Real Life Leading. Mpeketoni, Kenya
It dawned on me the other day that 5 out of the past 11
months, I’ve been in Africa. In
September of 2010, I arrived in Kenya with the O-squad. Going through Busia, Kenya in
September; Lira, Uganda in October; and traveling some 50+ hours on a bus to
Sumbawanga, Tanzania in November; to spending the first few days of December at
our debrief back in Nairobi.
Now here in Mpeketoni, Kenya for these past two months, I
remember how fast it all actually goes.
We have less than one week remaining here in Mpeketoni before we head
out to our debrief. The strangest
thing to me is that this place has been a place where I have spent the most
consistent amount of time in over 1 year; spending about a month in each place
on the race and being home for just over 2 weeks before leaving again to come
here for a whopping 2 consistent months.
I feel as if I’ve reached my fringes, wearing thin like an old
dishtowel. The Lord has been faithful
to sustain me in these times and continues to do so and will continue to do so long
after I leave this place, but one of the scariest things lies ahead for me.
My entire life I’ve always had something planned in my
future, even if it was just having to go to school the next year. Once high school ended I was going to
college, once college ended I was already signed up for the World Race, and
once that ended I was already committed to leading this trip. For the first time ever I’m arriving
back to America (actually excited about it) with nothing planned for my
future. Having no job and living
with Gene and Shannon (the parents) for an undisclosed amount of time, single
and on the verge of turning 26 with American culture yelling in my face (along
with a simi-quiter voice from my mother) to find a date, then to get settled
with a good paying job. My mind
can only be tempted to succumb to this and while it’s not the wrong thing, it’s
not necessarily the right thing.
Hearing stories here in Mpeketoni from some of our friends;
stories of abandonment, being left as a baby for someone to find; stories of dying
fathers and abandoning mothers, of uncles who force Islam down the throats of
children with my suspicion of some abuse; I realize that the pressures of
American culture should be considered a blessing. The fact that I can come home and find a job, that I have a
degree, that my culture tells me success is measured in dollar amounts is a
blessing because its all achievable in America (Don’t miss me here, true success is not, but the fact that it can be done is a blessing). And while the culture here says the same thing in some of a
more acute degree, the obtuse leans mostly on survival of life; being diseased
free, AIDS free, having a family that isn’t torn apart by some act of selfish
greed (I realize this is a problem in America too), getting shoes for your kid
so that when he stubs his toe on a rock and it gets cut open, when the cut
becomes infected you have to deal with the hospital which is likely not
equipped to handle the injury (this is happening to our neighbor Felix, he’s 1
½), and these scenarios could go on.
But God’s hand is not so small as not to reach these people or so big as to overlook them, he has reached them and
he does and it’s been great to be a part of it for almost half a year.
I don’t know what lies ahead for me; teaching English as a
second language in some S.E.A. country, going to grad school somewhere in
Europe, going back to get another bachelors, finding a job in Charleston,
moving to a new place, starting a business, going to seminary to become a
full-time missionary, continuing to work with AIM… probably will be doing a good bit of sitting and listening
on the initial end. A cliché is
such because its truth applies to everyone; today, tomorrow, and the next day,
and the day after that, and the day that I get home, is the first day of the rest of my life, and the actions that I take will
determine my future. (don’t want
to get into the Calvinist argument but I think
that to be true)
Thank you to everyone who has supported me both financially
and in prayer. I read in 3 John 7
– 8 a little while ago and thought of you. God has been so good to support me financially for this trip
with doing minimal support raising.
Thank you again.
This may be the last blog I right here.
