It was raining in Kenya as we pulled to a gas (petrol) station in Westland. Two attendants came quickly to the driver’s side window and as the driver was lowering it down, one of the attendants started washing the windshield. The attendant requested with a smile and sense of duty how much petrol should be put in the car. After he went out to do his thing, the Americans with me looked at each other, “very nice, can we move here?”
There is something special about certain things in our republic. Sitting in the car and watching while the attendants check the oil, antifreeze, and wiper fluids and clean the windshield is a pleasant service to enjoy. Of course this emerges from our culture of need. The American automation eliminates the need for pump attendants. In a country with thousands of fast food joints, the young have enough jobs. In Kenya the only jobs available are usually in the ‘dark forests’. Nairobi Java house stands out as a great employer of the young. This however should not be taken in isolation. The Kenyan culture is that of submission: sometimes boiling down to utter slavery.
At a dinner in a house of one of those hard-nosed rich Kenyans, the mansion required a soft approach. When we sat down in the vast living room packed with sofa sets, the servants came dressed in uniforms. The way they approached us made me freeze. They walked with hands folded in the back and it was as if they were walking on needles! The fear in their eyes was piercing strait through my mind! It was weary.
It is not as if we have not have maids and workers in our home. But I guess Kijabe teaches you to not see one self as greater than that which one is. Of course it also taught us not to drink or smoke: an Ideal I have kept with pride! Those who started the mission station embarked on a the philosophy that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” With this as the foundation, property and wealth becomes separated from self. Riches represent the other: the impersonal entities whose status is silenced by their destruction . . . “the heavens and the earth were rolled up like a scroll and thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation.
Note that within the biblical tradition, it is man that takes the center. “All these I have given to you for food.” Genesis 1. In fact the creation narrative presents the earth as being ordered for the benefit of man. Without man, the world is NOT. Within the loving one’s neighbor as one loves self, the impersonal IT is muted and you and I become living beings. I love my neighbor as self because I have loved myself. I have made analysis of self and having affirmed ME, all others become ME. Therefore the maid and the servant in my home are I. I therefore treat them as I treat myself.
Following the passing of our beloved Sister & Friend, Pastor Carol Mereka Macharia, friends and family are meeting daily for prayers & support as follows:
Please take note of the different times, dates & locations
Mon 4/22 – Thur 4/25
Meeting details to be confirmed soon.
Wake & Memorial service – Saturday 4/27
Main Wake/viewing 10Am-1PM
Venue:
239 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Memorial Service: 3pm-5p.
Venue
91 Jefferson Blvd
Edison, NJ 08817
Contacts:
Pastor Kisule: (201) 304-9988
Pastor Ronoh: (908) 397-9184
Serah Munyiri: (908) 812-7965
Paul Wambugu: (732) 331-6790
Gladys Kuria: (732) 762-0690
Kamau Mereka (817)501-4911
Financial Support can be sent via cash app to:
Anthony Mereka (609)532-7321
$AnthonyMereka
Mrs. Teresa Njoroge
(862) 432-9042
$Mugush
Mrs. Mary Muturi
(908) 416-0281
$MaryMuturi
Bank Info: Bank of America
Acc# 381055087564
For those in Kenya, please mpesa to:
Loise Mereka (722)707-517
We pray God’s peace and comfort upon all family
