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| From Kenya House Pictures |
"Ahhh!!"
"What?", Dustin said.
"I just got shocked!", I said, in a loud voice one might consider a yelp.
When the electrician returned, he found that the metal box had pinched a wire against the wall, exposing the wire and running a current throughout the entire box. Looking back on it, the shock felt familiar to a shock I received one summer afternoon at one of my Dad's jobs when I grabbed a loose plug by its sides. Both my American and Kenyan shocks probably ended up around the same voltage. In Kenya all the electricity runs at 220 volts while in America it is 110 I believe. So I think I received an American shock by an indirect exposure through the box of my Kenyan fan switch.
The whole situation became a lesson in culture, as I began to question whether or not I was sold a bad fan and taken advantage of, as happens often to people in Kenya, especially mzungus (white people). I don't think I was taken advantage of with the ceiling fan but it brought some interesting thoughts and I'm glad I experienced this little 'shock' in culture.
My question: Is an untrusting attitude just as bad as a deceitful one?
I've been pondering this and I'm not quite sure of the answer. I know that after a while I can easily grow a hard heart to all the people here in Kenya who will do whatever it takes to get your money - either through stealing or through deceit.
My conclusion for now: I would rather be generous and trusting (but not naive or gullible), then be stingy and untrusting. Which character qualities would you rather have? Exactly. I'm going with the former by the enabling of the Holy Spirit.
(Let me know what you think! Do you have any advice for me? Any thoughts. I'd love to hear from you!)
Sometimes we talk about how America's spirituality has declined due to the love of money and its prosperity. You would think that a less prosperous country might be able to have a greater spirituality without this distraction. Sadly, this place is FILLED with the 'love of money' especially in this area which has a high tourist population. Did you know that poor people can be just as obsessed with the love of money as the rich? Last week one pastor in Nakuru exclaimed, "I will not die poor!", as we discussed the validity of the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel is a different gospel, not the good news of Jesus Christ, because its central focus is not on salvation in Christ, but on physical possessions and money. As we continued to share the true gospel from the Scriptures with this group in Nakuru, the same pastor said, "But what about prosperity?" As if this was something that had to occur for all those who follow Christ. What do you think? Did Jesus Christ experience a 'prosperous' life? Did Paul? Did they die rich men or poor men? Respected by the world or persecuted by it?
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5 comments:
hi ben, i asked myself that same question during my 2 months in kenya. don't know why it came as such a surprise that mzungus are a target - guess i'm an idealist who likes to think that people should be good because it's the right thing to do. and i hated the idea of becoming hard, because that's not what we are there for, right?! i haven't thought much about it this past year since returning to the states, but thinking back, i decided that it's okay to be a bit skeptical in the beginning - as well as very dependent on our kenyan hosts. but as our wisdom in the culture grows, we can let go of some of that skeptical attitude and take it for what it is. mzungus will ALWAYS be seen and treated differently. but as our wisdom grows, so can our grace. i'm very happy for you.
PS i recognized a lot of jill's stuff in your pictures, did you buy her house?!
hey ben, yeah, i think the same argument can be made for the way we give (or not give) to homeless people we meet on the street. That's always been a struggle for me. Do you give to them and not worry about how they will spend it? Do you take them somewhere to get food and sit and eat with them? Or do you not give them anything, but instead give to homeless ministries and encourage them to go there where longterm relationships can be better built. Not sure if that's totally the same thing you discovered by your shock, but I think it is when it comes to our hearts. I think I tend to focus on those I'm skeptical about instead of how my attitude toward them. Convicting when I do this. Thanks for the post...good stuff. Love you man. Darren
Cynthia: Yes, I pretty much bought whatever Jill left behind. I'm even using some pink sheets right now! HA! That's some good advice. I think sometimes we haggle and bargain so we can get the Kenyan price rather than the mzungu price, but the reality is no matter what we are going to be looked at as different. I had a little boy come up to me after church and say, "You people are rich." I said, "What do you mean by YOU people." Then I said, no I'm not rich but I'm not poor either.
Darren, I get what you mean. ah, the heart the heart the heart. We need to be wise and not naive and give to those who truly need it. But we all need to watch that hardening of heart. Thanks man.
I've been overseas, in England and in Scotland....there we still are "Yanks" and they take our money gladly! Of course when I went, I was poor, but to anyone from the U.S. we are millionaires. Even the poorest of the poor are rich in comparison to third world countries.
When I taught @ Xavier University in N.O., Ben, I had a student from Kenya that had come over on a basketball scholarship from England. He got up in class (it was an assignment to tell about ourselves) and literally shocked the students in my class telling them that he had no shoes and that his family slept on the floor. My students came up after and were amazed and told me that they had people on the campus that "coordinated them". They were so interested in this humble fellow that stood 6'8" above everybody else. He made me look like a midget! He had a brilliant mind and was very humble and grateful for what the U.S. and England had given him and his family,,,,,but his handwriting was appalling! So I loaned him a laptop to do his assignments...that way I could grade his tests....He was a pleasure to teach and a straight A student.
It's all attitude, I have an attendant who has nothing but is grateful, I don't have much, but am willing to share....stick to Jesus, Ben....He did it the right way!
God bless you!
Sandy
"shocking" story about your ceiling fan...you're so puny! good to hear how you're doing man...i'll pray that you can be patient during your current phase of development (i.e. 2 year oldness). your possibly getting swindled reminded me of that verse 'be as innocent as doves but as shrewd as snakes.' yeah crazy how love of money can exist just in a different way when there's not much...reminds me of that proverb 'don't give me too much or too little.' dang i'm quotin bible verses like a madman! hope you're doing well Ben
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