A letter from Phyllis Byrd in Kenya
February 22, 2005
Dear Friends,
What it means to be a family has taken on a new meaning for me during the past 15 years living in Kenya. I remember sitting in a meeting at 475 Riverside Drive and telling the mission board that I would commit to serve for only three years because I had to return home to my family. Ha! Twelve years later I am still in Kenya, and my family has become so colorful and expansive.
I am ashamed to say that this is my first official newsletter since becoming a mission co-worker. It is not because I didn’t have anything to say, but perhaps I didn’t know how to put words to what I have experienced. I still don’t know how to do this, but I will endeavor to find words that will paint a picture so that you can get a glimpse of the beauty, challenges, and spiritual richness of my service here with the people of Kenya.
This letter is simply a thank-you letter to my family. Who are my family members? Atieno our 5-year-old asked me one day, “Why do you have so many mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. It’s not fair. Why don’t I have as many as you?”
Atieno was referring to one of my fathers who is a Bishop in Swaziland. He walked me down the aisle when I got married eight years ago. He gave me a new name, “Lungelo,” which means “right.” Fifteen years ago, when I started working for the All Africa Conference of Churches, I attended a meeting in Lesotho that was also attended by Bishop Amos Dlamini. It was there that he proclaimed I was his long-lost daughter, and I had a right to come back home. Thus, my name was “Lungelo.”
Atieno was referring to another father, Robert Gachecheh, who is a businessman in Kenya. My husband had to ask Father Gachecheh, Bishop Dlamini, and several elders (or “uncles”) for my hand in marriage. Part of the Kikuyu tradition, the service is called “ngurario.” The service brought two families together and declared that my union with my husband was not just the two of us getting married. It was the coming together or marriage of families that was once strangers. Now, they are one.
Among my numerous brothers and sisters are the members of First Presbyterian in Morristown, New Jersey. When we saw news of the attack of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, First Presbyterian Church of Morristown was known to me only by name. I had a nephew who worked in the World Trade Center, the son of Professor Verstine Mbaya. After 9/11, we met as a family to support each other and Verstine. When word came that my nephew’s body was found we started preparing for the funeral. I began to look for a venue for the funeral service and sent an email to First Presbyterian in Morristown. They wrote back to say they’d take care of everything. Words can’t capture the love they shared, the way they comforted the family. I can only say that I am privileged to be part of such a wonderful family.
Lynn is another part of my family. I met her through a colleague who is serving in Kenya with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I asked him if he knew someone in Namibia who could help my oldest daughter, Hawa, when she arrived to study at the university. I contacted Lynn and introduced myself. I asked her to help me pick up my daughter and find her a place to live, since the school did not have on-campus housing. I did not know that I would have to rely on Lynn for much more than this. Hawa was turned back from Namibia due to visa problems. She spent several days in the airport in South Africa. Lynn took over and worked through all the governmental red tape until my daughter was allowed to enter the country to begin medical school. I am blessed to have a sister I have never met in person.
I have only named a few of my family members in this letter. It is all of you, the churches that support me, the churches that send letters during the holidays, the ones that send notes telling me that you are praying for me. It includes the church that had a mission conference and arranged a phone interview with me to learn more about my work in Kenya. Thank you to those who set a time in their prayer calendar to remember me and my family. As we go through this holy season, I am reminded of the Good Friday agreement that was signed over two thousand years ago. This agreement called for a reconfiguration of the family, it called for us to be one and to live out our oneness as a family of God.
Prayer requests
Please pray for:
- the students at St. Paul’s Theological College where I teach
- the Young Adult Volunteers that are serving in Kenya for a year (and for whom, through the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, I serve as coordinator)
- my work with St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Thank you, family, for your support as I serve here in Kenya.
Phyllis Byrd
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 335
