Laura Steed, Duke Divinity School student and 2010 Umoja Project intern

As of today, I have been home from Kenya for two weeks. I was not ready to leave Kenya on July 17th when we flew out of Nairobi; yet, I had to stick to the plan that was laid out several months previous. Since I have been back on American soil, I have spent a large amount of my time sharing about my experience. I have talked with friends and family members and attended Umoja Project meetings. In addition, as a team, the other Duke Interns and I have designed and planned a worship service to lead at North UMC on August 1, 2010 as we share about our experience and the theological implications of our trip. Talking about my time in Kenya has helped me cope in the grieving process of saying goodbye to a country and people that I so quickly grew to love. While in Kenya, many of the people told me, “Do not forget us.” I know that I will not be able to forget this trip, or the people I met. In addition, I learned many lessons that I will carry with me to whatever ministry program God calls me to in the future.

Overall, I learned about faith and trust from the people in Kenya. The people I worshipped with on Sunday helped me gain a better understanding of giving and receiving blessings from God. One lesson I learned came from observing my Kenyan brothers and sisters in worship on Sundays. More specifically, they taught me about what it means to give an offering to God. I quickly observed that those who did not have a source of income gave from what they had. In the Gospel of Luke the author tells a story in chapter 21 of a widow who gave two coins to the offering. Jesus tells us that some people give gifts from their wealth, while others, like the widow, give out of their poverty and give from what they have to live on daily. The widow in Luke reminds me of the time of giving offering in Kenya. I attended several church services where people brought items from their harvest to give as offering when they did not have income. Along with the money that was contributed from other members of the congregation, baskets of bananas, avocados, eggs, sugar cane, onions and tomatoes came forward. In one church, four live chickens were also given. At the end of the service, these items were then auctioned off by the church officials and the money gained was then added to the monetary weekly donations for the church. Seeing these people who have so little give from what they had is a lesson I will always keep in mind. When I talked to a local pastor in Kenya about offering he told me, “When giving back to God from what you have received from God, give until you at least notice you are giving…that you and your family will know by what remains that you have given something in gratitude to your Creator and Provider.” These words came from a pastor who has taken in an extra child to care for because his sister died and his nephew was an orphan. After witnessing the faith of one person giving her family’s chicken in offering and as I saw this pastor provide school fees and food for his relative, I knew my understanding of offering would never be the same. In many ways, I do not think I will ever be the same as the person who left for Kenya nine weeks ago.