Psalm 80

God gave me these words today.

Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
Before Ephraim, and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power
And come to save us!
O God, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us,
and we will be saved.
...
O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You;
Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted,
And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself
It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your coutenance.
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Then we shall not turn back from You;
Revive us and we will call upon Your name.
O Lord God of hosts, restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

I have been feeling the weight of the sins of the church.  Africa is not alone in the self-centeredness, and forgetfulness of the the goodness of God.  Jon and I are not excused from such sins.  Sometimes when I see the church in its' sin and inwardness I feel confused and hopeless.  When I see the poor stepped on, I feel angry.  When I see laziness and pleasure in the world rather than God I feel like giving up.  The struggle is never ending...even in me.
I felt like God gave this passage to me as a cry for His glory to return to the heart of the church.  Who can save us from our own sins?  "O God, restore us and cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved."  We need to be made "strong for Yourself(Him)". 
Is there hope for the church here in Kenya and for me?  YES! 
"Revive us and we will call upon Your name."

Feast of the Sacrifice

A couple weeks ago we decided to get out on the town for the Eid celebrations.  We wanted to meet with people and watch how others in town celebrated.  This was the feast of the sacrifice and is celebrated because Abraham did not have to kill his son Ishmael on the altar but another sacrifice from God was provided.  So, throughout town there were many many goats being slaughtered and sold for this purpose.

We picked up Steve in town and had some of our favorite local food downtown.  Then we headed over to a public area where there was a big festival and games set up for the celebration.

 The fair was a new experience for us all.  This place reminded me of how the Old West may have been in some ways.  Safety concerns are not a priority.  There are no guard rails around rides.  When a ride begins hang on to your children because if someone mindless walks into the path of a moving swing it's "too bad for them!"  And many of the rides were jammed close to each other so you had to watch where you were going most of the time!

Ian loved this ride.  And as you may be able to tell from the photo many of the rides where manual power.  Someday ran around in circles keeping the thing going!

This was a swing.  They had many of them.  We payed a dollar or so for all of us to go.  Then two guys pushed us and we were flying!

 This was the ferris wheel and the ride that ended our time at the grounds.  It too was manual powered by four guys.  They stood and pushed that thing like crazy and got us going so fast.  Then, they would stop us and swing us back.  Two of them would grab the front and because of the momentum of the wheel they would be pulled up half way up the wheel in the air until their body weight overcame the momentum and we started back down backwards.  Honestly, they were like spiderman going up they were flying all over the place.   So fun.  But, it was a little too much for our friend Steve who got sick.  He couldn't handle the motion.  The kids and I were on a different chair than him.  But, we could all tell he was in rough shape.  Then all of a sudden he barfed.  Unfortunately, we were directly underneath at that moment and got hit by some of it! So, we thought it was about time to call it after that!

Reflection on lessons learned as a first time teacher

 Awhile back I was feeling inspired or maybe felt more like venting and scratched down some reflective lessons of a first time teacher in a developing country.  It's all been a sharp learning curve that I am still continuing to climb...here are a few of the thoughts I put to paper in no particular order.  
1. The physical condition of the classroom does not make the learner but it sure does help.

2. A body posture of listening must be embraced by the educator to be successful.

3.  I need grace to deal with national administration.

4.  Students learning in a second language while the teacher is teaching in his/her first creates interesting challenges.  Especially in an honor and shame culture.  I have made it clear to my students right at the beginning don't be embarrassed to ask for a translation or a repeat of the phrase because I promise to do the same when I fail to understand you.  But, it also creates a unique opportunity to show you want to learn from them too as we randomly stop and discuss words in their language.  I have them teach me their language as we go.

5.  Contextualized illustrations speak to their hearts. 

6.  Actions do speak! Care for all the people involved in the learning process, that includes the guy that opens the gate of the school each morning.

7. Engage students in the local community.  It is important that we do not become an island to ourselves within the school.

8.  Be relentless in using all avenues available to create classroom participation.

9. Be prepared to live only a day ahead/a lesson ahead! The reality is you may only find out the course you are teaching a day or two before the start of the term.

10. Be prepared for inadequate library resources...so find other ways to stay sharp.  Also, find ways to share other resources with your students.  Videos and print-outs for reading work well.

11. Network with others if possible who have more experience than you teaching in your country.

12.  Observe and locate godly effective national leaders learn what you can from them.  Shadow them when possible and even take a ministry trip with them.

13.  Engage students in balanced interaction...we don't want them aspiring to be westerners, but godly effective ministers in their country who can live simply along with their people.

14.  Read and watch the national news when possible.  The news is constantly in my students minds although our thoughts may be back home with events in our country whether it is our elections or other issues.  Their thoughts are here on things that matter to them.  Since we are living here these things need to matter to us too.

15.  Finally, if you come with an organization you will find that you have two bosses! One is the national administration and the other is your sending organization.  I never expected this but found it exhausting at first to have two different roles.

 

The City We Live In

Check out this video and article done by BBC recently on Mombasa.  The places in the city are all very familiar to us.  As you will see the giant market the reporter goes to actually surrounds our bible school!   The place of the fair is near Old Town and close to one of our favorite Swahili restaurants in town.  The reporter is correct in speaking of the strong diversity here.  There are exquisite Hindu temples, mosques, and churches throughout the city.

To watch the video just click the photo on the top of the BBC article.  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-19875039

This is another video on Matatu riding in Kenya by BBC in Nairobi.  Half the time I drive to work and the other half I take Matatu.  I have to 'connect' on my ride, I am able to take one matatu half way then jump off and take another that actually stops right outside of the school! I can get to work for 30 shillings. Some are in much better shape than others.  The one thing the reporter does not do a good job of showing is the tight squeeze it is to get into these 15 passenger vans.  Shotgun is by far the best place to sit! The other thing is that if there are no police around they will cram these things full of people beyond 15 passengers! There are two people working in a matatu.  One obviously is the driver.  The other is the conductor.  This is the guy that handles the collection of money and is responsible for getting riders.  It is a competitive business and so as the driver drives the vehicle the conductor generally is half out of the matatu either with the door open or out the window.  Hollering at people and looking for riders.  When he spots a customer a simple tap on the side wall indicates to the driver to stop.  And they will stop anywhere...although there are designated places for pick up, in Mombasa that is not adhered to!  So, as another driver you have to always be aware of what is happening in front and beside you because these guys stop and block traffic to pick up a single person.  They will make roads where there are no roads by driving on a sidewalk.  Although, the matatu presents many challenges to Kenya's roads life would grind to a halt without them.  As reckless as the driving can be at times the idea of the system works.  People get to work.  People get upcountry to see family and the economy can move because these vans move people cheaply.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/fast_track/9757992.stm

For more on Kenya by BBC check this link for articles and video.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-19481329

Mid-term Exams

 We just finished mid-term exams at Pwani.  The students have been working very hard through the first half of the semester.  Some under a much increased work-load as the administration is trying to transition to our new curriculum.  I am proud of them for the work they have put in over these past few weeks.  These pics are of my anthropology class.  Yah, I am teaching anthropology which was a bit of a stretch for me but has been a wonderful experience in the end.  We have had a great time of sharing other cultures together.  Although, the students are all Kenyan they come from different tribes scattered throughout Kenya which brings different traditions and ways of doing things.  Also, there are misunderstandings and stereotypes that tribes have of one another.  It has been good to talk together of different cultures and try to see beyond our own cultures. 

We are now enjoying a few days off for mid-term break and then it will be back to the classroom until December.  Continue to pray for the students as many have a heavy workload, families and children that are hours away, and heavy financial burdens. 

Special Speakers

I am so thankful that God has brought me into contact with some local Kenyan missionaries.  Although, a grassroots movement of missions is still relatively a new idea to the church here it is happening! And I really want to expose my students to it for their encouragement and also to motivate them to become participants in the mission of God.

 Missionaries Rachel (left) and Loise (right)

A couple months ago I met Loise at our church and found out she is serving with Capro a purely African mission sending organization that started in Nigeria.  I asked her to share in my class one time and she agreed.  I wanted her to share her testimony and then a bit about their organization what they do and how it all started.

Missions Class

 Loise's testimony really connected with the students as she opened by sharing what her stereotype of a missionary was...a white person who could come over with lots of resources.  She thought Africans were not missionaries.  She said her goal in life was to get a good job and make lots of money.  But, God got a hold of her and she quit her job and joined a short-term team with CAPRO to Sudan.  She was impacted by the experience and ended up staying on full-time as a missionary giving up her dreams of wealth.  There is much more to tell of her story.  I think she had a great impact on the students and helped them see they could be missionaries.  

 Rachel then shared next on the organization.  It was great to hear about how CAPRO started in Nigeria.  The organization started in the mid 70's as a movement of people who did an evangelistic meeting and were attacked.  This group responded by realizing the need for mission and pushing ahead more intentionally.  She explained how everyone around this group of people thought they were crazy but they persevered and now CAPRO is in over 30 countries!  It is so exciting to be near the beginning of this movement in Africa as a continent that has received so many missionaries is now beginning to send out their own.  There is still much education and exposure that needs to be done but the ball is already rolling!  The church and pastors need to see the importance of putting missions at the forefront of their thinking.  In class we are having some good conversations about these issues and the students are being challenged to think about how they can lead giving and sending churches.  As the African church recognizes its' responsibility to global mission it will become a powerful sending church where global impact will be felt!

 

Keep praying for these students as they are exposed and encouraged to think about their involvement in mission.  Pray as they consider their call to mission.  Pray as they think about what it means to lead a church in the African context that brings in mission as a key aspect of what the church is about.  

Swim Gala

 A couple weeks ago EJ swam in a novice gala.  This was his first one and he was nervous! His team doesn't have the platforms to train on for diving.  Also, there are alot of people around at these things.  He swam three races backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.  He did really well.  And in the end had alot of fun at the event.