A Kenyan Christmas

Taryn and I once again are spending Christmas away from home. And as much as we miss our family and friends, Christmas dinners, and visiting relatives, being away from home has helped us experience Christmas through another culture.

Though we didn’t have our families to celebrate with this Christmas, God provided us with two more families, and two different pictures of what Christmas is like here in Kenya. Our first Christmas experience was on Christmas Eve. We had gone into town to pick up some groceries and meander about through the sprawling markets of Nyahururu. On our way back, we met a man named Mr. Maina (we have discovered that there are many Mainas here) carrying a mattress and five chairs, so we assisted him on the walk to his house which is just around the corner from where we are staying. He invited us in, and we talked for a while about Kenya and Canada and the differences in our cultures and way of life. He invited us back that evening to meet his family and we accepted. Little did we know as we walked over around 6:30pm that this was going to be a very long Christmas Eve. We arrived promptly (which Maina made note of later, as promptness is something most Kenyans don’t value as we do in the west) to find just an elder lady and a few kids at the house, none of whom could speak English. So, we spoke broken Kiswahili using some notes Taryn had compiled until Mr. Maina returned. We then spent much of the next five hours listening to the family talk back and forth in Kikuiu and Kiswahili, and occasionally Mr. Maina would ask us 101 questions about how to get to Canada and if we knew of any sponsors. Interesting, we thought. Most of that talking is a blur, but we tried to explain to Mr. Maina how good he actually has it in Kenya since he and his wife both have small businesses, send their children to a good private school, and they own their house. He was pretty focused on how developed Canada must be and how much money there is in Canada for him if he were to go there and be a veterinarian.

Well, truth be told, we tried to leave around 10pm as our tummies were very hungry and our eyes were struggling to stay open. But, Mr. Maina and his mother said they would be insulted if we left without being blessed by their food, and so we stayed. What we didn’t realize was that we were waiting for a couple of his brothers and their families to arrive from Mombasa – over eight hours away by car! The crew finally arrived at 11pm and it was a blessing to see the grandmother’s joy as her grandson came into the room - she broke down into tears as she hugged him for several minutes, and he too shed tears as he embraced his grandmother. Around 11:30pm dinner was finally served and we filled our bellies with ugali, cabbage and chicken cooked over a wood fire (just cabbage for Taryn … she isn’t as brave as Ryan). For about twenty minutes there was complete silence! Christmas greetings, singing, and prayer followed dinner and kept us there until after 1am! Even though we didn’t know anyone there or speak their language, it was still a very special evening. Mind you, one thing did make us quite uncomfortable, and that was the fact that we (as muzungos) were honored more than Mr. Maina’s family that had spent much of the day traveling! In fact, at one point, Mr. Maina made everyone in the room stand up, greet us, and tell us how thankful they were that we had joined them that evening. Now, as you can imagine, this was a bit strange as most of them had just met us and many were only able to speak broken English. But, one fellow turned it into a sales pitch and gave us a taxi card – funny!

The next day we got a 9am wake up call from Joanie, as Wachira was sending someone to pick us around 10 to take us to his mother’s house for the Ngamau family Christmas. We were like zombies walking around trying to quickly get ready. I, Ryan, especially felt like I had gotten a lobotomy and couldn’t even put coherent sentences together. A very strong cup of Tim Horton’s coffee (thanks Nicky!) got me going and the tiredness passed.

Christmas with the Ngamau family reminded us of summer family reunions when we would gather (for Ryan, at the cottage, for Taryn in Eerie) to swim, play games, drink soda, and have long conversations. Wachira’s mother’s homestead is set on a beautiful farm that lies on a 75 acre spread, with acres of maize fields, and cows, chickens and geese wandering about freely. Wachira’s family is gigantic, and there were over 60 people at this gathering! Before dinner, most of the men sat in couches that had been placed under a large tree, chatting and debating about the nature of humans and God. Meanwhile, the women were hard at work cooking for the large group. Even Taryn provided a helping hand in the “kitchen”, rolling out over fifty pieces of dough that were used to make chapatti (a very yummy type of flour tortilla). The dinner spread was quiet extensive – pig, goat, boiled potatoes, rice, mixed vegetables, chapatti, salad, and a mixture of fruit. And it was delicious! After dinner, we were entertained by the children who had put together little skits that related to Christmas (or general Christianity – it varied). My favorite was when two Rwandan girls that the Ngamau brothers have taken in sang two songs - their sounded like angels! After this, the Wachira’s eldest brother (Kaheka) shared a message about the importance of God and family in opposition to mainstream culture’s value on money, and then the gathering ended.

One thing that really tickled our funny bones was a card that Taryn brought to the farm that was given to us by Phil and Wendy Sheldon. When you open the card, it sings a round of “Jingle Bells.” Taryn started showing it to the kids and they went bonkers for it! They were all laughing and giggling – children and teens alike. One young boy claimed ownership and took the card around, opening and closing it for all the children to hear. By the end of the day, all the kids were humming jingle bells. It was awesome!

Our day at the Ngamau homestead ended with a tour of the family farm. We saw a forest of trees that Wachira’s brother Ben has planted, miles of maize (corn) fields, the bee-raising farm, and a family who were displaced earlier in the year that Wachira is supporting. Here is a very important truth that we learned from our time at the Ngamau Christmas celebration – Christmas is not a once a year reality! First and foremost, time with family should be cherished. Plus, the reality of Jesus is with us all year long and we cheat ourselves when we only do extravagantly other-centred things (like giving the gift of clean water, providing shelter for a family, or visiting the lonely and left-out) during this one brief season of the year. We are called as Christians to always search for ways to reach out to the marginalized, displaced, lonely, and hurting people and bring them healing because it is through these things – these acts of friendship - that we are able to bring the Kingdom of God near.

The day ended on a very happy note, with us hearing the voices of some loved ones back home …. Even the choppiness and long lags couldn’t diminish our spirits!