Happy Reformation Day!

While October 31st is known by most people as Halloween, it is actually a very important day for Christians (no, not because it's Halloween). As I found out recently, it is the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses at the castle door of the Wittenberg Church in Germany, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

To celebrate the 489th anniversary, I'm posting a sermon (about Reformation) that was preached here at Bible College of East Africa yesterday by Richard Tiu, a missionary from the Philippines.

DISCLAIMER: Let me first warn you that you may be offended, especially if you are a Catholic. In fact this sermon has a lot of attacks against the Roman Catholic Church. But if you are offended by reading this, remember that it is not an attack against you (unless you're the Pope), but it is against the religion. Of course, it is natural for any religion to say that other religions are false (unless you're postmodern). If you think any of the statement made in the sermon is false, feel free to comment. But I suggest you make constructive criticisms, and not attack me or Pastor Richard. If you think Pastor Richard doesn't really know about Catholic Church because he's a Protestant, remember he's from the Philippines and he used to be a Catholic. And yes, he is a legit pastor.

As for me, I used to think there isn't any significant difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, because I all I knew about Catholicism came from interacting with Catholics, who outwardly didn't show any difference from the Protestants. But as I learn more about the teachings of the Catholic Church, I realize they're not different like Baptists are different from Methodists or Fundamentalists. It's not a mere difference in the interpretation of the Bible. It is clear that the Roman Catholic Church have perverted the teachings of the Bible by adding so much junk to it (read on if you want know what I'm talking about). I'm beginning to think that Catholicism is almost as bad as the Jehovah's Witness and the Mormon churches. Yes, I said that. Sorry to all my friends who are JWs or LDSs, but you knew I'm Christian, right? And if you know my belief, you know that I think your belief is completely bogus. I know I'm not "politically correct" by saying all this, but standing up for Jesus is so much more important than that.

I hope you'll find (at least some) truth by reading this. Like Jesus said, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (or in this case, if you have eyes to read, let him read). Basically, it means there's no point in arguing. If something is presented to you as truth, it's up to you and you alone to accepted it or not.

P.S. Did you know that the Roman Catholic Church teaches immaculate conception of Mary (like Jesus was immaculately conceived), so she was sinless, and that that she never died but was taken up to heaven like Jesus was. Maybe it's not a big deal (let people believe whatever they want to believe, whether it's true or not). But what's interesting is that such teaching is not found in the Bible OR the Apocrypha! Then where did they get such an idea? I think it was because some pope said it (I haven't confirmed this). But this teaching was added even after the Protestant Reformation. Now that makes me think... why wasn't Mary crucified instead? If she was sinless, couldn't she take away our sin as well? Another interesting thing is that the Catholic doctrine teaches the infallibility of the Pope, which was also added relatively recently. Of course, that must be true, right? Just look at the current Pope! I'm sure it wasn't a mistake that he was "misunderstood" on his speech about Muslims. Alright, alright. No more making fun of other people's beliefs. I'm not here to offend people. Everyone's got to rant a little sometimes. But I doubt most Catholics who aren't so devout really know what they believe, though I may be wrong.

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Title: Why am I a Protestant?

By: Pastor Richard Tiu

Passage: Isaiah 59:1-21

BCEA Sunday evening service – 29^th October 2006

Once again we shall take a break from our series on the 12 Apostles as we take time this day to remember an important event in the history of Christianity. If we may recall, the period from AD500 to AD1500 is what is known in church history as the “Dark Ages of the Church.” This was the period when the power of the papacy in the Roman Catholic Church was at its zenith; a period when the gospel of salvation was hidden under a maze of deception. It was a period when God needed to raise up a standard.

The passage we have read characterizes the religious cycle of the nation of Israel. Israel sins > God sends judgment > Standard is lifted > Truth prevails > Church is revived. The standard raised is the Word of God and its truth can only prevail when God raises faithful men to stand for it.

The same situation described from verse 1 to 11 existed in the dark ages of religion. When the Roman Catholic Church was at its mightiest, the true gospel of salvation was replaced by a gospel of deception. For one to be saved, faith in Christ is no longer enough. The RC says you must also do good works; you must observe their seven sacraments, and offer prayers to Mary and the so-called “canonized saints” of their church. In other words, one must need to work his way to heaven if he is to be saved – a teaching which is clearly condemned all throughout the Bible.

The Catholic Church cleverly tried to cover their errors by a web of deception. But our text in verse 6 says, “Their webs shall not become garments.” This refers to the garment of salvation offered in Christ alone. And the verse continues “neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.”

Verse 7 continues, “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood…” At that time when the reformers were trying to return to the teachings of the Bible, they were killed and burned at the stake. One such martyr of the Reformation was a man named William Tyndale who was strangled to death and his body burned. The reason was simply because he translated the Catholic Latin Bible into English which has become the common language of the people by that time.

Another reformer John Wycliffe started this translation before he died. After his death his corpse was exhumed in order to be burned. It was for the same reason that he defied the pope’s order not to translate the Latin Bible into English. Wycliffe also vehemently opposed the false teachings of the church and was branded a heretic. That was how the Roman Church hated to see the Bible being read and understood by the common people; because the Bible will reveal all their erroneous doctrines and thus expose them as a false church.

Then in verse 8 it says, “The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.” Romans 5:1 tells us that the way of peace with God is “being justified by faith…through our Lord Jesus Christ.” But the Catholic Church directs its members to a crooked path leading to a place called purgatory; a crooked path leading to the way of Mary worship instead of Jesus who is the only way, the truth, and the life.

Those who follow the crooked way is being described from verses 9 to 11, “Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.” This was exactly the situation during the dark ages of church history. Salvation was very far off because the truth was hidden. Verse 15 sums up that period, “Yea, truth faileth.”

Throughout the history of Christianity, Satan has always been trying to undermine the Word of God and subvert biblical doctrines of the faith; but each time God has always raised up His standard. So we are told in verse 19, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”

The Protestant Reformation was a rediscovery and return to biblical Christianity which began in Europe and America and later on spread to the whole world. We owe it to the 16^th century Protestant Reformation not only the reformation of the church but more importantly the restoration of genuine biblical Christianity.

In two days time, we mark that very special day in history, October 31. It is the day we remember (not Halloween) the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. And this afternoon we will travel back in time to that day, October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses at the castle door of the Wittenberg Church in Germany challenging the heretical doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. It was the day that the Lord lifted up a standard against the enemies of His word. It was the day when the 16^th Century Protestant Reformation officially started. And this coming Tuesday marks the 489^th year anniversary of that event. It is important for us to remember this event because it will answer the question: Why am I a Protestant? I have five reasons in answer to this question.

1) I am a Protestant because I stand for the Word of God – Nowadays, to protest is somewhat viewed as a negative action. People seem to protest at just about anything and everything. Just recently, university professors in Kenya were protesting that they receive lesser salaries than the MPs – a protest motivated by greed. And as a result, some of the protesters were eventually terminated. Protesters are often labeled as radicals or troublemakers and because of this the word “protest” or “protestant” seem to carry a negative connotation.

But in the original sense, to pro-test has a good meaning. The word “protest” is actually the Latin pro-testari. It is a compound of two words, pro which means “for” or “in favor of” and testari meaning “testament.” So to be protestari simply means to stand for or in favor of the testament. In the context of the Reformation, to be “protestant” simply means to be standing for the Testaments, both the Old and New. Hence, to be a Pro-testant is a biblical term, because to be a Pro-testant is to stand for the Word of God.

So if to be Protestant is to stand for the Word of God, how do you call those who con-tradict the Word of God? Con-testants? I’ve always believed there are only two religions in the world. Either you are a pro-testant – standing for the Word of God, believing, teaching, and defending it; or, you are a con-testant – contradicting, denying, adding, and or subtracting what God says through His word. So, which one are you? Are you Pro-testant or con-testant? Are you defending or denying the Bible?

We are Protestants because the Word of God alone is our basis for the rule of life and faith. This is the doctrine of sola Scriptura and we owe it to the Reformation for rediscovering this doctrine. Before the Reformation, it was kept hidden underneath the pile of Roman traditions and superstitions for more than a thousand years. Sola Scriptura is rooted in the principle that “when God says it; that settles it. I believe and obey it.” Departing from this biblical principle is always a step towards heresy. This was what happened to the Roman Catholic Church as well as to all the cults and heretical churches around us today.

2) I am a Protestant because I believe in the cardinal doctrines of salvation – The cardinal doctrines of salvation can be summed up by the other 4 Solas – sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, soli Deo Gloria. It stands for salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone.

a. Sola Gratia – Salvation is by grace alone totally apart from works. This truth is repeated so many times in the Bible. (Eph 2:8-10; Tit 3:5). This doctrine becomes very clear in Romans 11:6 “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Salvation is a free gift. If we have to work for it, then that would no longer be free, isn’t it? And besides, the Bible also says in Isaiah 64:6 that “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Man’s works of righteousness can never bring him to heaven nor can it justify him because we are told that even these are tainted by sin.

b. Sola Fide – Justification is by faith and again the key word is “alone.” Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38; Habakkuk 2:4 all say the same thing. “The just shall live by faith.” This is the heart of the gospel of Christ. The gospel is summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” All who believe in this truth shall be justified unto salvation.

c. Solus Christus – Almost all religions in the world says DO. But true Christianity says DONE. Christ says in John 19:30, “It is finished” to tell us that the work of redemption has been completed by His death on the cross. Nothing more has to be done except to believe in Him. Christ was the one crucified – not Mary or any of the so-called “saints.” That is why our faith must rest in Him and Him alone.

d. Soli Deo Gloria – For the glory of God alone is the natural result of the first 3 solas. This will set the proper perspective of where we stand before God. It will put sinners in their rightful place – down in the dust – and exalt God on high. Because it is sola gratia, sola fide, and solus Christus then it should be to the glory of God alone and not of men. Thus the tendency to glorify other gods or savior, or even our own works will be removed. God’s says in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”

3) I am a Protestant because I believe in the perspicuity of the Scriptures – Perspicuity of Scriptures means that the word of God is clearly expressed and therefore can be easily understood. The Reformers argued that the Scriptures is plain enough for the ordinary Christian to read and understand. But the RC Church teaches otherwise and they strongly forbid their followers to read the Bible on their own. They say that because it is difficult to understand it must be read only according to the interpretation of the church. Only RC priests were authorized to interpret the Bible at that time. But the question is: How could the early Christians have known and understood God’s Word when the RC was not yet in existence? We must take note that the epistles were written to ordinary Christians and not to priests & popes.

What actually made the Scriptures difficult to read at that time was because it was available only in the Latin Vulgate. The Catholic Church has forbidden the translation of the Bible into the common language of the people. So when the Bible was translated into English and put in the hands of the lay people, the Protestant Reformation soon broke out. When the people started reading a Bible that they could understand, they soon discovered how RC has diverted and departed from the Word of God. That was not the case before the Reformation. Today we have in our hands a Bible that we can read and understand because the reformers fought for that right.

4) I am a Protestant because I believe in the universal priesthood of believers – Before the reformation the believers cannot come directly to God the Father for the confession and forgiveness of sins. They were taught to come first under the intercession of dead saints, to confess to the priests, or even the Pope.

But the Bible says in 1Pe 2:9 that we who believe in Jesus are a royal priesthood because Christ as our great high Priest has opened the way for us to commune directly to the Father in heaven. Thus we do not need any intercession of dead saints nor de we need another mediator or mediatrix because Christ is the only mediator between God and man as 1Timothy 2:5 clearly tells us. That is why we don’t need to confess to a priest either. 1John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

That every believer is a priest also refutes wrong notion that only celibate priests can represent us before God. That is why we have married pastors in Protestant churches instead of celibate priests. The Bible clearly supports the practice of having married ministers. 1Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6 all say that, “A bishop [or elder] must be husband of one wife.” On the other hand, the Bible says that celibacy or forbidding of marriage is a doctrine of devils. 1 Timonthy 4:1-3, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry…”

What is ironic is that if these RC priests are supposed to be unmarried, why are they given the title “fathers?” A father without having children? Ironic isn’t it? Well, they may say they are spiritual fathers. Still, this is unbiblical. In Matthew 23:9 Jesus says, “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Spiritually we are born of God not of men. That’s why in our church we have Pastor Lazarus, Pastor Kiarie, Pastor Bernard, and Pastor Eben. We don’t call them Father Lazarus, Father Kiarie, or Father Bernard, or Father Eben.

Another irony is that while they call themselves as “fathers” but in reality some of them really wanted to be mothers. You know what I mean? Many members of the Catholic clergy are gay! And we often read them in the news sexually molesting young boys, causing great scandals in the church and in effect bringing shame to the name of Christ. We certainly don’t need immoral priests or any RC priest for that matter. As Protestants, we are a universal priesthood of believers. The Bible says so.

5) I am a Protestant because I worship God in spirit and truth – The Protestant Reformation also brought back the true worship of the living and true God. When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman by the well of Jacob in John 4, He gave her the description of who are the true worshippers of God. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

Before the Reformation, people were worshipping God in RC rituals and images. If you have ever attended a Roman Catholic worship you can see that the main attraction would be this ritual called the Eucharist or the Mass. The Word of God is still read but it is consigned only to the sidelines. The centerpiece of the altar will be an array of idols and images of wood and stone – a clear defiance of the 1^st and 2^nd commandment of God.

Today, we can practice the true worship of God in spirit and truth because someone protested against the rituals and idolatry of the RC Church. Though we don’t see Him, we worship God and sing hymns of praises unto Him because by faith we are assured that His Spirit is in our midst. We worship Him in sincerity of the spirit and not in formality of rituals. We worship Him in truth because we follow what His word tells us how He should be worshipped. We worship Him in truth by listening to His word being preached and applying them to our lives. God is not an image but a Spirit; He is not a ritual but the truth. As such, true worshippers ought to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We also owe this proper understanding of biblical worship to the Protestant Reformation.

So there we have it. The five answers to the question: Why I am a Protestant? Firstly, it is because I stand for the word of God. Then I believe in the cardinal doctrines of salvation (4 Solas). Thirdly, I believe in the perspicuity or clarity of Scriptures. Fourthly, I believe in the universal priesthood of believers. And lastly, I worship God in spirit and in truth. All five beliefs based solely from the Bible.

But the sad reality is that many who call themselves Protestants are no longer pro-testing in the true sense of the word. Some of them are no longer pro-Scriptures. They are no longer pro-Bible. No more pro-God. The word and the will of God is no longer the rule of their life and faith. Churches have gone back to the pomp and pageantry of entertainment worship with rock music and dancing. The word of God is no longer preached faithfully in many Protestant churches. Sin is no longer an issue. Health and wealth is more important. Evangelism takes a back seat for miracles and signs and wonders.

What is even sadder is the fact that Protestant churches are now taking efforts to unite back with Rome through the ecumenical movement. In so doing, it is as if to say that the Protestant Reformation is, after all, a big mistake. And so we need to go back to the Roman Catholic Church and say, “I’m sorry.” Is being protestari a mistake? Is being pro Word of God an error?

Thus we really need to ask this question over and over again that we may not lose the focus of our Christian faith. Why am I a Protestant? If you know the answers then ask yourself: Am I still pro-testing?

May the rich heritage of the 16^th century Protestant Reformation be always remembered and preached in this pulpit.

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/

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: 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 #1: Into the Woods

Jambo!

It's been two weeks since I came to East Africa, and it feels like a lot has happened already. To mention a few, a missionary team from London came and I got to join them in their ministry for their last few days, Pastor Kiarie got married last week, and I went down to Tanzania couple days ago to see the new Bible college under construction. You can read about them on my blog (http://doxadeo.blogspot.com).

However, the real African experience starts tomorrow. I'll be going to Masai Land to spend a month there. That's where people live in huts made out of cow dung, and most places don't have electricity or running water. So I'll be disconnected from the rest of the world except through my cell phone.

Speaking of phones, I just got one today. If you need to contact me, or just want to chat, my number is: 0727-867-619. Incoming calls and SMS are free for me (outgoing SMS is very cheap), so don't hesitate to call or text! The country code for Kenya is 254. (e.g. If you're calling from the US, dial 011-254-727-867-619. If that doesn't work, add 0 before 727.)

For the first week, I'll be volunteering at a clinic, then for three weeks after that I'll be helping with a ministry while most likely living in one of the cow-dung huts. I have no idea how I will recharge my phone battery without electricity, but even the Masai warriors have cell phones (or maybe it's because they are warriors that they have cell phones), so I'm sure there's a way.

Please pray for me as I will be entering an entirely different culture. Pray that I will be able to share God's love by my actions, that I will glorify God in whatever I do. I will be in a relatively less safe environment, so please pray for safety and health. Although, without God no place is safe, and with God everywhere is safe. The Lord is my refuge. To be honest, I am a bit scared and worried. Please pray that I will have more faith in God.

You'll hear from me again next month, if I'm still alive by then.

In Him,
SunMin

Doxa in Kenya: Back to School

Friday, July 21. Nairobi.

I'm back! ... Well, not in the US, but in Kenya.

Tanzania was actually quite nice, but I'm sure I've only seen the nicer parts. The school is coming together, but I wonder if it will really be done by end of next month.

The deaconess that I met yesterday arranged to have her two daughters join us for breakfast. Mrs. Kim, Pastor Lazarus, and Rajabu had to go back to the construction site early, so I had breakfast with the two girls, Hannah and YaeJin. Hannah is going to be a Junior in college planning to go to med school, so I was supposed to give hers some advice, especially on scholarships and stuff, but since she's an international student, I couldn't really help her much. I got a ton of financial aid and some research grant because I'm a California resident, but it's a completely different ballgame for international students. Anyhow we had a good time just chatting.

Apparently broadband internet is quite common in Tanzania, or at least among the Koreans in Tanzania. On the other hand, broadband is really expensive and not as common in Kenya, even in Nairobi. I heard that it's somehow related to the fact that the current president owns the majority of the shares in the major broadband provider. From the grassroots level all the way up to the president, corruption is prominent in Kenya. I'll write more about that some other time. Or maybe I shouldn't write about it, at least about the leaders, because there isn't much freedom of press here either... I'm afraid I'll get slapped in the face (literally) by the president's wife or have my computer destroyed by the armed forces. That's what they do to people who say things that are unfavorable about the leaders, or so I hear. [Dear President Kibaki, if you're reading this, please don't hurt me. I'm just an innocent musungu, and whatever I say are only the things I hear, so it could be completely false anyway. Just stop the freaking corruption, darn it!]

I really can't get used to the pollution here. Just riding a car with window open gives me a headache. Coming back to Nairobi was terrible because of that. I miss Tanzania already. I could smell the mountains there... Or not.

I cooked some of my sticky rice for the first time tonight. It was so good that I wanted to cry. Seriously. I can pick them up using my chopstick! I was so touched that I gave the rest of my non-sticky rice to Richard right after dinner. I can never go back. The whole world should just eat sticky rice (and nothing else). I want to feed sticky rice to the starving children all over Africa. Ok, now I'm just playing.

Would anybody dare me to go without shaving for a whole month (or perhaps longer)? Well, if nobody dares, I'll just take on my own dare. In fact, tomorrow will be a week since I shaved last time. I figured I don't really have anyone to impress, and maybe I could look a little older with some beard and mustache. It's been my childhood dream to have a big beard... Ok, just kidding. But I've always thought of trying some facial hair, but it grows unevenly, so I couldn't stand the look of the short stubs scattered around my mouth. Maybe it'll look better if I grow it a little longer. Or maybe not. I guess I'll find out when I come back from Lenkijape.

Doxa in Tanzania: A Day Trip Down South

Thursday, July 20. Arusha, Tanzania

Wow. Who would have thought that I would be in Tanzania today? It was literally a last minute decision, but now I am in Arusha, a city in northern Tanzania. I'm staying at a hotel in my own room. So, how did I get here?

This morning, right after morning chapel (around 9AM), HaYoung called me over and asked me if I wanted go to Tanzania with her mom, and that she's leaving in 30 minutes. It was a double surprise because her mom (Mrs. Kim) wasn't going to go because she's been sick, and I had no idea I had the option to go. So apparently she decided to go, and she had asked me if I wanted to tag along. Since I didn't have much time to decide, I thought, "why not?" and decided to go.

Mrs. Kim has been planting a lot of flowers and trees at BCEA, and she's also in charge of plants at the new Bible College in Arusha. Also, she had to send some money there to pay for construction or something like that.

On the way to the border, I got to see a little bit of Masai Land, where I will be for the next month. People seemed to live literally among the bushes. There's really nothing but trees and grass. I also saw two giraffes eating from a tree right next to the road. I'd never seen a wild giraffe, so I doubted my eyes when I saw them. There was also a dead hyena on the road. We stopped at River Hotel in Namanga, a city bordering Kenya and Tanzania, for bathroom break and lunch. Then at the border I had to buy a 3-month visa to Tanzania for $50 (it was the same for Kenya).

We arrived at the new Bible College at around 3PM (about 5.5hr ride), and we planted some trees and bushes around campus. I got to see the painting job that London Team did when they were here last week. It was actually fun planting stuff and getting my hands dirty. I think there's something therapeutic about planting trees. I'm looking forward to seeing the plants (that I personally planted) again in a month, and see how they've grown. They are so small right now, but it's mind-boggling to think that they will be at least a waist high in a few weeks.

People here seem really friendly, or the kids at least. As we drove by villages, most of the kids that see me would smile and wave at me. It's probably because I'm a "musungu" (foreigner), but it's still interesting when the kids wave at me or give me a thumb-up.

After working at the college, we met up with a deaconess and went out to dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant called Pepe. I didn't know they had such a nice restaurant in Tanzania. They had a real Italian chef, the food was excellent, and the portions were humongous. I'm telling you, I'm being so spoiled in Africa. But no worries, I'll have my share of "Africa" starting next week.

Mrs. Kim insists that I should climb Mt. Kilimanjaro since I'm here. Most likely I'll be going there after a month of "training" in Masai Land. I'll be walking around a lot while I'm there, so it'll be a god training. Apparently it takes 5 to 6 days to climb all the way to the top and come back down. So that's quite a challenge... And that's an understatement. I've climbed Mt. Fuji without difficulty, but that was when I was in high school, and I was more fit back then. Besides I wasn't carrying anything on my back, and it only took a few hours. I also climbed Half Dome in Yosemite two years ago, and that was pretty tough mainly because I was carrying a lot of water on the way up (8 hours climbing, 2 hours descending). It would be quite an accomplishment if I make it to the top of Kilimanjaro... It's also quite expensive. I'm not sure if I could afford it, but I'm willing to take up the challenge if I'm given the opportunity.

Mt. Kilimanjaro is usually hidden in the clouds, so I didn't get to see it today, but maybe tomorrow on the way back to Nairobi I'll get to see it.

Doxa in Kenya: A Day in BCEA

Wednesday, July 19.

So I never got to finish explaining what a day in BCEA is like.

Like I said in a previous entry, everyday except Lord's Day (which is what we call Sunday here) starts with early morning prayer at 5:30AM. We sing a hymn, read a passage, then one of the pastors speak briefly. After that, they turn of the lights in the chapel, and people pray for a while. It's scheduled till 6:30AM, but people are free to leave when they want to (or that's what they seem to do).

At 7AM, the students eat breakfast at the cafeteria. According to the menu I saw once, they eat bread and tea every morning. The faculty, on the other hand, go back to their own places and prepare breakfast on their own. I usually eat some cereal with milk, yogurt, honey, and bananas. This morning I ran out of bananas, so I had some toast with peanut butter and honey instead. I know... why am I not starving in Africa? I mean, somehow I'm much more well-off than the students here even as a missionary. I guess knowing this fact will help me use my money (i.e. financial support from the church in California) wisely, and be a better steward of what God has given me. Those of us who live in developed countries are "spoiled" when compared to people living in developing countries. Even homeless people in the States can have access to shelters, food, and some clothing. But people here live off of bear minimum. Because I'm "spoiled," it would be so hard for me to start a day with just a piece of bread and a cup of tea. But perhaps that is something I need to learn eventually if I were to become a missionary doctor in third-world countries.

On a school day, at 7:30AM the students go back to the main chapel (named Glory Hall) for some Bible reading and meditation. At the same time, the faculty (including myself) meet together to read a passage and pray together. At 8AM, we have morning chapel, which consists of singing a hymn, scripture reading, and a sermon. The chapel lasts for about an hour. After that the students go to classes, while I go to the main office.

I'm in the office from 9AM to 12:30PM, have lunch, then come back at 2PM till 4PM. In the office, there's usually nothing to do, so I just bring my laptop and either write my journal entry or work on my med school application. There's actually one huge task waiting for me to do, which is to make an inventory of all the books we have in the office. But I'm setting it aside for later, since med school app takes precedence. Besides, I'll be gone to Masai in less than week, and I wouldn't want to start a project and leave it half-way for one whole month.

Students usually come in to fill out permission slips (for missing classes, etc.), and faculties come in to ask to make photocopies. Sometimes we have visitors who are interested in attending the school next year. Today, I spent all morning in the office typing up some final exams for the kindergarten. Mrs. Yoon is in charge of making those (or that's what I think), so she asked to type it for her, since I could do it in tenth of the time it takes for her to do it (maybe I'm exaggerating). When I gave her the finished tests, she gave me a few pieces of chicken that she cooked. Maybe it was a reward, but it could be just out of kindness, since she's usually very nice. She's helped me out a lot with food and stuff.

For lunch today, I decided to cook rice with the inner pot of the rice cooker on the stove. Since it's an electrical stove, I figured it's just like using the rice cooker, except I would have to adjust the heat. I learned that if I have the heat too high, it starts to bubble to much, the water dries up too quickly, and the rice remains uncooked. So I had to add some more water and cook at really low heat. Times like these I wish I had internet access so I could just look up "How to cook rice" or "How rice cooker works." But I guess it's also good to learn from experience. I was going to have some kimchi that Mrs. Yoon gave me, but apparently the refrigerator was set too cold, so the kimchi was partially frozen.

After lunch, I was going to go out to Outdoor Evangelism like last week, but Eben and Richard were going out for grocery shopping. Since I just moved out from Richard's place yesterday, I needed to do some shopping, and since I don't know when they'll go shopping again, I decided to go. First we went to this private residence where they sell some Korean food. They had sticky rice imported from Uganda, some rice cake for tok-kuk and tok-pok-ki, some fish, and some home made sesame oil. I got 10kg (22lb) of sticky rice for Ksh1000 ($14), a pretty good deal, I think. I also got some rice cakes for tok-kuk. Then we went to the ABC market and got some veggies and meat. Mrs. Yoon helped me choose what to buy.

For dinner tonight, I cooked rice again, but this time I was pretty confident. I set the heat high, then lower it to lowest setting when it started boil. While the rice was cooking, I marinated two chicken legs in soy sauce and honey with some garlic, onion, and red chill pepper powder (kochu-karu). Both the rice and chicken turned out really nicely. Well, the chicken was a bit salty (little too much soy sauce), but I guess I'll live and learn. At least it was fully cooked. The rice was excellent. The only thing was that I used the long-grain rice that I bought a week ago, so it wasn't as good as it would have been if it was sticky. Maybe I'll just give my remaining long-grain rice to Richard, since he uses the same kind.

So I'm here as a missionary, but it might seem like I haven't been doing much missionary work even though it's been 12 days since I got here. I'm thinking to myself, "SunMin, haven't you done enough adjusting-to-life-in-Kenya already? Get some work done!" Well, maybe I'll have to wait till I go to Masai, but right now, I'll just have to do the tasks that I'm given. I suppose one of them is to make the inventory of books in the office... Times like these, I recall the parable of the talents. I need to use the little things that God entrusts me with to glorify Him, then he might entrust me with bigger things. It's not for me to say, "God, why don't You give me something more important to do?" It's all up to Him, and I must keep obeying.

Doxa in Kenya: Independence

Tuesday, July 18.

I moved into my new apartment today. That meant I had to start cooking for myself. Well, I thought I could work something out with Richard so we could cook together or take turns, but apparently he'll be very busy for the next two weeks wrapping up the trimester. I was a little bummed, but I figured I could just cook rice and soup or something. To my surprise, my new apartment was already equipped with pots, pans, utensils, dishes, cups, etc. I thought, "Great, I guess I'll survive after all." But there were a few hurdles before I could eat my first dinner alone.

Here we have three kinds of water. One is tap water that comes from a deep well within the school. We use the tap water for shower, brushing teeth, and washing dishes. But it's not suitable for drinking because it contains a little too much calcium. Second is the drinking water that we get from the market (in one of those big plastic containers used for many water dispensers). The third is a water we get from the city. There is one tap behind the main sanctuary that we can get the water from the city. We use this water for cooking and rinsing cups and utensils. Since I didn't have any bottles, I had to borrow them from Richard. I filled up two ten-liter bottles and carried them back to my place. I had to carry both in my arms, and it was not fun at all.

The second obstacle was the rice cooker. I had brought a small rice cooker from the States. But since in the States we use 110V-120V, I also brought a voltage converter. It turns out that the converter was broken, so I couldn't cook my rice using the rice cooker. It was a brand new converter too... Warranty (in US) means nothing when you're in Kenya. So I had cook rice on the stove with a little pot. I found one with a metallic handle - one of those that we use for camping, I guess. I was going to cook some instant ramen to make myself feel even more pathetic, but I decided it was easier to cook instant curry (the pre-packaged ones) and I would feel less pathetic. (I like ramen, but there's something about instant noodles and being a college student that makes people pathetic... Oh, but I'm not a college student anymore. Hmm...) I always relied on automatic rice cookers, so I was a bit concerned about the rice, but it turned out quite nicely. Now I think I can survive even in Lenkijape... maybe. They have no electricity, and people live in huts made of cow dung.

Overall, my first dinner in my new apartment turned out pretty nicely. The only thing I lacked was somebody to eat with. It's times like these that make me wish I was married... Or at least had a roommate.

After dinner, I washed the dishes (this is also when I wish I was married - not that I would make my wife do the dishes, it's that we would do it together), made my bed, and took a shower. The bathroom in this apartment is on the same floor (as opposed to being on the third floor like in the other one), so the water pressure was a little better. But I don't have any shower curtain, so I had to shower while sitting down in the tub. After the shower, I got to dry myself completely in my room before I put on my clothes. It's times like these that I'm glad I didn't have a roommate. If you come from a "bath culture" (or you go to public baths), you would get out of the room with baths and showers, and dry yourself completely before you put on your clothes. You just can't get fully dry in the bathroom or in the same room that you took shower in. Anyway, it's nice to be able to be naked whenever I want to... jk.

Now that I'm all on my own, I have to get more groceries. Previously, I depended on Richard since he had all the necessary ingredients to cook. He would also share all the meat with me, but now I have to get them on my own. I need to learn how to buy meat now. Err... I should make a shopping list, because I never know what to buy when I'm actually at the store.

I'm running out of time to finish my med school application. If I don't finish by the time I come back from Kilhani (where the clinic is), I won't have the chance to go online for at least another 3 weeks while I'm in Lenkijape. Then I'm most likely going straight to Tanzania, where I probably won't get internet access either. Also in Lenkijape, there's no electricity, so there's no way to recharge my laptop. That means if I don't finish in the next two weeks, I won't get to submit my application till late August at the earliest. There's no problem with the deadlines though, since the earliest deadline is October 15. But I need time to do secondary applications and submit them early enough so that I could get interviews when I come back in late November. Of course, nothing is for sure. To get the interviews, I would also need to have all the letters of recommendations ready, and some how contact individual med schools to schedule interviews. So I don't even know if I'll get any interviews between November 22 and early January. I guess I'll have to schedule the interviews as early as possible in January, and get a plane ticket back to Nairobi after I set all the interview dates. It's like a huge gamble... I feel like I'm putting so much at risk because I'm in Kenya. But I must keep my faith in God, and do my best with the application.

Doxa in Kenya: School Day

Tuesday, July 11.

Here's another day at BCEA. But it's not the same as before, because today will be the first day with a full day of classes. Well, I'm not taking classes, but the students are. We don't have classes Friday afternoons and Mondays because some of the students minister at churches back home on Sundays, so they need time to travel.

The day starts at 5:30AM for early morning prayer. We meet at the main chapel, which is about a minute walk from my room. This morning was my second time going, and I find it quite nice to start my day in the Word and prayer... That's what I should have been doing in college, but it's much easier here because all students are required to go. Hopefully I will be disciplined to start my day with reading the Scripture and prayer.

Wednesday, July 12.

I started writing yesterday's entry in the morning, but it was a busy day, and I didn't get to finish. Starting yesterday, I've been "working" in the school office. I say "working" because I don't really do anything school related. I just sit here and do my own thing (e.g. writing my journal). Today I'm in the office again. Since I had nothing to do, yesterday Eben asked me to go with him to buy some sand for some construction project at the school. We took a pickup truck, and they dumped about a 1 ton of sand in the back using a bulldozer. When we came back, Richard approached us and told us about one of the students who passed out the night before in the bathroom. His name is Paul, and he is in his 40's. He doesn't know how long he had been out, but he must have had a stroke, because one side of his body was aching. Mrs. Kim had a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope, so I went to Paul's room, and took his blood pressure. He had a really high BP (160/100), so Richard and Pastor Kiarie took him to the hospital. Good thing I learned how to take BP when I was in FISH (Fellowship of International Service and Health). Maybe I'm not useless after all.

Yesterday after school, the students and faculty played some volleyball together in the school field. I hadn't played volleyball since... I can't even remember, but I did better than I thought I could.

It's actually quite cold right now. July is the coldest month of the year. It's been cloudy everyday that I've been here. It even rains right before dawn. But I'm told that the rest of the months are sunny and warm. I can't wait till August...

I might be going to Masai next week to volunteer at a clinic there. BCEA established an elementary school, a secondary school, and a clinic in Masai. They've handed them over to the government for them to use, but the partnership is still there. A missionary from Singapore works there as a nurse, and she'll be coming here on Friday. Rev. Kim will talk with her then if I could work with her. I would be thrilled to go and volunteer at the clinic. If I go, I'll probably be there for about a month. They say that the environment is not as nice as here, and I won't have any internet access while I'm there. That means I'll have to finish my med school application before I leave... The problem is that if I go, I'll most likely be leaving this weekend. So I really don't have much time... I guess I'll have to get working then.

Doxa in Kenya: A 22-year old baby

Monday, July 10.

I'm not going to go into details about each day here as I did before. Well, I guess there's no need to. Now that I've been living here for 3 days things are beginning to repeat itself (so I don't have to write about the same thing every time it happens).

So, let me talk about my living situation. I'm staying in one of the houses that teachers live in. I'm on the second floor, temporarily sharing an apartment with Richard Tiu, a missionary from the Philippines. I have my own room for now, but in a week or so I'll be living in my own apartment right next door (same building). Right now my apartment-to-be is filled with luggage that came with a missionary team from London (they are in Tanzania now, I'll talk about that some other time). The building is on campus, which is fenced and gated all around.

On my first day here, Rev. Kim, his daughter HaYoung, Richard, and I went out to grocery shopping. We went to a mall called Nakumatt. Apparently it's one of the nicest mall in Eastern Africa, but it's nothing like any of the malls in the States. When I got my currency exchanged, it was 71.50 Kenyan Shillings to a dollar. But interestingly they exchange $100 and $50 bills printed in 1996 and 1999 at 2 shillings lower than other bills. Someone later told me that about 60% of the large bills are counterfeits, thanks to North Korea. (Really, thanks Kim Jong Il or whoever it was, I lost KSH200 because of you!)

I need to learn how to buy groceries more effectively. First, I need to be able to quickly divide every price tag by 70, then learn where things are, what brands are "good" (or edible), how to choose fruits/veggies, and how not to get ripped-off. I never did much grocery shopping in the US, so it's hard for me to tell if something is relatively expensive or cheap.

I'm supposed to take care of my own food, but others have been helping me a lot. For breakfast, I just eat some cereal with yogurt, banana, and honey, but for lunch, Richard cooks rice and some simple food for both of us, and for dinner, I'd been invited over to people's houses. There's another Korean missionary family besides the Kims. Eben Yoon, his wife, and their daughter HaEun. HaEun is the cutest and smartest 2-year old I've ever seen. Last night, the Yoons took me out to dinner at Jambo Grill where we had some goat meat, goat liver, and chicken. It took one whole hour to prepare the food... But it was all worth it. The Yoons live in the apartment below mine.

For some reason, it's taking a while for me to adjust to the sleeping condition. Most likely I'm still jetlagged. The first couple nights I woke during the middle of the night three or four times because I had to go to the bathroom really bad. Last night I only woke up once, so I think I'm making progress. I'm sleeping under a mosquito net, but I haven't seen a single mosquito yet. Right now the season is dry and cool, so mosquitoes aren't around.

Kenyan coffee is amazing... On my first day, I went to a café called Java House, and had some iced coffee. They have wireless internet set up, but when I went, their ISP was down, so I couldn't go online.

Speaking of internet, the way I'm getting internet is by dialing through a wireless phone. It's not a cell phone, but it looks like a regular phone but uses antenna to make calls. I can only get 115kbps (twice the speed of dial-up), and only one person can use it at a time, so I don't get to go online very often. When I do, everything takes forever... I miss broadband. If only I had a car and a license, maybe I could drive myself to an internet café downtown and get fast but inexpensive internet. But what we have here is fast enough for e-mails, chats, and voice chats, but not video chat...

That's another thing I need to do: get a driving license. I also need to learn how to drive stick, because most of the cars here are manual. Err, if only I had bought international license before I came... That was my mistake. But hopefully I can get a permit here since I brought my California license.

Living here, I feel like I'm a baby all over again. I can't go anywhere outside campus, I can't get internet whenever I want... It's like I've lost my limbs, and I can't do anything by myself. I feel so dependent. I guess I was never independent, but I didn't realize how much I depended on others and different things while I lived in the US. I also feel quite useless. Yeah, so what if I graduated from UCLA with summa cum laude in biophysics? It means nothing here. So what if I speak Japanese? I'm not on a mission trip to Japan like I was two years ago. I'm just an ordinary person, just an overgrown baby.

Some people may call me foolish. They might say, "Why in the world did you go to Kenya then?" To be honest, I don't know what for yet, but I just know that I'm here because God called me here. I feel weak and useless, but I'm making myself available to what God has called me to. Only God knows what He's going to do with me, and He will reveal them to me in His time. I need to be patient.

Speaking of feeling weak, I also feel physically weak. I noticed that I start breathing heavily when I climb up stairs. It's almost like when I had asthma up to 4th grade. I just found out that it's because of the high altitude. Oxygen level is a bit lower than what I'm used to. Apparently, it's also because of the high altitude that there aren't any mosquitoes around here. The altitude is about 1.6km (1 mile or 5280ft) here.

I figured I have to get used to the low oxygen level, so I decided to pickup basketball. If you know me, you know that I'm not good with any type of sports, especially those involving a ball. Anyway, Brother Eben taught me how to play for about an hour or so. I think I'll be practicing more in the future.

We call each other "brother" here. I'm fine being called brother, but I'm still not used to calling them brothers yet, especially since they are older. I just call them by their names.

I wanted to feel useful, so I decided to cook rice for Richard and me tonight. But as soon as I was about to start, the power went out... Richard says we'll just have to wait, it'll be back in a few minutes... Or an hour. I guess we never know what happens.

Taking a shower has been interesting. Our (Richard and I) apartment is on the second floor, but the bathroom is on the third floor. So the water pressure is very low up there. So when many people are using the water on the first floor (or in the dorms) for taking showers and such, we don't get any water for the shower or the toilet. (Oh! The power's back! I'm going to go cook some rice now...)

Wow... That was some meal. We had rice, eggplant dipped in eggs, shrimp sautéed with garlic and ginger, corn cream soup (I brought packets from the US), seaweed, and papaya. I feel a bit spoiled (that I'm eating such good meals in Africa), but then it took a lot of work and time cooking. I suppose I'm learning to become more independent (or at least how to cook). I really didn't expect to eat so well here. Before I came, I thought I would be just eating with the students (who don't get to eat all that much, from what I heard). I also didn't expect to have my own room, and didn't even imagine I would have my own apartment! I thought I would be living in the dorms with the students. I really don't deserve such treatment... I was ready and willing to just rough it. But I'm sure I'll get a chance to do that as well.

Oh yeah, about shower. Thankfully, we have a water heater so I can shower in warm water, but we have to turn on the heater at least 45 minutes before you want to take a shower. Since the water pressure isn't very reliable, we collect the warm water in a bucket, and use it if the water stops in the middle of soaping up.

When resources are scarce, you start thinking of ways to conserve the resource, minimize cost, and be more effective. I'm beginning to think that way about many things. You really don't realize how much you're wasting until you don't have much.

This entry is already long, and it's getting late (It's 8PM, and I started writing this morning. Of course I wasn't writing the whole time).

Doxa in Kenya: First day in Kenya

Saturday, July 8, 2006. Nairobi

Today is my second day in Kenya. I was way too tired to write anything yesterday, but now I feel quite rested (although I'm not used to the bed, so my back and neck hurts).

So back to where I left off. I walked around the terminal in London to look for something to eat. I was carrying a huge backpack and a guitar (with a case that's 5 times as heavy as the guitar itself), so I had to walk slowly. Finally, I decided to eat at Garunkel's Restaurant. I had some eggs, sausage, bacon, mushroom, beans, fries, and tomato... They were quite terrible. The eggs (sort of sunny-side up) felt like plastic, the fries were cold, and they cost $14!! I was hungry, so I decided not to care so much... They brought some kind of condiment that looked like brownish vinegar with some gunk floating inside and smelled like urine, and since I touched it, my hands smelled like it for a while. Quite disgusting.

I began wondering around at the airport again, and I realized I could use one of those carts to push my backpack and guitar... Why didn't I think of that earlier? I was about to collapse from the weight. Then a girl walked by as she said to me, "You go to my sister's college!" And I saw a familiar face next to her. It was Karen from Crusade (I don't know her last name since I don't have access to internet right now and that means no facebook...). I don't think I've talked to her before, but it was really nice to see someone I could recognize. She was on her way to Uganda on a mission trip with a group from Davis Christian Fellowship, and I decided to hangout with her group for a while. Their flight was an hour before mine, so after they left, I began to wonder around again.

I wanted to check my e-mail, so I put my last 50 pence coin (about $1) in the internet kiosk... But it just ate my coin and didn't do anything but spit out three 1 pence coins... If only I had 2 more pence, I would have had another 50 pence to get 5 minutes of internet... But I didn't, so no internet for me in London.

Frustrated, I went back to the Quiet Room to recharge my laptop. I was super sleepy, but since I only had 1.5 hours till my flight and I didn't want to sleep through it, I decided to stay awake. I was even more frustrated when I found out later that my flight was delayed 1.5 hours...

I slept through most of the flight to Nairobi, and the plane arrived an hour behind schedule. Getting the visa was interesting. I filled out a brief application on the plane, and when I got to the customs booth, the guy hardly looked at my application before he stamped a visa on my passport. It was the most painless visa process ever.

Thankfully, both of my luggage came through in one piece. I was stopped for baggage check right before the exit, and was asked if I was carrying any gifts and such. The lady asked how much the guitar was, how long it was used, etc, but I didn't know because the guitar belonged to the church. She told me I'm supposed to pay a fee for bringing in expensive gifts, then I told her that I'm a missionary, and she just let me go. Apparently people give special favors to missionaries, such as discounts on plane tickets.

Pastor Kim was waiting right outside the gate with a sign that had my name in Korean. I felt bad because he had to wait for so long because of the delay. But I felt even worse when Pastor Kim told me that Pastor Moon had told him I was arriving on the 6th, not 7th, so he came to the airport the night before only to find out that I was coming the next morning. I did send him a carbon copy of a e-mail I sent to the missions headquarter, but I guess he missed the part that had my flight information. Pastor Kim was also 15min late to his lecture because of me...

Ok, I don't have enough time to write all the details now. But I'll go ahead an post this one.

To be continued...