Darren Wilson

Kenya 2012, Day 6. Mathare North

We spent the day in Mathare, visiting the Change of Life Ministry. If you haven’t been there yet, take a minute to visit their website: http://www.changealifeministry.org/

The ministry provides a Saturday program for 300+ kids in the Mathare Slum area. They started with a time for games, then a Bible lesson, singing and then lunch. The kids range in age from two year to maybe 12 years. You heard me right, they handled all of those kids with 11 staff members. If I were to guess, the room we met in was 30ft by 50ft. They fit 325 kids today. 

They provide the only meal of the day for these kids. They ate after the program, at about 1:00. The kids bring their own bowls or other containers for their lunch. Today was a feast. We had rice, beef stew and cabbage. Even the 2 to 3 year old kids ate more than I could. I’ve been in a lot of school cafeterias, but I’ve never seen 300+ kids sit on the floor and manage themselves so well.

The team members are young. I’d guess ranging in ages from 20-35. They handled the kids so well. They were so kind and encouraging. Don’t know how they do it.

In addition to the Saturday program, the team members check up on the kids during the week, paying school fees, buying shoes and providing food when its needed. 

After the meal, we (James Ooko, Jacob Ogodo and Tony) took a short tour through Mathare North, Mathare 4A and Mathare Valley. I took a ridiculous amount of photos today. Everyone was so welcoming. Kids and adults alike smiled and welcomed us and asked for photos. It was a much different experience from our 2008 trip to Mathare. I felt completely safe and welcomed. 

During the tour, I got to visit the home of James Ooko. He is the evangelist for the Mathare North Church. The house was made of tin and about 8ft by 12ft. He lives there with his wife and four children. I have enjoyed helping him post to his blog each week since the first of the year and it was fantastic to finally get to meet him spend time with him today.

About 4:00, we came back to the Luke Hotel with Jacob, Willie and Janet. We talked about how the team could better use Facebook to connect with fiends/sponsors across the globe. Its amazing that they have access to the same social network benefits I do, even from Mathare. Jacob and I had a quick lesson in photo editing and uploading. He’ll be using the new camera that was donated by Jolene McDowell.

NOTE: the rest of my post from today got deleted. I don’t have time to rewrite. In short: It was a great day. We watched 100’s of kids being taken care of by wonderful staff, all in the name of Jesus. 

Kenya 2012, Day 5. Peace

Fantastic day in Kisumu city. Spent the morning talking with Kisumu Christian Technology School students. We had a question and answer session then enjoyed sodas together. We took a class photo and individual pictures that I’ll post later. 

The students continue to surprise me with the things they say. When I asked “what do you like most about computers” the response was “with a computer I can learn on my own. No matter what I want to know, I can learn it.” That’s from a teenager who’s grown up in extreme poverty, lost his parents and has only known the internet for less than a year. Unbelievable. 

Nothing short of a Hole in the Wall experience. 

After noon, I walked to RingRoad Day School for a few more photos. On my way, I wandered through the Nyalinda slum area, making friends with the watoto (children) and snapping some portraits. They acted like they’d never seen a white guy show them their picture on the back of a camera. They giggled and smiled the whole time. It was an unbelievable experience. The walk from Dino’s place to RingRoad Orphanage is National Geographic Africa at its best. 

We talked about KCTS over lunch, making plans, charting the course. It appears that we may have found a plot of land to build on, but we haven’t made an official decision yet. Once we decide to move forward we’ll start building. We have $55,000 that has been donated for land and buildings. Things will start moving soon. 

I forgot to mention that we spent the night with Mick & Andrea. They are an American couple who live in Kisumu. She works for the CDC and he stays very busy with many volunteering projects. Mick does a tremndous amount for Ring Road Orphanage and I suspect will do the same for KCTS. They are great people. AND, they have air conditioning. They call their house Little America. Its an oasis!

Except for the 2 hour drive from the airport to the hotel, the Kisumu trip was perfect. I ‘ll never be able to explain how amazing that place is. Nyalinda is a slum area and is a snapshot right out of a National Geographic. Its a small community networked with footpaths, filled with amazing people. Its a very special place. 

I enjoyed most visiting with the teachers there. I’m adding them as Facebook friends and hope to keep in touch once I return home. They are great people to know. The ministry at Ring Road is in good hands. 

Its 11:00pm and Im exhausted. I’ll post photos in the morning, before we go to Mathare. I’m looking forward to that, but need to get some rest before the next adventure begins. Good night.

Kenya 2012, Day 4. Kisumu

I love Kisumu. Its the African version of west Texas. Laid back. Hot. Dusty. Good people.

We started the morning at 4:30, getting to the airport for our flight out to Kisumu. We took off right at sunrise and the view of the Great Rift Valley was spectacular. What a way to start the day.

The KCTS Board meeting was really good. We’ve decided to accelerate the plans for buying land and building a new school building and principal’s resident.  I cannot begin to explain the corruption, politics and price inflation that is involved in purchasing land. Seems like a losing battle from the beginning. The Kenyan board members have it under control, and are confident we’ll find something. 

Lunch was at a place on the shore of Lake Victoria called Talapia Beach. They serve whole talapia that have been dried in the sun and then fried. Its served whole on the plate and you eat it with your hands…no silverware.

Before:



After:



I spent the afternoon at RingRoad orphanage visiting with the students and taking pictures. What amazing kids. Enjoy a few pics:

How do you take a bad photo here?

I’ll post more soon.

Kenya 2012, Day 3. !@*&#?!!!

Today was a great day.

We had a phenomenal class time with the computer skills students. We began with a quick review from yesterday and all eight of them were spot on. I had tried some ‘whole brain learning’ techniques with them yesterday and they loved it. After our review this morning, I was totally shocked. The results were amazing.  

If you teach students, http://www.wholebrainteaching.com/ is worth looking into. Like anything else, I’ve picked some key elements to use and my version ended up not looking too much like theirs. It was pretty cool though. I am thinking about tweaking and developing my own version that I’ll call ‘social learning.’ More on that later.

After class, Moses and I drove to Nairobi to do some shopping for the computer lab and photo shop. We found a copier/printer that will suit the needs for the school. It was out of our price range ($305) but we left with a written quote and the resolve to talk to the program administrators about the purchase. 

During the shopping process, we stumbled upon a systems change that we can make program wide to encourage use of the photo shop and make it profitable sooner than we’d thought possible. It will require a shift in thinking for the staff, but will help the entire program in many ways.

After the copier/printer place, we visited SafariCom and Orange, the two leading mobile providers. We’ve used an Orange 3G modem in Kamulu for a year and have been happy with it, but we wanted to make sure we’re maximizing our dollars and getting the fastest internet available for our area. 

Turns out SafariCom may be a better product, but unfortunately there were NO SafariCom modems available for purchase in this part of Kenya. “Try back next week,” they told us. I’ll look for one when I’m in Kisumu tomorrow.

We dropped off two iPhones to get unlocked. I brought two iPhones with me, one for Moses and one for Dino. I jailbroke and unlocked both of them before I left home, but they wouldnt recognize the Kenyan SIM cards. Moses knew a guy that knew a guy that could unlock them for us for 1500KSH (about $17) each. 

After about two hours, we came back to find their kiosk lights out and locked up. Panic ensued. Eventually he showed up with our two phones ready to go. One for Moses, the other for Dino.

<Flashback to this morning> We’ve got three new kids (two girls and a boy) in Eastleigh, who are ready to make the move out to Kamulu. Its always a happy day when kids make that transition. Staff members talked about that in staff meeting this morning, but had hit a brick wall because there was no money to buy them a mattress to sleep on tonight. This is the of a budget cycle and were out of money. 

Thanks to some of my friends who donated money for my trip, we were able to buy a mattress, sheets, a towel, a wash basin and a school uniform for each of the three new kids. I won’t see them until I get back on Sunday afternoon, but I’ll make sure to post pictures of them.

<Soapbox> While we’re on the subject of money, I was surprised (once again) at the conversation at the staff meeting. We have a teenage girl at the program in Kamulu who is pregnant and in need of a special diet. Ugali and rice and beans are the staples of what the girls usually eat in the evenings. This girl needs extra servings of fruit, vegetables and milk, in order to provide for both her and her baby. Again, budget concerns came up, to the point of suggesting that the other girls could do without soap so they could buy the extra food for her. This problem added up to less that $3 a week. 

Its just not right, that with as many challenges the team faces on a daily basis, that they get hung up on $3 a week. I lose count of the number of things here that could be fixed with three dollars.

<Flash forward to tonight> Moses dropped me at the Luke Hotel in Nairobi to meet up with Tony Mauldin. We’re flying to Kisumu in the morning for a KCTS Board Meeting and visit RingRoad Orphanage. I’ve been looking forward to this part of my trip. I’ll see Dino and hopefully get to meet with the KCTS students. We have an awesome new 4x6 foot vinyl sign to hang at the school, thanks to donors.

If you remember, the Luke Hotel is the same place where all of my camera gear was stolen last year. When we pulled in, I made my best “Hello, Newman“ grimace to myself. I’m watching my stuff like a hawk this time. 

Then, I stepped out of the car in the parking lot at the hotel and dropped Dino’s iPhone on the ground, shattering the screen in a million pieces. 

!@*&#?!!!

Kenya 2012, Day 2. Powerless.

I’ve titled today powerless, partially because we had no power all day until about an hour ago (6pm). That spoils the day when you are planning on teaching all day in the computer lab. As if that weren’t far enough off the grid, my watch decided to die. No computer. No phone. No watch. No power. 

What I did have, nevertheless, was a good day spent connecting with staff and students. 

Immediately after chapel, about 20 staff volunteered to meet with me to discuss the role Facebook can/will play in getting more people around the world involved in the ministry. We talked about the impact of the things that they do on a daily basis.  They absolutely have a profound impact on a local level, but I helped them understand that they can shape lives and influence others across the globe through social networking. These guys already have Facebook accounts and we set up a plan by which they can systematically and purposefully share what they do with others.

Please take a minute to visit the MITS Facebook page to connect with the ministry. Also, the staff members welcome you to become friends with them. I will list below, the staff members who’d like to expand their Facebook network. If you’d like, send them an invite and suggest your friends do the same. 

Moses Okoth
Brian Ochieng
Helen Muga
James Mwangi
Jackton Omondi
Victor Otieno
Willis Odhaimbo
Nzioka Okendi
Joel Njue
Charles Ndonyi
Kennedy Atsiaya
Kenneth Wambugu
Robin ndunda
Elizabeth Wangari
Irene Akinyi Otalo
Phillip Kariuki 
Patrick Saulo 

There’s two things I’m hoping for after our time together. I hope they are able to share weekly what they do. You’ll be amazed and grateful to read about their successes and challenges. I also hope that they will begin to see a benefit to sharing, in the form of making new friends, receiving encouragement and seeing that the work they do matters beyond their local community.
 
After the staff met, I got to teach the computer skills students a photography lesson. We met from 10 am to 1 pm. Again, with no power. We did have four cameras that had just enough battery life to last the duration of the class. The focus of the day was portrait photography.  I used a few whole brain teaching techniques that made the fun and very active. The kids had a good time and showed a great deal of interest and improvement during the course of the day. 

Looking back, there wasn’t a single moment where I thought to myself, “these are just street kids.” They asked great questions, loved the hand’s on assignments and worked very well with their learning partner. This is a tribute back to the teachers that have been working with them in their classes. 

I should post a photo or two at this time, but I’m just too tired to go back to the room and get my camera bag. I’ll post later some of the pics that the kids took in class.

Now about being powerless.

The first hour of the day, immediately after chapel, was spent in a staff meeting listening to the teachers deliberate about what to do concerning two very difficult situations:

1. What do we do about a former student who is only 19 years old but has three small children to take care of? Do we help her get a job? Can she take on a job? Do we help her get her own place to live? Do we give her another chance here?

2. What do we do about a 12 year old girl who is living on the streets and has just discovered that she is pregnant? Do we bring her in to live in Kamulu with the older, teenage girls? Do we find another place to take her in? 

I like to think that I have a lot of answers, but not this morning. There are no easy answers when the questions look like this. I guess the questions I think I had the answers to in the past might not have been big enough problems. 

As I listened to the staff members talk on each side of both issues, I was just amazed at the wisdom present. Most staff members are younger or much younger than I am. I knew they had it together, but today I realized what a treasure they were. I cannot imagine having to make such difficult decisions like they do…as often as they do.

Kenya 2012, Day 1. Hope.

We had a great first day in Kenya. We spent the day in Eastleigh visiting the bases and then to Ruiru to help two MITS graduates get settled in their new jobs and new home.

When we got to Eastleigh I was surprised to see Mary there. Mary is one of our sponsored children. We have sponsored Mary, Mwanahawa and Duncan for four years. Duncan and Hawa are still living in Kamulu, so we got to visit last night  and early this morning. Mary lives and works now in Hurlingham. She works at the Milele Salon. Mary surprised me this morning at the Eastleigh Center, since it was her day off. She has really grown into a beautiful young woman. 

We also had the opportunity to visit some new bases with Joel, Moses, Evans and Larry. We walked quite a ways to some bases I hadn’t been to before. We found guys at each of the bases, who welcomed us. We spent time visiting, praying and sharing words of encouragement. You don’t (or I don’t) really fully appreciate the true essence of the Gospel until you are sharing it with someone who eats and sleeps on a pile of trash. I’ll plan on sharing my thoughts on this later in the week, but apparently, you can live on the street, survive on eating scraps out of the trash, and know Christ. 

These guys’ base was in an industrial area on a pile of trash about 8 feet high. They had a lean-to tent set up against the wall, mad of plastic sheeting and cardboard. About 10 boys, ages 10 to 18 lived under the lean-to. One guy was asleep when we arrived and was partially covered in trash, to the point where you couldn’t really see him. 

I am always surprised to see how friendly and receptive the guys on the bases are. They are quick to listen and eager to pray. One boy offered a memorized scripture. He said it was the command with a promise:

Ephesians 6: 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

After eating Rice and potatoes at the Eastleigh center (my favorite Kenyan meal), we went to Ruiru to help two girls transition into their new lives outside of MITS. Veronica and Florence have graduated from their catering skills program and started to work TODAY at their new jobs. They are both waitresses at a nice cafe.  Florence took our orders for sodas and provided us with fantastic service.

It was very nice to experience the entirety of the MITS mission today, from the filth of the street bases to the students who have graduated and are employed. 

After sodas, we took Florence and Veronica’s things to their new apartment. By apartment, I mean a 10x10 room. In it, they now have two twin size mattresses, four suitcases of clothes and an assortment of cooking utensils. Joel stopped at a store near the apartment to buy them a 10 gallon jug for carrying water, a lightbulb and a broom.  I’ll post more photos later, but here’s the fornt door:

They share the rent for the room. It\s about $20 US a month.

If there’s a word that describes the day, it’s HOPE. Everywhere I looked today, people had hope. It was all because of Jesus. 

Kenyan Friends

A few days ago, I wrote a post, thanking all of my US friends for donating to purchase items for the ministries in Kenya I’ll be visiting next week. Today, I feel compelled to write about the individuals in Kenya who do the work in those ministries. These people are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and share my passion for teaching and reaching kids.

As I write about these friends, I want to make a few things perfectly clear:

They aren’t broke.
They don’t need my help.
It is my privilege to know them.

Every time I make the trip, I am reminded that much of Kenya is broken. There are so many systems in their society that have just broken down. We (Americans) are broken too, just different systems in different ways. Its all about perspective. I don’t, for one minute, think I am going to Africa to fix anyone. I don’t, because I’m in need of the same things. More on this later.

Let me introduce you to some of the awesome people I’ll spending the next ten days with:

Moses is my closest friend on the African continent. He manages the computer lab and teaches the computer skills classes. Think of Moses as the Kenyan version of my job here in Texas. Between the off-and-on Kenyan power grid and spotty and slow internet, he gives new meaning to having patience. He’s my brother from another mother.

Mbuvi is the administrator for Made in the Streets. He is a former street kid himself, who has dedicated himself to this ministry. His wife Maureen is the administrator for World Bible School for Kenya. They have two boys, Jonathan and Remy. What a wonderful family.

Dino is the head teacher for Kisumu Christian Technology School. I think he has a few other jobs too, but that is the norm for very talented people who love doing good work. I first met him last summer and we were instant friends. At least I think we were. We’ll spend a few days together in Kisumu next week. I hope he has our motorcycle taxi drivers lined up.

Jane is the supervisor at the Eastleigh center. The mzungus call her “Mama Jane” but Im not sure if anyone there does. They should. She is the Kenya version of Mother Teresa. She walks from base to base, visiting with people, young and old, who live among the piles of trash. She smiles at them and tells them about Jesus. She brings hope. You should see it.

James is the evangelist for the Mathare church of Christ. I’ve never met him in person, and he’s one of the reasons I am making this trip right now. James sends a daily account of what he does to the Change a Life ministry blog, and it reads like a chapter out of the New Testament. I can’t wait to meet him. Hope I’ll be able to spend some time with James on this trip.

John Wambu is the only person in Kenya who I’ll use a first and last name for. When you hear John Wambu, think “Chuck Norris.” Just kidding, kind of. John is the property manager at Made in the Streets and has worked with the Coulston’s from the very beginning of the ministry, back when “the land was full of hyena and python.” He gets things done, and even though he walks slowly, he’s hard to keep up with.

I am just now realizing that I won’t be able to write about everyone here. Take a few minutes and connect with others who mean a lot to me. Looking forward to seeing them next week!

Jackton, Joel, Phillip, Victor, Byron, Evans, Irene, Nzioka, Robin, Jacob, Willie, Jared and others. I haven’t even started to talk about my student friends. There are so many.

One day a week, the MITS team takes a day off from their regular teaching schedules and walk the bases in Eastleigh. They actively seek those who have fallen through the cracks of society or have found themselves in a hole that they cannot escape from. They go looking, and then they listen, and then offer help. We’re told to seek the lost. They really do it.

As I mentioned before, it is my privilege to know them all. Every year, even though I take cases and cases of supplies and return with just a backpack, I always feel like I’ve been the one who leaves more blessed. They remind me what the church is and how we should be living.

I have begun to realize that I don’t think we should look at Africa as a place that needs to be “fixed.” We should remember that its a place with many good people. Its also a place full of lost souls, who we are called to go to and help. No different than Texas.

There will be a time when all wrongs will be made right. The broken things in Africa (and Texas) will be be made new. Until then, all we can do is love each other, help each other, share the Good News and keep our eyes on Jesus. That’s pretty much it. And that’s my plan for next week.

I haven’t mentioned Steve Henn, my friend from Crosbyton Tx. We’re travelling together again this year. Steve made the trip with me in 2010. Steve is a farmer and has skills that are highly valuable in Kenya. He can grow things, fix things, teach and listen. He’s a great travel companion as well. We’ll keep you posted on our progress. Stay tuned.

Thank You!

Its the Monday before I go to Kenya. My two 50-pound cases are packed, and they are literally too full for my clothes. Thanks to Charles and Darlene Coulston for being willing to take some items for me. We’ll drop off a few things with them on Friday, which will give me some room for an extra pair of shorts, t-shirts and sandals.

I wanted to take a few minutes to thank those who’ve made donations for my trip this time. Its a great feeling to know that so many have decided to partner with me and make this trip as productive as possible. Those that gave did so without reservation and completely trusted that the money would be put to good use.

Thank you to Larry & Kitty McDowell for purchasing a laptop for James Okoo, who is an evangelist for the Mathare church of Christ. A video projector for the Kisumu Christian Technology School and head teacher, Dino Okech. A new Wii game and controllers for the students at Made in the Streets. We’ll have a “Just Dance 3” party in your honor.

Thank you to Angela Stevens for purchasing a new vinyl banner for the MITS Photo Shop. The sign will hopefully draw customers to the new shop that will provide photography services as well as copy/scan services and public internet. We’ll make sure to get a picture of the banner.

Thank you to Angela Smyers for purchasing a new Canon digital camera for the students at Kisumu Christian Technology School. Along with the business training, they will learn the basics of photography and creating and editing digital images.

Thank you to Chris Leverett for purchasing several printer cartridges and packages of photo paper for MITS photo shop. We brought over a supply last year and they are in need of more. Those supplies go quickly, but they are a valuable learning tool.

Thank you to John Smith, IV for purchasing a new vinyl banner for the Kisumu Christian Technology School. The school will be in a permanent building soon, but until then, they will have a sign that can travel with them.

Thank you to Jolene McDowell for purchasing a new Canon digital camera for the Change a Life Ministry in Mathare. Jacob Omondi will be the photographer for the ministry and will soon be trained to upload his photos to the ministry website.

Thank you to Carlene Wright for purchasing a new Canon digital camera for the Made in the Streets computer students to use. Moses Okoth does an amazing job with his students and is always looking for ways to expand his program.

Thank you to Kevin & Kenzie Chisum for purchasing business cards for 20 of the Made in the Streets team members. We ordered 500 cards for 20 team members each, who are daily ambassadors for the ministry in the community and beyond.

Thank you to Tammy Hatfield for purchasing several printer cartridges and photo paper for the Kisumu Christian Technology School. These supplies will allow students to print their photos and classwork. Many students have never owned a photo of themselves.

Thank you to Hector and Rosa Contreras for purchasing two WiFi adapters for the Made in the Streets computer lab. This will make it possible for the entire lab to be wireless, which is unheard of in Kenya. Moses maintains one of the best computer labs anywhere in Kenya.

Thank you to my daughter Laura for donating some of her jewelry to send to some of the older girls at Made in the Streets.

Thank you to my daughter Kate for donating many of her small stuffed animals to send to some of the young boys and girls in Kisumu.

For every “thing” I’ll be taking, there’s a thoughtful person who has given and a very deserving person on the receiving end. I am blessed to be the person to take these things to Kenya. I am also blessed to be the one who get to receive the hugs, the handshakes and the smiles. I’m not sure how I’ll bring that back with me.

Thanks again.  

Packing It Up

Spent this morning packing up the trucks. I have three trunks that are nearly packed full. I always bring lots of stuff, but worry that people think that its my focus for the trip. I have several goals planned for the trip and these are just the necessary tools to get the job done. The coolest feeling is leaving DFW with 150 pounds of gear, knowing that I will return in a couple of weeks with only the clothes on my back…and hopefully my camera pack. Here’s what’s going:


Photo Studio
Thanks to a few incredibly generous donors, I am getting to deliver a complete photo studio for the MITS students to learn to use. We have a brand new HP Laptop, Canon Photo Printer, Canon 30D, Canon XT, three Canon lenses, Canon 430ex Speedlight, 3 Canon Point and Shoot cameras, 12 2G comact flash cards, 6 4G SD Cards, 10 4G flash drives, 2 card readers, and plenty of batteries & chargers for everything. We also have enough printer ink and photo paper to print over 400 photos. 



In addition to these items, I am bringing about 300 4x6 prints of photos I have taken in Kenya over my last three trips. The goal is to use these photos for critique in class and then deliver them to the people who are in the photos, so they can have a photo of themselves. Many photos were taken in Mathare and Eastleigh, so I am hoping that we can track the people down and hand deliver the photo to them. I want the MITS students to be able to see faces LIGHT UP when they get to hand the photo to its new owner. That will be something special.

Song Books
I have been working closely with Charles and Darlene to get new songbooks printed. The students use will use these in morning chapel and for Sunday Worship. The school and church are in desperate need of new songbooks and I am honored to get to deliver these to them. I wish everyone back at home could hear the singing first hand. It is a preview of what heaven will be like. 



One of the big projects we have lined up is to do some commercially viable audio recordings of the MITS students singing some of the songs they love. We’d like to be able to publish a CD of their singing and sell them as a fundraising activity here in the states.

The song books are much heavier than I anticipated and account for well over half of the 150 pounds of baggage I am allowed. I am not sure how many clothes I am going to be able to fit in my cases. I have to balance between taking gifts for the students or packing extra underwear. It’ll be a fun challenge and I know I’ll be holding my breath at the airport as they weigh each case at check-in. 

My Backpack
My carry-on bag is my camera backpack. It carries about 26 pounds of my personal gear. There’s a Canon 7D w 70-200 2.8L, Canon 50D w 24-70 2.8L, Tokina 12-24 4.0, and Zoom H4N Digital Audio Recorder. I have 6 8G CF Cards, 6 8G SD cards and a 500G portable hard drive. I’ve filled up all the nooks and crannies with extra gadgets like my iPod Nano and a Kindle for reading on the plane. For the record, I hope to return with all this, but most of it is insured in case I don’t.



Enough about the stuff. I am a week out and am done worrying about things. I can now concentrate on the more important matters. More about that coming soon.

Looking forward to a fun week of summer with the family before I leave on June 6.

Jesus and the Copy Machine

This afternoon, about 4:00pm, I tweeted:

Its a good thing Twitter was down for a while today. It saved me from posting some comments that were inconsiderate and not well thought out.

 That’s because I spent from 1:30-4:00 this afternoon trying to get the school’s copy machine to work…and reconnect two other teachers’ printers. It was unusually frustrating because, quite frankly, I think its dumb that people still use the copy machine as much as they do. (I teach in a school district where every teacher and every student has their own laptop, so naturally, we have no need for such primitive means of information transmission as a copy machine. Why would someone with a computer print out something on paper to give to someone who has a computer?) I was also surprised and puzzled by the large number of our teachers who came to make copies during the time I was in there working. While waiting for the copier to reboot for the billionth time, I tried to tweet just how ridiculous I thought using the copy machine was. Thankfully, I was stopped by the fact that Twitter was over capacity.

I have since developed a more thought out response.

Let me offer some background on my dilemma today. In the evenings for the last few weeks, I’ve been listening to the podcasts of Rich Atchley preaching a series called What Jesus Hates at The Hills Church. It is an outstanding message, and definately NOT what you would predict it to be, based on the title. Absolutely God-inspired teaching.

Tonight, I listened to Rick talk about Jesus loving and friending sinners. He ate with them, went to parties with them, sought them out, and made time for them. He died for them. If we are to be Christ-like, we must like who Christ liked. 

For a while, I listened smugly thinking that I don’t have a problem loving sinners. At some point, however, I realized that I may not have a problem with sinners, but I had HATED on copy machine users today. In a fit of holier-than-thou self-righteousness, I considered myself better than the folks who used the copy machine.

Why do I do that?

Too many times we are ready to quickly cast judgment others. Today, I was reminded that I am in no position to look at others that way. So tomorrow, I may start hanging out in the copy room. Teachers gather there, and talk, and laugh. It a good place to be, even if there is a copy machine in the room. Here’s to community, friendship and loving the copy machine users.