The dictionary.com definition of respect is “esteem for or a sense of the worth or
excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered
as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability”
One of my favorite things about Kenya (among the MANY), is
the blatened respect that people have for each other here. Most might find this
comment ironic, since in America we may assume that every African person wants
to steal and hurt us, hardly! That is not true. Something that has always been
so interesting to me, is something we learned upon our first trip here, and
that is the view that Kenyans have of Americans. This idea that Kenyans look to
Americans as being wealthy and powerfully simple because of our skin color, the
moment that one steps out of the bus and into Masii, you can see this displayed
so clearly. Children (and sometimes adults who “maturely” walk) run up to and
hug and hang on you, but if you look closely, some are literally rubbing your
arms like Aladdin rubbing Genies lamp, soon this becomes normal but rather to
learn what it really means is astounding. Here they are taught that Americans
are wealthy because of the color of their skin, and that if they rub our arms,
our wealth will rub off onto them……
(jaw dropping…blank stare)
I am being totally serious.
Seems odd? Well if they are not shown that the best riches
are found in Jesus, where do you think that they will look?
It’s funny the things that come up in conversation here about
money and such. Many teenagers ask me how much I pay for college (I quickly
learned to not answer this but to quickly change the subject), or they will ask
me about much my tattoo was (if I slip up and don’t cover it completely with my
watch, which was a mere $80 but that’s about 6,640 Kenya Shillings), or how
much it cost for me to come here (which yes, even to us is a lot!).
So taken from this point of view, YES it seems almost
obvious that they would assume our wealth comes from our skin color, since so
much of the Africa continent is so poor and has the same skin tone as them. It’s
incredible to walk around here have people (all ages, and both genders), yell “MZUNGU”
(white man) or now that they know my name they yell “MWENDE!” And for an
instant this persona of the American is a bit shaken because someone is coming
into their lives and “rubbing their arms”,
so to speak.
If anything the people of Kenya, have taught me anything
(ppsshh they have taught me A LOT!) it’s how to respect others simply because
they are another human being. Here people do this thing called fundraising,
they do it for each other, and they do it for things such as weddings,
funerals, hospital visits, or anything that would be something that has to be
paid for that they can’t pay for. One thing that I have really found incredible
here, is the amount of respect that people have for their elders here, if there
really is an old person who is standing up because there is no room to sit
(which if often) a younger person will immediately get up and give them their
seat, if an elderly person needs help with anything there is certainly someone
there for them. What’s even more incredible is how the church respects the
people who attend it, every single Sunday, they have the visitors stand up (so
embarrassing but how welcoming!). If there is someone who is suffering, the
offering goes to them, many times causing the workers of the church not to get
paid.
Respect is easier when we have to “respect our elders”, “respect
our parents”, or “respect our pastors”, we could do this by saying thank you
and being kind to them. But what does it mean to be RESPECTFUL to a small
African town, who from an outsiders view has little to give to you (spend 5 minutes
here, you realize this is FAR from true), how do we show that we respect them
and WHO they are? We show up, we hug, we engulf ourselves in their lives, we
eat their food, we drink their tea, we love on their kids, we shop at their
daily market, we pay what they ask and don’t barter, we (girls) wear skirts, we
don’t wear sparkly jewelry, we look deep in their eyes when they are talking,
we pray with them, and we love them.
As I go to sleep tonight and wake up and go to a church
filled with “family” I haven’t seen in 10 months, I am overjoyed with this new
opportunity to learn and exemplify respect to those who have taught me so much
about it.
If a person has been hurt or wounded, it takes time to
recognize that Jesus is BIGGER than your hurt and woundedness. For me, I have
had to learn how to respect myself, after being wounded by someone who I should
have never let in. I think that the most important aspect of respect is
learning to respect ourselves and in return to respect others even more. “love
your neighbor as yourself” we can also say “respect your neighbor as yourself”.
It’s the only way to truly love someone.
Respect is such an extraordinary thing, but I think it has
to be learned. There are not enough books or bible verses that will help us to
truly comprehend how to respect someone in that specific moment.
What if we truly learn to have “esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability” to
those around us, yet also for ourselves?
Matthew 7:12
"Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
awesome emily.... :)
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