The African Way

Today was a day of rest as Rukema put it. Indeed, compared to the previous two days it was as I did little more than hang around my room at the guest house. Yet, Rukema and I did manage to get some work in translating the many testimonies that I video taped the day before.

I should speak briefly about yesterday. We traveled to one of Alexandre's training centers and visited a church. The group of church planters (about 15 of them) were so excited that we came to visit, as Alexandre had made two previous promises about coming but he never came. We recorded several testimonies and I got a great interview with the head trainer for the training center. At the end of our visit to the church, I gave Rukema some money and asked him to buy drinks (Coca-Cola and Fanta) and bread for all the church planters. We headed back to the training center and had a time of fellowship that was fun. I got to share briefly about the 2008 statistics for ECC and I think it was an encouragement to them to know that the work they are doing it part of a much larger movement of God.

On the way home we had an interesting experience. During my time here Rukema has been insisting on having us travel using the public buses. That part is fine, but he also insists that I sit up front with the driver which is considered the prime seat. More than a few times it has been awkward as people who are already sitting there are asked to move so I can have the seat. I wish Rukema didn't do this on one hand, but on the other I know that I would be miserable (so would the people I'd be sitting on top of) if I had to squeeze into the tight confines of the back of the bus. They routinely put 15 to 20 people in a space no larger than an American sized mini-van, the kind of vehicle that we would put 7 people into, maximum! I also know that Rukema is doing his best to take care of his foreign visitor.

Anyway, as I was saying we were on our way home. We were standing by the side of the road waiting for the bus to come by when all the sudden two appeared almost at the same time and they were both going to the same place. The second bus was nearly empty which shows that the first bus was collecting all the passengers just ahead of the other one which must clearly be frustrating to the driver! Anyway, the first bus pulls up and it turns out Rukema knows the driver! Well, his bus is almost full and the front seat is taken of course. As they negotiate a price and the removal of the two people sitting up front, I began to wonder why we did just hop into the empty bus? After all, the conductor of that bus was yelling for us to get in and it seemed he even would be willing to give us a cheaper price. It was to no avail, however, as we ended up getting into a crowded bus and the Mazungu(aka. white guy...me) got to sit up front! All of this got me to thinking about the value of relationships here in Africa and for that matter around the world. The relationship here is often the most important factor in decision making. I wonder if that might not be a character trait that the United States could learn from. In a culture where everything is about what you can do for me, we treat people horribly and destroy our relationships with little regard. Certainly within the realm of missions, relationships are the key to anything we do. Anyway, all of it struck me funny and in a small way, the whole situation sums up how things work here in Africa. To an American, it seems inefficient and cumbersome, but to the African they wouldn't have it any other way.