Possibly Last the Post

Hey all,

            I apologize about not posting anything for such a long time, but we have been quite busy lately and the internet was so slow the last time we went to the café that I did not get anything posted. Life here continues to go well. We did have a bit of a hiccup in the last couple days as everyone on the team, except three members, got sick. We think it was some sort of food poisoning. However, God has been gracious and we are all on the recovering end of it now. We are grateful for God’s timing in our sickness because it would have been annoying to get sick in the last week as we were saying goodbyes. The end of our time here is rushing towards us very quickly as we will be leaving in under two weeks from now. That may not seem like so short of a time, but most things we only do once or twice a week, so we only have one or two more days to do those things, like church in Kibera for example. If you would, be praying that we will be able to focus on the work that is before us and not get too distracted by the prospect of going home. For me personally, the excitement of being able to see Hannah and my family has been hard to keep from my mind, especially after being sick in a foreign country. However, the idea of saying goodbye and possibly not seeing many good friends ever again is very sad as well. We are so grateful for the relationships that God has cultivated between us and our brothers and sisters here in Kenya.

            Every Monday we help with construction on the girl’s home at the compound where we stay. The work is refreshing as it is the only day where we get to do manual labor consistently and as a farm kid that is something I miss. Also, the workers are some of the people that I have grown closest to in my time here. There is one big difference between work in Kenya and that in the states and that is that everything is done by hand. We dig the foundation, mix the mortar, move the bricks, stack the bricks and everything else all by hand. One job that we had to do was move all the dirt from the foundation hole to the fence line of the property, which is a trek made through waist high grass on not-so-smooth terrain. While working on this task, I was reminded of Christ’s teaching that if we had the faith of a mustard seed we could move mountains (Matt 17:21). Well, what am I missing out on that I couldn’t just have that pile of dirt moved by faith? To answer that question it is good to look at the book of Nehemiah. In Nehemiah we see the nation of Israel exiled and the wall Jerusalem destroyed. When Nehemiah learns of the destruction of Jerusalem, he returns to the city and rebuilds the wall, with the help of other exiles that have returned, in an astonishing 52 days (Neh 6:15). Regardless of this feat it still is something that was done with much toil and sweat and work done by human hands, or just one hand (Neh 4:17). The reason some worked with one hand was so that they could be ready to defend themselves from the enemies that surrounded them. God was perfectly capable of assembling a wall or defeating but he chose to have his people complete the task by the toil of their hands. Did this mean that Nehemiah lacked faith? Certainly not. He had tremendous faith and we see that by the way that he relies on the Lord for the strength to complete the task at hand (Neh 6:9). Likewise, we should look to the Lord for our daily strength (Isa 40:31) and realize that even if God does not choose to work through us in a miraculous way, that does not mean that we lack faith or that He is not working through us. Rather, God is choosing to use the gifts and abilities that He has given us to bring glory to Him. Remember that everything we do for and give to the Lord is only by that which He has given us (1 Chr 29:14). God is working out His will for His kingdom, of which we are a part. It started before we were born and will continue after we die (John 4:38). Therefore, trust in the Lord and rely on Him for everything as we move mountains for His glory…one scoopful at a time.

            

No Pot, No Chai

Good day all! Our time in Kenya is now over half-way done. It is hard to imagine that so much time has gone by. God has taught me such a variety of things that I don’t even know how to begin to describe. On Mondays we always work on the compound here in Kiserian and though it is impossible to call one of the days a “favorite” it is probably the day that is most enjoyable and refreshing because of the workers that we get to do construction with because we are able to talk to them in our down time. Today one of the workers actually asked me when I would be coming back to Kenya because he said that he would miss me very much, which made my day to hear. Unfortunately, going to Kenya takes a bit more than pocket change, so I told him I did not know when I would be able to come back, or if I would be able to at all.

The other highlight of lately was involved with the house visits we have been doing in Kibera on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. One lady we visited on Tuesday who had been going to church, but stopped going when she left Kibera for a short time invited us into her house openly and allowed us to encourage her. She was very open to the invitation to start going to the church once again, so much so that she asked us to speak with her neighbor, who was involved in a religion that looked like it combined Catholicism and some sort of local religion. That following Sunday we were about ready to leave church and we noticed that the first lady we visited was just about to leave church as well, unfortunately, her neighbor was not in church with her, but we praise God that she was able to come to church once again.

We actually have a couple visitors from the U.S. this week. One of which is Opal from MTW who has been coming to Kenya for many years and has also visited many intern groups. She could not believe how well things have gone for us as a team, but we can only point to God for that. He alone is the reason that things have gone so well and we pray that he will continue to keep his hand of guidance on us. I do have one prayer request though. I have been fighting a cough for about a week now and since I am susceptible to bronchitis I am thinking that it might end up settling in my lungs. Please pray that will not happen so that I may have physical energy during my time here. Thank you so much for your prayers throughout the duration of this trip. Some people may be wondering if I am homesick at all. That has become a weird dichotomy for me. Every day I spend here I come to love the people and the culture more and more. However, at the same time, I long for going home to see family, friends and most of all Hannah more and more every day as well. It is a strange mixture of emotions for me. Thank you to all those who have sent words of encouragement, even though I don’t respond, I appreciate it very much.