By Benjamim Soares

For the second semester of my senior year, I’ve been taking a ‘Leadership’ class at Rosslyn Academy. Besides all the essays and article reviews concerning leadership principles and intellectual virtues, each student must complete a ‘practical leadership project’ before the end of the semester. The project would put into practice one’s leadership skills; leading others to the achievement of a common goal for the service of society.

Several conflict-torn African countries are going through tough times, especially South Sudan. Countless refugees, including women and children, are suffering from shortages of food and medical aid. Red Cross has a tremendous effort in helping these countries in relief and aid. I’ve had a deep desire to help by raising money to donate to the Red Cross and their efforts.

Originally, I wanted to do a music concert in Nairobi with a few friends who were also musicians and performers. However, due to difficulty finding a venue and lack of good ideas, I finally dropped the idea. Who knows, in the future an event like this just might work out if given enough time.

There came along another idea to raise money for charity, involving audio-Bibles supplied by Wordproject ministries. I figured it would be easy to sell these Bibles in Nairobi, considering the number of Christians in the country. So I contacted the Village Market mall to inquire about the possibility of setting up a charity table there. They were not opposed to my proposal but could not give me a go-ahead because of renovations that were being conducted at the time. They told me they would notify me when charity tables were re-authorized. I was told that by April I should get an answer, so I waited. The answer never came.

One thing I’ve noticed about dealing with local people, is that it’s hard to trust their assurances completely. “Kenyan time” is jokingly referred to as the different “perception” of time that Kenyans have.  As I’ve learned, multi-cultural leadership is somewhat more difficult and requires a higher level of insight and cultural understanding than leadership in a home setting. It’s certainly something that takes practice to become good at.

By April, I was done waiting for Village Market to reply, so I went looking for alternatives. Several people in my class suggested that I do the Bible sale at Rosslyn’s ‘Spring Fling’ event. This event is held by Rosslyn twice a year and allows people from Rosslyn and other vendors to sell their (second hand) items on the campus. It seemed like a great idea, and I was sure it would work out.

It turned out that Red Cross never replied to my request to use their logo, so I made changes to the plan again. Instead of having a donation box to collect donations for Red Cross, I would just sell the audio Bibles and give the money indirectly. The people in charge of the event were very helpful in giving me a rented space to sell the Bibles.

I was surprised how all the people who bought Bibles were Africans. Furthermore, only a few Westerners even approached my table. It seems the interest in such products is severely limited perhaps due to the saturated market of Bibles in the US.  Two friends agreed to show up to help with my sale. Only one showed up early enough to help.

Benjamim setting up Rosslyn’s ‘Spring Fling’

Altogether I sold 9 audio-Bibles, and am happy that the people who purchased these Bibles received God’s Word and supported charity at the same time. God willing I will do more projects in the future, and further practice the valuable skill of intercultural leadership.

‘Customer’ inquiring about the audio Bibles

Overview of Rosslyn’s ‘Spring Fling’

Detail of Rosslyn’s ‘Spring Fling’