Beloved,

As clergy, one of my principle responsibilities is to administer the sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism.  Due to my circumstances here, my opportunities for much ‘administration’ are infrequent.  Most often, the Bishop, in whose Sunday entourage I typically travel, handles Holy Communion, and only rarely do I get the chance to preside over an altar.  Baptisms even less so.  The locals prefer to head to their vicar for such rites, and it has been months, if not years, since I last facilitated a proper dipping in the Name of our Lord. That drought ended in a veritable deluge last Sunday when I was asked to fill in at a baptismal service at St. Thomas, our local parish.

Kenyans, it should be noted, have no problem doing things en masse.  Weddings, funerals, and baptisms can, of course, be performed on an individual basis, but the predominant feeling here is, “Hey, if we can knock a few out at once, why not?  The more, the merrier.”   Only two weeks ago, I was with the Bishop at a confirmation service when the vicar informed us that five couples were hoping to be married by the Bishop that same day.  Most American clergy would have had a conniption fit on the spot, but the Bishop was overjoyed at the prospect, and we had them lined up and exchanging rings in no time.  I should not have been surprised, therefore, when upon showing up for the baptismal service, I noticed no less than 20 mothers awaiting a proper dunking for their watoto.  We began the service and, when it came time for the actual baptisms, the mamas lined up and one-by-one handed me their babies.  Admittedly, I was a little confused as to which God-parent corresponded to which child, particularly as it seemed that when none were present, a bystander would quickly step in to fill in the gaps.  And so it went; no sooner would I put down one baby when another would be thrust into my arms.  One of the parents overseeing the affair took pity on me and wrote down the names of each child, making the embarrassing taboo of misnaming someone at their baptism slightly more avoidable.   But, let’s be honest: These are problems we like to have.  It is comforting to experience the Church so alive, to have to orchestrate the baptism of 20 babies or a mass impromptu wedding for five couples, and to experience life en masse.

 Take them to Uganda:

This is the first year in the Elewana Project where we have had to figure out what to do with our graduates.  Not a problem for those who graduated with good grades; we ask their sponsors to consider funding them, at least partially, through their college or university studies.  Those who did not finish well present more of a problem.   When we started the sponsorship program two years ago, we selected students based primarily on need.  Many came from such difficult situations (orphaned and the like) that they were well behind in their studies and struggled to maintain passing grades even after we began assisting them. (Now-a-days, we are bit more discerning and accept only those students who demonstrate both a need and significant academic ability.)  As a result, we had seven sponsored graduates with grades insufficient for any local college or training institute.  The only option, it seemed, was for them to go home and (as the Kenyan expression goes) ‘get married’.  Not ready to throw in that towel, we are experimenting with another option: Uganda.  Ugandan high schools go for 6 years (comparable to the British ‘A’ level) instead of Kenyan’s four (‘O’ level).  So in an effort to see our students into higher education, we have taken the seven across the border to two Ugandan schools and enrolled them into Standard 5 (grade 13).

As with any experiment, we were forced to mimic headless chickens in our efforts to make this happen.  After securing the needed parental consent, we sent everyone home for a week to get what supplies they could muster: report cards, soap, rubber boots, and anything else they would need while boarding in Uganda.  We then schlepped everyone to the hospital for a‘ physical’ and then around town for the school supplies they didn’t get at home.  When (relatively) ready, we packed the Land Cruiser (our new vehicle!) and high-tailed it across to the border to the schools that had agreed to take our students.

I am always amazed at how the presence of a Bishop greases the wheels of progress.  Through his heavy hand, we were able to get everyone across the border despite the fact that none of our students had national ID’s or passports: their baptismal certificates and a wink and a nod from the Bishop were sufficient.  And driving through Customs, the Bishop had only to lean out of the car and ask the agent about his family to have the gate opened with a smile and salute to beat the band.   As Mel Brooks once said, “Its good to be the king.”  And so, by the end of the day, we had all seven wanafunzi enrolled and off to class, where they will stay for the next two years.  I hope and pray they won’t squander the opportunity.

We are all bracing for next week’s arrival of Keith Butler, already a dear friend to many in the diocese and well known to those who were reading this blog last year.  We are also are trying a new ‘newsletter’ format with these missives now, as opposed to the disastrous list-serve of a month ago.  You should be able put yourself on and off the list at Elewana.org.  And send news!  I love hearing from you

 Mad Love, Zach