Time for A New Shirt

As I walked into the area where the men had gathered for the meeting on church planting a very gregarious young man jumped up from his chair and ran over to greet me.  I guess there was no doubt about who I was since I was the only white woman there, so it must be fairly obvious that I was Roger Thoman’s wife.   With great excitement, the Kenyan man grabbed my right hand and shook it warmly, “You must be Brooks, Roger Thoman’s wife.”  A little embarrassed and not knowing quite what to do or say, I acknowledged, “Yes, I was.”He went on to introduce himself as “Jimmy” from Bungoma.  He told me all about how he had learned about simple church from a friend of his who then put him in contact with our website.  He had read Roger’s book, had read all the blogs, materials, everything.  Then he told me of his work in Nairobi planting churches, in western Kenya planting churches and about his wife and the church she had planted among single women.  Then, the clincher, Jimmy said, “You know, Brooks, I recognized Roger the minute I saw him . . . from the internet.” I thought to myself that surely it was his white hair (or for that matter, because he was the only white man present could have been a dead give-away), but no, here’s what he said:  “I recognized him by his shirt.  The shirt he is wearing today is the same shirt he is wearing on the book cover and the same shirt he is wearing in the photo on the website!”  I started laughing and laughing.  I couldn’t believe it.  Just the day before, I had said to my beloved, “Your shirt has a hole in it.  Now, will you let me throw it away?” Jimmy with a big grin asked me, “Is this the only shirt Roger owns?”  I just couldn’t quit laughing.  Even in Africa where some of the people we are working with own very few clothes, they typically own more than one shirt!  Then Jimmy confessed that he had asked my Kenyan friend Elizabeth on the side if Roger owned another shirt.  She had told him, “Oh yes, he owns three!  Last year he came for two weeks and he wore two others.” Roger is not a man to be concerned with what he is wearing or sitting on or living in. If money is to be spent on anything frivolous, it occasionally might be spent on something technological, but otherwise, this guy has ZERO needs or wants.  So, all of my suggestions of wanting to buy him this or that or that he might actually need something are met with a comment like, “No, I already have one or I don’t need it.”  So, you can see that as long as the blue and white Hawaiian shirt had a thread of life in it, I had little hope of replacing it…except for my new African best friend! Jimmy and his wife Roseline along with Elizabeth and Dawson all wanted to get together for dinner on our last night in town.  As soon as we sat down, Jimmy stood up and started to make a big presentation, thanking Roger for everything he had taught, the principles he had learned from him, etc., but the speech quickly deteriorated into the story about how he had recognized him the moment he had seen him…not by his face, but by his shirt.  We all started to laugh.  Then he graciously held out a wrapped gift to Roger.  (I was crying I was laughing so hard, just imagining what was coming!)  Neatly folded inside was a beautiful black tunic shirt with the continent of Africa sewn on the front.  As Roger unfolded it and held it up, Jimmy told him that the custom in Kenya was to put on the gift right away, so Roger quickly slipped it over his head, pulled it down and it fit perfectly.  He loved it!  He really loved it even more when he figured out that the continent was actually a pouch that he could carry things in.  Jimmy also pointed out that he had chosen this particular shirt with the blue and white appliqués on the front because they were the same color as his Hawaiian shirt, just so the transition to a new shirt wouldn’t be too hard! While Roger was proudly adjusting his shirt and sitting back down, Dawson who had been rather quiet up til now said, “You know the first time I ever met Roger was in Nairobi three years ago, and he was wearing that same blue and white Hawaiian shirt.” Then, it all started all over again.  We were all laughing hysterically. So, yes, I have a new best friend who I will be forever grateful to in Kenya, because we no longer have the blue and white Hawaiian shirt, and even Roger has admitted that it is saying something when an African tells you that you need some new clothes!

Posted via email from Brooks's posterous