April Newsletter - Sarah W. in Kenya

April 2008


One evening several weeks ago, Mercy and I had just finished cooking dinner and we were talking as we put food on our plates. I set my plate in the sitting room and then headed back to the kitchen to continue our conversation. When I stepped in the doorway I saw Mercy, who only seconds ago had been talking with me, standing with her dinner plate, eyes closed, completely silent and still. I was taken by surprise at seeing this and my first thought was “oh my gosh! She’s fallen asleep?!” I called her name, slightly worried. No reply. I said her name again and she looked up at me. I asked her if she was ok and she replied “of course! I was just praying.” Needless to say we had a good laugh about it but this scene made me think more about prayer here in Kenya.
In many churches in America there is a specific time, place, and way of praying and anything else can come as a surprise. Here though prayer is accepted as a much more normal thing. If the person sitting next to you on Sunday morning began speaking quietly but rather emotionally during prayers, hymns, or even announcements you would probably question their actions, while here that is a very common form of prayer, happening multiple times in every worship service.
The Nairobi Arboretum, one of the most beautiful and popular parks in town, is also a popular place to go and pray. My first time there it took me a while to realize that people were actually praying. Kenyans will find a tree off the path and either standing near it or walking around it begin to pray rather loudly, sometimes even shouting, in a variety of languages from English, to Swahili, to their mother tongue or tribal language. While at work at the Animal Orphanage I have seen Muslims stop to kneel and do their daily prayers right in the middle of the Orphanage. Their devotion to God was not hindered by their public location.
I think as Americans we can learn something from Kenyans about prayer. Conversations with God should not be forced to fit into a specific setting. We should never feel embarrassed or ashamed to talk to our Heavenly Father. Maybe you don’t pray before eating inside a restaurant because you wonder what other people will think. Maybe you force yourself to pray in silence so that others aren’t disturbed or so that they won’t know you are praying. While it is true that God doesn’t want us to become arrogant and pray publicly just to draw attention for ourselves, I don’t think He wants us to think we can only pray in certain places or ways.
Mercy and other Kenyans have made me feel much more comfortable about prayer. They have shown me that where and how you pray doesn’t matter, but it’s the setting inside your heart that counts.