We had to be up early in the morning so that we could attend two churches and have lunch with Sevo's sister. It was Father's day.
The more I was on this trip the more spiritual it was becoming. I had no idea it was Father's day till later that day. While at our first church, I sincerely felt like I was at home. Their songs were in English and Swahili, and by this time I was able to read and pronounce Swahili even though I didn't know the meaning. I had picked up on words like jambo and habari, both meaning hello, Mungu was God, Yesu was Jesus which was similar to Latin's Jesu, rafiki was friend, simba was lion, penda means love, mtoto means child, and mzungu means white person.
I was extremely touched by the sermon and felt for the first time of this trip a taste of home sickness. It was evident to me that God was talking to me on this day and it is way too personal for me to go into those details. I found the worship to be powerful. I had no idea how many people were there but it seemed like a ton. It was more traditional than the one we would be visiting later in the morning. I don't think there were any other white people than us. By this time though we had met up with two psychology professors from Evangel. We had a way of meeting people from Springfield, Missouri while we were in Kenya.
One of the professors was asked to do a sermon: his words were an antidote for me. He talked about how in life we often will tell ourselves we our failures and we will replay those awful situations in our mind thousands of times. He mentioned that when he worked with people who had just been raped or in a car wreck one of the first things he would do is to get them to see they are not a failure. I had been doing just this. I kept trying to figure out what I could have done better that day, and it was nauseating to me. From then I stopped looking at that situation with that mindset, even though I still have fear when it comes to cars.
What really hit me is that he preached on Psalm 51. I've been struggling with trust for the past year and to know that God will forgive me and that I must forgive myself was powerful. Everything was there that day and I felt healing. When I came back home, the first church service I went to was on Psalm 51-- I would say it was much more powerful in Africa. I could tell God was not going to let me change my new ways when I got home.
Our next service, was for a much younger crowd. This service also had a large impression on me. They sang some songs that I haven't heard in ages but the words did come back. They had a long worship service followed by a strong message on stepping outside your comfort zone to do missionary work. There was a group that had just recently gone to Tanzania, and one of the people's comments was "Who knows where God will call us next, maybe Afghanistan." I think in America we often only hear terrorism in association with America and not as a global situation.
But the most powerful story of all was about a woman slightly older than myself. She had studied hard in Kenya so that she could go to medical school and she ended up being accepted in a school in the UK. However, she also was diagnosed with cancer. She went everywhere looking for medical treatment, she went through various painful procedures, her head was shaved, and her dreams of going to medical school were shattered. She believed she had a promise from God that she would over come this, that it wasn't her end. She didn't know how she was getting through all the pains of this disease and the treatments were equally terrible but she believed firmly that God would prevail. This story was told for nearly thirty minutes about her triumphant victory over cancer and how God was what enabled her to conquer it. At the end, she was actually introduced to everybody and we gave her a standing ovation. She told us about all that she had gone through, and just within her voice you could hear how much she believed and how much God had poured into her. It was a miracle that we got to hear this courageous woman because it was a huge testimony to God.
Our group was then called to be introduced, partly to go with their message of doing missions and also because we were visitors and Kenyans love to welcome people to their country. I never got tired of how each one of us would be introduced and they would cheer us on without knowing us.
We were then rushed to Sevo's oldest sister's house. Sevo has 10 siblings. Several people on our team were ill and were unable to enjoy their selves. I was putting on hygiene precautions like my brother to prevent myself from getting sick. I had no doubt that I would stay healthy, but I was doing what I could to stay healthy-- which is why I didn't actually journal while I was in Kenya so that I could get the most from sleep. I played with Neru, one of Sevo and Kristina's nieces. She was a little more shy than some of the other children; she was playful nonetheless. There were lots of toys there, similar to a Fisher Price kitchen set. A few of us went on a walk around the place to get an idea of the location.
This was one of my favorite meals during the whole trip. There were sweet potatoes, passion fruit, bananas, cabbage, meat, yams, rice, chapatis, mango juice, orange juice-- did I ever mention that African juices and sodas are vastly greater than American ones? It was like Thanksgiving. Everything was delicious, and by the time I went back for seconds-- there was still plenty! They always seemed to know how to make enough food. His sister told us a great deal about praying and how we have to trust God and keep hoping that the ones we love who haven't found Christ will find him and know him.
After lunch we were given some free time-- which was used for napping. The extra couple of hours before going to Carnivore paid off immensely. Carnivore was a five star restaurant in Kenya that lived up to it's name.
This was a dining experience unlike any other that I have had. We were given all kinds of meats: pork, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, ostrich, and crocodile. It was so much meat that it felt uncomfortable in my colon. I found the ostrich to be rather peculiar. I didn't like it-- however it was better when they served it as meatballs-- it was meatballs. Crocodile was interesting, I liked it. It was very dry yet there was plenty of salt. We were also given a plethora of sides such as salads, rice, fruit, vegetables, beans, and sauces. It was overwhelming how much food was served. I think I had pineapple juice. I wanted to try a different juice each time-- never try minty pineade. We had plenty of waiters who would come by with a giant SWORD
where the certain meat was on and they would slice you a piece for your blazing plate-- it was cool to hear the food sizzle (maybe I needed more sleep). There was so much food and they would keep asking you if you wanted more. My stomach has never been so full. There were also cats that were mysteriously walking around the restaurant. Has anyone ever been to the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs? They have a cat that walks around just like that.
We ended up giving the professors a fake birthday. It was also Tim's real birthday. They brought out their drums and sang a whole song with a cake that looked like it had a firework lit on it. It was amazing.
Romans 14:19-21
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
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