What I Miss Most / Change of Plans

While I was in Kenya, I really missed having friends that I could connect with deeply. Since I came back, I visited AGO (my fraternity) once, and hung out with my old roommate once. It was really nice seeing some of my friends and talking with them...

More and more I'm realizing that I need to do more of that.

These days most of my time is spent in front of my computer either just wasting away or trying to motivate myself to work on some more essays for med school secondary apps. I've been working at a hak-won (tutor place) in Cerritos, which is actually quite fun, but tutoring kids and studying with college classmates just aren't the same (yes, I think group study is fun, yes, I think studying is fun, and yes, I am a nerd).

It's so strange because I never felt so lonely in my life... Ok, I'm not like desperately lonely, but I definitely feel like I'm missing something. And I guess it's people that I love (other than my family, of course). I never realized how much I loved hanging out with friends, although I didn't take them for granted.

I miss my friends...

I don't think I can wait like this until I start making new friends in med school.

Well, it's winter break, and I'm sure someone wouldn't mind hanging out with me. Anyone?

---

In other news, last week I found out that I won't be going back to Kenya next spring. God seems to have closed the door there. I'm pretty sad especially because I won't be able to see the kids in Lenkijape anymore... I promised them I would bring back photos, too. Well, God is always faithful. When He closes a door, He opens another. Looks like He wants me to go to Haiti this time. It's basically Africa except it's in the Caribbean. So I've started relearning French using a computer program.

I've always wondered why in the world I took French in high school and not Spanish. I was in Japan then, and I didn't know I could be moving to California where Spanish is useful and French is not. Now I'm beginning to think that God lead me to take French because He has a plan for me in Africa. If that's the case, I should seriously start studying French. The trip to Haiti will be in late March, and I may be staying there till end of July. My life would be quite miserable if I'm not prepared... I'm sure it will be a lot more challenging then my trip to Kenya.

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
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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.

African Courier #3: On the Other Side of Academia

Jambo!

I know I said the third newsletter was coming soon. And that was already two weeks ago. But you see, in Africa (and perhaps in your country, too) "soon" can mean anything between a few minutes to a few years, especially in restaurants, as I found out the hard way.

Anyhow, here are some of the things that have happened since my last update:

· At the end of August, we had a pastor's conference at BCEA Kenya. About 200 African pastors attended the conference. I attended some of the sessions and learned some good lessons on the Bible, many of which I never knew. I also got to learn some of the Fundamentalist perspective of Christianity. Lots of good stuff. The main speaker was Dr. Jeffery Khoo from Far Eastern Bible College (Singapore).

· Beginning of September, we opened the new Bible college in Arusha, Tanzania. Day after the opening ceremony, I went with Dr. Gary Johnson to a local church surrounded by a thick forest of banana trees. I got to share of my testimony, and Dr. Johnson preached. At the end of service three ladies came to Christ! The amazing thing was that these ladies had been going to church for at least 10 years, and had never before prayed to receive Christ! Praise God for giving us such an amazing opportunity to serve Him.

· A lot of my money was stolen at a hotel in Tanzania. It was a big mistake to leave my pouch in my hotel room. Probably while I was eating dinner, a hotel worker unlocked the door and took the money from the pouch, leaving the room as if no one had entered. I didn’t realize until I was back in Nairobi that my money was gone. So I actually don’t know for certain when or where the money was stolen.

· I got infected by some round worms. Soon after I came back from Masai Land, I was having some periodic gastric (and gas) problems. I got a chance to go to Dr. Johnson’s clinic in Kitui one day and got myself checked for parasites. When we looked at my stool sample stained with iodine under the microscope, lo and behold, there were some fertilized ascaris eggs! (I think I got infected when I drank water from a boma in Lenkijape. They get water by digging the sand in a dried-up river) At Dr. Johnson’s clinic, I bought some mebendazole and ketrax (sp?) along with some medicine for my shoulder (I landed on my right shoulder in a bicycle accident in Lenkijape). All of it cost only Ksh50 (~$0.70). What a steal! Dr. Johnson invited me to spend some time at his clinic so that I can learn some tropical medicine. I’ll probably go sometime next year. I’m really looking forward to that.

· I've been teaching two English classes at BCEA. One is for foreigners (Sudanese, Congolese, etc.) who don't speak English very well, and the other is for mostly Kenyans who've finished up to secondary school (equivalent of high school). It's been a challenge especially teaching the "beginner" class, since English is a foreign language to them. Sometimes I use a bit of French that I learned in high school to teach them English (Congolese speak French). It’s been encouraging to see many of the students improve.

· I’ve been conducting the church English choir. The church at BCEA has two choirs: Kiswahili Choir and English Choir. Since Rev. Kim’s daughter (who plays piano for English choir) left for seminary in California, Eben (who conducts the choir) now plays the piano, and I’m conducting. It’s been really fun trying to teach them vocal techniques that I’ve been learning since 10 years ago. It’s so cool to see them improve. They’re starting to read the notes and are making a lot less mistakes than when they started. It’s a huge challenge though, because they are used to singing African music (and hymns in Kiswahili often have different tune than the original). Although we may never sound like UCLA Chorale, it’s a fruitful work.

· I  became a vegetarian. Ok, I’m just kidding. But I caught your attention, didn’t I? I’ve been cooking a lot since I have to prepare every meal myself. I just decided to cook only vegetables so I can eat a lot and not worry about getting fat (and being accused of causing starvation in Africa when I come back to the States). I’ve learned to cook a variety of dishes (thanks to the Internet). Mom, you’ll be proud when you sees all the pictures of the food that I cooked! Sometimes Mrs. Kim invites me over to her place for food, and once in a while the three “bachelors” (Richard, Eben, and I) do a potluck (other two are married, but their wives are out of the country). I eat a lot of meat then, so I can handle not eating meat often.

· I’m almost done with my medical school application. I finally finished writing the first draft of my personal statement, which was the last thing I had left to do. If you have some spare time and want to proof read/revise/butcher it, let me know and I’ll send you my latest draft. The deadline is October 15, so I need to finalize it very soon.

Ok, as a reward for those that read this far, I’ve finally posted some pictures online and you can see them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/doxadeo
Well, maybe not a reward since it was actually up three weeks ago, but if you don’t check my blog often, you probably haven’t seen it yet. Warning!: there are some pictures of dead animals (chicken and goat)! Just don’t click on the thumbnail if you see it. Feel free to leave some comments on the pictures! I might upload some more pics depending on your feedback.

Finally, some prayer requests. Please pray for:

· my medicals school application. I’m applying quite late (close to deadline), and it’s a disadvantage with schools that have rolling admission (which is most of the non-top-tier schools). Even after submitting this application, there’s still a lot more to do (secondary apps for each school, interviews, getting letters of recommendation, etc.). I really need God’s guidance on this matter.

· my health. I think all the parasites are gone now (except for mosquitoes... but they don’t have malaria in Nairobi). I haven’t had much stomach problem since I took the medicine other than when I used some really old kimchi water for cooking. I haven’t slept much the last couple days trying to finish my med school apps. So please pray that I can manage my health more carefully.

· my English classes. I don’t take the responsibility of teaching English lightly, especially when I’m teaching the future pastors and evangelists. Please pray that God will give me patience and wisdom to teach effectively.

· the library catalogue project. This is my biggest project that I need to finish before I go back to the US. I’ve figured out how to use the program, but I haven’t had much chance to enter the information of books on the computer. Please pray that I can work efficiently and that I’ll be able to finish the task I’m given.

· midterms. No, I’m not taking any midterms (thank God). Remember I’m on the other side of academia now. In fact I’m making midterms (ugh!). The students are taking the midterms next week. Some students have been doing very poorly that they were asked to leave (also because they couldn’t pay school fees). So please pray for the students.

· the faculty of BCEA. Recently we’ve had some trouble with one of the faculties in BCEA Tanzania. He had been AWOL for three weeks, causing burden on other faculties there. The students in Tanzania are doing wonderfully, but it seems that we don’t have enough teachers. Also pray for the faculty in BCEA Kenya. Rev. Kim is always working very hard even though his health conditions has not been at its best for a while.

· the ministries in Masai Land. Please continue to pray for both Kiluani and Lenkijape. We’ve finally resolved some land issues in Kiluani, but a lot of work needs to be done to mend the relation between the secondary school and the clinic/church. Last Sunday, 9 of our church members visited the church in Lenkijape for some one-day mission. I don’t know the details yet, but keep them in your prayers (especially if you’ve been there. Hey there, London Team!)

· whatever I forgot or didn’t mention that needs prayer. There’s always a lot to pray for here in Africa. Please remember us!

Thanks for taking the time to read the news letter! I would love to hear what’s been going on in your life if you care to share them. Best wishes to those who have stared going to school!

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

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

Lenkijape Diaries: August 1 to 3

Here are some of the long awaited journal entries that I wrote while living in Lenkijape. I actually wrote them in a notebook with a pen. (Continuing from July 31)

Under the Candle Light
Tuesday, August 1. Lenkijape.

I finally got in touch with Eben. I called him when he was I Kenya coming from Tanzania. He was on his way to Kiluani, so they came soon after I called. As PuiMeng and I suspected, they thought I was already in Lenkijape, so they went there instead of Kiluani. It was my bad because I didn't communicate with them beforehand. Anyhow, they came to Kiluani with some missionary team from Korea. They didn't have time to take me to Kenkijape, so they took me and Pastor Stephen to Mile-Tisa, a little village on the main road that is closest to Lenkijape. From there we had to find a "taxi."

We had to go quite far from the main road. The barabara ("road" in Kiswahili) was very bumpy. Good thing we were on a big 4WD pickup truck. After we arrived, we had some chai with the pastor here (David Aluvisia), the chairman of the church and primary school (Jonathan Larmoi), the headmaster of the school (John Solonik), and one of the teachers (Shadrak Kaliti). Then I visited the school, talked with the headmaster, and helped pastor Aluvisia with recording grades. They had just finished the exams for the trimester, so they were adding up the scores and ranking the students. We took about an hour to do something I could have done in 8 minutes on Excel... 6 minutes entering data, 1 minute calculating and sorting, 1 minute formatting and printing. Instead, we used paper, pencil, calculator, and carbon paper. After that, I joined the students playing volleyball from a few minutes before they were dismissed for the day. They are closing the school on Thursday.

I got to talk with the pastor for a while. It seems like that's what I do most of the time nowadays, talk with pastors. Pastor David is a bit quiet and not so playful as pastor Stephen, even though he's only 2 years older than Pastor Stephen who is 33.

Pastor David's wife is gone home till Thursday, so there were a few girls from school cooking for us. We had some rice, chapati, cabbage and potato, and some goat meat (they just call it "meat" here). They were so much better than Isaiah's cooking... If Isaiah opened a restaurant in the US, he'll probably get a health inspection grade of "F," while the girls here (who are still in class 6 or 7 in primary school, but mostly at age of about 17) would get at least a "C."

After dinner, I talked with some of the boys who live at the compound. They asked me a lot of science questions to see if I knew them. One of them, Benson, is 21, and he is in class 7. He has 2 wives, 2 children, and 200 cattle. He used to be a moran (Masai soldier) like all the boy were traditionally. After getting married, he decided to get educated so that he could be a soldier. He also seemed quite interested in studying at BCEA. It's intriguing to see people like Benson who is already an adult going through primary school.

So here in Lenkijape, there is no electricity, so I'm writing this on paper under a candle light. I bought only 6 candles but too many matches. Judging by how fast the candles are melting (I'm using 3 right now since 1 is not bright enough), they not going to last more than a week. I must get more soon. I'm planning to go to Nairobi on Friday. PuiMeng is supposed to pick me up at Mile-Tisa at 7:30AM.

Next week, all the teachers are going to Masai mara for a safari tour for 3-4 days. The pastor had talked with them beforehand so that I could join them (he is also one of the teachers). So I'm really looking forward to that.

Tomorrow, we have "Morning Glory" (morning prayer) at 5am. Then I'll be going to a fellowship in the afternoon.

I guess I'll sleep now (11:20pm). I'm staying at one of the rooms in the church building next to the pastor's bedroom. Apparently some of the guys from the London team stayed here a few weeks ago.

Taking a “Shower” for the First Time
Wednesday, August 2.

The first three candles have already gone out. They were too short that I could not see the notebook, so I put the last three candles.

The day started out with morning prayer at 5am. Since there is no electricity, people just came in to the sanctuary and prayed out loud. Some people sang a few choruses in (I think it was) Kimasai. After an hour of prayer (although I was dozing off for the most part), we had a cup of tea and some chapati (leftovers from last night) for breakfast.

Three of the headmaster's children (Alex, Grace, and Samuel) stay with the pastor during the week because their home is in Mile-Tisa, which is too far for the children to travel everyday. I went to the school with the pastor well after the kids went. The school is right across the street from the church. Students were basically cleaning the school (or just playing) all day. I got to talk with one of the youngest teachers, Johnstone Keton (23), for a while, and learned a bit more about Maasai culture and Kenya.

At 3pm, Jacob Kila, Mark (brother to Rachel, one of the girls who cooked last night) and I walked over to a church member’s house for a fellowship. Kila and Mark are 17 and 16, respectively (I think), but are still in classes 8 and 7 because they started school late. In traditional Maasai homes, looking after cattle takes precedence over education, so they make their firstborns learn to take care of livestock while they send the younger ones to school. So both of the boys who were with me today have younger brothers who are already in secondary school. We walked for about 40 minutes and finally arrived at a boma. Usually the pastor leads the fellowship, but today he was busy, so Kila shared some words and Mark translated for me.

On the way back, we dropped by the place where people get water. It’s basically where the river ends and the water drains. The river is all dried up right now, but they say it was filled in April. People were digging the mud and scooping sandy water into reused plastic bottles. The bottles weren’t even those clear plastic bottles used for water. They were those opaque bottles used for cooking oil or engine oil. These people really know how to recycle. I can’t even imagine drinking that water, but apparently they wait for the sand/debris to settle and drink the top layer. I suppose it’s the same water we have in the tank outside of church right now. There’s no running water in Lenkijape, so people have to carry it.

During our journey to fellowship, I got to meet a moran for the first time. He’s actually a brother of Kila, so I got to take a picture with him. He was only a little kid. But boys can because a moran as soon as they are circumcised (usually around 13).

After the long trip, I decided to take a shower for the first time (I don’t know if you would call it shower though). I heard that the London Team, while they were staying here, didn’t shower even once because they had people carry water for them, and didn’t want to waste it. Since I’m staying here for a while, I figured I’d get used to their way of taking a bath. Now that I’ve taken it, I’m thinking there might have been more reasons than just the shortage of water that the London Team didn’t take a shower for a whole week.

Imagine you’re in a booth made of iron sheets and wood. It’s dimensions are about 4ft x 4ft x 7ft, about the size of a telephone booth, except a bit smaller. The floor is made of cement, and has one small hole for a drain. You carry in a big basin with some water, some soap, shampoo, and a shower scrub. There is a metal wire going across at your eye level, so you hang your towel and clothes. Just after you’ve taken off all your clothes, you realize you didn’t bring a clean pair of underwear. But you decide to proceed with the bath. You crouch down to the basin and start wetting your hair. Then you notice the smell from the toilet which is right behind the iron sheet. You figure that you could cover up the smell when you use the shampoo. Note that toilets here are just a hole in the ground surrounded by walls made of iron sheets. The waste goes down the hole and just sits in a deep pit down below, so the smell is quite interesting. You don’t have any scooper, so you use your soapy hands to scoop up some water to rinse your hair. The water in the basin is already whitish, but you figure it’s just some shampoo. There’s hardly any light in the booth. There are a few small holes that let light in from the outside, but the sun is already behind a hill, and it’s starting to get dark very quickly. You wash your face and soap up the body, but all you can see is a silhouette of yourself, and you can’t tell how much soap is still on you. You feel some grainy things on your arms, but since you can’t see them, you have no idea what they are. You just try to rinse them off with your hands. Then you start to rinse the rest of the body by scooping water with your hands, but without much success. So you dump the rest of the water in the basin on the top of your head as the last-ditch effort. Perhaps it was a success, but you don’t know because it’s too dark. Besides, by now you don’t really care. You just try to dry off as much as you can with the towel. Since you don’t have a clean pair of underwear, you just wrap the towel around your waist, put on a shirt, and walk back to your room hoping no one will see you.

So that was my experience taking a bath here for the first time.

Now I must sleep. I’m so tired...

Closing Ceremony and Wild Chicken
Thursday, August 3.

I really should be sleeping now but I’ll just briefly summarize what happened today.

The primary school closed today. The closing ceremony was super long. Everyone was ranked among their classes, and teachers and parents spoke about I-have-no-idea-what. They all spoke in Kimasai, so I couldn’t understand anything. Alex and Grace were both the top of their classes (5th and 3rd grades, respectively).

Afterwards, two of the girls who were cooking for us (Leah and Ruth), Kancholi, and Joshua taught me some Kimasai. Now I can count up to 10,000 in Kimasai. Well, I still need my notes though. Maasai people use a sign language for numbers (as well as words), which I though was quite interesting. It’s not just the deaf of the mute that learn the sign language, but basically everyone knows how to say a number in sign language.

Pastor bought a guinea fowl for dinner. I got to see it being slaughtered. It was the weirdest thing ever. When Pastor cut its neck, it didn’t seem to resist at all, but right after the head fell off, the body started to go berserk, and the head was still moving! The eyes were blinking and the beak was moving. The body kept twitching for at least another 2 minutes. Guinea fowls make me think of dinosaurs. They have a horn-like head, and their skin is blue. The meat was the toughest thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.

Nothing much happens around here. So slaughtering a bird is an event. Tomorrow, Pastor and I are going to Nairobi. We have to get picked up by PuiMeng at 7:30am at Mile-Tisa. So I must get up early and get ready.

Doxa in Kenya: Work of the Holy Spirit in Tanzania

Wednesday, September 6. Nairobi.

I feel like it's been quite a while since I wrote an entry, but my last
entry was only 5 days ago. I guess compared to the past 6 weeks, when I
wrote an entry almost every day (with pencil and paper), 5 days without
journaling seems like a long time.

Anyhow, let me talk a little more about Tanzania. Originally, I was going
back to Nairobi on Saturday, but I stayed in Tanzania for another day due to
last minute changes.

The opening ceremony was quite nice, even though none of the buildings were
complete. We have a church building, the main school building, dormitory,
cafeteria, and a guest house. Apparently the workers kept saying there's no
problem, but they were very slow. According to the contract, they were
supposed to have finished 3 weeks ago, so we could start working on interior
design. But I guess that's what happens with all construction. UCLA
construction hardly ever finish on schedule either. But then I think the
scale is quite different in Tanzania. The workers don't seem to feel any
pressure even when they are told that they need to hurry up. Not only they
are very slow, they don't really listen to directions. Pastor Lazarus drew a
model of the main gate for the college just like the one we have in Nairobi.
He showed it to the main fundi (general term for worker, repairer, etc.),
but the fundi didn't follow the order at all. Instead he made a really
crappy-looking gate that was even crooked. I think he was so ashamed of
himself that he didn't even come to the opening ceremony. He should have
been recognized for the work that he'd dome so far, at least. I guess he
knows what he has done (or what he didn't do and should have done).

We had a contract with another fundi earlier, but one day he decided to run
away with all the money. So we had to make a new contract with the current
fundi to build the school. Then a while ago the first fundi came back and
told us that he will sue us because we've hired a new fundi while we had a
contract with him. Quite ridiculous, isn't it? He was the one who broke the
contract and took all the money in the first place! But this is only
something that I heard from someone. So I don't know much about it. The best
thing to do is just let him sue us. In reality, he's not going to. He said
he'll sue us only because he hoped we'd feel threatened and just give him
some money. So I'm sure he's disappointed that we're not doing anything to
respond to his threat.

On Sunday, those who were remaining in Tanzania split up and went to several
churches to preach. I went to a church with Dr. Gary Johnson and Rev. Peter
Elibariki. The church was located on a hill, and literally, if the land was
not occupied by a building or a road, it was packed with banana trees and
coffee plants. The church building was not even complete but they've been
building it for at least 6 years. It's because they build it using money
from the offering, but people here really don't have much money. So they
save little by little and build bit by bit. I was actually quite impressed
by how they did it, because they've done so much with the little they have,
even though it took so long.

Before Dr. Johnson gave the sermon, I got to share a little bit of my
testimony. I told the congregation about how God brought me to Kenya and
helped me to cope with the life in Masai Land for 5 weeks. I encouraged them
to do everything for God's Glory (1 Cor. 10:31). Then Dr. Johnson preached
from Philemon. He talked about how Paul wrote a letter to Philemon telling
him to forgive Onesimus, and how Jesus intercedes for us. He asked the
congregation if anyone has not yet received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Nobody
raised their hands or anything, but something really cool happened. The
choir started singing after the sermon, and during the song, an old lady
came up to the front and told the pastor that she wanted to pray to receive
Christ. So Dr. Johnson went up to her and started talking to her. While he
was talking to her, two more ladies came up and did the same! From what I
understand, Dr. Johnson made sure they understood what they were doing, and
that they did not pray to receive Christ before. What's really amazing is
that these women have been going to church for at least 15 years, and have
never prayed the sinner's prayer! It was truly the working of the Holy
Spirit. I thank God that He lead me to stay one more day in Tanzania. I
should remember to preach the Gospel whenever I'm given the opportunity.

One of the reasons I haven't been writing as much is because I've been busy
with school. I've working in the office again. Today I started making an
inventory of the book with have for selling. It's not too bad, since I just
have to count how many of which books with have, but there's quite a number
of books. Although, I'm sure this is nothing compared to what I have to do
for the library (5000+ books).

I've also been teaching English to the first years. We have two English
classes: standard and advanced. The standard class is mainly for foreign
students (i.e. Out side Kenya). Some are from Congo where people speak
French, and some just don't know English at all. This one student pretends
to understand what I'm saying, but I'm pretty sure that he doesn't
understand a single word. I'm teaching them pronouns right now. I haven't
had a class with the advanced class yet (their first class in on Friday),
but at least they'll really understand what I'm saying. It's a bit hard to
teach when there's limited resource. I wish I had more (and faster) access
to the Internet...

I need to be diligent with the med school application. It's been on hold for
over a month because I was out in the wilderness. But I really need to focus
this time. It feels like time goes by so fast here. I'm here doing one
thing, then right after that I'm doing another thing somewhere else. I get
up really early (5:30am) for the morning prayer, and (try to) go to sleep
around 11:30pm. Ok, maybe I should write less journal and work on the app
more.

Doxa in Tanzania: No-Hurry Africa

Friday, September 1. Arusha, Tanzania.

Ever since I came back to Nairobi, I've been having some gas problem. Not
that I passed gas so frequently, but when I did, it gave out some
exceptionally deadly odor. I've known myself for 22 years, and I know what
my fart should smell like. But for the past few days it was different. Then
this morning, after I had breakfast, I had a semi-loose stool, and felt
really weak. I felt really dizzy as I sat on the john, but a little better
when I finished relieving myself. I took some vitamins, Immodium, and some
herbal medicine that I got from an acupuncturist back home, then I rested
for half an hour. I felt a lot better after that, and now I think I'm all
better. I have no idea what caused it though... Well, maybe it's because of
the over-a-month old garlic that I've been using in almost every meal. I
left some garlic in my apartment before I left for Masai Land. By now they
should be at least 6 weeks old. I should stop using those from now on and
see what happens. Now my gas smells quite normal.

A group of us from BCEA left for Tanzania today. I rode in Dr. Gary
Johnson's car. He is a lab technician at Clinic of Care in some rural area
east of Nairobi. Dr. Johnson was invited to attend the pastors conference we
had this week at BCEA. He's been working in Kenya for 27 years already, and
he is such a jovial old man. Dr. Howard Carlson and his wife were also in
our car. Dr. Carlson is also very old and playful like Dr. Johnson. Dr.
Carlson teaches at BCEA sometimes, but his main work is at Faith College in
Nairobi. I'm not sure exactly what his role is at the college, but his wife
was working on making the schedule for Faith College, so I assume he is also
in some kind of administrative position. It was quite interesting to see the
two men with white hair teasing each other and making jokes with one
another. I hope I can be as cheerful and energetic as these men when I'm at
their age. Dr. Johnson told me I'm welcome to visit his clinic sometime
during my stay in Kenya. I hope I'll get the opportunity to do that. I
really look up to them because I want to be like them, serving the Lord far
away from home at their age.

Some of us including myself are staying at the same hotel I stayed last time
I was here. It's called Hotel 77 (or Hotel Saba-saba, saba = seven in
Kiswahili). For dinner, we went to the hotel cafeteria, which probably was a
big mistake. We sat at our tables around 6:50pm, and soon after that ordered
our drinks and food. The sodas came after about 10 minutes, but by the time
the server brought the chai that Christine and I ordered, it was already
7:50pm. The food didn't come till half an hour after that. The food wasn't
quite enough, so we ordered a few more chapati, which came well after we
finished all our food on the table. So you can imagine how slow things work
here. While we waited we joked about how only after we order they start
cutting firewood, make charcoal, catch a chicken, slaughter it, harvest
vegetables and tea leaves from the farm, etc. So this is Africa.

A couple days ago, Tanzania started a nation-wide power rationing. One of
their power plants are undergoing rehabilitation or something like that, so
the whole country gets power from the lines only from 7pm to 7am everyday.
When we arrived, they were powering the lights with solar panels, but the
water heater was not working. Now it's already 12:30am, but water heater is
still not working... I guess they just turned it off or something. Oh well,
I'm used to cold showers anyway (I've been taking cold bucket showers for 5
weeks in Masai Land).

Hotel 77 is one of the biggest hotels in Arusha, and still the service is
quite terrible. We asked for an extra towel from the front desk when we
finished dinner (about 9:30pm, 2.5 hours after we sat at the table), and the
towel came past 11pm. So I guess this is what we call No-Hurry Africa.

Doxa in Kenya: Should Christians Preach Against Evolution?

Thursday, August 31.

I attended some more of the "Discerning the Spirit" sessions today. I learned about Modernism, Neo-Evangelicalism, and Neo-Fundamentalism. I was already familiar with Modernism, so I didn't learn anything new about that. I had never heard of Neo-Evangelicalism or Neo-Fundamentalism, but from how Dr. Khoo described, they sounded pretty familiar. Basically, Neo-Evangelicals are people who say Bible is inspired by God, but it can have some errors. Dr. Khoo gave an example with the 6-day creation story in Genesis. Since evolution says it took many years for all the different species to form, Neo-Evangelicals would say that Bible might have some mistake. Fundamentalists believe in the strict and literal interpretation of the Bible, so Dr. Khoo said that if science doesn't seem to agree with the Bible, the Science must be wrong. Well, I'm definitely not a Neo-Evangelical (I believe that the Bible in its original languages is inerrant), but I’m not fundamentalist either. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and all of it is God-Breathed (or inspired by God, 2 Tim. 3:16) so the Bible is always true. But if science doesn't seem to agree with the Bible, it's not just "science must be wrong." It's either science is wrong or our interpretation of the Bible is wrong.

However, whether they were literal 6 days or whether the entire Bible should be interpreted literally should not be the issue. We should think about what’s really important. I mean, is every word of the Bible have the same weight and importance? Can we say that all the little details of the law in Deuteronomy, every psalm, the four Gospels, and the epistles are all equally important? I believe they all have a purpose of being in the Bible, but I think some of the words are more important than others. I’m talking about the Gospel, which you need to know and believe in order to have salvation. The saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is the most important message in the Bible, isn’t it? Tell me if you think I’m wrong.

So why am I saying we should focus on what’s the most important thing in the Bible? I’m trying to say that when it comes to someone’s salvation, whether the person thinks the earth was made in 6 days or thousands of years is not important at all! Let’s say that some one was at his death bed. He was a terrible criminal, and did many evil. But just before he died, he heard the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he sincerely repented and believed. Would he not enter that Kingdom of God? It doesn’t matter how bad or evil your life was before. When you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved, no matter who you are. Then let’s say that the man in his death bed was a hardcore modernist/atheist. He believed in the theory of evolution and all the other scientific theories that might seem to contradict the Bible. Then he heard the Gospel, repented, and believed. Soon after that he died. Before he died, he didn’t hear about Genesis 1. Not only did he not know that Bible says God made the earth in 6 days, he didn’t get a chance to hear that God made human in His own image. Then would he not go to heaven? Would he go to hell because he believed in the theory of evolution, even though he repented and believed in Jesus Christ? I believe even fundamentalists would say no to that. Well, perhaps they would say no because they are fundamentalists. The Bible literally says if you confess and believe these things about Jesus Christ, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

Of course I’m not saying that people should believe whatever they want as long as they believe in Jesus. If someone is still alive and has received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, then s/he should live like Jesus is the Lord over his/her life. Then he would study the Word of God and make effort to find the truth. More importantly he would obey the commands and also share the Gospel with others. Take note that I’m talking in the context of someone’s salvation. At the point of one’s salvation, the person doesn’t need to know everything in the Bible. But once he is saved, he should make the effort to know other important teachings in the Bible.

Now then, why is it important to talk in the context of salvation? Well, granted it’s important for someone to get saved, it’s very important that someone does not reject the Gospel because of our interpretation of some other parts of the Bible. Let’s say that you meet someone who is agnostic, but he is a scientist and has extensively studied biology as well the theory of evolution. Upon finding out that he believes in the theory of evolution, you tell him that he is wrong and that the Bible says the earth was made in 6 days. Some people may think of it as an interesting idea, but most probably would be offended. Then you try to share with him the Gospel, just after telling him that all that he had been studying for the past 10 years were simply wrong information. Would he even want to listen to the Gospel? Think about it. Most likely he wouldn’t. Even if he did, he would just flat out reject it because it’s from the same book that says he is wrong without any apparent proof or support. To us, the Bible is the Word of God, so we might feel strongly convicted about Genesis 1 one way or another. But to someone who’s never read the Bible, it’s just literature. So basically what you did was hardened someone’s heart to hear the Gospel. I’m not talking about the correct approach to presenting the Gospel. God can work in all sorts of ways, and even a simple, straight forward presentation of the Gospel can change someone’s heart. It’s up to the Holy Spirit, not you, to convict one’s heart and reveal the truth.

Then what should you say about science and the Bible? Which is correct? Well, if you believe that the Bible is God’s Word, then Bible is of course true. Sure, science can be inaccurate sometimes, and no theory is ever accurate. Theories are theories. They are always being revised to fit new information. But remember we or what we think are not always correct either. More importantly, it’s dangerous to say, “science is wrong,” because we’re not just saying that the theories are wrong. There are people behind every scientific theory. Real people study and come up with ideas that become theories, and real people rely on these theory for their research and even career. To say, “science is wrong” to someone, especially scientists, who has much more knowledge about science than you might, is basically saying “you’re wrong” in their face. How loving is that? And if that causes people to shut their ears to the Gospel for the rest of their lives, how terrible is that? In fact, isn’t that what’s happening in the world today? Isn’t it because all these “Christians” are saying evolution is flat out wrong, that many scientists are also atheists? Perhaps it’s not the only reason, but I imagine it is one of the major reasons. You see, I’m a scientist, but I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If someone really knows science, they would know that it’s not scientific to conclude that God does not exist just because His existence cannot be proven scientifically. It’s a Modernist idea that all things can be explained scientifically. Obviously not all scientists are Modernists, but may of them become one.

Let’s say that you are a scientist, and you have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But you know that these people called Christians believe in God. One day you find out that these Christians are strongly against the theory of evolution, which you think is a fairly well studied theory. You also find out that the basis of their claim is just some book written long time ago, and that Christians say theory of evolution is wrong because God said so. You don’t know much about the Bible or what the Christians believe, but since Christians strongly believe that you’re wrong, your natural response is to think that Christians are wrong. Since the basis of their claim is this thing called “God,” and you think they are wrong, you may conclude that this idea of “God” must also be wrong. Although it’s not scientific, through reasoning you decide that God doesn’t exist. The main reason for this conclusion was some group of people called Christians that said you are wrong. Now you are an atheist, and you don’t even want to hear about what Christians believe. Is this scenario too farfetched?

So as Christians, should we strongly advocate Creationism and young-earth theory? Are they worth jeopardizing the opportunities for some people to hear the Gospel? Definitely not! If you advocate these ideas, do so within the church. Encourage other believers to investigate the truth of God’s Word. Warn each other about dangers of misusing the theory of evolution. It is our responsibility to study the Word of God (2 Tim. 2:15). As Christians, that’s definitely something we should do. But as for the unbelievers, it is not their responsibility to know what the Bible says about Creation. It’s the same with sin. We as believers have the responsibility to keep each other accountable so as not to sin. But we do not just go around telling unbelievers that they should not do this and that. How can they stop sinning when they don’t have Christ!? We need to first show them the love of Christ and share with them the Gospel. Once they become a believer, you have the responsibility to keep them accountable. Once they become a believer, you should teach them what the Bible says about other things in the world, such as Creation.

So there’s really no problem for Dr. Khoo to talk about science and how he thinks it’s wrong in front of a group of pastors. In fact, it was good that he clarified a lot of things about the Bible. Dr. Khoo’s lectures were really good. They were strongly based on the scripture, and makes a lot of sense if you believe that the entire Bible should be interpreted strictly literally. So he was very consistent. This isn’t about Dr. Khoo at all, and I already said that fact that I disagree with his fundamentalist view is not important. I think problems arise when these pastors start preaching that science is wrong when they are trying to evangelize. The creation story is not the Gospel. The Bible doesn’t say “believe that God created earth in 6 days and you’ll be saved”! Dr. Khoo’s lecture just reminded me of some people in the past that strongly advocated creationism and young-earth theory. These people I met in the past would mock scientists and their professors because they think their science teachers are idiots for believing in evolution. This is not the type of attitude Christians should have towards unbelievers. That’s why I’m talking about all this.

People are saved regardless of whether they are Fundamentalist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Evangelical, or whatever denomination. Conversely, people can sill have the wrong Gospel and not be saved even when they associate themselves with Fundamentalist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Evangelical, or whatever denomination. There is no such thing as a perfect denomination. Denominations are works of people. Difference in denominations exist because people are different. Once again, the most important thing is salvation through the Gospel. So if your church gives the true Gospel, not the health-and-wealth gospel nor the 6-day-creation gospel, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and your church is working to spread it, then give all glory to God.

So should we as Christians preach against the theory of evolution? My answer is no. I would definitely support studying about evolution from Biblical perspective. I suppose we could “preach” against evolution within Bible studies and small groups for believers. But I don’t think it should be preached in churches were unbelievers can come to find out what Christianity is all about. Of course, I’m not saying we should hide from unbelievers what we think about science and what not. As Christians, we are not called to push any one denomination’s doctrine to unbelievers. We are called to spread the Gospel. Preaching Creationism to a group of unbeliever can be very counterproductive. Understanding science is not a sin, but being ignorant of the Gospel is deadly. Do first things first. Spread the Gospel.

I haven’t even talked about Neo-Fundamentalism, but it’s getting really late. I must sleep. We’re going to Tanzania tomorrow, and we’re opening to new Bible college there on Saturday.

Doxa in Kenya: On Charismatism and Friendship

Wednesday, August 30.

Today, I attended one of the sessions at the pastor's conference here at
BCEA. The main speaker is Dr. Jeffery Khoo, Academic Dean of Far Eastern
Bible College (FEBC) in Singapore. His topic for the sessions was
"Discerning the Spirit of Charismatism." I actually learned some things
about the Bible that I never knew before. Usually, when I hear a
sermon/lecture at church service, fellowship, or a conference, I don't get
to learn things that are entirely new to me, although they are often good
reminders of things I learned in the past. This time it was different. For
the first time, I learned that Fundamentalists believe that prophesies,
speaking of tongues, and such should stop when the Bible is completed (1
Cor. 13:10). Basically, there should not be any more revelations/prophecies
to be added after the Bible was completed. That makes sense.

Dr. Khoo also taught that divine powers such as healing were only given to
the Apostles. This doesn't mean that people don't get miraculously healed
nowadays (since all the Apostles are dead now). Obviously, there are people
who are healed miraculously through prayer, and that happens when the Holy
Spirit acts on them. It means that people today don't have the gift of
healing like the Apostles did. In other words, if someone tells you s/he is
a healer, run away from him/her. People don't do miracles. God does. So
nobody today can say they have the power to heal. I'm not all that familiar
with Fundamentalist doctrine, but this makes sense to me.

Eben came back from Tanzania today. He was working on the construction of
the new Bible College in Tanzania. (By the way, hello to Eben's friends back
in the US. Eben told me that one of his friends found my blog by googling
his name.) Mrs. Kim prepared some boiled kalbi (beef ribs) and rice for Eben
and I tonight, like she did when I came back. Eben and I brought the food to
Eben's apartment and ate together. We got to talk about many things
including life of a missionary, marrying a Korean girl, writing inspiring
blog entries, etc. It was really nice talking with him because I got to
laugh a lot. (I'm not just saying nice things about him because his friends
might be reading this.) Although he's a bit older, we could still connect on
various levels.

While I was in Masai Land, I could only connect with a few people, and when
I did it was only a short period. At Kiluani, Nyingei, Lemomo, and Leshushu
were the only ones close to my age, but I had a lot of fun talking with
them. When I visited Kiluani for the seminar (I bicycled from Lenkijape), I
was really glad to spend some time with them. At Lenkijape, I got to connect
the most with Keton, one of the teachers at the primary school. He's only a
year older than me. Even with the cultural differences, when the age is
close, it seems like I could connect with people here really well. Also,
people in Masai Land tend to associate more with their age-mates. So perhaps
that is why it's easier to become friends with those that are similar in
age. Anyhow, I'm beginning to really appreciate having friends that I could
connect with. Back in college, I had many friends close by, but I think I
took most of them for granted. So maybe I missed my chance of connecting
with them at deeper levels. I suppose I'm learning to value friendship more.

I found out today that I'll be teaching two English classes this term: one
advanced, and one not-so-advanced. They're two hours each every week for 12
weeks. The work seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, but I think it will
be a really good experience. I suppose teaching, especially teaching
English, would be a good skill to have if I'm going to be a long-term
missionary someday.

I got the manual for the software I'm using to build the library catalogue.
It's called ResourceMate 2.0. Does anyone know how to use it? I have to
catalogue +5000 books... I have no idea how long it would take, but I guess
this will be my main contribution to the college.

Doxa in Kenya: Back to Life in Nairobi

Tuesday, August 29. Nairobi

I must say it is quite nice being back. At the same time I miss living in
Lenkijape. I really hope I get to go back there again sometime.

I arrived at BCEA yesterday afternoon, and one of the first things I did was
taking a shower. For the past 5 weeks I had been washing myself with cold
water in buckets or basins, and most of the time I ended up rinsing myself
in the same water I used to wash which is soapy and slightly brown. So I
couldn't get all that clean, but it still worked and I got quite used to it.
What was nice about taking a shower yesterday was that I was the dirtiest
thing in the bathroom (except for maybe the toilet bowl). That meant if I
cleaned myself, I would stay clean for awhile. On the other hand, in places
like Lenkijape, it's hard to stay clean because everything around you is
dirty. Anyhow, I got to wash myself really well.

Also, I finally shaved. The last time I shaved was 44 days ago. When I got
back, Mrs. Kim told me that they don't allow facial hair at school (or maybe
she meant uncontrolled facial hair). So I shaved them all off. I looked at
myself in the mirror and felt like I was 5 years younger than before. I also
noticed I look more attractive when I have my glasses off, but I figured
that's because I look blurry in the mirror without my glasses (so all the
little blemishes seem to disappear).

Last night, since I had just come back from a long trip, Mrs. Kim invited me
over for dinner. She heard that I was coming back, so she got some pork and
cooked Korean food for me. I knew she's quite busy, so I didn't want her to
trouble herself so much, but I was really grateful.

It was so nice to eat some Korean food. Even if it wasn't Korean food, I
would have been so happy to eat more variety of food, especially vegetables.
In Masai Land, you would eat potatoes, tomatoes and cabbages most of the
time. Some times you would have beans, sukumawiki (kales), and maize. The
staple food here is ugali, which is like rice cake made of maize flour.
Today I got to do some cooking for myself, which was quite nice. I made some
spaghetti for the first time. I used garlic, onion, ginger, and eggplant.
The tomato sauce was a bit dark and sour, but overall it turned out really
nice. I accidentally cut my finger a little bit while cooking, but I guess
you can't learn how to cook without cutting yourself at least once.

Now that I have electricity, I should really be working on my med school
application. But at the same time, I'm so distracted because now I can do
things that I couldn't before, such as looking at and organizing pictures,
responding to e-mails, reading RSS feeds, etc.

I also found out today that I'm going to be teaching English this upcoming
term, which starts next week. I need to be making a syllabus for it. The
students don't even have textbooks, so I don't even know what to do. But I
suppose I'll find out. It seems like such a big task for me to teach a
3-month long course with a few hours every week. I'm also going to be
working on building the library catalogue, so that's going to take up a lot
of my time. So this week I should really focus on finishing up my
application.

I got a haircut today. I didn't get it all shaved though. I went to Safari
Park Hotel where there's an Ethiopian lady who knows how to cut Asian hair.
She was really slow though. I think it took about 30 minutes. A Korean
barber back home would have taken less than 15 minutes to do the same job,
probably even a bit better. The haircut itself wasn't too bad though. I
guess I'm glad I didn't have to shave my head.

There are so many things I want to write about on top of all the things I
have handwritten in my journal. And yet it seems like there's not enough
time for everything. Am I starting to get stressed out? I hope not. I had
enough for stressing out while I was in college. Oh wait, I'm still in
college, except now I'll be teaching instead of studying, and doing other
stuff at the same time. What's even worse, I'm teaching English, which is
not my forte. I suppose I know better English than most of the teachers
here, but I'm still not very confident if I can teach well. I wish the Bible
College had courses in math. I would be so glad to teach math. Couldn't math
be useful in church ministry? Even one of the books in the Bible is called
Numbers... Therefore math must be important for evangelism... Jk.

Anyhow I should get some sleep now. Speaking of sleep, it felt so good to
sleep in a cushioned bed last night. And it's big enough so that I can
stretch my arms and legs out. Although, sleeping in a sleeping bag on a very
thin mattress bed isn't too bad when you get used to it.

African Courier #2: Out of the Wilderness

Jambo!

I am simply overwhelmed as I think back to my experiences in Masai Land during the past 5 weeks. Now I am back in my apartment at Bible College of East Africa (BCEA). I just got back yesterday.

Thanks to those who sent me e-mails while I was away. I will get back to you personally as soon as I get a chance.

As I said in my first newsletter, I stayed at two locations in Masai Land. I spent the first 10 days in Kiluani (there is a church, a clinic, and a secondary school built by missionaries), then 4 weeks in Lenkijape (officially called Eluanata, there is a church and a primary school built by the same mission). Here’s a list of things that I did during the past 5 weeks to give you some ideas about life in Masai Land.

Some of the things I did while staying at Kiluani:
· observed as PuiMeng (the nurse) counseled and treated patients at the clinic.
· gave a talk on worms to mothers who came for their children's immunization.
· visited many boma (a unit of Masai houses) with Pastor Stephen Omweri.
· gave guitar lessons to some boys in secondary school.
· helped a prematurely born goat to drink from its mother.
· bought a goat for the mission, saw it being slaughtered, roasted it, and ate it.
· bicycled to Tanzania (~1 hour each way).
You can read more about them in detail on my blog.

Some of the things I did while staying at Lenkijape:
· taught several English worship songs to Sunday School and Youth Group.
· taught math and English to pupils (5-8th grade) who came to school for tuition for two weeks (they are on break from regular classes).
· visited a boma with Pastor David Aluvisia, where pastor shared the Gospel with Nchokei, and I encouraged him to receive Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord. Nchokei is a moran (Masai warrior), and he prayed to receive Christ that day.
· harvested and ate lots of wild honey.
· went to many fellowships. For most of them I had to walk for at least 40 minutes to get there. At one of them, I gave a sermon on Haggai 1. After that, several people prayed to receive Christ.
· went to two circumcision ceremonies. At one of them, one boy and two girls were circumcised.
· shared about the Power of the Holy Spirit with the Youth Group.
· gave a testimony and words of encouragement to the congregation at church.
· took a 4-day trip to Masai Mara, one of the biggest game reserves in Kenya, with the primary school teachers. I got to see many animals (lions, elephants, wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, eland, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, rhinos, warthogs, buffaloes, hyenas, etc.).
· bought a bicycle for the Lenkijape church to keep when I leave.
· bought food for the youth to eat after one Sunday.
· fed all the church members with some tea and bread, and Sunday school children with some juice and biscuits.
· visited other Korean missionaries at nearby mission compounds (church and primary school in Lumbwa, chapel and agricultural school in Olmaa).
· bicycled to Mile-Tisa (a small village on the main road) many times to run errands. A trip to Mile-Tisa takes about 40 minutes by bicycle through the woods. Now I can go back and forth between Mile-Tisa and Lekijape on my own.
· bicycled to Kiluani for a seminar.
· spent a night in a cow-dung house. The beds are made of cow-skin laid on top of branches, and are rock hard, and they are very short (my knees would dangle from the bed if I tried to sleep straight). During the night a small insect fell into my right ear, and I had to shake it out.
· saw a guinea fowl being slaughtered, and ate it. The meat was super tough.
· lost a bit of weight.
· got sunburned and some suntan.
I’ve kept a journal about my experience in Lenkijape on a notebook, and I’ll type them out and post them on my blog as soon as I get a chance. Then you’ll be able to find out what life in deeper part of Masai Land is like!

The Lord has been merciful to me, and I have been healthy the entire time. And by His Grace I have come back safely. Thank you all for your prayers!

This week, there is a pastor’s conference at BCEA. Then on Saturday, we’ll be going to the new Bible college in Tanzania for its opening ceremony. After that, I’ll be working on building the catalogue for the library at BCEA for a while. I’ll also be teaching English at BCEA this term, which starts next week.

I’m praying that I would be able to go back to Lenkijape again and stay there for a longer time. If it is God’s will, I want to serve Him there more. Now that I’m back where there is electricity (there’s no electricity in Lenkijape), it’s time for me to finish my medical school application. It might be a bit difficult to focus since many things will be happening, so please pray for me. I’m also praying that, if it is God’s will, I would come back here as a doctor to serve Him.

Please continue to pray for the many ministries here. Pray for those who heard the Gospel and received Jesus as Lord and Savior in the past few weeks. Pray that people in Lenkijape would get water soon (this is one of their biggest needs).

In Him,
SunMin Kim
http://doxadeo.blogspot.com

PS. In case you were wondering, you can send SMS to me in Kenya. Just send to: +254727867619. (To type “+” on the phone, press and hold zero.)

Doxa in Kenya: Day Trip to Nairobi Again

Sopa?

That's "How are you?" in kimasai (the Masai language), pronounced "soba". Then you answer "ipa" which sounds like "eba" and means "fine".

I've been staying in Lenkijape since Tuesday. There's no electricity, but I'm getting used to it.

I've been writing my journals on a paper (under candle light) so I'll have to type it up some other time. Just to give you some ideas what I'm doing in Lenkijape (officially called Eluanata): I went to a fellowship on Wednesday. It took 50 minutes to get there by foot. The closest home from school and church is at least 15 minutes away. The day goes by so slowly. The place is so quiet. I'm eating mostly potatoes and cabbages. The primary school closed yesterday, and closing ceremony was super long (and boring, since I didn't understand a word of it). I'm learning some kimasai. I can (theoretically) count to 10,000.

Next week I'll be going to Masai Mara with the teachers. I hear that's where they filmed the scenery to the movie Lion King and changed it to animation. I hope I get to see some simba (that's "lion" in kiswahili). We'll be staying there for 3-4 days. I'm pretty excited.

Sere! ("Bye" in kimasai)

Doxa in Kenya: Tour de Kenya

Monday, July 31.

Doesn't it feel so good when you come home from a really long workout, you take a nice, warm shower, and you put on your clean, dry clothes? I almost had that experience today except that instead of a warm shower, I had a cold bucket shower, and instead of a clean dry clothes, I had to wear the same clothes which smelled like a goat. The only clean piece of clothes I had was my underwear. But it was actually quite nice taking a shower with cold water. Sine the weather isn't very warm here, when I shower with warm water (I have to boil some water in the pot, and mix it with cold water in a bucket), the water would evaporate off my skin and I would feel even colder. So it was actually better to use cold water. That's why in a very hot day, you should take a shower with hot water, so you can feel cool after the shower.

So what's this "workout" that I'm talking about? Basically, pastor and I rode bicycles all the way to Namanga. It was an hour ride each way going up and down some hills. I thought Rev. Kim would come to Kiluani today, so I figured he could pick me up to go to Lenkijape, but apparently he went straight to Lenkijape. I couldn't get a hold of him either. So I was just sitting in the clinic watching as PuiMeng saw the patients. The day was warm, so I was actually dozing off while I sat there. The thing is, many of the patients have similar problems, so it was almost like seeing the same patient over and over. It's really good to know what the common problems and needs are for these people. If I ever come back to Maasai (I just found out that's how you really spell it) in the future as a doctor, I would be more efficient knowing their needs. Anyway, as I was dozing off, pastor came by and saved me from boredom. He was going to the post office in Namanga, and we were going to take a matatu, but decided to ride the bicycle instead.

Being a musungu in rural Africa is like being a celebrity, or perhaps a rafiki (friend in kiswahili) to all the kids. As I pedaled through the main road, kids would wave at me and shout "Hallo--!" and "Hawayoo-!" They would jump up and down and keep shouting even after I wave them back. I wonder who tells them to do that when they see a musungu. I'm sure they teach in schools how to greet a musungu (or just in English). It's funny because no matter how you greet somebody, they would reply "fine." I though they just anticipated to say "How are you?" but I had multiple occasions where I was greeted back with a "Fine" when I said "Hi." In kiswahili, you say "habari" (short for "how are you") and the other person would say "mzuri" (good). In kimaasai, you greet someone with "soba" and the person would reply "eba." You can also greet someone of similar age by saying, "hawaiya" and the person would say "hawaiya" back. I think I've said this before, but kids greet older people by bowing their head slightly, and the older person would touch their heads. They can start shaking hands once they are circumcised. Anyhow, I've digressed a lot from talking about my bike ride to Namanga.

At Namanga, I was greeted by strangers with "Konnichiwa" ("hello" in Japanese), "An-nyung-ha-sae-yo" (the same in Korean), and some random phrase that sounded like Chinese. Some people would just yell, "Chinese." In Sierra Leone, some people called me "China." I guess being called "Chinese" is better than "China." Though people greeted me, I tried to avoid them in Namanga. It's a border city, and a lot of musungu pass through there. I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to sell something to me. There are many traditional Maasai ladies (mostly very old) selling Maasai necklaces and bracelets. After stopping by at the post office, we went to a small café for a bottle soda and some mandazi (kind of like deep fried chapati). I met Selei, Lemomo's younger brother there. After that, we rode our bicycles across the border to Tanzania. Actually, there's nothing that really looks like a boarder except for a wide dusty space with shops on both sides. There are the immigration offices where I bought my visa, but people can go back and forth between Kenya and Tanzania as they wish. I thought that was quite strange. Now I'm thinking maybe I didn't have to spend $50 just to get a visa. But I guess it's an "insurance" incase you get stopped by a police for some reason. For musungus, the passport is the ID, although I wasn't carrying my passport when I went to Namanga.

On the way back from Namanga, we saw a herd of camels. So we stopped to take pictures, then the guy tending the camels tried to stop us saying he wants money for the picture. Then the pastor asked if the camels belonged t him. Then it turns out he's just a worker looking after the animals. So we went ahead and took the pictures. As soon as we passed the big group of camels, we saw a few of them that were much bigger than the others. I thought I was looking at a miniature of brontosaurus. Their back was about 8 feet hight and their head even higher. Then the shepherd came back and told us we could take as many pictures as we wanted. He even let me touch the camel.

After two hours of bike ride on a rock-hard seat, my butt is quite sore. It was definitely a good exercise though. I needed it to burn away some goat fat that I had last night.

For dinner, we had a soup made of goat intestines. They cut open the stomach, washed it, and boiled it with the neck. The boys were keeping the head, so I took the tongue and roasted it. The tongue was pretty good, but the soup was pretty disgusting. The taste wasn't so bad, but the smell was nasty. I couldn't finish it, so I gave half of my plate to Henry. He was very happy to finish it. The guys cook and eat separately, and they said they were going to roast the head tonight. I'm sure they're done eating by now. They said they'll save a piece for me to eat tomorrow... We'll see how it turns out. I wonder which part of the head I'll get.

I'm tired of blowing off little bugs off my screen every two seconds. So I'm going to turn off the computer now. I'll start writing with a pen and paper tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be going to Lenkijape.

Doxa in Kenya: Sunday School, Hiking, and Goat Feast

Sunday, July 30.

Wow. What a day. Today was definitely the highlight of my stay here in Kiluani. We just finished eating the goat we slaughtered, and I'm quite full.

Sunday school started at 9am. There were about 180 kids. I went up to the front and introduced myself, and all the kids sang a song for me. I didn't understand a word the sang, and I don't know if it was kiswahili or kimasai (Masai language), but I still enjoyed it. For the second half of Sunday school, we divided into small groups. I went to Pastor Stephen's group. There were about 6 girls at ages of around 12. I got to share with them about 1 Corinthians 10:31, and encouraged them to live for God's glory. Afterwards we had main service, but most of the kids left after Sunday school. There were only about 50 to 60 church members. They used to have all the students from the secondary school come to the church, but ever since the new principle took over, many of the students go to their own church they made at school. Apparently they don't even have a legitimate pastor, but basically they play loud music and dance around for service. During service, I fell asleep a few times briefly, but I was surprised to see some people deliberately sleeping (with their heads buried in their arms). During sermon, the pastor actually said please don't sleep during sermons, but some people still slept. After he said that I didn't fall asleep at all.

In the afternoon, I went up the mountain for some hiking with some of the guys. Originally we were going to bring ht goat up the mountain, slaughter it, and eat it there. But we started out too late, so we just walked up. I got to see the entire Kiluani (although it's mostly bushes). At one point I heard some bird noises down a hill. Nyingei told me they are guinea fowls. They are basically wild chicken. You can setup traps for it, catch it, and eat it. Unfortunately I didn't have time for that this time. I've been to tougher hikes (trekking across some mountains in Japan, Half Dome in Yosemite, and Mt. Fuji), but hiking in Kenya isn't just about the hike. It involves dodging thorns everywhere you go. There are small bushes with thorns, trees with thorns, tiny plants with thorns, and seeds with thorns scattered all over the ground. If you're not careful, you'll get little thorns all over your pants and socks and inside your shoes. I guess it should remind people of Genesis 3 when the ground was cursed and thorns came up of the ground. More importantly, it should remind us of what Jesus went through for us while wearing a crown made of thorns.

We came back down after a couple hours. I bought a goat for Ksh2000 ($27.97) from the secondary school, and we slaughtered it. Some how people manage to find out that we're slaughtering a goat tonight. So although we started with 7 or 8 people and were wondering if we could finish all the meat tonight, by the end we fed about 17 people. At least a third of them I've never seen, but I didn't care. I had enough to eat, and we only ate the meat. We still have the internal organs. Apparently Masai people eat the organs raw, and the kidney is the best part. As soon as they cut off the kidneys they were gone. I wonder what they taste like. It's basically filled with goat urine... Maybe it's salty because of that, and so they like it so much. We're saving the organs for tomorrow. They have to wash it and then make a soup or something. I ate so much goat meat today... My fart even smells like goat. Or maybe goats just smell like a fart.

Tomorrow, Rev. Kim is supposedly dropping by here on his way to Tanzania. If he's going back to Nairobi on Tuesday, I could probably get picked up then and be dropped off at Lenkijape. Otherwise I'll have to go to Lenkijape tomorrow. Or maybe I'll go to Tanzania with him. I don't know. I guess I'll find out.

I've had such a wonderful time in Kiluani. People are so friendly here. I've been really fun hanging out with the three guys who work in the clinic: Lemomo, Henry Nyingei, and Gideon Leshushu. They are the only ones close to my age here (23, 23, and 20, respectively). The secondary school kids seem a bit shy. They like to just gather and stand around me, but most of them don't say much if not nothing at all. Some of them are talkative and friendly though. The kids in the primary schools are more friendly and talkative, although they can't speak all that well.

Speaking of English, there's not a single person who can speak English properly here in Kiluani. I'm sure some of the nuances are British English, but most of the time I have to listen very carefully and try to figure out what they actually mean. Even PuiMeng, who is from Singapore, can't speak English all that well (she tends to put "la" at the end of many sentences). It's strange because English and Kisuwahili are the official languages of Kenya, but most Masai people don't even know what the national languages are. People who can speak English tend to say "Fannneee" (or "funny") when they mean "strange" or "weird." I remember Rev. Kim says that too. I think that's kind of fannneee.

Alright, they've turned off all the power, and I'm seeing bugs on the screen every minute. So many bugs are flying into my face too. I think a small one just flew into my right ear... jk. Geez, there are so many spiders in this room too. Why aren't they doing their job eating off the annoying bugs? Maybe they need to make better webs... Ugh.

Since I'm going to Lenkijape, I'll have to write my journals on a paper under a candle light from now on. Goodbye world.

Doxa in Kenya: Baby Goat, Guitar Lesson, and Double Chicken Feast

Saturday, July 29.

I fell asleep right as I was about to start writing my journal. I'm so tired, but there are so many things to talk about.

This morning there was a goat leashed and separated from the flock. I was wondering why it was leashed, then I saw a little baby goat curled up on the ground. At first I thought it was dead, but it was just very weak. The leashed goat was its mother, and she had given birth for the first time last night. The baby goat was so small and weak that it couldn't even stand on its own. So it could not get the milk from the mother on its own either. I wanted to help the baby goat, so I soaked a handkerchief with some cow milk (there was a bottle of it next to the goat), and tried feeding it. The baby goat wouldn't suck on the handkerchief, so I put my finder behind it. But by the time it started sucking on my finger covered in handkerchief, all the milk had dripped to the ground. I figured I would have to either milk the mother or get the baby to suck from the mother. No matter how I tried, the mother goat would not stay still, so I couldn't do either. Then Gideon Leshushu (one of the workers in the clinic) came and held the mother goat for me so I could get the baby to suck on the nipple. After the baby had some milk, it was gained some strength to stand on its own very briefly. But it was still very weak, so we had to keep feeding it periodically. Last time I saw it today, it could stand for a long time, and walk a short distance. I was really happy to see it getting better. Apparently it was a premature birth. I was told that last night when the mother gave birth, she didn't like the baby, but now she seems to like him. I hope it will grow up to be a big goat so it can feed many people... jk.

When I first came to Kiluani, it was right when PuiMeng was leading Bible study with some of the students from the secondary school. So when she came out, she introduced me to the boys (it's a boys only school). I said this before, but since it was finals week, we arranged to have math and physics lessons Tuesday and Wednesday. But nobody came both days. We had also arranged to have a guitar lesson today at 10am, but since nobody came the other two days, I thought they wouldn't come. So I was going to go to the fellowship with the pastor and PuiMeng. But they came. Their excuse for not coming the other days was that they were busy... oh well, whatever. So I decided to give them a little lesson. We were going to use the sancutuary, but it was being cleaned by some students, so I decided to use the guest house that I'm staying. We had a lesson till 12:30pm, and they left for lunch. They said they wanted to come back at 4pm, so I agreed to give more lesson. They came around 4pm, and since the sanctuary was being used by the choir, we used the guest house again. As I was giving the lesson, PuiMeng came in and seemed a bit surprised. She seemed somehow uneasy about something. Anyhow she said I should use the chapel because it's brighter there. I realized it was getting dark, but we could still see fine, so I said we were ok. Then she said I should let the students go because it's most dinner time (it was 6:05pm). So I told her that the students said they can still till 6:15. For some reason she sounded a bit upset, but she just left saying that they should go very soon. Anyhow, I finished giving the lesson, dismissed the students, and I went over to PuiMeng's place to give back her guitar. Then she told me that students aren't allowed in the guest house. She was a bit upset. I felt bad, so I told her I was sorry, and that I didn't know that they weren't allowed to be there. Then she said I should have asked for permission, and that I shouldn't take things like that for granted, and since I'm a guest I should be especially sensitive. The relationship with the school and the mission hasn't been very good since the government took over the school and a new principle came, so she said I should be careful with anything that has to do with school. She also told me I need to get permission to go anywhere around the premises. I could only tell her I'm sorry, I didn't know. I would have said I'll be careful next time, but I'm leaving soon and there most likely won't be a next time. I felt bad, but I thought it was a bit unfair. Yes, I'm a guest, and I need to be careful how I behave. I also wouldn't take stuff for granted, and I don't think I was taking stuff for granted. I didn't see any problem with letting the boys in the house. Apparently the last time the boys were in the mission house, things went missing. So they don't want students in there any more. But how was I supposed to know? I think it was more of her responsibility to tell me rules like that. Also, none of the students said anything to me when I let them in. Was I being insensitive or taking things for granted? I hope not. Oh well, I should just forget about it... well, now that I wrote all about it, it's probably bit harder to forget, but I think I feel better letting it out somehow. I guess that's just her personality. PuiMeng seems to get easily annoyed with small things, and she's quite confrontational. If there's anything small that she doesn't like, she'll say it. So I'll just take it as her personality, and I'll suppose there's nothing wrong with that. I don't like it, but it helps me become more mature and patient. I like learning to live with people I can't get along with very easily. It opens my mind and widens my heart, I think. That's how I think of my experience in my fraternity. We were all really different, but we were in the same fraternity because of Christ. I learned to live with people I would never be friends with or hangout with otherwise, and I've learned love them as they are. God brings people together for a reason. We can get annoyed at each other, but we can always learn something from our differences. Nonetheless, I really respect PuiMeng for being out here and helping the people the way she does. I can't even imagine being single at her age (probably somewhere in the 30's) living in a place like this. She's been here for 5 years already. Jackson (the driver) told me yesterday that she actually prefers being single.

Since I treated everyone last night with the chicken, PuiMeng, Pastor Stephen, and Isaiah chipped in to get two chickens for us and the workers to eat. So we had a big feast with us four, Lemomo, Leshushu, Nyingei, and Henry. I got to see Isaiah slaughtering the chicken and draining their blood. I recorded a video of the process, so you'll get to see it later. I learned that real Masai people don't eat chicken. I also learned that if you are a moran (Masai warrior) and if a woman sees your food, you can't eat it. Strange but interesting traditions...

Tomorrow after church, I'm taking a goat (about Ksh1200 to Ksh2000) up the mountain with some of the guys. Nyingei will slaughter and prepare the goat. We'll roast the goat whole and eat it there and come down after dark. It will be an interesting experience.

Doxa in Kenya: Success!

Friday, July 28. Kiluani.

I finally figured out how to use my phone to connect to the internet. I had to call customer service to get the setup information and figure out by trial-and-error which modem script I needed to use. Safaricom customer service can't support very many calls at once (and it's a telecom company, how ironic...), so I had to keep dialing until I got connected. The speed is only 9.6kbps (max data rate is about 1.2KB/s), which is 156 times slower than regular DSL (1.5Mbps or 187.5KB/s), and 5.8 times slower than dial-up (56kbps or 7KB/s). So you get the idea. On top of that, it costs Ksh10 per minute, which means it's Ksh600 ($8.40) per hour. That means I can get a maximum of 4.3MB of info in one hour for $8.40. I don't even know the upload rate, but I'm guessing it's the same or less.

So I'm going to restrict the use of internet through cellphone to maybe once or twice a week for checking/sending e-mail, posting on my blog, and downloading RSS feeds. I can post on Blogspot without using a web browser, but I can't with Xanga, so I'll update Xanga when I get better internet connection. Meanwhile, Xanga users, please visit http://doxadeo.blogspot.com to read my most updated blog (This will be the last post on Xanga for a while). You can even subscribe to my RSS feed (http://doxadeo.blogspot.com/atom.xml) using an RSS aggregator such as RSS Owl (for both Mac and PC) or Vienna (Mac only, recommended). Even if it's not for my blog, if you like reading news articles or visit a specific website regularly, RSS will make your life so much easier. So go try it! (Sorry I can't give you direct links. I'm typing this offline).

Well, all this is only possible if I have electricity. And unfortunately, I won't have any electricity when I go to Lenkijape. It's much farther from the main road than Kiluani. Apparently, permanent electricity is coming to Kiluani very soon, but not for a while in Lenkijape. It will be a good practice to live without electricity though. I'm such a city boy... (that reminds me of Sierra Leone, where most of the cars I saw had a big sticker that read "City Boy," but that's irrelevant). It'll be a big test for me.

So, what did I do in Nairobi today? Well, if you're reading this, I'm sure you've noticed that I posted a lot of journal entries. That's because I went to a cyber café in Nairobi. It was a first time I got internet access since Sunday. I think they ripped me off at the café though. It's supposed to be Ksh3 per minute, and I only used for about 50 minutes or no more than 60 minutes, but they charged me Ksh210 (which would be 70 minutes). But I was in a hurry, so I just paid and left. Then I realized I was ripped off, and I should have asked for a receipt. Always remember to ask for a receipt if you pay for anything in Kenya. It's not like Panda Express where you get free meal if they forget to give you a receipt.

Anyway, that was only one of many things we had to do in Nairobi. First we went to a big mall where we did some grocery shopping. I got a bar of soap and a shower scrub while PuiMeng got a lot of food and a haircut. She got a haircut all the way in Nairobi, because at the place she went a lady from Korea used to work there, and they know how to cut Asian hair. Otherwise if you go to a regular barber shop, you'll probably come out bald. Well, since I'm already experimenting with my facial hair, maybe I'll try shaving my head too... one of these days. Don't worry, I'll take pictures for you all to enjoy later.

While I waited for PuiMeng, I got a cup of coffee, and waited in the car. A guy named Jackson drove for us, so I got to talk with him for while. I found out that he's a Masai, and he used to hangout with morans a lot before he became Christian. He was never a moran because he went to school instead. Basically, all boys, around the age of 15 gets circumcised and become moran if they're not going to school. So before there were schools, all Masai boys became moran. So I guess there isn't a crazy ritual to become a moran (except that you get painfully circumcised). Usually there's a big ceremony when kids get circumcised. They slaughter goats (and maybe cows) and the whole village eat together. I'll write about Masai culture more later. Besides, I'll probably learn a lot more when I go to Lenkijape. I've already found out that lot of the things I heard about their culture from outsiders weren't so accurate (e.g. on promiscuity). It's better for me to learn about their culture directly from them.

We stopped by the foreign exchange, the bank, and the cyber café. We also stopped by a warehouse where they distribute free medicine to missionary clinics. The government provides vaccines, mosquito nets, and some food for babies, but we get all the medicine from a missionary organization (I can't remember the name right now). On the way back we stopped by another Nakumatt, so I bought some candles and matches in preparation for Lenkijape. I also got some potato chips. The chips here taste really good, but probably very fattening.

It takes three hours one way, so we had to travel for a long time.

I didn't get to go back to BCEA today, but I got a hold of Richard, and he's going to get the stuff for me and give them to Rev. Kim. So I'm all set as long as Rev. Kim comes down this coming week.

Tomorrow, we'll have a fellowship at someone's house, go to Namanga, and then maybe take a walk up a hill (where David Ahn said I should go). It should be a pretty eventful day.

I think they're about to turn off the small generator now. I should wrap it up for tonight.