Mysterious Turds and Looking Through the Eyes of God

Oh Sunday. What a great day for new life experiences. Yesterday, after returning from church everyone, except Mary and Wallace, unassumingly entered the house. I followed behind everyone since I had to lock up the car and as I walked through the hallway I looked up to see people huddling around the base of the stairs speaking excitedly. I peered over some heads and saw what was causing all the commotion. A turd! And a few stairs above it was another one. There was an animal in the house! We slowly ascended the stairwell, anticipation building with each step and then quickly scattered to investigate each room. Victory shouted, "It's in my room!" At first we didn't believe him but when we walked toward his room he motioned for me to crouch down and look under his bed. I couldn't really see anything but decided to shake a bag underneath his bed to see if it brought about any movement. Something scratched the floor and started jumping around and everyone began to scream and scatter yet again to their respective rooms!

 I then switched into action mode and asked Wuangere (the house keeper) to bring me a broom. I waltzed into the room,  opened the balcony door and glanced to see a 25lb monkey  hovering in the corner of Victory's top-bunk. Freaky! Eventually we were able to get the monkey out of the window, but the excitement and laughter was quite refreshing. I have to say, I have never experienced such an intruder in my house before and honestly I don't think it will happen again since Mary found out haha. Oh what an event! Wish I had gotten a picture ;)

Well yesterday I also had the opportunity to play some ultimate frisbee with a bunch of muzungus at a high school outside of town. I had never really played before except in PE but that obviously doesn't count because after about 5 mins I was totally out of breath! Ultimate Frisbee involves a ton of running! The group meets every Sunday afternoon though so I think we are going to go back and hopefully I can work on my skills :)

I've been thinking a lot about my many perspectives on the aspects of life. One of them has to do with the fact that worry and bad attitudes waste so much time! Being in Kenya and realizing the short time that I have here has opened my eyes to the fact that time is precious and one's attitude is extremely important whether you are on an internship you have been dreaming about for ages or just going through everyday activities. We aren't promised tomorrow anyway, right? Why allow my fears or negative thoughts dictate how I spend today? It is kind of like this hill that I have been trying to tackle since arriving in Kenya. Leann and I usually run every morning and there is this giant hill (at least in my mind) that is challenging, but it is just a stinking hill and there have been times when I have let it overpower me! A hill? I mean come on! Anyway, emotions and worries aren't physically tangible but they are quite similar to a hill. Are we going to allow them to overpower us? I hope not, because we only have today...

Another perspective on life I have been pondering was brought up in reading Walking with the Poor by Bryant Myers. First of all, his book is about transformational development or holistic ministry involving the poor. He brings up a good point when he says, "The impact of the fall is on both the individual and the social system, and so the impact of the gospel of the Kingdom must be on both" (49). There are two extremes to missions, that of bringing the gospel only through word and that of bringing the gospel only through deed. The first consists of those missionaries whose primary focus is on saving the individual soul and doing nothing about the institution that both affects and is affected by the individual. The second is the opposite having the primary focus being on clinical problems of the institution that affects the individual. It is like humanitarian aid. But the fall in Genesis 3 impacted both. So when we think of any ministry, but especially that involving the poor in underdeveloped countries, a Christian's call is to the individual and the institution. 

Finally, I was convicted again about my perspective on the poor in the world. It has become so much more real since I have it right in front of me. But Myers states, "We may forget that the poor are not an abstraction but rather a group of human beings who have names, who are made in the image of God, whose hairs are numbered, ad for whom Jesus died" (57). Americans especially have the tendency to see a problem and want to fix it, but in the process we also forget that we are dealing with people just like us whether the stigmas of "dirty, uneducated, lazy, hopeless, superstitious, ineffective, etc." are true or not. We are not gods who have come to save the helpless, but complete and utter equals in the eyes of God. I have come to hate the fact that the Africans I meet sometimes put me on a pedestal because I am white and from America. The little kids stare in awe and reach out to touch my skin like I am some foreign god. I want to exclaim, "I am no different from you! Do you realize how precious you are; how you are just like me?" God: loving the individual and the institution. I pray everyday that I can see people how sees them and love them how he loves them. I pray that for you too.