Last month, I attended a youth fellowship at nairobi baptist church, meant for motivating and encouraging youth to welcome unity. At first it was not my plan to attend, I was to meet with a group of peace makers to talk about peace building and learn how I can contribute and help bring that change. But I guess God had another lesson in store for me. This is why I truly believe that when God puts you on a path he guides you till you get to your destination.
Any way, as I arrived I heard an increasing volume of singing choir that sounded south sudanese but were singing in English with instruments. I told myself that “this is really odd, let me go and investigate further ” and so I went a head searching for the room where the sound was coming from. When I arrived I was amazed by what I saw, youths from all tribes and corners of South Sudan singing and praising the most high together. I did what any other junubi would do and I immediately joined them. we rejoice together however, the highlight of my day was yet to come in the form of a story by a young south sudanese pastor who lives in Kikuyu. I don’t clearly remember his name but the story he told that day made more sense to me compare to other stories I’ve heard before.
As soon as the singing stopped , one of the ushers came in front and introduced himself to the seated congregation. With a lot of applause, we welcome our speaker. At first I didn’t expect much of him because the first sentence that came out of his mouth was that “he doesn’t like using microphone”. Who on earth doesn’t like amplifying his voice so the majority of his audience can listen to his message? I don’t know either.
After that we had a moment of awkward silence for about a few seconds it almost seemed like he was nervous. The impression we got was that he has lost what he wanted to say. However, before our expectations would take more shape he said something along these lines “we live in a world where we are all chasing multiple endeavors at once.” For a moment there that sentence didn’t register with the congregation at all then he continued with his story.
“There was once a man, who’s house was caught on fire. Everyone, the mother, the children and anyone else in that compound except the man were trying their level best to fight the fire but the fire seemed to be escalating rapidly. Then in a glimpse, out of nowhere the man noticed a rat running away, probably away from the fire. For some reason the man decided to chase the rat rather then helping with taking out the fire. The wife saw what the man was up to and how serious he was at catching whatever he was chasing after and so the women got the impression that whatever her husband is doing is more important than taking out the fire which in turn made her abandon what she was doing and join the man on chasing the rat.
The children saw what their parents were up to got the same impression and joined as well. As they were chasing the rat through the whole village everyone ended up thinking something important is happening and so joined the family on the chase. While everyone were out chasing this mysterious “thing” the house was burning down with all their belongings within it. Finally, by the end of the day the man caught the rat. When the village saw his accomplishment everyone were happy that their day long pursuit was finally at an end but the house was completely burnt down”. When he completed telling his story we were not quite caught up and then he continued.
“The moral of this story is that, in life we have abundance of opportunities. But these opportunities don’t mean anything if you don’t solve your household hold problems. Don’t chase an opportunity that has no significant value to your well being. Don’t chase a rat when your house is burning down. Stay focus and first ensure that your house is standing firm and strong”.
At that moment everyone started laughing and clapping because the story made more sense when we reflected to ourselves. For me it was a day well spent and a surprise well executed by the most high. I think the youth of South Sudan has a lot to contribute to peace building and conflict resolution only if we come together and talk about our problems and find solutions. Like one of my south sudanes brother by the name of Bol Fidel said “our diversity is not a curse but a blessing it’s something to celebrate not to destroy”.
I hope you finds this story inspiring as much as I did. The youth fellowship is a monthly fellowship that is conducted by youths at the end of every month it happens at Nairobi baptist Church along Ngong road. I hope I’ll be seeing you there worshiping the most high with your fellow junubin. Be blessed.
