Day 4: Jeremiah 33:3

"This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: 'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.'"

-Jeremiah 33:3

Sunday; July 3, 2011

4:45 P.M.

Today: 3 houses built, 14 people SAVED!

I don't even know where to start. Today was incredible to say the least.
I woke up this morning around 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I just laid in the bed for about an hour and a half until it was time to get up. We got dressed and ready and waited for a couple hours until the hotel had breakfast ready. I ate a slice of pineapple, a boiled egg (which was super great), and a couple bites of some sausage.

After breakfast we went upstairs to our meeting room and Rob surprised us with postcards and stamps and we were able to write to our family! I was so so so happy since I haven't talked to my parents since I've been here! After we wrote, Amber ended up being sick. We think it was because she took her malaria pill before eating anything. But once she got something in her system she said she felt better!

After our meeting we went downstairs and saw some kids outside playing. So me and some other people from our group decided we would play with them until our vans got there to take us to our construction location. Amber brought bubbles and they ADORED them!
They giggled and giggled and giggled and flocked to us so quickly you would have thought we were giving them candy! (Which they also love!)

After our vans got there, we packed up into our 3 separate crews and headed out!
My crew members (now that I know their names!) are Randy Trail, Linda Allan, Amber Norris, Linda Edling, Kaelie Ukrop, and Allan Oloo. They are super sweet.

So our location (Kisumu) wasn't even 15 minutes away which was nice. We arrived, got out, and met two men. One was a preacher and the other was our translator. Both very amazing men and so in tune with the Lord. After meeting them the girls decided that we (Amber, Kaelie, Linda, and I) and the translator and preacher would walk around and witness to the neighboring houses while the men, A.K.A Randy and Allan, haha and the Kenyan workers formed the house. So we prayed, and set off.

The first house we stopped at, an elderly woman and some kids greeted us as we walked into her house and sat down. After our translator spoke back and forth with her for a couple minutes he told us the grandmother said she needed us to pray for her. Her husband died not even two months ago and she asked us to pray, even after we got back to the States, that she will be able to stay where she is with her grandchildren. My heart broke. There are so many issues going on in the lives of people and you don't even realize it. Not only in the lives of Kenyans, but anyone. I was just blown away by her strength and meekness while she talked. After we heard about her needs and a little about her current circumstances, one of our crew members, Kaelie, gave her testimony and then the preacher asked for one of us to pray for her. I did.

And we sang! Right when we walked in we sang an African song with her and her grandchildren which was so cool! The song in English translated into, "He's so good. He's so good, Jesus. He's so good. He's so good, Jesus. He's so good. He's so good, Jesus. He's so good, He's so good Jesus!" It was so cool.

We left there and went to house after house. Some asked for healing while others asked for strength. I wish I could just write about them all!

One woman asked us to pray that God would bring her son home safely from some war that was going on. I'm not really sure which though. She told us she has a grandchild that was born in 2004 and lives in another city, and has just now learned to walk! The granddaughter is crippled and she's not sure why, but that all she knew was that she needed our prayer.

Another woman we met had maybe a dozen kids at her home. They weren't all hers, they just loved being with her. She just had a baby only a week ago, and unfortunately it had already contracted malaria. After we talked and prayed with her she decided to name her baby Linda after the girl in our group! She said it was so every time she looked at that child she was reminded of the day we Americans were in her home. It was such an incredible moment. Linda wanted to be the one to pray for the family and for the baby that had malaria. It was such an emotional moment because she had just had a BABY named after her! And in Africa that is a HUGE deal! Names play an important role in their culture and as their identity as a person. It was such an unforgettable experience.

Mamma and baby Linda

In another home there were three women. The owner of the house who had been widowed, and two other married women. The fact that two couples and their mother-in-law AND all of their kids could fit in that tiny house really shocked me. One of the married women had severe swelling in her knees. She told our translator she wasn't saved, and we prayed for her.

In another home we visited, a very old woman who had to have our translator and another man help her into the house. They talked for probably a full 10 minutes in Luo. (Which is a really long time when you have no idea what's going on!) She apparently has something that the doctors don't know how to heal, and I think her age has handicapped her even more. When we prayed for her she asked that our translator not translate our prayer to her, just for our words to reach Heaven.

These people have such faith.

And finally, probably the most memorable house we visited was owned by a younger couple. The wife was beautiful and the husband was very soft in his speaking. We talked a little and she told our translator that her and her husband were Catholic, but that they needed something more. They both wanted to accept Christ again and said that they believed and were ready to begin their life new! So we prayed with them and they were saved! It was amazing to be able to witness such receptiveness and vulnerability to the Lord's working on their heart! Her kids were absolutely precious. And I mean BEAUTIFUL. Her baby's eyes were so big a bright.

After that we left and went to another house. We talked to the owner of the house and were on our way out the door when we were greeted the beautiful woman running to speak with us again! She had run and found us and called to us to come back to her house--her brother-in-law wanted to be saved!

So of course we did.

We went back and talked and prayed with him. When we prayed he got down on his knees as a sign of submission. It was so moving to see this man not afraid to share and open his heart and his hurt. Some would question whether or not these people are truly saved, but when a grown man gets on his knees in prayer without anyone telling him to do so, I'd wonder if WE truly understand what it means to be saved.

To see these people so vulnerable and WANTING to share their true needs to us--their raw undecorated hurts--is something that took me off guard. In America, if we asked someone to pray for us, we'd keep it clean and simple. We wouldn't want to make ourselves sound too messy or incapable of being able to make ends eventually meet. But these people aren't.

If they have a son missing, or faith that needs strengthening, they share it. These people aren't looking for approval in our eyes. They're looking for hope from God and healing in Christ. And we Americans thought we had this all straight. We thought we were coming to teach them! After seeing the Kenyan's spirituality and their stories exposed, I see just how much we as a general American culture are lacking.

We aren't just lacking in some areas. We're on the completely wrong path.

And we call it "Christianity" so that we still comfortable.
We pray and we shed tears. We ask for help and healing, but if we're honest with ourselves we don't really expect it. And if it does happen we definitely don't attribute it as the power of God.

I just love the spirit of the people here. I envy it. Badly.

On a different note, EVERYONE shakes hands!

Anytime you meet someone they are going to shake your hand!

From babies to old men. They are going to touch you.
They would come up behind you, tap you on the back, shake your hand, smile, and walk away. Haha but really! They wouldn't say a word, and probably wouldn't ever speak to you for the rest of the day, but they were going to shake your hand to let you know that they acknowledged your presence! These people rely on community. Because without it, they don't exist.

The babies were absolutely adorable! And pants-less! Haha every single baby we saw had on a shirt but no pants! It was hilarious! One of the babies was completely naked! And the women just breast-feed everywhere. They are most definitely unashamed. I just feel like they view those kinds of things as a natural parts of life. And they are! They see no shame in breastfeeding around other men because that's just one of the beauties of being a woman! It's actually kind of neat in a weird way because of their closeness to one another and their familiarity with each other.

The biggest realization I think I had today was how little my faith is. Like, I think of myself sometimes as having these amazing heart-felt moments with God in prayer, and today I realized how much I have deceived myself! My faith is nothing but a self-promoting, God-doubting, fear-full faith.

These people can literally count on their two hands what they own. Yet when they worship, they truly worship!
There is no self-promotion. There is no doubt in God's provision. There is no fear. 

Today, when praying with our crew and with the owner of whoever's house we were at, you could hear the belief in their voices. When women pray for their sons to return, or for healing on their body when it would to me seem like a lost cause, they BELIEVE what they're saying! Do we?
I mean, do we really? When we pray for the cancer tumors and our relatives with Alzheimer's, and our futures, do we really believe that God not only can, but WILL take care of us?

We think we as citizens from the States need to save the African people, but maybe Africa needs to come save us. Our thoughts and our beliefs and our hopes have become so contorted and twisted that the Enemy has us right where he wants us. Heck, he had me right where he wanted me. And still does in some areas of my thinking, I'm sure. I wanted more knowledge, more faith, more joy, but I wasn't ever willing to get my hands out right filthy to get it. Sure, us Christians will get our hands dirty. We touch the homeless don't we? Help the tornado victims, right? I mean, we can't all just pick up and move to another country. Or even quit our jobs to work 24/7 in something service related. I mean, right? How will my family get taken care of? What about my children's education? It would be selfish of me to set them behind for something I want.

Right?

Wrong.

These people here work from sun up to sun down. Only getting whatever they put into it. Literally. Their family is their motivation. ANYTHING. ANYTHING AT ALL that these people do, is for their family.

Except literally.

They tend to their farm animals for food for their spouse and children. Fetch water to wash clothes. Herd cows and goats for a living so they can receive money to support their families. Gather sticks to fix the sides and tops of their houses so that when the rains come, their loved ones won't be wet and cold. Today I saw what they did all throughout the day and not one single bit of it was for their own pleasure or was done unless it benefitted someone else.

And why can't we be that for each other? Why can't I look outside myself and my wants and my preferences long enough to see that there are people DYING, friends.

DYING.

And we sit back and say, "There's nothing I can do." There are people STARVING. And we say, "I don't have any more room in my budget." There are women being raped, children being abused, homes being overtaken by malaria, but we lean back in our chairs convicted, but still unmoved. Because "I'm just not called to do that."

PLEASE.

When the Bible says, "Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world." (James 1:27) and we say, "God just isn't calling me at this point in my journey to do that." but when the Bible says, "Then he adds: 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'" (Hebrews 10:17) and we say, "Now this! THIS applies to me."

We pick and choose what verses apply to us. The universal verses about God's love and grace are all in the center of our purpose. But ask us to do extremely awkward-feeling things that people will think we're literally off our rocker a little bit for doing, and no. We're just not "called" to do it. Sometimes I wonder if a calling is just an excuse with a fancy ribbon tied to it.

Satan has us right where he wants us.
Unfazed. Concerned but not active. And excuses to last a lifetime.

This trip is a God-send and I hope I never forget the things I've seen today and the realizations God has blessed me with.
I hope I remember that just because I have sympathy doesn't mean I'm excused form becoming active.

Do something hard. Touch people you really don't want to. Mean it when you say, "Lord, Your will be done."

Because that's loving like Jesus. It hurts. And it even sometimes feels like it has to be wrong for it to feel this uncomfortable. But it's that kind of love that heals the soul.

That kind of love answers prayers.

"For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"

-Romans 10:12-15

______________________________________________

Day 5.