No one ever told me... (gk)

I was so excited when about 6 months ago, Chris and Lindy invited me to come to Kenya to spend the summer. Actually, excited doesn't even begin to describe it. If you know me in real life, you probably heard me talk about it a lot- I absolutely could not wait! I found out I would be coming back with the two of them, and with Kevin and Lauren. I would be the only member of the group who had not spent time in Kenya.

I used those 6 months to ask countless questions and hear countless stories from the four of them. I heard about different facets of Chris and Lindy's ministry- Ebenezer Farms, the Bible College, the Saint Boys, and on and on and on. I have heard about and seen pictures of their team members, from Thomas and Zippy, to Vitalis and Pastor Indiazi, to many others. I heard about the food. I saw the pictures and heard the statistics of the slums they enter.

They prepared me as best as they could. But there are some things no one ever tells you.

No one told me that Kenya is its own contradiction, where some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and some of the most awful things I have ever seen, lay just a few minutes' drive apart; where children who live in absolute poverty and filth could have bigger smiles and more joy than children of extreme wealth; where churches are plentiful, but Hope is lacking.

No one told me that I would grow to love the smell of the people of Kenya- where body odor becomes beautiful as you are warmly greeted by new friends or get a big hug from one of the Saint Boys after spending the afternoon playing silly games with them. No one told me I would smile, and then immediately stop and pray for them when I go to change clothes at night and I can still smell their hugs on my tshirt.

No one told me I would wish I had a Kenyan accent, just because English sound so much better coming from their mouths.

No one told me that hearing "Mzungu! Mzungu!" called after me as I walk through a street to deliver food would make me giggle, as I watch the kids call to their friends to come and see the funny looking pale people walking through.

No one told me that I would instantly love Thomas and all his stories. He tells them often- while we're sitting at the table eating, when we're in the car, and while we're working with the chickens.

No one told me it could be so different to live with people even if you have known them for what seems like forever- no one told me I would have so much fun cooking, cleaning, and doing dishes with Lindy. Or that we would slaughter and clean our first chickens together, side by side. No one told me that, when I couldn't sleep one night and everyone else was going to bed, Chris would agree to stay up with me for just 5 more minutes. No one told me that he would be okay with it if those 5 minutes slowly turned into an hour and a half, as I asked question after question after question.

No one told me that I would fall in love with these people and this place in such a short amount of time.

No one told me that I would get choked up as we drove out of Kibera, when Chris told me to look back as we drove up a hill so I could see just one side of the slum. No one told me that seeing that rusted tin stacked all over the place, housing for over a million people with smoke rising as people burn trash, would hit me so unbelievably deep as Chris said, "that's hell."

There are a lot of things that Chris, Lindy, Kevin and Lauren didn't tell me. But I think they are things I had to see and experience for myself before I would really be able to understand.

And there are a lot of things I could try to tell you. But you won't get it- not until Kenya steals your heart.

Just take my word for it.

Back in business...

Well, I’ve been on a bit of a blogging sabbatical since I went back to the U.S. and starting a real paying job. Just for the record, I am so glad to be back in the blogging world! Obviously all 5 of us made it to Kenya with only a few… minor glitches. (Maybe we got booted off our flight from G-boro and had to be driven to Raleigh airport.) Like I said, “minor”. For those of you to live for the play-by-play- here is a recap of our first few days in Kenya:

Wednesday night we arrived back to our Kenyan home about 11pm. Like scavengers we searched the house for food and found some sauce in the freezer I froze about 8 months ago and some noodles in the pantry so we made up some spaghetti. Just as we were about to sit down and eat- I look over and behold a container with 3 fresh loaves of sour dough bread. I thanked Jesus for my sweet Zippy! Dottie taught Zippy how to make sour dough bread. :) So we gobbled our food up, showered, and unpacked. We were out early the next morning (after a [loud] reunion with Zippy and Thomas) delivering food to a few schools in Kawangware and seeing the saint boys. I would give anything to have had a video of the st. boys reaction when Chris came walking up. A boy named Daniel (not the st. boy "Dan" who lived with us) was returning from the choo (restroom) and saw Chris. He took off in a bolt running at Chris while yelling his name. Daniel threw his arms around him and began speaking swahili so fast I don't know how Chris understood him. Suddenly, we heard a roar from inside their new classroom building. All the boys came running out the door and jumped all over Chris. It made this wife’s heart so happy to see these boys mauling a man they have such tremendous respect and love for. Why were they so excited? B/c they recognize his love for them no matter how tough or strict he has to be at times. And maybe they missed him a little in the past 6 months.

After we visited with the boys and played games Chris showed the interns Hope Center in Kawangware while I played games with the kids in the schoolyard. I think I almost forgot how great it is to have 30 kids treat me like I'm a walking petting zoo. ::sigh:: After the pet fest we went to the grocery store to restock the pantry and fridge. Our neighbor/landlord brought us dinner- what a blessing! We were all pooped out and our speech was beginning to slur a bit due to our jet lag. J After discussing the day and praying we were all more than happy to hit the sack.

Friday morning we were off to deliver more food and deliver our picture poster the girls put together for the st. boys (Maybe GK will put up a picture later of it.) I LOVED watching the boys get excited about showing me their work and all they had learned. I worked through a few math problems in their exercise books. After I corrected a few of their "wrong" answers they soon corrected ME! Apparently my subtraction skills aren't as sharp as I thought! We left from Kawangware so Grace and Ct could take shots. Typhoid and Yellow Fever shots that is. Both did well and got stickers bandaids. Our last stop of the day was FINALLY getting to see our friends in Kibera. We showed the bible college to the interns and volunteered our services for a bit. Beatrice, Pastors Indiazi, Meshack, and Vitalis were so gracious for the books donated to the college! Thanks all who contributed! We have even decided that the 5 of us would like to sit in on some classes (something I have ALWAYS wanted to do)! We drove over to Berith school and saw the kiddos- SO BIG! I think I got at least a million hugs. Here are the updates in Kibera:

A good friend is pregnant- guess who?

Teacher Esther is pregnant and going to have her baby any day now! She is radiant!

Brian has lost FOUR teeth!

Isaac has run away from school. Please pray that he would come back. He is still living with his grandmother as far as I know. My fear is that when/if something happens to grandmother he could become a street boy. I can't bare the thought of that. We saw him today and he waved at me. I called his name a went after him. I think he was afraid we would be mad at him. Finally he stopped and Chris was able to draw him close to the van with food. We simply told him that we loved him and gave him some protein. His frown became a sweet smile. Chris told him when we'd be back and he walked off.

It just so happens that the Helsby’s are in town and staying with us for 3 nights! We are so excited! We haven’t seen them in 2 years! Saturday we will be doing some things around the house and cooking some meals ahead of time so I can go out to ministry sites with everyone this week.

Hopefully we’ll get to post some pictures soon.

We will be switching blogging duties so check out the blog every other day or so to check on us frequently!

Three

In three days we return to our field. God told us the harvest was plentiful, yet the laborers were few. His imperative upon us was pre-existing, yet the specific calling was clearly to this place. Though the time among family has been extraordinary, David Livingstone's words echo in our hearts, "The haunting spectre of the smoke from a thousand villages still burns within my mind. I must go back." And we, likewise, smell the firewood burning...

There are three anxious and excited young adults readying themselves to pour out their all for 9+ weeks in Africa. Each of them going with varying personal convictions, but one overriding purpose: Glorifying their God. Through spending time sweating in chicken houses, playing with Street Boys, walking paths in the slums to serve children physical food and spiritual food, they will empty themselves only to be filled by something more. Something lasting. Something like Christ.

This morning we heard that there are only three responses to the mandate of taking the gospel around the world: We go, we send, or we disobey.

Thank you Father God for being sovereign over all life.

Thank you Son of God for saving us for your good pleasure and this great work.

Thank you Holy Spirit for giving us everything we need to accomplish this.

Correction

I need to correct some information that I put on the blog a week or so ago: The service on May 23rd will not be to the scale that I was alluding to. They will be focusing a conversation on missions, however the larger plan will be pushed back in order to focus more time and attention on putting together something unique possibly in the fall.

I value missions so highly that the mere possibility of a unique service being formed to compel a large audience into action gets me excited. Sadly, it will take this type of event (and sometimes more) to compel people to get involved.

Here's a picture of something funny for you to National Day of Prayer:

More Than Enough

Exodus 36:2-7 recounts the story of 2 men Moses commissions to oversee the construction of God's sanctuary. Moses had commanded the people to bring contributions to these men so they can complete the requirements God set forth for the construction. They encountered a "problem" shortly after they started. The people kept bringing their contributions till there was more than enough! In fact, the men had to go to Moses and request that he instruct the people to stop bringing their freewill offerings! Such an overflow unto God!

Could you imagine that being written of us?

So often times we share the needs of this ministry and the many servants in Kenya who work so hard for Christ' name to be known. However, I realize that I have missed some other ways that you can specifically bless and support what they do. There are other needs that many of you probably already possess the means to assist in. Here are some needs for our partners that you, your family, your church, and your business can fill:

Laptops - Do you have a lightly used laptop that you aren't using any longer? Our Bible College teachers and team secretary share 1 computer to do reporting, accounting, classwork preparations, testing, and several other ministry tasks during the week. Purchasing a computer in Kenya is outrageously high, yet enables people like Beatrice Chitiavi to be more thorough in her work for the entire team. Pastor Indiazi could put together sermons and do research for his class. We just had a wonderful gift given to the ministry from Bible Works. This Bible software will give them the use of commentaries, Bible translations, and hundreds of other resources that they would never have access to otherwise!

Bible Resources - Filling the Bible College's shelves with commentaries, resources, dictionaries, books on Church history, sermon prep materials, Christian literature, classic works, maps, atlases, charts, posters, and any other sound material just helps students and pastors sharpen their skills and prepare sermons with more depth and insight. Does your church have some they aren't using? Hey, if you have brand new materials and books give them the best and not just the leftovers!

Baseball gloves & balls - Simple sporting equipment like this is almost unavailable in Kenya. The Saint Boys could be taught the sport of baseball and have a new recreation activity.

Watches - We would love to give our partners a watch (not because they are late), but rather as a practical gift and an encouragement.

Digital Cameras - Useful in outreach, chronicling church life and new members, recreation, reporting, and many other practical and personal uses.

However, if you've never made a commitment to supporting this ministry financially, the quiet and valuable contribution that presents is so crucial. $10, $25, $100/ month; whatever it is would be humbly welcomed. It's needed to pay our partners, put food on tables, pay electrical bills, teach children, and grow the Kingdom. (email us or read the info on the right side of the blog to learn how to make this possible)

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These are just a few key things we've talked with our partners about and they've suggested back to us. We've been given almost 300 pairs of shoes by one US partner and I've already shared with you about Bible Works. These do so much in demonstrating our love and support for the men and women who live and breath ministering the Gospel of Jesus!

If you are sure that God isn't calling you to go, then there is only one question to be asked, "How do you help make missions happen?" (The only other option is disobedience to God)

Email us if you are interested in helping us in one of the areas mentioned above. (chrisandlindyt@gmail.com).