Gee, but it's great to be back home...

I was sad to leave Korr and Kenya. I miss the big skies and sunrises/sets and greeting people as I walk about town. I am sad that I couldn't complete the Kenyan school year and see Form 4s to their national exams. But I am enjoying being back home.



I thought that I would stop posting on this blog once I returned to the UK. After all, I'm no longer 'Miss Jackson in Kenya' and life here doesn't seem quite as interesting as life in Korr. 

However, a few friends have encouraged me to continue blogging. I suppose I can get round the title of the blog because a part of me is still in Kenya! And the adventure isn't over; the readjustment, I am sure, will be just as eventful as many times over the last year.  

For example, I have to share with you the excitement that was one of my birthday presents from my brother (in case you haven't heard already). I got a signed photo from one of my favourite people: Julie Andrews! (Julie's sister-in-law works at Jonathan's school and he put in a special request. I am so chuffed!)



"For Hannah, with love from Julie Andrews"

It is strange being back. In some ways it seems completely normal. So quickly I adjust to being back in my house, driving my car, going to the supermarket and putting out the bins.

Being back is also quite a novelty; discovering clothes and belongings I had forgotten, catching up with people I haven't seen in over a year, discovering changes in the city, enjoying the beautiful British countryside and appreciating modern conveniences, clean feet, ice cream and fresh fruit. I am even looking forward to the start of the new academic year; welcoming the new Year 7s, seeing old students and getting back into the school routine (not sure how long I will stay excited about that!)

I found a book devoted to the subject of returning from mission trips and I am led to believe that the next few months may be rather challenging as I go through what's called 'reverse culture shock' once the novelty wears off! And things are not the same here. There have been changes both at my school and my church. And I am not the same as I was.

Yet I am comforted by the fact that God does not change. Psalm 90 declares: Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. And in James: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

I change, people change and situations change, but God is a constant: great, good, loving, all powerful, forgiving, provider, holy, merciful, compassionate, gracious, patient, perfect, trustworthy.....(I could go on!)

Nairobi - next stop home

Nairobi - population 3 million. It means 'cold wet place' and it lives up to its name. As I write it is tipping it down with rain and it is cooold!

Nairobi is big, busy, noisy, dirty and cold! There is great poverty, crime, pollution and congestion. Personal safety is a big issue as pick pocketing and mugging and road accidents are real dangers. But it is an interesting place of contrasts and culture, new developments and promise.

There is mains electricity, faster internet, piped water, hot showers, mobile phone reception, coffee shops, cinemas, buses, tarmac and chocolate. I've stayed at a guesthouse full of missionaries and visitors who are coming and going and passing through.

I've had a good few days preparing to return (including sorting a new mobile and broadband at home), doing packing and shopping, saying goodbyes, and doing some evaluation/debrief stuff.

So, I have had my hair cut, travelled on matatus (crazy 14-seater minibuses with music blaring out), met up with folks for coffee, had photos developed, taken a new short termer grocery shopping, been to a colleagues church and home, packed my backs again.

I am looking forward to returning home but I will be sad to leave here. I have appreciated being immersed in a culture and environment so different from what I am used to; every day I feel like I am walking in a geography text book. In many ways daily life has not been that different. I teach, read, cook, hang out with friends, go to church. But I have enjoyed the simple living, amazing sunsets, starry skies, smiling children who want to play, people with big hearts, and seeing how God is working in the church and wider community.

It hasn't always been easy but I’ve enjoyed teaching here and being able to weave the good news of Jesus into ordinary classes and conversations with students. It has been a real privilege to be a small part of the mission work in Korr and get a taste for international and cross-cultural missions by supporting the long-term gospel work.

Being away from everything that is familiar, missing friends and family (including the arrival of nephew Sebastian), contending with language and cultural differences, and living communally, all have enabled me to learn more about God and about me. I feel God has done far more in me this year than through me as he teaches me to trust him.

After an overnight flight I get back to the UK early on 16^th August. It’ll then be a hectic two weeks moving back into my house, a family holiday and preparing for the start of the new academic year.

I am so grateful that I can return to my job as Geography teacher and Head of Year at LCHS. Once again I will be looking after the new Year 7 students. I’ll have a different office, different classroom and different team but I am really looking forward to returning to a familiar role and I am excited to return to re-join colleagues and students. I am mindful that gospel work is not limited to special missionaries or far-flung places and I pray that God will use me there for his purposes.

People here ask me when I will be back in Kenya. Well as yet I have no plans but I don’t think this will be the last I see of Africa and I await the Lord’s guidance for the future!

Tea

I got to spend part of my last day with Esther and Robert Wanga. Robert Wanga teaches at Tirrim Secondary School. I call him Wanga and the students call him Mr Wanga. Wanga invited me to spend some time with his family in Nairobi before I left and treated me to some of his cooking. We ate delicious fresh fish!

In the morning Esther drove me out to Limuru, a tea-growing area not far from Nairobi. I have wanted to see tea plantations (sad Geography teacher!) and I appreciated visiting the area with a Kenyan who knew how to get around and we happily chatted about Kenyan culture, development issues and living as Christians.

Limuru is one of the places where tea was first grown in Kenya. The tea bushes are established and grow well in the warm and wet climate and fertile red soil. Tea is one of Kenya's top exports, a key source of foreign exchange and a big employer.

We tried to visit the Unilever Mabroukie tea factory, where the picked tea leaves are processed, but they didn't fall for our sweet talking and wouldn't let us in!

Meet...the Junior Swanepoels

Grant, Abby, Caity, Loki, Owen and Miles

Here is a very special family. They live in Kurungu which is a 2-3 hour drive from Korr among people of the Samburu tribe.

I stayed with them several times in the last year, including the Christmas holidays. I greatly appreciated their warm welcome, discussions about missionary life, learning words in Africaans and playing with the children.

Grant teaches local men how to understand and teach the Bible. Lots of church leaders in Kenya lack a depth of knowledge about who God is and about the Bible. For many of these men, formal university training is not appropriate. Grant at the Kurungu Bible Training Centre aims to teach them the Bible so that they grow in their own faith, can teach the others and lead their congregations. 

He is also seeking to train other Bible teachers in the in order that they may teach others...ie set up more local Bible training Centres in northern Kenya.

Check out their Nomad's Pulpit Facebook page for details and news of their work as well as some of Grant's wonderful photography.

Meet...Pastor David

 



David Gargule is one of the pastors at AIC Korr. We call him Pastor David. Pastor David is one of the people we go to in order to understand local culture and how we should respond to it and fit in; his support in this is invaluable. We often discuss issues of cross-cultural mission and the way in which cultures are different yet God and the Bible are universal.
 
Pastor lives with his wife, Alice, and their five children, not far from us. The children are regular visitors to our house and they often bring eggs from their chickens for us to buy.

Pastor David has a real desire to share his Christian faith with his fellow Rendille people. Recently he was involved with an outreach to a local town to plant a church where there has previously not been one. The Korr church is currently supporting this fledgling congregation, especially until January when a pastor is arriving. And in June David was one of the Korr pastors that hosted a conference of over 100 church leaders from northern Kenya which, amongst other things, distributed solar MP3 players pre-recorded with the story of Jesus in local languages and explored the use of them. 

He recently visited South Korea, his first time out of Kenya, to make links with some churches there. And on returning to Kenya stayed in Nairobi for classes for his masters degree. Sadly I our paths didn't cross and I didn't get to see him in Nairobi.  
 

When are you getting married?

At school on my birthday a visitor sung 'Happy Birthday' to me, including the customary Kenyan 'How Old Are You Now?' verse. Then followed a 'When Are You Getting Married?' verse! Me and my wazungu friends joked about this...was it a proposal?! You wouldn't make comments of this nature back home, certainly not in a whole school assembly.

Questions as to marital status are as common as the other important questions about whether I have brothers and sisters. (It is important to establish where in the birth order I come as to be first-born is of great significance). But it took some time to adjust to the somewhat personal questions.

The reply of 'I just haven't met him (ie my husband) yet' doesn't quite make sense to many people here as they then proceed to offer their brother or cousin or one of the students in Form 4!

Amusing conversations about the bride price follow: whether my dad would keep the eight camels or convert them to cash, how we get camels to UK, whether they would survive in mum and dad's garden.

Many boys say that they want to marry a wazungu (white person) especially when they discover that wazungus don't require a bride price!! But interesting conversations follow when I point out that this means that their wife wouldn't be one of their possessions! And that a wazungu wife would not be happy with her husband sitting under a tree talking all day while she gets water, wood, cooks, washes clothes, milks the goats....culture greatly determines expectations about relationships in marriage.

Getting married is almost automatic here and there are strong traditions surrounding finding a match and the ensuing celebrations. Marriage is important for community structure and having lots of children is also crucial. There are no single/childless women in Korr; those without children of their own are 'given' children by family members. Arranged marriages are normal in traditional Rendille communities and brides can be very very young. Even amongst more educated Rendille, who might chose their spouse, women marry and start having babies young. Me and my housemates don't quite fit in with the local community because, despite being old enough, none of us are 'mamas'. They see it strange that we don't have definite plans for marrying.

UK culture has a whole different set of expectations and traditions regarding whether, when and who people marry. And not all of them are good. I think it is good the way that marriage and parenthood are held in high regard in Korr.  In the same way, not all Rendille customs are good. When there are conflicting cultural views about something like this it can be difficult to work out what is best and so it is even more important that we base our thinking on the Bible. 

At Tirrim Secondary School, Form 4 students have two 'Bible' lessons a week and they are working through a series of studies to discover what God's design for marriage is and to get a Biblical perspective on relationships that honour God and each other. The students love these lessons (and I enjoy overhearing them from my office next door) and often chat to me after class about how they can apply what they learn to their lives. So far they have looked at how God established the practice of marriage been man and woman from the beginning and how he promotes its significance throughout the rest of the Bible. They looked what sort of spouse they would like and are now going through 1 Corinthians 13 - what love looks like and how this would work in their marriages.

However, the Bible also makes it clear that both being married and not being married are valid. The identity of those who follow Christ is in the fact that they are children of God, not based on their marital status. I am not saved by being married or by having children, although these are good and the path for the majority. I am saved, and my life given purpose, by Jesus.

Inevitably, me and my housemates discuss these issues a fair amount. We describe our 'ideal husband'; the ability to grow a beard, nice handwriting and good teeth are amongst the 'requirements' that my housemates suggest (none of these are mine by the way). However, spending this time in Kenya and being open to the possibility of returning to Africa longer term influences our thoughts regarding what makes for a good husband. New on our 'lists' is an interest in missions, the ability to fix a car and willingness to kill snakes - things that are far more important than my dreams of a 'Northern Irish rock climbing doctor'! Seriously though, I hold my 'list' quite lightly. The only things I will be picky on is his devotion to the Lord, and his preparedness to take me on with all my peculiarities.

I don't think that I am single necessarily because I am too picky. Or because I 'haven't met the right one yet'. I think that it is because God wants me single at the moment and for His good purposes. He knows what he is doing. There are loads of advantages of being not being married that I need to remind myself of. And there are many ways that I can serve God that would be harder if I was married.

So, when am I getting married? I don't know. But God knows the ifs and whens. I know that if I am to get married I want it to be to someone who will help me live my life for the Lord. So I trust my unknown future to Him, who has been faithful in my life so far and will continue to be.

Church under a tree

I visited Rongumo village this afternoon. It is kind of ‘my’ village since I was given a Rendille name by a lady from there (Konkomo – it means ‘short’!)

 

I spent some time with the local Rongumo church. This was very different from a church back home or even in Korr town. Worshippers met under a tree and sat on the dusty ground. There were no song books or PA system or translation. And it was very windy.

 

But they sang and shared testimony and listened to a story of one of Jesus’ miracles being read from a much-read copy of the book of John in Rendille language and heard a short talk afterwards. I was reminded that of course, they were worshipping the very same God that people all over the world worship. A creator God, who loves all people all over the world so much that his heart breaks when they do their own thing. Father God who sent his son Jesus to win his people back. God who longs for people to come to him and get to know him.

Church under a tree

I was also struck at how, in many ways, this church was unlikely. Almost in the middle of nowhere and remote from regular communications and media and the outside world. Surrounded by peoples who follow traditional African religions. Where not everyone goes to school and many are illiterate. Where until recently the local language was not written down. Where there isn’t a complete translation of the Bible in the local language.

God wants all people to hear the message about his love for them and to accept Jesus as their saviour. But how do people in remote northern Kenya get to know this message? The book of Romans speaks of the problem and solution:

But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news! (Romans 10:14-15)

 

 Lots of clapping and singing songs to and about God in local Rendille language

 

The Tirrim Project in Korr does many things, some of which are similar to many community development projects all over Kenya. But as well as offering practical assistance to the Rendille people (eg schools and adult education, feeding programmes, vetinary assistance, clean water) it also brings this message. Sometimes this occurs at the same time as the practical help but also separately.

The good news is being translated into Rendille language, and the New Testament books of the Bible are almost complete. Adults in remote villages are being taught basic literacy so that they can not only read the labels on medicines and write to family members, but also read the Bible and learn more about who God is and what he does. 

 

The Bible reading from the Rendille translation of the book of John

 

This is being done partly by people from outside Korr, like Lynne and Nick who set up the Tirrim Project. But excitingly, it is also being done by local people. The church meeting this afternoon had no ‘outside’ help. It was led entirely by local people in a style fitting their culture. It was a privilege to join with them, even if I didn’t know what was being said, as I was able to see how the good news of Jesus is being spread by his messengers so that people can call on his name and be saved.

Praise the Lord!



My irteeyo and rimrimo

Earlier this week Mama Jane presented me with my own set of Rendille beads, called irteeyo. Such a generous gift from this big-hearted lady.

 

Then I visited Goratee who has been making a head dress, or rimrimo, for me. I have been going to her a few times a week for the last few weeks in order to have my head measured and check it fits. I learned that either I have a big head and/or Rendille women have incredibly small heads as my rimrimo could go over the top of theirs with lots of space! Finally I got word that it was finished and picked it up.

Outside Mama Jane's (newly extended) min - both wearing out irteeyos

 

 With Mama Jane, her grandson Giddy, and Seku and Ntala (two girls who live with her)

 

 Goratee putting the finishing touches on my rimrimo

 

My outfit is almost complete