In the words of Paul, He welcomed me as if he was welcoming Christ himself. He will not only share with you an experience in 'the slums' but he will also share with you his God given vision for 'the slums,' to extend the arm of the churches in Kibera through a resource center he runs. I ate till I could eat not a bite more and Rose, John's wife sent me with 5 extra chapatis! John offers this same royal treatment to anyone visiting Kenya, to show them 'the slums' as he calls it. Their humble home did not mean humble portions of food. This wasn't the first time either, actually the third. John and his family had me over for dinner. Kibera is the largest slum in all of Kenya, possibly the largest slum in all of East Africa, over 1,000,000 people living in temporary, corrugated metal homes. Last Sunday, I visited my friend John's house in Kibera. This wasn't the only blessing I received either. I came to serve them and they are blessing me. He has been such a blessing to us and I suggest we take this time to bless him before heading home.” One by one they went around the fire offering words of encouragement and speaking blessings over my life. Two nights ago, lit by the amber glow of a campfire, utterly exhausted and just thinking about bed, my thoughts were interrupted by a suggestion from a wise and humble mzee (elder), “I don't know how many of you know this, but Jim is leaving Kenya in just a week's time. When walking around these flowers frequently fall from the sky.Kenyans are not shy about offering words of blessing and I have been the recipient of abundant blessings in the name of Christ these past weeks. The trees have been flowering like crazy lately. She is looking at him who is looking at us. Each person has a story if you have the time… and in Tanzania you always have time. Whether it be greeting a friend, stranger, neighbor or elder, Tanzanians have the tradition of time, language of love, and culture of caring. (Yes bwana yesu asifiwe is a commonly used expression as people go around the circle and greet each other)
I can’t think of a better way to send people off into the world after worship then each person shaking everyone’s hand while singing and upbeat song. The most common time I have seen this exchange is after church when each member of the congregation greets each other. The Elder responds to this action and places their hand on the bowed head and says “marahaba” in response. In order to receive a blessing they bow their head and say “shikamo” to the elder. Often times when a younger individual respects and looks up to an elder they will ask for a blessing. There is a tradition of respect for elders here in Tanzania. As we as language students learn more and more of the language we are able to invest more in people and their “news”. The answer is always good, but if the person indicates that things are just “a little bit good” or simply “okay,” the other person will put all appointments aside and do their best to find out what is wrong with the person and do their best to help. Tanzanians have it engraved in their language, culture and tradition to make time for people.Īt the beginning of every conversation or interaction Tanzanians normally ask how the other person’s “news” is. Everyone is connected why not make a good impression? To further this phrase I would add Watu ni Muda: people are time. Each individual is representative of something bigger then themselves. This cuts to the core of how Tanzanians treat individuals, especially their guests. The cover page for our Kiswahili book has a phrase Mtu ni Watu: person is people. I worked on my ID (journalism) paper tonight. use that one to try to get the congregation fired up on Easter. It reminds me of “Christ has risen” - “He has risen indeed”. They will keep repeating it until they get a response that is enthusiastic enough for them to continue. I find it amusing when preachers use the Bwana yesu asifiwe phrase to get the congregation pumped up. It is a common Christian greeting and a good way to indicate to people that you know Kiswahili kidogo. “Bwana yesu asifiwe”– “Amen” is like “peace be with you” - “and also with you” in Swahili.
0 kommentar(er)
