CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION: On Friday, 27 August, Kenya celebrated the passing of a new constitution. The official celebration took place down the block from our flat at Uhuru (Freedom) Park with many orators (including the President of the Country), music, and fireworks. There was justifiable joy and pride in the peaceful and democratic election. Once again, the missionaries were encouraged to stay inside. The people were given the day off work and the streets were deserted. However it will take some time to clean up Uhuru Park; people must have thronged there.
NEWS FROM THE HOME WARD:
Baptisms: 4 baptisms on each of the last 2 Sundays. One of the new members is Joel Luliko Wakayima, a man whom we met when we were being fingerprinted for our work permits a couple of months ago. Joel saw my nametag and asked about the Church. We had a short religious discussion and I gave him one of our cards. He emailed a couple of weeks later; we had him set up with missionary lessons. He has come to Church each week, joined the stake choir, is coming to institute, very bright and inquisitive. He also has a past.I googled Joel and found several entries. Five years ago in Uganda there was an election to pass a proposed constitution that would ban presidential term limits. Joel was Chairman of the National Freedom Party and opposed the proposed constitution. His group participated in riots before the election; he was jailed as a result. He escaped to Kenya and hasn't seen or heard from his wife and 2 children since. We have been encouraging him to bring his family here. After attempting to find them for 2 weeks, he finally made contact last night. We are excited for him.
At FHE last night, we heard that 3 wards in Kalungu Hills on Sunday had 27 baptisms between them. There were 4 people doing the baptisms. The baptisms were mostly people who have been trying to learn enough English to "pass the baptismal interviews." One of those being baptized was an old woman, bent over with osteoporosis. She was helped into the font by her family members. There were many tears of gratitude; some people had been worried that they would never be able to join the Church.
The missionaries for a short period were allowed to teach people in Swahili, then the directives changed. Many people who only spoke Swahili were left with their testimonies but without the ability to become members. One of the senior couples has spent a lot of time training local people to teach English to all of those who desired to be baptized. It has been a long process, and I think some are still waiting.
The baptism was spiritual highlight; however there was a lot of laundry to do afterwards...and no electricity. The clothing was all washed in large tubs of cold water with lots of bleach and soap. It was then rinsed and laid over bushes and grass to dry. Unfortunately it rained during the early evening. When Elder and Sister Blake went to Church the following morning, there was white clothing draped over the chairs in the meeting house to dry.
This is a picture of the wedding of the Elizabeth Njeri, the ward Relief Society President to Alexander Noeritu. She has been a member of the Church for 1 year, and was introduced to the gospel by her future husband. They were married in the chapel in a ceremony that blended Church beliefs and tribal customs. They left 2 days later to be married in the Temple in Johannesburg, where they will reside. Elizabeth and Alex are an incredible couple and will probably be future leaders in the Church. Alex and Elizabeth are very committed to the Church, and to family/tribal customs. In order to be allowed to marry Elizabeth, Alex went through all the required family negotiations and paid the agreed-upon bride price. You can see from the wedding attire that the ceremony was a little out of the ordinary.
Wedding: The ceremony began 3 hours 15 minutes late. Sitting all that time was boring (didn't even bring a book), but you know Dad...we couldn't be late. There were 3 senior missionary couples and a few others at the chapel for the whole time. Most of the guests arrived 2-3 hours later than we did. The reason it was late (besides the fact that African functions are always late) is that the bride had to be "collected" from her tribal home the morning of the wedding. The family home was a long way from the chapel, over very bad roads. [And we were waiting at the chapel with our filled oil lamps...waiting for the bridegroom so we could go into the wedding feast...kind of reminded me of parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom to come.]
Integrated into the ceremony were several religious talks and some hymns sung by the stake choir. There were clapping and uulations at specified time during the ceremony: when the bride and groom said "Yes, I do," after the marriage certificate was signed and presented, and after the rings were exchanged.
Alex and Elizabeth are the only members of the Church in their families. Mormons have a reputation in Kenya of being "devil worshippers." I'm sure their families have no doubt that we are followers of Jesus Christ after that ceremony.
Reception: Held in the Nairobi National Game Park. We didn't go; we felt that 5 hours was enough of an investment. But we heard it was a wonderful affair with lots of food, dancing, and a public display of the elder women in the tribe teaching the bride how to cook. (They stirred a pot, then Elizabeth stirred a pot. They winnowed grain, then Elizabeth winnowed grain.....).
Wedding attire: Groom: simulated leopard skin hat, cape, boots. he carried traditional symbols of royalty: whisk and carved cane. Bride: gorgeous gown sewn with cowrie shells, traditional beaded headband and neck rings.Musings on the ward: How I love the beautiful, simple faith of the members. Two testimonies lately have really touched my heart. One was from a missionary who spoke with great spirit. He described his grandmother as illiterate, but prayerful. When he asked his grandmother why he never saw her crossing her legs or feet as she sat, she replied, "I want to be able to get to my knees immediately when the Savior comes." When he found the Book of Mormon, he read it in 10 days, lighting a candle when it got dark. He joined the Church after receiving a powerful witness of its truth.
Another touching testimony was borne by a young ward member who had traveled to Rwanda to learn more about the genocide that occurred there in 1994 when more than 800,000 people (mostly Tutsis) were ethnically cleansed in a 100 day period. He had learned of the genocides when he was a young boy in Kenya and still had vivid memories. He wanted to talk with Rwandans to see how they had survived those sad days. He was surprised to find that most he talked with had forgiven and moved on with their lives. The government has moved a little more cautiously. Since there was some church (not ours) involvement in the bloodshed, they have been reluctant to grant licenses to churches in general. Our Church is one of those that has not been granted a license. Because we are not licensed, the Church cannot purchase land, but they have been able to rent a meeting place and have some very dedicated members...enough to merit their own mission president. Members cannot legally pay tithes and offerings. However, there is a bill before the government that will relax the regulation of churches.
The young man spoke of the spirit of forgiveness that had allowed the healing of the Rwandan people. He encouraged us to make the Church a place of refuge and of friendship, where we cherish, protect, and forgive each other, and where the Spirit can burn bright.
There is great power in forgiveness...the senseless murder of an LDS bishop in Visalia, CA illustrates the destructive power of the inability to forgive. The killer apparently felt that he had been condemned to hell by a former bishop some years before. He had been unable to forgive the bishop throughout the years. He was deranged (?before or after his interactions with the bishop?). The anger must have grown with time until he was so full of pain that he randomly picked a nearby church, waited patiently until after meetings were over, then killed the 42-year old father of 6 who had been a bishop for only 4 months. What a tragedy!
I have learned personally, especially while on this mission, that forgiveness is an important daily task.
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