As I write this post on the eve of the Feast of the Ascension, it seems surreal to me that I have already been in Mombasa for forty days. I arrived on the evening of the Wednesday of Holy Week with my fellow Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Kathy and Mike, waiting at the train station to welcome me to Mombasa. On the one hand, as most stretches of time in my life seem to go, time has just flown by. I would have a hard time accounting for everything I’ve done since arriving in Mombasa. This is one of the benefits of this blog, as I now have a record of at least the highlights of what I’ve experienced and done. On the other hand, when I arrived in Mombasa, I felt totally lost. I only knew three people here – Mike, Kathy, and Coralis, I didn’t know how to do the simplest things as many things work differently here, and had no idea where anything was and even if I did, how to get there. Not that I am now an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have come a long way on my journey to become a “mwenyeji”, that is, a local (native).
As an example of my progress, but remaining struggle, is riding the matatus. These combination minivans, sardine cans, amusement park rides (think roller coaster) are the primary form of mass transit here. I now have a fairly decent idea of how to get to the major places I need to get to, how to get to the matatu “stage” (think bus stop, but complete chaos), which matatu to board, where to change from one to another (many destinations require you to “transfer” between matatus, where to get off, and how I get from the drop-off point to where I’m going. However, I still have two major challenges when it comes to traveling by matatu. The first is that the direct routes to and from the matatu stages are flooded during the rainy season, which we are currently in the middle of. There are many times less direct, alternate roots, that are less flooded, but I have enough problems remembering the direct routes. The second major problem is figuring out where to get off the matatu. Although there are predefined stages where the matatus load and unload passengers, there is nothing resembling a published set of bus stops. There is also no guarantee that a matatu will stop at a specific stage. Riders bang on the roof of the matatu to signal the “conductor”, the person who entices riders to get on the matatu and collects and negotiates fares (as I’ve stated in the past, everything here is negotiable), to stop at the approaching stage. Depending on where I’m seated in the matatu, it can be very difficult for me to make out landmarks. I typically have no problem recognizing landmarks when riding in a car where I have a clear field of view in all directions. However, in a matatu, I only may be able to see out one side, or if I’m not seated next to a window, I can only very partially see out either side. Even when seated next to a window, my head hits the roof of the matatu and I can not get a good angle to see outside. Hopefully over time, I’ll learn to recognize landmarks even with minimal visual clues, but I’m not there yet. If I ask a conductor to let me know when we’ve reached my desired stage, they are usually pretty helpful, but sometimes they forget or are distracted.
I recently read a reflection by Pope Benedict on the Ascension, which I found very helpful to expanding my understanding of its significance and meaning in our lives. The more I contemplate the Ascension, the more I see how Jesus’s Ascension is the logical progression in God’s loving plan for us. Jesus, who is God and eternally one with God, through his Incarnation, shares in full solidarity in our human nature. Through his ascension, Jesus’s human nature, in which we all share, enters into the inner life of God. Pope Benedict describes this entering into the life of God as being in a “new and hitherto unheard of way.”
To me this ties in beautifully with what I’ve reflected on previously regarding St. Paul’s Body of Christ metaphor and in my reflections on the Trinity. The Second Vatican Council teaches that Christ constituted a supernatural body out of all His members to be the “entity with visible delineation through which he communicated truth and grace to all.” But even more humbling to me is the fact that through Christ’s human nature, we as Christ’s supernatural body, all share in the life of the Trinity – God’s inner life, which to me is what heaven really means. Pope Benedict states this in this way. He says that heaven is not a place but a person (Jesus), the person of him in whom God and man are forever and inseparably one. And we go to heaven and enter into heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. In this sense, “ascension into heaven” can be something that takes place in our everyday lives… As I’ve stated several times in past posts, how blessed are we that God has willed for us to share in His life. This doesn’t just mean in some abstract way, but rather intimately sharing in God’s inner life.
One way I view the ascension into heaven as something that can take place in our everyday lives is in the way we encounter Christ in others and the sharing of our lives with others. If we are truly the Body of Christ, how can we enter into Christ without entering into each other? By this I mean truly sharing our lives with others. Since coming to Kenya, this is probably the single biggest amazement to me – how others are not only willing, but want to share their lives with me.
When I arrived in Kenya, I almost immediately started language school at the Consolata Language Center in Nairobi. The purpose of me being at the school was for me to learn Kiswahili. While I’m still a work in progress with respect to language fluency, I got a great foundation at the school and am very happy with the classes I had there. However, what I found even more valuable was my sharing in the lives of the Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, seminarians, and students at the school and seminary. This included not only sharing meals together, but also sharing in prayer life and ministries.
So it has also been in my experiences since arriving in Mombasa. After completing my language studies at Consolata and moving to Mombasa, it was time to acclimate myself to my new home and begin discerning a ministry. After much contemplation and prayer, I have decided on a ministry, which I will talk about much more in future posts. However, before I got to Mombasa, I had talked to Coralis, who is the regional director for Kenya and South Sudan, about a more intense immersion experience. As I knew some missioners in other regions, such as those in Latin America, initially stay with host families upon arriving in a country, I asked Coralis about the possibility of me staying with a host family upon my arrival in Mombasa. Coralis was open to the idea and worked to find a host family for me.
My first few days in Mombasa I stayed with Mike in his apartment. Much of that time was spent celebrating the Easter Triduum services, Easter Sunday dinner at Coralis’s with Mike and Kathy, and Easter Monday at Coralis’s with the Veryzers, who were visiting from Tanzania. On the Tuesday after Easter, I moved into the home of Richard and Anne in Frere Town, which is about a 20 minute walk from Mike’s house in Mbungoni. Anne is the sister of Flora, who works with Coralis on her ministry project. Richard and Anne have two children. Their son Joel is six years old and is in the first grade, referred to here as Standard 1. Hope is nine months old. Also living with the family is Dorothy, who is the in-home caretaker.
Richard teaches at Star Institute, a college here in Mombasa that trains students in information technology, accounting, and business management. The Star Institute is located in “town”, the central business district. Anne works for Computers for Schools Kenya (CFSK), a charitable organization focusing on the development and deployment of information technology into educational centers. The CFSK office is located on the campus of the Kenya School of Government in Mombasa, but many days Anne has to visit schools and other training centers in and around the city of Mombasa.
Without knowing me at all, with the exception of what Coralis told them about me, a photo (and somehow they still accepted me, even though I’ve been told I look like a terrorist in my current bearded state), and a brief meeting at a local clinic a few days before I was scheduled to move in, Richard and Anne welcomed me into their home. Anne has since told me that they prayed a lot before agreeing to host me. I guess the Holy Spirit was on my side championing my cause and calming any fears that Richard and Anne may have had.
Since the minute I moved in, Richard, Anne, Joel, Hope and Dorothy have welcomed me as one of the family, or perhaps more accurately, as Coralis likes to often describe it, as one of the “watoto” (children). Yes, they baby me, maybe at times a little too much, but I love them for it. They have completely opened up their home to me. We eat together, drink chai (tea) together, sit and talk together, watch TV together, and travel out together. They have taught me how to get around Mombasa, even accompanying me many times, especially when the way I didn’t yet feel comfortable with getting to a specific destination. They have showed me around town and I have even visited Anne’s and Richard’s places of work. As if Dorothy doesn’t have enough to do already caring for Hope and Joel, cooking, cleaning and washing, she always makes sure that I am comfortable and have enough to eat (or more accurately, more than enough to eat). Rather than viewing me as one more thing to take care of, she treats simply me as one of the family. Anne and Dorothy have also taken an interest in having me learn how to cook Kenyan foods such as chapati, ugali, and mboga (vegetables). While I only take a very small part in the meal preparation, I appreciate the fact that they both want me to learn as well as make me feel fully a part of what goes on in the house. Although I hopefully don’t do anything to be a nuisance, I sometimes don’t know how they put up with having me in their home. They pretty much have no privacy with me in the house. I know some of my feelings are due to cultural differences in that we value and demand so much more privacy in the US. On the other hand, I still view this in terms of how wholeheartedly they have accepted me as part of the family.
Flora, who is Anne’s sister, works with Coralis on her ministry project. FfGoing forward, I will be working closely with Flora in my own ministry work. How fortunate I am to also have Flora in my life. Like Anne and Richard, Flora treats me as family and I feel the same way about her. Flora and I have made a number of ministry visits together and I very much look forward to continuing to work with her. I have also had the pleasure to meet and get to know Flora’s wonderful two sons. William, Flora’s oldest son, is completing his studies to be a nurse. He is currently completing his, what is called here, “attachment” at a Mombasa hospital. An attachment is along the lines of what we would call an internship in the US. Attachments are a required component of most degree certificates in Kenya as there is a strong emphasis on the practical application of what a student is learning. The education system is much more standardized and regulated here than it is in the US. Pascal, the younger son, is in secondary school and hopes to be an architect. Paschal attends a boarding school, which I had the opportunity to visit a few weeks ago with Anne and Flora.
I have also gotten to meet a number of Richard and Anne’s friends, including a number of people from Richard’s church. I have attended services and bible study with Richard as well as participated in a special DVD launch event at the church. The church which Richard attends is currently a housed in a temporary structure, but they are in the process of raising funds for a permanent building on the site as well as the purchase of some adjacent property. The DVD launch was specifically intended to raise funds for audio visual equipment as music is such an integral part of worship here in Kenya. Richard is a member of the group, which calls itself Sons of the Lamb Ministers, that performed on the DVD. The DVD is professionally produced and was shot at various venues in and around Mombasa, including some beautiful shots at the shore. At the DVD launch, a number of acts performed, including some from as far away as Nairobi. At the launch, the congregation treated me like a guest of honor. It was certainly more attention than I wanted, but I know that they really just wanted me to feel at home.
(Richard is second from right in photo)
This past weekend, I visited and slept over at Flora’s house in Mikindani with Anne, Joel, Hope, and Dorothy. We had such a nice time. William was also there for the weekend. While in Mikindani, I got to meet most of the rest of the clan, including “mama na baba” (mom and dad), who live within walking distance of Flora’s home. On Friday afternoon before our trip to Mikindani, I went shopping with Anne and Flora to buy presents. We bought shoes for mom and a shirt for dad. When we went shopping, I had to hide in the background since as soon as merchants see a foreigner (I stand out like a sore thumb), the price doubles, triples, or more. While in Mikindani, I also got to meet Anne and Flora’s siblings Paul, Lilian, Dorothy, and Patrick, as well as Dorothy’s husband Steve and their two children Evans and Pascal.
I can’t express how blessed I am to have the love and support of my Maryknoll family, but also that of what I call my Kenyan family. When I asked to have an immersion experience, I really had no idea what I was getting into (as neither did Anne or Richard when they agreed to have me live with them in their home). Living here in Mombasa presents a number of challenges for me, but I’m so blessed to have a family to navigate the obstacles and share in my struggles, joys and successes. I’m so thankful to have all these wonderful people in my life. God never ceases to be outdone in generosity. Struggles and challenges are a part of life, but as I have witnessed throughout my life and especially here in Kenya, He uses these struggles and challenges as opportunities to open our hearts to receive the abundance of blessings with which he desires to shower us.
Good is good.
