Dreaming and a Bucket Brigade

Dreaming of Peace - with a "problem tree" with root causes and the resulting branches

I've had some crazy dreams since arriving in Kenya, but last month I was part of a strategic planning meeting where we were asked to do a bit of day-dreaming. We were to dream of what we saw as the ideal church - and not meaning just the church building, but the church as people, as what we experience, who we are, and what we offer. After dreaming, we shared our dreams with each other and talked about what we saw as priorities.

I heard many commonalities and exciting suggestions, some of which are already in the works. I could also see within the vision, the work I am doing in serving vulnerable children and helping them grow to be self-reliant through education.

Part of my dream didn't have such a clear connection to my work. In this dream, I see the church as to be a place of reconciliation, and we, as church, using the grace that allows us t0 figure out how to have right relationships, to be compassionate and understand each other in spite of our differences. Something more for me to think about: in our world full of disparity, seemingly endless conflicts, and differences among people for so many reasons, how can I be a person of reconciliation?

In my work, I am now doing a number of home visits, which I'll talk about another day. One local product which one of the community health workers had in her home was a lantern made from a tin can and a piece of a rubber sandal for the switch. Impressive!





Last weekend, I participated in a Children's Mass with over 1000 kids. It was pretty amazing. They had one little guy directing the choir, girls carrying pots of burning incense on their heads, and boys dressed as traditional warriors with cardboard shields in the procession. Afterward, they served all with pilau in what you could call a "food brigade." There were two lines of 30 adults passing hundreds of plates of food hand to hand until everyone was served.

The conductor was standing on a table so everyone could see him,

the girls were dancing while they processed,


and these guards took their roles very seriously.

the bucket ... or food brigade

Other interesting sights from Mombasa: Fire dancing! A group of young men are trying to make a living by performing with balls of fire on chains.
It's beautiful, mesmerizing, and a little stressful for those in the front row.


Tonight I'll be dreaming of an ant-free kitchen - at least free of ants that bite. I suppose I have an unfair size advantage, but they appear to be winning. Tomorrow I'm buying chili powder to see if that works.

Wishing you all pleasant dreams!