You Can't Even Imagine

After the second crusade in Matete (on the outskirts of Bungoma) we came to Pastor Moses' home, a 50x100ft plot of land surrounded by Maize crops and his wife Judith served us chai by Lantern light. 15 people squeezed into their 8x10ft mud-home and talked almost until dark. Pastor Isaac (who has been our guide in Bungoma) introduced us one by one to the others present and many of us leaned our heads agains the mud-cement walls as we listened. The furniture was hand built and doileys covered the upper half of the walls as decoration. A sheet was hanging across the space just to the left of the door to separate the sleeping space from the meeting place. It was humbling, sitting in this environment with several grown men smiling and content, wearing suits and ties. After chai it was time to leave.

Walking through the driving rain as the sun sets over Bungoma, in western Kenya is an unforgettable experience. When it rains in Kenya, the ditches run with red mud, Matatus flip on their headlights to see through the gray/blue curtain and the drops roar down on tin roofs which protrude from endless acres of 10 ft high maize plantations. As it gets darker, we are waving for a matatu that will fit all 12 of us (2 local pastors included). You can feel yourself get taller as the mud cakes and turns your dress shoes into platform boots. A man in a tattered shirt, shorts and flip-flops silently leads a pair of white speckled cebu towing a cart through the twilight along the road right past me. The rain sounds like an open air stadium full of applause.

Once we caught a matatu, we piled in (i mean we really CRAMMED in) with several more kenyans, making this toyota astro-van thing (11 seats = 6 if it were in America) buldge with 15 people + the driver. The second matatu man (who opens the door and takes the shillings) flips a switch and a little flourescent green tube light flickers on, illuminating the interior. Open windows keep us moderately cool and allow splashes of raindrops to tap on some cheeks. The wind swishes by and we realize, if we were to journal this, blog this or try to describe this to someone who has not experienced it... You Can't Even Imagine it. It's AWESOME!

Though this was a simple little ride home after the crusade, it will be a lifelong memory for all of us.