So as I mentioned before, Kenya was a month of redemption for many people on my squad. Whether it was issues with contacts they stayed with, ministries they disliked or that felt unproductive, Kenya take one was not the best month for all the teams on D squad. My team at the time [Intimate Grace] had an amazing first month in Kenya. As a team we were able to do whatever ministry we were asked to do and do it functioning well as a team. We could laugh and have fun together no matter what we were doing. Even if the tasks seemed pointless to us, we were able to come together and enjoy ourselves. Some individuals on the squad were left with a bad taste in their mouth during Kenya take one. Whether that was from their heart being in a different country or being homesick or being physically sick, no matter what it was… Kenya take one was rough on a lot of people on the squad.
God had us stay in Kenya for redemption.
Many of the people whose heart was elsewhere or who didn’t like their original ministry location who eventually changed locations found a real passion for Kenya. Many of them want to start ministries for a variety of things. Things like: a ranch with animals, gardens, an orphanage, a clinic, a school, and a home; a street kid ministry; a counseling center; bringing awareness to FGM [female genital mutilation aka female circumcision]; and some other things that I can’t even remember because people’s dreams are so big and so awesome. The people who changed locations were able to also see Kenya in a different light so that they were not completely turned off and disgusted by the country.
God had me stay in Kenya for redemption.
Even though our house was small, our families hearts were large enough to house 13-14 women in a three bedroom house along with their family of 4 and a housegirl. So put that together and we had 18-19 people staying at the house on a regular basis. Two bedrooms stuffed, people sleeping on couches and floors, even people staying next door at two separate neighbors houses just so that all of us could live in the same general location. I am positive we broke many health codes, fire codes, and I know that one more than one occasion we broke multiple traffic laws. In this house was my team of seven [Graceful Avalanche] and another team [Amani Warriors]. Amani Warriors has 5 of the girls who were on a previous team of mine [Majestic Summit]. To be honest, I was not looking forward to staying in a house with them for the whole month. I thought it would look too much like Majestic Summit. All the women who were on Majestic Summit were in the same house. Two on us one team, my team. And the five others on Amani Warriors. I was kind of annoyed. I was afraid. Afraid that I would be stifled like I was when I was on a team with those women. I was awkward around them for a little while. But then I had to remind myself that I wasn’t on a team with them anymore. God knew what he was doing and it was going to be okay. When we went to do ministry, the way that the numbers fell, I was often with the girls from my former team. I did ministry alongside them again. And without knowing it, there was my redemption in Kenya. I began to have fun with them. I began to love them in a new way. I began to share a freedom with them that I did not have when we were on the same team. I wasn’t afraid to tell them or show them the things that the Lord had done in my life over the previous two months when we were not together. I began to see what I missed out on when I was on a team with them. There was so much laughter and so much love and I bonded with especially four of them the last two weeks of ministry more than I did the whole two months we were together.
Redemption is so beautiful and I see so much of the grace that they had for me. They showed ridiculous amounts of grace to me when we were on a team together. Grace that I didn’t deserve, but they gave me anyways. They saw me at probably the worst point on my race. They saw me at my lowest and loved me through it. I love them so much and I appreciate them so much more than I ever did. God had a reason to keep me in Kenya and to put me in a house with the women from a previous team for the specific reason that I needed redemption in my relationships with them. Gosh I love redemption.
Much love,
-A
