If you
are in Africa, and you happen to be white in skin color you are what the Africans
call a “Muzungu” (moo-zoon-goo) (white person). Now of course they do not mean
this in a racist way at all, it’s just a name for white people here. So if you
are a Muzungu and you are walking the busy streets of Nairobi, Kenya, you might
as well have a target painted on your back. Muzungu’s here, especially if you
are from the United States, are associated with being rich and having
everything they need, which is far cry from my current reality. As you walk the
streets, people will try to scam or harass you anyway they can. Even cab
drivers will sometimes try to find ways to get more money from you.
My
co-leader, Liz, and I walked down the street to get a cab to the post office in
order to mail some things back to the states. We met this man named Masha, who
said he would gladly take us. When we jumped in the cab, we noticed a bible on
the seat in which we were about to sit. Liz asked him if it was his, he said it
was. He began with great joy in his voice, telling us how he had met Jesus who
he now calls Lord and Savior. He explained this had happened just over a year
ago, even though he had grown up in a Christian home all his life. He explained
to us that many people go to church, and say, “I am a Christian,” but going into
a building and singing some songs does not make you a Christian. He went on to
say that a true Christian undergoes a heart transformation and becomes a new
person as a result of meeting Jesus. He told us he used to drink, mess with
girls, the whole bit, but since meeting Jesus he now uses his every day job
driving a cab to share with others the joy in his life. You would swear that
Jesus was riding shotgun with Masha in his taxicab; he had that much joy and
excitement.
As soon
as he finished talking to us, we had arrived at the post office. Masha insisted
to come inside with us to help. If you take a small building, pack it with a
lot of people, no orderly lines, strange smells, people speaking Swahili, all
the knowledge of how a U.S. post office works- take that and throw it out the
window, you will have a Kenyan post office. So, as you can imagine, it was chaotic
at best. Masha jumped in, talked to the postal workers, made sure the scammers
left us alone, took the things we needed to mail, and made sure it all got
taken care of properly. All while singing the old hymn “It is well with my
soul”, with a huge smile on his face and joy in his voice. We were there for
over 45 minutes because the process was slow. Masha probably missed out on some
business/income but he was more interested in making sure we were taken care
of. We nicknamed Masha our “Guardian Angel;” in reality he was our good
Samaritan of Kenya.
My encounter with Masha left me asking a few hard questions
of myself, like: when I wake up every day is Jesus the first person I think
about? Do I, in a sense, take Jesus with me throughout my day where ever I go?
Or, do I give Him an hour or two of my day at best and then never give Him a
second thought? Do I try more to do what I consider my ministry, or Jesus’
ministry? The hardest question of all was: when people have an encounter with
me do they see Jesus or me?
What about you,
when you leave your house in the morning to head to work, school, ministry or
wherever you are going, who’s riding shotgun with you?
