What's the Invitation?

I shared this quote from my friend Lilly Lewin when I asked a group of friends and family to be praying specifically for my trip to Kenya this past week:

“What if we view all of Advent as a series of Invitations from God?...

This Advent we have an Invitation to believe--

Invited to believe in the incarnation…

Invited to believe that we are not alone…

Invited to believe that God is with us…

Invited to believe that God sees us as we are and knows our hearts…”

And all week the question has continued to be at the forefront of my mind in almost every situation—“What’s the invitation?”

 

When I had a sore throat and runny nose upon arrival, I was worried that I would get others sick and that it would interfere with my time here in Kenya. I asked myself multiple times, “What’s the invitation here?” I felt like the simple invitation was to pray and lean on God with this. And the prayer from Anne Lamott came to mind simply praying, “Help me, help me, help me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

When we were invited to someone’s home, it was an invitation to simply take stock of the beautiful gift of hospitality that had been given to me (and also an invitation to laugh as I was sweating from drinking a cup of hot tea when it was over 90 degrees outside.)

Up on prayer mountain, it was so good to be back in a place that has meant so much to me and our family over the years. Of course, memories flooded back of when Anna had a fresh understanding of who God was (and is!) on that mountain back in 2008 when she told me that she was running to God and not away from him like in the picture below. To this day, this image is the best definition of reconciliation that I know, and it has encouraged and spurred my heart on in countless situations. When I was there this time around, there was a clear invitation to pray for friends and family and for the children in Lodwar in particular. As I prayed, I was overwhelmed with a sense of how much God loves…. As Julian of Norwich says, “For we are so preciously loved by God that we cannot even comprehend it. No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them.”

As I have heard countless stories this past week, it has been an invitation to remember that everybody has a story and that we belong to each other. And it has been holy ground to bear witness to their lives in this place.   Meeting numerous students who have lost their parents and seeing how they have had to piece things together to survive has ripped at my heart in trying to imagine what their lives are like.  

Hearing updates from the alumni who have graduated from Children of the Kingdom has been so powerful to see where God has brought them. Many graduates are now leaders in the local community in government, medical, teaching, and accounting positions. This was a clear invitation to let my heart burst a little bit with pride and gratitude at how they have grown and become such people of integrity and character in this community. Our mission statement has been to support children and families through the gift of education to equip them to be servants in the kingdom. And that fruit is exactly what we are seeing after 29 ½ years of this work. 

 

When we had the dedication time for the Children of the Kingdom center, I was given a dress made by Elizabeth (mother of two children in the program), and it was clear that the invitation was simply to receive the gift with joy. Veronica loaned me her special Turkana belt and headband, and again, I felt that my invitation was to simply receive the gift of friendship and kindness.

The time at the dedication prayer time was so powerful as we prayed for God to do a new thing in this place. Veronica has already done so much to give this place a facelift with a much needed clean up, with bright colored paint, and with new trees and vegetables planted. This was an invitation to pray for this to be a place of integrity and love where God’s name is represented well and where students are given opportunities to further their understanding of the world, of themselves, and of others.

Seeing people walk all over the property and pray for this place was such a needed gift, and it was an invitation to see this as a new beginning and a time of healing and renewal.  Veronica and I hugged one another as we were both moved to tears as we were praying together in front of the office. She is such an incredible mother to so many children here with such a burden and passion for so many. 

 

When I was at the banquet, I asked what the invitation was that day with so many children gathered.  I had read this prayer earlier in the week and felt invited to embrace this all day: “Jesus, I give you my eyes. May the people experience your tender gaze through me. Help me to see each one as you see them.” During the time when students came up to receive their crowns and necklaces, there were several lumps in my throat as I looked up again and again and saw the face of Jesus in these children. They were such beautiful people coming before me and I experienced the delight that God has for us as his children. “The Lord our God is with you. He is mighty to save. The Lord will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” Behold the one beholding you and smiling. 

Each night when I had the privilege of sitting down at the dinner table with Veronica and Robert and their family, it felt so natural to ask them all what their roses and thorns were at the end of each day as that has been our family tradition for so many years. This invitation has been so sweet as I was given windows into their days that I would not have had if I had not asked the questions.

After we drove almost 2 hours to a women’s gathering and church service on Sunday, we arrived and found a seat. There were almost 2000 women there from all over Kenya! They were speaking in Swahili so I only could understand some of the words. I followed along the best I could and read the Scriptures they were referencing in my own Bible.  I asked myself what the invitation was for me in this place. And the answer came after the sermon when about fifty of them gathered to sing and dance. Several Turkana ladies grabbed my hand and invited me into the dance, and I heard God say, “Come dance with me.” There is nothing like dancing with Turkana ladies- so much celebration and joy.

Being with the board from Kenya and talking for hours about how we can improve our work together has been an invitation to dig deep into ideas around the legacy of colonialism in Kenya and to ask critical questions about the work we are doing. It was such a privilege to take time to listen to their ideas, vast experience, and wisdom about how to make this work more sustainable as we move into the future.  

 

And even on the trip back to Seattle, I sat next to a Kenyan nun who works in Spain, and we had such a wonderful long conversation.  The invitation here was to set aside my journal and to delight in the person in front of me.

 

This final quote below is one that marks this rich week in Kenya so beautifully and the invitations I have received here which have taught me so much:

"Come…let us adore him. The Hebrew word for praise is tehilla, which primarily means 'to radiate' and 'to reflect.' God’s invitation, then, is to be radiant in reflecting God’s own tenderness in the world.  

-Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness