African Courier #4: Catching Up with Reality

Hujambo!?

That’s one way of saying "How are you?" in Kiswahili. Then you reply "Sijambo!" The other way, which is more common here, is "Habari?" and "Mzuri!"

I can’t believe my first trip to East Africa is almost over! (and that it's already been 4 months since I came!) I’ll be flying out here in two weeks (on Nov. 21), arriving in the cool autumn of Los Angeles (if you can say there is an autumn in SoCal). In my mind, LA is still as hot as I left it in July. And everything else is just frozen the way it was then - school still on vacation, friends still excited about finishing college, and everyone looking forward to a summer filled adventure... It’s a scary thought to see how all my junk (which I left in the living room) got taken care of, and how everything, including family, friends, and church, has changed. I will also be preparing full-on for medical schools (secondary applications and interviews). Soon enough, I will face reality. Not that life in Kenya isn’t a reality. It definitely is! And painfully so!

I say “painfully” because yesterday I was hit with a minor case of flu. I was in bed all day, suffering from severe headache, stomachache, and some fever. Thank God it wasn’t malaria, and that I’m quite better now. As I was cooking my rice porridge for lunch, I couldn’t help but to think how much I need a wife on a foreign mission. Indeed, “It is not good that the man should be alone...” (especially when he’s sick on a mission trip). Anyhow, I’m not advertising for a wife here (and no, I’m not accepting applications or looking for a blind date)... It’s just to describe how bad it was. Seriously though, thank God I’m alive! Mom, please don’t worry. I’m all ok now! But please continue to pray for me.

Speaking of wife, Pastor Eben’s wife delivered their second child today (Nov. 9)! It’s a boy! Pastor Eben is here in Nairobi, but his wife and children (now plural) are in Korea. He seemed very happy and relieved today, especially since the baby was more than a week late and he was getting concerned. He can’t wait to share the news with the whole world (and I guess I’m helping him by writing this).

There’s another thing I want to share with the whole world about Eben...

I was prank-ed big-time on my birthday by Eben and Richard. Well, maybe not that big, but Eben and Richard got me pretty good. It’s a long story (not that long, but too long to spam... err... to put in a newsletter), so if you’re interested, you can read the entry on my blog here: http://doxadeo.blogspot.com/2006/11/doxa-in-kenya-birthday-prank.html

In other news, I’m halfway through with the library. Maybe not so interesting, but so far I’ve recorded about 4200 books on the computer (about 2900 of them were done in the past week). It’s actually quite interesting to go through all the titles (and sub-titles) of the books, but it’s not always fun to work with shelves after shelves of dusty old books. Some of them were eaten up at least 30% by termites, and my hands get pretty gross after handling a few hundred books a day. I just have to look forward to the day it’s done and keep working diligently. Besides, I do have the pressure to finish before I leave.

During my breaks from my work in the dusty dungeon that is the library, I go out to get some fresh air and to observe the new construction on our campus.

Four weeks ago, we started the construction of a new house. It’s been quite interesting to see how they build here. Although I’ve missed some of the process, I got to see and learn about (and take pictures of) many important steps of the construction. Surely I can use some skills in this area as I prepare to become a missionary doctor in a developing country. It’s quite impressive how much Rev. Kim has built during his 17 years of ministry here. God-willing, I hope to build some clinics and hospitals to benefit many people in Africa.

Perhaps as you can see, there aren’t very many exciting/interesting news this month. Mission work isn’t always exciting, but God is surely working. What I mention in my newsletters are only highlights, and the reality is that these are only a glimpse of what we experience here. In other words, things can be quite dull besides what’s mentioned in newsletters. I don’t mean to say that my time here has been boring. Not at all! I’ve enjoyed everyday that I’ve been here (maybe except yesterday when I was sick), whether I’m in Masai or working at BCEA. I just say this because I realize that some people may get newsletters (whether it is from me or some other missionaries) and read about some crazy/amazing stuff going on in the field, and misunderstand that all they read is all that’s happening out there.

The thing is, it’s so easy for the missionaries to over emphasize or exaggerate some seemingly “cool” stuff to make it look like their work is more important or bigger than what it really is. For example, about my mentioning about my flu yesterday, although I’m not exaggerating, you may think that I’m going through such a hard time in Kenya just because I mentioned it. The truth is, I was only sick one day (and I could be just as sick anywhere else in the world), and most of the time I’m actually quite healthy and comfortable. On the other hand, even though I only mentioned a few things in this newsletter (and very few things that I’m actually doing besides observing), I’ve been extremely busy, even as busy as I was in college. I can confidently say that because, while in college I would spend a lot more time on the internet, here I would spend much less time online yet be busy enough to sleep barely 6 hours a day. Both teaching English classes and conducting church choir take a lot of time and energy.

Anyhow, I just wanted you to understand that what I mention in my newsletters are just the things that I think you might be interested in, and there’s a lot more going on out here that can be either boring or exciting to you. Also, I try to present them without exaggerating or over emphasizing. My intention is not to make my life here seem more miserable or interesting than it really is so that you may have sympathy or be moved to give financial support. What God is providing for me right now is sufficient, and I believe that He will always provide. Of course, that doesn’t mean “don’t give any financial support” because I am currently living on the support of some churches in California. If God moves you to give, please give! I just don’t want to be the one convincing/begging you through newsletters, and I shouldn’t be.

God provides, and He is always faithful to provide when I need. In fact, recently I realized that I’ve been quite low on cash ever since the theft two months ago. So I prayed to God to provide, and amazingly enough, someone (I don’t even know who) donated extra money towards my mission fund! I don’t even know how s/he knew about me or why s/he decided to give, but I just know that God works in amazing ways. Praise God!

Now, here’s what you’ve been waiting for. Prayer requests! Please pray for:

· my health. As you already know, I’ve been sick a few times already while living in Africa. And somehow they always involved the stomach. I think I’ll have to get my stomach checked up when I come back to the US. Meanwhile, please continue to pray for my health.

· the travel back home. Not just for me, but several of the faculty at BCEA will be going back home this month. Eben is flying back to Korea on Nov. 20, I’m flying back to the States on Nov. 21, and Richard is flying back to Philippines on Nov. 24. I think Rev. Kim is also flying back to Korea sometime in December. Please pray for safe travel.

· the safety of the community. Last night while in bed, I heard a horrifying yell of a man from the neighbors, dogs barking and rushing towards the noise, and then two gun shots. After a few minutes I heard the police car passing by, and then four more gun shots. No, this is not America, and guns are not legal here. Where do they get guns then, you ask? Why, from the police officers, of course! Hand a few thousand shillings to a cop and you’re ready for an armed robbery for the night. Welcome to Kenya (that’s what Eben would say). Enough said. Please pray for God’s protection from physical harm.

· my medical school applications (plural this time). I’ve started working on some secondary applications for medical schools. They’re not as intense as AMCAS (the first application for all med schools), but a lot of work nonetheless. If anyone wants to proofread/comment on my essays, let me know! Most of them are very short, and won’t take much of your time.

· the library catalogue project. I really need to finish this work before I leave, so that they can start using the new system next term (in January). I won’t be back probably by February or maybe March because of med school interviews, so I need to leave it in good shape. Once I finish this, students will be able to checkout/in books by scanning barcodes (yay for “new” technology!), which is much faster and more efficient than keeping track on notebooks.

· finals. Students at BCEA will be taking finals starting next week through the week after. My English final will be a week from this Friday since I’ll be leaving the next Tuesday. I know most of you reading this are students or teachers, so you know what it means to take a final, so no need to explain the significance of this. Cheating is quite common in schools in Kenya, even here at BCEA. In fact, during the past midterms, one student was caught and was expelled. It seems like it is part of their culture not to take cheating seriously. This cannot be, especially in a Bible College where we want to train honest and sincere ministers.

· the faculty at BCEA (Nairobi & Tanzania), my English classes, the ministries in Masai Land, and whatever I forgot or didn’t mention that needs prayer. I don’t think I need to repeat what I said in my last newsletter. Please continue to pray for them! For those of you who know Pastor Lazarus, his wife is expected to deliver their first baby soon. So please pray for them. Christine is getting married on Nov. 25 at Mombassa, and her fiancé is flying in from Singapore sometime this week or next. Pray for safe travel and the preparation for the wedding.

Thank you again for taking the time to read the newsletter! Sorry there’s no picture this time. But when I come back, I’m sure you’ll see so many that you’ll get sick of them (or just from seeing pictures/videos of dead/dying animals).

God Bless,
SunMin
http://doxadeo.blogspot.com

To subscribe to African Courier Newsletter, visit
http://groups.google.com/group/african-courier/

Doxa in Kenya: The Birthday Prank

This one is almost a month old already, but it’s worth writing about.

So my 23rd birthday passed last month (Oct. 14). It was quite different from any of my previous ones, besides the fact that my older brother, who shares the same birthday, wasn’t there. I think I’ve celebrated my birthday without my older brother only once before this one.

I usually don’t start out my birthday thinking, “Yes! It’s my birthday today!” Especially this time, since my mind was preoccupied with something else. That morning I was looking for my jeans which had been missing since it was last washed. It had been a while since I saw it hanging for it to be dried, and that morning I saw that it was gone. So I asked Joy the housekeeper, and she told me she thought I took it down. When I asked Richard, my next-door neighbor, he told me that sometimes things go missing around here, but that they usually come back. So I’m like, Great...

Later that morning, Mrs. Kim invited the three “bachelors” (Richard, Eben, and I) for lunch. I didn’t realize that it was my birthday until Eben exclaimed, “Oh, I see! you prepared lunch for us because it’s SunMin’s birthday!” So apparently Eben had forgotten that it was my birthday, which was no big deal since I don’t expect anyone other than my family to remember that. Mrs. Kim seemed surprised, saying, “How could you forget?”

When we finished eating lunch (which was amazing, kalbi-tang and all), Eben told me that he’ll make a “Queen’s cake” for my birthday (which is just a muffin). He pulled out a muffin (seemingly out of nowhere), and started putting match sticks on it... 23 of them! Of course, we couldn’t light them all because as soon as one was lit it would burst out some flame and die in a few seconds, or get too hot to get near it. Anyhow, they sang happy birthday to me over a small muffin with a flame on top.

Now, I thought that was funny enough. After the song, Mrs. Kim gave me some presents, which turned out to be a Tupperware full of kimchi (yes!) and another Tupperware with dried squid in Korean spice (double yes!). Then Eben brought out a big box wrapped in newspaper. So he didn’t forget that it was my birthday after all! Hmm, something is fishy here, I thought (besides the actual food). When I opened it, I saw a nice yellow shirt, a pair of socks, an underwear (what?), and a pair of jeans... And they were all mine!!! No wonder where my jeans went! They were all tagged as if to seem like they were brand new. Also in the box was my phone from the States (which I can’t use here because it uses embedded SIM card), and on it Eben and Richard had recorded some videos of them singing happy birthday and putting tags on my cloths (for some reason Richard had kept a bunch of clothe tags from the Philippines in his room).

Then after that, they brought out a real cake, a chocolate flavored one with “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUNMIN” in icing. I guess that was the nice part.

Man, we laughed so hard! I hadn’t laughed like that for so long. It was all Eben’s idea (yes, I know he got them from his friends when they tricked him the same way). Anyway, I had a real good birthday. Thanks guys! I need to do it to one of my friends one day.