Steve and Matt in Africa: The Favor of God

I am pretty sure this is the longest post I have ever written. The Spirit has taught us so much this week that I must get it down on paper! So I am sorry for the length, but I hope this encourages you a whole lot in your walk with Christ! Psalm 5:12 declares, “You bless the righteous, O Lord. You cover him with favor as with a shield.” If any theme has emerged during our first few days in Kenya, it would definitely be that the favor of God is on His children.

I hope to avoid this being an “I’ve come to Africa so I must love Jesus more than you” blog. Those really bother me. I also wanted to avoid technology and stay away from the computer as much as possible, but I thought it was crucial to encourage friends and family praying for us back home that your prayers are effective and powerful through the Holy Spirit. More than anything else, I want these next two months to be a true partnership of many believers in Christ across the world lifting up expectant prayers to our Heavenly Father, asking Him to move mountains in our lives. Talking to local pastors here has revealed that Christ still heals the sick, saves the lost, casts out demons, and loosens the chains of captives. He is real. He is alive. He is constantly moving. I feel like the man in Mark 9:24 who cried out, “I believe. Help my unbelief!” I do not see these things happen on a regular basis because I often have very little faith in a weak representation of an Almighty God. Help my unbelief, Lord. May I have big faith in an awesome, powerful God.

Back to the theme of the week. Steve and I first experienced the favor of God in the Tampa airport. We were supposed to pay $430 for three extra bags we brought with us as gifts for some of the Kenyan children and families. However, the woman at the American Airlines check-in counter allowed us to check all five of our bags for FREE. It cost us nothing. Luck? Not at all. The favor of God? Absolutely. On the flight from Tampa to Miami, I sat next to a man that someone in UF’s athletic department had wanted me to meet. He just “happened” to be near me, works in athletics, and loves Jesus Christ with all of his heart. We have already been talking about how we can minister and work together in the sporting world. The favor of God! The London security got us on the fast track through security so we could make our flight to Nairobi. The favor of God. Travelling to Nairobi, we sat in front of a woman from Burundi and became good friends with her, discussing why we were going to East Africa. The favor of God. Finally, all of our bags arrived to Nairobi (a major feat in and of itself) and absolutely no Kenyan officials looked through our bags. We literally walked right through customs and security without anyone batting an eye at us (we were a little concerned they wouldn’t let us bring in all this U.S. stuff for the Kenyan kids). Oh, the wonderful favor of God!

If you read nothing else, I really want you all to know about Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I never fully understood the sovereignty of God over the affairs of men before this week. I previously possessed head knowledge, but you cannot beat experiencing in your heart what you have always thought to be true in your head. As many of you know, we were supposed to be with Sport Outreach Kenya (SOK) these past few days. And as those of you who have been to Africa know, Africa Wins Again (AWA). I tried my best to plan a trip where our gifts could be utilized for the sake of the Gospel, but Steve and I truly left it up to the Holy Spirit to guide us. “Use us in ANY way you see fit, Lord.” And He did just that. We simply did not sense the Holy Spirit leading us to work with SOK, and we really did not see any need for us there. Also, we weren’t really sure how much they were trying to reach the kids for Christ, so we left our meeting discouraged about how we would spend the next three days.

As we were walking back to our missionary’s house on the compound, we were stopped at a small building by pastors from Sema Leatherworks. I had actually heard a lot about them through an IMB missionary, and you can check out their group here: Sema. To make a long story less long, we connected with Pastor Vincent and immediately sensed the presence of the Spirit in this man, as well the Lord’s guiding us to work with him. It “just so happened” that he works in the leather shop Monday through Thursday and does outreach and evangelism on Friday and Saturday. So, we decided to join him on Friday. The favor of God!

It also “just so happened” that he is planting First Baptist Church Kawaida, and their first service is this Sunday (tomorrow). We walked around Kawaida in two groups and invited many people to come to the church service, which led to several opportunities to share the Gospel. I was able to share the story of Creation to Christ with a shoemaker (I never got his name), who has read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but is not yet ready to receive Christ. I pleaded with him that today is the day of salvation. I also shared with him what my pastor in Gainesville teaches about Christ: Jesus was often passing through towns and asking people to follow Him or telling fishermen to drop their nets and come after Him immediately.

The man appreciated my urgency and said that he would like to talk about it more on Sunday. Steve and I also got to share the Good News of Christ with a man about my age named Robert. Aside: it was so cool getting to share the Gospel alongside my brother. And that really made me wish sis and Ju were with us too! Back to Robert: He actually approached us first, and after talking about what we were doing there, he said, “Well how can I be saved?” Insert heavenly music and a divine gift dropping out of heaven now. Robert believes that good works are enough to have eternal life in heaven, and we were able to gently show him Scripture that counters this view. He too wants to accept the gift of Christ, but he is just not there yet. Please be praying for both the shoemaker and Robert.

Today (Saturday), we went back to Kawaida for more invitations and evangelism. By the way, if there was any worry about Steve adapting to the Kenyan lifestyle, it has completely disappeared. He is a smashing hit with the children, and his extremely laidback personality is so Kenyan it’s not even funny. People around here should stop referring to him as “mzungu” (white person) and start calling him “mkenya” (Kenyan).

On this visit, we recruited a bunch of watoto (children) around the village to help us move chairs to the extremely small First Baptist Kawaida building. They became the focus of our day. After watching the watoto climb trees and teaching them how to do pushups, we decided it was a perfect opportunity to tell stories from the Bible and share Christ with these 10-15 kids. Through a translator, I was able to tell the first four stories of a story cloth Steve and I are learning (Kanga). I discussed Creation, the fall of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah’s Ark. After introducing the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, I was able to proclaim that Christ was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

Please pray for the outcome of today’s story time. Normally, I would be rejoicing over 10-15 kids receiving Christ as their Savior and Lord (which is what happened), but I was very concerned that the kids had done this many times before. I want them to understand that salvation is certain through accepting Christ once, but it is common around here for watoto to receive Christ every time there is an opportunity (just like in America). I was not going to give an “invitation,” but Pastor Vincent said we needed to do it. He and I spoke outside after story time, and I asked him to promise that these kids would be discipled when we left. We are not at all about “getting people saved” or making numbers look good. Steve and I want those kids to follow Christ with all of their hearts. I am excited to be able to see them at church again tomorrow, so please pray about their relationship with Christ and that they would understand what it means to follow Him.

Before I end with the week’s craziest events, one more item deserves an entire paragraph all by itself. STEVE IS PREACHING TOMORROW! Yes, Steve Seitz will be giving an opening message before the pastor speaks (the service will be several hours). How cool is that? He is going to be the first person ever to speak at First Baptist Kawaida, and he is a mzungu at that. Please pray for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit and that people would be very convicted and encouraged by the Gospel message. I am experiencing so much joy seeing Steve’s love for Jesus. It puts me to shame but pushes me to love Christ more.

Shifting gears to close, how about this week’s wackiest? (1) Well, if you have never driven on a Nairobi road before, consider yourself blessed. We have encountered flooded streets (it is raining constantly here), a man in a wheelchair that we almost nailed, a 20-motorcycle funeral procession in front of a bus with a coffin on top, a lightning bolt exploding a transformer, a man with a 20-foot stick walking in the middle of the road. Madness. People literally drive wherever they want here. There are almost no lane markers or signs indicating upcoming speed bumps. If you are a fan of amusement parks, just skip the roller coasters and come join the crazy on the streets of Nairobi. Wow. I love what Steve said about it: “I’m excited to go for a ride here, because it is always an adventure.” Amen to that. (2) I sat next to a Bolivian woman on a flight who did not speak a single word of English, and I do not know any Spanish, other than “gracias.” We talked with our hands almost the entire flight, and she never quite figured out that I COULDN’T SPEAK SPANISH. (3) We have been wearing huge goofy gumboots (Gumboots) all over the very wet Kawaida. Pictures to follow. (4) We have been forced to eat more than any human being has ever tried to consume. It’s not that there is a lot of food at any one sitting, but every Kenyan is so hospitable and wants to offer you chai and chapati (Chai/Chapati) or Blue Band sandwiches (butter sandwiches--Blue Band). We are so full! (5) Steve and I drew water from a 75-100 ft. well. Very bad news for anyone who falls in.

I love you all so much. Sorry for the length. Talk to you soon!