Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday
3) The mosque across the street from our house
Confessions From a Twenty Year Old
Somehow, though, I've always had a next step, always known where I was going.
Recently, the fact that I will be leaving Kenya in just a few short months has finally begun to sink in, and I've realized that I'm not sure what my next step is.
God has been clear that I am supposed to stay Stateside for awhile, but I have been wrestling with Him quite stubbornly -- and ridiculously. Who am I to tell an all knowing God that He doesn't know what He is talking about? -- when it comes down to the details.
Obviously, I am still learning the lesson that Mary seemed to have understood.
“Just imagine what Mary was actually saying in the words, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord … let what you have said be done to me’ (Luke 1:38). She was saying, ‘I don’t know what this all means, but I trust that good things will happen.’ She trusted so deeply that her waiting was open to all possibilities. And she did not want to control them. She believed that when she listened carefully she could trust what was going to happen.
“To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our own imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God molds us according
to God’s love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control.”
—Henri Nouwen
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tuesday
Do One Thing
Most of them won't keep the promises that they make to themselves.
This year, instead of making a promise to yourself that you are going to break, make a promise to someone else. And, keep it.
There are 27 million people across the globe who will go into 2010 as modern day slaves. Some of them might be working to create the stuff that you use and buy every day.
For New Years, decide to do something about it. Follow this link, and send emails to companies that you use, asking them to make sure that they are not selling products made by slaves. Before you forget, and this gets lost under the pile of other broken New Years' promises, click on the link, and keep your promise to someone else.
One Thing for One Month
What if, instead of reaching so high, we decided to do just one thing for just one month?
One in seven people across the globe don't have access to the same clean water that goes into your morning coffee. It takes up to seven times the amount of water in your plastic bottle to bottle that water.
For the month of January, buy a cheaper coffee when you go through Starbucks and keep track of what you are saving. When you get to $42, buy a reusable water bottle and provide clean water for someone who needs it.
Justice means changing your life at the same time that you are changing someone else's.
For one month. Do one thing.
Monday, December 28, 2009
A Week of Photos
Today...you get a glimpse of Nairobi, courtesy of Esther's mom, who is here for a visit.
1) You know you're in the city when you start seeing apples and oranges for sale on the side of the street. Yum!
2) The bus stage in Eastliegh. Look familiar, Mom and Dad?
3) Street vendors hanging out at the bus stage with their wares
4) The edge of a Nairobi market
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Twas the Night Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house Not a creature was stirring...well...maybe the mouse. The stockings were hung by the whiteboard with care
Okay, that's not how it really went down at all. Let's try again.
Twas some days before Christmas
And throughout the land
The interns were scrambling
They'd come up with a plan
The stockings were hung at the Witt's house with care
Knowing their teammates soon would be there
As the snowflakes were cut
No one took time for a nap
And the last of the chain
Soon filled up the gap
Then at Jason's house there arose such a clatter
Of interns in kitchen, mixing some batter
After they'd feasted and opened the last of their presents
They set out to work
And it really was pleasant
They sorted and bagged
To prepare the next feast
Where they chopped up more vegetables
And boiled two beasts
The rice was all cleaned and the pilau was stirred
When asked to cut firewood, they complained not a word
Crafts were created
And stories were told
And a good time was had
By the young and the old
Then they jumped in the vans
And they drove out of sight
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Am I Really Helping?
If I sponsor a child through World Vision and then go out and buy a Hershey's chocolate bar, I am acting like a hypocrite.
If I donate towards a well in Zambia and then buy a bottle of water or let my toilet flush an entire tank of water, the only thing that I am practicing is how to be a con man.
If I donate to a local food bank and then throw out my leftovers or neglect to grow my own food, I am lying to myself and anyone else who sees my actions.
The justice of finding a sustainable lifestyle for humanity requires finding a sustainable lifestyle for all humanity. There is simply no other option.
Giving money may feel good, but, until grass is torn up to give way to gardens that help to diminish the waste of transporting goods over long distances, there is no way that we will come up with an answer to world hunger.
Spreading Coca-Cola and the golden arches across the globe is never going to teach farmers the techniques that they need to feed their families and their countries. People mimic what they see modeled for them. (Like it or not, people across the globe do look at America as an economic success story) What kind of models are we being?
Do I really practice what I preach?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
STEM
It was nice having them here, because it meant extra hands that were willing to work (And they brought food for Thanksgiving!), so we were able to put together desks for two different schools and do a medical clinic. Laura and I got to spend all three work days out at the schools building desks, which was a lot of fun. – And,
I think that we did more manual labor in those three days behind the walls of a school compound than we have done during the rest of our internship combined. (Culturally, women here don’t really do manual labor – including painting – so we don’t do nearly as many projects as the guys are involved in…)
They worked hard, and it was fun to see them learning – although I think that their learning curve was much less steep than what my parents experienced when they came. (There is a definite cushioning effect of coming with a larger team and having special work projects to focus on.)
Even though it was a cool experience, it was exhausting by the end of their week, and I wasn’t even directly responsible for them in any way. I definitely have a new respect for people like the Grandberrys who have teams come out all summer long, one after another, after another. It’s nice having short term teams, but it’s a lot of WORK.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Promoting Literacy
Rebecca headed up the Bible story pictures that we painted on the walls out at school and then spent last term going back out to the school to tell the preschool and kindergarteners the stories. Now, she is working on illustrating culturally appropriate health and safety posters, helping a friend illustrate an English children’s story set in North Eastern Kenya, and working on a Kiswahili children’s book that uses the alphabet to name attributes of God.
I am helping to re-write a pre-primary school curriculum and working on Bible story picture books in Kiswahili.
Ashley and Melissa run a Bible club at school where they work on sword drills and memorization with the kids and where books are given as prizes. Additionally, both of them have helped the teachers at school to grade student tests, and answered countless questions about English – and every other subject under the sun.
Laura makes our video blog entries, is teaching a computer literacy course to the teachers at school, helps in the office and grading papers as needed, and has organized a pen pal program between students here and students in
Esther was able to get a hold of a solar/crank/wall charged device that contains the entire New Testament in Kiswahili, and attends a weekly Bible study where they spend part of the time listening to a passage. In a few months, she is planning to visit
Heath teaches guitar lessons and helps with a worship team at his church, and
--No worries. We do actually do other things that have nothing to do with literacy or communications media as well. They just don’t fit into this post. :P
Who is my Neighbor?
A Modern Re-telling
“But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And, who is my neighbor?’ Then Jesus answered and said:”
A certain man went out to the coffee fields to earn a living so that he could feed his family. While he was working, an international corporation came and purchased the fields, adding the crops and the laborers to its plantation. The corporation grew rich off of the scheme and pushed coffee prices down so low that the other farmers had no choice but to sell their land to the plantation. Soon, the man found himself in debt to the corporation, and, even when his wife and children joined him in the fields, they could not earn enough money to buy food or clean water. A missionary came and stood on a large stage, telling all the people about their sins, but the man was too tired from working to listen, so the missionary left. Some rich Christians came and stayed in his country for a week, but they returned to their jobs in
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Truth Trackers
This past Wednesday was the last club day for this school year (They close school in November and start a new school year in January), so…
The kids all got their prizes.
They earn points for prizes by attending club, bringing their Bibles, and memorizing verses. Just a few verses earned them a sweet. More verses earned them two sweets (did you know that they make coke flavored hard candies?! It’s like a cross between a bottle cap and a lifesaver…) or even two sweets and a pencil sharpener.
Saying all of their verses earned them a brand new book.
Some people in that States donated several sets of YWAM missionary biographies, and the kids were very excited to receive them as prizes – almost as excited as they were about the candy…lol.
No. Really, they were excited, and proud. I watched one girl get off the bus and proceed to show her book to every person that she passed on the way to her house.
Of course, now, everyone is going to want to be in Bible club next year. I mean…who wouldn’t want to join the club that gives out sweets and books?
Brains and Boxes
Nine years ago, I sat on a dark rooftop with an uncertain and frustrated team. Frustrated by the four walls that seemed to be hemming t...
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Haiti VBS trip 2012 - Haitian Christian Mission from Jessica Mac on Vimeo .
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Nine years ago, I sat on a dark rooftop with an uncertain and frustrated team. Frustrated by the four walls that seemed to be hemming t...