A Bittersweet Surprise

Day 5 (part 2) - 

    The most exciting portion of our day was spent at a campus of the University of Nairobi where we met students who were a part of the Christian Union there. Our fearless leaders, Brian and Debbie, were stuck in traffic trying to get back to the Senta after running some errands, so they did not come with us to the university. Nams was left in charge of our big group as we rode the buses for the normal hour into the city. We were warmly welcomed, when we arrived, by the students. They each took a group of us to build relationships and be shown around the campus; or so we were told. I hope most of you reading this can understand God’s sense of humor; He is more likely to surprise us with uncomfortable situations when we are so certain it will go a specific way. It definitely reminds me that He has the control. My teammate, Randi and I, ended up in a group with both a girl named Miriam and a FOCUS staff member, Paula.
    We followed them asking them questions as they asked us questions – it was great getting to know them! They took us into a dorm building and started knocking on student’s doors to invite them to the CU meeting. I don’t know what Randi was thinking, but I knew we weren’t there just to get to know each other, and it reminded me of the time I went door-to-door in the dorms on my campus last year…. “Uh oh! I think I know what is coming and I feel unprepared!” Panic rose within me even if my outside was calm. We entered the room of a girl with our guides and Miriam talked with her a little in Swahili. She then asked Randi and me to say something to this girl and we looked at each other. Brian once told us that because we were foreigners we never know what we would be asked to do on the spot. We introduced ourselves somewhat awkwardly and I felt frozen, unsure of what else to say. I think I ended up encouraging this girl to seek Christ, but it was a feeble attempt and it is still a blur. Miriam chimed in with a great explanation of the Gospel for this girl who was hesitant to accept the truth that was spoken to her (she didn’t want to devote her life to Christ just then). Randi and I listened and prayed for this girl before moving on to other dorms.
    Looking back, that was a situation where I fell short. Instead of seeking God’s voice in my panic, I let it take over and searched for my own strength to conjure up something to share. I failed. After that first room, there was an unspoken agreement between us two introverts; Randi would pray and I would share Jesus and then we switched roles when we entered a new dorm. Our next attempts went much better, and we even connected a little with some of the students as well as with Miriam and Paula.
     Being white was powerful because we were listened to; we sent a message as soon as people knew we were missionaries. The message: God must be something special if white people would travel all that way to share Him – and it was the same message they had heard from fellow Kenyans. Our skin color spoke volumes. Being white was not always an advantage, however, but I will explain that in later posts. I was also completely inspired by Miriam and her boldness. Actually, every Kenyan I had met up to this point impressed me with their faith. They live and breathe Christ and have a heart to declare His name in everything they do. Wow. I can’t say that for myself on a good day. That experience was bittersweet because I realized how much I rely on myself, but it was also so sweet to realize that same thing, period. Then, it was so fulfilling to see some of the people we talked to show up to the CU meeting they were invited to. I originally thought that Brian knew we would be put on the spot like that, but apparently he had no idea – I believe him, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was true.
     The whole team and all of our new friends met in the dining hall for dinner where we had a nice time being together. I was convicted…. I should be excited and ready to share my faith with others and allow God to work through me. Instead, I looked to myself when I panicked and not to Him for strength and direction. Dinner was over and we walked to the meeting place of the Christian Union we were to attend. There was a long line of students at the front singing praises and musicians (especially the electric keyboard played on “loud”) playing with a purpose off to the side. I recognized some songs, and picked up the others very quickly (due to repetitiveness…which will be mentioned later).  As for the rest of the room, it was packed. Many gathered to see the wazungu and to see why we invited them to the meeting if they were not in the fellowship already. I spied a girl we had visited in the dorm, Lillian, and sat next to her. The general excitement of our presence made me feel so unworthy of their extensive hospitality. I felt so inadequate.
     Once we sat and enjoyed some worship, a group of students began some skits themed on final exams because it was the end of their quarter/term. We couldn’t understand what they were saying, but body language sometimes speaks louder than words – the skits were funny and relative to what I go through during finals week. It made me smile.  My whole team then got up and presented the group with a song, “As I Went Down to the River to Pray” – an African-American spiritual featured in the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou?” With a team of 45 westerners, I remember thinking that our audience didn’t understand what we sang because of our accents. Oh well. It was fun nonetheless.
My teammates from Bozeman, Montana did a skit as well set to the song, “Everything” by Lifehouse. It shows the journey of a girl in life…choosing other things above God and His undying love and pursuing other things that attempted to fill her heart. It was all mimed to a known song so we didn’t have to worry about the slight language barrier. Body language and music – almost always universal. The reaction of the audience was different than what we expected (they laughed at parts), but the message got through. It is really difficult to understand the way others from a different culture think because we grew up a certain way. It is so good to try and understand, though. It changes your whole perspective on others and God gives you a heart for others in a way you didn’t think possible.
     We found our way back to our seats in the crowded room, and the speaker was introduced. His sermon through me for a loop – the sermon style is very circular in structure and I was confused most of the time, but it was good to hear and I connected with some of his points. We took chai with everyone (they had buckets of it to accommodate the number of people in the room), and had fellowship time until it was time to drag our exhausted bodies back to the Senta. It was difficult for me to initiate conversation at first…there was so many of them! But I learned quickly to start with one person and go from there.
Little by little.

“Everything” by Lifehouse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSwCOs-uXzU