- see warthogs or baboons alongside the road on the way to the store
- live without a hot water heater, microwave, or coffee-maker
- sleep under a mosquito net
- have the electricity go out at least once a day
- pray with my eyes open
- drink shelf-safe milk from a box
- answer to "Auntie Bethany," "Bethany Auntie," "Sister B," or "Miss B"
- worship God in another language
- always carry my own toilet paper with me
- be the only white face in the group
- eat with my hands. or a spoon. but almost never a fork and knife.
- have every meal end with toothpicks
- have someone walk right into my house after knocking once
- take my shoes off before going into the house (makes it easy to figure out which apartment fellowship is at each night, though! ;))
- drink chai 3-5 times a day
- spend most of the day without using my voice, yet still having many good, deep conversations
I'm still getting used to...
- shaking hands with my friends in greeting, rather than hugging them
- every trip anywhere feeling like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland
- ugali & instant Nescafe coffee
- plugging something into the electrical socket and then remembering to turn the socket on
- preparing for "the holidays" when there's nothing around me signifying it and the weather is more like summer
- roads being "tarmacked," wearing "trousers," using "serviettes," and "topping up" my cell phone
- not having the freedom to go anywhere, anytime, by myself
- seeing another white person and thinking they are either a European, Aussie, or Kiwi, and not automatically assuming they're American
- being asked, "Do you know _____?" Saying I don't. And then getting, "But s/he lives in America!?!"
- constantly having absolute strangers vie for my attention and a greeting
- having an audience gather whenever I want to cook something, because everyone wants to watch and learn
I love...
- seeing Jesus in men and women from completely different backgrounds and places, and finding the fruit of the Spirit in their lives
- that worship automatically means drums (and, often, dancing)
- being surrounded with family in every shade of brown and tan
- eating Kenyan and Indian food
- watching my Deaf brothers and sisters pour out their hearts in prayer and praise to the Lord
- seeing the sincerity in their faces when they share their burden for the Deaf who don't know Christ
- being invited and welcomed into their lives
- being absolutely confident and peacefully content, knowing I'm exactly where He wants me
- that He allows us to join Him in His eternal purposes
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| And I love that I could take this picture on my way home from a Masai Church a few weeks ago |
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