Encouragement and Dissappointment

Bwana Asifiwe!

Three memorable events dominated this last week for me.

1. Clair's visit.

We woke up in the morning in anticipation of the long awaited day. Though Clair would be with us for only a couple of hours, we spent hours preparing for his arrival, anxious for the wisdom (not to mention the gifts). That he would bring. Colin and Brook had a little contest going to be the last to speak to him - as the person who managed not to would hold the record for longest time gone without speaking to a white person. We were given a minutes warning before he walked into our door with four others to finish the final preparations. Finally he and his brothers walked into our small apartment and were served lunch, while they questioned us on our activities and our status. He left us a few hours later, leaving us very encouraged that we were making a difference here.

2. Visiting a Church

We had been invited to visit a friend here at his church, and, since it was meeting on a different day, we decided to go. Quickly after we arrived into a large open area with tin roofs set up over abundant pews, we were noticed and escorted to the front, where we sat in our usual place of honor when we visit churches in Kenya. Most of the people we met here were kind and hospitable, and even invited us to lunch after the service was over. As we sat trying to understand what was going on in the little building up front through the infrequent translations we received from the Africans sitting beside us, we grew more and more disappointed, for the bible study seemed very shallow, the 1st sermon seemed to be a collection of man-made ideas preached from the pulpit rather than God's word, and the main sermon both told the congregation not to go to other protestant churches so as not to be deceived, and a mockery of excitement in charismatic churches. I feel a strong call to help bridge gaps between churches and help bring greater unity in the body of Christ, so comments like these saddened me greatly. I wish I could say that it was only this church, or this denomination that put up walls, but I know from experience that this isn't the case. I thank God for the pastors we've already met who have been so willing to work together.

3. Church Service

I was very nervous come this Sunday morning, because, for the first time, I wasn't going to be listening to someone else give the sermon, but would be giving it myself. Africans have a different mindset from Americans, and view guests as a blessing rather than a burden. This is reflected in church by the tendency to invite guests to give the message. I preached a sermon on greatness in the bible, based on Mark 9:33-35 and Mark 10:35-45. After I had finished I noticed that the woman we had prayed for to release from demonic oppression had slipped in. When George instigated an altar call, she, amongst many others, went up. We were so thankful for this fruit, and we continue to pray for more.

Praises:

-We've come halfway through Outreach!
-We remain alive despite cooking for ourselves all this time.
-For the first time in weeks, no one is sick!

Prayer Requests:

-For the second peace meeting to be successful.
-For us to take advantage of the time we have left on outreach.
-For continued personal spiritual growth, even when it's hard.

Mungu Awabariki wiki hii! (May God Bless you all this week!)

-Stefan