December 3, 2007

Dear Friends and family around the world,

Greetings to you from Nairobi!

In the 42 ethnic groups of Kenya, significant transition points of life traditionally were marked by a rite of passage. Common transitions included the naming of a new baby, moving from childhood to adulthood, being promoted from warrior to elder, etc. In contemporary urban Nairobi, many of these rites have been neglected or lost in recent years. However, a ministry called Tanari Trust works among a number of major churches in the city, seeking to reclaim some of these traditions, reintroducing them from a Christian perspective.

My son Justin, 9, and foster son Steven (19 in photo).

Next week in early December, the 12- and 13-year-old boys, and then the 12- and 13-year-old girls from our church will be going out for a one-week ROPES (Rites of Passage Experiences) event. They will be challenged with physical tasks, encouraged in team efforts, and will be taught by church pastors, elders, and their own fathers and uncles (for the boys), and mothers and aunts (for the girls), plus other mentors from the church. They will learn about what it means to become an adult, and how to make wise choices about dating, drugs, HIV and AIDS, and other relationships, including how to grow in their relationship with God. At the end, they will kill and roast a goat (a good challenge for the city boys and girls), preparing the traditional and still popular feast of nyama choma for their group, leaders, and extended families. When they return, they will be introduced to the church as young adults, and are to be treated accordingly.

Two weeks ago, in mid-November, our foster son Steven, 20, completed the four-week national exams at the end of his high school years. Immediately he joined around 30 others in another such ROPES program, this one for those just finishing high school. For the first week, they worked in service projects at a camp, which was then followed by a week of climbing Mt. Kenya (a peak over 16,000 ft. high). Now they are back down for more service learning and personal evaluation. In January, they will be trained in office skills followed by a one- to three-month internship in a business office of a church member. Throughout, they will be doing self-assessments and teambuilding in order to grow into the next phase of adulthood.

Yesterday at a staff Christmas party for Nairobi International School of Theology, where I serve, I sat next to the 8-year-old daughter of one of my colleagues. I was reminded how eight years ago, I attended her naming ceremony in Nairobi. Her parents, originally from Ghana, invited us to their home before sunrise on the eighth day of her life. In the chilly morning hours, we gathered outside in their front garden, as their pastor led us in prayers and singing. Placed on the doorstep all bundled up was this little baby girl. After some moments, someone went and picked up the baby, bringing her to the pastor saying, “We have found a child.” The pastor then took the infant, and looking around at the crowd, which included her parents, and said,  “God has given us a child! Who will look after this child?” After more looking around, he finally went and placed her in the arms of her parents, commanding, “We are entrusting this child to you, to raise on our behalf.” At that point, she was given her names, and from those gathered, blessings of prayers, Scripture verses, and other such promises were given to her. In one of the symbolic rites, the pastor took her and placed a drop of water on her tongue, at which she smiled and swallowed. Then he shook a drop of vodka or gin on her tongue; her face contorted as she squirmed and began to cry. He held her up saying, “May you always be as discerning between good and evil as you are today.” Afterwards, with the warm sun rising upon us, we had breakfast together. In so doing, we were covenanting to love, support, and stand by this family as they raised their little girl in God’s loving grace.

As we approach Christmas, I am reminded how Jesus was born as a small baby, and on the eighth day was brought to the Temple to be dedicated. At age 12, he was again taken to the Temple in Jerusalem for the Passover feast, and there he transitioned from being a child to a young adult, conversing with the teachers of the law. Somewhere around age 30, he left his father’s house and began his public ministry, marked by baptism, 40 days of isolation in the wilderness, and then proclaiming his purpose as he read the scroll of Isaiah, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to heal the sight of the blind, and to set free the captives, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

May this Christmas season be a time of renewal for each of us, and may we transition into the New Year with a matured purpose and renewed commitment.

Joy to you,

Marta

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 332