The Road to Eldoret: Part 2

Having arrived in the great city of Eldoret at 6:00 am, I was somewhat weary. However, we had no time to sleep as we were soon met at the bus depot by Jackson’s cousin, Paris. She led us onto a matatu that dropped us close to her home where we would be spending most of our time when not at the church. Once dawn broke upon the land she took us for a quick tour of the slum area surrounding us, called Haruma. We came back to her house after observing the clear distinctions between that slum and the one in which we usually dwell. The slums there have far more room and even areas to have gardens that bring forth a fair amount of food.

Back at Paris’ house we drank what would become many cups of Kenyan chai, a staple to any day. One once told me he could go many days without eating without even skipping a beat, yet to miss a dose of chai was to send him to an immediate lethargic state. Whatever the case, it is not something to be overlooked. Many spoke less English than expected, so as they conversed I found myself slipping into punctuated periods of slumber. Then the waking statement came: time to go to the church.

The time was probably 10:30 and we walked about seven minutes away to a small corner building with a large megaphone looking speaker poking out of an open window. Inside fifteen or so believers gathered, singing to the fullness of their being. Certainly being the only white person there in the whole slum drew enough attention and we were paraded up to the front where several plastic chairs had been reserved for us. I was told I would be speaking that morning but I was unsure at what time or how long they desired, but first worship must run its full course. They sang, danced and praised their way into the heavenly throne room and then it was time for the message. We were introduced but I was able to gather that it still was not our time and then it became clear: the first speaker had to share his word; then it would be my time.

I will confess and be honest in saying that I fell asleep through the most part of the preacher’s diatribe. Naturally I would like to be able to admit that I have never found myself asleep during a service but after traveling over miles of harrowing and sleepless roads I just didn’t have it in me. Somehow I awoke towards the end of his message, the content of which I still don’t know. It was just in time to come to our feet and sing a bit more and then the microphone was handed to me. The moment of truth had come, was their any way I could somehow gather enough energy to tell these people something important from the Word of God?

After a brief prayer, inwardly pouring out all manner of desperation to overcome the flesh, I begin sharing on becoming a living sacrifice from Romans 12. The ideas going in my mind was preparing these people for the service of God there in Haruma. So we began with getting the power of God to them, with the goal of moving to getting the power of God through them and culminating with the urgency of God’s work in their midst. I remained awake during the time I was speaking which was certainly a blessing and led us to the hour of 2:00.

We broke for lunch that had been prepared by the ladies of the church. No doubt they had slaughtered a few chickens earlier that morning and they fed us quite well. Now, not only was I full but content and partnered with the level of fatigue, I was certain to fall asleep while standing on my two feet. Lunch brought a conversation predominantly in Swahili but I have learned that if you laugh when other people laugh it helps things to go a bit more smoothly. Perhaps some of those times I have been laughing at comments made at myself but I am none the wiser and I am sure they are entertained so everyone is still on good terms.

The post-lunch era brought more singing and dancing, leading up to session two, or maybe three; I can’t quite recall what they called it at that point. I began once again, this time teaching about the Holy Spirit’s arrival and His enabling of us to be ambassadors of Christ from 2 Corinthians 5. The people seemed to be with the idea or either the translator was doing damage control, repairing what I was saying, who is to be the wiser? Nevertheless, we finished around 6:00 and had just enough time to run to the bus depot so as to gather tickets for the next night’s trip out of there.

Fortunately we were not sleeping in Paris’ house as there would have scarcely been enough room for her, her husband and children if we were to have invaded. Plus there were three geese that slept in the house who I would have hated to tangle with in the middle of the night. Ergo, we took a side journey to the house of a fellow named Adam, where we were able to bed down for the night. He had a nice place, complete with a black and white television. He had placed some sort of blue-hued plastic sheet over the TV so it wasn’t really black and white but only various shades of blue.

All of that made no difference as I was ready to sleep and for a very long time. However, before sleep they demanded that we eat something. At that point food was a secondary need compared to sleep, but so as not to offend, I hung on to the waking hours long enough to eat a bit of stew. The moments following are not lodged into my memory but I know they culminated with me laying down my weary head. Slumber came quickly and I fell into the land of dreams and the sleepy passage of time.