Postscript

We had just finished dinner at a favorite restaurant we’d go to occasionally on the north-side of Nairobi.  When we left, we entered the long line of traffic.  Street vendors began weaving their way through the cars offering their typical assortment of key chains, steering wheel covers, pirated DVDs, magazines and catalogues, peanuts, and the occasional vendor offering small amounts of cell-phone air time.

They were usually followed by the beggars–some who were dressed in rags, others who may have been blind being led by a friend or family member, and others with missing limbs.  Then came the children. While in most of the city the beggars were adults, up here there were always kids.

A beautiful little girl who was about six or eight years old knocked on our window.  We were warned not to give to child beggars because many of them are forced to beg by adults who are sometimes in criminal networks. “Mista, I’m hung-rree,” she said with a rolled r in her accent of English. We gave her a full bag of change…

When she went away, my first thought was, that pretty little girl is going to grow up to be a prostitute. My heart ached.  I wanted to weep for her, and concentrated hard to keep the tears from flowing as we made our way back to our house that night.

It’s not an unusual scenario for a girl conscripted to beg as a child to then be forced into prostitution as she grows into an adult.  Sometimes the criminal networks that control these children, have a hold on them their whole lives.  It’s a life of enslavement. It’s not fair.

While we know local people from the countries where we’ve lived and visited who live just the same as us, we also see people struggling, and we know some of them, too.  Often their struggles are so different than what we were confronted with at home:

• The woman who’s daughter died of AIDS, who now cares for her grandchildren and doesn’t know from month to month if she’ll be able to afford their school fees.
• The man who lives in a corrugated metal shack in an urban slum, and walks with a limp after being beaten by a mob who mistakenly thought he was to blame for a community crime.
• The fathers who we give our old clothes to who moved from a country known for war and violence to the country where we live now hoping for a better life for their children.
• The people who pick through our trash looking to see if we’ve left something they can eat, something that can be recycled or something that can be fixed and sold.
• Some of our colleagues and others we’ve met who because they were followers of Jesus spent time in prison, were beaten, were tortured, and witnessed friends and family murdered because of their beliefs.
• The people who fled from their homes to get away from people who wanted to eradicate their communities and now live in crowded refugee camps.

Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I had been born somewhere else.  I wonder how it is that I’ve been able to live such an easy life, comparably, to how many others live.

Sometimes I wonder what if…

• I had to live in a metal shack in an urban slum
• I had to go to jail for my faith
• I struggled to buy clothes or find food to eat

Life’s problems are not doled out in equal measure.

Life isn’t fair.

Sometimes problems arise out events we can’t control like natural disasters.  Sometimes they happen because of our own actions or poor choices.  But, sometimes it’s the results of other people’s wrong behaviors.  And, if you look at major world difficulties you can see patterns of systemic societal, even global sins, for which a portion of the population, even a majority, are subject to the negative outcomes.

God’s Word tells us that this world is fallen (Psalm 14:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah17:9) and broken and that human beings are by their very nature inclined towards evil (Romans 3:23; Galatians 5:19-21).  All of these inequities that we see are a result of our personal and corporate sins.

But, God can make us new (2 Corinthian 5:17).  He can change our communities.  He can change our societies. Someday he’ll make a new earth that will be perfect (Revelations 21; Isaiah 65:17-25).

Until then, God promises to give us the grace to persever through life’s troubles (John 16:33; 1 Corinthians 1:3-7).

We’ve witnessed examples of God’s grace in action.

• Individuals of various economic levels who offer the resources they have to help others.
• Churches and organizations running programs to help those who are struggling with immediate needs and offering training to communities to help them overcome long-term problems.
• Attitudes of thankfulness that transcend circumstances.

The hope that they have, gives me confidence to know that if God can sustain them, he can also sustain me no matter what difficulties I may face.

“The one country I’m afraid to go to is yours.”  A Kenyan friend and I had been talking about some of our cross-cultural experiences when she came out and told me this.  I laughed.

Our conversation just previous to this had been on some of our favorite TV shows.  Then I told her, “You’ve watched too much 24.”  The 24 TV series, with its flawed hero Jack Bauer, always included an attack in the USA from some terrorist organization…from which Jack always saved everyone. It was one of her favorite shows. “I promise you that there are not terrorist attacks in the US every day.”

Not only did 24 impact her perceptions, but with many TV shows set in the US being in the crime genre and CNN regularly pumping out information on crime, violence and terrorism on US soil to its international TV audiences…what would you think?

This wasn’t the only conversation I had like this with friends not from my home country.  These conversations went both ways, and my perceptions were often challenged. They continue to be.

Don’t believe everything you see on TV might sound like an obvious caution.  But, we’re not always aware of how influential media is on our thoughts, perceptions and beliefs.  The messages we get from the news, movies, music, books–in many ways they shape who we are and impact our decisions.

I remember when we began telling friends and family about our intentions to move to Nairobi, Kenya. We would explain that it was a modern city of 3 million people.  We would share that because of it’s high elevation, the temperature was moderate and dry.  We would tell them about the large Christian community (about 80% of Kenyans call themselves Christians).

However, the strong media influence on perceptions of Africa would often come through. Some believed we’d be living in a mud-hut.  Others questioned if we’d have enough to eat. Surely, we must be sweltering in the heat all the time.

I probably had many of these same perceptions before I visited Kenya the first time.  My perceptions changed even more when we moved to the continent.  My thoughts before my initial exposure were highly shaped by media exposure–I only knew what I’d been taught, mostly from TV and movies.  I only knew a sliver of information.

Media exposure is very one-dimensional and can encourage us to believe that what we see represents the entire reality (and not just a portion of it).

One of the most common things you’ll hear us say these days after watching the news is something like, “That’s interesting, but that’s just one part of the story.”

Being aware that our exposure is limited is important. We can go even further to intentionally broaden our exposure by developing friendships with people from countries other than our own, traveling beyond our home town boarders and expanding our reading and viewing materials.

I love this TED talk from Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  She warns of the dangers of a single story.  Take a look.

In 1984, Communist leaders in Ethiopia told a Christian named Dereje Tilahun to leave his job as a land surveyor and begin work as a political cadre (communist activist) within the Communist government.

“I said, ‘No.  You are atheist. I believe in God, so how can I join with you?’” he explained. “We had to speak up and say ‘This is wrong.’ I was bold enough to tell them.”

“I didn’t give up my faith”

He credited this boldness to the support he had from a group of Christians gathering together in their homes at night to pray and study the scripture.  Through all of the seventeen years of Communist rule in Ethiopia, this group grew closer to God and each other.

Dereje sees that God used this time to strengthen and prepare these believers as well as cement into his heart the importance of Bible study.  When Dereje refused to work for the government, he lost both his surveying job and his freedom.  Like many evangelical Christians in Ethiopia at that time, he spent time in prison.

“It was only six days,” he said with a smile, “But it was very tough!  I was obliged to lie on a cement floor.  In the evenings there were beatings.”

His understanding of scripture sustained him through that time.  “In prison, I secretly brought a Bible,” he laughed.  Whenever he could, he read the words aloud for the other prisoners who listened eagerly.

“I didn’t give up my faith.  I told [the guards] that the only way to salvation is Jesus Christ.  They were laughing at me, but sometimes now these same people are coming to Jesus Christ,” he shared.

From Land Survey to Bible Survey

After his time in prison, Dereje was without a job and unsure where to go. He spent two months praying and believing God would provide whatever he needed.  Through a friend, he heard about a job working with Scripture Union, an international organization that aims to make God’s Good News known to children, youth, and families through Bible reading and prayer.  Over the next ten years, Dereje worked with Scripture Union by spreading Bible Study and devotional materials across Ethiopia particularly among high school students.

“When I joined Scripture Union, I told them that I [went] from land survey to Bible survey,” he said.

The materials, though, were all printed in Amharic, the national language in Ethiopia.  As a native Amharic speaker, Dereje did not question whether people speaking any of the other languages of Ethiopia would understand these materials. Now, however, he sees the importance of providing scripture and devotional materials for people in their heart language.

This realization deepened when a childhood friend, Alemayehu Hailu, a Wycliffe Africa member who now serves as the Director of SIL Ethiopia, invited him to he attend a workshop done by SIL.  After the workshop, Alemayehu and others urged Dereje to join in translation work.

Recognizing the Need

Dereje went to his family and church members seeking prayer and discernment.  “It took me two years to decide,” he recalled. He was motivated by the incredible need he saw.

“There are more than 80 languages in Ethiopia, and only 8 have the [whole] Bible!  It’s not good to give Amharic Bibles to those people who don’t understand.  We have to bring the Bible in their own language.  When it is in their mother tongue, they can understand it. They can love it.”

Finally in May 2009, Dereje stepped down from his job of fourteen years working with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) in radio broadcasting and magazine editing.  He joined Wycliffe Africa and was seconded to SIL Ethiopia. He now works in the Scripture Use department where he oversees a team preparing and distributing printed materials, recordings, and videos that help people apply scripture to their everyday lives.

“I see that my life was built by the word of God by studying the Word in group Bible studies.  I want to transfer this idea, this knowledge, to other people in their own language.  Then their life will also be changed by it,” he shared.

“The Bible is my life,” he said while placing his hands on his well-worn copy of the Bible in his own language.  “I cannot live without the Bible.”

Photos by Adam Jeske

Read a longer version of this story

Note: This story was written by Christine Jeske. I traveled with Christine, and her husband, Adam, in March 2011. This was one of the stories we worked on while we were there.

Here’s a list of six of things you may not think of that I suggest you have with you on a trip to most sub-Saharan African countries:

1. Passport photos: I always carry at least four passport photos with me.  You  may need these for any number of things–a visa application, a government permit you didn’t know you needed…who knows.  There are photo studios around in cities, but you never know if you’ll be asked for photos at a time when the photo shops aren’t open or aren’t conveniently located to where you are.
2. Malaria home test kit: Malaria is prevalent in most African countries and taking a malaria prophylaxis will help you prevent contracting the parasite.  However, taking a prophylaxis doesn’t eliminate your risk of getting the illness completely.  Malaria test kits can be purchased at pharmacies in many African cities. Home test kits can be just as accurate as tests in the hospital as long as you carefully follow the instructions provided with the kit.
3. ACT (Artemether Combined Therapy): If you do contract malaria, ACT is one of the best medicines to take.  I keep a packet of this with me on my trips just in case.  You can usually find this at most pharmacies in urban areas in Africa.  Buy it before leaving urban areas.
4. International drivers permit: These can be acquired at your local auto club (like AAA in the US). You may not be planning to drive, and in some places, driving might not be advisable, but having this permit will allow you to drive if you need to, legally.
5. Debit card: In many countries in Africa, if you need cash, you can get it at an ATM using a debit card from your home country.  The exchange rate is usually better than most foreign exchange cash counters, especially the ones at airports.  Call your bank ahead of time to let them know where you’re going to make sure they don’t put a fraud block on your card when you try to use it abroad.  Also, be sure to get your cash while you’re in an urban area because you may not find an ATM in more rural locations.
6. US Dollars: If you must use a forex cash counter or if you are in an emergency situation, USDs are usually the best currency to have. Additionally, they often are the only currency accepted if you buy a visa upon arrival in a country. Bring the newest bills you can find–2006 series or newer are best. Most of it should be in larger designations like 100s, 50s, or 20s at the smallest.  How much you take depends on where you go, but a minimum amount could be $210 (one 100, one 50, two 20s and two 10s). That amount gives you lots of flexibility to pay different amounts.

What unexpected items have you found useful to have with you when you travel abroad?

We all live in the shadow.  The shadow of what was supposed to be—what was lost—but also in the shadow of our sins, our individual and collective sins.

We often turn around to look longingly at what was supposed to be.  But looking back at sins is a whole other matter.  I don’t mean to look at them in order to dwell on them, but to remember the painful realities of those sins so as to not do those things again.

Near to the end of my time in Benin, I went with a group to the coastal city of Ouida to see and experience the slave route. Ouida was a major port for the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  Africans left here by force to be sold as slaves in the New World.

When they told us this was an option for an outing at the end of the conference I attended, I signed up kind of reluctantly.  I wanted to see it, but I dreaded it as well.  What would this be like?  How would I feel?

In school in the US I learned a little about the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  I read facts.  I saw some pictures of how they would load the ships.  Later, I saw movies about it.

When you hear all that, yeah, you think it’s terrible…but the fullness of the atrocities…I don’t think you can fully feel it from that side of the ocean.  It feels more like something bad that happened a long time ago.

Ever since we moved to Africa, I wondered when I might be confronted with this here.  Well, the time came.

The bus picked us up early from our hotel.  After we drove for about an hour, we arrived at our first destination—an old Portuguese fort.  Our tour guide brought us around. The fort was the first place Africans who were captured were taken.

She showed us the original door to the fort.  It displayed people in chains. It depicted exactly what they did.  It made me shudder.  Would anyone want to walk by here?

She told us that the Portuguese and some other Europeans brought the idea of slaves to the King of Dahomey.  They wanted people to work in the New World.  The Dahomey kingdom was very powerful in West Africa at that time.  The king agreed to participate and gained considerable wealth from it.  Dahomey became one of the main sources for slaves.

She told us that at first the Dahomey Kingdom just sold and sent over their prisoners of war.  Demand was high, and the trade was lucrative.  The criteria for who would be captured and sent expanded and expanded some more…and more…

She brought us to an open area in the fort.  She explained that it used to have no trees, and captured people were kept here for days exposed to the elements as a test of their survival.

We stood on that ground where they stood.  It was hot.  On a sunny day without shade, this place would have been hard to tolerate even for minutes, let alone days. If they survived this test, they were brought in chains to the next stops on the route. We boarded the bus to continue our tour.  The captured people would have walked where we drove.

We drove by monuments to different Dahomey kings.   The tour guide described each based on the design of the monument. This king is represented by a ______ because he…, this king… this king… he went on and on.

I tried to imagine what it would have been like to walk this road in chains.  Did they know what was going to happen?

This king is represented by a hyena which is eating its own stomach because he sold his own people.

Then we passed by a tree.  This was the tree of forgetfulness.  Everyone who passed this tree was supposed to forget their family, their friends, and their life here.

The bus stopped.  We walked down a path to another place.  There were monuments showing how people were bound.  This was the site where people were taken in the dark and put into small boxes with no way to see out to await the next stop.  They stayed here for more days.  Another survival test.  If they lived…they would go to the next stop.

As an American of European ancestry, I think this was probably hitting me differently from my travel companions who were from countries in Africa.  I felt…awful. Sick. Horrified.

We walked by another tree.  This was the tree of return signifying that the spirits of captured Africans would return here after they died.

We boarded the bus.  More descriptions of the monuments to the kings.  This king… This king…

Another stop at another monument. It got worse. It was the site of the mass grave where the bodies of those who didn’t survive were thrown.  Even those who looked sick or fell along the route were thrown in here.  I can’t imagine the terror of being thrown into a pit of dead bodies.  This place must have had a horrible stench.  Did people walking the route smell that smell of death while they walked?

The bus took us to the end of the route—a monument called the door of no return.  This was the last place where those who were captured would walk on African soil.   They would walk in chained groups to small boats that would take them to the large boats that would bring them across the ocean.  Our tour guide told us that some would choose to end their lives on those small boats, but if one decided to go overboard, everyone else who was chained with them went, too.

I walked from the door of no return towards the sea. The coarse, hot, redish sand collected in my shoes and began to rub painfully on my feet.  I thought about the horror that was to come for them next after they stepped off of these shores.  If they made it to the ship, they’d have a three month journey with very little to eat or drink and no sanitation.

It is estimated that:

• 820,000 Africans died in slave ports.
• 2.2 million Africans died in the voyage across the sea.
• 5 million Africans died in “seasoning camps” before making it to their final destination.

More died during their forced labor. They died away from their homes and their families.  This was an African holocaust.

I continued my walk to the sea.

I looked and in front of me was a man who had already made it to the water.

I stopped and watched him.

He knelt down.

He touched the water.

He did the sign of the cross.

I thought, Dear God, how can your grace be sufficient for this.  How can you forgive us for horrors like this?

And, then God brought to mind a song written by someone who was himself involved in the slave trade.   Someone who may have been to this very location.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

…saves wretches like all of us.

* * *

The trans-Atlantic slave trade ended, and this kind of slavery was abolished.  However, slavery continues even now.  It is estimated that in this current day 12 to 27 million people in the world are slaves. Learn more.

View more of my photos from Ouida.