UrbanPromise International

When our fellows come from other countries to work with us, they have the opportunity to learn about the American culture and experience many “firsts” including their first American holidays.   Charity (from Uganda) shares about his first Thanksgiving experience.

My first ever Thanksgiving celebration!

It all started with several mini-Thanksgiving dinners… then four big Thanksgiving celebrations with the AfterSchool program kids and their families… and the grand finale on Thanksgiving Day! 

Initially, I watched others prepare seven turkeys for the first AfterSchool program feast and observed the American tradition of preparing turkeys.  I then observed more closely as I inquisitively watched Garret (one of the Camp directors) stuff several more turkeys, little did I know that the following day was going to be my turn to spearhead the turkey baking crew for yet another thanksgiving dinner!  With Garret’s strategy fresh in my mind, I managed to bake my first ever gigantic turkey which took at least five hours to prepare!

I was overwhelmed by more than 10 invitations from friends who were willing to celebrate Thanksgiving with me!   I managed to spend Thanksgiving weekend with two families.

A friend of mine, named Denise, invited me to spend Thanksgiving Day with her family in Bridgewater, New Jersey.  Denise’s father picked me up and we made the trek to Bridgewater. I was welcomed by very jovial and wonderful people at Denise’s house. I felt so good, loved, and secure.

A few minutes after our arrival, a very big golden-colored-nicely-baked turkey was laid on the table ready to be feasted on.  The previous days I had been enjoying turkeys but this one looked extraordinarily delicious.  It was not long when we were all called to sit around the dinner table to begin enjoying the nicely baked turkey.  Denise’s father opened up the meal with a prayer in Spanish (of which I did not understand and my friend had to translate afterwards.) After the prayer, Denise’s mother unsealed the turkey out of a transparent bag, and as she did, the aroma of the turkey filled the room and I couldn’t wait to get a taste!  In addition to the turkey, Denise had prepared homemade stuffing which tasted so good that despite my full belly, I had another helping!

Needless to say, the feast was a wonderful. This was a very warm feeling for me.  I had never experienced anything like this huge celebration for Thanksgiving and all the traditions that accompany it.

Black Friday!

After Thanksgiving dinner and ice cream for dessert, my friends asked if I would want to go out for Black Friday. With all my innocence and naivety about this American day, I joyfully embraced it with passion and excitement.  We went to the Mall (Best Buy) at Mid-night, and to my surprise, there were already more than 100 people lining up outside the mall!  We later discovered that the first person in line arrived at 10:00am on Thanksgiving Day!  That was hilarious!  

So, in true Black Friday tradition, we stood in the growing line, anticipating the 5:00am hour when the doors to the Mall would open.  When they did, the crowd swarmed in and started shopping.  As for me, I roamed around Best Buy observing this phenomenon and I was stunned by how much money people could spend in a short amount of time.  Carts were overflowing with 50 inch LDC TV’s, two to three laptops each, video cameras, and all sorts of electronic.

That experience blew away my mind!  It was fun and crazy.  I had a wonderful experience with these American traditions… all that just within 12 hours!

By Charity Alinda

UPI Fellow 2009-2010.

Growing up in Kenya, I had experienced fruit fights and water fights. Tropical fruits like mangoes, avocadoes, bananas, plums, oranges, passion fruits etc, were usually our weapons of fun. Everyone in our neighborhood grew them in plenty and so there was always an extra overripe one to throw at a friend.  There were also homemade bombs for our enemies^__ for neighborhood bullies especially. This is how we made them (Kindly don’t share this secret recipe). We gathered rotten eggs (sometimes we had to lift the chicken as they were sitting on them to hatch) and ashes. We put two eggs and a handful of ashes into a thin plastic bag and tied a knot to close the open end and the bomb was done. We shadowed the selected bully (I won’t mention names) then attacked from all corners with our bombs. They would explode on their faces and then we would run. The end result: an egg-ash faced smelling bully. What a joy we had!

We had Miss Megan’s birthday on Thursday and I bought a cake to share with our kids. We (the kids and I) planned to surprise her so we hid the cake in a different room and covered it well. We acted ‘normal’ when she came in, i.e. kids sang ‘happy birthday’ and gave her cards that we had made the previous day in her absence.   She didn’t suspect anything. The kids did their homework and did not even whisper to each other mysteriously.

After homework time, all the kids followed me to the room to get the cake. Ms Megan was busy pinning their days’ point on to the chart so she didn’t notice we were away until we came in with the cake. She was genuinely surprised and overwhelmed. In the course of sharing the cake, Emmanuel, one of my favorites (all of them are really) ‘accidentally’ smeared Miss Megan’s face with some icing. She was at first stunned, then amused. Her response^__ smearing back, brought fun-chaos (as I like to call them) and within seconds of the initial attack, all kids were ‘caking’ each other in the face. I got busy documenting such a hilarious moment; for my days at Urban Promise are made of these moments, which remind me so much of my childhood’s setting, though it is an ocean away.

Emmanuel helped clean up after there were peace talks between Ms Megan and the kids and there was cease fire; for as much as we also have fun at camp, we also teach values such as cleanliness! 

By Winfred Kiunga

International Fellow

Last year, Molly McCormick (Left)  interned with UrbanPromise.  She shares about her experience and learning as she worked and lived with our fellows from Malawi, Africa….

 Growing up in a military family, I was traveling much of the world before I could read and write. Learning that the world has much to offer, I had grown up being around diverse groups of people; and at an early age I learned to value being around people who speak different languages, practice different religious beliefs, and eat different kinds of foods. Interning at Urban Promise Ministries in Camden, New Jersey, I have had the unique opportunity to not only learn from, but to live with two people from Malawi, Africa. Mwai and Vincent are natives of Malawi, the country in Africa known as the “warm heart of Africa.” I was truly able to expand my knowledge about life in Malawi, learn about cultural traditions, and even taste some of the staple foods that Mwai and Vincent were accustomed to daily.
 
    Coming to America for a year long internship is completely courageous. If I were to put myself in the shoes of Mwai or Vincent, life would definitely have its struggles. Much of this year I thought more about my own journey and my own experiences; but too much avail, I discovered that it is important to learn about other people’s culture, but more importantly it is imperative to put your feet into someone else’s shoes, the only way to fully grasp the complexities of their every step.  Fitting into the American Culture, eating foods you are not used to, venturing on streets and sidewalks unfamiliar were common daily activities around Camden for Mwai and Vincent. Less thought goes into these such things for me because this, [America] is territory I have understood for years.
 
    Viewing life through the angle Mwai and Vincent walked everyday is something valuable like discovering a ruby never discovered. Why? Because now I see the worth and value of having conversations with those who are not from America, those who have never been to America, nor seen the things I have seen or experienced life quite like I have, knowing what to expect with the nuances of American Culture. Ask someone what their homeland is like, invest in someone because living in America is not the easiest thing to do if you have never been here. Relating to International people is not difficult if you put them first, and have a true desire to see what their life back at home is, what home looks like, what kinds of foods are found in their country and ask about the culture of their particular country. Another intern from Malawi, Willie, had great patience for my “ignorant questions” that I was often embarrassed to ask. “Where do you get your groceries from?” I asked, “We have Shop Rite, and 7-11″ he replied. “Oh, Malawi has 7-11’s??” I was shocked. You would be surprised and probably, like me, very intrigued about these countries in which our international friends reside. Many Americans have very jaded perspectives of African countries and only think of war, HIV/AIDS, and famine. Willie assured me Malawi is a beautiful place, and it is peaceful. He has not witnessed war in his country.
 
     What a challenge to come willing to serve a God who may not share all the details of his plan with us, yet asks us to willingly follow. To me, Mwai, Vincent, and Willie have a faith I rarely see, but that I strongly admire. These three individuals were constantly uncomfortable in a community that I rarely struggled to fit into. God called them to come, and they came. God called them to learn and they are now doing. God asks us all to have faith, and to follow him, and when I put my feet into the shoes of Vincent, Mwai or Willie I start to see the utmost faith and commitment they have to putting their concerns on the back-burner for the sake of the children and people of Malawi, and for the Glory of God.
 
Blessed are the feet that bring good news, and blessed are those who love, and sacrifice for others.

Promise Mchenga, a graduate of ABC, has been working with ProjectTEACH in Malawi. Next month, he will start a fellowship with UrbanPromise International.

While it’s sad to see our fellows leave after one year at UrbanPromise, it is exciting to see them begin their new ministries and to invite a new group to the U.S. for a year of training.    This year, 7 individuals have been invited to serve with UrbanPromise.   Five graduates (four men and one woman) are from the African Bible College in Malawi, one man is from the Ugandan Christian University, and one Kenyan woman joins us after teaching at Bates College in Maine.  

Shoni is our fellow from Kenya.  She interned with UrbanPromise this summer and will continue with a UPI fellowship this fall.   Charity is joining us from Uganda and is due to arrive on September 7th after visiting a friend in Minnesota.

Our five new fellows from Malawi are on hold, however, due to new visa regulations.   Requests for visas are in process and we hope for their acceptance ASAP!   At this point, they will arrive late, but we hope that they are here shortly after other interns arrive at UP.    In the meantime, they are helping our leaders in Malawi in their programs.   This is a great opportunity for our new fellows to learn about the work and begin to develop a vision for this work.  It is also a great asset to our leaders who have extra hands on deck for a couple of months!

Please pray that our group will arrive safely and that all of our Malawian fellows will be approved for visas soon & help us welcome them when they arrive!