11.19.08

There were no classes at school today so the teachers could mark exams, but all the students had to be there anyway to, well, to do nothing basically, haha.  TIA.  I guess the teachers needed them there to collect textbooks, but thats about it.  Just policy I guess.  Surely they could have gotten the textbooks Monday or Tuesday, but apparently not.  Owell!  Since the children were sitting idle in their classrooms Jenny and I took the opportunity to go read to our Std. 6 English class.  We never finished “The Trumpeter Swan” with them, and we still didn’t get through the whole thing, but boy were they excited to see us when we walked into the classroom!  They are the best children ever!  So we read as muc as we could with them and they loved it.  It was definitely worth it.  Then, we had a special goodbye with the teachers at tea time which was really nice.  In addition to our usual tea (aka: sugar water) and 3 pieces of white bread, we had hard-boiled eggs and squishy bananas, haha!  I am so picky about my bananas at home so that was a real struggle for me.  Sounds really lame, I know, but I survived!  We discreetly passed over the eggs…or so we thought.  Afterwards, one of the teachers asked us why we dont take eggs.  Oops!  We just explained that we cook them differently at home.  That seemed to be a viable answer, I guess.  During tea a couple of the teachers stood up and said a few words of thanks and goodbye to us.  It was really sweet.  The head teacher genuinely thanked us for all of our work and told us what a blessing it has been having us there.  He is a really good man and has a done a lot for that school.  He, unlike most of the teachers, really cares about the school and the students so it was really nice coming from him.  He also told us that we are always “most welcome” at Mukaa if we ever decide to come back.  He was indirectly telling us we should come back and help.  The best response to comments like that is always “God only knows.”  We certainly dont want to make any promises about returning, but we dont want to straight up tell them we wont be back either.  Comments like that always kind of put us in an uncomfortable position, but we have learned how to respond because they happen so often so hakuna matata (no problem)!  Then, much to our surprise, they presented us with some gifts.  Jenny and I each got a couple wooden spoons for cooking.  The kamba are known for their wood-carving and craftsmanship and it is something they take a lot of pride in.  They make beautiful statues of all kinds of animals, utensils, etc. and even hand paint them too.  So that was a really special gift and then we also each got a “kanga” which is a wrap that can be worn as skirt or to strap your baby to your back.  They presented the gifts to us one at a time and the teacher giving me mine said “now, you’re a mama!”  Yikes!!  I was sure to correct her that that the kanga will be used as a skirt for a long time yet, haha!  It was really funny though.  So she wrapped it around me like a skirt while one of the other teachers snapped pictures on my camera.  The tea time was a really nice goodbye with the teachers.  They were so thoughtful to get us gifts too.  Despite some comments here and there it was obvious that they were truly grateful for having us at the school this term and for all the work we (especially Jenny) put into our classes.  The Lord has really used these teachers to teach me and grow me in my faith.  Every one of them knows the Lord and has a personal relationship with Jesus- at least as far as I can see.  When I hear them pray aloud their passion and their love for the Lord is undeniable.  But when they pray aloud it is so hard for me to imagine that these are the same people who cane the students.  When I see the children being caned it breaks my heart for the child and makes me so angry towards the teacher.  However, caning is the only form of discipline they know.  It was used on them and so, naturally, that is what they use also.  They dont think they are doing anything wrong by caning the students.  Its been a real struggle for me to see past the beating and continue to show love towards the teachers.  Its so hard to remind myself that this is a cultural difference and it doesnt make them bad Christians.  But God has reminded me that we’re called to love people, not their actions.  That is exactly how Christ taught us to love when he came to this earth.   Loved based on actions is very conditional and the Lord teaches us to love others the same way He loves us…unconditionally.  I know that if God loved me based on my actions He would fall out of love with me very quickly.  So I cant say that because these teachers beat the children they dont truly know the Lord, because they do.  They are some of the strongest, most faithful believers I have ever met.  All I can truly say is that God has begun to give me just a small taste of what unconditional love is all about.