First a friend; then a brother!

Our first day spent with Pastor Isaac began with a pleasant surprise. He took us to a barber shop in the Sibanga marketplace and introduced us to Leonard. Then he told us this young man's story. You see, Leonard has a tendency to hang around young men who influence him in negative ways. They keep him out late, he smokes with them, and they persuade him not to attend church. Pastor Isaac pays the rent for the shop in which Leonard works every day cutting hair. That generous gesture gives him less time to "hang around" and enables him to earn some income to support himself. To that end, Ellen took a seat in the barber chair and Leonard gave her a first-class trim! When we left that day, we had made a new friend in Leonard. We assured Leonard that before we left Kenya we would look forward to a conversation with him about his relationship with God. Our last day in Kenya, Pastor Isaac arranged for the four of us to meet in a cafe near the barber shop and we began a conversation which resulted in Leonard telling us he felt it was time for him to commit his life to Christ. He assured us he was making this commitment because he knew it was the right thing to do; not because he wanted to please us. After we prayed with him, Ellen gave Leonard a Bible and Pastor Isaac encouraged him to begin reading the book of John. Leonard promised us he would be in church with Pastor Isaac the following Sunday. Now he is our brother. Praise the Lord!

The barber shop has been Pastor Isaac's vision since we visited Kenya last October. He saw it as a vehicle to enable young people to earn some income and at the same time witness to their customers about the transforming power of Christ in their lives. God has taken that vision to a level Pastor Issac never imagined by using employment at the barber shop to impact the workers as well as the customers.

May 13, 2010

Entry Thursday May 13th, 2010
From Sibanga, Kenya
I am writing tonight in place of Dawn who is very tired. I have just erased many paragraphs about all the things we did yesterday. Once again I tend to get focused on what I can “do”. What I think I am learning is that there is a fine line between being a part of what God is doing and how He would have me participate. Getting into God’s flow is a little bit like driving into a roundabout. You have to get into the flow of the traffic or you will just sit idle and not go anywhere. We need to be connected to what God is doing or it is just idle effort.

Today as we tried to ease into that flow, we have visited two schools where New Life Hilliard and Ekklesia sponsor five children. I got to encourage all the children. While I was going to the schools Dawn was attending a funeral of a church member. The funeral was ‘cut short’ after 4 hours. Dawn was able to speak to the 500+ attendees and encourage them. Meanwhile I was praying with a retired Christian police officer who was ill, then spending time with a pastor and his wife listening to them talk about their lives and ministry. In the afternoon I met with the leaders of the Kipsonga Bead Ladies who live in the slum. I was listening to their situation and working through how the bead sales might help them. Dawn went on to attend the weekly fellowship with the ladies living in the slums. I went on to discuss with Justus how to effectively move the Watergate Cyber Café to Kitale so the revenues will improve. At that point we located a taxi and piled six of us in for the ride back to Sibanga. We bumped along while we tried to get our 2 year old friend Valentine to “kuja” come to us. We parted company with the pastor’s family to have a brief time to regroup before joining our hostess and sharing our days. We had tea, prayer time and eventually to bed.

This trip I have had a question constantly coming to my mind – “What is the church?” I hope we were the church today as we traveled in this place. I am seeing that the church is not a building, not an institution, not a program, and maybe not even a group. I am the root of the church. We are the root of the church. We need to be the walking, breathing church of God whether we walk the soil of Kenya or we are taking dinner at Chipotle. Kenya is a wonderful training ground to have God show me His church. ec

ARRIVING IN AMERICA

After logging more hours of flight time than I care to count and after a record-setting short time of getting through Detroit Customs, I (Dawn) arrived home to Columbus, Ohio at about 1:15PM on Wednesday. Exhausted but craving Chipotle, I made one quick stop to grab lunch before heading home to Riley and all the familiar things I left behind for two weeks. Upon arriving in Amsterdam, Ellen and I had prayer together and went in different directions. She traveled on to Sweden to meet with a new client of Daniel Logistics while I began to catch up on sleep and readjust to the fast-paced American lifestyle. The next few weeks will probably be the most difficult of our trip as we continue seeking spiritual wisdom to understand all we have experienced as well as where we are to go from here. For those of you who have never experienced the blessing of being part of a mission trip, the easiest part is moving through the events experienced each day. The hard part begins as you slow down and have time to actually reflect on what happened and what God is teaching you about yourself as well as what He is teaching you about Himself. Please do not stop praying for us and for Kenya just because we have returned to America. Here are a few things to add to your list:

• Pastor Isaac Gikonyo will be visiting American this June. Pray that God will provide the financial assistance he needs and fill his days with opportunities to minister to the Body of Christ here in the USA.
• Pastor John Nabruk is in need of spiritual wisdom as he continues to shepherd the leaders and church members of Liberty Christian Ministries.
• The Bishop Bireach Bible College is in need of current text books and reference books for its library.
• The Mois Bridge church plant pastored by Timothy Nyongesa is located in a largely Muslim community and has even been identified by Kenyan government officials as a high-crime area. It will take great spiritual strength for all the members of Liberty Healing Center to be a light in this community.
• What does the future hold for ministry partnership in Kenya? Each time Ellen and Dawn go to Kenya, members of New Life Hilliard, Ekklesia and Redeemed Community are involved in Kingdom building. Where do we go from here?

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

I am writing tonight in place of Dawn who is very tired. I have just erased many paragraphs about all the things we did yesterday. Once again I tend to get focused on what I can “do”. What I think I am learning is that there is a fine line between being a part of what God is doing and how He would have me participate. Getting into God’s flow is a little bit like driving into a roundabout. You have to get into the flow of the traffic or you will just sit idle and not go anywhere. We need to be connected to what God is doing or it is just idle effort.

Today as we tried to easy into that flow we have visited two schools where New Life Hilliard and Ekklesia sponsor five children. I got to encourage all the children. While I was going to the schools Dawn was attending a funeral of a church member. The funeral was ‘cut short’ after 4 hours. Dawn was able to speak to the 500+ attendees and encourage them. Meanwhile I was praying with a retired Christian police officer who was ill then spending time with a pastor and his wife listening to them about their lives and ministry. In the afternoon I met with the leaders of the Kipsonga Bead Ladies who live in the slum. I was listening to their situation and working through how the bead sales might help them. Dawn went on to attend the weekly fellowship with the ladies living in the slums. I went on to discuss with Justus how to effectively move the Watergate Cyber Café to Kitale so the revenues will improve. At that point we located a taxi and piled six of us into for the ride back to Sibanga. We bumped along while we tried to get our 2 year old friend Valentine to “kuja” come to us. We parted company with the pastor’s family to have a brief time to regroup before joining our hostess and sharing our days. We had tea, prayer time and eventually to bed.

This trip I have had a question constantly coming to my mind – “What is the church?” I hope we were the church today as we traveled in this place. I am seeing that the church is not a building, not an institution, not a program, and maybe not even a group. I am the root of the church. We are the root of the church. We need to be the walking, breathing church of God whether we walk the soil of Kenya or we are taking dinner at Chipotle. Kenya is a wonderful training ground to have God show me His church. ec

KOMING TO KAKAMEGA (Give me a break! These titles are getting tougher and tougher to come up with!)

Today’s mission was truly a divine appointment about six months in the making! When the team came to Kenya last October we traveled to Kakamega and visited several churches being shepherded by Bishop John Musilla.

The roads between Sibanga and Kakamega are very rough and it is dangerous to drive on them at night. Even many Kenyans try to avoid it. So we felt an urgency to leave without visiting one last church which had been added to our schedule as a late addition. Our trip today was dedicated solely to the members of Pastor Patrick’s church. We brought them greetings from the church in the USA and brought a message about “the fullness of time” based on Galatians 4. Afterwards Ellen and Dawn were AGAIN decked out in traditional Kenyan women’s wear (Seriously? Does the word “tomboy” translate in Kiswahili?!) We blessed the church with some food items for their primary school and they blessed us with fresh eggs, fruit and SUGAR CANE! Side Note: We were gifted with sugar cane during our last trip but gifted it to the children of the LCM pastors without saving any for ourselves.

As I sit typing this blog in the back seat of the car during the return trip to Sibanga, I’m considering if I can consume an entire stalk in the two and one-half days we have left in Kenya! (A stalk is taller than me!) Ellen and I will spend tonight recalling the events of the past two days and discussing all we heard in our conversations with our friends. Joseph will welcome us at the gate to Zippy’s farm and let us into the house. We’ll sit in front of a blazing fire in the fireplace and sip Kenyan tea while we wait for dinner to be served. We never know what we’re going to have but always know it is going to be good! Last trip Ellen and I both tried to sit as far away from Zippy as possible because she has a habit of putting extra helpings on your plate. This time, with just the three of us, we are taking our turns getting seconds . . . and thirds!

ENJOYING THE EXODUS

After enjoying a brunch with Zippy and Pastor Isaac, we learned that our plane due to depart Kitale at 12:30 was delayed and hadn't even left Nairobi yet. So we spent some time tagging along with Zippy while she ran errands and then made our way to the local airport to catch our 2:00PM flight out. Now we're sitting at the airport in Nairobi starting to unwind and process all that happened during this trip. Please be in prayer for us as we board our return flights. Making connections would be nice since we're tired! We're scheduled to split up in Amsterdam where Ellen heads to Sweden to meet with a new client of Daniel Logistics while Dawn touches down in Columbus and heads for the nearest Chipotle restaurant!

We're tired, but we have seen God at work and are grateful that He would allow us to witness His hand in Kenya.

BUTTONING DOWN BUSINESS

Monday was a day of conducting business. There has been much work involved in moving the cyber cafe from Sibanga to Kitale. No one could have foreseen the problem of a lack of internet signal coupled with the lack of consistent electricity in Sibanga. After prayerful consideration it was determined that the Water Gate House Cyber Cafe would better fulfill it's purpose (to be a vehicle for the Gospel and to provide a stipend income for pastors so they can focus less on financial needs and more on ministry) so a shop was rented and all the equipment and furniture was moved. While in town, Dawn decided it was time to apply for the equivalent of a "Kroger Card" and started the paperwork to make it happen. This way, we'll get points which can be cashed in for shillings on groceries during future trips.

There was also opportunity to meet with the bead ladies and purchase some more of their work to bring back to the U.S. for resale to help generate income for this group of women who live in the Kitale slum. All in all a productive day by Kenyan standards. We have come to expect to only get one thing done each day . . . anything else is icing on th cake because of all the speed bumps we hit along the way!

MERRY IN MOIS BRIDGE

On Sunday we visited Pastor Timothy Nyongesa who is beginning a new LCM church plant in Mois Bridge. This day was the launch of the new church although he has already established a "lunch hour fellowship". Ellen always describes by saying it's an oxymoron because lunch is not served and never lasts for just one hour!

After the worship service we stayed for a meal of beans and rice and also shared peanut butter sandwiches with all the children. It was a BIG HIT!

The highlight of our day was getting to sit down with the children of the four main LCM pastors and video tape them telling us what it means for them to be able to attend school. You may or may not know that New Life Hilliard and Ekklesia have partnered to provide tuition for several PKs so they can attend private school and receive a top notch education as well as some nutritional lunches. We'll enjoy sharing the videos with you when we return.

Fellowshipping with Friends

Today we began by visiting with Pastor John and his wife Jane in their home. John recounted the history of his conversion all the way through his meeting with Jamal Jivanjee in 2007 and then talked of how he envisions his relationship with us continuing into the future. Then Jane shared with us and we shared COFFEE! Isn’t this Kenya, the tea capitol of the world?!?!? We kept asking the Nabruks' youngest daughter, Valentine, to "kuja" (Swahili for "come") but she is still fearful of our pale complexions so she opted to stay near her parents.

We began to walk to Pastor Timothy and Rose Mahindu’s home but it started to rain so Pastor Timothy sent two boda-bodas (motorcycles) to pick us up! We shared a lunch of kuku (chicken), chipote (pronounced chi-pot-a, it is a thicker version of the flour tortilla) and Coke with them before walking into the market place to visit their new car parts shops and then go on to the fellowship which had gathered at the Sibanga church for prayer. After sharing some words of encouragement with them from Colossians 1, we walked the beautiful and serene road back to Zippy’s farm.

Another day for the history books, and one which we were humbled to hand back to Abba with praise for what He did through us.

Learning from the Leadership

This morning Pastor Isaac took us to meet with some of the AIC (Africa Inland Church) leadership for this region. We met with Pastor Titus and Rebecca who are working closely with Joyce Strong to prepare for the women’s conference she is leading in August. We also met McCray, who is over the schools, and Filda, who is the office worker. After singing some praise and worship songs we prayed with them about their work as well as specific individual needs.

From here Pastor Isaac took us to the home of Eliud, the director of the Tumaini (two-my-een-e) Orphanage, which we visited on Monday. Eliud was in a terrible head-on accident in which the driver of another car crossed over to Eliud’s side of the road and caused a head-on collision in which he and his passenger were killed. Only Eliud survived but he had a severely broken leg, which required metal plates to repair. Although he is home, his recovery is slow and he receives no income while he is away from his work at the orphanage. Eliud’s son and daughter are helping take care of their father, so a meal was prepared for us and then we prayed for Eliud’s healing.

--Dawn

Spiritual in Sibanga

Today was an awesome day of worshipping Abba with the members of the Imani Sirwo AIC church. The church building has progressed very nicely since the team was here in October. Where all they had was supporting pillars and the metal roof, today they have windows and brick walls. The building project will end with a “harambee” (pronounced ha-rom-bay) to raise money for seating.

We enjoyed worshipping with the children as they sang and danced to the Lord. One little fellow, around 3 or 4 years old, was trying to keep up with the big kids and it was beautiful to watch them patiently work around him instead of sending him back into the congregation.

Ellen did an awesome job of presenting Acts 1 & 2 and then challenging the body of believers to think about what the Church really is about. You can’t improve on perfection so I wrapped up the morning service with a blessing to the congregation. Once again we were presented with the traditional women’s dresses . . . wouldn’t you think by now these guys would have figured out that we just “don’t do dresses”?!

We visited the shops of a couple of church members on our way through the market and then went to the home of Caroline and Joseph for lunch and fellowship. Afterwards we had a time of prayer for specific individual needs as well as for the congregation as a whole. Afterwards we fellowshipped some more over tea. It was humorous because the conversation was slow at first; we were waiting for them to talk to us so we could just listen while they were waiting for us to do the same thing!

After this, Pastor Isaac took us to a nearby family’s home where a woman of just 40 years had passed away unexpectedly the day before. Ellen described it best as a “condolence service” where many members of the community came to publicly offer their sympathy to the widower. Zippy finally arrived home after a grueling weekend of playing 72 rounds of golf at a women’s outing. She’s already talking about playing more golf later this week!

It’s an early night as Ellen and I wind down. We’ve written in our journals, debriefed and are now sitting in front of a blazing fire in the fireplace of the parlor room reflecting on the days events. Tomorrow is another opportunity to listen and learn.

Prayer requests:
• Pray for the cyber café that was set up last trip. There have been electrical and signal difficulties that have not yet been overcome and need to be resolved in order for it to become a vehicle for the Gospel and a source of support for pastors
• Pray against strongholds of any kind; Dawn had a disturbing dream the first night here and wants to remain alert for disguised attacks from the enemy
• Ask God to keep us safe as we travel, whether by foot, by car or by boda boda (motorcycle). With all the rains Kenya has been having, it has been good for the maize crops but bad for the roads.

--Dawn

Aimless in Amsterdam

You remember the blockbuster movie, “Sleepless in Seattle”? Well, if we were filming a movie today I would call it “Aimless in Amsterdam”!

Our Delta connection from Detroit only gave us one hour to transfer once we arrived in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, our Delta connection was one hour late getting out of Detroit and the next flight we could catch from Amsterdam to Nairobi was at 8:25PM. So instead of getting to Nairobi in time to spend a restful evening in a quaint little bed and breakfast, we had ten hours in Amsterdam which we hadn’t planned on!

Since Ellen had been here once before, she thought I would enjoy getting out to see the city so we booked passage on a one-hour canal cruise. It was a classic case of the blind leading the blind when she turned it over to me to get us to the train station! I not only managed to get us on the metro instead of the train, but I also got us 1st class accommodations instead of the assigned 2nd class seating! It cracks me ups every time I think of the conductor looking at me and asking, “Foreigners”? Suffice it to say by the time we got back to the airport we had seen quite a bit more of Amsterdam than either of us planned on and parts of it resembled the Columbus Full Monty!

-Dawn-