Know What I’m Thinking?
Meet Patrick. Just an average guy. Born a rambling man. Trying to make a living and doing the best he can?
Remember when we began our saga with Patrick and Faith? Remember how we started off the relationship asking God why He had ordained that this man should come into our lives? Remember how we determined that we would follow God’s leading in hopes that we could lead this man and his wife closer to Jesus?
We are trying to remember. It’s just that the events of the past week have made remembering these good intentions quite difficult.
Before I continue, I need to confess that I wasn’t ever sure that I could completely trust Patrick and Faith. (After all, on the first day we met them Patrick told us about his suspicion that Faith was cheating on him.) But we wanted to think positively...to believe them. We wanted to believe that their expression of gratitude for our “friendship from the Lord” was sincere. (I’m sure it was...just not in the way that we had hoped!)
We asked them about their relationship with Jesus. They used the phrase, “Nimeokoka” which means “I have been saved,” instead of “Mimi ni mkristo” which means “I am a Christian”). “Nimeokoka”, as we were told in language school, is supposed to be what those who are born again say.
In addition, Patrick spoke of his desire to be involved in ministry, particularly composing “songs about the gospel.” He even sang for us a couple that he “translated” as Psalm 23. (Still not sure about what the song actually said!) He did know the words to “Hakuna Mungu Kama Wewe” (“There’s no God like You”), though. However, we’ve learned that everyone knows that song...even in Zambia and Mozambique!
We shared our vision of seeing church planting movements started in East Africa. We talked candidly about the model of church that had been imported compared to the model that we see in the New Testament. I taught him how to hold a P.O.U.C.H. church in his home along with the “10 Characteristics of a Church Planting Movement.” And Diana taught him S.P.E.C.K.A.! (Sorry for you non-IMB readers!)
Sundays became the best day to go into Nairobi. We always waited until Patrick and Faith got back home from worship. They spoke about their church--United Christ Ministries. They told us about Patrick’s participation in crusades held by some American evangelist (he asked if I knew him...but that’s like the guy in Western Kenya who asked me if I met the “brown man” at church!)
They expressed their gratitude for our giving Patrick some money to compensate him for his time and efforts to get us the village. They shared how happy it made them because they were able to use it for Christmas.
Then came the suspicious comments. For instance, they just happened to share with us personal (a little too personal) information about conception. They just happened to let us know that they were out of the medication which was helping Faith maintain her pregnancy. They just happened to mention that Patrick lost his job and how it was “almost impossible” to get a job in Nairobi (we have been told that’s not entirely true--finding a job that is close to one’s house may be difficult, but there are jobs out there). But maybe that’s how Africans think...they just share everything with you. After all didn’t Hillary say “It Takes a Village?”
But then it came...THE CALL!!!
It was one week ago today when Faith contacted us to say, “I am really having it hard now. Please help me if you can. The landlord is threatening to throw us out of the house. In fact, my husband is planning to leave. I just don’t know what to do.” I told them we would pray and that I would try to come by in the morning.
On Tuesday morning I went to see Patrick and Faith, equipped with what I was going to say and do. Diana and I had sensed God leading us to pay the balance of the rent. Remembering the suggestions from 40/40, we planned to take the money directly to the landlord.
I talked with Patrick about what he had or hadn’t done to find a job. I tried to use “grace seasoned with salt” as I encouraged him to do something, anything. He told me about some ideas he had...he just needed some capital to buy a stove for baking breads for guards who worked around the city. I said nothing.
I counseled him concerning his “threat” to leave. I learned that he had suggested that he move back to his boma (birthplace) while Faith finished school to save money. Being pregnant, she didn’t want him to leave her.
I told Patrick that we believed God had told us to help them with their rent and groceries this time. I took him to the landlord and paid the remaining overdue balance. Then we went to a local grocery store. I got for him just the basics--bread, flour, maize flour, sugar, cooking oil--he asked if he could have some soap (YES!), Vaseline (didn’t ask!), and some toilet tissue (sure!). When we returned to his house, he thanked me, I prayed for him and started off. That’s when Patrick came to the car to ask, “Oh, there’s one more thing...”
There’s always just one more thing!
“...Can you buy me some cooking fuel? Oh, and...”
Now wait...that’s two more things!
“...can you give me some fare for the matatu so I can go look for a job?”
That’s when the sunken, sickened feeling set in my gut. I was so disappointed. We had sacrificed to help these guys out and what did we get? “One more thing.”
In fact, it didn’t stop with just one more thing. We got the following text message from Faith on Friday:
“Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate your quick response. I would write more on mail if you had > What’s up at the Cinemas? Call +09002221111 and find out.”
HUH?! Was she inviting us to the movies? I called to ask her to explain the message. She said she was using her computer at work to send a text message to my phone and she wanted to get my address. I told her that we don’t have one yet.
Then we got the remaining NINE text messages she sent. Each time the question, “What’s up at the Cinemas?” appeared. We figured it out, though. The website she was using to send us a text message was attaching this advertisement to the messages.
Anyway, she laid out for us this sad, sob story about how difficult their lives were. How she had to get married because she ran away from home to get away from the marriage her parents had arranged for her. How they had nothing and no one to go to since her family disowned her. It was quite a soap opera! In fact, my flesh wanted to suggest that she write it up into a screenplay and sell the movie rights to EARN some income! I didn’t.
On Saturday we received a call that lasted long enough to ask us to call them back. Against my better judgment I called. Patrick asked, “Do you have a credit card?” Didn’t like where that question was leading! I was honest an told him, “No.” He may or may not have believed me and then asked, “Do you know of someone who does?” Then he added the oddest qualifier: “Someone who can be trusted.” Uh, no.
We experienced what I call the Law of Maneno Matupu (“empty words”). We have been told by Africans that any time an African is visited by a mzungu, he is thinking two things: 1) what does this guys want me to say? and 2) what do I need to say that will increase my chances of getting something from this guy? Thus, whatever comes out of his/her mouth is probably “maneno matupu” (“empty words”). So how do you get past maneno matupu? This, my friends, is the million-dollar question. It has a lot to do with the nature and longevity of the relationship.
Unfortunately, when most Africans look at wazungu they see dollar signs. Some believe that wazungu have taken their resources for so long that they owe it to Africans. Thus, we are expected to give. Others just simply see every encounter with a mzungu as their lottery ticket to get something.
Man! This realization has HUGE ramifications on the evangelism that has been and continues to be done here, as well as on the research that I plan to conduct. How many maneno matupu have been given at the invitation of a volunteer’s “western” gospel presentation? How many times has that same person “ameokoka”--been saved? Probably every time that maneno matupu looks like the road to getting something.
Can you blame them? No. It’s sin nature. It’s also learned behavior. We have created this monster. We feed it, also, each time uncontextualized or miscontextualized methods of evangelism combined with dependency-sustaining subsidy is used by career and volunteer missionaries alike.
Maneno matupu--empty words. We would shutter to know how often we have actually heard them. We should shutter to admit how often we have actually used them ourselves!
Monday, January 15, 2007