literally the entire fish except the head. You could order the head part or the tail part. 

We just stopped at the Rift Valley. It was a beautiful valley and reminded me of the drive in Denali National Park where there is no guard rail along the drop offs on the road. There was a small shop at this stop so of course we has to browse. I was able to purchase a small African drum that is made of goat skin. I tried to bargain for a lower price but my African negotiating skills must not be at their best yet. Oh well, I will only be in Africa once. 

Along the road this afternoon we have seen zebras, giraffes, cows, donkeys, and impalas. Throughout the day we saw numerous zebras. It has been neat to see these animals along the road roaming free. We also drove by the Kibera Slums. This was an area full of to me appeared to be the area of town I would not want to travel to. Garbage piles, shanties for homes, shacks along the road, people digging through trash were common sights in the slums.

It is 7 pm and we just visited Bethesda Children's Ministry location. This is a place supported by Concordia Lutheran Ministries and LCMS World Relief and Support and was opened in May of 2008. Bethesda is an orphanage type location that also has a school for some children. The 25 older boys stay over night and there are over 45 young children who walk over 3 km each way to attend school here. These older children have no parents, parents who cannot properly care for them, etc. The younger children live with their families at night. What a place this is! The children performed a song for us and it was absolutely heart warming! They are so appreciative and polite. When the older boys saw us they immediaty walked up to us to shake all of our hands. Children in Kenya attend school year round. The school system goes for a year and has three one month breaks throughout the year.

Attending Bethesda I could really sense their needs. For me personally the biggest thing to stand out was that they did not have blankets for the children. I was chilly myself early in the evening so I can only imagine the children's feelings. 

The title of this post comes from our morning orientation. During this, our guide Shauna, was able to teach us a few useful Swahili phrases. Some words we have been able to remember while others we have had to ask a few times. It is sometimes difficult to remember what the word we are looking for is. I'm guessing we will be able to use our skills throughout the trip to continue improving our speaking skills.

     ~Jambo-hello

     ~Habari yako-how are you?

     ~Mzuri-I am good

     ~Sana-very

     ~Karibu-welcome 

     ~Ndiyo-yes

     ~Hapana-no

     ~Asante-Thank You

     ~Ninajisaidia-I need to help myself

     ~Mimi ni-I am

     ~Ninaitwa-I am called

     ~Jinalanguni-My name is 

     ~Unaitwaji?-How are you called? What's your name?

     ~Mzee-old person

     ~Kwaheri-good bye

Tonight we are staying at the Nuru Palace in Nakuru, Kenya. Our rooms have two beds that look extremely comfortable. There are canopies over the bed that are vey fancy looking. Even though they are probably meant for a mosquito covering, I still feel like its very fancy.

One of our topics of discussion today has been do we feel guilt for how we are living or do we feel humbled? I believe I feel both. I feel guilt because we have so much while they have so little. We don't think twice about buying that new iPod, book, or even loaf of bread. I feel humbled because I have the God given resources to me to be able to live the way we do. This is something I have to remember is that yes, even though we do have things the Kenyans do not, that is their way of living and we cannot and should not do anything to change that. They are extremely thankful for what they have; that is how we should live as well. I thank The Lord for the many blessings he has provided me with.

That's all for now. Good night and Kwaheri :)