Pies, Cookies, and Lion Killers

A few weeks ago, one of the farmers from the Mang'u group, Monene, gave me a pumpkin from his shamba (farm). I was so grateful, and I decided almost immediately that I would make pumpkin pie with it. After consulting my "How to Make American Food in Africa" cookbook (thanks to this book all American missionaries can enjoy many otherwise by-gone comforts), I learned how to prepare a pumpkin for pie and what I could use as substitutes for various ingredients. I baked two pies, full of trepidation that they would not turn out at all, but to my great delight they looked surprisingly normal when I took them out of the oven (ask my family, my forte is certainly not baking desserts), and they even tasted pretty good. I was still really nervous about what Monene would think of this sweet squooshy mess we call pie, but when Michael took it to him, he reported that Monene and the other farmers said it was "tamu sana" ("very sweet," a very high compliment as this is the phrase used to describe anything and everything that is very tasty). Monene even took an extra piece to his mama and called me later to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Success!

Get ready, another dessert story. Yesterday I made chocolate chip cookie dough because I want to take some for my soccer team before our season ends. I figure it'll be a good cultural experience for all the girls to partake in this fantastic American goodness. So I was talking to my assistant coach, Caroline, about these cookies that I'm planning to bring; I asked her if she thought it was a good idea and she said yes, but she seemed a little confused. Caroline is Kenyan, but she teaches at Rosslyn Academy, an American school, so I just assumed that she was familiar with wonderful things like chocolate chip cookies. When she looked confused, I asked, "Wait, Caroline, have you ever eaten a chocolate chip cookie?" After a few seconds, she simply replied, "What are they?" I half expected that she had never eaten them before, but to never have heard of them?! I stumbled back in shock (okay, not really), and then promised that I would educate her on chocolate chip cookie eating very very soon.

Last week we attended a Kenyan Baptist church right down the road from our apartment. After the service we were invited to the visitors' tent outside where we took tea and talked with several church members. They were very warm and welcoming, and we really enjoyed it. The only visitor besides us was a young Kenyan man who was very quiet for much of the conversation, until one of the men started speaking with him in Kiswahili. We learned that his name is James and that he is Massai, which is a nomadic tribe in Kenya that is generally made up of cattle herders. As this conversation continued, we learned that this 25-year old guy sitting across from us, looking so western in his blue jeans and polo, is a Massai warrior because he killed a lion (a required feat to be a warrior) three years ago. With a spear. I think the whole conversation was a little surreal for both Michael and me, but we finished sipping our chai as he described his neck and chest wounds from the lion, and then Michael invited him to come to lunch with us. Over beef stew and chapati (think thick tortillas) our Kiswahili skills were put to practice as we continued to get to know James. And despite all the "Pole sana, sielewi" ("So sorry, we don't understand"), we really had a great time with him and look forward to hanging out with our Massai warrior lion killing friend more.

We have really been amazed at the people we're getting to know here. Whether it's working with them or just hanging out, I am so grateful for the budding friendships we have with people here.

Let It Roll

A brief snapshot- the woman on the right is an elderly lady in the Kirinyaga Aloe Vera Farmers Group that we met with for the first time on Wednesday. After a lengthy meeting, Rebecca and I were just chatting with some of the farmers, and I tried to practice some Kiswahili with her as she knew almost no English whatsoever. As far as I could tell, her "baptized name" is Julianne. Julianne walks with a cane, back bent from age, and feet mangled from years of walking barefoot. After a few minutes of jumbled greetings she handed me a picture of her standing out in front of a burnt down building, and then another obviously old white sheet of paper that had clear tape running down the middle to keep it from falling apart. Looking at it, I realized that it was a police report. Waving down a group member better versed in English, I soon found out that during the ethnic violence of 2008- the result of latent tribal tensions and the absolute corruption of leaders who turn their constituencies against each other and use lies and threats to try to win- her shop was randomly burnt to the ground.

Julianne reminds me of a number of other people I've met, both in working at an inner-city ministry in Memphis and on my previous trip to Kenya. Individuals who are almost homeless in their poverty but who cary with them carefully protected documents, maybe their check stubs from a job for which they felt they weren't completely paid, maybe pages and pages of court records from a case that they believe they should have won, maybe Julianne's police records, but all the records of sin's effects especially against the poor.. The poor carry the hope for justice deep in their hearts, because they suffer most from injustice, from a world where money protects the "haves" from biased trials, civil wars and ethnic violence, but leaves the "have nots" often with no recourse. The world's police, lawyers, and judges are too often as blind as lady justice herself when it comes to the poor, as the current delay in prosecution of those known to be responsible for January's conflict reminds us, either locally or by the Hague.

But Jesus Christ is coming again to bring justice to Julianne and to all who call upon His name, and God calls all of us to pursue real, Biblical restorative justice for the poor and defenseless of our world. It's only recently that I've realized how often the Bible talks about justice, as much at least as it talks about almost anything else. Julianne reminds me why, because our God doesn't listen to dollars or Kenyan shillings in His judgments, and He doesn't let evil go unmet. Our God takes sides on behalf of the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks of the world. So let's pray that justice will roll down for Julianne and for all of injustice's victims that the world might have the peace that only comes from Jesus Christ.

His kingdom come,

Michael

Hipposaurus Rex and Plenty of Passion Fruit

We continue to dig deeper into Kenya, both in day-to-day life and through the work itself. For instance, Rebecca started to learn to drive a stick shift. We moved into our apartment on Wednesday, and Thursday had our first houseguests, David and Rebecca Khisa, two of my friends I lived with on my previous visit. It was great to share a meal with old friends, and to continue to learn more about Kenyan culture and perspectives through our relationship with them. I love Dave and Becky, and Rebecca is becoming a fast friend as well. Sunday we went to our first Kenyan Premier League futball game (professional soccer). Professional sports are a little different here (our ticket cost $3.00), and we found ourselves standing outside a chainlink fence immediately surrounding the field in the middle of thousands of screaming Kenyans. I won't say anything else about that, except that nutty UT Vols fans got nothing on these guys. Trust me.

This weekend, Rebecca and I went on our first ever "family camping trip." Sometime on Friday we just found ourselves spontaneously loading up the Suzuki and heading into the Rift Valley (an absolutely gorgeous part of centralish Kenya) to camp on the shores of Lake Naivasha. The campsite we stayed at was pretty similar to the ones from my youth, except for the swanky full-service bar and electric fence to keep out the hippos. Those unfamiliar with hippos might wonder why bother, but these things kill more people in Africa than any other animal. I'll say this: I've laid awake in Montana listening to a howling pack of nearby wolves, and I'll take them any day over the hippos; these things straight up sound like the T Rex from Jurassic Park, and I mean all night long. Surviving the hippos, we spent Saturday doing a fun mini-safari, complete with giraffes, zebras, antelope, warthogs, monkeys, etc, did some great hiking around the lake and one of the many volcanic craters in the area, and even caught a glimpse of a flock of about a million pink flamingos. At any rate, I'm afraid we may have sort of set a high bar for future camp outs.

Work has been excellent as well. Last week we continued to meet with the farmers, and Rebecca and I got to get together with the Mang'u passion fruit group leadership twice to discuss our options with the farmers who are defaulting on their loans and to help them open a bank account (complicated here in Kenya). These farmers are very hospitable and very funny, and we've really enjoyed hanging out with them. Based on our meetings, I'll soon be going with them to visit struggling farmers to find out what the issues are and what might be our way forward. The CCS staff member, James Njeru, has also been a real joy, not only introducing us to lots of farmers, but showing us where to eat around town, giving us eggs for breakfast from his chickens, and showing us his personal collection of rabbits that he raises (and teaches others to raise) for some extra cash on the side. I also got travel up to meet with some of the members of one of the new groups. One thing that no Community Development class can teach you is the need to be constantly on your toes: on this particular day, I thought I was observing, and found out, uppon arrival, that I was giving a presentation on group savings. All in all it went well, and I guess things like that are good at holding you accountable to knowing your stuff. This week, Rebecca and I will both get to travel to meet with three groups (two new ones, and the Ngare Ndari group). This will be a great opportunity to hopefully build some relationships with the farmers as well as the CCS (Anglican development partner organization) staff, as well as to begin the group formation process with the 2 new groups. Please, please, please pray for this week, as it will be a time with lots of logistics, and a real need for Spirit empowered communication. On top of it all, tunataka kujifunza kiswahili (we try to speak kiswahili), and our lessons continue to be great. Pole pole na kidogo na kidogo tunaenda (Slowly slowly, and little by little, we go).

Rebecca and I have really been edified by the great cloud of witnesses this week, through emails and books written by believers, and through the music of some old-school rockers like Keith Green, Phil Keaggy, and Rich Mullins. A new favorite author for me is the Anglican theologian, N.T. Wright. In The New Testament and the People of God, Wright gives a detailed description of the hope that Jews had at the time of Christ. In this and other works, Wright makes the strong case that Christ did not come to merely save believers out of a sin-filled world for an eternity of harp plucking, but as the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament hope for the full redemption of the world. Jesus' resurrection isn't just about avoiding hell, it's about the King of the Universe coming to set all things to right, to turn back all the works of the Fall "far as the curse is found," to make for Himself a people from every tongue and tribe and nation who will honor and serve Him in the New World forever and ever.* Maybe the reason that my faith walk, and the faith walks of those around me can tend towards apathy, is that our hope isn't big enough. We're satisfied with Sunday sermons and fire insurance, when Christ is calling us to a perfect intimate relationship with Him, and to full reconciliation with our neighbors, destroying racial, socio-economic, and cultural barriers, and bringing us into the full peace of the body of Christ. To do His kingdom work, within all of our various vocations, today in the here and now. As Rebecca and I go through life here in Kenya, we've already been stunned by the "bigness" of what the kingdom would look like here, of how great is the kingdom hope that is breaking through the cracks of a fallen world. And as missionaries of sorts, we feel like we have the privelege of telling you that out here in Kenya, Jesus is doing great things, and we're seeing them and participating in them because of your prayers and support.

Thanks for all of your communication and prayers. Please pray that Christ would bring His kingdom "on Earth as it is in Heaven" in our life and yours. We posted a video or two on facebook, so if you'd like to see me kissing a giraffe, or a tour of our unfurnished apartment, feel free to check that out. We'll be happy to "friend" you if you aren't on our list already. Let us know if you have any questions, and we'll be glad to address them in later posts!

Peace,

Michael Rhodes

*If you're interested, I think Wright's book Surprised by Hope is one of the best, most formative books on the faith I've ever read. I'd really encourage anyone to pick it up and give it a looksie.