This time last week I was sitting around a dining room table at someone's house I had known all of 45 minutes eating barbecue and talking about the Lord. How did I get here? Well, because sometimes God likes to bless you just because he loves you.
A little over a year ago I spent five days at Covenant College visiting/helping with a Student Life camp. That week I met Daniel. Daniel was born and raised in poverty in the slums of Kenya, but thanks to God's grace and Compassion International, today he has a college degree and a bright future.
Even though we only spent five days together, Daniel and I bonded pretty quickly and continued to keep in touch over the past year. Well, low and behold Daniel ended up in Colorado Springs last week. He was accepting a scholarship from Compassion to continue his education with a Master's degree and then heading to Chicago to start classes at Moody Bible Institute.
Daniel told his host home about me and they insisted I come to dinner. Their house was only 15 minutes away from mine. Seriously, what are the chances? During dinner I not only got to know Daniel's host family, but three other Compassion scholarship recipients (another one from Kenya, one from Haiti, and one from Uganda).
All of these young adults have been through more pain than I could even imagine. Their stories are so compelling it's impossible to walk away from them the same, and yet, there was so much laughter around that table.
Daniel told the other Kenyan (Antonie) that I knew some Swahili phrases and games. His face lit up when I started singing along with him and he was so impressed at how much I knew (side note, Hakuna Matata really DOES mean no worries in Swahili). Really this is thanks to my friend James. When I worked for Student Life, James was the Compassion representative on my team in 2009 (the Daniel of my team, if you will). Gosh I love that guy and am so blessed to call him my friend.
me and my friend James
It turns out, Kenyan's in general can't handle spicy foods. It wasn't just James. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as the host families were comparing notes and discussing what foods the Kenyans liked, tolerated and hated. I feel like if I knew these sweet families about two weeks ago I could have helped them out a little. I mean we had to learn the hard way with James too. You can't exactly take a Kenyan to Chipotle and expect them to walk up to the counter and order something.
Anyway, back to the dinner...Antonie was also excited to talk to me about my job. He is a product of the Navigator topical memory system and in Kenya it was Navigator curriculum that helped him to develop his faith. He couldn't wait to tell me that he knows everyone in The Navigator's Kenya office, which is hysterical because I know a few people there too. I've never met them in person, but because of the way donations are processed, when I worked in the Accounting Process Center, I had to email a few people at the Kenya office almost every week. I never had the privilege to meet them in person, but we've developed a great relationship via email. How crazy. Antonie and I have mutual friends in Kenya.
So for those of you who may be wondering...what was Daniel's favorite thing in Colorado Springs? The mountains? Garden of the Gods? The weather? Nope...it was the water slide at Villa Sport - the gym I did not join.
That night, as we stood in the kitchen all holding hands, we prayed for the meal. But it was unlike any prayer I've ever experienced. Everyone took turns praying over the meal and each other in their native language. I have no idea what was said, but I can tell you it was powerful. I couldn't help but to think this might just be what Heaven is like...and not just because of the amazing chocolate cake we had for dessert.
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