Fraternity-Testvériség, 2006 (84. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2006-07-01 / 3. szám
when we left him he was helping to teach others about the word of God. While we were in Kibera we also taught at a school for children who could not afford to go to the regular public schools. 1 was responsible for teaching 1st graders who varied in age from 3- 8. It was quite an adventure and those children broke my heart every day with their eagerness to learn and their genuine smiles. I remember one day I was not feeling well and I had to sit out for a lesson and allow another teammate to take over. As I was sitting outside next to the school, I looked up and there was one of my students there holding a mango out towards me. It was probably the only thing that he would eat all day, yet he was willing to offer it to me. I will never forget the faces of those children. The other main focus of our team while we were in Kibera was something that we called “open air services”. This was when we would go into the streets of Kibera and perform dramas that portrayed different aspects of the life of Jesus. With a translator we would share the Word and spend time talking with the people. Many hearts were opened to God’s love and many people, for the first time, felt alive. For the second month of the trip our team lived in Eburru in the Great Rift Valley. During that month we spent our time focusing on discipline people in the village. We worked with a Pastor named Steve Jenga who had a vision of building several churches throughout the Great Rift Valley. We stayed in mud huts and lived without electricity or running water, which proved to be a great blessing in learning simplicity. During the morning we would walk to different villages and go from hut to hut speaking with people and building relationships. I spent many hours in the fields with the women learning how to harvest beans by hand and carrying large objects on my head. It was amazing to see that even though it was often difficult to communicate through language, there seemed to be no barrier. We were there to love the people. They welcomed us into their homes and it was amazing to see how God would speak to them through the words that we shared. Church in Kenya was incredible, with a lot of dancing and singing and unrestricted worship. The women on my team started a women’s fellowship in the village where we had a Bible study and did crafts with the older women of the village. The men started a men’s fellowship. We also spent much time with the youth of the village. Eburru quickly became our home and we quickly felt like the people of Eburru were our family. The day before we left, we prepared a huge meal of potatoes, stew, cabbage, and rice and invited the whole village to come and share a meal with us. We ended up serving over 200 men, women, and children. It was a time of fellowship, celebration, and mourning as we began to realize that our time together was coming to an end. God was definitely in that place. I could talk forever about the things that my team did in Kenya and the things that 1 saw God do in and through my team. It is when I try to explain what God has done in me during that time and during the time upon my return that I run into trouble. I learned many things while I was there and God is continuing to teach me things every day that I am back. I do know that my life has been changed as a result of my two months in Kenya. In a sense, my old world has completely fallen to the ground, and I can only stand and watch as God builds it back up around me. I am learning to submit completely to his will and 1 am realizing that the God in Kenya is the same God that is here at Rutgers University. I know that I can not make plans of my own. As Christians, God calls us to seek his plans; because that is the only way we can truly live. I am not exactly sure what it is that God has planned for me in the future. He might have me continue with my major and a career in the archaeological field. However, he has been working on my heart and I feel as though he could be calling me to a longer term in the mission field. Whatever it may be, I know that I must keep chasing after him and never look back. At the beginning of this journey I saw Africa as a fairy tale experience. I am excited to find out what other fairy tales God can turn into a reality. Margit Bertalan Member of Branch 198 Branch 202—Duquesne, PA Nine HRFA members and seven non-members Rev. Ilona Komjáthy Page 35 Fraternity - Testvériség
