Pastor Musa
and his wife gave up their room for Dr. Rick, the sons gave up their room for
me. A simple house made of sticks and mud. The cool part of my room is that
there were termites building their home just inside one of the walls next to my
bed.
I spent time
observing these little creatures. They are so busy all the time, there seems to
be no blueprint for their construction; they just all seem to know what their
role is and where they belong. Several years ago when we lived in Tanzania
there were some termites after my girl’s small tree house. You could not see
the termites for they built their tunnel of mud on the outside of the tree
right up to the tree house. I scraped off a section of that tunnel to keep them
from reaching the tree house. The next day a new tunnel was there. Almost every
day I would go and scrape and every morning there was a new tunnel, for like a
year I did this. These things never gave up, they persevered. I was determined
to discourage these guys but they never gave up hope. There are some good
principles we could learn from the termites.
So, in my
little room at Pastor Musa’s place I would watch and learn. They were busy 24/7
all working together in unity to accomplish one mission though having different
goals but all for the “kingdom of the Termites”. Why is it so difficult for us
to work together??
Today is
clinic day and people have been waiting for Dr. Rick to get started. But first
we needed to get to the government clinic which was about 18 km away. Well, we
were promised a vehicle that Mark arranged weeks ago. The car never showed up,
we called the driver on the phone and yes I am on my way, 10 minutes, 20 minutes
go by. 30 minutes later we call him again. This went on for several hours.
Finally after showing up, there was a flat tire, so now getting out the pump
and pumping up the tire. Needless to say we got started a bit late…
Clinic now
set up and a few people start coming through. It did not take me long to realize
that this was not my cup of tea! But I was a good boy and helped the Dr. get
things set up and work with him for a bit, then I was off to teach a group of
pastors in a seminar just up the trail.
One of the
things that I have experienced here in the churches and working with the local
pastors is that many of them do not really know or understand the purpose of
the church, so this was my goal for these several days with these pastors. As I
was walking out my house in Zambia to go to the airport, out of the corner of
my eye on the bookshelf I saw Rick Warren’s book, ‘Purpose Driven Church’. I
picked it up and this book was a big help to me and the direction I felt the
Lord wanted us to go.
Over the next
hour and a half most of the 35 pastors showed up and we started. We started
with that very question, ‘What is the purpose of the Church’? In their small
groups there was heated discussion and for the next 4-5 hours we broke all this
down and had a great time together. It always takes time to get locals to ask
questions, but when you can get them started the questions are continuous.
Tomorrow we will continue along this same track.
Questions like, ‘What do we do with witchcraft that is in the
church’? ‘How can I get my church members to give more?’ ‘How do I build a
church, if there is no money?’ and so on. At least a few of these questions are
no different than those of pastors in the west.
Late in the afternoon Dr. Rick has his equipment all packed up and
ready for home, but where is the vehicle now? “Oh the driver went somewhere, he will be
right back.” So we went to a near-by town center that had about 7 small houses
and sat down for a cup of chai (tea).
When with the
Masai you learn quickly that chai is a part of one’s diet. The Masai do not
drink much water; for many Masai their water source is miles away. For Pastor
Musa’ family; his wife walks 2 km, just over a mile, to get their water. In
Marks village you need to go 7 km to get water. Now one may wonder why they
don’t move closer to the water hole? Good question. I have asked the question
for years and still do actually.
In rural
areas throughout Africa the waterhole is a very important part of society, not
just for the sake of water but also for social reasons. It is along the trail
to and from the waterhole that relationships are developed, women talk of life,
their children, husbands, their cows, community, hard times; counseling takes
place along the trail. That trail is really the trail of life for women and is
crucial for their well-being.
But what
happens now when a Westerner comes in with a great idea of putting in a borehole
or well. We have not taken the time to understand what take place on this trail
of life that leads to the waterhole. Rather we come and look at these poor
people who have to walk so far to get water. We see this need and we need to
fix it, so we put in a well for them. But what have we just done to the soul of
the African woman? She has just lost a major source of life which takes place
on the trail. Westerners are thinking of time wasted but for locals time is
always coming.
Of course the
women are going to come to the pump which is now only a few hundred meters away
from their house, I would too. But this brilliant idea which is based on
‘truth’ has just disrupted a value system built on relationships.
‘Truth’ says
time is important when ‘relationship’ says my social environment is important.
Truth is not interested in relationship really; my relationship with you is
completely built on trust, no trust/truth - no relationship.
I non-western
societies, relationship is not really interested in truth; my truth with you is
completely built on our relationship, no relationship = no trust, completely
the opposite. It is not uncommon for a local to lie about you and even directly
to you for the sake of keeping our relationship strong. This is so hard for
westerners to deal with because of our highest value being truth, where for
non-western societies their highest value is relationship. Although in the West
the value of truth is really changing these days.
Not sure if
all that makes sense to you, but it was a big help for me after years of
seeking for that understanding. Maybe it can help you as well.
Anyway back
to water, it’s not uncommon for the Masai to not drink water for two or three
days, Mark was once without water for 7 days. This is during dry season when
there is no water; all the waterholes have been dried up. This is often when
the Masai will drink the blood of a cow and mix it with goats’ milk. This
practice is not just during a ceremony but also for survival. I have seen so
many times these young boys out on the Serengeti plains for days with no water
or food. The Masai are just a tough race. They are born tough, raised tough,
and live tough; they have to, in order to survive. There is so much to say
along these lines but many readers get tired so I will end it here.
Back at
Pastor Musa’s home, I went to check on my termites, they were still going for
it. We had a great dinner and just being spoiled with the hospitality this
family gives us. I am sure it is because of Dr. Rick, I am living under the
favor of it all. I have never been treated like this in the previous years.
Marks village
is coming up and there I have only ever eaten once a day so we will see… Meanwhile let me enjoy this hospitality. Thank you, Dr. Rick!
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