Well Fed

I suppose it's high time I told you Faustin and Salome's story, seeing as how they've been making frequent appearances here. To be honest, I can't say that I really know the full story. I'm not sure anyone could say that. It's a deep and complicated story. I'll tell you what I have discovered about them in assorted conversations over the last week and a half.

Salome has many laughs, and she makes frequent use of all of them. She giggles. She chuckles. She wheezes. She tilts her head back and rolls it around. She keels over. Her laughter is lighthearted and genuine. Faustin has a ready smile. He, too, loves to laugh. The fact that they are able to laugh at all says a lot about who they are, and the depth of peace the Lord has given to them. The fact that they are able to laugh about the hardest parts of their lives says something about them that I can't quite verbalize. Yet their sense of humor is the first thing you're likely to discover when you spend time with them. They're very open about their past, and the victory they have found in the Lord, but it takes a handful of conversations before they get to that.

Salome lost her first child 80 hours after giving birth. I cannot imagine the weight of grief that must have followed that experience. She didn't really tell us any more than that detail, but she did laugh about it, strangely enough, because of the experience that followed. While she was pregnant with Pelagy, her oldest surviving child, she was sick with malaria. How she can laugh about that kind of trauma, on the heels of her earlier trauma is unbelievable. "I negotiate with God," she chuckles, "saying to Him that I do not want to lose this baby too." Again she laughs. "I began to think that God did not want me to have a baby." I suppose she finds it funny because they have four healthy, God-fearing children now, and it is now clear that even then, the Lord had abundant blessings in store for her. Pelagy lives in Nairobi and attends Daystar University. Twins Paul and Peter are both attending Cerritos College, and the youngest, Gentille, is currently enrolled at La Mirada High School, with aspirations to become a pediatrician. Faustin praises his daughters as being the most gifted members of their family. That's difficult to imagine, because he has a masters and is studying for his PhD at Talbot while teaching courses at Biola and in Kenya and acting as the executive director of TLAfrica. Salome, likewise, has a university degree, and is rather accomplished.

During the genocide, Faustin, Salome, and the four children hid under their bed for 28 days. They were in the heart of Rwanda. I don't know how they managed to stay fed. Pelagy, who has been with us since we returned to Kenya, was 6 at the time. They lived next door to a soldier in the Rwandan army. When the militia would pass by, Pelagy would run next door and say "Please come to intervene. They're coming to take dad and mom." A frightening story, but of course, Faustin tells it with a laugh and a smile. Apparently, Pelagy has no recollection of that, and very little recollection of the genocide in general. I haven't spoken with Pelagy about the refugee camp, but I would imagine that she remembers more of that. In the refugee camp in Congo, Faustin began a ministry that reached a great many Rwandans, and there he formed many relationships that now form the basic support structure for TLAfrica. There, he himself saw great transformation, and exhibited great leadership. He has firsthand knowledge of what it means to suffer for Christ, of what it means to be transformed by Christ, and what it means to lead under Christ. His drive to serve the Lord is unmatched, and he has an evangelist's heart. He's a regular guy in casual conversation, but his passion is clear when he preaches. In the pulpit, he gets fired up. He yearns to share his victory with others. I can think of no one else (not that I am acquainted with very many Africans...) better suited to lead a revival of transformation and leadership in Africa.

"We want you to be well fed," Salome is fond of telling me, "because when you go back to America, we don't want them to think that they did not take care of you in Africa." Of course, she is most likely to tell me this during one of the meals that I have a particularly hard time stomaching. I have already spoken of how I won't really miss the food here when I go home. But I have experienced, more deeply than ever, what it means to be nourished by fellowship and the Word. Man truly does not live by bread alone. Salome, rest easy knowing that I have been well fed, and you and your family have been responsible for a large portion of that nourishment.