This past month in Kenya has been an adventurous one! I have learned to be very patient and flexible in all things because here in Africa nothing is done on time and nothing is as it first appears. We are often asked to speak at a moments notice and change plans in mid-stride. Increasingly, the Lord has taught me that I do not have to know what is going on in order to be obedient. I have confidence that God can and will work through the pastors with whom He has allowed us to parter. I know and take comfort in Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and have been called according to his purpose.”
For our first ten days in Kenya we spent time at Crosspoint Orphanage near Kitale. It was unclear to us upon arrival what we would be doing there, but we were willing to do whatever they had for us. Having arrived late at night, the very first morning I was asked to preach in the church adjacent to the orphanage. Let it be known that this is definitely not something I do on a regular basis at home. I was panicked and desperately asked the Lord to give me a word to share. He reminded me that I had recently read through the book of Esther and I was able to stumble through a message about Esther. I was absolutely surprised that the church thanked me for bringing the Word to them. I am reminded of the scripture in Acts 4:13 which states, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” This verse resonates in my heart because I too am an unschooled (theologically) and ordinary man. The second part of the verse is true as well as I take Jesus with me wherever I go. Fast forwarding to the end of this month, by the grace of God, He has enabled me to become more comfortable with preaching/teaching in a church.
Every morning at the orphanage consisted of tea and bread, accompanied by team prayer, preceded by a dusty run and occasionally followed by a bucket bath. (These bucket baths have become quite normal by the way!) After breakfast we spent our days doing door to door evangelism. We spent a lot of time is people’s homes praying and sharing scripture with them. Something strange happened while I was in one of these homes. I felt true compassion and love for the person I was praying. I know that I should have more compassion for others as Christ would and I normally do for those who I know of a little. I just thought it was awesome because I felt as if I were experiencing the love that God has for this person and I knew nothing about them.
During the evenings we spent time with the orphans singing, dancing, playing games and just loving/hugging on them. We were able to convince them to take part in a drama depicting the Christmas story. After a couple of practices we were complete with quite a professional cast. We dressed them them as Joseph, Mary, angels with halos, wise men with gifts of empty peanut butter jars, shepherds, and little sheep with ears made of cotton balls. I believe it was very much a success. One afternoon we introduced them to a game some of you may know as kickball, but with translation issues I think the game will be forever known as “pole sana” which means “very sorry.” (This was the only way we could tell them they were out!) Despite the fact that the game only resembles baseball, the children enjoyed it and continued to play even when all the mizungus got tired. It was so humbling to see happy children with smiles when they had nothing to their names except a couple changes of clothes and some makeshift toys. I feel as if so often in America we have so much, but we are missing what or should I say who is really important. These children have little, but they know and love Jesus.
