Hey guys! Sorry
its been so long since my last post, but the internet has been very spotty and
my attempts to make an awesome video have resulted in frustration with picture
and video uploading. I will try to
get the video out in a week when I will be back in a place with higher speed
internet.
Let me give you guys a brief rundown on ministry. Our days can be broken up into the
following schedule:
7am Breakfast
8am Morning Activity
9am Community Outreach
1pm Daily Prayer Meeting
2pm Lunch
3pm Afternoon Activity
8pm Dinner
Meals
The food here isn’t bad. It’s the kind of stuff I’d want to have maybe once a month
back home, but unfortunately, it feels like we eat the same 3 meals each
time. Each meal consists of a
carb: rice, ugali (corn paste) or chipati (pita/tortilla hybrid), a bean:
usually lentils, and then a mixture of carrots and potatoes. I really enjoyed it at first, but I
confess that Africa is going to be a long month.
Morning Activity
Often in the mornings, we will teach at a school. Sometimes it’s a private school where
there is already a Christian affiliation so we can say whatever we want. Other times it’s a public school so
they take the Protestants out of the classroom and bring them to a separate
place where we speak. They give us
completely free reign to teach about whatever we want. I have found that I am able to go
places that teachers can’t. Nobody
really talks about personal stuff here (e.g. lust, temptation, fear,
etc.). I often try to talk about
relevant issues that people are struggling with,”places their teachers won’t
go. I am hoping that I have made a
difference. I also generally have
an open Q & A time where I am asked questions about “why my hair is so
long,� “Is everyone in America
rich?� and my personal favorite “Why are white people’s butts like that?�
Community Outreach
The church has only been in the area for about a year, so
part of our ministry is inviting people out to church. Sometimes its door to door, sometimes
we walk around the streets of the slums.
Along with inviting people to church, we have the opportunity to get to
know these people, hear their hearts and pray with them. Its very humbling to be from America
and trying to relate to someone living in a mud shack.
People refer to foreigners as “Mzungu,� meaning white
man. For some reason, everyone
thinks very highly of us and kids will run down the street chanting in unison
“Mzungu! Mzungu! How are you, How are you, How are you…�
A few times a week, we are invited into people’s homes to
lead small church services over a cup of tea. In this culture, its an honor to take missionaries in and
people are literally fighting over an opportunity to have us over for a meal. Erin and I had the opportunity to go to
a birthday party at a comparatively wealthy woman’s house (see pic below).
Daily Prayer Meeting
Each of the team members takes turns preaching/singing to
the core members of the church and various members of the community who choose
to attend. The pastor adlibs a
service pretty much every single day.
Its been pretty good,” I have taken up journaling.
Afternoon Ministry
Some days, I get to do sports ministry: socccer (“football�)
or basketball. Sometimes we go on
field trips-e.g. hospitals, government buildings, police headquarters, and lead
mini church services. One day we
had the privilege of going to a mentally and physically disabled home. It was really heartbreaking to see 40
kids with severe physical and mental disabilities. We fed them and tried to just be their friend, even though
they generally couldn’t communicate.
It takes a special kind of servant to commit to that ministry full
time. Sometimes I teach English
classes, or help lead Celebrate Recovery groups (like AA meetings).
After
we get back from ministry in the afternoons, we generally have a team meeting
until our late dinner. Then we
fellowship a bit and go to bed early. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I promise to have tons in the video.
Love you guys! And Happy Father’s Day!
