It's an Obamanation!

We followed this matatu (the most common form of public transportation here in Kenya) on our way back from church yesterday! The side said "Vote4Obama". I wonder if they know they can't vote?

Mtwapa Conference

I haven't taken a shower since Friday. Why not, you ask? Because here in Mombasa, we have to buy water from a guy with plastic jugs and a cart, and I haven't had time to even walk downstairs to find the guy and ask him to come!

The second women's conference was this weekend, and it went very well. The ladies exceeded our expectations in many ways. First, in sheer numbers! There were about 75 women in attendance. Second, in punctuality. Kenyans are not very good at keeping time, but these ladies were there before we were! Third, in perseverance. Some women came from 60 kilometers away to attend the conference, and other women who lived nearby opened their homes to them. We heard from a few women that their non-Christian husbands don't approve of them going to conferences, so some of them snuck out to be there! (I can't endorse the behavior, but I still admire the determination...) And the ladies were all there every day!

Teaching was fun, but I'm glad it's over, and I'm in much need of some rest. This week will be mainly a time for rest and recuperation. A lot of things have taken a backseat to these conferences this month, so I will try to return to my normal habits and disciplines. First on my list: get some water and take a shower!

Some of the women who attended the Mtwapa conference!

Safari!

Here are some pictures from the safari I went on recently with the team and our summer short-term visitors!

Great tree!

He looks ferocious, but he's just yawning.

Mama Lion

and lion cubs

Water Buffalo

An ostrich couple out for a stroll

This is a termite hill. Seriously.

Baboons hang out in clans close to lodges. They like people food.

This elephant almost charged us!

gotta love a giraffe!

I wonder what he's thinking about...

This little kitty heard Anjela crying and thought she might make a tasty dinner.

Ujamaa Conference

Hi! I know it's been a long time since I last wrote. Last week I was on safari with some of our guests from America, and this week I've been teaching a women's conference in a village called Ujamaa. Thirty pastor's wives and church leaders came to the conference from over ten different churches, and we had a great time together! This is the first time I've done anything like this, and it was fun, challenging, and exhausting! Below are a few pictures of the women's conference. I'll add pictures of the safari soon!

The women on the last day of the conference (today!)

Teaching about the Beauty of a Godly Woman with my translator Evalyn

The ladies listened attentively

Several of the women brought their small children with them

On the last day we all had lunch together - Allison and some yummy pilau!

The 51st State?

Kenyans are taking the news of Senator Obama's nomination and running with it! Everyone is so excited - I get asked multiple times a day if I am going to vote for Obama. They are so proud of his Kenyan roots (his grandmother is from the same tribe as my boss Dennis). Let me quote an excerpt of what the Daily Nation, Kenya's national paper, said this week:

"(Obama is) inspirational, articulate, brilliant, funny, and naturally empathetic... Now it will be up to every Democrat, every progressive, to take advantage of this historic opportunity to make Barack Obama the American president who leads the world into a new progressive era of unprecedented possibilities."

Wow! That's a tall order to fill, especially in 4 to 8 short years!

I'm not surprised at the support Senator Obama has found here in Kenya. What does surprise me is that Kenyans seem to think they will reap a harvest of blessings if Obama is elected. One Kenyan man (the guy I buy fruit from) said, "When Obama is president, our problems will be over." When I pressed him to tell me what he meant by that, he conceded that his problems wouldn't be over, but he believes his situation will improve with a "Kenyan" in the White House.

It's an interesting phenomenon. I'll keep my political convictions to myself for the moment. Let me just say that it will be interesting to participate in the elections this year from here in Kenya!

Well, that's a first!

It's been an encouraging week in ministry. Three things happened that I've never witnessed before. They all happened at College Ministry events here in Mombasa. For the last 18 months or so, working with college students at Fellowship Baptist Church has been my primary job. It's a lot of fun, especially when the sort of things happen that I'm about to share with you...

First, rewind to Tuesday night. I write a Bible Study for our Tuesday night meeting, and lately we have had an attendance of about 20 students. We're learning how the Gospel can be applied practically in our day-to-day lives, and for the last couple weeks, we've been talking about forgiveness. Last week we discussed how God forgives us. This week we talked about how we need to forgive others. We asked questions like, "What if God forgave us the way we forgive each other?" The answer: That would be bad. So we thought of people in our lives that we need to forgive, and imagined what it would look like if we offered that person radical forgiveness as God asks us to. One of the students actually walked out of the study because, and I quote, he was "too convicted" to stay. He knew it was right, but, much like Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men, he couldn't handle the truth. That's a first! I'm sad for this student, but glad the study is hitting so close to home.

Second, move ahead to Wednesday night. We were all up in Dennis and Allison's apartment where Dennis was teaching on leadership principles. He asked the students to share one practical way their life has been changed this semester through College Ministry. Ben was there, a young guy who had been on my mind all semester because I knew he didn't own a Bible. None of us had any spare Bibles to give away, but I kept thinking that we ought to buy him one. Just goes to show how ignorant I am. Ben raised his hand and said, "The most practical way my life has changed this semester is my priorities. If you had told me four months ago that I would spend my own money to buy this (he waved a brand-new Bible up in the air), I would have laughed in your face!" He bought his own Bible! I know it was a big sacrifice for him, so it will be special to him - more special than anything I could have given.

Third, fast-forward to Friday morning. I have Swahili tutoring with Jackie once a week. Jackie is a pharmacy student and College Ministry leader. This week my assignment was to teach her a Bible lesson in Swahili. I talked to her about Mary and Martha, and about the sin of worry. As it turns out, she didn't know that worry is actually a sin. I got to teach her a lesson about worry vs. trusting God (in Swahili!), and she had one of those light-bulb moments that make all this missionary stuff worthwhile. It was my first Swahili light-bulb moment!

Wait for it...

I'm back from a great weekend on Mombasa's South Coast, the place our team will be moving to sometime in the next few months. On Friday I taught in Swahili, which I haven't done very much, and it was fun! A friend was bringing a program called "True Love Waits" to a community school in a village near her home, and she asked me to come along. The program targets young kids in upper elementary school and teaches them the benefits of abstinence and purity until marriage. The program has had great results in other African nations in stemming the spread of HIV. It is based on Biblical principles, but because of its important message, even schools that are predominantly Muslim (like the one we went to on Friday) welcome it.

The school is also a neat place. The community got together and erected the buildings with their own hands. They also help the poorer children in their area pay for uniforms so they can come to class. I was surprised to learn that many kids don't go to school because they can't afford the uniforms! This community is really taking care of it's own, and I'm so glad I got to visit. I'll post pictures soon!

I also spent time with a couple families from our new church, and enjoyed getting to know some new people and hearing their stories. It's fun to think about these small beginnings, and wonder who will become my close friends in the months and years to come.

My other task this weekend was house-hunting. Friday was a torrential day, but my friend Melissa slopped around in the rain with me looking at apartments and houses that I might rent. We found a few places that may work for me, though there is often more to a place than meets the eye. The biggest "invisible issues" that are common problems in Diani are the fresh water supply, security, and shifty neighbors. Diani is a unique place with a lot of different dynamics - lots of tourists on one side, bringing with them a variety of benefits and problems, and on the other side is a very distinct group of indigenous people, the Muslim Digo tribe, who I am just beginning to learn about.

I haven't made any decisions yet about where I will live. All I can do is choose based on the things I know, and trust God for the rest. I am praying that I'll make a wise choice!

Driving Dangers

I've already explained that driving is dangerous here - especially during the rainy season! Not only are there potholes of absurd proportions, there are also many things to dodge: fallen branches, livestock, pedestrians, wooden carts, matatus (Kenyan public transportation), tuk tuks (imagine a taxi on three wheels powered by a lawnmower engine, and you've got a tuk tuk), speed bumps, lawless intersections, and a host of student drivers from Mombasa's many driving schools. Schools with names like Unik, Rocky, and AA Driving School. Incidentally, the only school that doesn't promise a guaranteed "pass" (for that, read "we don't care if you can drive, just cough up the cash") is AA.

The other day I was on the road with two friends. We were returning home after getting a bite to eat, and we rounded a bend to see a matatu just ahead of us, picking up a passenger on the side of the road.

Matatus are decrepit, boxy vans that seat 15 people and drive in circuits picking up passengers. For 20 shillings you can get through town in a matatu. It's not just a bus - it's a cultural experience! The most popular ones are painted black or orange, decked out in black-lights and neon, with booming music so loud you hear them before you see them. Part roller coaster, part disco, part extreme sport; once you've ridden a matatu, you'll never forget it.

There are more matatus than monkeys in Mombasa, so I'm used to dodging them as I drive. However, on this day, as this particular matatu pulled back out into the road, we noticed the conductor struggling to shut the big sliding door on the side. Before we knew what was happening the door fell off it's top hinge and the van began dragging the door along the road beside it! Sparks were flying, the matatu was swerving, and I ducked down a side-street just in time to see the door completely detach itself from the van, do a flip, and skid to a halt in the middle of the road. We were almost flattened by a runaway car door! And the strangest thing about it was: no one was even phased. Just another day here in Mombasa...

A typical matatu waiting for passengers

When in motion, matatus look like this!

Ann!

About two weeks ago I hired a new girl to help me around the house. Since 2006 the Omondi's and I have shared one worker named Ruth, but now that their family is growing they need Ruth full-time.

It may sound pretty posh to have a house-helper, but it's a big part of the culture here. Even people who live in the slums often pay someone a few shillings to wash, sweep, cook, or do some of the million chores that Americans simply buy machines for.

On a typical day, Ann will take a hand-brush and get on her knees to sweep the rug (no vacuum), use a rag to wash the tile and concrete floors (no mop), wash the dishes (no dishwasher) that have piled up after a day of making everything from scratch (no 'Hamburger Helper'), wash the towels and sheets by hand (I have a washing machine, but she's not used to using one and prefers to do it by hand), hangs them on the veranda (no dryer), purifies the drinking water (no Brita fliters), and wipes the dust off everything that has drifted in the open windows (no air conditioning).

Ann has worked really hard, and I am really glad to have her help. She is a timid girl who hasn't escaped life's troubles. Her father died when she was in the 3rd grade, and she had to drop out of school because her family couldn't afford to send her anymore. She has three older sisters and two younger brothers, both of whom she is helping to send to school with part of her wages. She loves the Lord and sings in her church choir. I'll try to get a picture of her so you can see what she looks like.

Something that has been very helpful to me is that, because of her lack of schooling, Ann doesn't speak any English. Finally I have someone who is a part of my daily life who needs to communicate in Swahili! I've been trying to tough it out and use our conversations as practice sessions. I'm not sure what she thinks of my Swahili - she smiles a lot when I talk...

Word of Life

Last Sunday was a big day for our team. Dennis officially became the pastor of Word of Life Church in Diani, about an hour south of Mombasa.

The first family! Dennis, Allison, and Anjela

The church is in a beautiful location, right off the beach in a hall with makuti (a thatch roof).

It's even pretty on a rainy day!

The service went really well, and afterward the whole church had lunch together. After that Allison and I took Anjela to the beach to put her toes in the Indian Ocean. She loved it!

Anjela with her Auntie Nelly

Anjela's first dip in the ocean!

Mama Allison and Auntie Jill!