Penguin May 24th, 2010
What happened:
- went to Nairobi Java House at adam’s arcade; got coffee, chatted w/ Ken
- went to Nairobi Chapel; Oscar Miuri’s, of Urbana fame, church
- went to Ken’s parent’s home
- lunch: rice + beef stew + fresh banana
- Ken loses his car keys for 20 min
- go to Gwatila’s place; met her parents
- went to Junction to watch Robin Hood, but we were already 30 min late
- went to Ken’s place to drop off his Redrock Micro rail kit
- sat around and talked about Zuki, film marketing, Nairobi televesion, and the Nairobi audience
- went home
It was interesting seeing Oscar outside of the Urbana context. So far, both times I’ve seen him speak (the first in class, the second, in person at Urbana 09), he was wearing what I would consider traditional African garb. This Sunday, as he got up to preach, he was dressed in a suit.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but that was definitely not it. In retrospect, it shouldn’t be all that surprising. You look around the crowd, you look at the people on the street, the majority of people are in dress shirts, suits, or the like. For him to wear traditional African dress would NOT be contextual.
That got me to thinking. Urbana, and Intervarsity as a whole, is really big on diversity. I don’t doubt that there are people who still wear traditional African garb, or Japanese people who wear kimonos, but by playing off those stereotypes, perhaps we are perpetuating this idea of differences when, in reality, a lot of these differences have disappeared.
In one of my previous posts, I talk about how Westernized Nairobi(http://www.ninjavspenguin.com/blog/2010/05/21/kenya-day-6-week-1-in-review/) is.
Diversity tends to be a hot issue in American churches. Understandable considering how churches tend to be monocultural. Even the “diverse” churches, still have a predominant culture. Aside from ethnic churches, I would say they are “Amercian”. What these “diverse” churches are really talking about when they talk about diversity, is skin color.
This may say more about race and racism than anything else. It is affirmative action as an ethos. But this isn’t meant to start a discussion on affirmative action.
I think we like to believe that we are a post-racial culture. The reality is that race has come back into the forefront.
Before I continue, I want to make it clear that this pursuit of “diversity” is not a bad thing. And the intentions are often very good. So this isn’t meant as an attack on those churches or their pursuit of “diversity”.
I can’t help but think that if we truly were post-racial, there would be no such thing as race. And genetically, biologically, there is no such thing as race. And just as in the Kingdom of God there is no Jew, there is no Gentile, wouldn’t putting an emphasis on “diversity” bring those differences back?
As I said before, these churches are mono-culturally Amercian. They also tend to be homogenenous in terms of socio-economics as well. Of course, this is often a function of the church’s location. If it’s in an affluent neighborhood, affluent people are going to go. If it’s in a poor area, you’ll have more poor people. Of course, this is a sweeping generalization, but it paints a stark picture.
In fact, you see the same thing in the African churches that I’ve been to. You look around and they’re middle, upper-middle class people of Nairobi. They have the same misconceptions and prejudices of Kibera as a random person from America.
“They’re lazy.”
“It’s disease stricken.”
“It’s dirty.”
“They’re empoverished.”
etc.
Some of those things may be true, but it’s not the complete picture.
There is beauty. People work hard. There is education. There is life.
The thing that stands out is the community’s poverty. Just like there are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation rich. There are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation poor. These are people who, all they have seen and experienced is poverty. They know nothing else. They have no concept of anything else. Therefore, they can’t envision a life or even a way to get out of their situation. The very definition of poverty.
Across the street from Nairobi Chapel is a slum. Right there, on their doorstep. And the thousands of people who attend Nairobi Chapel, Nairobi Chapel it self could do some real change.
I think diversity is a noble goal. I believe it’s a “biblical” goal. If it were true diversity and not just multi-colored mono-cultural “diversity”.
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Tags: Church, Culture, Diversity, Kenya 2010, Missions, Nairobi Chapel, Poverty, Race, Trips
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