A lot to learn

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a national holiday, the day in which the Kenyans were granted self governance so we spent the morning at a game park and the afternoon with our host family. Today we were at Beacon of Hope
We are realizing that we have a lot to learn from Kenyans.
While with our host family, we learned about Ken's ministry with micro finance. He is on the board of an organization that grants small loans to people Kenyan banks would decline. These loans are intended as seed money for starting small businesses. But the organization does not just throw money around. They create cell groups that meet weekly for training and accountability. Between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda they have over 50,000 people in this program. On top of that, they are self supporting and require no government support. We are learning from the creativity of Kenyans as they deal with hard and deeply rooted problems like poverty.
Today Rich and I (Nate) met with Oscar Muira, the pastor of Nairobi Chapel. One of the topics of discussion was the issue of partnership between Kenyan and American churches. Oscar talked about the importance of relationship in a partnership. In fact, finacial support without that relationship is not honoring to God (and does not reflect the model that Paul sets out in Philippians.) As we continued to talked with Oscar about AIDS and the church's role in addressing social issues, we realized that we have much to learn theologically from Kenyans.
While in the game park, we stopped at a picnic point (go ahead and picnic around the lions if you want - they say they don't venture to this area, but I say that 5 kms is not enough space to make me feel comfortable.) As we walked (yes walked) along a trail to find hippos and crocs (at what point should we realize, "this isn't smart) we came across some baboons. I was at the back of the pack and after walking through their "space" I turned to take some pictures. As I turned a baboon ran out of the trees. I grunted a startled, "oh" and he freaked, screaming like baboon scared by a pasty white guy from Wisconsin. I realized quickly that a screaming baboon will attract other screaming baboons, and that screaming baboons will equal a running white guy from Wisconsin. So off I took moving faster than a Kenyan marathoner on his 2nd mile, passing several team mates to the safety of our guide. He politely told me that running away from Baboons will only anger them. I learnd that listening to Kenyans around wild beasts that could claw out my eyes is a good idea.
So we have learned much from Kenyans. Ultimately we are learning from God, but it is exciting to have that message communicated to us through people that are so interesting and fun.