Feeling like a king at the mzungu cafe

Tuesday had been all about introducing others to our culture.  Yesterday demonstrated how different our cultures truly are.

Yesterday morning we were ready to go at 9AM.  Our driver John did not show up until nearly 10:30AM, taking us to breakfast at Adams’ home at around 11AM.  Once breakfast was over we found ourselves sitting around staring at the walls.  Adams left to go set up at the church for our 2PM meeting.   It wasn’t long before Scott, Nathanael and I grabbed out bags and headed down the road on foot, just to get out and move around.

2PM came and went with no one at the church.  Adams was embarrassed and discussed the differences between African time and mzungu time.  About 3:30 a small audience had formed and we got started.   I spoke from Mark 5 on the story of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood.

When we were finished we returned to Adams’ house for the evening meal.  Adams was again apologetic about the service, but I explained to him that it wasn’t the late starting time that troubled us, it was the 6 hours of inactivity that was difficult for us.   It is interesting to see the American value of productivity in this setting.

This morning we met with Adams privately and discussed our thoughts and observations.  After our meeting we headed to his house for breakfast and we are now making our final visit to the mzungu cafe for a little downtime and souvenir shopping.

We will be leaving in about an hour and half for Eldoret to put Scott and Nathanael on their flight to Nairobi and then on to the U.S..  I will be conducting meetings over the weekend and meeting Horace and Phyllis Leister, who run the Tumaini Childrens Home in Eldoret.  The Leisters are the parents of Jake Leister, one of the elders at my home church, 4CI.

Update:

After arriving in Eldoret, we dropped Scott and Nathanael off for their flight and headed to Rift Valley Techincal Training Institute where I spoke to the Christian Students Union. I discussed the importance of standing firm and avoiding compromise in an increasingly hostile world.

After speaking to the students we headed to the slum area of Langas where Pastor Maheri has started a new work.  Langas is the type of third world slum you see in pictures on television.  Nothing but garbage everywhere.  Children playing in garbage heaps with raw sewage running all around their feet.   The road is littered with drinking establishments that serve alcohol made in crude stills throughout the area.  In the midst of all of this is a mosque that dwarfs the other buildings in the area.

It was getting dark, so I was unable to preach from my Bible.  I opted instead to talk about the call for such a church.   I will be speaking in this same location over the next 3 days as well.

Tonight I met Jake’s dad and was then introduced to my host, Pastor Nimrod Musau the Bishop and Administrator for Faith Ministries East Africa.  Pastor Nimrod also leads an equipping ministry that trains pastors and leaders throughout East Africa.  Tonight we had great conversation talking about the challenges facing the churches in this region.  Our conclusions were identical.

Tomorrow I am speaking at a pastor’s luncheon and then will return to Langas for an evening meeting.