Updates From the Field:  Kenya # 15:  September 20, 2007
Dear Family and Friends, Nairobi is not what I would call a beautiful city (which doesn't make me love it any less).   It is dirty, polluted, crowded and run down in some areas.  The dirt is the hardest to get used to.  It floats in the air, leaves a fine layer on everything in the office every day, and clings to your skin, clothes and hair.  The street THQ is on is particularly crowded and dirty, because it houses the bus station.  There is no spectacular view.  However, right at the end of our street is the most beautiful tree I have ever seen.  Since we are now into our spring season, it recently bloomed.  Its branches now host thousands of brilliant, purple flowers.   When thinking about how out of place this beautiful figure is in the middle of drab mundaneness, God taught me two lessons. First of all, God doesn't judge beauty the way we do.  As most of you know,  I struggle with my self image.  My entire life, I have longed to be something I'm not.  I have yearned to be thinner and prettier.  Though I want to be a better person for Christ spiritually and emotionally, I don't put as much emphasis on that as I do on how fat I look in an outfit.  I realize that this is just a form of selfishness, but it is hard to overcome. Recently, I went to the children's home after I had been away for a week.  I have shared with you that the children are getting more and more comfortable in showing physical affection.  Well, about 7 girls ran up to me and threw their arms around me for a big group hug.  One little girl looked up and said, "Captain Mida, I missed you so much!"   She has no awareness of my weight or acne :)  She just sees someone who loves her.  Isn't beauty really about love?  Even when children do notice our flaws, it doesn't really affect what they think about us.  Maybe this is another reminder why Christ has told us to be like little children.   As my friend and I walked to get coffee this morning, we noticed what appeared to be a lump of rags hunched over the garbage can.  I soon realized it was a man, torn and tattered, eating something he found within the garbage can.  He had his head covered with cloth.  I can only guess he was trying to have some semblance of privacy as he ate.  It is with some hesitance that I interrupted him to ask him how he was.  As my friend and I gave him some money, I noticed he was fifthly and unshaven with hands so calloused, they were cracking.   God looks at him and sees beauty.  This man was created in the image of God.  He is loved!  I only pray that he knows his worth in Christ. The other lesson that is interwoven is that we often find beauty in the most unexpected places.  I think it is God's gift to us in a fallen world that seems to spit ugliness at us around every corner. When we look, it is easy to see the stunning flower embedded in the field of weeds.  This Sunday, we visited a slum in Nairobi called Mathari. We passed over horrible roads watching small vegetable stands and shacks lining the road.  As we turned into The Salvation Army compound, I was stunned by the contrast.  It was a beautiful grassy area with a nice (though somewhat temporary) corps building and quarters.  It was truly an oasis for the over 300 people that came from the slums to fill the hall.  Their songs of praise reflected a stable faith that is pure.   Last week, I brought guests to see Joytown Primary School for the Physically Disabled.  Though I have been several times, I am still touched by the children there.  We entered the nursery unit, and I observed a young boy laying on a mat seemingly not aware of his surroundings.  Well, my mother taught me at an early age to talk to and touch those we visit, whether it seems they know we are there or not.  So, I got down on my knees and rubbed this boy's face while I talked to him.  He slowly looked up to me and gave me the most brilliant smile.  I could think of nothing more beautiful. There are so many other examples I can give you about the beauty I see in Kenya.  I see it in my friend who buys groceries for a widow with a sick baby.  I see it in John, a little boy with no arms, who smiles as he does his homework using his feet.  I see it in the corps officers who praise God for His provision even though they are living in a small house made of iron sheets.  The list goes on and on. My verse for this week is:  "and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor" - Isaiah 61:3 Thanks for letting me a little vulnerable this week.  I love you all. Armida