Steve and Matt in Africa: Gangs and the Gospel

Where were we? Oh yea, when I last wrote you, God had shown his favor by connecting us with Pastor Vincent, who was starting a church in Kawaida. Well, we went to that church service on Sunday, and let’s just say that God is hearing your expectant prayers and is blessing the faith and work of His people. The service lasted 3 hours, and there were about 25 children and 10 adults in attendance. It was a slightly smaller crowd than we estimated, but God obviously knew what He was doing. More on that to come.

One tidbit I have gleaned from these small villages is that the louder the speaker you can get your hands on, the better your church must be. I guess it’s a similar sentiment to some churches in America: the bigger the building, the better the church. But I digress. Even though we had been there before, the music was so loud there was no wondering about the church’s location as soon as we got out of our car. Pretty sure Ugandan and Tanzanian citizens heard it. As we approached the site, we began to realize that the music was actually Vincent playing some sort of plastic keyboard/synthesizer, while he and his wife sang a reggae Christian song with surprisingly nice harmonies.

We were slightly discouraged when we arrived to find only Vincent’s family, a couple of kids, and a DJ and MC at the service. Honestly though, this was to be expected as the place filled up over the next couple of hours. There is absolutely no concept of time here. It doesn’t exist. If something is advertised to start at 10, don’t even think about getting there before 11. Mom would fit in perfectly here, right dad? Before the service kicked into high gear, a man named Henry, who owns the land where the church resides, asked if he could be born again. Henry repented of his sin and confessed Jesus in front of the “congregation.” I have a strong opinion regarding the “sinner’s prayer,” and I talked to Pastor Vincent afterwards to be assured Henry would be discipled. We must teach people how to follow Christ and be true disciples—not just lead them in a prayer and send them off to live the Christian life on their own.

Some Christ followers in America claim that the term “born again” is too churchy, but if using Scripture to describe salvation is churchy, then label me very churchy. I love how Pastor Vincent, in sharing the Gospel around the village, often told the story of Nicodemus. In this passage, Jesus told Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The life of Christ fully transforms us into new people. We are not a part of the Kingdom of God if we have not been born again.

This leads me to another revelation from sharing the Gospel this past week. Like many Americans, a lot of Kenyans profess to be Christians, when in practice they have no relationship with Jesus and no interest in following Him. It is so much a cultural norm for Kenyans to say they are born again that even the youngest children in attendance describe themselves this way. Side note: in these smaller village churches, EVERY person introduces himself or herself and says they are born again. This is one of many reasons why the services take forever. Anyways, Linda Gandy, our host missionary in Nairobi, is quite bold in using Matthew 7:21 to lovingly confront Kenyans who think they are Christians but have no relationship with Christ. The more I ponder it, while we are not called to judge one’s salvation experience, isn’t it better to make sure our friends and family know Jesus rather than avoiding one awkward moment of gentle confrontation that could transform their lives and impact their eternity? We must continue to share the Gospel at all times and to all people, even if they are members of our church. We never know who the Spirit is drawing to Christ.

At village churches in Kenya, you can be asked to give a word to the people at a moment’s notice. Pastor Vincent called on me to speak, and I enjoyed sharing a mini-message from Acts 5. As far as Pastor Steve is concerned, he flat out rocked the mic when he preached. He taught on the story of Elijah and Mt. Carmel, where the prophets of Baal were put to shame and the God of Truth was glorified. He was a natural up there, and it was so exciting to see him passionately share the power and faithfulness of God.

At the end of the service, a man named Daniel took the microphone and expressed his desire to be born again. This was no ordinary man. Daniel was a member of the Mungiki, an outlawed criminal organization in Kenya who rejects the Western lifestyle, the modernization of Kenya, and the Christian faith. This gang has been responsible for the raping and killing of Kenyan citizens in the last decade, including a practice of beheading matatu drivers (Matatu). While the Kenyan bureaucracy claims the Mungiki are an outlawed organization, many believe they occupy government positions. The lesson here? There is no one in your life out of God’s reach. I often find myself giving up on friends that I believe will never come to Christ, but anyone can be drawn by the power of the Spirit and transformed by the grace of God. So, I urge you to identify people in your life that you think will never follow Christ. I will join you, asking God to save those that I have given up on.

After Kawaida, we spent Monday and Tuesday at the Karibu Centre (Karibu) in Thika, Kenya. Orphan care is especially near and dear to my heart, as I spent 3 months in 2008 at Tumaini Miles of Smiles Centre (Tumaini). Further, James 1:27 cannot be overstated. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” We also know from Scripture that God is a father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5), and the Karibu Centre is following His command to care for orphans. They have an abandoned babies wing of the centre, housing 20-25 children who were either discarded in dumpsters, kiosks on the side of the road, or other less-than-ideal situations. I love the work that Karibu Centre is doing, and I was thrilled to be a part of it. As Christ followers, we have all been adopted into God’s family, and I believe there is no better way to show the heart of the Gospel message than by adopting a helpless, parentless child. I pray that everyone reading this blog would think about whether God is calling you to adopt, for He will make a way if He leads you to do it. Regardless, Christians are supposed to be extremely generous people in the world, and we are to be at the front line of helping the “least of these” in society. Are we all doing our part?

We could instantly see the love deprivation these babies experienced, as many of them reached out their little hands to be picked up by someone. A baby boy named Innocent was screaming and crying looking for anyone to tend to him, and he immediately stopped crying when I held him, resting his sweet head on my shoulder as content as could be. Any time we left their presence, they would all come to the end of their concrete play area and peek their tiny heads around the corner, possibly wondering where we were going or if we would be back at all. They were so cute that I almost didn’t mind being covered in urine for a day. All of the kids were wet and soaked our shirts, but that wasn’t nearly as bad as when I sat in a puddle of urine, wiping it off with my hand because I didn’t want to put the child down.

The Karibu Centre also has a school, and they let us spend time in the classroom, teaching a group of kids the game “Flower.” In 2008, I made up this form of Hangman, because I didn’t find it appropriate to hang a man in front of the 5-6 year old African children. For each letter they guessed incorrectly, I erased a petal of the flower until the flower died completely. Don’t worry--we always gave them enough clues to keep it from getting to that point, because I couldn’t crush their beautiful spirits! We also watched them do their “This is a” exercise, where a 4-year old would take a ruler twice his or her size and smack it against each picture on the chalkboard, saying, “This (pronounced theeeeeeeeeees) is a house. Theeeeees is a ball. Theeeees is a trrrrree.” Incredibly cute.

Steve and I also spent time playing with the kids during recess. They loved when we picked them up and spun them around, and were obsessed with brushing their hands through our hair. I admit that some of my ostensibly altruistic motives for working with orphans are mixed with my selfish desires to hangout with extremely cute kids. I repent. Don’t fault me for it. They are so dang cute. We were struck by the euphoria these kids expressed because a couple of white people were around, and how every toddler brought us their toys and said, “Teecha.” The excitement was even more than at Tumaini in 2008.

How about this week’s wackiest? (1) At Karibu, I almost pulled a metal door off its hinge because I didn’t unlock it properly. That was fun. (2) We went to the market in Thika to get fruits and veggies with Luke Kincaid from Karibu, and it smelled worse than manure. I had my tennis shoes on and stepped right in a very muddy spot, and I probably have parasites and worms teeming in my right foot now, but it’s all good. The produce is waaaay fresher and more natural out here than in America, and it is delicious. Kind of makes me like veggies. Kind of. (3) We ate at an Ethiopian restaurant, where the meal looked like baby food and sponges (Ethiopian Food), but was unbelievably tasty. I may move to Ethiopia now. (4) I nailed my head on a dwarf-sized doorway and was almost knocked out cold. (5) I also slammed Steve’s fingers in a car door, but it only made a small dent and he was miraculously ok. He just looked at me and nonchalantly said, “My fingers are stuck in the door.” (6) Steve haggled with a street vendor to buy a lot of nice roses for the Gandys (our missionary hosts) for about 250 shillings ($3) and Raybans for about 200 shillings ($2.50) with the help of Emily—a wonderful missionary here!

After spending a sobering day in the slums of Kibera, we are all packed and ready to head out to Tanzania in the morning. May many souls be saved for the glory of God!