October Newsletter

October has come and gone, yet no leaves have fallen here in Kenya. The purple blossoms of the Jacaranda tree blanket the streets, somewhat filling in the pothole-ridden pavement. And if I’m not careful, I will twist my ankle in these hidden holes. The beauty of this country is undeniable, but neither is her pain hidden underneath.

I climb once more into the back of the Toyota Landcruiser, before Andrew takes our small team through the dust and down the dirt ‘road’ back to Nairobi. We have just finished visiting another community project. I wave good-bye to the community members sending us off and the children who stare agape as our vehicle bounces by.

My colleagues are abuzz with new ideas from another inspiring visit. Certainly things seem to be going much better for the community: they have a new water tank and soon will be able to pipe the plentiful water to their homes. But I can’t help from wondering about the many questions left unanswered: Will what we started last? How do these people view us and what we’re doing? Will they be empowered for lasting change? Have we really ‘helped’ them? And how will I convey all of this to the people back home?

At the beginning of the month I began working at Church World Service, specifically in their East Africa Regional office in Nairobi. So far my primary duty has been putting together a newsletter covering all of our various community development projects. I’m really enjoying my colleagues and feel extremely blessed to be doing this type of development work.

My own desires to serve have been challenged with the enormous need here in Kenya. What can I possibly do to ‘help’ these people? Do they even need or want my ‘help’? If not, then why am I here?

Since it’s dangerous to go out at night in Nairobi, I have had plenty of time to either reflect or distract myself from these issues. I was particularly struck by a passage in Ministry at the Margins by Anthony Gittins. He compares the moral obligation to give with the social obligation to receive. When we receive, we empower the giver in the relationship.

The goal of my organization is to empower the communities we aim to serve. Yet in light of these words, we should be receiving – or allowing them to give to us – if we truly want to empower them.

So what can a ‘poor’ person give? I have found that they can offer me hospitality with a wooden stool and chai, Kenya’s milky tea. They can give a warm smile, showing a genuine desire to receive me as one of their own. They have gifts in the forms of story, if I’m willing to listen.

One of my coworkers, Sammy, describes CWS as a “facilitating organization” versus one which implements projects. What I think he means is that we partner with communities to hear their ideas and aspirations before we assist them, either financially or with words of advice or encouragement.

Many people I meet here are in need, and not just in these communities. My friend wants to go to electrical engineering school but doesn’t have the $700 to pay for it. A coworker struggles to pay for his daughter’s school fees. Another friend has lost his mother and father to AIDS.

I don’t think these people are asking me for my ‘help.’ Rather, I believe they’re asking me first and foremost to listen. And in the exchange of giving and receiving, I trust God is forming lasting relationships and healing community. Where we go from there I leave to the Lord. At least now we’ll be traveling together.