Love
. . .
Sunday
May
the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a
spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. --Romans 15:5-6
by
Maxine Covington
Three
bumpy miles in a taxi down a red dirt road
brought us to Kano, a low-lying farming plain near Kisumu,
on Lake Victoria. During the rainy season, most families
flee Kano for higher ground, but our host family is blessed
with a homestead that rarely floods.
We
were visiting the upcountry home of one of our dear Kenyan
friends from Bethany – a small but spread out village
of homes filled with so many family members that we couldn’t
quite keep all the relationships straight. Some had even
traveled several hours up from Nairobi for the occasion,
and everyone was delighted to host their first wazungu
(white) visitors.
We
knew beforehand that the Mama of the house spoke almost
no English, and we spoke no Luo. There were many interpreters
on hand, but direct communication with Sarah was limited
to nods, smiles, and gestures, and what little Swahili we
could muster up. Like a child, I would point and say “mafuta
ya taa” (lamp oil), or “sufuria”
(cooking pot) – my efforts were greeted, like a child’s,
with encouraging laughter all ’round.
That
night, as honored guests, we were given
the best sleeping quarters in the house. It was my privilege
to share a bed, and a mosquito net, with Sarah. We said
good night, in Luo and English, and went off to sleep.
When
she woke, very early, as Kenyan women must in order to begin
the long day’s work, Sarah sat up under our shared
net and began to pray fervently in Luo. When she had finished
some minutes later, I took her hand, and then I prayed,
in English. She lay back down next to me. For the next 20
minutes or more, we held hands and alternated praying and
singing, each in her own language, finally closing this
precious time with “Amazing Grace,” sung simultaneously
in two languages. Though we could not understand each other’s
words, we understood each other’s hearts, for we were
bound together in the love of Christ.
Bwana
asifiwe. Praise God. - Maxine Covington
Father
God, we thank you that by your redeeming grace you have
brought us into community with one another, healing the
divisions of nation, race, language, and culture. We pray
that, united in the love of Christ, we might be instruments
of your peace, hope, and healing in a broken world. It
is in your name we pray, Amen.
An Advent Journey