Andy's African Holy Day

Africa – 4 Jan. 2009 (guest blog by Andy Kirk)

I never thought the day would come when I would consider performing a church skit as a part of a “fun day.” Usually, my fun days at home in Liberty involve being glued to a trashy reality TV marathon while drinking enough Dr. Pepper to kill most animals and small children. But today, visiting a church meant NOT digging a hole, and for that, I was uncharacteristically overjoyed to praise the Lord.

This morning, our group of Cardinals, Kenyans and Carroll College compadres traveled into the city of Nairobi to attend a contemporary worship service at Kileleshwa Covenant Community Church. Our group was also charged with the task of performing a church skit for the congregation—a task that could easily tarnish the delicate reputation of the United States in Kenya, if gone awry. With all of the positive energy here behind President-elect Obama, we couldn’t ruin the U.S. for these people. Additionally, I somehow found myself writing and directing this skit, which would be hilariously ironic if it weren’t utterly terrifying. I’ll spare you the details of my “baby,” but let’s just say it was written and practiced less than twelve hours before production.

After about an hour of singing, our group was called to the stage to perform. I was ready to throw up all over the altar, but we kept it together and got a reaction from the audience that I would compare to parents awkwardly clapping after their middle schoolers’ hot mess of a Christmas pageant. The rest of the service was fine, and we weren’t smitten by a higher power, so we considered it a success.

Following church, we ate at an Ethopian restaurant in Nairobi. I had Coke for the first time in six days, and I now have the strength to finish the rest of the trip. The other significant note about the restaurant was that five of us shared a tray of various Ethopian delicacies with no utensils. My friends and I talked about everything, from hot teachers to the Gaza Strip bombings, and it was almost enough to make me forget that I was mopping up spicy goat meat off of a communal plate. Kenya has been good for me, personally, because I’ve had to abandon my rigorous standards of order and cleanliness in order to survive. In the United States, I wouldn’t eat half of the things I’ve eaten here, and I would demand perfect conditions in which to consume them. But here, if you’re afraid of ingesting saliva, dirt or mustard, you die. To be honest, I’m more grossed out my decomposing than drinking tap water with just a touch of the tapeworm.

Finally, our group went to an orphanage and played with small children. There’s really no way I can make fun of these children because they were absolutely precious. We went down slides, played on the swings and ate cookies together. If even I could appreciate these adorable African toddlers, then there is hope for my beautiful biracial babies with Brittany Talley.

One of the songs in church today repeated the chorus of “anything is possible” about 30 times. If I could try strange food, semi-enjoy church, and have my ice cold heart warmed and broken by Kenyan orphans, then that might be somewhat true. Day 6 is ending, but it’s been one of my favorites thus far.

P.S. A quick shout-out to Bob and Gay Lee Bonney and Nancy Talley! Your daughters and I are totes enjoying each other’s company.