IT WAS AN AVERAGE DAY
I woke up, got out of bed and entered the common room to wait for breakfast and read my bible. I’d been feeling a bit under the weather the last day or two but resolved that I could make it through a day of ministry. Breakfast turned out to be chai tea (as always), fried dough resembling donuts minus the sugar, toast, peanuts and salt and vinegar potato chips. I ate my fill while my team sat around eating and chatting
with our contact before we be headed out for a day of door to door evangelism in nearby villages. When we arrived at the village church, we quickly split off into teams to cover various villages in the area. Setting out, I was feeling okay, not the best but praying God would sustain me. We crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road. Along the path, we prayed for many believers in the church. Then we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields filled with ditches, mud, sheep and corn like the Kenyans do. Pathways are beaten down by the hundreds of people who have walked the field before us. Homes and paths are separated by ditches to drain the rainfall and it gives me the feeling of miniature kingdoms separated by moats on this luscious green land. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they are crafty camouflage artists. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas in recycled glass bottles. They turn on their television for background entertainment; it was powered by a car battery. We prayed for widows, orphans, believers, wives married to non believers, and a wife married to a murderer. We headed back to the church, crossed a barbed wire fence for the 3rd or 4th time – I got stuck by my skirt, again. Exhausted and tired, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch and chatted with our new Kenyan friends from the church then headed back home. Another average day on the world race.
IT WAS AN AWFUL DAY
“Ugghh, I hate waking up this way! Throat totally dry, nose crusty and sore from blowing it every 2 minutes the day and night before. I’m miserable.” I was half awake, half asleep and in a restless/unrested mode. I threw on my sleep mask and managed to get about 40 more minutes of sleep before pulling myself out of bed. I cracked my ribs last month, and although I’ve been healing, sometimes I forget and irritate the injury. This morning it also seems to be effected by my current sickness because I’m experiencing a new sharp pain involved. I have major sinus pressure, the mucus in my nose is not letting up and I think I might stay back for the day. But as I wait the morning out, it seams I might be able to make it. Breakfast is served and it includes peanuts and potato chips, how weird, I’d never eat that for breakfast. We arrived at the village church and quickly were
split off into teams to cover a few areas around the village. We crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road. Setting out, I was feeling okay, but I was physically done with the day around 11am. “We planned to stay out until 3:30pm, how on earth will I survive until then?” Trudging along, we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields filled with ditches and mud waiting to claim my shoes. I think I’m allergic to corn, my nose hasn’t stopped running this whole day. I’ve blown through more than half my box of tissues and collected enough dirty ones to fill most of my backpack’s outer pocket. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they freak me out most of the time not knowing what lurks behind the vegetation. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas. My teammate requested orange fanta which turned into two, one for me, one for her. I don’t like orange fanta. They turned on their television for background entertainment; the same song played for about 15 minutes. Throughout the day, we prayed for believers. “I thought we were here to evangelize? But these people are already saved. Yeah we’re praying for these, but aren’t we missing the point?.” We headed back to the church, crossed our 3rd or 4th barbed wire fence and I got stuck, not again! Exhausted and tired, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch then headed back home. An awful day on the world race.
IT WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY
“Ugghh, I feel pretty terrible, restless and unrested. How am I going to get a few more minutes of sleep?” Remembering I set my sleep mask next to my pillow, I threw it on. 40 minutes later I woke up feeling much better and more rested. I pulled myself out of bed and over to breakfast. The ‘I’m not feeling so good’ morning didn’t leave me, but I didn’t wanted to miss out on ministry and I felt up to day before me. Breakfast arrives and we have those fried dough things again. My favorite! We arrived at the village church and quickly split off into teams to cover areas of the neighboring villages. Setting out, I was feeling okay, not the best but praying God would sustain me. As we crossed the road, crossed a bridge and entered down a dirt road, I found that God did exactly that. Nothing about the day was easy, but manageable with God’s help. Continuing along, 
we went off the road and shortcut through endless fields of scenery I never knew existed in Kenya. It’s filled with rolling hills and mountains, beautiful and green. There are noises in the corn from chickens hiding out and darting in front as we pass by, they’re sneaky creatures and it’s fun to try and spot them and they blend into the background. We entered yet another home to pray and they offered us a round of sodas. They gave me and my teammate orange fanta which is not my favorite and my teammate should really have sugar due to health and food allergy issues. Grateful for the hospitality we drank, but I worked out a quick-witted switch around where I could help her out and drink most of both mine and hers. They turned on their television powered by car battery, “how resourceful and smart for a remote village that doesn’t get any power.” I walked out with a clever sense of satisfaction. We prayed for many, they were all believers. But I wondered “what purpose we really served to these people? We are on a mission to evangelize, these are already saved.” But then God reminded me that as I walk around, we bring Christ where we go; I can see God’s people, understand them better and grow passions for their souls. Growing up in church, people would often talk about praying for the nations. I could send up blanket prayers not really knowing the needs of countries foreign to me. But now that I’m here, I can see the faces, see the needs, understand how to pray more effectively. We headed back to the church, crossed a barbed wire fence for the 3rd or 4th time. I just smile and laugh as I get stuck again. Exhausted, tired but content, we reached the church, ate a bit of lunch then headed back home. An extraordinary day on the world race.
All morning and afternoon I was trying to evaluate what I thought about the day, was this a good or bad day? My nose wouldn’t stop running, sinus pressure filled my head and my ribs were aching. But I also got to see the beautiful land of Kenya in a way that the average tourist never can and in the process God gave me revelations and little things kept popping out along our way that inspired me. I was seeking answers and yet all I could see was a blog forming around me.
Life is a matter of perspective.
Choose to look at life with a positive spin – it’s there and usually not to hard to find.
