Kenya Update II.2: Off to Ministry Assignments
Denise Poon
Habari yako once again, dear friends and supporters. It seems as if I've been in Kenya for at least a month but it's only been about a week and a half. Last I wrote, I was in Nairobi, still in our Orientation Week. Let me fill you in on some things that have happened since:
1. Christian Union (CU) Meeting at the University of Nairobi: We went to their large group this past Friday, and I met one of the most wonderful Kenya ladies I have ever had the fortune to encounter. Her name is Mesi and she came up to me and asked if I could speak Chinese (Kenyans come up to me frequently to ask if I am Chinese/Korean/Japanese, if I am from China, or if I know Jackie Chan). I replied with "kidogo," which means "a little" in Swahili and she said something back to me, which I didn't understand. I asked (very intelligently), "Uh...what?" She laughed and said she just said "a little," only in Chinese! Turns out she speaks Chinese!! I only know a little bit of Mandarin, but we managed to get in some words here and there. Actually, she's much better than me, so that was a bit embarrassing, but she told me that she took a class and is going to China in a few weeks for the second time. She also shared about the super-highway being built in Nairobi right now is being constructed by workers from China, so many people are learning Chinese and the Chinese workers are learning Swahili, and there is a lot of outreach going towards the workers. It boggled my mind--this world really is shrinking in so many ways, and two of the cultures I love so much--Chinese and Kenyan--are crossing paths. Amazing! And I can only wonder how God feels to see His children traveling the world He has created.
2. GP Staff Meetings: I love our staff meetings. Our staff team works incredibly well together, and there is much laughter during our time together. We spent the last few meetings being immersed in trying to figure out ministry assignment placements for the team, which has been an arduous process. For those of you who don't know, after Orientation Week, students are sent off in pairs (a la the disciples, save for one team, which I will get into later) to ministry sites all over Kenya. We take into consideration the person, the ministry site, the host pastor/family, their partner, and the type of ministry they'll be doing. It's sort of this "Rubiks Cube" as Brian, our director, puts it. However, we finished yesternoon and unveiled the ministry placements, and as Brian said, it has been the whole process with the staff has gone the smoothest he has ever seen.
So...I am sure you all are wriggling with anticipation, wondering I'll be going this time around. Last year I was in Sigowet, Kenya, a small town in rural, tea leaf country with Courtney Teaford. This time around, I will be serving in Huruma, at a Mother Theresa orphanage in Nairobi. The orphanage is located next to Huruma, a slum near Mathare Valley (the slum I talked about in my last email), and the orphanage is run by nuns and Kenyan workers. A GP staffer traditionally leads a team of students there, and that is me this time around. The team is comprised of two smaller pairings--I am partnered with a girl named Kassily from New Mexico, and two other girls are Kirstin and Cynnimin. Our ministry begins when we take matatus (Kenyan bus shuttles that are crammed full of people) to Huruma--we will be doing ministry along the way, engaging people in conversations and the like. Once at the orphanage, we will be serving in the wards--the baby ward, the disabled children ward, and the disabled women ward. I really do mean "serving"--we will be feeding, bathing, and dressing the babies and children, cleaning floors, mopping up, etc. etc. Then during our lunch break we will be going into the slum neighborhood to build more relationships before going back to the orphanage for more work. Then we'll matatu to our homes. That's our day in a nutshell, at least from what I know now.
In terms of living situations, Kassily and I will be living at the FOCUS (Kenya's equivalent of InterVarsity) center with one of the FOCUS staff, and the other two will be living with another host family. Our host parents are Rogers and Mwende, who I will meet tomorrow when we are dropped off at the FOCUS center, and they have two young children. So yes, this year I will be in an urban area, and will have a toilet, shower, and Internet. However, I have decided to forgo using the Internet these next three weeks out of solidarity with my teammates who do not have Internet access, and my desire to leave behind the distractions of the Internet and rely only on God these upcoming weeks.
In short: I am nervous and anxious to leave tomorrow so I can start our ministry assignment. It's a bit weird...last year I just knew I would be partnered with Courtney, and since I found out I was going to come back, I had a feeling it would be Huruma--so I've been a bit mentally prepared for several months now. Despite that, I know I need to rely on Him because assignment this year is so completely different than last year.
Please pray that:
1. Trust and reliance on Him--I really am nervous about serving at Huruma, it is one of the most emotionally draining ministry sites because of the brokenness we see in babies who have been abandoned, disabled children forgotten, etc. etc. I don't know what to expect and don't know how to predict my own reactions, much less lead a team of students, all of whom range from excited, indifferent, and disappointed. Pray that I will be able to speak truth and encourage the girls I am leading.
2. Grace in how I conduct myself--another aspect of serving at Huruma is the political side of it. Part of my role as the staff placed there is to make sure we keep up a good relationship with the sisters (especially the head sister), in order to ensure we can continue going there and working with them. This is especially important since Sanctuary of Hope (also mentioned in my last email, it's the kid's rehabilitation home that Debbie, the wife half of the director-team, started with a pastor here) often takes in kids from the orphanage. A lot of our ministry is showing that we as Americans don't want to stomp all over Kenyan culture, but do indeed want to come alongside their culture and learn. So please pray that I am "diplomatic" as Brian says, and keep building relationships at Huruma, and also at the FOCUS center, where I'll be meeting FOCUS staff.
3. Good health: I've caught a bit of a cold and am feeling a bit unwell, and while I'm able to function, I've been getting tired out more easily and feel not completely in my right senses. Also, please pray that I won't feel sick on the matatu rides into and from Huruma--I'm so prone to motion sickness.
4. Protection over the whole team.
We commissioned the team today, and everyone will be leaving tomorrow. It is deja vu to see the anticipation, and it'll be strange to only be going 45 minutes away, and to know I won't be going back to Sigowet with my mom from last year (she arrived yesterday with all the other host pastors, and I nearly started crying at the sight of her) but I know God has much in store. I don't know what He has planned (sort of frightening, really), but I trust that His will is to always perfect me and mold me to be more and more the image and likeness of Himself.
Asante sana, as always, from all your prayers and thoughts. Getting your emails has been wonderful--I'm sorry if I can't respond to them, but I have read them and am keeping you in my prayers. I love you all. Talk to you in three weeks.
Shalom,
Denise Chemutai Nemaian
(my Kenyan name from the Kalenjin tribe from last year, and Nemaian is the Masai name Mesi gave me, that's how much she liked me! It means "blessings." Guess she doesn't know me that well).
--
Denise Poon
University of California, Berkeley
B.A. English and Media Studies, May 2012
626-320-2182
denis...@berkeley.edu
Denise Poon
FOCUS Centre
P.O. Box 781
Ruaraka 00618 KENYA