Hello
from the middle of nowhere Africa! And
when I say middle of nowhere, I mean it.
There is absolutely nothing out here.
A lot of open fields, few trees, very spread out houses, no modern
civilization at all. We’re here in a
village in Kenya called Tangeytatue, where many people of the Masai tribe
live. We’ve been doing door to door
evangelism and going to schools talking to and playing with the children. The people here have an amazing love for the
Gospel. Members of the church are
willing to walk miles to come to church on Sundays. The pastors are willing to walk even more
miles to go with us to spread the truth and love of Christ to people. Definitely humbling.
But
today I want to focus on the simple life.
Like I said, there is very little out here. No running water. No stores.
No beds. No modern comforts. And even though it’s hard, I kinda like
it. There’s definitely something to
learn from being in a place with few possessions or modern comforts.
In
Matthew 13:44, Jesus tells His disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like
treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he
has and buys the field.” In other words,
Jesus’ love is so amazing that we should be willing to give up everything that
we have in order to achieve it. When
we’re in a place with little material possessions and distractions of the
modern world, it’s a lot easier to focus on God. And I’ve seen that not just in myself but in
the natives here. Obviously, the natives
didn’t choose to have very few possessions.
But nonetheless, the Christians here have more joy than most western
Christians. And I think a lot of that
comes from knowing that God is everything and not having a desire for the
things of this world. That’s a lot
easier to do when you don’t know a lot of the things of this world. Maybe the simple life is what God truly
desires us to live.
Do not love the
world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of
the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from
the Father but is from the world. And
the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of
God abides forever.
P.S. Please continue to be praying for our
team. We just finished up two weeks with
the Masai tribe in Tangeytatue. Please
pray that the seeds that were planted as we evangelized will continue to be
watered by the church here and grown by God.
We also came across several people who need healing and other
needs. Please pray for John, a 6 year
old boy who, because of being paralyzed on one side, spends all day in lying in
a bed. Please pray for several mute and
deaf people that we came across. Please pray for Cecilia, her 11-year-old son Emmanuel
and her 19-year-old son Daniel. Cecilia
and Emmanuel both suffer from HIV/AIDS.
Daniel, due to the death of his father (also from HIV/AIDS) and the
frailty of his mother, now has to be the provider for his family. Please also pray for Joseph and his son
Mowgli. Mowgli is a special needs child
and his father desperately wants to send him to a special school but needs the
money.
You can
also be praying for the team. On Monday,
we will be headed to Kiale, another village where we will spend two more weeks
sharing the love and truth of Christ with the people. Please pray for continued joy and strength
for the team. Pray that we will all continue to see God’s purpose in what we
are doing and that God will continue to use us in amazing ways.
Finally,
please be praying for Hailey and I, that we will continue to have wisdom and
discernment as the leaders of the team.
P.S.
again. I am still in need of about $250 to be fully funded for my
trip. If you want to donate towards this
cause, you can click the “Mind on my money, money on my mind”
link to donate online. Or you can be old-school and write a
check. To donate in this way, make out a check to Adventures in Missions
and put “For Robby Smith – Passport” in the memo line. You can
then mail it to Adventures in Missions, PO Box
534470, Gainesville, GA 30353-4470. I also still have
student loans and other personal expenses. If you would like to donate
towards this cause, you can make out a check to Robby Smith and mail it to Robby Smith 306 Saltlick
Trace Peachtree City, GA 30269.
