It’s amazing how our senses come alive when we travel far from home. We notice things that locals no longer notice; we have a different perspective and outlook. Kenya is a place to observe, a place so different from where I come from…..
The smell of fresh rain mixing with the orange soil permeates my nose. It is the end of a day of evangelizing, and my group is an hour walk from where we started. We are caught in the rain, the aroma is rugged and distinct. The rain has dimmed the smell of body odor, something quite 
evident wherever you go here. Along the way, my intrepreters stop at one of the hundreds of roasting corn stands. They are everywhere along the sides of every road. Simple….a fire with a pot and grill piece, where they roast ears of corn all day to sell to anyone walking by. Another distinct smell of Kenya and the popular snack, running around 10 cents.
I’ve walked along many of the bumpy dirt roads. It becomes an art-form: avoiding the many ankle busting rocks, donkeys, sheep, cows, bikes, motorbikes, and walking people. By the end of the day I am blowing dirt out of my nose, and when I remove my sandals there is a dirt imprint from the straps. Most people in Kenya walk everywhere. They overwhelm the sides of the roads, as cars would anywhere else. The contrast of our skin to theirs is quite blatant; and so we are stared at everywhere we go. People stop what they are doing to stare or yell: Mzungo Mzungo! Which is the Swahili term for white person……children especially love yelling this. I see people herding sheep or cows; men on carts pulled by donkeys; children and women carrying huge vessels of water on their heads; others carrying a variety of other things on their head as well; and schoolchildren in their uniforms walking to school. Other kids play along the side of the road with things as simple as an old tire.
Everyone is extremely welcoming and they invite us into their homes, without batting an eye: Karibu Karibu (welcome). It is usually dark inside the mud huts, with the smell of the smoke from the cooking fire (in the house or right outside) and mildew. We pray for them and listen to what they have to say. At first, this seemed so pointless, as a lot of them are already saved…..but then I realized most are broken and needing renewal. What can I offer someone who is sick, who has no money or job, who is trying to feed their children, or who has lost all hope?
These people know what material things they need and it offers a lifeless hope; but when they receive the Holy Spirit, they have joy. Just enter any African church and you can see it. They need a reminder that the Spirit is always with them and it seems to ease their worries. I can’t save every person in the world…..it’s not my job; but when I can bring the light of our savior….I can witness the peace. Our sufferings on this earth are nothing, so long as we have Jesus in our hearts. We aren’t living for this life, we are living for an eternity with our Father in Heaven……and that is enough to get through another day. Sometimes we just need reminded.
