Where's the Toilet Seat?
Monday, May 8, 2023
“Time has a way of making one feel as though the days are long and the years are short.” – Grace Elliott, missionary to Rwanda
I have never been to Rwanda, but I have been to Kenya…
It was April 2014, and after turning down multiple invitations to visit and minister in that African nation, I finally said “Yes.” The mission team that I recruited included two gifted pastors, two powerful weightlifters, a high-ranking corrections official, and yours truly.
The six of us were coming from different parts of the country – me from Florida, the pastors from New Jersey and North Carolina, the weightlifters from Louisiana, and the corrections official from South Carolina. We all met in either Amsterdam, which was my connection from Orlando via Detroit, or in Nairobi, which was our final destination.
After almost 24 hours in the air, our plane landed and, after a late-night meal, we were whisked to our hotel in downtown Nairobi. There was no air-conditioning and no elevator, so by the time we lugged our suitcases upstairs to our rooms, we were all drenched with sweat.
As you might imagine, the rooms were very sparsely decorated and I was surprised to discover that my toilet had no seat, just a bowl, with the shower head directly overhead. As I collapsed into bed under my mosquito netting, I could hear the sounds of traffic – and gunfire – in the street below.
“Something tells me we’re not in Kansas anymore,” I reminded myself as I drifted off to a fitful night’s rest.
The following day was spent traveling for hours on dusty and rut-filled dirt roads, packed liked sardines in a van without A/C. Once in Kakamega, we checked into our guest house and began an arduous week of prison ministry from sunup to sundown… and sometimes beyond. Several of our team members contracted dysentery on the trip but fortunately, my case didn’t kick in until I got home nine days later.
But guess what? I consider that grueling week of ministry – during which we shared the gospel with an estimated 5,000 inmates in 10 different institutions – to be a true highlight of my 35-year prison ministry career. And yes, if time and money allowed, I would go back in a heartbeat.
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:16 (KJV)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
