Every day is the Lord's day!

August 30, 2010

Sunday was a very full day for all of us. We went to church to find only a few people inside the tent waiting. This is pretty typical. They usually sing and pray long enough for everyone to arrive. The singing was lead by Morris who is a very sincere man but full of charismatic practices. He was yelling so loud I had to plug my ears. Crying and taking deep breaths in preparation for the next long sentence he was about to speak. This went on for, well I’m not sure how long, but it was too long. We all wanted to get up and walk out but at the same time, wondered what God wanted to do about it. George went to the back of the tent to try to catch his eye and put a stop to all the theatrics. As I said in the beginning Morris is a sincere man and probably just needs help to see that what he was doing was fruitless. When it came time for Noah to speak he very carefully but clearly said things to help everyone see that God wanted to do a new thing in them. When they started to collect the tithes and offerings he suggested they give the money they intended to put in the offering to a neighbor in need instead. They wondered how they would pay the rent on the building if they did that. That amounted to 3000 shillings. Noah said he would cover it so they all agreed to do what he suggested. I hope to hear stories about people in their neighborhoods.

We went home to refresh ourselves before the ladies meeting, then headed out again to Carolines house. It was already packed out in the two small rooms she has for a house. Ladies were singing and dancing and enjoying each other. They took turns singing tribal songs but didn’t ask us to sing this time. I think they wanted to spare us the embarrassment. As they were singing I realized our problem is our songs are so different it just didn’t work. I started thinking about African Americans and the songs peculiar to that culture like “ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down”. As I was thinking that song they sang a song about what it will be like when they go to heaven. I tried to fool myself into thinking I really didn’t have to sing that song for them but it didn’t work. So I stood up and told them I was going to sing them a song. No turning back now. Thankfully Amy helped me sing it. They loved it and all joined in. I want to learn some more spiritual African American songs to bring back next trip. We had tea, donuts and ground nuts (roasted peanuts)…..talked and then left to walk over to the hotel conference room we had reserved for the meeting with ladies and Kingdom Hiker girls.

The purpose of this meeting was to open their eyes to see the need of the young people and guide them in how to work towards bridging the gap between them. The older women will teach the younger women as they have been taught of the Lord. They all seemed surprised to know it really didn’t have to be the way it is. They have watched the relationship Joy and I have with Amy and have never seen such a thing. Joy, Amy and I gave them a new vision. I gave each of the girls a pretty handkerchief (like the ones at Dassi and Nicoles passage) to remind them to work together with sweat and to share life’s tears of pain and joy together. 

We gave the women scripture cards to remind them to seek God’s wisdom as they walk together with the young ladies. Nelly, Helen, Mary, Petranilla and Christine also shared. They all seemed to be excited about the future and how they can help each other keep the youth on the right path with God. The young people were encouraged to know they would have somewhere to go with their struggles. Everyone had tea, sausage and cole slaw and visited with each other. It was nice to see them enjoying each other and being in a hotel restaurant. Most of them have never eaten out.

Noah, George and Bob Miller showed up at about that time to pay the bill and pick us up. We got Helen and Petranilla and went to a local restaurant for dinner. It was a good day. We were all very tired and slept well. Which was a good thing because Monday was another very busy day.

We did 5 home visits. We videotaped all of them telling their stories. Abba was the director, Amy the camera woman, I did the interviews with George interpreting, Bob Miller calculated the shillings to dollars when they told their stories and Joy kept us light and helped everyone including the Kenyans. Abba’s blog gives a very good report so I’ll refer you to the tab – Abba’s blog – at the top of this page. I couldn’t do a better job of describing these visits.

I realize I haven’t written a blog in a week. Last week was rough for me with 4 bad days of side effects from the malaria pill so I wasn’t up to writing. Today is Tuesday and George went to apply for his visa. They turned him down again saying essentially he doesn’t make enough money. Although it was a disappointment to all of us we are sure God is in it. We’ll just have to wait.

Reflecting on the events of the first half of our mission I’ve been asking myself, “why we are here?” There are so many humanitarian efforts helping people all over the world. There is so much need. We seem to be doing something a bit different than most missionaries we know of. Our focus is to build the church indigenously - to help them learn to help themselves and each other, to teach them the scriptures that they might learn to live their lives for Him alone, to worship God not only on Sunday but with everything they do and say. God has gathered together the very finest of the wheat to pour out His spirit upon here in Nakuru. May we do all that He asks us to do. Please do not cease to pray for us. 

We need your prayers every minute of every day. Our time is short and we don’t want to waste it.