My new name is Atis. Like us when someone is born, they are given a first name of any choosing and then the last name of the family. The middle name traditionally is named after the time of day or season in which you were born. Some options might be Atieno, Achieng, Akoura, Ochiambo, and others. The names are used both for male and female, except if you are a boy then it starts with an “O” and a girl starts with an “A.” So I am really Atieno, but if I were a boy then I would be Otieno. SO you are probably wondering where Atis comes from then. Well, Atis is the nickname for Atieno, and only when you are close friends or well liked do they start calling one by that name. It is very exciting to have received this name (the “i” is pronounced like “ee” as in “see”), and so now in the office I am primarily called Atis.
In other news, this week has been officially and governmentally declared a week of mourning. Two horrible incidents have occurred where lots of lives were lost. The first happened in the middle of last week, where a supermarket caught fire in Nairobi. Since emergency exit strategies and architectural safety design are not high on the priority list, people were stuck inside. Over 50 people are still considered missing, and many more injured and there have been lots of confirmed deaths. Then on Saturday night in another part of Kenya an oil tanker truck ran off the road and flipped over on its side. People ran up trying to get the gas out of it, and as they gathered, the tank exploded leaving 115 people dead and many many more hospitalized. We watch the news a lot, and while I was watching with Ann, she told me this, “See how Kenyans die around here like flies.” As if the struggles with AIDS, malaria, starvation, government corruption, poverty, and all else are not enough, these freak accidents keep happening that probably really shouldd be able to be prevented. It makes me keep asking two things: why does this keep happening? And what can I do to make change?
Before I left some people said, “Well, if nothing else your trip will really teach you to appreciate what you have.” But I must say it hasn’t taught me to appreciate more than it has made me embarrassed. How can I live with so much, when there are people around the world living with so little? How can I live in luxury when my brothers and sisters are dying of starvation? How can I complain about not having clothes that fit (when my closet and dresser are full), when some have nothing to wear (yes, I’ve seen people with no clothes)? How can I have one room, plus some space, full of junk/materials/possessions while the only thing my brother or sister has is the shirt on someone else’s back? Yes, I am thankful for what I have and what has been given unto me. I have been blessed. But am I to be more blessed than any of my brothers or sisters? And maybe I am more blessed but I have been selfish with my blessings and thus stolen the blessings from someone else. In the midst of the suffering, my lifestyle, as I think I’ve always known and feared, is embarrassing, and I keep asking, what do I do?
Lots of questions keep coming. Lots and lots of questions and hardly any answers yet:
Things are culturally different, but does that mean suffering must prevail?
What is poverty? Is there a universal? Maybe what I see as poverty is materialistic of me to think that way? And yet some things just are not right.
What do we do for change? What is our role?
Where does wealth come in? In the word, it says there will always be the poor among us, and there are obviously examples of people holding feasts and banquets ((things which cost money)). But how does it all fit together?
Is it wrong or sinful to live with so much?
How do we live and/or minister with the poor, the outcast, and downtrodden without first becoming poor, outcasted, and downtrodden? And then once we do, how then are we supposed to work within that infrastructure to change it for good without being stuck in the cycle in which we find ourselves?
If we are all the kingdom of God, how do some of us cry out and suffer and the rest of us do nothing about it? Are we supposed to be doing something?
I always tend to find myself with more questions than answers, so please any insight please share.
Please continue to pray; giving thanks to our God who is bigger than anything we can question, ask, or understand. Please continue to plea; petition for the people of Kenya, for the suffering, for the lose of life, and for the hardship. Pray for Life for Children Ministry and the presence it is here in Kisumu. And please continue to pray for me- my quick learning, my role here and now, and for my mom having surgery next week. Pray that I be like it says Abraham was in Romans 4:20, “ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” Until next time…peace!
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Your quandry reminds me a bit of the story about the boy and the starfish --- I think we help who we can, how we can, and as often as we can. It makes a BIG difference to each one, even if we can't solve the whole problem! If we all stay focused on each starfish we are able to help, together WE CAN save an oceanful and do much to bringing heaven on earth. I recall something Mother Teresa is quoted as saying -- "There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those."
ReplyDeleteMore Mother Teresa quotes: "Make us worthy, Lord, to serve those people throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give them peace and joy.
I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve Him among the poorest of the poor. It was an order.
I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.
When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.
It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.
You and I, we are the Church, no? We have to share with our people. Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing.
Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.
Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little
child, you receive me."
The anguish in your heart is an echo of her love. Peace, Nancy
Jenny--I'm guessing that you will go home with more questions than answers, but I think that these questions are the right questions to be asking--they are questions that get at the heart of God. It is easy to be frustrated with the state of affairs, but in that frustration, the beatitudes come to life--we have the new eyes to see why God considers the poor in spirit blessed. You probably hunger and thirst for righteousness more deeply after your 3 short weeks in Kenya than you did before you left. Remember that beatitude--blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. God is present in your circumstances, despite the challenges, probably in a more palpable way than you may have experienced before. And I'm guessing that you've prayed in the past, asking God to reorder your priorities--well, your prayers are being answered.
ReplyDeleteI am most definitely praying for you and for Kenya. Love ya! Ashlee
PS I love your new name--what a blessing!
Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI am confident you are greatly loved and loving just as you were here. I am so proud of how you have stepped out to serve in such a selfless way. You are not the one who needs to ask questions it is all of us who say we love one another but fail so often to get past the "I" in I love you. You have moved on to the "you" in your actions that are bring the kingdom of God in this special place in our world.
Love in Christ,
Bill
Atis,
ReplyDeleteToday in Systematic Theology we discussed how things work for us as Christians in dealing with such issues. Interesting to talk about in a class formulated by white, European men who were definitely not living in the margins...anyway, Dr. Johnson was talking about God's economy. He shared about paying off loans, the more we pay it off the less indebted we become, but in the Christian walk the more of ourselves we give away the more indebted we become to the body of Christ. Some may not like the sounds of this, but there again the gospel isn't always so popular, is it? Give your life away and you will find life! Stay strong, offer them Christ, and keep finding life!
Love,
Wendy