Eldoret #6

Hello there everyone,

Today I am back in Nairobi after flying back from Eldoret last night, but I want to write about my last day there which was absolutely great. Because it was my last day, actually just the morning, I wanted to teach the parable of the Good Samaritan, which would be just long enough to allow me some time after teaching to take pictures of all the students. Pictures taken in class always come out too dark and so I wanted to go outside for that. Also I had to hand out a "Certificate of Achievement" which Judy Straalsund graciously had designed and printed for me.

Finally, I wanted to talk to them about continuing to meet after I leave. It would be a shame if the oneness they had achieved over these five days, and especially what they had learned about how many women are hurting in their churches because they have been or are being abused in every possible way, would not be used to build on even further. They now understand that they as Pastors should take a much more active role in helping and caring for these women. They are beginning to realize also that they themselves need help in how to do that with skill and sensitivity. So since it had become clear that Pastor Collins, who has several years of seminary training, and Milly from the Rescue Center, were clearly the informal leaders of the group, I wanted to see if they were willing to spearhead that.

The teaching on the Good Samaritan went over very well and it was really so good to see that they got the point of the parable. The lawyer who, as an educated Jew, knows that as a son of Abraham he is righteous, and so he believes he is no sinner, wants to know from Jesus what he must "do" to inherit eternal life. Typically his understanding of how the LORD relates to man is based on doing good works for which God will reward him with eternal life. So Jesus leads him to the point that he understands that he must love the LORD with all is heart, soul, mind and strength as well as his neighbor. Then when Jesus tells him dryly that he should just go out and do this in order to live, he realizes with a shock that he actually has no intention to love just anybody, he wants to be selective. It is interesting that people have either a high view or a low view of law, and that people who have a high view of law realize they could never fulfill it perfectly, which drives them to seek grace. In contrast if one has a low view of law and you understand you can never fulfill it perfectly you look for loopholes. This is what the lawyer now resorts to, so he asks Jesus, "Who actually is my neighbor?" He wants to hear from Jesus where to put up his fence to keep the unwanted out. Then by telling him the parable of the good Samaritan, who was from a group that was hated with a passion by the Jews, Jesus points out that there are no fences. You must love even those who are unlovable, the very outcasts of society.

This sparked quite a discussion and they were finally able to agree that for them certainly the Muslims, certain tribes they don't like or even hate (inter-tribal strife is still very much a problem here), and even drunks and sufferers of AIDS, they realized, should all be considered neighbors. The Muslim problem, because of the associated terrorist activity, is huge for Christians here, and the country does not know very well how to deal with them other than to violently suppress anything that looks suspicious. So we talked how we could bring over a meal to a sick Muslim mom, who can't take care of her family, and then ask her if it would be all right to pray for her. Perhaps they could help a neighbor fix his bike, or whatever. The point was they could do practical things to bridge the gulf that is so wide between Christians and Muslims. So this was again a very exciting conclusion of a morning spent around a very familiar passage from the N.T.

Then I handed out my last Bibles to the two Navigator students Carol and Ida, who as college students were clearly quite a cut above most of the others, and who owned only very old and worn King James Bibles. They were simply ecstatic. Finally, I gave my last one to Victor who is the boyfriend of Ida.

Then I handed out the the certificates, which, being an old-fashioned Dutchman, was quite alien to me: "How could that ever be justfiable?" But because of my soft heart and my advanced Yankee-fication I did it anyway, and was totally surprised to see the big smiles and the obvious delight. They could hardly stop taking pictures of me handing them out. So, you see what we have to put up when we go on a short term mission trip.

After taking pictures outside we had lunch. I invited Collins, Milly, and Stella to eat together so that we could talk about where they could go from here. The wonderful thing is that Milly agreed to lead a seminar at Collins church for the whole group of pastors and the rest of the students. She would prepare teachings on women's needs, how to deal with victims of abuse, and how to start programs for women in the church. Pastor Collins told us that he has some 70 men and perhaps about 130 women in his church, but that practically all his time and energy and church resources go to these 70 men.

After lunch we went outside in the garden to meet with the whole group and there I asked them to raise their hands if they wanted the group to continue to meet, I wanted some public commitment from them, and then they agreed to meet Sept 6, I think it was, for their first meeting. Pastor Collins and Milly would bring agenda items to discuss, one of which would be to hold a seminar on how to deal with women's needs.

Well, I was very tired after that and after hugs and tearful goodbyes I left to pack and fly to Nairobi where tomorrow (Saturday) I will teach the leadership of Pastor Sammy's church at the New Dawn High School. There is no rest for the wicked!

Well this must be it for the day. God bless you,

Hans