Christmas Package!

We got a Christmas package!!!  This is super exciting as we don't usually get packages here.  It was filled with goodies, Christmas decorations, games, and presents for all!  Shortly after arriving, some missionaries here gave us their Christmas tree, so we actually had a tree with decorations for Christmas!  All this is very exciting as we had brought no Christmas decorations what-so-ever.  It was looking to be pretty dreary around home.  Thanks to you all for making our Christmas so awesome!



Our Christmas Tree



 

Wall Decos - with a little help from Martha Stewart!



Lois and Fridah.  Fridah is our always-cheerful cook/janitor at the office.
Lois is her adopted daughter and the recipient of many of Ashley's
old out-grown clothes.









4-wheeling in the desert

Jeff, two other missionaries (one American and one Kenyan), and a Som. friend headed back up to Moyale last week for several promotional meetings for Sports Friends and Christian Workers Book Set (http://www.sim.org/index.php/project/92166) projects.  They left Wednesday and made it home on Sunday.  That's a whole lot of driving for less than a week and they were tired and very dusty when they arrived home.  Many good contacts were made and the Lord provided them safety coming home...even to the extent of having an armed police escort ride with them between Marsabit and Isiolo where tribal issues had caused several deaths to travelers on that stretch of road. The policeman took them through the desert instead of using the main road. 

It was hot and dusty, but imagine 4 guys in a land rover 4-wheeling in the desert.  They may have been grimy, but I'm betting they all had big smiles on their faces!  When they arrived in Isiolo, they discovered a pretty massive oil leak, which Jeff took to get fixed.  Apparently not only was there a hole spewing oil, but the rear differential had come "undone".  They could have easily lost a rear tire on their trek across the "bad" lands!  Thanks for praying for our safety!  God continues to watch over us..even when we don't think we need watching over! 

School Starts...back at WNS

After turning in our application at Rosslyn, we got a call that Ashley had been accepted!  Yes, Lord!  There was a caveat, however.  Although the school "typically doesn't do this," Ashey was accepted without resource help being available to her.  It seems that at Rosslyn, each grade is allotted so much resource time and 6th grade had used up all theirs.  So, Ashley could go to the school (longer bus ride, harder curriculum, another year of being the newbie), but there would be no official help for her once there.  The whole reason we'd investigated Rosslyn was because we'd been told their resource help was superb and their kids weren't as "clique-y" as those at WNS. 

Rather than giving up, though, we contacted the resource teacher directly.  She, again reiterated what the superintendent had said..Rosslyn had no more resource spots for 6th grade students.  We pushed to see if maybe just having the teachers be attuned to Ashley's state and having them help with tracking homework assignments and test dates would be possible.  "To tell the truth," said the resource person,"the sixth grade teachers here really want the students to stand more on their own."  To put it simply..don't count on any teachers running interference. 

OK, strike two.  Not willing to totally give up, I tried contacting one of the teachers, but was instead directed to the principle of the middle school.  Unfortunately, this person was out of the country until just before school started, so he/she didn't get my emails until about two weeks before school started.  Again we petitioned for some help from the teachers...just to help make sure Ashey wrote down her homework assignments and turned them in.  The principle kindly informed us that the sixth grade teachers already had their hands full with students who needed resource help, but couldn't get any.

West Nairobi - main campus entrance

So, four days before school started, we made the decision to send Ashley back to West Nairobi.  The superintendent there said that they would all do whatever they could to help Ashley succeed.  Forgive me for sounding sarcastic, but that wasn't the same tune they were singing last year, so I was skeptical.  Jeff was out of town (see blog about his Visa expiring) at this time, so I met with the superintendent who arranged a meeting with the core teachers two days after school began.  All were gracious and agreed to check what Ashley'd written and sign off on the accuracy.  Ashley was on her own to remember to turn in the assignments.

Although Ashley was initially disappointed in having to return to WNS, after a week at school she was having a great time.  Middle school, with it's challenges of having to move from class to class and having to remember her books, etc. for each class turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  For the first term, Ashley was doing great.  She'd met some new friends and had a new outlook on school.  The teachers were all helping her remember to write her assignments down and she was starting to show some self-direction in doing homework at home.  Our prayers had been answered!

Since the beginning of the second term, Ashley's been slipping a bit.  Some of the old habits of lying about homework and doing the wrong assignments have crept back in.  She misses home a lot and keeps asking when we're going back.  I'm not sure what's changed, but please pray that God will give her peace and reveal what we need to know in order to help her.

Sololo (Part 5)

All the outreach workers -- evangelists, pastors, wives,

helpers and children! Except Jeff -- he's taking the picture.

Kenya in the foreground, Ethiopia in the background.

We had a wonderful time at the end. We went into the small villages and gathered our missionaries for a debrief and to find out the results of our labor in the fields. We also had an Anglican bishop from America, his wife (who also is a priest), an Anglican cannon, and another priest all come for the last days of the outreach. One of the days I was asked to teach the first session. This came as a surprise to me as I was not prepared, and I asked what they wanted me to teach? They said just talk about me and whatever God led me to teach. I talked about myself and my beautiful wife and daughter. Then God led me to teach on spiritual warfare, and being prepared for the enemy to attack.



 

As the reports came in we found that our teams had shared the good news of Jesus with 3010 homes in the area. We saw 288 people give their lives to Jesus, planted a total of 7 new churches and fortified 4 others. We had very good results, so the enemy is sure to attack. Some of the new believers were M* s others were animistic with M* background and still others were satan worshipers.  We had one couple give us their charm that they received when they were married.  We prayed and then destroyed the charm.



The pastors sang and offered praises to God for the results of their work.  It was an awesome time of worship!!   One pastor sang about the entire trip and how God had led them and woven Himself into each experience.  He sang in Borana and made the whole thing up on the fly.  It was amazing!  I was able to capture some of the song and will try to figure out how to post it so you can hear it too.  At the end of our gathering we shared holy communion with all the pastors that had participated, as well as with our visitors.  It was a great end to a great outreach!



Sharing the sacrament -- from plastic
cups and bowls!



Now begins the follow up with the churches and pastors that are there in the bush. The pastors and their families need care and attention along with the new believers. We are sending people there to teach, preach and help in any way they can to nurture the new and existing churches. They need encouragement and counsel as they learn and grow in the body of Christ.

Sololo (Part 4)

When we were getting ready to leave Sololo, after wrapping up the outreach, we awoke early at about 3:30 am. Outside, satan worshipers were banging on drums and clanging cymbals. As we got packed and drove through town we prayed -- me for one side of the town and Getch for the other. We saw people with their flashlights and drums just staring with their mouths open and eyes wide. We had prayed that the God of all creation break the bonds of satan holding the town. We prayed loudly so they could hear and know that we really cared about them and their village.  

Then it was a long ride home. We started at 4:30 am with four young men in the very back seat, a family of four and two young ladies in the middle, then Getch and I up front. The trip took us until 9:30 that night. Along the way we dropped the family in Marsabet, the young ladies in Isiolo, and, finally, the young men at their schools here in Nairobi.

When we were in Sololo we talked to many youth and shared the good news with them. Some saw that we were different from the people that are there in the village, and they wanted to know more. We had fun with them, and they liked hanging out with us. But, we had to be careful not to be too close to any one of them. You see if we got too close and their parents saw who they were friends with, they could be beaten and chased from the house or worse. So when they came to the middle of town to get a ride to see the Jesus movie, we had to chase them away for their own protection. Pray for these children, that their hearts will continue to yearn for the risen Savior despite the beliefs of their parents.



Rock where Satanists do their
sacrifices.



Although Is*m is the predominant religion in this region, we saw our share of Animists and Satanists as well.  Animists follow the traditional beliefs of the tribe and seriously regard charms and rituals as ways to ward off evil spirits.  Satanists are the full-blown followers/worshipers of Satan.  We saw a rock where the Satanists are sacrificing animals and even their own children. We prayed that the Blood of our risen King would break the evil spirits that are there tormenting the people.

One team of ten missionaries was sent to a very remote village. When they walked into the village the people came out rejoicing saying that they had been tormented and possessed by the evil spirits until the missionaries showed up. They later said that their livestock were also possessed. So the missionaries went to see for themselves and were shocked at what they saw. The cattle, sheep and goats were acting very strangely, but as they got closer the livestock calmed and the spirits left. The villagers said that men of God had come before and chased the evil ones away, but that when the men of God left, the spirits came back. They were begging that a man of God stay and protect them from satan.  We found a young pastor to take the responsibility of pastoring this young flock until we could find someone to put there permanently. This church now has about 30 in this small village and has services every Sunday along with bible studies.

Sololo (Part 3)

About half-way through the trip, we had to repair the Landcrusier. The front shocks were worn out again (we'd replaced them once already), so we headed for Moyale, a border town ½ on the Ethiopian side and the other ½ on the Kenyan side.  Instead of buying a new set of shocks, we had a mechanic cut and weld a used set of shocks there. These ones were better than the brand new ones we had just put on the car! We also bought a new tube for the tire...you remember, the one that was stabbed? 

Being a border town, we ran into a bit of a problem in that I'd forgotten to bring my passport! Do you remember the poorly dressed bush man we'd picked up earlier?  Well it turns out he knew people in Ethiopia in high places.  He saw us there, and I got in and out of the country with no problem. God knew what we'd need and prepared the way! 

Appropriate name, don't you think?

Being Getch's home country, he knew the place and showed me around.  I even enjoyed some Ethiopian food and slept in a nice bed.  The only problem was the cockroaches -- they were HUGE! I had bug spray and a bed net though, and so was safe for the night.

While I was with the mechanic fixing our shocks, two sheikhs approached and wanted to debate about what we were doing in the bush.  I was alone while the others were taking care of business in another part of the village. I did not think about it at the time but how did they know we were in the bush? They said, "We need help here. People need jobs. They need food and medical care here in the city." I told them we already had people (Christians) here working to help, and I asked them what was wrong with their uma (community)? Their community should take care of its own, but I assured them that if they needed the help of the Christian community, then we would help. They did not like the answer and left.

On the way back to Sololo

The drive back to Sololo was very nice with the new shocks, and we made it back in record time. As with many other days we were in the village buying food for the missionaries when one of the community (a young man) approached the vehicle. He asked a few questions.

1) You believe that Jesus is God?
2) You believe that the Holy Spirit is God?
3) You also believe that God rules the whole universe?

To which I replied that indeed I did believe these all to be true. Then he asked another question. "If all of these things are true, how can God rule from the womb of a woman?" I sat there for what I thought was a long time and finally replied, “Who am I to say that God can not?” This upset my M* friend as he sat there and thought about the question I put to him. This is exactly what I wanted for my friend to think about -- really who God is and why do we, as mere humans, put limitations on God?

Sololo (Part 2)

Screen is up!  Just waiting for dark to
show the film.

On one occasion we had arrived at the village early and set up for the Jesus movie was done well before dark.  As people were sitting around, the village sheikh tried to chase the people away. The people said to the sheihk that it was his responsibility to tell the story of Jesus and he wasn’t doing that, so they were going to watch the movie! They ended up chasing the sheikh away from the performance.


After the movie was finished we were headed home on the rough, bush road when some bandits attacked. I saw a man coming out of the bush on the left side of the road with an automatic rifle and yelled to Getch, who was driving, “GO GO GO!” He saw them on the right side of the vehicle too, and they were poised with guns ready to fire. Getch prayed loudly, ‘Jesus numb their arms! Jesus numb their arms! Jesus numb their arms!’ The bandits did not fire their rifles that were aimed at us. Praise God. He is good and He protected us from harm.

On one occasion the lead missionary in a small village climbed to the top of a mountain so he could get cell signal and called us. He said that they had had no water for about a week. The young women that were with them could not bath and were not happy. (Note: Many wives and single women went with the evangelists into the bush to cook and wash for the teams.  Some of the women also did evangelistic outreach to the women in the villages they visited.) 

The two ladies we "rescued" and a
pastor with the group.

We went to the dam where everybody and their animals go to get water and took about 140 liters.  Some was for the young ladies to bathe with, and the rest for the young men to drink as they still had 2 ½ weeks to finish with the outreach. The place where everyone gets the water is not clean, meaning that it is quite dirty with animal waste and dirt and who knows what else. That is what they live with, though.  The ladies said that they would not bathe until they had cooked for us since they had water now. So we ate rice and beans that night before the movie was shown.

No, this isn't our truck.  It is a
common mode of transport for
many Kenyans, though.  They
ride on top of the truck.

As we were going through the bush we gave people rides to those who were asking. Most people charge a bit of cash for this service, but we just had fun talking to the people we met. On one occasion we picked up a bush man. He was not dressed well. We just talked and gave him a ride about 10 kilometers and dropped him in the middle of nowhere. That turned out to be a strategic connection!  More on that later. 

Throughout our journeys we had several tire punctures. One happened when we were in the village of Sololo. Someone walking by put a knife in the side of the tire. We had it repaired and went on but we were always repairing the tire here and there. Keep in mind, word of our outreach and the harvest it was producing for the kingdom was making waves in these Mus*m communities.

Sololo (Part 1)



(Ignore the date)  After showing the Jesus
film for 3 weeks, Jeff's now a pro at
the old reel-to-reel technology!



The first day was an introduction to the field. My "brother by another mother", Getch, and I traveled from one village to another and visited about three different teams of missionaries. We identified the needs of the teams, bought food, found water and gave encouragement to those serving in the bush. After these needs were met, we went to get the Jesus movie in the language of Borana, to show in the village.



People sat on both sides
of the screen as you could see the
reverse image from the other side!



The Jesus movie was on reel-to-reel -- very old technology -- and I was designated to find a way to make it work. Being that I’m “white”, I’m the one to know how it works- right? Anyway I found how to make it play and was impressed by how many people showed up to watch the movie.  This village had four or five huts and a community building, yet about two to three hundred people showed up to watch the film. Many of the people had never seen a movie in their lives, but here it was, playing in their village. All the villagers were in awe of the movie that was shown. Having never seen anything like it, some thought the “prophet” Himself was there to teach them.

After the movie, Getch preached and called people to consider what they'd seen.  Close to midnight, we headed back to the larger town of Sololo, where we had set up camp.  Remember about the cows and camels?  On the way back, we had to dodge those animals as they seemed to instantly appear along the roadside. Add in a few people hopping out of the bushes and it made for an exciting ride home. We had a very successful first night. The missionaries that stayed in the small village later gave their report on how successful that night was.

Evangelism Trip to Sololo

In August, about 3 days after returning from Ethiopia, Jeff took off for the northern part of Kenya for a three week evangelism outreach.  His friend, Getch, and a group of pastors from Nairobi and Isiolo areas had already headed upcountry while Jeff was waiting for a flight back from Ethiopia, so Jeff and one straggling pastor from Marsabit made the journey a few days later.

Pastor Training in Sololo
Notice the lack of electricity!

The plan was to gather pastors in this 97% Mus*m area, teach them for five days and send them into the bush in groups, similar to how Jesus sent the disciples out.  The first day of their training, 35 people showed up for the training.  By the fifth day, there were 120!  Getch sent them out in groups of 10, each in a different direction.  They were to evangelize and communicate back to "home base" in Sololo when there were people showing interest.  Jeff and Getch made their home base in a guest house in Sololo (owned and operated by Mus*ms!).  The two of them provided logistics for the pastors, and hosted a visiting pastor and his wife from the US the final week.

The following, along with the next few blogs, is Jeff's narrative of his trip.  Enjoy!

My Bus to Sololo


The bus ride from Eastleigh (a suburb of Nairobi) to Sololo took 22 hours and about half of that was on rough road with Kiswahili rap music playing so loud I could barely hear myself think! I had seat number 5. It was located right behind the bus driver so I could see everything...including the close calls and the near misses of the cows, camels, and of course, people. Since I had the front seat I had control of the window, which was of great value as I traveled with the wind in my face.

When I arrived, I was so dusty and grimy I couldn't wait to take a shower. The "showers" were actually a big tub of water that I was to dump on myself! Imagine my dismay when I found that the water I was to shower with was dirtier then I was! In the mornings, the water is heated, but by the afternoon, when I arrived, there was no warmth left. But, in the heat of the day, after a long ride, the cold water was very refreshing, and I did feel cleaner than when I began!  After some rest that day and night it was time to work.

A Walk-about in Ethiopia

By Jeff...
I had to leave Kenya for at least a week in late July as my Kenyan tourist visa had expired and I had yet to receive either my work visa or my KDP (Kenyan Dependent Visa).  The two closest countries (Uganda and Tanzania) are both part of the East Africa network, so leaving Kenya to go to one of those countries doesn't qualify me for a new tourist visa coming back in.  So, since SIM has an office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I headed there.  Beats the heat of Sudan for right now, and the flights were cheaper!  They have a nice little guest house at SIM Ethiopia, so I stayed there.

Unfortunately, the guest house doesn't have internet and my Safaricom cell phone doesn't work in Addis, so I was pretty much cut-off from my family.  That wasn't fun.  I did get to meet some awesome people also travelling through and staying at the guest house, so that was good.  For the rest of the time, I just hung out, read my Bible and whiled away the time.  But there was this one incident.....

Being rather bored, I decided to take a walk around Addis.  I'm obviously not Ethiopian, but most Africans can't quite figure out what nationality I am. I noticed this group of men talking amongst themselves and staring at me.  Finally, one of them yelled at me when he noticed I was returning their stare.  In English he yelled, "What ARE you?" :)  I get the same stares in Kenya, but most aren't so bold as to actually ask.

As I was walking down some random street in Ethiopia, I was approached by a man. 

"What are you wanting to buy?" he asked.
"Nothing," I replied.  "I'm just new to your city and am taking a walk."
"Do you like art?" he asked.  "I can show you some beautiful art."
Having nothing better to do, I said, "Sure."
He took me to a little cafe.  On the walls were beautiful works of art, true.  But that's not what they were selling in this cafe.  As I sat down, several very beautiful (and young) Ethiopian women came and sat with me.

I'd inadvertently walked into a brothel!

Not knowing what to do, I started telling them about the woman at the well and how Jesus knew her "business," but still loved her and wanted to tell her of living water.  Then I told them about the prostitute and Jesus.  They weren't really sure what to do with me.  As I was talking and not taking, the proprietor rotated the girls at my table, obviously thinking the ones there were not to my liking.  The next young woman who sat down, sat VERY close to me.

In my head I heard this little voice yell, "RUN!!!!!!!"  So I did.

Do you think I can add "brothel ministries" to the bottom of my resume now?   :)

Visa troubles

While we were sunning ourselves poolside in Malindi, Jeff's tourist visa was quietly expiring.  This was the renewal, and you can only renew in-country one time.  We should have been more on top of that whole thing, but weren't.  We'd left it in the capable hands of our staff person who handles all visa issues.  Somehow it slipped by him as well.  So, when we came back, Jeff was essentially an illegal alien. 

Our staff person kept hearing that Jeff's "KDP" (Kenya Dependent Visa) was almost approved, but for some reason there was a hold-up.  Unfortunately, Jeff could no longer leave the country without getting deported when they saw his expired Visa.  Fortunately (and with much glory to God for pulling this rabbit out of the hat), our visa-handling staff person was able to get Jeff a 30-day extension.  These are not normally issued!  That 30 days was from the date of the stamp, so basically, he got a "free" 30 days in country, plus the 30-day extension. 

Jeff had an evangelism trip scheduled to take off the 2nd week in August, but during the first week, it wasn't looking as if Jeff's KDP would come through in time for him to go.  We were left with a difficult choice.  Either leave the country and miss out on the evangelism trip, or go on the trip and hope the visa gets approved while he's gone, but knowing he'd be deported if it didn't.  If the whole normally-two-month process hadn't already taken eight months, the second option would have been the one of choice.  As it stood, though, Jeff needed to get out of the country.  SIM has an office in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, so off Jeff flew for a 10-day stay at the SIM guest house in Ethiopia.

As it turned out, his visa was approved while he was out of the country, so he was officially stamped and fingerprinted for his alien registration when he returned 10 days later.  And, after talking with the evangelistic outreach trip leader, Jeff decided to join up with the team a few days late.  So, Ashley and I were on our own for most of August.

Oh, it turns out that his KDP was held up because he was a man applying for a dependent visa.  Government officials just couldn't understand why a man was applying for dependent status.  The man should work and not just sit around at home! :)

The Learning Curve

By the time July came around, the very steep learning curve I'd been on started to level off.  I had a grip on what needed to happen monthly and a general sense of what each of my staff did.  It was time to tackle some of the "big" issues I'd seen.

One of those "biggies" happened to be staff wage increases.  It was hard for me to understand that some of our staff were living on less than $200 per month and supporting their families this way.  Our office supports its admin functions (which include a 17-person staff) in five, fairly evenly distributed ways: 
1) 2.5% of missionary ministry donations and 5% of project donations
2) Interest on investments
3) Exchange rate gains and account charges for the SIM "bank" here in Kenya
4) Field admin charges each missionary pays monthly
5) Charges to other countries we for whom we do bookkeeping

The impact 9/11 had on the US was felt everywhere and Kenya was no exception.  Our (SIM's) investments had lost money (like many people's), but the loss had to be absorbed and so each country actually had to pay back into the international fund.  Donations were down, and consequently, so were admin portions of those donation.  Only field admin charges held stable.  (Implementing charges to other countries was one of the first things I did when I got here as half of the admin staff's time is spent on work for other countries, so that was a new charge just this year.)

Kenya's inflation rate over the last five years was at 47%!  Needless to say, with the downturn of the market and loss that SIM Kenya was facing, salaries could not be increased enough to meet even the country's inflation. 

We gathered data from similar organizations operating here in Kenya and did a salary analysis to determine how far below "standard" our employees salaries really were.  It was not a pretty picture.  So, with cuts taken elsewhere, and a small layoff, we were able to increase employee's salaries to almost level with inflation.  It was a huge endeavor with very hard choices being made.  We're still praying that the market continue to increase in order to help balance the hit to other areas of our budget.  Our staff is hugely important to us, though, and they've stuck with us through this really bad economy.  They are some of the most honest, loyal, Christ-following people you could want to meet.  They are worth 10 times what we can pay them!

We still have a ways to go to get on par with salaries paid by other organizations here in Kenya, but, God-willing, we will be able to adjust again with our new budget year.  Please pray for the Lord to open our eyes to ways of appreciating our employees that are within our bounds, and please keep praying for this market to improve!

Summertime at the SIM compound..

...is a time for kids!  Ashley was so blessed this summer to be able to play with four other kids, all around her age, living on the compound.  Between them, their friends who came over, and the younger set of kids on the compound (ages 2-4), the summer air was filled with squeals of laughter and fun.

 The kids got together and decided that they wanted to renovate the condemned tree house that sits in the courtyard.  We got a quote from our fundi (expert helper) and the kids started doing odd jobs for people around the compound, trying to raise enough to buy the lumber and paint.  After two weeks and about 1/10 of the money raised we knew we needed a bigger project.

It was determined that the kids would have a bake sale.  Kids (and a lot of mom's) baked up a storm and one beautiful Saturday morning, the bake sale was on. 

The children raised nearly enough money to purchase the lumber for the tree house and we pitched in for the rest and for the sealant paint. 

The dads got busy the next day and pulled down the old tree house.

Now, we've got a bit of a problem...we're short engineers on this site, so the tree house is still just a pile of lumber on our back patio.  Anyone out there have a suggestion of how to get his baby off the ground (pun intended). :)

Christian Compromises

Over the last several years, God's been working on me to surrender all.  This is tough.  What if I do?  What will He require of me?  Where will He tell me to go?  (Africa???)  What will He ask me to do?  If I surrender everything, will there be any of "me" left?  Will I have to give up the things I love? (Like ice cream, showers, and sleep?)  Will I have to suffer persecution?  Death?

If I look honestly at these questions and the hundreds of others that come up when I think about surrendering all, at the root is one thing:  fear.  Fear of change mostly, but also fear of the unknown.  God has blessed me with an abundance of things, most of which I've come to accept as "necessities."  But they're not, really.  They are comforts.  They are ideas of what's important, but many people in this world live without them -- and they are happy! 

God knows what's really important and He's promised that the real necessities of this life He will always provide. 

It got me thinking about the compromises we make in our journey to know God and I came across the following sermon notes by Doug Hamilton:  http://www.camphillcofc.org/Sermons/content/20090215PM_Notes.pdf  I don't know Doug, and I don't know if overall he's a totally committed Christian or not, but he makes some good points in these notes.

You can read it all if you want, but today in our devotions I'm focusing on Uncommitted Obedience.

Exod 8:28 And Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make supplication for me."

In response to Moses’ refusal to stay in the land of Egypt and offer sacrifice to God, Pharaoh offered yet another compromise. He said they could go into the wilderness, but “you shall not go very far away”. You have to love Pharaoh’s compromised compromise!  The command was to travel three days into the wilderness, but Pharaoh just wanted them to go "a little ways".


We like to do this in our Christian walk at times. If we are not careful, we will tend to revert back to the lowest common denominator in our walk with Christ. The command is to (Matt 22:37) “…love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” It is all or none when it comes to our relationship with God.


Rev 3:15-16 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.'

Yikes!  How often have I been the lukewarm Christian?  How often, when I've been trapped in Farmville have I heard God's gentle voice to close FB and spend time with him?  How often have I kept playing, saying to myself that I'll read my Bible or spend extra time in prayer before I go to sleep and then been too tired to open my Bible or pray? 

How often have I seen someone in need of prayer and felt the tug of the Holy Spirit to drop all and pray with them, but rather than stopping right then and there, I say "I'll pray for you" because it's more convenient to my schedule to do it later.  Delayed obedience is still disobedience.
I don't want to be that lukewarm Christian Revelation speaks of, but more than that, I don't want to be that "holier than thou" Christian who goes about telling everyone how they should live their life. 

But are those the only two options?  I don't think so.  Jesus said to "abide in me."  Abiding is resting. It's simply striving to be with him at all times and in all places.  Jesus said he'll prepare us for the good works he's laid out for us to do, so there isn't any pressure in trying to come up with the perfect ministry or take the right classes to learn the right stuff to be ready for the future.  He will guide us.  When the time is right, he'll nudge us, and he'll probably put in our heart a great desire for what he's got in store.  If we're excited about something, we push the fear aside.

For me, committed obedience is committing to look my motives in the face and judge them for what they are.  And if I find they aren't Godly motives, then I must recognize them for what they are: just another tool the enemy is using to keep me from the riches and blessing that are in Christ Jesus.

Pearls

(Author unknown -- Modified original story slightly for Kenyan relevance. ;) )

The cheerful girl with bouncy step was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.


"Oh please, Mama. Can I have them? Please, Mama, please!"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading brown eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A hundred and ninety-five shillings. That's almost 200 shillings! If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get some money from Nyanya (Grandma)."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her piggy bank and counted out 17 shillings. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mama James if she could weed her garden for ten shillings.

On her birthday, Nyanya did give her a hundred shillings bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bath. Mama said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Baba. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, Baba, not my pearls. But you can have Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Baba? The one you gave me. She's my favorite."

"That's okay, Honey. Baba loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"

"Baba, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh Baba, not my pearls. But you can have my babydoll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Baba loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver,she finally said, "Here, Baba. It's for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.

Isn't that what we do all the time?  We hold so tightly to the "treasurers" we build up and all the while, God is standing by, patiently waiting for us to give those up so He can give us something infinitely more valuable.

Focus

Take a close look at these pictures: 

What do you see ?



Do you see the old man and the old woman?
Do you see the young woman and the guitar player?





Do you see the beautiful woman?
Do you see the saxaphone player?



At all times, no matter what we are going through, there is something we can focus on that can change our entire perspective and attitude. Did Christ not say, ‘Whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report…think on these things?’ (Phil 4:8) If he was not going to be faithful to provide those other ‘things’ for us to focus on, he would not have instructed us to do so.

As in the pictures above, some things may grab our attention, but others are harder to see.  Does that mean they aren't there?  No, it just means we aren't looking for them (or at them!)

Mat 14:22 to 33 says:

And immediately He made the disciples get into the boat, and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.

And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were frightened, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"

Simply because the Lord supplies good things for us to focus on, does not mean that we do not play a part also. We must exercise focus. It does not just happen. We must exercise it and develop it as a spiritual muscle. It is easy to LOOK at something, like Peter looked at Christ when he stepped out of the boat. It is a harder thing—a learned thing—to FOCUS on Christ and to continue on the water. His hand is always out there, but sometimes it is one step away and other times it is four steps away. We just have faith and keep our focus.

In times of serious battle or struggle, it is almost easier to maintain our focus. Because everything is so intense, we are in that ‘zone.’ I do pause and wonder, though, how many small confrontations we lose in the mundane, everyday tedium of our lives because we fail to hold our focus? Right now—what do you see?

(Thanks to Rhonda Benz - July WOH - for her insight!!)

Moving to Egypt

No, not us, but it got your attention, didn't it?  :-)  Every morning at our admin office we start with "prayers."  It's actually more than just prayers, though.  We start with a couple of songs and then someone does a short devotion.  We follow it with prayers.  Devotion days are assigned and since Jeff has language every morning, "Vigil" days are mine! 

Having just returned from a very relaxing vacation on the shores of the Indian Ocean, I hadn't put the time into preparing as I usually feel I should.  (It's a type-A thing...)  As I crawled into bed the night before, I said an urgent prayer, "God, please give me something to talk about!"  I'm sure I probably should have phrased that more respectfully, but God listens and as I was drifting off to sleep I thought of Joseph.

I love the story of Joseph!  There's just so much good stuff to pull from his life.  While in Uganda, Joseph was the basis for a talk I gave to a group of high school girls on choices..ones they had and ones they didn't.  But that's for another blog.  This evening, God gave me something new, and as I woke the next morning the devo formulated.

God wanted Joseph in Egypt.  He needed him there.  God had a HUGE job planned for Joseph.  There was just the small issue of how to get Joseph to leave his comfy surroundings with his pretty coat and loving Dad -- a home of luxury, likely, as Jacob (his dad) was very wealthy.  Not only did God need to get Joseph to Egypt, but He needed to get Joseph connected with the Pharaoh -- the King of Egypt! 

So, God set into play a series of events that began with a couple of fairly obvious dreams he gave to Joseph.  Joseph spouted off to his already-jealous brothers that they'd bow down to him someday, and even managed to irk his dad by saying the same thing.  It seems that the dream thing may have been the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" with his brothers and sent them over the edge into felony behavior.  In any case, Joseph found himself on his way to Egypt. 

Do you think Joseph felt blessed to be sold into slavery by brothers he trusted, thinking he'd never see his dear, beloved dad again?

As purchased property it was highly unlikely that he had a cushy ride on a nice camel and ate dates and figs on the way.  He was given water and probably bread and likely made to walk through desert and rough terrain behind the camel.  (Oh what a view!)

Do you think Joseph felt blessed as he sidestepped yet another pile of hot, smelly camel poo?

Then God gave Joseph a really good job when he got to Egypt.  Well, really good for a slave.  The Bible says that Joseph's work was blessed by God and everything he did was favorable.  So we know that God was with Joseph then.  And, we know that God has promised to never leave or forsake us, so God was with Joseph in the pit and through the desert hike, too.  Then that evil woman had to lie and make up stories to protect her precious ego and Joseph ended up in prison.

Do you think Joseph felt blessed as he went back to bread and water in the dark, dank, dungeon?

Surely he must have felt hope when the Cup Bearer promised to remember him when he gave him the good news that he'd keep his head!  But two years went by and Joseph didn't hear word one from the outside world.

Do you think Joseph felt blessed as his hopes were crushed each day of those two years?

I think we give Satan too much credit for the "junk" that happens in our lives, simply because we couldn't possibly think things like slavery, loss of home and family, physical exhaustion, ruin of reputation and prison as things that God would allow us to experience...that he would "bless" us with.  Throughout all of these not-so-great experiences, though, the Bible tells us that God was with Joseph and blessed him in each situation he was in.  Without these experiences, could Joseph have been molded into the leader he was?  Without Joseph in charge of all Egypt during the feast years, how many people in Israel and Egypt would have perished?  God needed Joseph in Egypt, and needed him prepared for leadership.

Just because our circumstances look bleak doesn't mean that God has left us, or is upset with us.  Maybe it simply means that these circumstances are the best way for God to get us ready for the blessing ahead.  Maybe He's just grooming us to be a blessing to others.  Maybe...maybe He just needs to move us!

Yakub and the gang

The Kenyan church, as a whole, hasn't quite gotten the point of sending out missionaries. Frequently, they still see themselves as receivers, so the job of a Kenyan missionary-to-be is a little more challenging than that of a "western" missionary-to-be. First, they must convince their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that the church is commanded to take the Gospel to all nations, and that means their responsibility, not just the western church's. Once they are able to do that, then they must raise support in a community with overwhelming unemployment and poverty. Yet, God still calls them and they still respond.


Just after we arrived here, SIM commissioned three new Kenyan Missionaries. I'd like to share with you "Yakub's" call. I'm using the pseudonym as a safety precaution because of the work he's involved in. Yakub, his wife, and their children live in a slum in Nairobi. He is very active in his church there and is well-known to his whole neighborhood. Yakub has a burden to reach the street gangs of youth that run through the slum, so he's made a point to get to know them whenever he has the chance.


Recently, Yakub was hailed by the leader of several of these gangs. Yakub, hesitantly, approached the man, not really sure what was going to happen. The gang leader said, "Preacher, I've been watching you for 10 years now. You are always happy, look smart and you don't seem to grow old. What is keeping you young? You come by here every Sunday. Where do you go?"


"To church," Yakub replied.


"Hmm," the man replied. "I want to know what they tell you there, but I haven't had my breakfast. Give me 50 shillings as I'm not going to church. That will be 10 cigarettes for me, then come back here after church and tell me what keeps you happy."


When Yakub returned, the man was drunk and in the company of other gang members. So - quite boldly - Yakub told him that he couldn't talk to him in his state and he'd be back next Sunday. If the man was sober, he'd talk to him. Yakub shared with me that his palms were sweating and his heart was pumping faster than usual when he said this, and he thought the man might kill him on the spot, but the Lord led him in what to say. The man answered, "I'll see you next Sunday. Thank you for the cigarettes you gave me. Remember to carry some offering for me as well, Preacher!"


Since then, Yakub has met with the man many times, has encouraged him to get an honest job and give up theft, and has even recommended the man to change his appearance. "You're scary to look at with your long, uncombed hair," said Yakub. "You've done many bad things. That's why people avoid you." Through these very frank discussions and other talks on matters close to the man's heart, Yakub has built a relationship with this man.


During this time, Yakub shared with me that the Spirit has not lead him to share the gospel directly, but rather just to let this gang leader see Christ through action. A couple weeks ago the man asked to accompany Yakub to church!


I anxiously await each report from Yakub to see how God is working through this humble man in the middle of his neighborhood to affect a heart-change of the greatest magnitude!


Yakub is currently raising his own support for missionary life. If you are interested in supporting this man's ministry in any amount, email me and I'll pass along the information you need to donate to his account.

Tumaini & Rosslyn Academy

Tumaini is a counseling center run by Africa Inland Mission (AIM) in partnership with many other organizations. People, mostly missionaries, come from all over Africa for counseling at Tumaini. I was surprised at how many missionaries are actually in counseling. The battlefield of the mind seems to be an active place for Satan. If he can't disrupt the actual work, he disrupts the worker. Please pray that we are vigilant in keeping our defenses up with these attacks on and in our minds. That we can identify and hold captive thoughts that are lies planted by the enemy and that we can constantly renew our minds in the Word.

Tumaini is also the place we took Ashley for what we hope will be a positive identification of a learning disability. Strange to say, "I hope my daughter has a learning disability," but it's better than saying, "I hope my daughter is openly defiant of my instruction and that of her teachers!" Before we went, however, we had to complete an 80 question survey of Ashley's behavior. All of her teachers also had to do this. It was supposed to have been completed by Monday morning at 8am, but the teachers didn't get the survey until Thursday and trying to get 4 teachers all to do the survey by Monday at 8am was too much to ask. Consequently, Jeff had to drive to school to obtain the surveys and hand carry them to Tumaini. This was not met with a friendly spirit at the school. Oh well, be that as it may, we were able to continue with our appointment Tuesday even if it had to be pushed back a bit.

The counselor said it is highly likely that Ashley has ADHD with the Hyperactivity portion exhibiting itself as impulsivity rather than hyperactivity. However, he recommended we have a few more sessions and some other testing to identify whether or not she has other factors contributing to this. So, this summer will be a series of tests and counseling sessions to determine how best to help her. Please pray for God's guidance.

Ashley finished up school OK. She brought most of her grades up a little from the first quarter, so we're happy about that. She also got her SAT's back and though her math was very low, her reading levels put her at post high school. Guess I know what we'll be doing this summer...Math!

Pole sana, Ashley! (I'm so sorry.)

Friday we visited the other MK school in Nairobi, Rosslyn Academy. Most of our friends have sent their children there. We opted not to because Rosslyn is an hour away and West Nairobi is 20 minutes away. Rosslyn is also more expensive than WNS. However, we've heard that Rosslyn is better able to handle kids with learning issues and that their students are very welcoming to new kids..something Ashley did not experience at WNS. We weren't able to get Ashley in to shadow for a day at Rosslyn before school let out, and we weren't able to meet with either the Resource Teacher or either of the two second grade teachers, unfortunately. We did get a good tour of the facilities, though. The campus is very large (40 acres), but the student body is nearly twice as large as well. They have more availability for extracurriculars like sports, drama, music, etc. They also have a theater, a gymnasium, and a swimming pool. However, it is also more of a college preparatory school and the academic requirements and responsibilities are greater than those of West Nairobi.

I'm not sure which is the lesser evil: having 5 hours of homework each night, or having no friends at school. Actually, in this last few months, Ashley has made a couple of friends at WNS. It's far from the warm, friendly environment we were hoping for, but it's giant leaps ahead of where she was when we got to Kenya.

Anyway, we were told by Rosslyn admissions that although 6th grade doesn't have any openings just now, we would be put on the list in the first position if we could get our application turned in by Wednesday next week. Seems missionaries have a higher priority than others, so we could slip in before the others in line if they have not yet turned in their applications. We're supposed to turn in a completed IEP (Individual Education Plan) with our application, but we won't even have that until Ashley finishes counseling. Please pray for wisdom for us as we desire to do the best for our daughter and stay in line with God's ultimate plan for her. Sometimes working through difficult situations is God's plan as it grows us in ways that comfort and ease can not.