Home at last - John Hardacker

Home at last!

Arriving home has been bitter sweet. The thought of how much more we could have done, certainly how much more needs to be done, floats around in my head and appears in the strangest of places. I am admiring the lush green that returned to our lawn while we are gone, smelling the wonder that is Minnesota summer, and listening to the sounds of our neighborhood and 'bang' I remember the drought in Kitui or the sewage running in the streets of Kibera. I knew we weren't going to fix all the problems in the area while we were there, or that we were even there for that.

Melanie showed me a book that she is reading through. To paraphrase, it talks about how the life of the people we were staying with was difficult for us to live in. It then talks about how we left and the people still live there. They still live the life we found difficult to live in for our stay in Africa. They still look to the sky and pray for the rain to come. They still don't have electricity or plumbing in their houses. It makes me wonder how much change we made while there. I know we were able to help with some construction on a building that will be used to change the people of Kitui for years to come. I know we were able to feed the children for a week. I know we were even able to be there when people saw God at work and accepted His invitation to follow him. We were able to encourage people in the work they are doing to change the people of Africa one village at a time. We were able to employ some people as they drove us around, worked at the places we stayed, sell things to us from their shops, and we added to the tourism of the area. All that to say I know we have changed the people of Africa by our trip to Kenya. I rejoice in that when I think of the trip.

A wise woman asked me a question (she knows who she is), "What if WE haven't changed?" What if our lives aren't changed by this trip and it just fades away into a fun vacation we remember when we are looking through pictures. I know we have been changed! I don't know how each one of us has been impacted but, I know we have all been changed. We see the world a little different than before. Some of us had never been to a third world country before. Some of us had never shared our testimonies in public before. Some of us have never gone that long without a shower. Most of us had never eaten (or seen someone else eat) goat intestines. No matter what the first was, it was the first. Even the slightest changes in our lives are reflected later in life. We won't all keep speaking the little Swahili we know or search out restaurants that offer goat parts on rice and beans but, we will have a part of our hearts turned towards God and to the people of Africa. Maybe when we see someone on the street that doesn't seem to know the language we will help them find where they are going. Maybe we will invite an immigrant to our home and share a meal with them (most foreign students spend their entire college career in the USA without seeing the inside of a natives home). Maybe we will be willing to share our faith with a person who seems to be looking for answers and not feel locked with terror. Maybe, just maybe, we will show the love of God to the people around us in ways we don't even understand. Maybe the change in us will be something only the people around us see. Or, maybe the change will be profound and everyone will see it. I don't know what the changes will be. God knows. I know that, and after this trip, I am more comfortable knowing only that. And that is a change for the better.