Home visit and little visitors

November 12th

On Sunday evening, the 12^th of November my heart began praying about a local family in Torit of whom to live with. As AIM requires longer term missionaries to pursue an African home for a short period of time, I knew that I should prepare for room in my own selfish, at least often selfish, heart for a family that wasn’t Kenyan. I loved the time in Kenya and always thought, “well, been there, done that…know everything about African hospitality.” How wrong I was!

Leaving the local AIC Torit church service, which lasted close to three hours, including the traditional handshakes to finish, we headed back to the AIM house.

Along the way I began talking about a local pastor at the AIC Church. The man’s name was Matthew, part Congolese, and part Southern Sudan and no English! He did however speak Swahili so when we saw one another we could talk a bit and communicate. On our way back I began talking to the Bylers about staying with, or seeing this man more often. Phil exclaimed that he was actually the head pastor, but due to his language barrier he could only lead in Swahili. As we drove past his house the Lord may have struck us all with the same idea. Why not invite ourselves into his home. A week, several days and nights. Sure why not!

So we did just that and by the afternoon Pastor Mathias ( Matthew ) and Matthew Lovelace worked together to put up a tent.

I placed my sleeping material in the straw and mud hut for sleep in the evening. We talked as mush as possible in Swahili to build the tent and after finally succeeding settled into the chairs. After a heavy meal of ugali, and a new dish, meat cooked in heavy peanut sauce I began to walk back into the hut. The pastor stopped me and motioned back to his own house. I had a hard time understanding what he was saying to me. Then both he and his wife Bianca picked up their own mattresses from their beds and began carrying them outside into the tent we constructed in their dirt side yard. He then motioned to the bed and gave me his flashlight. “Karibu” (Swahili for welcome). He and his wife had left their own bed and moved into the tent so the guest could sleep on his own in their tiny house. Would I so willingly do this. For a self invited guest from another land that could not speak the same language. I hope so. Christ certainly would.

In one act of grace and selflessness I learned more about the Lord’s nature then my entire trip out to the Southern Sudan. My body yearns for the familiar and comfortable. Yet, the pastor and his wife have emptied themselves, and moved their children, out into discomfort for a stranger. An interesting sidebar to this adventurous tale of…grace was a comment about rats. As we were eating in the evening a local AIC pastor who knew English, Pastor Johnson, stopped by to join us in fellowship and food. As we were closing in on the night’s event he turned to me and asked, “ Matthew, how do you feel about rats!” I was unsure as to the correct reply. “ Heaya, love em!” or “ What?” I reassured him that I was unconcerned about the vermin.

As we said our salama for the night I laid down in the bed. Apparently, Pastor Mathias is right next to the local Torit discotech. So between the hours of all night, and most of the night I listened to the melodious sounds of Swahili and Arabic music blaring through the local loudspeakers. Eventually, the party goers headed off for the night and I was alone in the house. Around midnight I was laying quietly, not sleeping after a kilo of tea in my body, and heard a rusting.

O, make that the loud movement of feet, scurrying and bags being bumped and scrapped. I could only assume these were the uninvited guests I was expecting.

My tired mind and body were just not strong enough to convince myself to pick up the flashlight, which was by my head, and take a peek. Perhaps because I knew through the noise what the answer in the headlights would be. So were these loud scratches really rats? Hmmm….

Phil. 2:5-7
"the attitude you should have is the one that Jesus Christ had."
"He always had the nature of God, but He did not think by force that He should try to become equal with God. Instead of this, of His own free will he gave up ALL He had. And took the nature of a servant."