As I sit down to write this morning, I wish I were a poet. For if I were I would write “Ode to a Warm Chapati”! I just bought some freshly made, warm chapatis this morning and, although I had already had my breakfast, I had to eat one. Ahhhhhhhh. They are surely Kenyan comfort food. Although I have written about chapattis before, I want to be sure you understand just how wonderful they are. Chapatis are the bread of Kenya. Most Kenyans do not have ovens or stoves. They cook over a fire. So Chapatis are not baked, but sort of grilled. They are made of a simple dough of flour, water and salt which is rolled into a flat circle, brushed with oil or butter, folded into quarters, rolled out again, brushed with oil again, folded again, and this process repeated at least once more. Then they are grilled over a fire. The result is a bread similar to a pita, but moister and chewier and with just a hint of a smoky taste…delicious! They are usually eaten with stew, but are wonderful with anything or nothing. I plan on asking Grace to teach me how to make them before we leave. But unless they are grilled over a fire…well, they just won’t be the same.

I think I’m going to be sharing disjointed tidbits this week. Things I’ve been thinking about, but they don’t flow together into a nice tidy package.

Smells. I’ve mentioned before that smells are different in Kenya. Stick with me on this one. I’m learning that there are many things in life that are acquired tastes_or smells. This morning as I bought vegetables from some of my friends I smelled a fragrance that at first caused me to want to hold my breath, but has become a “friendly” smell, and one that I think I will miss when we leave. It is the fragrance of honest labor mingled with smoke. Sometimes we Americans are so conscious about odors that we think we have to mask everything with perfume, air fresheners, strong smelling detergents, etc., etc. I just know I will miss some of the smells of Kenya when we leave.

Students. When we visited Masai Mara, we camped on the grounds of the family of students we know here at RVA. We had heard many times that you really need to visit some of the students so you can better understand them, and my is that true.

This is a 6th grade girl’s home: She lives in a small tin home. They use an outhouse all the time-no flush toilets. They have running water for a shower and sinks, but the water cannot be drunk without processing it. They have electricity from a generator a few hours each day or night-as long as there is gas for the generator. They go to sleep every night listening to lions, hyenas, and elephants. Only one other white family lives nearby and their children are ages 2 & 5. There are no English-speaking children her age to play with. Their basketball “court” is hard-packed earth. They wash clothes by hand. The days we were there she and her sister and mother were busy trying to smooth the road from the main road up the hill to their house by removing big stones by hand… But I haven’t heard her complain or whine about her situation. Their family is called of God to minister to the Masai and so they are.

On the flip side, take a look at some of the benefits: Their house is on a hillside and they have an incredible view! They live, literally, on the edge of the most famous game park in the world! Television and radio can’t dictate what they should want and “need”. Life is an adventure and they are in the enviable position of needing God daily for things we really need God for, but do not recognize.

Routines, Ruts & Comfort. So many people have expressed to us that they are so impressed by what we are doing, some even attempting to put us up on a pedestal. Well if we haven’t already convinced you that we are just folks like everyone else, here goes. I realized during this last break that although everything was new and out of my comfort zone at first, I’m now getting pretty comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that I’m slipping into some ruts, both physical and spiritual. I’ve been caught up short with the fact that as humans our fleshly nature always craves comfort, familiarity, safety. This is normal, but it is the thing that threatens our life with Jesus more than anything. When I begin to weigh decisions based on my comfort, I’ve lost and Satan has won.

Several years ago, God spoke to my heart saying, “Take me out of the box.” And so began a journey of learning who God was on His terms, not mine. It’s been and continues to be a marvelous revelatory journey that challenges me. Well, now God has spoken to my heart saying, “Take yourself out of the box.” Whew! First all my ideas about God are challenged, and now all my ideas about myself are challenged! I’m excited and nervous about what all I’ll find out! And the first step is that I am teaching a junior high girls Sunday School class!?! I’ve always said, “I’m not a teacher!”, “I wasn’t the average junior high girl and I don’t know how to relate to them!” Please pray for me as I continue on this journey, and especially pray for those junior high girls!!

Thanks again for your faithful friendship and support.

With love,

Nancy