Having a Wild Animal

Some things don't translate. As we've been informing our friends about our pregnancy, we've found that most Kenyans don't just come out and say "I'm pregnant." I don't know why this would surprise me as this was true in my grandparent's and even to some degree parent's generation - "with child," "expecting," or "bun in the oven" were just a few of the phrases that developed to convey this "delicate condition." So, I thought you might enjoy learning how Kenyans, especially Maasai, convey the news.

Throughout Kenya, you can express being pregnant in Swahili by the phrase "mja mzito." Literally this translates to "one who is becoming heavy." There is really no word for "to be pregnant" although there is one for a pregnancy. In Maasai, I would be considered "keroshi," again, meaning "heavy."

In the past, many Maasai would commonly say the woman "keeta olowaru/osoit" - "has a wild animal/stone." According to our friends, this phrase was used in order to not place any real emphasis on it being a baby as they didn't want to hope too much in having a child in case they might lose it (common with high infant mortality). Today, many people within the CCC church have told us this is falling out of practice as they come to have hope in what God is doing, so using this phrase would show lack of faith/trust in God's provision. They have even told us that the usage has been preached against in many churches.

As our friend Cosmas was visiting, he informed us that there was an even more formal or polite way for a husband to say his wife is pregnant - "Keji entomonoi boo." When translated, this means "My wife is outside." This takes some thinking to understand. In Maasai culture, women are the ones to do much of the work apart from watching the cattle, including gathering wood for cooking, maintaining/building the house, going to market, working in the garden/field, etc. So, for a man to say his wife is "outside" it means that she is able to go outside to do the chores now, but will soon be "inside" as she has the baby and takes care of a newborn.

Whatever way you want to express it, we are grateful for the gift God has given us!

House Guests

For the last two weeks, our guest room has been occupied. Visitors are seen as a great blessing in Kenyan culture. In view of those we've been able to host, I'd have to agree.

At the beginning of last week, we hosted our apprentice, Eric Pitts. Eric has been in Kenya since the beginning of June. He started his time here working with our sister ministry in the Mathare slum of Nairobi. He transitioned to living in the bush at the beginning of September to work and learn among the Maasai. Eric is a student at Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, TN. He has taught a class at NBTI (see picture below), worked on myriads of computers, and gotten to know the ins and outs of life in the bush, including life with little to no water in the midst of a drought. Eric was with us as a mid-term break and debrief.


After Eric returned to Ewaso Ng'iro, we were joined by Jackson Erus and Paulo Lopoongo from Turkana. They are two Turkana church leaders that traveled to Nairobi for the Training Department meeting to discuss the recent gifts given by the church to Orphans & Vulnerable Children (OVCs). Unfortunately, our on again/off again toilet for the guest room broke just as they were coming, so their first experience at our house was the smell of sewage as it was being repaired! Below is a picture of Erus as he led the processional of the TBTI graduation ceremony with our fellow teammate, Gene Morden.


While Erus and Lopoongo were with us, we received a call from one of our Maasai church leaders, Cosmas Lemein, letting us know that he was coming to Nairobi with his father to go to hospital. His father has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. While we are sad to host Cosmas under less than pleasant circumstances, it has been nice to have him with us. Cosmas was Joe's Maasai language helper and employee when he transitioned to the bush. He currently serves with a former CMF teammate helping to produce Bible studies and other written materials in the Maasai language as well as serves on the Maasai Advisory Committee and NBTI board.


Please rejoice with us in our abundance of blessing from our visitors! And, as always, if you find yourself in the neighborhood, please consider yourself welcome!

Cultural Differences

One of the joys (and sometimes struggles!) of living in another culture is learning about cultural differences. This past week, we hosted the manager of our Kajiado Training Centre, Paul Lupempe, at our house. While he was with us, we talked about writing thank you notes to those who are supporting the centre directly. With the note, we thought it would be good to send a group shot of the centre staff. Paul agreed to go back and send one to us by email that we could have printed.

Here is the first version we received...
















We then explained to Paul that most Americans like to see smiling faces in pictures. As a result, here is version two that was sent with the letter...















What a difference a smile makes!

Nairobi CCC Baptisms

Well, I've uploaded a video for you all. It only took three tries and about 2 1/2 hours, but here it is!

This is the celebration during our worship service today in honor of six believers baptized into Christ - five brothers and one sister. We are singing "Shangwe, Haleluya!" which roughly translates to "Rejoicings, Hallelujah!" Enjoy!

Manyatta - Last of a Dying Breed

Last week Joe and I went to the Loita district in Maasailand. This is a rather rural area, evidenced by the fact that we lost our cell phone coverage about three hours into our journey - just about where the nice paved road ended as well. From that point, we still had four hours ahead of us to reach our destination of Tiamenang'ien. As I write this, I wish I would have taken some pictures of the "road" out, but I was driving this stretch on our way out.

About half way between the two towns we were visiting (Entasikira and Tiamenang'ien) is a small area where one of the few traditional Maasai manyattas for warrior-hood can be found. Even the Maasai who were with us were surprised and excited to see it.















You can just make out the huts built for each warrior along the top of the ridge. There are actually two circles of huts - one for the "right hand" and one for the "left hand" of the age group. Each hut is built by the mother of the "Ilmoran" going through the rites of passage.

On the third day of our journey, we were actually able to drive into the manyatta as we were asked by a guy in Tiamenang'ien to carry corn there for sale. We were unable to get close-up pictures as we were informed that most foreigners would be charged 10,000 Ksh (US$130) to do so. We might be able to get a reduced rate...maybe 7,000 Ksh instead since we could find someone to introduce us, so we opted for snapping a few photos on the road after we left.

Here are a few closer shots.

7 day fast

As I mentioned in my last post, IDES has been a tremendous blessing in assisting us with drought relief. Ryan Chapman with IDES is currently in the midst of a 7 day fast to raise awareness and funds for continued drought relief. Please take a moment to visit the site to learn more and for your chance to be a continuing part of love toward the Maasai.

Drought Relief Photos

It's been a while since I've been on here. Sorry for the lapse. We were at the coast last week for a retreat and hosting lots of great people coming through town. While I want to post a good update, I am suffering through the beginning stages of a cold, so not thinking that clearly. Thus, I will keep the words to a minimum and post a few pictures from the drought relief in Kajiado. These were taken early this month when Joe went out with a guy from Good News Productions to film footage for IDES. They have provided a good deal of support for food and transport during this time and hope to continue spreading the word about the need through a video.
















Here is Stephen presenting the Word before the distribution of food.















Even Joe got in on the filming action!



















Folks lined up waiting for their turn to receive food.



















Others waiting in the shade with their sacks.

















Inside the "distribution centre" (one of the CCC churches).

















A few cows that didn't make it.

Please continue to pray for rain. There still hasn't been any significant rain, which is as expected since the next rainy season isn't due until November. One of the CCC leaders, however, mentioned that he read in the paper they are expecting El Nino in October. Pray that even before then, the rains might come.

We are headed to Kajiado tomorrow for a CHE meeting. If there are any further updates, I will keep you posted...

Run in with the Police

On Tuesday night, we picked up friends who had just arrived in town to go out for dinner. We went to Habesha, the local favorite Ethiopian restaurant. After we enjoyed our meal, we piled back into the car to return them to their guesthouse. We hadn't gone but two blocks when we were pulled over at a police check point.

Just to give you an idea of what a Kenyan police check point it like, they are usually along a busier section of road, usually with some kind of barrier (like spike strips or cones in the lanes) so you have to slow down, and more frequent at night. When you approach one, you slow down of course. In order to stop you, the policeman waves you over with his hand (in the day) or with his flashlight (at night). You pull over to the side, roll down the window, greet him/her and give them your driver's license. After checking it and your insurance sticker in the window, they usually let you go. This is the norm for most expatriates.

However, on Tuesday, we neglected to make sure that everyone in the car had their seat belts fastened when we started on our way. Two of us in the back were without belts. The officer noticed that and told us it would be a 1000 Ksh fine (about $13) per person. We knew we were in the wrong, but the problem is that most of these police stops are about corruption, and the officer usually pockets the fine they are charging you. So, in order to combat this, we make sure things are done by the book thus not contributing to this mindset.

So, we explain that yes, we are wrong and would be happy to pay as long as he can give us a receipt for the fine. As is typical, he doesn't have a receipt book on him, so we'll have to go to the police station to get one. Okay with us, but he'll need to accompany us to the police station. Normally the officer then asks for a ride, but the car is full (and they are technically supposed to have a car around to take them to the station if they need to go). He says he needs to call the car, which he proceeds to do. We are waiting in the meantime.

Of course I'm kicking myself because I KNEW there was a police check just at this corner. It is within blocks of our house and we pass it all the time. I MEANT to tell everyone to buckle up, but I didn't. Now we are waiting, our guests have arrived today and are probably ready for bed. With traffic in Nairobi, we should have been wearing our seat belts any way!

After waiting a bit more, another police officer comes up to the window and asks us how things are, where we're going, what we're doing in Kenya. We say we're fine, returning our guests to the guesthouse a few miles away, and are missionaries in Kenya - that is why we need a receipt for the fine so we can account for the money we spend. After a bit of comment, this second officer tells us that he is glad we are doing church work and since we have now buckled up, he'll just give us a warning and talk to his fellow officer. We thank him and are on our way.

That's the end of the story, and this post is getting long, but I want to add a bit here. To be honest, I'm not surprised the story ended with us getting a warning and sent on our way. But, we were in the wrong. Why didn't we pay a fine? Well, to begin with white expatriates (missionaries in particular) have been fighting this small time corruption of traffic stop "bribes" for a while. Thus whenever you are white and pulled over at a stop, they know you are going to put up a fight and demand the letter of the law be followed. As a result, we don't get asked for many "bribes" for made-up offences. The only time we get asked to pay is when we are really in the wrong like this occassion. However, you'll notice we still didn't pay.

Why? Because either (1) they don't want to take the time to uphold the letter of the law (taking us to the police station to get a receipt) because they know they're missing opportunities to stop others or (2) they can't uphold the letter of the law because they are pitifully understaffed and thus don't really have a vehicle at their disposal to take them to the station or to do anything if a real threat arrises. Option 1 makes me angry, but so does option 2.

What do I do now? Well, as an expatriate living in a developing country, I have come to realize that there is not a lot I can physically DO as any kind of change started by an oustider would be seen as only the issue of that outsider. If I leave, so does the issue. So, I have come to the conclusion that I must pray for my Kenyan brothers and sisters to be able to see the needs and fight for them, to make it THEIR issue and for God to transform this culture through His Word.

Lakeside Christian Church Group

Thank you for your patience! Here is post number two this week. I hope to add one more before the week is through...

From June 12 to 23, we had the pleasure of hosting nine wonderful folks as a group from Lakeside Christian Church in Northern Kentucky. They came loaded with enthusiasm...and lots of gifts for the believers here in Kenya (Joe and I included!).

During their time here, we spent six days in the Kajiado district, mainly at the Kajiado Training Centre in Ng'atataek. At the centre, the group was able to paint ALL rooms of the main building with primer and two top coats. We also had the pleasure of being hosted by two families - the Saidimus and Tukes - in the unmatched style of Maasai hospitality.

Here are a few pictures from our adventures...


The entrance to the Kajiado Training Centre. This is one of two centres that CMF has built for the use of Community Christian Church both to train leaders and to serve as a place to hold functions for the church and community.


Here is the main structure itself. There are 10 rooms in total - three dormitories, one CMF team room, one large meeting hall, one dining room, one kitchen with store room, and two guard rooms.

The centre also currently serves as the Ng'atataek Community Christian Church. They have recently raised money to build a separate buildling on site.

Working shots...



Master painters at their best - Stefani & Jeri improvising to reach the high parts of the team room while furniture is still in the way, Larry adding that extra touch even to the outside, and Joe lending a hand painting the base coat in the kitchen store room.

Playing shots...



And since painting wasn't all we did...Cindy enjoying a bit of fun amidst all the work, Cordelia teaching Jeniffer, Andrew, and Phebee cross-stitch (from the pile of pieces donated by a ministry in Cincinnati), and the group enjoying goat, chapatis, vegetables, and an assortment of fruits at the home of Daniel Tuke.

And safari...


One picture to prove I was there and one with our clear view of Mt. Kilimanjaro on our last day with one of our safari vans in the foreground.

Nairobi Community Christian Church

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry for the lapse. But you know what that means...LOTS of posts in the next few days! Lord willing, I will get caught up this week. Joe is going out to Loita, where he used to live in the bush, to deal with some property issues. After contemplating a number of days, I decided to stay behind as we are short-handed here in Nairobi with our teammates being on furlough. Please pray for:

Joe as he travels out and has MANY meetings - that God would be glorified and people would be filled with the Holy Spirit as they discuss the property issues.

For me as I stay behind and get caught up.

On to the church opening...

Nairobi Community Christian Church had its opening service on June 7. We were excited to see the great turn out of both new folks and supporters from other CCC congregations in Maasailand.

Here is the main portion of the new space. If you look at the former pictures, you'll notice the wall with the door has been knocked down to create one large room. We had 50 seats set up in the hall - 48 of them were used that day.

James Sinkua gave the opening message about living in the Spirit, that it doesn't make us perfect, but it gives us the power to strive to be like Christ.


Here he is in the area that serves not only as the pulpit but as his office as Chairman of Community Christian Church throughout Kenya. During his message, he also presented the idea of cell church structure to those present. This seems to be a new concept in Kenya. Pray for further understanding as we move forward.


Here James is preaching with Simon Chirchir translating into Swahili. Another large emphasis of the day was the desire to see the church be accepting of all peoples in Kenya no matter what tribe they are. This is especially important after the post-election violence in January 2008 which was fueled by tribal divisions. Nairobi CCC seeks to be ministers of reconciliation and peace within Nairobi.

James also did a great job on spelling out the three "C"s of Nairobi CCC. The desire is for this church to be a place where people "Celebrate" the joy in Christ, "Connect" with others in fellowship, and "Contribute" to the body of Christ through their gifts and talents. Here you can see a few pictures of us enjoying the second "C."



Please continue to pray for Nairobi CCC as we grow. Tomorrow Joe will be presenting a message on the authority of Scripture and our role in it.

Visitors - Loved Ones

Our visitors from Lakeside Christian Church arrived last night. Joe met them at the airport. They were all there and were only missing two pieces of luggage. This is great as they had to reschedule at the last minute since they were to be on the "new" direct flight that has been postponed in it's maiden voyage. Delta finally came through in rebooking them. The more amazing part is that the airport actually called up when the bags arrived! Maybe Kenya is coming up in the world of customer service! We are getting ready to head to bed for hopefully a full might of sleep.

Nairobi Church Plant

"This has been a long time coming." That's what our teammate, Connie Crum, said when we first announced that a group was coming together to plant a church in Nairobi as a branch of Community Christian Church (CCC).

As you may recall, CCC is the registration that was given to the churches planted over the past 32 years by CMF in rural areas of Kenya. The vision of the CMF team those many years ago was to reach those who were unreached in the bush areas of Maasailand and Turkana. Now some of the over 10,000 Kenyans who are a part of CCC are launching out as missionaries from their bush origins to the urban context.

Connie is right. This vision has been a long time coming and has gained ground mainly through one individual in CCC - James Sinkua.

James is currently serving as chairman on the national level of CCC. He was in a group of youth Joe originally worked with in Maasailand. God has grown him over the years, developed gifts of leadership, vision, and preaching within in him. His wife, Diana, has been an encouraging and strengthening force in this work.

It is exciting to see this dream realized for James and for CCC as they continue to reach out beyond their normal boundaries. Please pray for CCC as they continue in this missional mindset.

James and Joe have been meeting together with six others in April to brainstorm and pray about how to begin this church. Last month, they were presented with an opportunity to begin renting a location for the church in an area known as Dagoretti Corner. It is a small "hall" above a chemist shop.

Here you can see the main room with James and Moses standing in front of a make-shift wall that houses a second room. This wall has since come down (new pictures hopefully next week!) with other touch-ups done.

The first service of this church will be held THIS SUNDAY, June 7th. While this may seem quick in our estimation, we just have to remember...this has been a long time coming.

Please pray for this first gathering of the church. Pray that it will be a light into the community of God's love. Thank the Lord for his working through each involved and his timing of this first service. Pray for James as he gives the sermon. Rejoice with us in this new adventure for CCC.

Ashe & Ole Sere (Thank you & Good-bye)

This past week, we had the privilege of being the recipients of a celebration in Kajiado. This is the area receiving many of your generous donations for drought relief. The leaders of the 21 churches in this district decided they wanted to say "Thank You" and at the same time say "Good-bye" to our teammates leaving for furlough in the next month.

The afternoon began with an appetizer of goat ribs plus a few extra meat portions along with a side of veggies, very much like pico de gallo.

We then joined together in singing and hearing about what God had done through the gifts He's provided. Over 27,000 people are receiving assistance thanks to the monies received. Additionally, a new church is being planted due to the witness of Christ's love through the church.
Here are a majority of the elders within Community Christian Church (CCC) in Kajiado:


After all was said, out of their little, they gave us much - we were blessed with Maasai-style formal outfits. I wish we could share them with you who were the true givers. We are honored to be your representatives. Below is a picture of me receiving my outfit.

As many of you know, Joe has taken over the leadership of our CMF missionary team from Dan Crum, who has served in that position for 8 years. To symbolize this transition, the Kajiado leaders provided us with an orinka - a Maasai club. Here you can see Dan saying a few words about how this orinka represents more than just the transition of CMF leadership, but the leadership they as CCC Kenyan leaders have taken and made their own these past years.

We ended our time with food, of course. I hope these pictures can express just a tiny bit of the love and unity of the church expressed that day. Please continue to pray for God's witness through CCC and for His blessing of consistent rain throughout all of Kenya.

Europe Vacation

Well, I finally had a connection and time to post pictures from our vacation to Europe last month on facebook. You can see them by following this address, even if you aren't on facebook!

Living with Seasonal Rains

I thought you might be interested to see what a difference the rainy seasons can make in Kenya. Normally there are two periods of rain - the long rains in April/May and the short rains in November. In between, there is sun and beautiful temperatures usually with highs in the 80s.

Here is what the Ewaso Ng'iro Centre grounds look like in the midst of /after the rains:



Here is the same property in the sunny/dry times:


Yes, it really is that much of a contrast. So you can see why this year much of Kenya is experiencing a drought and loss of livestock as the short rains didn't really come and the long rains are very sporadic right now.

Please pray for rain throughout Kenya.

Drought

Drought is a new thing for me (Kim) in Kenya. I don't know that I've ever been anywhere that's been affected by drought to the point that you can see it.

It has not rained in Kenya for a while - throughout the country. The rainy season is to begin any day now, but the forecast is only calling for sun, sun, and more sun. While that might seem ideal for those facing rain (or snow), the crops and cattle here are dying. This has been exacerbated by the post-presidential election clashes a year ago. At that time, many farmers were displaced due to tribal violence. Crops went un-planted. With the shortage, food prices are very high. Just as an example, one staple food, cabbage, is going for 80 Ksh (about $1) per head for a small one. It used to be 10 Ksh.

Crops were planted on the Kajiado side of the Rift Valley where the Maasai are living about a month ago in hopes that the rains were starting. Now they've lost those seeds, too. Planting will have to be done again if they can afford new seed.

As you might recall, the main source of income to most Maasai is their cattle. On the Kajiado side, cows were driven across the border to Tanzania in hopes of finding water. They are now being driven back as they are dying off. I heard a report this week of a few friends who go out to their herds in the night and lift them up to try and keep them going.

Even as I write all of this, though, I see my fridge and pantry stocked with food and yet wonder what there is to fix for dinner. Of course I've got plenty, but in my eyes, the things don't go together...I can't actually make a "meal" out of it. Even though the price of produce goes up, I can still afford it.

How do I reconcile these thoughts? How can I reach out to my brother and sister in need? This is my struggle now...

Feeling Like Home

Sorry for the delay in posting. For some reason, I always feel like I can only post if pictures go along with the entry. I finally realized that's not true!

I had a realization the other day that having visitors makes this feel more like home. As we were driving back from Maasai Market with the Miles before their return flight, I was struck by the thought that I knew more about this place we were in than they did. I know the streets around our house, where to shop for what kind of items, how to ask basic questions in Swahili if I need to, basic culture cues of those around me. In short, Nairobi is becoming home.

Many of you may be saying, so what? I have been waiting to see this moment for the past seven months. I wondered if it would ever come. Just when I thought I would be an outsider forever, God has given me the gift of visitors to cause me to see that He's been working in my life in this way. Even though this place is not my final home, I feel comfortable and able to call it "home" for now.

If you'd like to read about the Miles' experience when we took them to Maasailand, visit their blog post here.

Over Land and Sea

Okay, so this post is not about travel, but an attempt to combine two recent events dealing with land and water.  

As many of you might know if you are receiving our email updates, we had a meeting concerning community grievances at our center in Ewaso Ng'iro.  The community feels we have not done anything to support them in return for granting us the roughly 11 acres of land for the center and clinic that are now present in Ewaso Ng'iro.  While we were hoping to work with the community representatives once again to come up with ways that we could partner with them in community development, the group we met with was not interested in "partnership."  Instead, they feel entitled to many things from CMF for the gift of land representatives bestowed on us 20+ years ago.  Needless to say, the meeting didn't go as planned.  Please continue to pray for God's breakthrough in this area.

I know that clean water became a hot topic over the holiday season.  I saw many adds for the Advent Conspiracy especially on facebook.  Kenya is not immune to this concern.  Below is a picture of a vehicle that can be seen often around Nairobi delivering water from boreholes (wells) to places that don't have running water.  

Yesterday Joe had a conference call with one of our teammates and a support in the States who are working on the beginnings of a new project - Water for Kenya (WFK).  The aim of WFK would be to establish water treatment regimes in Maasailand and beyond in connection with the ministry of Community Christian Church (CCC).  We are excited to see where this project takes us in the next couple months.  Please be in pray concerning the details of this ambitious project and all who are involved.  

On a personal note, I (Kim) just finished reading "The Shack."  A friend had actually just mentioned it to me in an email earlier this week, and I happened to see it at our teammates' house when we were there briefly.  She just finished reading it and let me borrow it.  I have to confess that I read it all in one day.  I was going to write some insights from it, but think I need a bit more time to process.  Look for those thoughts in an upcoming post...

Please remember to pray for us this week as we travel out to Kajiado for the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) Training of Trainers (TOT) 2 course.  Gotta love all those acronyms!