(From left: Jake Schmitt, Channele Givargis, Jordan Fath, Bishop Moses, Brandon Boyd, Pastor Daniel)
This blog is entitled as an exposé; however, I’m pretty much disregarding most of the AP Style rules, however all those professional journalists who read my blog can forgive my casualness. All in all, this will illuminate who we live with, and what we’ve been doing in Kenya.
Bishop Moses Wamalwa Khaemba, 45, is our main contact in Kitale, Kenya. His family of seven, two adopted, has been an extraordinary blessing to our team, and we have experienced amenities we did not expect to have in Africa. Our expectation was lack of internet, running water, electricity, and food as bland as poi. Instead, we have an internet stick that we share among the five of us, hot water, electricity that occasionally flickers, and great food.
The four weeks we will spend in Kenya will be with Bishop Moses and his family. He is one of the most authentic men I have ever met, and his faith is unshakeable. He believes wholeheartedly in the power of prayer, and instead of merely praying passionately, he begins, ends and lives each day in prayer. To him, prayer is a “shield and a weapon,” that Christians must hold at the ready.
Bishop Moses is also a man of great humility. He knows his limitations and the blessings that have been poured over him, and thanks God for them. His churches are called New Life, and he is in charge of 78 in Kenya, and 33 in Uganda.
We have gone to a different church each week, and he endeavors to maintain a personal presence as often as possible. Many are more than an hour outside of town, with those in Uganda obviously being further. While he has countless pastors and associates underneath him in title, his exchanges with each gives the impression they are all friends and peers rather than “boss” and “employee.”
He considers himself a “coordinator of God’s functions,” and says his greatest limitations are financial support and exposure. Further, some of his pastors have inadequate training, though they are trying to remedy that.
His biggest request is for more partners, prayerfully and financially, whether domestic or abroad. Churches that seat almost 300 members an be constructed for roughly 130,000 K Sh (shilling), though they are merely iron sheets. He has been constructing a church of brick and steel for nearly five years that has cost over 2 million K Sh.
He began preaching in 1987 at a funeral. Like most funerals, a pastor is required to speak before the casket is lowered into the ground, and the pastor arranged for this funeral failed to show. The gathered kept looking around for someone to speak, so Bishop Moses decided to speak, and preached from Acts 17 about how we have no choice but to repent or perish. After that day, he was sure of his calling.
Our weeks are governed by ministry chosen. The first week, we spent time at an orphanage and school called Haven, and met some incredible kids and faculty under the direction of a pastor named Simon Wafula and his wife, Liz. Viewing teammate Channele Givargis’ blog, here, offers a great look into that particular ministry. I was personally surprised that I found a fondness for teaching, and could maybe even see myself teaching in the highschool or even collegiate sectors. In addition, we spent two days praying at a hospital with a pastor named Daniel.
The second week, Bishop Moses took us to a local church under the direction of Pastor Sammy Aswani, an extremely charismatic man who led us in door-to-door evangelism. Jake Schmitt and I, together with two members of the church, Esther and Bennard, walked for literally miles to meet with members, and those who did not know Jesus.
At first it could only be describe as awkward, not knowing what to say or how to say it, and their being an expectation placed on us that we would fall naturally into a groove. The people were so welcoming that that’s exactly what happened. The ice was broken by Jake and I struggling to learn Kiswahili phrases and being laughed at for mispronunciation, or jovial laughs when we got it right.
This is the third week of ministry in Kenya, and we spent the day walking around Kitale town itself, talking and sharing the gospel with people. “Those who are not in God’s kingdom are in the Devil’s kingdom, whether they know it or not. The Devil uses people in many ways. So, what we are doing today is an invasion into another kingdom,” Bishop Moses said at the beginning of our day. While it may seem like an intense statement, it set a tone for the day that what we were doing was incredibly meaningful.
The streets were caked in mud from the daily rain, and the five of us were like flecks of sugar in coffee. Almost immediately, kids who live on the street attached themselves to us, and we began talking to them about trivial things, as well as what we were doing in Kenya. Jake and I were partnered again. The kid who walked with us at the beginning gave an almost rehearsed answer of "Jesus is Lord" when Jake asked if he knew about Jesus. Most of the time, the kids did not know enough English to be able to speak with any measure of depth, but the older kids were able to. We often bribed our words into their ears with 10 K Sh bags of popcorn.
Jake had mentioned seeing french fries on his last visit to Kitale town with Brandon, so we started heading in that direction. We were nearing the place when the french fries were, my intention to buy a healthy portion and devour them as quickly as possible, but two street kids attached themselves to us and began begging for food. Neither spoke much English, and the fries were expensive, so we tried to assure them that we had nothing to offer them but friendship.
In truth, I was willing to pay whatever price for the french fries, even if they were stale and soggy, but the sight of the two kids destroyed that desire. I haven't had french fries in a month, who knows how long it's been since they have had a full meal. Jake was extremely patient, and the kids walked with us for nearly 15 minutes, begging the whole way until we had to more intensely say we couldn't offer them anything.
White people are dollar signs in Africa, and it is hard to break that mentality. Many of the people on the street we spoke to, including a group of probably 8 older teenagers, were either high on glue or drunk from gin. They used the glue to feel the sensation of warmth to shield them from the cold of rain, and in the end got addicted. The guys spoke good English, and we told them why we were in Kenya, but they mostly wanted to discuss who our favorite soccer teams are.
It's sometimes hard to feel compassion for people who are offered a way out of their addiction, and choose it instead of changing. It's equally frustrating to try and offer love to kids who only need to hear a refusal to give them money or food to be convinced that you don't love them.
That's all for now, when I have a few hours to kill with the internet stick, I'll be able to post a photo blog, and I'm looking forward to being able to share more of the people who we have come in contact with. Thank you for your prayers and support, I miss you all. I think about home every other moment, and think about Western food in between those moments. God bless.
