Casting Crowns and Chameleons

Jambo to everyone back home. I am writing this on Sunday night, and I just got back from Brackenhurst, a Baptist resort outside of Nairobi where the local IMB (International Mission Board) missionaries had a prayer retreat this weekend. What a great weekend it was, but if you want to read more about it, then you need to look a little farther down the page. It’s getting harder and harder to consolidate all of the week’s happenings and my all-over-the-place thoughts into one blog because our experiences can be grossly different from day to day. Thanks again for reading these thoughts that I write. I don’t pretend to be an author or anyone important, but it is extremely encouraging to know that people are reading this and that I am not going through this whole thing alone. Yes, the Lord is in me, and He is more than enough, but it strengthens me to know that I have a body of believers that cares about me thousands of miles away. How beautiful is the body of Christ when it operates the way it was created to operate? To echo what Paul wrote in Philippians, I too thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

I didn’t tell you much about last Sunday, but I want to testify here how small the world can sometimes be. I’m not sure if this will mean anything to you at all, but I found it pretty interesting. After church at Ridgeways Baptist last Sunday, we spent the rest of the day with the Gandy’s, an incredible missionary family living in Nairobi. They had Matt and Kelly Elmore over for lunch, and we spent a lot of time getting to know them. Matt Elmore works for Global Youth Ministries, and he is serving here for at least a year. It turns out they both graduated from Florida State, and I obviously graduated from the University of Florida. That didn’t stop us from hitting it off right away. Kelly lived in Ocala for most of her childhood, and we found out that we know some of the same people. Here we are, thousands of miles away from home, and we meet a couple who went to Florida State, went to the beach many times in Daytona and Ormond growing up, and knows some of the same people we know. God’s sovereignty is unfathomable, and the story gets better.

Before I left the States, my former youth pastor and now Casting Crowns lead vocalist Mark Hall told me about this Kenyan man named Moses who has a ministry here in Kenya. Mark’s wife Melanie told me I had to contact him and meet him while I was here. I knew that he worked with an organization called Teens for Christ. That’s about all I knew. I emailed him before I left, but that was the only communication we had with each other. As Matt was talking, he mentioned that he does a lot of work with Teens for Christ. I asked him if he knew about a guy named Moses who works there. “Moses? Moses is one of my best friends here in Nairobi,” Matt revealed. Matt told me that he hangs out with him all the time, and Moses told him the story of how he and Mark Hall had met. Later that night while eating at an awesome Ethiopian restaurant, Moses called Matt Elmore on his phone, and we wound up talking for a few minutes. We are going to get together for lunch very soon. Finding this all hard to follow? I know it’s kind of confusing, but I think it’s mind-boggling that the guy Mark and Melanie wanted me to meet wound up being great friends with a guy I met named Matt who graduated from Florida State and knows some of the same people I know. Again, what the Lord ordains is wise and good. Sometimes He does things in my life that make me stop and ponder the greatness of God. He knew I would meet these people before I was even a thought in this world. Wrap your mind around that. God knew everything that would happen to you and I before we were even a blip on the Earth’s radar screen.

This week, we spent Monday through Wednesday in Mji wa Haruma, which means “City of Pity.” It truly is a pitiful slum in which no one should be forced to live. We partnered with Ridgeways Baptist for their week-long outreach to this slum. The whole team got together on Sunday to pray for the week, and I mean to tell you that I have never heard people pray so passionately in my entire life, praying intensely for victory in the spiritual warfare we were to face. On Monday, we basically took a tour of the slum, and prayed all over the grounds of the “Pity City.” On Tuesday, we spent the whole day at Mji wa Haruma. When we arrived, we split up into small groups with translators to go witnessing, praying for the sick, and praying for whatever other needs the people requested. This village or slum has a horrible problem with crime, abortion, and alcoholism, so there was definitely a lot to pray for. Satan is deceiving a lot of people in Mji wa Haruma, but we believe God will overcome the evil in this slum in His perfect timing.

I want to tell you a quick story about a boy from the slum named George. George is nine years old, and he was my little helper for the week. When we were walking around, building the fence, or playing soccer, he was at my side or Matt Potochnik’s side. He was one of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. I let him carry around my bag for me, which most people would not advise, but he held my hand everywhere I went so I was not worried about him running off with it. George’s English was better than any of the other kids in the slum. No other children could put together more than a couple of phrases, but George was fairly fluent in English for a nine-year-old Kenyan. He told me that he was ranked number 5 in his class before he was kicked out of school. Do you know why he was kicked out of school? His mother did not pay his school fees. He cannot go back to school until his school fees are paid, and I do not see that happening any time soon. The tragedy of it is that he could be one of the smartest children in the school or even in Nairobi if he continues with his education, but that is the problem with the slum life. The poverty and lack of education from generation to generation is perpetuated. It is very hard for George or anyone else to escape it. After his helping me on Tuesday and Wednesday, I paid him a few shillings and told him to continue to work hard in school when we went back. He had previously asked if we could take him to America with us, which broke my heart, but I was even more upset when he sobbed as we said goodbye. I don’t know how I can forget that face.

This weekend, Matt, Erin, and I were asked to watch over the missionary children at their annual prayer retreat. It was held at Brackenhurst, which, as I said, is a Baptist resort that has to look something like the Garden of Eden. I mean to tell you that it is plush, pristine, and gorgeous. We had an incredible time with the kids. I got to “work” with the high school students, and they are some of the coolest teenagers that I know. We spent a lot of the time playing soccer, catching chameleons, hiking, and playing “The Worst Case Scenario Survival Game”. The best part for me was when we got to show them Louis Gigglio’s “Indescribable” messages on DVD. Louis talks a lot about the galaxies and the stars, which scream out the fact that God is incredibly big, and we are incredibly small. And although we are smaller than small, God still wants to have a personal relationship with us, and He knows each of our names. The kids expressed how sometimes they forget about the bigness of God, and we prayed together that their problems would shrink in the presence of the Almighty God. We got “rungus,” which are Masai lion-killing clubs, for “working” with the children. Matt and Erin took home another prize as well. They found a chameleon which they aptly named “Ulimi,” which is the Swahili word for tongue. Its tongue is as long or longer than it’s body. It absolutely amazes me. The chameleon that was found for me got released by some of the kids, and I was none too happy about that! Nevertheless, it was a weekend during which I was renewed and refreshed.

Finally, do you remember Abel from Graffins College? If you don’t, you can read back over a couple of the previous blogs. He is proving to have great connections with people in the city. Earlier this week, we were all set to meet him at Steers (a burger joint) this with one of his friends. Well, we got there before he did, and I saw a guy reading a book about how to be a man of God. I went up and started to talk to him, and sure enough it was Abel’s friend. His name was Cornelius, and he works full-time for the Navigators ministry. Guess what his job entails? He is responsible for reaching college students on campuses in Nairobi. How cool is that? In case you’ve forgotten, that is one of the main reasons we came out to Kenya. We are meeting with him again this week, so please pray that He will lead us to some more meaningful relationships with students and other campus ministers. God is once again proving His sovereignty.

The fact that I just went up and started talking to him has made me ponder, “Why am I so much more bold here than in the States?” In Kenya, I have no problem talking to people about Jesus, but back home I struggle with that quite a bit. I don’t know if I am more focused now because I am here on a mission trip or what, but I am praying that I would have this same kind of boldness when I get back to America to share my faith with whoever God leads into my life. There are lost souls in America, and there are lost souls in Kenya. I have been reminded here that so many people are running through this life on their way to hell, and we have the only message of hope that can save them from their sins and from their eternal damnation. Jesus Christ is their hope, and His death and resurrection are the hope we preach. Let’s pray together that we would all be bolder in sharing Christ with those around us. We don’t necessarily have to go out on city streets to share Christ with others, but there are people we come across every day that need to hear about Him. Some of the time, we won’t even have to use words to share Him, but by our lifestyles we will express Christ to others. As we abide in Him, He will live His life through us, and people will see Him in us. Lord, allow us to be bolder in sharing You with others.

Thanks again for reading another blog. If you have made it to the end of this, I am impressed. I love you guys, and I will see a lot of you in just a few weeks. Please pray for our team this week as we go back to college campuses to build relationships, get up early to go minister to street kids, and walk around a new slum to witness to the lost. Pray for boldness, pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us up, and pray for the salvation of souls. Please and thank you! I am learning the importance of prayer and the necessity of praying in faith and with a sense of urgency. Your prayers mean so much to me. Kwaheri everyone!