A Reminder

God tends to remind me that life is not all that bad just when I think things are falling apart.

I mentioned that our last two weeks have just been one thing after another. And it has yet to stop. For example, after finishing the injections in my buttocks, I woke up with a terrible head cold that quickly turned to fever/cough. Thankfully, I woke up feeling a thousand times better this morning and actually had some energy to get out of the house. But I also discovered that my hot water kettle (that I only bought 6 months ago) plus the large fluorescent light bulb in my kitchen have both decided to fritz out on me. And those aren't cheap to replace. Then we discovered yesterday that one of our boys, who we had helped with some medical issues, actually took the money we gave him for medication and used it to pay rent. He has been avoiding us for months and finally came to fess up to Kelvin yesterday. Unfortunately, he came in desperation for more money since he was now being kicked out of his house and still hadn't taken the medication. Kelvin denied as he didn't have any money and now we are confused on how to really help this guy.

You see, its not really huge, life altering things, it just seems to be one disappointment after another.

However, God gave me a reminder of His goodness today at church. Our youth pastor preached an awesome sermon. At one point, he was explaining a passage in the bible (don't remember which one - bad christian!) but then he paused and said,

"Don't get disappointed so easily. God is still working."

As simple as that, just don't get disappointed so easily. Keep moving on. Things will change. God is working. He is indeed there and does actually have good plans for me. Stop hanging your head, rolling your eyes, or getting downright upset over these small, insignificant things that happen.

Then our service leader thought it would be good to call up all the orphans in the congregation and pray for them. This was actually a very bad and embarrassing idea. The ones who stood up (there were many orphans who didn't out of embarrassment) were asked to come to the front to be prayed for. Again, it struck me in the gut that life is actually not so bad. Some are worse off than me. Some suffer constant disappointments and suffering.

 I tried so hard to fight back the ugly cry.

I am seriously SO SO blessed. Even when everything just keeps falling apart, I am STILL blessed. May I learn to focus on all the blessings and push through all the disappointments. 

Celebrating Culture

It was cultural day at church yesterday. I personally loved it! I guess growing up in Canada, I didn't really see much culture around me. We are such a melange of backgrounds in Canada that culture seems to get lost - although I guess that is a culture in itself. In high school we had two East Indian kids. That was about how much we were exposed to culture in our town. I remember one girl explaining to us what Taj Mahal  looked like. I was enthralled. Now in our town, we have a few more nationalities but even at that, there are only a handful of them. We often wonder how people will react to Kelvin once he gets to Canada as he will most likely be the darkest person in town.  

My mom's side of the family are Doukhobours which are originally a spiritual community from Russia. I guess that's pretty cultural although I never quite identified with it. We never entered into the 'spiritual' side of the culture because Mom was a Christian. We only ate the yummy overly-buttered food and called our grandparents 'Baba and Deda'. That's about as Doukhobour as I get. Then my dad's parents were Scottish and Welsh but both grew up in Canada. My dad had a kilt and we all got goosebumps when we heard the bag pipes being played. I think what I loved most was listening to my grandmother talk about 'the Old Country'. Although she spent most of her life in Canada, she was born in Wales and spent sometime there when her and my grandpa got married. She definitely passed on the love of English tea to me. 

However, African culture always enthralled me ever since I was a little girl. I knew I was destined to be here. Although I never really thought I would actually marry one and BE one one day. How cool!

I find Kenyans to be very proud of their culture particularly their tribal culture. My husband is a very proud Luo. 

So what did cultural day look like? Honestly, it kind of looked like every other day despite the fact we put up a few decorations. The folks around here tend to live out their culture daily. The women still wore their traditional dresses which most of them wear every sunday to church. We sang songs that we sing most church services. The food was awesome but it was everyday food. I guess in essence we just celebrated who we are! 

 While alighting off the matatu, my shoe broke. I was alone as Kelvin had gone earlier. I was embarrassed as everyone was staring at the white girl who just broke her shoe. I tried to think about what to do but since it was Sunday, all the fundi's I knew would be closed. I walked across the street to a store hoping to find a cheap pair of shoes to buy. Well, the guy in the store saw my dilemma and pointed me towards another guy who just happens to fix shoes in the store! In five minutes, my shoe was fixed. Yay! So I arrived at the church relieved my shoe was ok and overly excited to see my bestie Rahab!

 We turned our youth sanctuary into the stage. 

 Just a sample of the yummy food. Lots of rice, different types of beans, coconutty stuff, mashed sweet potatoes and green bananas, pilau, salads, vegetable stews, peanut butter, fried chicken and fish, and different types of uji! It was unreal. My plate was a mountain of food.

Our dear friend Christine was the guest artist. I always love hearing her sing. 

My handsome hubby was the MC of the day and he did a phenomenal job. This was definitely my favourite moment when he invited all the kids on stage and danced. Most days, he is really just a big kid himself. One of the many things I adore about him.

Church with Girls and Eid ul Hajj

My prayer last week was to go to a girls school. I came home one day a little discouraged, after a game with the boys, and just craving to hang out with a group of girls. I prayed about it and even told Kelvin my desire. I absolutely LOVE hanging out with fiery, sweet, girly girls. It's rather ironic because I am totally not that kind of girl. But I love girls who are. 

On friday, I went to my regular bible study/youth service meeting that Word of Life puts on. At the beginning of the service, I overheard some people talking about how they are going to lead the service at Mama Ngina girls school this sunday. I didn't show it, but I SO wanted to go. Mama Ngina girls are so much fun, full of energy and zeal for God, and have hearts focused on pleasing Him. Anyways, throughout the service, I kept telling God how much I would love to go but only if He allowed it.

At the end of the service, my old boss from Word of Life pulled me aside and mentioned that they needed more girls to go and someone to do a testimony. Not wanting to show my sheer excitement, I said, "Sure. I would love to. Be there at 8am sunday."

The Mama Ngina girls didn't disappoint. 3 hours of song, dance, laughter, encouragement, love, testimonies, the Word of God and so much more. My heart was full that's for sure. After the service, Kelvin and I stayed behind and had some time to chat with a few of the girls. I value sweet conversations with young ladies who are putting God first in their lives. 

 Boy, can they ever sing and dance! I will try upload some videos I took of the service. The choir had come and sang an incredible song that sent goosebumps up my spine.

After the service, we headed for lunch in Kongowea. Sunday was a Muslim holiday which celebrated the end of Hajj, the 10 day pilgrimage every muslim is suppose to make to Mecca. With any Muslim holiday, you know there is going to be GOOD food.

And I was not disappointed. The family we went to eat with made amazing goat biryani, probably the best I have ever eaten before. And I am not usually a big fan of goat meat. 

However, the meal was about the only thing I like about the situation. It was rather uncomfortable for me. After the eating, everyone started pulling  out the alcohol, cigarettes, and miraa. Hmm, not my fancy. Kelvin and I were about the only ones who were participating. However, Kelvin had an advantage as he could speak swahili. He could connect. As for me, I struggled to connect. I don't drink, smoke, chew drugs, or speak swahili so I was a fish out of water. What made it worse was that a cousin of Kelvin's had brought along her much older, european fiance. He was a nice man but, in the midst of all this, the man was handing out money and supplying all the drinks for everyone. Again, not my style. The people were lovin' being showered with cheap pleasures while I sat in the corner, struggling to connect. 

I think was surprised me the most was that we were celebrating a muslim holiday and yet they were doing the most 'unholy' of things. I was chatting with one, who had just come from filling up on the local brew, about how he has to stop drinking, wait 40 days, and then go to a mosque because right now he is 'unclean'. He kept telling me how much work it is to stay 'clean' for allah. I took this opportunity to talk about Jesus and how He can make us 'clean'. The guy insisted he could do it himself. I then decided not to continue trying to reason with him, especially as I smelt the alcohol on his breath. 

It was tough for sure. Kelvin noticed I was struggling and suggested we leave. My heart hurt as these are the people I so desire to reach and yet we are so disconnected. Afterwards, Kelvin and I went to a local resort to listen to a live band. While sitting there, I burst into tears.  The fact is that this week has been hard. More  than usual, I have felt out of place and like I really just don't fit in. I have made various mistakes, had people laugh and mock me, and get heckled wherever I went. After a tough week, the tears overflowed Sunday night. I didn't need to be encouraged. I just needed to cry. 

Kelvin was great and listened to my cries. Soon, we started talking about ministry, work, Jesus, how to really help the poor, how to really follow Jesus, and how, most times, following Jesus means that life will be tough. It turned out to be a pretty awesome evening as we poured our hearts out to each other, listened to the local music, and allowed the breeze from the ocean cool us down. 

This is a brand new mosque that was right next to Mama Ngina girls school. Because it was a holiday, the mosques were full. On our way to church, Muslims were outside praying. Mosques were so full that people were praying on the streets.

Goats lined the streets. 

Everyone is suppose to kill a goat and I think they are suppose to give some of it away to the poor. I am not sure how many actually do that but its good in theory.

It was an overwhelming Sunday. I am thankful for a new week!!

ACK Cathedral

Just wanted to show you where I fellowship most Sundays. It is a large Anglican Church in the middle of town. It is actually mistaken for a mosque most times. Maybe they built it that way because most of the buildings in the area are very arabic style housing. I don't know though. It is an Anglican Church which is interesting. I would never really consider going to an Anglican Church in Canada as I grew up in non-denominationl/pentecostal churches. However, here in Kenya an Anglican Church service looks very similar to a Baptist church in Canada. A pentecostal church in Kenya is indescribable and I can't even begin to tell you about the churches that have created their own denominations many of them focusing on healing, deliverance, prosperity, and other miracles. So this Anglican Church is a happy medium for me. I have struggled a bit with the more 'structured' aspect of the church but nonetheless it is a great church which preaches the Word of God to good people.

But not to deceive you, I don't attend the main service in the beautiful church pictured above. We have a teens service in this little shaded area. It's wonderful to have youth leading the service, praise and worship and even preaching. We also run a lot of our Word of Life programs in this little outdoor church. It's a great meeting place although last sunday it started to rain and got a bit windy so we all got a  little wet. 

I am thankful that I have found a church that I feel comfortable in, that feeds me, and I can feel like I have a community around me!

Kayole

Yesterday we spent the day at a church on the other side of town. Often we are asked to come and preach or sing or act for local churches so yesterday we, the singing team, drove across town, through the slums to attend a service in Kayole. This church really touched me. First of all it is in the middle of a slum and it's painted bright blue. Then it is filled with children and youth as it is associated with a school.  The service was full of excitement. I was smiling the whole time as the entire congregation belted out swahili chorus' and moved their entire bodies to the beat of the keyboard. 

We were able to sing 3 different songs to the church. In Kenyan churches they often spend a considerable amount of time inviting various choirs and individuals to come and share a song or two. Often this can last for more than half the service.

My lovely classmate Rebbea made a small friend.

Our eyes we close, our heads we bow and time to pray!

It was a long and hot service but I loved every minute of it. The children thoroughly enjoyed having a white person around who was willing to play with them. At one point, I noticed that I had an entire following of children who were sitting around me as I stood outside listening to the sermon. It was precious. 

Resurrecting Pastors?

This story was in tuesday's newspaper. When I heard this, I was not completely shocked. People do funny things in the name of Christ but they seem to not really know who He is.

To summarize this article for you, two pastors of a certain church in Nakuru died in a car accident last week. The church came together and decided to hold big prayer meetings to resurrect the two dead pastors. I am not sure where they got this idea. They said that with faith anything can happen which the bible does say. They said that if Ezekiel, an Old Testament prophet, spoke to dry bones and they came back to life then even today's christians can do the same. Hmph. Funny teaching but big faith. They were hoping that during the prayer sessions was when the pastor's would resurrect but it didn't happen. They resorted to shaking the coffin and were encouraged to become more emotional. In the end they decided to burry the bodies today if they hadn't resurrected today.

I hate to say this, but this doesn't surprise with churches here in Kenya. There are some funny things going on in churches here. This country claims to be 80% Christian. I am pretty sure that if 80% of the population were true believers in Christ, they would not have been slaughtering each other in 2007. It's sad to say that many preachers don't teach the entire gospel. The prosperity gospel or the shortcut gospel are usually preached. Kenyans tend to want instant results. They seek instant healing or money rather than seeking Christ. Ultimately they are all looking for the truth, for hope, for happiness just like everyone else. They seem to just be looking in the wrong places.