A Walk in the Forest

A walk in the forest, originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

I'm back from the forest. After getting up at 5:30 on Thursday to make coffee for the team that was leaving, I got my things together, loaded the car, and took off for the forest with 11 other staff members from our home-based care ministry. This is the team that runs ELI's AIDS ministry, but also cares for anyone in our extended community who needs someone to walk the journey with them. People like the Sifunas, or like Hannah, or Lillian, the mom with the twins.

I'm not part of that team, but I went along to assist with facilitating some of the sessions. The purpose of the weekend was to rest, to reflect, and to plan ahead. And we did all of that, and more. We laughed, got to know each other, we ate good food and shared stories.

It was so much fun to discover what things my Kenyan colleagues simply weren't used to. Understandably, they had no idea which knives and forks to use, which side plate was theirs, or which glass. But everyone was keen to learn! They asked the waiters to teach them to fold napkins, and they wondered aloud about the strange dishes that showed up. In fact, on our ride home, Meshak wanted to know if it's really monkey meat we ate at breakfast. I assured him that bacon was from pigs, not monkeys like his friends told him... He--and several others--had never had bacon before. Nor salad, pie, or sauerkraut.

So it was quite an adventure for them. So much so that some are talking about saving 20/= a day all of next year so they can go back there by themselves at the end of the year... (That's just more than a quarter a day.)

I love it about this team. They had fun, and they had no qualms showing it. They worked hard, like they always do, and came up with even loftier goals for next year. They want to see more people tested for HIV, more people helped. Most of them can find higher-paying jobs in other places, but they choose to stay and serve here because of the immense job satisfaction. And it shows.

We played Jenga our first night, combining it with answering questions about yourself after you jengad. (Jenga is Swahili for build, so here, we use the word as a verb while playing the game.) And if someone toppled the tower, they were showered with any and all questions people may want to ask.

By the time the generator was switched off, we continued the game by candlelight and flashlight.

Same last night. They watched a movie (I went to bed early) and played Scrabble, Chinese solitaire and Uno till way after midnight.

This morning, we did some fun team building activities where I had everyone blindfolded, trying to make a square. It's always fun to do these activities, but what's even more fun is to do the debriefing afterwards. "Who was the leader? Why did others take over? Why did you not listen to that person's advice?" and so on and so forth. Learn through play.

Oh, and yesterday, Juli had us all go out and spend time reflecting on "Thus far, the LORD has helped us," (1 Sam. 7:12) by drawing stones with people or event names in them. And so, throughout the various events, people shared some of the stories from their stones, and I wrote the names from their stone stories on rocks I had collected from the forest. We brought them back as a reminder of what God has done.

We concluded our time together with a time of affirmation. Though we thought it would take perhaps an hour or two, we spent almost five hours (!) sharing what we appreciated about one another. I can attest to the difference it has already made in relationships, simply because people could share their hearts. In fact, during the ride home, everyone in my car was involved in a VERY heated discussion about Christ and culture because of something that was said during the afternoon session. It was exhilarating to be a part of the ride home, to hear people's hearts, to be able to share some of my heart with them, too.

By the time I dropped everyone at home tonight and Maru's children ran and threw their arms around their dad, my heart was smiling.

I had made some good friends this weekend. I got to know an amazing team, and they got to know me a bit, too. I discovered that some of them had been a bit afraid of me before, because, I'm told, I have high standards. But spending these days together, sharing, laughing, praying, eating, having communion, made us a stronger team. Even though I'm technically not a part of their team.

Click on the picture to see more photos from the weekend.

Tuesday night in Kipkaren

The retreat in Rondo was incredible! I had considered doing all kinds of activities but went back to the question, "Why am I taking the management team on a retreat?" It was for us to get to know one another. And so we ended up just having fun. We arrived before lunch on Sunday. I told everyone that they could choose if they'd like to go on an afternoon hike after lunch. Two of the guys decided to stay behind and rest, but the other two gave them a hard time about it, so we all ended up hiking for about almost three hours. We saw lots of monkeys (black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, and red tail monkeys), tons of butterflies, even a donkey. (OK, the donkey was on its way home through the forest. But it was the biggest animal we saw.) Oh, and lots of ants, too. Cocktail ants (small ants that are poisonous) and safari ants (bigger ones that are very aggressive). We had a guide that told us about the different plants, which ones have medicinal value, how the olive baboons use some trees to communicate by using it as a drum, how certain fungi can help improve your memory... We really had a great time of laughing and relaxing despite the tough hike. Stopped about halfway. I had packed some cold soda for everyone, so we took a break and were refreshed.

Once we were back at the retreat center, we sat in the garden and prayed for one another, for the staff, and for ELI. It was a really neat time of ministry. After a really nice dinner, we headed back to our home for Jenga and Uno. I had printed a pack of questions, so everytime someone tossed a bean bag at you, you first had to draw a question, answer it, then jenga (build). (You could also choose to answer a question someone had drawn earlier.) If you let the tower fall, you had to answer a "Truth or Dare" question. We had a ton of fun! After that, we played Uno till the time that the solar power was turned off, and everyone headed to their rooms. I went to walk in the garden for a bit, just to appreciate the stars so deep in the forest. It's really breathtakingly beautiful!

I was the first one up and out of the door on Monday. The Kenyans really appreciated the opportunity to sleep in! I watched the sun rise, spent time doing my devotions in the garden, (hence the picture above) and once the gate into the forest was unlocked, I went to sit in the forest for a while, watching easily 100 red tail monkeys forage for food in the branches high above my head. One came down very close to me to come and pick up seeds from the ground... (They bury these seeds in one spot and let them rot a bit before eating them!)

After breakfast, everyone took time for devotions, where after we had a time of sharing. Many said how thankful they were to be able to get to know each other on a different level than they had ever known one another. Everyone wants to go back soon! (That won't be possible. It's very pricey!) I'd be happy to take them for day trips. Just can't sleep over as a group... :)

Had lunch in town, and then we all headed back to Kipkaren.

It was cool to run into some of the team on our grounds today, being able to relate on a level we've not related before. It was a good, good thing to go away with the team!

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be heading back to Ilula.

Click here to see more photos of the time in the forest.

Saturdays

I'm tired and it feels like I have a cold or something coming. No good. I'm going to Kakamega Forest with the Kipkaren management team tomorrow. I don't want to be sick. I think it's from the lack of sleep last night. The youth group from our church in Ilula had an all-night prayer and praise event last night. It's wonderful that they did that. It's just challenging when something like that is within a few steps from your bedroom window.

Today was a productive day. Got lots done, including some gardening, washing my car, as well as showing the rest of Cars to the kids. They had watched half of the movie a couple of weeks ago when the power went out. The kids were a little perplexed at why Lightning McQueen didn't win the race, but other than that, they were their own selves, cheering every time their hero car made a good turn.

It's late. I'm tired. The wind is blowing. I think we'll have more rain tonight. It's been great falling asleep to the sound of rain pounding on my mabati (sheet metal) roof many nights. I wonder what sounds I'll hear in the forest tomorrow night...