Snapshots from Kenya – Kapenguria 
            On the evening of our second day in Kenya, we drove from Eldoret, where Rev. Murupus’ office is, to Kapenguria, where Joseph and Mary Murupus live.  By the time we left for Kapenguria, it was dark.  I had thought that traveling on Kenya’s roads during the daylight was bad, but traveling at night was far worse!  By this time the road was crowded with people walking home from the markets or work.  There were bicycles, carts, donkeys, matatoos (mini-van mass transit) everywhere.
 
            When we arrived in Kapenguria, Rev. Murupus told us that we would be staying for two nights at the place of a friend of theirs who owned an old safari camp just a couple of miles down the road from his house.  We pulled into the driveway and a Kenyan man opened the locked gate and we drove up to a house that looked like it came straight from the English countryside.  

 
            The owner of the compound was Jane and she and her husband had moved from England many years ago to run a safari camp in that part of Kenya.  Her husband had died some years back and now she and her daughter Julia ran the camp now.

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            Everything about this camp was English.  After we were shown to our tent where we would be sleeping for the night, we returned to the house for dinner.  The living room inside looked like a hunting lodge from England.  The meals we had with them were pure English.  Everything was very proper and neat.
 
            What struck us though were the servants.  Jane and Julia had hired 17 or so local Kenyans to work for them.  Now we had met several Kenyans thus far and we had been struck by how outgoing and positive they were.  The servants at this camp, however, seemed very sober, if not somber.  Claire and I like to go out of our way to show appreciation to servers or service help and to let them know we are interested in them as people, not just for the service they may provide.
 
            Often just a smile or thanking them will convey our interest or concern to them.  However, when we did this with these servants, however, they looked away as if cowed or worse as though we were the part of “enemy.”  They simply did not look at us as friends.
 
            It struck us as well that this was a setting that was locked in a time-warp.  This was a camp that operated as though the British still were in full control of the country.  It was as if Kenya had won its independence years ago, but no one had bothered to tell these two British women.
 
            The following day, Jane explained that there was a procedure for tipping the staff that we should follow.  There was a tip box that Jane said we should leave a tip in for the whole staff when we left.  She said it would be good to make a good show of putting it in too so that they would all see the tip go in.
 
            Later that day, Claire had the opportunity to talk a bit with Grace, the one servant who could speak some English.  She told Claire that when we give a tip, we should give it to the groundskeeper directly, not put it in the box.  Grace said that the staff would often not get their tip until several weeks later and rarely would get the whole amount.  And just that fast, we were in a dilemma: who do we believe?
 
            We ended up doing both, giving some to the groundskeeper and some in the box, hoping that the well-earned tip would get to where it was supposed to go.  But the overwhelming thought from this place was that here was a camp that was right in the middle of Kenya and still operating like it was 40 to 50 years ago.  It was very much out of touch with the current world.
 
            Since then I have wondered if the church is not all that different from that English safari camp.  We take care of our own needs and make sure everything is running along but we aren’t really engaging the world around us.  We peer out through church windows and see the world, but we are clueless as to how to engage it.  We know we are to be in the world, but not of the world, but being “in” often means sort of just passing through.
 
            I am currently reading a book that is challenging my thinking on what the church is and should be doing.  I’m not convinced that the author has all the right answers but I do think he has his finger on the problem in the church.  We have, in the words of Rebecca Pippert, become “rabbit-hole Christians,” scurrying from one safe Christian place to another without really engaging our world and the hurting people in it.
 
            One thing that our trip to Kenya did was to open our eyes to the church around the world.  It also opened my eyes to our own culture and world right here.  I’m convinced we have to become more engaged with the people around us.
 
 
Pastor Jerry                                                                                          
September 2007 September 2007 September 2007September 2007

September 2007

Snapshots from Kenya –The Road to Eldoret

This month I continue with some of our reflections from our recent trip to Kenya.

It was our first Monday in Kenya and Rev. Murupus was driving us from Nairobi to Eldoret. The road was narrow and full of every conceivable type of vehicle: bicycles, hand pulled carts, donkeys, trucks, minivans, buses and cars. Only the cars seemed to be driving at or above the posted speed limit, which meant a lot of passing of all the other various obstacles along the way. I don’t remember how many times it appeared certain that we were going to collide head-on with a truck or bus coming in the opposite direction. Nonetheless, when I wasn’t gripping the seat or the dashboard in front of me and praying earnestly, I was able to enjoy the countryside and the beautiful scenery along the way. 

We saw many new sites as we drove. We saw our first baboons along the road, a spectacular view of the Great Rift Valley as well as our first experience with road side venders. Later on in the day as we were driving, we stopped at a beautiful view of the mountains and valleys. Rev. Murupus pointed to a place that was miles away and with great pride told us that this was the place he served his first church.

We peered down into the valley and saw nothing more than hills, trees and small farms scattered among them. He went on to explain that actually he was in charge of several churches in this valley and at least once a month he would have to visit some of the churches well up in the mountains. When I asked how he would get from his home to those far-flung churches, he looked at me with a smile and said, “I walked.” He said it would usually take him 4-6 hours to get from his home nestled on the valley floor up to the churches in the mountains.

To put this in perspective, it would mean you or I walking from the church building to Hendersonville, Lebanon or Spring Hill. And Rev. Murupus did this every month in order to support the believers in those outlying churches. As I listened to him describe these regular trips, I thought of the differences between church in Kenya and in the United States. We think nothing of jumping in our cars and driving anywhere we want to go. Or we may complain about having to drive 30 minutes to get someplace that could take someone in Kenya 4-6 hours to walk.

I suspect that if we needed to go someplace 20 miles away and had to walk, we’d find a reason why we didn’t have to go. But Rev. Murupus did this clearly out of his sense of calling because at that point he was not getting paid for his work as pastor. He did it because he loved his Lord and he loved his churches. Such a sacrifice was not a problem for him.

We live in a culture that revolves around us and what is convenient for us. We want things fast, easy and convenient. We want fast food, convenient parking and everything programmed to meet our needs.

That attitude is becoming more and more pervasive in our churches as well. Churches today have become like small businesses trying to compete for customers. Whoever offers the most programs that fit a person or family’s needs wins. Now I agree that churches must be responsive to the needs of people. The body of believers has a responsibility to disciple its members and to help them and their children grow and mature in the faith. We are to challenge each other and help each other as we go through our Christian lives as a body of believers.

However, what has happened is that the task of discipling has, in many cases, been given over to the professionals. Being trained and discipled is often just another thing that we “shop for” in a church. Often Christians don’t see the roll they are to play in doing this for others.

The Christian life involves giving up our time as we use whatever gifts God has given us to serve Him and Christ’s church. For some that means walking 4-6 hours to visit other believers. For us it may mean being willing to serve on a Ministry Team or attend a small group or getting up a bit earlier to go to a Sunday School class. We may not have to walk 4-6 hours to use our gifts like Rev. Murupus did. However, God isn’t calling us to do that either. He wants us to use our gifts and abilities in any way we can to build up the body we are a part of now.

Pastor Jerry 

August 2007