Have you ever herd the phrase "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off?" Well let me tell you something, that is the truth. Yesterday I watched a chicken get its head cut off, and if someone wasn't holding its feet, it probably would have run all the way to Uganda! It was awesome.
On a more down to earth note, our ministry here in Kenya has been unique. We leave our country with no expectations except maybe one, we expect to serve. We come ready and willing to do whatever it takes to share our love and that of Jesus Christ. So what do you do when you show up to Kenya and are asked by the people to rest and relax? If there was one thing to shatter our last expectations it would be Kenya. The church needs a new toilet room…they don't want us to help build it so that we can rest. We want to eat the same way as the culture, they prepare the best of foods for us to make us comfortable. We want to do some chores around the complex, they tell us that they will take care of the jobs. At first this was so difficult to allow. I mean, why do they think we are here, just to sit around like royalty? Really the only thing that we have done since we have been here is go out into the neighborhood twice to pray and present the gospel to people, and play with the kids. What's the point?
And then I was talking to a local man named Joseph. He told me that he was so blessed by our presence here. He said that by leaving our country of comfort to come here to Africa we are sacrificing so much. To be honest I wasn't seeing much sacrifice. I was seeing a camping trip. And then a flood of memory hit me. The way the kids run to us like they ran to Jesus, the faces of the two people who came to know Jesus for the first time after we spoke with them, and the joy that it brings to our brothers Arastus, Edward, and Karis to be able to prepare us meals and sit with us. Believe it or not, we are doing ministry. Being served is just as much of a ministry as serving. I think God wanted to teach us this during our first month. I am happy to be right where I am and so grateful for the people of Kenya. Bwana Asifiwe! (Praise the Lord!)
The Man With Unclean Lips,
Brandon Barnum
