We’ve been in Africa for two weeks and I already feel like I could stay here forever. The Kenyan’s hospitality, their culture, their love of Jesus, their worship sessions, and their adorable little black babies have all stolen my heart. I just love Kenya. We are having a ball with our contact, Pastor Ezekiel, evangelizing door-to-door and teaching Bible lessons at schools. It is amazing to already see the fruit of our ministry, considering we have only been doing ministry at Deliverance Church for one week. Our team had a night of sharing right when we got to Deliverance Langata and we all went around and shared what we would like to get out of this month. We all said different spiritual goals: more disciplined quiet time with the Lord was mine, more joy and passion for sharing God’s love was another team mates, and my team mate, Paul said he would love to have Christ use Him to bring someone to salvation and help disciple a new believer in their walk with the Lord. We all prayed and had worship and I genuinely petitioned to the Lord, asking Him to give us our spiritual goals for the month (as long as they were under His divine will, of course). We returned later that day with Pastor Collins, the Youth Minister, to help translate for us, and a Swahili Bible. Paul and I were able to talk to her about what it truly means to make Christ the center and foundation for her life and what God’s love for her is truly all about. She said she had such a peace and love in her heart as we were talking to her and we promised to continue coming back and discipling her as the month went on. We gave her tons of verses to start with and look up in her new Bible and she was just glowing with Christ’s love inside of her. It was so special to see someone in their later years of life come to know Jesus as their Savior for the very first time. She said that she had never truly understood the whole concept of God’s love for us and that no one ever took the time to tell her about it…until now. Paul and I told her that if God had sent us on the World Race ONLY to bring her, Maura, to Jesus, then our entire year of missions would have all be worth it. I prayed and then said that if any one of these young men wanted to receive Christ as their Savior, they should come to the front so we could lay hands on them. About ten men came to the front of the stage. Eight of them had already made Jesus their Lord and Savior but wanted prayer to stay strong in their walk with the Lord and to resist temptation from the Devil. Two of the teenage boys decided for the first time to commit their lives to the Lord. Paul was able to pray for each of them and talk to them while I ministered to a few of the boys who were having problems with resisiting peer pressure at home. It was such an amazing Sunday and it was so wonderful to see how God can use US when we are obedient and willing to answer His call.
Well, fast forward to our very first day of ministry, doing door-to-door evangelism. In regards to door-to-door evangelism, however, I have decided that no matter how many times you do door-to-door evangelism, it will always be a bit weird and awkward if you’re coming from a “cold climate” state background. I have lived 22 years of my life in Colorado and I have been brought up to simply not do things like that. During door-to-door evangelism, we are walking up to people’s houses, knocking on their doors UNINVITED and as STRANGERS, telling them we’re missionaries and asking to come into their homes. I was raised to not talk to strangers, and with stories of scary things happening if you go into a strangers house not knowing who they are or what they’re like. This is just my own experience telling me this. When I did door-to-door evangelism on a mission trip in South Africa in 2008 I was so uncomfortable at first. I had never done anything like it before and I was awkward and scared. Now I know that it’s different in Africa, and widely accepted just about anywhere you go. If I did this in the majority of the “cold climate” states, I probably wouldn’t be welcomed into a home as an uninvited stranger, and even if I was, there is a pretty good chance the person wouldn’t completely change their religious views because of what I said (unless the Holy Spirit had an agenda different than my own, that is).
I’m not saying people don’t do door-to-door evangelism in America. I have a team mate who lives in Georgia (a “hot climate” state) and her church does door-to-door all the time. People are just different in terms of openness and hospitality depending where you are in America. It varies state to state and even city to city. From my personal experience in my town doing door-to-door petitioning for non-religious campaigns, I was never welcomed into a home, and only a small percentage of people gave me a measley five minutes of their time to listen to what I said before they shut the door in my face. This is just my personal experience from a small section of the country. Depending on who’s door you walk up to you may even be met with people who have twenty guns hidden in their house and guard dogs…this is the sad truth about the matter of what I have personally experienced in my tiny section of the US. Again, Americans are not all this way. They are VERY diverse, and do not take what I say in this blog as FACT, but merely my own personal opinion that is derived my my own personal experiences with this matter in my hometown.
So there we are, approaching an apartment complex in Nairobi, getting ready to ask everyone if they have or want a relationship with Jesus Christ, and I’m a little nervous thinking, “…we would get shot for doing this in America“. Is this an exaggeration? Of course, but it’s still what I was thinking. Door-to-door still makes me nervous and awkward at first. Mac, Haile and Nikki decided to go in a small group on one side of an apartment complex and Paul, Pastor Ezekiel and I go to the other side. We started on a floor where all the apartments were empty, everyone was at work. I was feeling a little frustrated, but I knew God had a plan for the day. Then, we made it to the second floor of the apartments and Pastor Ezekiel knocked on a door, and immediately an elderly woman answered the door holding a baby. She was so precious looking that I couldn’t help but smile widely at her.
She didn’t speak English so Paul and I just stood there smiling at her while Pastor Ezekiel talked to her in Swahili. All of a sudden, Pastor Ezekiel turned to us and said, “This woman wants to receive Jesus Christ as her Savior for the first time. Start praying for her while I pray the sinner’s prayer with her.” Paul and I beamed at each other…we were both so happy! The first day of ministry in Africa and God was already using us to bring people to Christ. We prayed over her while Pastor Ezekiel prayed with her and then we promised to come back later that day with a New Testament Bible for her in Swahili. I was so happy, I turned to Paul and said, “God gave you your spiritual goal less than 48 hours after you prayed for it!! HOLLA!!”
Everyone always says that elderly people are extremely difficult to bring to Jesus and disciple. I am always told, “They are set in their ways, Angie…it’s a waste of time to try and minister to them.” This day proved that statement wrong. Christ is just WAITING for us to come running to Him, and it doesn’t matter if you’re 17 or 70, He is madly in love with each of us and is waiting for the day we decide to begin and relationship with Him. The worst thing we can do as missionaries (whether missionaries overseas or in our hometowns) is stereotype people during outreach and put God in a box on who He can and cannot speak to.
We are called to preach the Good News to EVERYONE. Whether they decide to listen and follow is up to them. I am so happy for Maura, my new sister in Christ, and that she has finally seen the light of Jesus and will be eternally praising the Father with me in Heaven. Praise GOD for Maura. I can’t wait to continue discipling her as a new believer in Christ with Paul and Pastor Ezekiel/Pastor Collins. Our week could have ended right there and I would have been satisfied, but God is so good and his gifts and mercies are new every day, so the week got even BETTER!
We continued doing door-to-door and visiting schools in the nearby area, giving Bible lessons and preaching. Alana and I went into a public school classroom full of 50 kids between the ages of 12 to 17 and talked about what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how God can use you in big ways if you make Him your Rock and Redeemer. There were even a few Muslim girls in the classroom that listened attentively as Alana and I talked about Jesus and sang Christian songs with them. It was such a blessed time. Yesterday I had the opportunity to preach at an all boys boarding school. I was very excited to walk into the room and see 100 pairs of eyes smiling at me and the team. I preached to the boys on 1 Timothy chapter 4 that states,”Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” I used examples of how God has used young men in the Old Testament for His glory. Youths like Samuel, David and Jeremiah were discussed and I concluded that when you become truly obedient to Christ’s calling on your life, and make Him the Master and Commander of all your plans, He will bless you and use you in mighty and powerful ways for His Kingdom and His honor.
In our first week of ministry in Africa, God showed me that there are people, young and old, that are waiting to hear the Good News. It’s up to me and my team to bring the Gospel to them. Hearts are being softened, the Holy Spirit is speaking revelations and truths into people’s minds, and the Kingdom is coming to Nairobi, Kenya. I cannot wait to see what happens this month in ministry. I know God will continue to blow my mind with His love, His timing and His plans. Please continue to keep my team and I in your prayers. With ministry going so well, and people coming to Christ, the Enemy is trying to attack us with sickness and theft. Angela and Nikki both have typhoid fever, and Paul and I have both lost electronics. However, Satan will not win. The Enemy will be defeated and his plans will be diverted and destroyed, in Jesus’ name. Like the song says, “Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other, our God is Healer, He’s awesome in power, and if our God is for us, then who can ever stop us, and if our God is with us, then who can stand against us?” No one can stand against us when we are fighting with the mighty King. AMEN!! Peace and blessings to you, loved ones. Thank you for your prayers, blog comments, love and support!!
Paul and I with Maura, Natasha (5) and baby Jaden!!
