A Bigger Cloud

There are a couple of other resources I wanted to share that will prove to be beneficial to your missiology knowledge expansion.

I would also like to point out that Sunday, May 23rd, Rich Fork Baptist Church (directions here) will be focusing on missions with some unique approaches. This is not merely a sermon on the need for missions. This Sunday will be an opportunity for encountering missions up-close and direct in intentional ways.

I believe so much in your ever-increasing need to be made aware of the missiological topics around our area and world, that I offer this to you as well: www.christianaudio.com has John Piper's book "Let the Nations Be Glad" in audiobook format. With permission from Desiring God Ministries, this book is available for free download until the end of this year. Simply go to the website via the link above, add the book to your cart, and upon checking out, enter the code GLAD10 into the coupon code box.

"Revolutions in World Missions" - K.P. Yohannan

This book is the story of the founder of Gospel for Asia. It's an awesome story of how God moved him from humble beginnings in India to something greater. The individual stories within the bigger one are equally awesome! (You won't be able to avoid asking yourself hard questions after reading it too!)

Available FOR FREE HERE!!!

(seriously, there is no reason not to order this now!)

*** Next week, we will be highlighting several specific resources our partners and this ministry has need of. These are practical things many of you may already possess that could benefit our partners and enable us to be more effective! ***

A Great Cloud of Witnesses

As Lindy and I grow more into understanding "missiology" (study of christian missions), we've encountered several books which have been instrumental in helping us develop a broader view of missions, cross-cultural life, and scriptural instruction for such work. I know there are numerous books on the subject, however I'd like to highlight a few of them and summarily explain their nature and why we've chosen to recommend them. (Please feel free to comment with others you have found helpful)

Let The Nations Be Glad - John Piper

Using, as the center-piece, Psalm 67:3-4 as the driving emphasis for the book, Piper reveals that God has always intended and purposed the nations of this world to come to Him in glory-giving fashion. This book has long-stood as, possibly, the most important book written on the need for missions around the world. (Warning: may cause a change of heart for the direction of your life.)

available: Here

Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility - Duane Elmer

After living abroad and studying the negative effects that missionaries have had on peoples of other cultures around the world, Duane Elmer wrote this with much wisdom and insight to aid short-term and long-term missionaries who would seek to engage others with the Gospel. Sadly, many have caused great harm, without intending to, mind you, on another people group. This practical approach to filling up our hearts with genuine humility toward serving another group of people while remaining faithful and true to the gospel, is highly recommended for ANYONE considering going abroad for a week or the rest of your life!

available: Here

How to Get Ready For Short-Term Missions: The Ultimate Guide for Sponsors, Parents, and Those Who Go. - Anne-Geri Fann and Gregory Taylor

This is a very practical book written for that great majority of people who will spend a shorter period of time in missions. Each year over a million people around the world will spend time abroad doing some type of "service" for another culture. Within this book are questions for the go-er as well as the sender. This was recommended to me recently and I plan on focusing on it a bit more as we offer encouragement and support for the many people who will plan, prepare, and participate in missions for days and not years.

available: Here

There are several biographical books on missionaries that I would highly recommend. I cannot say with enough emphasis how important it is to read about godly men and women who have given their lives to making Christ known around the world. These books, quite possibly, could be more impacting than anything else written on missions:

David Livingstone - "Through the Dark Continent vol. 1 & 2" - Written by Henry M. Stanley

Adonarium Judson - "To the Golden Shore" - Written by Courtney Anderson

Hudson Taylor - "Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret" - Written by Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor

William Carey - "William Carey" - Written by S. Pearce Carey

John G. Paton - "John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides" - Autobiographical

And there are many many more like C.T. Studd (missionary to China, India, and Africa), Jim & Elisabeth Elliot (missionaries to Ecuador), David Brainerd (missionary to Native Americans), Lottie Moon (female missionary to China), and countless others whose lives were lived out in suffering for the Gospel. Yet there are thousands more who never have had a book written about them and will never be spoken of when the great missionaries of the past are counted. You and I may never know their names, but rest assured: their Father knows their names.

(Next week I'll continue this theme by posting sermons and talks given about missions)

The Beautiful Mess...; The Church

We don't love The Church like Christ.

Some of us barely even "like" The Church. We may like our church, but don't even understand that The Church is more important than our understanding of it. We quickly point out it's faults. We identify the areas we don't "prefer". And we certainly aren't willing to suffer, sacrifice, or serve it. Oh no! That's because we think the church is there to suffer, serve, and sacrifice for us. I cannot stop thinking about what Christ thinks of this attitude. Would He even call us His Church?

The following video is one I encourage you to watch. If you don't have time to view the whole thing, then fast forward to about 58:10 and watch the next 15 minutes. Afterwards, I urge,... no I beg each of you; examine your love for your church and The Church. I don't care what denomination you belong to, where your church is, what challenges it is facing. If we don't hurt when The Church hurts, then what motivates us to even care about ever helping it? We won't.

Family Investment

Lindy and I have been so very encouraged by some families that have come to Kenya in the last year or so. I'm not talking about those entering the mission field. I am referring to a couple of families who decided to take whatever "vacation time" or family time they plan for each year and spend it together in Africa; serving. These families talked about doing something else, something different. They prayed about it, discussed it with us, planned what they'd do and how they'd do it, then they came! The investment into their children's lives will have far greater impact than a mouse or the beach could ever dream of having on them.

In thinking of that, I thought it might be interesting to lay out some information to you about making something like this a possibility for your own family. Now, this is just a suggestion of a few ideas and definitely not an exhaustive list of all we do or that you could do if you decide to lead your family to Kenya within the next year.

What might our family do if we came to Kenya this year or next?

First off, the cultural education and experience your family would gain is invaluable. Seeing and interacting with another culture helps build a stronger understanding of the world, plus it gives you a platform to strengthen the Christian worldview that you are fostering in their hearts and minds. Some specific "things" or projects you could do together include:

Food Distribution - Each week our ministry is responsible for the delivery of food supplies to various elementary schools within the Nairobi slums. Over 1000 children are fed through the supplies given each week.

School Visits - Each of the schools we deliver food to enjoy visitors stopping by for encouragement, testimonies, presentation, games, or even a full day of activities brought for the school to participate in (like a mini Vacation Bible School clinic).

Street Evangelism - Parents are certainly welcome to walk with us as we conduct street evangelism within the slums. Once a week, we work with our team to take the gospel to those who need it. (what a great model this could be for your children to see and to bolster your faith!)

Orphanage Visits - There is an orphanage where guests are welcome to come, help feed babies, play with toddlers, love on children, and ease the work load of local mama's who volunteer their time to care for a multitude of abandoned children. Children would be encouraged to interact with these orphans. This is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon (or two).

Saint Boys Project - Plan to spend a day with the boys in our Saint Boys program. These are boys who live in the streets of Nairobi. They come during the week for food, education, games, and love. Play soccer with them. Lead them in songs. Prepare a devotion for them. Take them for ice cream!!!

There are several other projects and things you can do as well. How about having your children collect clothes they don't wear (and you too). Bring them to give to the street boys. Contact your neighbors and collect old books to donate to the slum schools. Got an old laptop??? It could have a use in a Bible College for students to do work on.

What other activities would be recommended for my family to do together?

There are safaris at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro amongst lions and elephants, 7-mile craters and lodges on the edge, trips to massive tea plantations, coastal visits to beaches and abandoned forts, animal orphanages and petting centers, restaurants IN trees, museums, village-life educations, horse-back riding, paintball, open-air markets, and hundreds of things between. There's food from almost any culture imaginable. There's worship services with multi-cultural attendance, and opportunities to simply climb beautiful mountain ranges right out our back door.

What kind of preparations would we need to make in advance?

You do need to be educated on what you need before you make preparations, however they aren't difficult. Here is a quick list of preparations you should consider:

1. Passports for each family member - $100 for children under 16 / $130 for adults.

2. Shots - Yellow Fever vaccination is the ONLY required vaccine mandated from the US. (runs $111 through the Health Dept., or is $23 in Kenya; where we got ours)

3. Proper packing for more sunlight and rough terrain (aka: good shoes)

4. Good Camera - Don't come with an old 1985 camera that takes 11o film! You will regret it!

5. Healthy amount of time together as a family in prayer, preparation, discussion, and communication with us.

What kind of costs are involved?

This is an area that I know many people get discouraged by and even rule out coming. But I don't think that's fair. I have never ever met anyone who has been to Kenya, returned, and then told us or others, "It was just too expensive. I wish I wouldn't have made that investment." That's because no one ever sees it as a "bad" investment.

Therefore, let me give you a summary of the various costs involved:

1. Airfare - Depending on when you are looking at traveling, the airfare could be as much as $2100/person to as little as $1300/person. (June-Aug is expensive / Oct, Nov, Jan, Feb, and March are typically on the lower side)

2. Lodging - Staying at a hotel or other guest accommodations in Kenya could get pricy (like $60-$100/night). But if you stay at the beautiful Livingstone House (shameless plug; I know), it would cost you $40/night (that includes all your meals there at the house. If you stay longer than 9 days, we could make you a deal too!)

3. Entry Visa - $25/person to enter Kenya. Yeah, it's government mandated. Not much we can do about that.

Other than those areas, the only other "real costs" you'll need to consider is spending money, dining out funds, and game park visits (we can talk about that because each one varies).

I can't think of a better investment for your family to do together than taking them and getting them involved and participating in missions. The guest house is just like a large home. Imagine sitting down to discuss the day each evening after spending it in the slums or holding babies. Think of the "freshness" of scripture that would be fleshed out in your family time. Wow! ... Think of the impact that it will have on their futures for years to come; where they might be led as a direct result of their time in Kenya. Time that YOU invested. Think of the impact for your own life! Start praying. Start talking. Start saving. Start sacrificing. You don't need to go out every week. You don't have to have the top-of-the line cable package. You can wear those pants a bit longer and drive that car a bit farther. It all adds up!

So, when are you coming?

I'll bet you didn't know...

I'll bet you didn't know; over 90% of all missionaries in the field are in areas that are deemed "already reached" or established.

I'll be you didn't know: the second largest unreached people group is Japan. (biggest obstacle = having plenty)

I'll bet you didn't know: China will be tithing a minimum of 10% of it's underground church to missions because they have no funds to give. The government would seize it and they'd be jailed. Those candidates who are eligible for service have to have served time in prison. They have a waiting list.

I'll bet you didn't know; There are over 50 restricted nations where Christian missionaries are not welcome. A great number of those are hostile.

I'll be you didn't know; The cost for building a church, training a pastor, and properly teaching the body about evangelism in Kenya would be at most $15,000. There are churches who spend more than that on new signs here.

I'll bet you didn't know; For a Muslim to renounce his/her religion and accept Christ as Savior means they have become an infidel and are to be alienated by the rest of their family, excluded from being mentioned in conversations, and destroyed along with all other infidels. (Praise God for the 24 lives in Guinea Bissau who probably new this when they made their decision)

I'll bet you didn't know; That to "serve Christ" is not merely for people like pastors, youth ministers, deacons, Sunday School teachers, missionaries, or other "professional christian service persons". You cannot state that you love Christ and then never DO anything (Lk. 4:8, 1 Pet. 4:10, Heb. 11:6)

I'll bet you didn't know; If you are growing deeper in your love for Christ and desire to serve Him, you will begin to get strange looks and responses from others. You will even get them from those in "church" who don't understand.

I'll bet you didn't know; There are Kenyans praying for you right now. That I can promise you.

I'll bet you didn't know; There is nothing hindering you from making a difference for the Kingdom today, but you.

Father,

Make us feel so uncomfortable when we see a need that we must act. Your Word does not say, though we wish it did; 'Faith without words is dead.' It says, 'Faith without works is dead.' (Heb.11:6) Compel us to act today. Someone might be forever changed because of a decision we make today.

You are worthy, therefore we live to give you all of ourselves.

Amen

How about you?

What did you do today to make a difference for the Kingdom?

This question was asked at the close of the service this past Sunday at our home church. It originated in the wife of our pastor as she was leading a small group of senior high students during a Sunday evening fellowship at their house. It should be a question we all ask.

Therefore, I would like to ask you to answer this. Each of you who take the time to visit our frail blog read the various articles, videos, and other ramblings; but would you take the time and share some of the ways you, your family, your church made a difference... today? Consider this an opportunity to encourage the body of Christ. Consider this one of those moments where you can build the bride of Christ up to look so beautiful in the eyes of those around you.

Here's how I invite you to do this:

Send me an email with the subject line "a difference" and then write your story of giving God glory through action. If you have something brief, then comment on this blog with your experience. Next week I will share those here with you all as a follow-up (for those of you willing to allow me to post your stories). email: onlyservantsministries@gmail.com

If you realize that maybe you've not done anything particularly God-honoring then I invite you: Give God the opportunity to use the deposit He has planted in you to make Himself look glorious to this world RIGHT NOW. Get off the computer. Go. Be Jesus to someone, somewhere, somehow.

A Single Seed

Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. - John 12:23-26

Meshcack translating for Rich while teaching youth in Kericho, Kenya.

On January 28, 2010 a brother in Christ, fellow co-worker in the ministry, and close friend passed away while serving in Kenya. Richard Key was a single seed which feel into the ground, and died. However, there is a story between the branch and the ground. It may seem brief in our eyes, but is by no means in vain. There is immense worth in such a voluntary choice as this.

Richard Wayne Key chose to devote his life to something besides a life in America where comfort and plenty would be closer than arms reach. So just a little over a year earlier, Rich said, "Here am I Lord. Send me." And that's just what the Lord did. He sent him to Kenya.

Few people could understand a past like Rich's. That's because few people have a comparison. Rich has told me much about his past and how a pursuant loving Jesus came and found him where he was. He picked him up time and time again. But finally Rich saw in Jesus a love that was worth him giving the rest of his life to serve. And that's just what Rich did.

Rich was not afraid to open his mouth and tell others about his Jesus. Whether we walked through the waste-filled slum pathways or taught teenagers in villages, Rich told the same message: "Jesus is enough." When Meshack and I were teaching on relationships, directions for life, or conflict resolution issues, Rich held onto the only message he thought was worth his time; his Jesus. Rich wanted others to know him. He was after God's heart. Even when he and his fiance were married, they wanted their every action to be after God's heart. So that's just what they named their personal ministry.

Rich is a seed that carried a message which brought life, and died doing so. I've no doubt whatsoever that Richard Wayne Key hated his life in this world.... And he has helped produce many many seeds.

Jesus said, "Whoever serves me, must follow me,"; that's just what Rich did. And I praise God for such.

My request to you reading this is now is this:

1. Thank God for the countless unnamed servants who die daily for Jesus to be known where He is not.

2. Pray for strength for those who will die even today for Jesus to be known where He is not.

3. Pray for Shauna, Rich's wife, who carries on glorifying a God and a Savior who sustain her. Be the body we are told to be: lift her up.

4. If you want to be a further source of encouragement and support for Shauna and the work they passionately labored in, then email us and we can tell you how to do so.