Exile

Almost twenty years ago, a guy called Peter Shaw said to me, with complete conviction.

"You should live in another country for at least a year."

And I remember what I thought at the time.

"No."

Funny how life turns out. Funny that I never forgot what he said.
The power of some words: lasting.

So what's it like, leaving your own culture for a year?

Let's go with the positives.

There's a lot of deep stuff I could say about the Rendille people and God's goodness (perhaps another time). However, for this post I've mostly just had a bit of fun, by skimming memories from the top of my head, which means that what follows is predominantly random, light and fluffy. 

This has been a year to make the most of the daylight hours. Apparently, 9pm is "missionary midnight" and this rings true for me. I'm often in bed by 10pm. My parents both grew up on farms, where milking hours were early, so surely they can swell with pride that I've been waking at the crack of dawn on almost every day. Make the most of the day and all that...

I am now a walker. Every day, I take the trip to school on my feet. Imagine that! No car. No visits to the petrol station (what petrol station!?). I'm really hoping that this habit continues back in the UK.

My appreciation of fruits and vegetables is at an all-time high. That has to be good, right? When you go for weeks without either, your body rushes to meet that fresh tomato. Nothing like a big, red tomato! Cabbage becomes exciting. No. Really.  Given my new appreciation of the humble vegetable, I have to agree with Proverbs 15v17:

"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
Than a fattened calf with hatred."

Notably, the middle-aged belly has gone. The "Korr diet" (core diet?) really works for me. No cake in the staffroom for people's birthdays helps enormously. There's no McDonald's in the entire country, so I can't just nip out to 'top up the tummy' with a few cheeseburgers. One bowl of getheri (beans and maize) for the 12 hours between breakfast and the evening meal really deals with any lingering folds of flesh. Marvellous.

I don't have to flush the toilet for months at a time. Think about that for a minute! (Being free from having to pull the flushing lever has saved approximately 17 minutes 15 secs over the course of the entire year... ... !?) The cockroaches deal with everything for free. Yes, cockroaches are the misunderstood good guys!!

I have not had a cough or cold all year. Now that is something to be thankful for. The ongoing hot, dry weather really clears up the snivels. I've not had that miserable combination of feelings of blocked sinuses, competitively-thick cough, rain pouring down, dark outside, driving to work with your wipers swishing wildly in front of your nose, wet playtimes all week, and kids cooped up inside.

Random. Light. Fluffy.

Although I am now curious as to how 'one year away' has affected other people, for those who've been mad enough to try it.

How was your year away?

Death-bed delight

Picture the scene. It's your death-bed and you think to yourself: What did I do with my life? Was it worth it? Did my life make a difference? Too many people are caught with the same thought:

"I wasted it. Oh, how I wasted it."

Let's change the scene to a different, but related scene.

I was able to be part of an extraordinary prayer meeting on Sunday night. Emotional. Inspiring. One couple, nearing the age of retirement, shared their thoughts, looking back over 35 years of work in this part of Kenya. God has used them to reach a people group who knew nothing of Jesus, so that now an 'unreached' people group has become 'reached' in their lifetime; on their watch. They have been able to write down the Rendille language for the first time and translate the New Testament into this local tongue. Checking still has to be done, but the majority of the work has been completed.

And to think, for the first 13 years of living in this remote area, not a single person became a Christian. I think that a lot of people, people like me, would have packed up and gone home. You can only take so much. I'm glad they stayed! Today, the church is thriving and changing lives.

Another couple in the prayer meeting had never been to Korr before. What were they, tourists? Far from it. The guy began to open up. It turns out that they'd been praying for the work and supporting the projects in Korr for about 30 years. They have done what many Christians do: support and pray for places that they may never visit. For decades. Visibly, they were overwhelmed to actually be in the place they had spent years praying for. They were seeing for themselves what all those prayers could achieve.

Let me encourage those of you who have prayed for years and you question yourself:

Is it worth it?

I've seen it with my own eyes. It's worth it. Keep going. God is faithful and He will do it.

And one day, as your life ebbs away, you can rest peacefully in the knowledge that heaven is smiling down on you now.

1 Thessalonians 5

²⁴ He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Celebrating half-time

How long does the average Brit live these days? 80 years? I think it's pretty close to eight decades. Which means that the birthday I just celebrated marks half-time for my entire life. (In this figurative vision, I guess that it's also time to nip out to the toilet and put the kettle on?). 

So, double twenty. Sure goes quickly. 

I heard 'old people' say that to me over and over again, but it's so true. Life is short. 

Anyhow, how do you mark a few decades when you're in the middle of the desert? (I was half-dreading it. My 30th had been great - time with old friends and family. But how would that work in a location far from ALL those people).

On any normal Monday I would be teaching, but this was "mid-term break" (basically, a long weekend) so I had a free day. A whole Monday to celebrate. 

I used to hide away on birthdays, but time has changed me. Celebrate the years that God has given you. See some precious people.

Here are a few highlights:

1.By 8am I already had a huge smile on my face. I had crossed town and was sat with John and Regina, with their kids Joel, Judy and Kennedy, in one of the two small rooms they live in. They left their comfortable old life to come and speak to the Rendille about Christ. We read some Bible and prayed.  They also sang for me: "This is the day that the Lord has made... This is the hour... This is the minute... This is the birthday..." Five smiling people, singing and dancing: I didn't know where to look. I'd arrived in my shorts and t-shirt. John's family were decked in their 'Sunday best': shirts, waistcoats, dresses... After munching biscuits and slurping chai, I was off to see some teachers.   

2.Oscar, Paul and Mike all live at Amina's Guest House. During the week we all work from the same staff room. How was this going to work out? Little did I know that they had planned to preach at me. A "preach-off." Oscar crouched, pouted, smiled, flung his hands around and within two minutes had completed his message. Paul, who was wearing luminous pink shorts over a formal-looking shirt and trousers, stood and commanded the 'crowd'. Before I knew what was happening I was up there, joining in the preach-fest. So THIS is how to spend a birthday morning!?

3.Mike walked me on to Zulakha's for chai. Eric and Daisy were standing outside: these two Kenyan teachers from the Secondary School always bring a smile to my face: humble and happy. What more could you ask for?  

4.Kiambo lives in a traditional Rendille house on the edge of town and he was next on my list. He'd gathered a few more teachers (including two of the friendliest Muslim guys you're ever likely to meet: Mohaa and Jillo). After a few photos, sodas and pancakes I was off home for lunch. 

To cut a long story short, by the end of the day I felt so blessed. Paige and Kim, the two American girls who live on the same compound as me, were so thoughtful all day. For example, while I was away in the morning, Kim was making a chocolate cake with icing... quite the treat out here (i.e. it's my first one all year). The afternoon was spent watching "How to train your dragon" with a few kids - great film! And still I had been asked to go to Jim and Laura's for pudding. I arrived to find presents, balloons, and even ice-cream. I was overwhelmed, having never seen ice-cream in Korr before. Somehow Laura had managed to find every reference to '40' in the Bible and chatted through the list. Naturally, I'm not a thoughtful guy. Thoughtfulness is alien to me. All the more reason to be impressed by the thoughtfulness of others. 

I'm so thankful for the memories and to those who made it special. 

Let me finish with what Daisy said to me, suggesting that this might be my attitude for the next forty years: Psalm 34 v 1

I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.

Sounds good to me! 

We all need encouraging.

True, isn't it? We all need encouraging. But when did you last encourage someone else? (When did I?)

The encouragement I received was at a gathering of mission partners who live and work in Northern Kenya. We had all arrived in Kurungu for a weekend to pray.  

Warm-hearted folk

The sun shone. The stories came tumbling out. And I was encouraged. What a difference it makes when people really listen to you, know where you're coming from and give an encouraging response. 

I had a great surprise when I found out who I would be sharing a room with: Josh and Frazer. Because we have mutual friends back in England, I'd already received lots of information about Frazer and his team-mates, but never actually met the guy. It was a real tonic to hear another British accent and speak about familiar people and situations. He's doing remarkably well, given that his team are living almost entirely off the grid, seeking to share the love of Jesus with those who have never heard of Him. I've gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with his "missionary beard." 

Cup of tea, sir?

But the encouragement was not over. Two U.S. gals had turned up (Paige and Kim) and were going to come back to Korr to be part of our team for a couple of months. People to talk to after school? Fantastic! Okay, so one of them called me, "Dad" but we're all getting a little older now, aren't we? 

The Korr collective: Jim, Laura, me, Paige, Kim

After a couple of movie nights and campfire singing under the stars, I managed to sneak a cheeky (free) flight over the mountains and back home.

Kurungu runway

Beautiful flight

So who are you going to encourage next? 

Or, in the words of Hebrews 3v13 ... "encourage one another daily..." 

Coward's guide to creepy crawlies

There are some pretty nasty looking beasties in Korr. 

This little fella (below) was just hanging out below the sink. Haven't a clue what his name is, but he was fast and nasty looking. (That scientific enough for you?)

So how does a soft Englishman conquer the overwhelming tide of beasts (spot the coward's exaggeration)? I thought I'd put it down as a (tongue-in-cheek) system of rules:

1.It would appear that the pit opens just after sunset. All manner of disgusting beasties are released for another night on the town. Therefore, don't go out at night (unless you have to go and watch a Premier League Game on the one big TV in town, or for some other deep spiritual reason). Think you need the toilet in the middle of the night? Think again! (Okay, so I've broken this rule a few times, but the rules should still be the rules)

2.Don't kill one of the huge, ridiculously fast spiders. Apparently if you kill one, more appear. Now, you might think that this rule sounds ri-di-cu-lous BUT I killed one of these fearsome monsters, only to find four more of his mates to turn up within the hour. This happened before I'd even heard of the 'more appear if you kill one' phenomenon. Curious.

3.Ignore rule #2 because those guys are nasty. The grave is where they belong.

4.Check your house for obvious gaps and plug them! If huge hairy beasts are still playing 'chase' in your living room, you need to raise your game. Stem the flow. Putting draught excluders on the doors seems to work a treat.

5.Make the most of the daylight hours. Scott Scorpion, Sammy Spider and Selena Snake are almost never seen during the day, so wake up just before sunrise (like everyone else) and enjoy hours of fun. You are the CHAMPION of the day. A word of caution: I did come across a massive spitting cobra on the way to school and know of a girl bitten by a snake in her house in the early afternoon. Then there was the black mamba spotted during a church service. Rare though.

6.Don't spend tooooo long enjoying your toilet experience. If you can't see a large family of nippy little cockroaches down the choo (toilet), you really aren't looking very hard. Look again. 

7.Do have a large dictionary at hand. Firstly, it makes you look clever AND it can show the crawling beast who is boss of this house (apologies to all crawling beast lovers).   


Followed the rules to the letter? Now, relax in your bug-free environment...  

With all this bug-free time, why not read a cool section of the Bible, like, say, the gospel of John - such a great historical account of the life of Jesus. Here's just a snippet of Jesus speaking in John 15:

¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! ¹² This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. ¹³ There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

The dark heart of Kenya?

There's so much dreadful news in the headlines recently. And now more deaths in Nairobi, of people who were simply living their lives: shopping and using public transport. More terrorism. You have to wonder what further tragedies could be just around the corner.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-blasts-kill-at-least-13-people-as-tourists-fly-home-early-after-foreign-office-warning-9385802.html


I heard the news today at school, from a Kenyan teacher who is so saddened by what is happening in his country. And it made me want to balance the information slightly. If you read the papers you'd be forgiven for thinking that Kenya has a terrorist on every street corner and a thief in every house.


Now, nobody's perfect, but...

Kenya contains some of the most wonderful people in the world.

I've shaken many of these people by the hand. People who work hard for their families. People who hate terrorism as much as you do. People who smile that genuine smile that has no hidden edge to it - they are just happy to chat to you. People who have time for you. People who want to share their lives with you. People who love to laugh. People of faith.


So, if you ever have the privilege of visiting Kenya, expect hospitality and humour. Expect friendly faces and enough sugar in your tea to sink a small boat. 


I'm not ignoring the evil out there - oh yes, it's there. But there sure are some wonderful people in this beautiful country.   


I have to say, I'm with King David on this one:


"As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight." (Psalm 16v3)


Yup, many people are an absolute delight to know. Thank God for them!

A failure in life and I can prove it!

Got the results from the (tropical) Doc yesterday - could have been better, could have been worse. She went through pages and pages of stuff, in a matter-of-fact kind of way, a bit like a teacher reading out your exam results. You know the kind of thing?

Teacher: Physics ... (long pause, whilst you look at the floor)... A.
               English... (equally long pause) ... E.

Only this time the report read a little differently:

Doctor: Malaria ... negative
             Bilharzia... negative
             Liver... fine
             Kidneys... they're fine too
             You do have a fungal infection on your foot, so we'll get you some tablets for that...

At this point, allow me to break away from the friendly Doc and confess that I am a failure in life. Yes, that's right, I have never completed a marathon. Failure. My brother's done it. My Dad's done it. I haven't. Just to really rub it in, my Dad's in training for another marathon this year. He's 70. Everyone else is playing bridge, whilst my father runs for four hours non-stop.

So what does that have to do with a fungal infection on the foot? Well, alas, it means that MY marathon training will HAVE to be delayed indefinitely. Shame. Every cloud really does have a silver lining.    

The Doc did have more news to share. It seems that I now have my fair share of tropical ailments - all part of the package. Looks like I have:

1. Typhus
2. An amoeba (somewhere within...)
3.Salmonella (yes, I've heard of that one)

Better take the tablets, I guess! At least it's not 'man flu'.

Like I said on my last post: I find it so reassuring that it is Jesus Christ who is in control. He died for me and for you (out of love for us), and he is in control. He cares about every detail of our lives and he is in control.