Pastor John celebrates the new water tank at Montanyok Primary with the teachers and headmistress.
John Merritt, pastor of Crosswinds Church, Dublin CA recently traveled to Kenya with two Asante Africa Foundation-USA Board Members.He saw the sights of Nakuru, Narok, Maji Moto, Maralal, Wamba, Isiolo, and DolDol, oh and Nairobi too. While in country he observed the process of meeting with community leaders. He celebrated with teachers and headmasters of schools finishing up recent construction projects. And he met several of our amazing students to he ar about “real” life as a student.
As he traveled back to the USA he shared his top 4 observations and perspectives of his travels to Kenya.
Children waiting in line for their daily meal of maize1) Life is hard there, and much easier here…We forget how tough daily life is in much of the third world. There the women and
children carry water on their backs or heads every day — we just turn on a tap.
There the city traffic and horrible condition of the roads makes one thankful for bay area roads and traffic — I’m not kidding! No matter what our problems here, they pale in comparison to daily life there.
Bible verses share the chalkboard along side math and english.2) The Christian faith is more prevelant there, less prevalent here…I came back sensing that Kenya is more of a
“Christian nation” than America is. There are churches everywhere,
and clearly no separation of church and state there, where Bible verses appear
on the school blackboards alongside math equations, and where Bible story
books are foound alongside geography texts in the classrooms. Prayer was always welcomed and respected. There is a vibrant spirituality there that is fading here in increasingly secular America.
3) There is hope there, just as there is hope here…
Education can happen anywhere. Even under a tree!!A highlight for me was to speak at Daystar University on the outskirts ofNairobi, where over 1000 students were very much engaged and responsive to my message on the desperate need for unsuspecting leaders to rise up and make a difference in our world today. I was also inspired by hope as we visited places where Asante is partnering with community leaders in remote villages — leaders who are the difference makers in terms of children getting education. There is always hope no matter which side of the globe we are on.
4) I am proud of the people we are supporting in East Africa
…I came back with the affirmation that Asante is staying true to its mission and strategic in its allocation of resources. This is difficult, messy, challenging work due to so many cultural factors but with the right leaders in place ( in the country and here in the USA) , lives are being changed. Once again, whenever something good is happening it is because a good leader is there making it happen.