LETTER FROM KENYA PUTS POLITICAL SEASON INTO PROPER PERSPECTIVE

In the hub of this election year, it's difficult to keep from becoming disheartened. Politicians too often say what they believe voters want to hear and seldom what they really think or what they will actually do if elected ("Read my lips," no more empty vows). As if the words and deeds of politicians weren't bad enough, the media's coverage of the election bias and single-issue overkill adds to the frustration.

But not everybody is wrapped up in the election. A letter I received this week from my brother, Jon a missionary in Kenya, Africa was like a breath of fresh air that helped clear the murky din of presidential politics.

Not one mention of the campaign in the entire letter. No mention, even, of Ross Perot remarkable, given the Aug. 8 date on the letterhead. The closest thing to social comment was a reference to recent ethnic violence in Africa.

"Parts of Kenya have experienced tribal clashes and violence, but not more than Los Angeles or Chicago, I think," he wrote. "Our region has been pretty calm. Africa needs your prayers, though."

Never one to dwell on issues of lesser importance, Jon jumps in the letter's next line to a more significant event: his daughter's recent third birthday.

"We had a little party with her and her friends. Boy, was she excited. She speaks English like a little Kenyan and speaks Portuguese like a gringo, so I don't know what language will be her favored one," he wrote.

Jon goes on to describe a little of what it's like to live in Mombasa, Kenya. His wife, Dulce, who he met while working in the Amazon region of Brazil is due in November with their second child. She's fine. Talita, the birthday girl, has had a couple minor bouts with malaria, but also is fine and "mighty energetic."

"Our water pump is still broken after more than three months, so we still have to get our water and carry it in buckets," he wrote. In an earlier letter, Jon explained the difficult, half-mile trek to the water source.

But it has rained much recently, and the "crops look really good. We're harvesting corn, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, and, soon, beans. The trouble is that the baboons are starting to harvest our stuff, too," he wrote.

In Mombasa, the Eastlicks live in a nice home relative to some in the village. Like all the homes, the windows are merely openings in the wall, with no glass. There is no electricity or running water, but their home has a fine concrete floor. Others have to make do with packed earth. Despite the meager furnishings, there are always others in worse shape.

"Last month I went with a team to `Masailand,' a place way out in the plains where the Masai tribe live," Jon wrote. "It was a very dry area, with lots of scrub brush and those low, spread-out trees you imagine when you think of the African bush. We were in lion country. We saw several antelope, but no lions."

Once there, the missionary team stayed at a village, or "Boma," in small houses made of sticks and mud, cemented with cow manure. "It's not as bad as it sounds," he wrote. "In the middle of each Boma, there's a cow yard. Cows are the measure of wealth, and vital to their existence.

"They mostly live off of meat and milk. (Boy, did I enjoy the meals there!) The people dress in red and/or blue wraps, with all kinds of ornamentation, beads and jewelry. The women shave their heads and most of the men have kind of long hair. Many of the men have three or four wives, so they have some pretty big families. It was all very interesting."

Much of the team went to a neighboring Boma to preach to Masai who had never heard the Gospel, while Jon drove instead to a water hole to retrieve water for cooking and washing. "I had to drive over an hour to make the 12 miles or so to the water hole," he said. "The people there walk the distance to get water."

The Masai were receptive to the team's message, and Jon said there apparently were some new converts. Clearly life in America differs from life elsewhere. As much a political animal as anyone, and one who wears his conservatism on his sleeve, even I realize there are more important things in life. Regardless of who is elected president this fall, the most important things in life remain constant my wife and boys, my family, friends, the joy of working for a living and a wage, and the freedom to enjoy it all.

My brother's brief letter helped remind me of that. It was good to hear from him.