Home safe and sound

Yup, I made it back from my conference on the coast. It was really, really good. I could have stayed a few extra days, that's for sure... but work calls! I came back to our office here in Nairobi this morning to 154 emails in my inbox! And most of them were work related that need to be taken care of :(

One of the major things is that the visa/travel pass situation is changing quite drastically!

More later...

Off to the coast!

So I leave for the coast tomorrow. I have tried to contact the travel agent today to book a ticket home... but haven't heard back from her! So maybe I'll be stuck in Malindi for a few weeks... I guess there are worse places to be stuck.

I have to get my head around "coast" mode. It's a spiritual retreat with one of the other branches of the organization I work for, so there are times for worship and a speaker. And I really want this week to be a spiritual retreat for me, not just a week of bumming around on the beach :) I think I need some good refreshing before I head back to my normal work up there in the heat and dust! So please pray with me that it will be a good week, that I won't be distracted by all the fun and all the other people there, but will be able to take the time alone with God that I need to really be deeply spiritually refreshed, and not just refreshed on good food, fruit juice and pool parties!

At the moment, my head is already back in my normal work - Jackie and I had an all day meeting with some consultants who are real experts in multilingual education and in the sorts of things that we're trying to set up in the education system up there. It was great to be able to get some of their feedback and talk to them a bit more about it all. Gives me a bit of excitement and encouragement to get back into it after these few weeks of concentrating on my course!

I also miss my cat, so I'm stating to really look forward to getting back "home"!

But tomorrow, on to the coast!

200th Post

Wow, 200 posts on this blog since I started. Who knew I had THAT much to say?! Who knew that anyone would still be reading after all of that?!

Nothing new today. There was yet another tremor last night. I do wonder what's going on with it all... hopefully there won't be a tsunami while I'm at this conference on the coast next week! I'll travel by bus there on Saturday morning. Please pray that I figure out how to get myself back to this city sometime next week!

Today I got my travel permit to go back "home". I'm glad that's done - it's not difficult, but it is a bit of a time consuming project to go to the bank, pay the fee, take the bank slip to the office, give them your paperwork, and then go back later once they type the permit, wait for the man with the rubber stamp to stamp it... it's pretty much an all day affair to get one little blue piece of paper!

While we were waiting for the passes to be prepared, I went to the mall to pick up the water filter that I'm going to bring home with me. It's quite a nice filter - well, it had better be a nice one for $300! Yup, $300 for unlimited clean water. Hopefully this filter will take out some of the chalk and salt and other minerals that comes in our borehole water better than the other sort of filter that we had been borrowing in the guesthouse up there!

I feel really like a real missionary who's here to stay. I actually own a big ol' water filter. Here's a photo of it (it's just one from the web, since mine is still safely packed in its box, ready for shipment...).

Looks all nice and pure, doesn't it?! Should keep me and Jackie healthy for years to come...

Earthquakes continue!

I looked on the BBC and found this about the tremors that we've been feeling for the past few days.

It was all over the news today; the matatus (busses) even had the news turned on the radios today, when usually they just blast their hip hop or reggae cds!

Village Trip, part 2

At about 7am, Flo and I woke up, and Flo’s sister gently reminded her that we were sleeping in the sitting room, so we needed to get up in case anyone came to visit! Imagine, having the sitting room ready for visitors at 7am on a Sunday morning!

Anyways, we got up and started the day. There wasn’t much to do – we both slept in the same clothes that we had put on the night before after our moonlight baths, so we just kept those clothes on. Before anything happened, we went off for a little walk through the fields. I wanted to get a good close look at the crops – sorghum, maize and beans. They also have a field full of tomatoes and some cassava. Everywhere were banana and avocado and mango and papaya trees! We wandered down to the river, where we found Wilberforce’s father collecting the firewood for the day.

We also went over to the bore hole, where we found quite a few people in line with their jerry cans, waiting to fill them up. They were all having a great time together and had an even greater time once the white girl showed up! I had my camera with me, so I took a few photos of everyone standing around. What fun it was to show everyone their photos! We all had a good laugh together.

We also wandered over to Wilberforce’s parent’s homestead, to go and meet his mother. But she wasn’t in. So we just kind of wandered around the homestead and then came back to our farm. It was so wonderful just wandering along the foot paths through the fields, enjoying the fresh air, the sun, the friendly neighbors. We visited with the neighbor, as well, who was making a basket.

Back at home, we chopped up some avacados that we had picked from the tree, buttered some bread with Blue Band that Flo and I had bought at the store, and washed it all down with hot milk, which was boiled like all the food is cooked – over an open wood fire.

Once we were finished with our breakfast, it was time to gather round the pile of cassava that the kids in the family had been gathering that morning while we wandered through the fields. Everyone grabbed a knife and dug into the pile to peel the cassava. The older boy (who’s name I never quite figured out) used his big machete to chop the cassava roots in half, while everyone from the dad to the smallest child (about 5 years old) used knives to peel. Even I got into the act J Of course, they had to teach me, but it was fun to get into it and actually help a bit! I was finally feeling like a real “missionary”, sitting around with a family in the village peeling cassava roots!

Once we peeled a piece of cassava, we threw it into the basket. Two of the little girls picked up the basket between them and dumped the cassava out in the sun to dry. Seems the cassava will grow some mold, then they scrape the mold off, dry it again, and then pound it into flour! Anyways, it was great to see how everyone in the family had their job to do, and everyone helped to do it, from the smallest to the biggest – no complaining, they just did it without question.

While we were peeling cassava, someone grabbed a chicken and killed it. Poor little chicken was crying for mercy, but no mercy was shown… so we had a nice chicken stew for lunch, along with ugali made from cassava flour – much stickier than regular maize ugali, but tasty.

The rest of the day was spent in visiting with various neighbors and different people who happened to wandered by. I learned a lot, and laughed a lot (mostly because of the photos that everyone wanted taken!), and just generally had a fun, relaxing time.

All too soon, it was already time to leave! Of course, just as we were going to go, it started to rain… so we had to delay our departure a little. At least it gave me more time to eat some more avocado before we went!

Of course, we had to go again to town by boda boda (bike). This time, I got to ride on a “proper” boda seat, driven by Florence’s brother. A nice cushion was set on the back of this boda, and there were even little handlebars mounted just behind the seat of the driver. One of our boda boys from our previous trip also came to meet us, and carried Florence. The brother in the family even came along on his bike and carried our stuff for us – my backback, Flo’s bag and a huge bag full of fruit for Flo and her son back in Nairobi!

So the ride back to town on the back of the boda was even more fun than the first ride! I was so comfortable on the cushiony seat, holding on to the handlebars, not even carrying my own backpack. We cruised along at quite a good pace, and it was just super fun! Because of the short rain shower, too, there was no dust, but it hadn’t rained enough to make much mud. Really, it was quite perfect! And Flor’s brother was very good driver. He even told the young man who drove up beside us and wanted to be my “friend” to get lost J

Of course, the ride didn’t last forever, and we ended up getting a taxi just as it was pulling away the rest of the way to the bus station. We also managed to get a bus just as it was about to leave, and Florence bargained so we could have the more comfortable front seats! She drives a hard bargain, that girl! But I sure did appreciate having a more cushy seat, 11 hours into the ride back home at 4 am.

The bus ride home went quite smoothly, without too much incident. We stopped for almost 2 hours at the bus station in Kisumu. By that time it was dark, and yet the station was so busy! Yet again, I was reminded why I don’t like bus stations, especially at night. Flo and I grabbed each other and rushed off to find a loo. Not such a nice place, but I’ll spare you the details of that one! We even paid 5 shillings to use it… but no matter, we had to use it, since it would probably be the only opportunity before hitting Nairobi in the early hours of the morning!

We managed to make it back to Nairobi safe and sound without any incident. Once we got to Nairobi, we had to get a matatu home, but that was easy and straightforward, as well. Man, it felt good to come home, have a hot shower (it was freezing cold on the bus and as we waited for the matatu!), and then tumble into bed.

And unfortunately, now, I'm suffering from a bit of a cold, probably due to a lack of sleep on the way back from the village :( Hopefully it will wear off soon, since I have to get back on a bus on Saturday morning to go 12 hours the opposite direction, this time to the coast for a conference :)

Earthquake!

Yup, just felt an earthquake here in Nairobi! That was the weirdest thing I've ever felt... the whole building and everything was shaking. I guess living next to the Rift Valley, you're bound to feel the earth move under your feet once in a while! Will have to do some research to see where it came from.

Photo album

I've got some photos stuck in an album that you can look at here

Will write more tomorrow to explain some of the photos.

My trip

We got off to an inauspicious start. At 7am sharp, I was at the bus station, as appointed. Florence told me that we would be taking “Easy Coach”, one of the nicest buses in the country. At a price of 1500 shillings ($23) it had better be nice! But long distance busses, like good shoes, are one thing that I’m willing to pay for. Normally, they’re worth their weight in gold in the comfort level.

Anyways, as it turns out, for some reason, Easy Coach wasn’t going where we needed to. So off we hike through the throngs of people in the downtown bus station. Bus stations in big African cities are not exactly my idea of good time – thieves are rife, especially when they see the white girl coming! Florence is also pretty paranoid of such places, since she knows the kinds of things that happen around there, too! After quite some few minutes of hassle in trying to find a good bus that would do the direction we wanted, we finally found ourselves in the last remaining seats in the very back of the bus.

As soon as we started to move, two men who were sitting next to Florence got up from the back seats and jumped off the bus. Florence immediately suspected that they had robbed her – but after some searching in her bag and pockets, all her money and cell phone were accounted for. So was all of my stuff, thankfully. We were also grateful for the extra space that was left by these two fellows. So spread out a little and got ready for a pretty comfortable ride.

Then the preaching started. Yup, preaching. A young man with his Bible started preaching in his best “televangelist” voice. He even thumped his Bible a few times! He roamed the aisle of the bus, stopping once in a while to lay hands on and pray for various passengers. And then, just before we left the city limits, he passed around a little offering bag, which people dutifully filled with coins and small bills. The bus slowed down, the preacher took his bag of money, and jumped off the bus. Phew – I was a little afraid that he was going to preach the entire 8 hours to our destination!

But just when I thought we could settle in and have a nice quiet bus ride… another man jumped on the bus. This one had already had too much to drink, and it was only 7:30am! Unfortunately, the only open seats were the ones next to me and Florence. So we spent the next 4 hours trying to ignore and generally keep the drunkard at bay. He really wanted to talk about everything and everything constantly. Florence and I tried all the tricks – feigning sleep, getting out our books to read, having our own conversations between us, turning our backs to him (which was easy since he reeked of alcohol). But to no avail. He was pretty harmless, but very annoying. Of course, he invited us to his house to spend the weekend… needless to say, we passed on the offer.

The landscape was beautiful as we drove. As we drove through the Rift Valley, we passed herds of Zebra and impala. I didn’t see any giraffe or buffalo like I’ve seen in that area before, but I was rather busy at that point ignoring the drunk guy, who we had put next to the window so he could get some fresh air and perhaps sober up a bit!

Finally, at 11:30, he reached his destination, and for a little while, until we reached the next stop, we could spread out a little bit, with the two of us over three seats. Of course, at the next village on the way, a rather large man came and sat down in our vacant seat. At least this one was quiet and sober! But we were rather packed in like sardines in the back of that bus! There were a few good bumps where we all went flying all over each other! But it was much more jovial and fun without our drunken friend next to us.

The landscape became even more beautiful as we drove up the other side of the Rift Valley. Much of the tea is grown in that area, and there are huge plantations, stretching as far as the eye can see. The land is very hilly, lush and green, and there were some beautiful views up and down the hills. But I didn’t really want to take out my camera and advertise that I was a tourist, so I don’t have any photos of it. But it really was gorgeous.

After about 7 hours, we reached Kisumu, which is a port town right on Lake Victoria. It amazes me that the Lake is so big – it really does look like you’re looking at a great sea. I can relate to how the first European explorers must have felt when they first reached the lake in their search for the source of the Nile. It’s just so huge! Apparently, it’s quite common to catch 200kg Nile Perch in the Lake! Zane could feast for a few weeks on the head of one of those big fishies!

We never really stopped for lunch or anything, and we only stopped for one pee break the entire time. I was so thankful that I didn’t drink much, though I paid for it later with a splitting headache! But I would take a headache over the prospect of having to stop an entire bus of 60 people on the side of the road to take a pee break! We were able to buy bananas (mmm, so sweet and fresh from the tree. We got two bunches of bananas for 20 shillings (about 30 cents!), and they were so tasty. I had also brought some boiled eggs for lunch – boiled eggs have got to be the best bus trip lunch!

9 hours after we left Nairobi, we arrived in a small town near the Uganda border. I don’t actually remember what that town is called… but it’s not in the Kenya Lonely Planet guide, that’s for sure! As soon as we jumped off the bus, a throng of taxi drivers assaulted us, wanting to take us somewhere. We decided to take a Peugot – a great station wagon from the 1960’s. With 9 passengers plus the driver squashed into the station wagon (plus everyone’s luggage!), we zoomed off down the road … almost to the very end of the road.

After about a 30 minute ride in the Peugot, we were dropped at the end of the taxi line, still about 10 km from our final destination. Florence had in her mind to ask the Peugot driver if he would take us the rest of the way down the road, for a small price, of course. Well, that taxi driver took one look at my pasty white skin and asked for an exorbitant price. He proceeded to tell us how all white people have so much money and we’re just there to give them money… he was not very kind at all, actually, and was quite open about the fact that he was trying to take advantage of us because I’m white.

That steamed both of us, so we allowed him to go on his way. The “normal” way for people to go the rest of the way down that road is by “boda boda” – sitting on the back carry-rack of a bike. So Florence went to talk to the boda drivers… except that they had heard the whole conversation with the taxi driver, and refused to take us anywhere unless we also paid them exorbitant prices.

So we said, ok, fine, we’ll walk. Of course, to that, all the boda drivers laughed, saying “the white girl can’t walk – white people have to go in vehicles.”. Ooohhhh, that made me mad! But the fact of the matter was, it was already getting close to sundown, and for us to walk the 10 km would have taken a few hours. But we started to walk, anyways, just to get away from those mean boda drivers. We were both pretty upset with them. What I didn’t realize is that while I was waiting in the wings for Florence to figure out how to get us home, she had been talking with some young men who just happened to be biking by. They both had racks on the back of their bikes, and agreed to take us to the village… but we had to walk down the road and around the corner before we got on. If the boda drivers saw us going with those young men, they said the boda drivers would beat them for taking away their customers! Man, it was getting complicated!

Anyways, we jumped on the back of these bikes, and off we went down the road. I was feeling a little sorry for the guy who was carrying me, because I’m not very practiced at riding on the back of a bike! At least I had done it a few times with a friend when I was in Kenya last year for a month. He had a boda, and I rode on the back with him – but since he was a friend, I could grab onto him when I lost my balance. Plus, he’s a big guy and probably outweighed me by a significant amount. This poor guy who agreed to take me and my backpack wasn’t that much bigger than me, and I wasn’t very balanced, after having traveled for so many hours already! But these two guys were troopers, and I really appreciate their willingess to help us out!

When I wasn’t thinking about falling off the boda and rolling in the dirt, I was really enjoying the ride! The landscape was so beautiful – rolling hills covered in lush vegetation. Small clusters of thatch houses. No garbage anywhere. No pollution spitting trucks. No soldiers with AK-47s. And the sun was starting to set, so everything was bathed in a rose colored hue. It was just incredibly beautiful and peaceful.

Finally, after about an hour on the back of the bike, we arrived at Florence’s sister’s house. We were welcomed warmly with cups of hot cocoa and bread, and made to feel quite at home. As soon as we got there, the put a pot of water on the fire for us to use for a bath… which we had once the sun had set.

Flo’s sister put two banana leaves down in the grass for me, set a basin of water on a third banana leaf, and there I was to take my bath – out in the open just behind one of the huts! I’ve never actually completely showered by moonlight before, truly out in the open like that! But it was quite refreshing to feel the breeze on my bum as I scrubbed with the nice warm water! I think bathing by moonlight was a highlight of the whole trip J But man, was I ever dirty! The face cloth I used to wash my face was absolutely black… and that was just from my face. Yuck. I’m still cleaning the grime out of my ears, actually.

Anyways, we also had a wonderful dinner that evening. Flo’s sister and her husband own a little restaurant on the shore of Lake Victoria, where they serve nice seafood. So the sister, Lucy, had come home for the weekend, bringing some nice fresh fish with her. Imagine, here I go again, singing the praises of a tasty tilapia!

It was quite a scene, seeing everyone come in for dinner. At that particular “homestead”, there are a lot of people… I never did quite get who all lives there. The main house (mud walls with a tin roof) belongs to Lucy and her husband Wilberforce. Wilberforce built his house there when he and Lucy got married. It’s about a 3 minute walk through the bush to his parent’s homestead, and about a 2 minute walk to where his brother had built his house.

In Lucy and Wilberforce’s homestead, there is the main house, with a house for the girls to sleep in, a house for the boys to sleep in, and a kitchen house. There is one hut that’s under construction, which one of the older boys is building, since he’s coming of age where he can have his own place. When he gets married, he will build a house about a 3 minute walk away from his father’s place, and start a homestead for his own children. Anyways, in this homestead where we stayed, there were Lucy and Wilberforce’s 6 children, plus a daughter that belonged to Wilberforce (I have no idea about her mother), plus Lucy and Flo’s younger sister who is in Grade 12 (called “Form 4” here), and one or two children from Wilberforce’s brother.

Turns out several years ago, Wilberforce’s brother died of some unexplained illness. So everyone in the village attributed the sickness to witchcraft, meaning that his wife fled the area, going back to her own village, and leaving the small children. Wilberforce, as the brother, took the children in and is also raising them. Wilberforce and Lucy aren’t that much older than me, and they are already raising a family of 9 or 10 (like I said, I’m not sure who all belonged to who in the family, as there were so many people everywhere!).

So there were quite a few people gathered around in the house for dinner that evening, and everyone was happy to dig into their ugali (stodgy porridge made from maize and cassava) and samak (fish).

Of course, while we were eating, someone fired up the small generator and a Nigerian movie was turned on one of two TVs in the room!

Once the movie was over, and the dishes were cleared away, it was time for sleeping. They put a mattress on the floor for me, complete with a brand new mosquito net hanging from the ceiling! Florence slept on the couch beside me, and we both fell asleep right away... and didn't wake up until sunrise the next morning.

Home Again

Yup, I made it safe and sound back to NBO. After um, let's see... 23 hour of travelling, since Saturday morning, I am home! It was a long trip to spend a day in the rural area. But it was so worth it! I have a ton of photos, but I have to get this pesky paper written up... so I'll work on writing up the story of my weekend when I need a break from my paper!

Just wanted to put a little note here to let you know that I made it safely. Thanks for praying for the journey! I had some good, meaningful chats with my field assistant during the journey, as well, which was very nice.

More to come... with photos this time!

Phew

Yup, so I'm getting a little tired. I STILL haven't found time to sit and write about anything from last weekend. And this weekend, I'm going to go upcountry with my field assistant. Please pray for a safe journey and good time together with Florence. We'll be travelling for 8 hours by bus to a town right near the Ugandan border. I'm sort of looking forward to it, but I just know I'm going to be SO tired by the time I get back!

Here are some highlights from last week, again, without any photos, sorry. I wish I had the time or the energy to paint real pictures with my words... but I just don't have the energy this evening!

1. I attended a funeral for a street man who was murdered on the street last week. It was quite an honor, really, to be there amongst the prostitutes and homeless people of Nairobi. It was a rather, well, shall we say, "fragrant" ceremony, since most of the people there were drunk, and straight from the streets. But it was an honour to be there and to be able to pray for them as they mourned for their friend in the best way that they knew how. Right after that, we stopped and watched a more "upper class" funeral for a child. The contrast was amazing. There seemed to be no hope at the first funeral, whereas the second one, I think people must have been believers, because even though it was a child that had died, the people had some comfort and hope.

2. I also went on a "Safari Walk". Yup, I went from a homeless man's funeral to a walk with the animals - rhinos, lions, cheetas, zebras... quite something. Basically, it's a really nice zoo on the edge of the National Park here. If you have money, you can drive around the park on a real safari. But if you don't have money, you can use your feet and walk around the zoo, which is still really, really nice. I'd say it's just as nice, if not nicer, than most of the zoos back home.

3. I also got to visit an amazing informal school in the largest 'informal settlement' (ie, a slum) in Africa. The director there is quite amazing. In a place no bigger than my parent's lot at home, they have a school that teaches 450 students! Quite amazing, I tell you. The teachers there really cared for the kids, you could tell. It was more than just a job to them, which is unusual in the schools here. Most of the teachers who are teachers don't actually want to be teachers. And that's not really conducive to good learning, when your teacher hates teaching! So it was encouraging to see the teachers having good relationships with the kids and really trying develop the kids into good members of the community, even though most of them come from quite difficult home situations.

4. And, my paper's still not done. So I have to go and work on it, plus I have to go home and do some packing for this weekend. I have to be at the bus station at 7am tomorrow for our voyage across the country!

I'm still alive

Yup, I'm still here! I know I haven't posted much - that's because I'm too busy doing things that are 'post-worthy'. I tell you, once I sit down and write about these past few days... you're going to wish you never started reading. It's going to be a long one. These past few days have been very full of new experiences, that's for sure.

For the moment, though, I have to hand in a rough draft of my 15 page research paper tomorrow. it's now 10:38am and I only have about 300 words down on paper. So I need to save my words for my paper. I'm off to lose myself in my paper. I love writing papers, but this time, I don't feel like I've done enough research to really feel like I've dealt with all the issues :( But by the end of today, I need to have at least a good stab at the interaction between formal education and traditional educational ideologies in this country, most specifically in the Luo community (who happen to be very close relatives to the Dinka).

Thanks...

So last night, I thought, let me give the MP3 player one more chance... I turned it on, and held my breath to see what would happen. And it turned on as if nothing had been wrong! So whoever prayed that my trusty little MP3 friend would be resurrected... God answered your prayer. Thanks! I very happily listened to two whole cds worth of music as I read about African Religion and Philosophy by Mbiti. Interesting book, if you can get your hands on it.

I also saw with the Teaching Assistant in my course this afternoon to discuss the education system where I'm working. He's putting together a proposal to do a PhD research on Contextualizing the curriculum for the situation there. It was so interesting to talk with him - and he's already done an MA in educational research and evaluation, so he really knows what he's talking about. We had a good, stimulating conversation about education and culture and language... all those things that I love :)

It's really great when you find people who you can have a good conversation with about the things that you love, you know? His PhD topic is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to do my research paper on, so we discussed that, too, and he gave me some good ideas for which direction to take with my research paper. But the paper is only 15 pages long... and he gets to write an entire PhD dissertation on the subject! I must admit, I was a little envious about that. But I hope that his research and the things he finds out will help us in our work over there, too, since this is an area that no one to my knowledge has done much research into.

It's time to go home before it gets dark. I hope the MP3 player works today, since I have a long weekend of reading ahead of me! Tomorrow I get to go to a funeral with Florence. That should be interesting...! Maybe I'll stop at the National Park on the way and go on the Safari walk. I drive by there on the matatu every day, and I think that it would be really nice to go through there for a walk; supposedly you can walk and see the lions and giraffes and all the other wild animals that live in the national park. But we'll see how much time I have after the funeral (which will be across the street from the national park at the cemetary).

The more mundane

So from the eternally important and exciting parts of life, to the more superficial and mundane. We all need to have a moment of silence to mourn the passing of my MP3 player.

I hadn't listened to it in a few days, but last night, I was feeling the need for some good music to keep me going whilst reading about African Theology.

So I turned on my trusty little MP3 player - the little machine that has faithfully served me over many thousands of kilometers, in several different countries, over the past few years. And it told me that there was no music on it! Where there was 18 GB of music files a few days ago, last night, there was nothing. Seems the hard drive has crashed. I got an error message saying "Check Harddrive connection". Not a good sign. I tried turning it on and off and did what I could, but alas. Nothing. I believe it is completely dead. So I had a moment of silence, in rememberance of the good times that we've had together.

The only consolation in this whole thing is the fact that I have all my music which was on it backed up on my external hard drive. So as long as my external hard drive doesn't quit on me too, at least I haven't lost my entire music collection. Now I just have to figure out the best way to play my music until I figure out how to get a new MP3 player.

I know it seems like it's just music, but really, it's so much more than that. Having my music, and even the sermons and "books on tape" that I have on that thing have made life so much more pleasant for me over the past few years. It's what I've been using to have my own little worship services when I can't get to church. My little MP3 player has been a constant companion through thick and thin, through the ups and downs of travel. It's even been a source of joy and comfort for friends far and near who have borrowed it on many occasions... sigh.

So I know I shouldn't get too attached to my stuff, but I have to admit that little MP3 player was not just another "stuff". It really meant a lot to me to be able to carry so much music and so much information on such a little machine. I guess when I get a new one (whenever that will be) it will mean that much more to me...

But, life moves on. And I guess a little bit of silence now and again isn't a bad thing, either.

This is what it's all about...

Remember what I wrote yesterday about the adventure Janet and I had in getting these books on the plane?! Yeah, well, here's a story we got back about it by email this morning from those on the receiving end of things. This is why I do what I do... though I don't often get the privilege of being a part so specifically in getting the books to the recipients like this!

"At 4:30 PM, we heard a plane overhead, coming in for landing. My colleague Marcia called the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) office and excitedly asked, "Is that the shuttle flight coming in from Nairobi??" The answer must have been yes because I heard squeals of joy, all the way down in my office!

A little while later, I heard a knock on my door. "They're here! They're here!!! We're having a prayer time of thanksgiving!" So I jumped up from my chair and even from down the hallway, I could see the face of Pastor Kenee, a Burunge translator. His face was radiant, glowing with the joy of the Lord. All smiles, he was holding a brand new copy of the book of Mark in the Burunge language. This is the first Gospel to be published in the Burunge language, and the first Gospel for Wycliffe to publish in the whole country of Tanzania!!!

I teared up as we prayed, very touched by this momentous occasion. A few moments later, the other Burunge translator, Pastor Doe, came rushing in. He was at home when the Gospels arrived and had just received the news. When the book was placed in his hands, he immediately kissed it, raised it up in the air, and gave a shout of praise.

I don't know if I can capture in words the joy that filled the air, but maybe a picture can express what I cannot. You will see Pastor Kenee plane-side, receiving a box of the printed Gospels from the hands of the MAF pilot.

The Gospel of Mark will be dedicated in a special ceremony this next Sunday, July 8^th. I've decided to read through the book of Mark this week, reading it with fresh eyes, as if I were hearing the news about Jesus for the very first time. What about you? Do you have a favorite verse or passage from Mark? Perhaps this Sunday you might read an excerpt in your church, in your Sunday School, or with your family as you join with believers (and non-believers who will also attend the big occasion) receiving these words for the very first time!!"

African Traditional Religions

Yeah, it's a HUGE topic. One that I've never spent much time thinking about, quite frankly. But for my research question today, I went to interview a Catholic priest, who's a professor at a Seminary here in town. We discussed African Traditional Religions and the church and Christianity. It was fascinating. Really, this guy knows a lot about the church, and also about his own culture. And he was frank enough to really tell me some of the conflicts and sticky points and some of the real issues when discussing the traditional cultures and Christianity, especially as brought here by Western Missionaries.

One of the things that I'm mulling over in my brain is how he spoke about there being two systems in Africa - the traditional one and the Christian one. And people, even priests and Christian leaders, operate in both systems. They go to the church, and do the church rites etc., but then when the real crisis comes, when they need something that really means something, they turn to the traditional ways of doing things. I just got back from the interview, so things are still sort of settling in my mind, but wouldn't it be great if somehow, the church could figure out a way to work within that traditional way of doing things - so that Christ comes into that culture, and doesn't have to be a superficial "extra" system. I pray that Christ can become so much a part of who people are that they will be able to bring him into their traditions and culture, and be able to discern those things of their culture which are good, which are godly and which bring life, and those that don't. Just like we have to do in our culture, and struggle to find ways to make sure that are so transformed by Christ that we can live in our culture, but not be completely OF our culture.

Such a fascinating area of study for me - being IN the world and not OF the world. I mean, if we could all figure out how to do that without any struggle...

I'm going to walk home before the rain gets me. I'll have to think on these things a bit more as I walk.

I'm all over that

Well, ok, so I'm just all over the city. Well, ok, so just all over my little corner of the city today!

I had a little adventure with my friend here who is the Desktop Publishing Manager (at least, I think that's what she's called). Today, she had to pick up some Scripture portions (the book of Mark) in a Tanzanian language from the printshop, and then get them to the MAF hanger so that they could be flown to a town in Tanzania so they could have a big dedication celebration this coming weekend! Of course, there were a few glitches along the way - the books weren't even printed when we got there the first time. Ooops. And it was a bit touch and go as to whether they were going to get done in time to make it onto this one and only flight to Tanzania today! My friend and I had a little prayer meeting when we got back from the printshop the first time, 'cause it was going to take a miracle to get everything all together to get these books there in time for this big celebration that they have planned!

But in the end, the books were ready, and we were able to get them, along with the right paper work for customs, to the MAF hanger in time to get on the plane! It was great to go along and see the printshop, to see the MAF folks (especially since we share the compound with MAF back home), and to see another little piece of the puzzle of getting God's Word out to the people who are going to be using it.

And it's all in the name of being a more rounded person out here - we don't have the luxury of depending on having other people around who know about things like printshops and how to get the books to the planes. So if I tag along with the experts who are based here, then hopefully I'll pick up a little bit and will at least have some place to start when I have to do it up in my other home! And of course, desktop publishing and printing are starting to become a bit of an especial interest to me these days, so I'm soaking it all up, hoping that one day I'll get to do more of it.

Sunday

Just sitting in the office, checking email and keeping my friend here company. I don't have too much of interest to write today, though!

Yesterday I did my first research - I had to interview people about initiation rites. I sort of realized after that I had just spent the whole of the afternoon talking to young single men about circumcision! And at the time, it didn't seem at all strange because it's such a big part of life here. But come to think of it, I would never sit around at home and talk to 25 - 30 year old single men about circumcision! Anyways, I learned a few things, and it was good. I was supposed to go and talk to a family today, but just as I was setting out on the matatu journey, I got a call from my field assistant saying that the family had had an emergency and couldn't meet me today. So I hope it doesn't throw my whole schedule off for research. I'll have to go and do some kind of research on Tuesday, which is supposed to be our one day for writing up our work... but I'd rather have a Sunday afternoon off and work on Tuesday, anyways! We'll see who my field assistant can find for me to talk to. Otherwise, I might just have to talk to some of my buddies here in the office... which defeats the point of having a field assistant, and they were very adamant that we make sure our field assistants work for their full 4 hours per session... so... not sure what to do about it. But now I'm rambling about really boring things, so I'll stop here!

I did go to church this morning to a different Baptist church from where I usually go. That in itself was an interesting experience, and I might be able to write it up as research. It was a nice building, and most of the folks who go there are Kenyans. But the service itself seemed very un-African to me. The pastor was a Brit, and the other pastor is an Indian. The Brit led the singing - some old hymns with no music! There were 200 Africans gathered in this church, and not a single keyboard or drum in sight. It was very strange. Everyone was just standing so still and singing these hymns. We also sang two hymns in kiSwahili - they were English hymns simply translated into the local language. It was all very sterile, actually, and just seemed to be so un-African!

The preaching was really good, and it was a really good, solid message unlike any I've heard in a while. But there was no time for the visitors to stand and bring their greetings, there was no time to shake your nieghbor's hand, there wasn't even any clapping in the songs. Really, very odd. And I wonder how much of that is the expat leadership, or how much of it is just because that's what the congregation expects of church, or how much it is just that the personality of this particular congregation is different than some of the more charismatic ones? Anyways, I'll mention it to Florence, my field assistant and see what she thinks about it...!