We’ve been in Kenya for two weeks now, and what an incredible experience it’s been thus far! Our first week was spent getting to know our host and ministry partners. We met an American family living here in Kenya who is running an orphanage, and we got to spent time with some young mom and their children at a place called ‘The Beehive.’ The Beehive is a home for young single mothers who were abused or kicked out by their families. I chose to return there twice more that week and got to know some of the girls, all of whom are between the ages of 15 and 20. I also got to hold some babies, which is always a plus! The following Saturday, Annie, Michaela, and I went to a nearby Java House for wifi and coffee, and we were stopped by a group of American missionaries. They asked us what we were doing here, and we told them about ourselves and about The World Race. After we talked for a few minutes, they prayed over us and surprised us by paying for our meal! They were such a blessing and an encouragement to us! After that, we took a couple of rest days to prepare for our upcoming 5 day journey to two different cities in Kenya, Kisumu and Mumias, which is the point of this blog.
Tuesday morning we set out to Kisumu. To get there was about a 4 hour bus ride through the mountains, and we saw breathtaking views of green covered mountains, blue skies, acres upon acres of tea farms, and refreshing rain storms. When we arrived in Kisumu, it was near dusk, so we met up with our host and made our way to our home for two days. We set up our tents, played Nerts and Bananagrams for the next few hours, ate dinner, then had a restful sleep. The next day we walked down to the shores of beautiful Lake Victoria before going to a location where we would be meeting with some members of the LGBTQ community. In Kenya, being gay or lesbian is not celebrated like it is in America. Those who consider themselves to be part of the LGBTQ community are heavily persecuted and sometimes arrested. They are shunned by their families, and it’s extremely hard for them to get jobs if people know what they struggle with. As Christians, we know homosexuality and transgenderism to be wrong, but they don’t deserve to be shunned from the rest of society. Though God hates sin, He loves them just like He loves us, and He wants them to come to repentance and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. As Christians, it’s our duty to love them and pray for them. That’s why I was excited to share how Jesus changed my life. They didn’t need a lecture about the sins they struggle with. They needed to hear about how Jesus changes lives, about how He loves them through their darkness, and how He wants them to come to Him. That day they heard another testimony and a story about Samson. One man came to Jesus, and the rest of them requested that we pray for them. So we walked up to every one of them, laid hands, and prayed for their needs and their salvation. Afterward, we all ate lunch together and talked, then the team departed and went looking for hippos! The journey to find hippos was just that, a journey. We cut through fields and had to jump puddles, streams, and creeks. Some of us ended up not making it across all of them and landed right in the muddy water. If you’re wondering if I was one of them, yes. Yes I was. Annie ended up getting muddier than all of us when she slipped off the bank of the river and fell into the murky water. We didn’t find hippos, but it was all good fun!
The next day we left and went to Mumias, where there is a large community of Muslims, and an equally as large community of Christians who converted from Islam. While we were there, several of my teammates and squadmates shared their stories and sermons with the church. We worshipped God with them, which was loads of fun! If you’ve never been to a church in Kenya, you need to know that there is a lot of dancing and shouting, and it’s all for the Lord. Toward the end of our time there, the pastor of that church spoke before the congregation and shared a word about joy. But before I explain what he said, I want to give a bit of background about why what he shared impacted me so much.
The 4 months we spent in Asia were tough for me personally. I was struggling hardcore with insecurities about myself, and I was struggling to feel accepted by the people around me. I dealt with a lot of rejection in my past, and I didn’t realize how much my past would affect me when it came to forming friendships. I got stuck in my own head for a long time, and at the end of month 4 in Kyrgyzstan, I began praying and asking God to restore my joy. I was challenged by one of our squad coaches, Dave, to begin writing out everything that brings me joy every day. I agreed, and I’ve kept it up every day since then. I’m pleased to share with you that even though the last month and a half in Africa have been hard, I have been filled with so much joy from the Lord! The pastor’s sermon about joy helped me realize why. He said joy is an acronym, J.O.Y. To have joy, Jesus has to be first in your life. To have joy in your life, you have to think of others before yourself. Jesus. Others. You. You cannot be the focus of your life. If you are, you will not find joy. That’s why I couldn’t find joy in the first part of this Race. I was so focused on myself all the time, always thinking, “Woe is me.” But when I stopped having pity parties for myself all the time and focused on God more, He restored all the joy I had lost, and then some. Do I still battle the lies in my head? Sure I do, but it’s so much easier to fight those lies when I remember who fights for me.
