Cleaning Up

Every once in a while, there comes the need to de-clutter our lives. We get to realize that there are so many mixed priorities and the important things are ignored as the mundane take precedence. One then has to make the decision to stop everything and take stock of their life. The most important step is this stopping, because some of us thrive on movement. We end up like the proverbial rolling stone, gathering no moss, but wounding and breaking so many on our way downhill.
This de-cluttering normally happens for me towards the end of the year and more so at the much hyped Christmas holiday. This was one celebration I could hardly wait for as a child, but find myself increasingly abhorring. I guess the commercialization of the whole thing and a little internet research into the actual history of the date and traditions surrounding the day contributed in no little way to my current feelings on the same.
Christmas Day afternoon was my time this year to think through my life. I went with MP3 player, notebook and pen to the farm and sat under the trees. I talked to God, yes I did a lot of talking. I guess He must be very patient, because I felt like He wanted to talk to me, but I didn't allow Him to talk. I just wanted to vent and He was more than willing to listen to my ranting. I can still sense Him trying to ge through to me but I am not slowing down enough to hear what He wants to say. I feel that I greatly desire to hear Him but hard as I try, I can't get to slow down enough. So now, I am walking with my heart on high alert, waiting for Him to deposit something inside. I leave with some friends for a holiday to Samburu tomorrow morning. I hope to hear from Abba this week, and I hope that the change He has began in my heart will not stop growing, because it is always my impatience that ruins everything.
Psalm 34:4

The Greatest

Jesus said that he who desired to be the greatest among others would have to be the servant of those he desired to be greater than. The kitchen team during our time in Oyugis would qualify as my heroes of the week. They were always a jovial lot, laughing with us and enjoying the whole experience with us. Many times, the kitchen group is considered the stock of those who cannot be more importantly used elsewhere yet they are perhaps among the most important of departments in any institution or function.

Led by Jack from the Word of Life in Kabete and Benson Otieno from the Oyugis self-help project, the team comprised solely of young men from Oyugis, some of them very able footballers served us and cooked for us the entire time we were in Oyugis. The food was almost always in plenty and very delicious.

The best example of service was when they would mingle and interact with us when there wasn't so much work for them to do in the kitchen. It was also really inspiring for us when one of them, Austin, shared with us in our team morning devotion once the camp was over.
This truly was service for me, allowing others to seem better than you, for the sake of achieving a goal that goes beyond temporary bodily satisfaction to an everlasting covenant of friendship. These guys were in my view, the greatest.

One down, One to go

One week later, the first of the youth camps is over and the counselors and camp workers are a tired bunch. There have been quite a number of illnesses among the counselors and some campers. Those who didn't fall ill had the task of covering for their ill colleagues.

The campers were an energetic lot, perhaps the most contributing factor to the tiredness of the counselors, coupled with the fact that we were not so many. The tricky bit is that the next camp begins tomorrow evening and some counselors have left and will be leaving in the coming days.

The Bible study group and the team traveling to Oyugis are sleeping in Diguna Mbagathi tonight and then leaving early at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. There is some work still to do but we hope that the major parts have been taken care of. There is a lot that God is doing in the youth ministry in Diguna and there is a lot of growth in the members and volunteers in this ministry.

As tired as I am, I am looking forward to the trip to Oyugis and the time there and back. It is a group whose members are not familiar with each other so it should be interesting to monitor the progress in their relationships and ministry approach.

I am now waiting for the people to come for the sleepover and for supper. Perhaps I should go and pack my bag(s).

 

The Far Away Lover

We get the privilege of visiting many primary and high schools in Kenya every year with the Diguna school ministry. We also get the opportunity to interact with teens during our youth camps every school holiday. It is always fun to see friends from previous camps and to make new friends among the newcomers. It is so exciting sometimes that some people end up in romantic relationships, as advisable or inadvisable as that may be. Then there are the obvious challenges to these fledgling relationships such as distance and the expense of calling, although calling rates in Kenya are pretty low at the moment. Anything that is fed grows while that which is starved dies. It is common to see two young people begin a relationship and then end it soon after, not due to any misunderstanding but due to the distance reason. The interesting thing with God is that He also can’t stand long distance relationships. He wants to be so near to us that He sent Himself in the person of the Son to live a completely perfect and sinless life among the race He created to love and be loved by Him, the human race.

 

One thing I have never seen being referred to fondly is the issue of distance from or absence of one’s close companion in life. God desires intimate, close, well-defined and exclusive relationship with me. He doesn’t want part of me, He wants all. Whenever the people of God were unfaithful in the Old Testament, the imagery used to describe their lack of commitment had to do with romantic liaison. God always has been a jealous God, one who desires our complete devotion to Him. He is, however, not only one who desires our affection; He is also the greatest Lover of all time. The love He offers is well demonstrated in 1 Corinthians 13. It is a love that gives of itself so fully that the only reasonable response is to accept it. Whenever I make an invitation to people to begin a conscious, intense and meaningful relationship with Jesus, I tell them that the option of not accepting Jesus is too terrible to mention, so I suggest that one either accepts this love, or one accepts this love. The other option is not one I would suggest to anyone.

Relationships

What comes to your mind when you hear or read this word? For most of us, relationships have to do with more than one person. Human beings are created for relationship; none can live a fulfilling life alone. One can hem himself into a self- imposed cocoon and suffer for it, yet one can simply open themselves up and be energized by others.

Definitions:                                  

1.       A cord or rope joining two or more objects together.

2.       Glue – sticks stuff together.

3.       House – shelters

4.       Screw – fastens stuff to one another

·         Relationship implies risk; you allow people to either make you happy or sad, or incredibly happy or incredulously devastated.

·         Relationship implies sacrifice; you have to give up preferences, privileges, desires, and ambitions and so on, for the sake of others.

·         Relationship implies openness; you allow people into areas that you would normally fence off. You allow people access to information about you that you would rather left unknown.

·         Relationship implies patience; you have to bear with people’s failures and shortcomings.

·         Relationship implies humility; giving up your rights and allowing others precedence over you.

The greatest expression of human relationship is love. What is your definition of love?

Oyugis

Only 3 days left to departure for Oyugis. The long awaited mission is finally here. There is a lot of excitement and challenge in the days to come. Some key people have intimated that they will not be able to join us for the mission yet so much depended on them. Some key contributors to the success of the mission in terms of finance have not been able to honor their pledges and as much as this restrains the extent of the mission, it does not hinder the ability of God to come through for us in every respect.

There are some misunderstandings and complications that arise from the natural fact that people are different and therefore have different preferences. The good thing is that the team gels better every day and some rough edges have been smoothed out already.

I am tired, yet I trust God for strength even as I wonder how some people manage, and where they get so much energy from. I guess that the problem with doing what you love for a job is that you never realize when you are doing too much.

Runaway Wife

We had the chance a few weeks ago to visit a woman living in slum in Ongata Rongai. The visit was organized by the Beacon of Hope organization that undertakes the awesome task of AIDS testing and counseling in conjunction with AIC Diguna mission. The purpose of the visit was to assist the woman in any way she needed us to, as well as bringing her some supplies for her house. What we later discovered from the social worker who accompanied us was that she was not infected with the HIV/ AIDS virus, but had been relocated to keep her away from an abusive husband. She was the unfortunate victim of a car accident that badly affected her spine. She could not do any work, but could only walk and sleep although sitting down on a chair was a grueling event for her. Her children were away in school at the time but we got to see one of them later. She was on the verge of being kicked out of the one-roomed structure that she called home for her and her children due to delay in paying the 1000 shilling rent. We helped her with small household chores; there was not so much to do for 8 people visiting a woman living in a one-roomed house. We washed the dishes, cleaned up the house and shared the Word of God with her.

Back to the woman's estranged husband. He apparently was very abusive and unsupportive of his invalid wife. He would reportedly come to the house with food enough for only one person which he would prepare and eat as the wife and children watched. He was reportedly violent and she and the kids had to be relocated and kept from him for their own sake. She couldn't hold down a job due to her condition and her kids were still young, the eldest being a 13 year old girl.

We left the place with the desire to assist her as much as we could and proceeded to ask about the modalities with the Beacon of Hope social worker. The unfortunate reality was the red-tape around the whole process. One couldn't simply up and go to help out in the house. One had to be a registered and trained volunteer with the organization before they could be allowed to pay regular visits under the organization's umbrella.

I hope we meet again; it would be great to become a part of the family's life. The daughter is at a sensitive age and Diguna youth camps would probably do her well. I wonder how she is, now that the process of visiting is complicated. We wouldn't want to compromise her relationship with the organization which has been taking care of her so far. God give us wisdom and the heart to serve such people who go through things that we only hear about. The comforting fact is that God is the Father of the fatherless and the Husband of the widows (Ps. 68:5) and He sets the lonely in families (Ps. 68:6).

Finished

I thought I wouldn't be able to blog something until Monday, but something happened that made me return home. Two things actually: for one, I need to go to church early tomorrow morning and my clothes are here, hehe. Secondly, I needed to rest from the activities of the day.

We had a youth football tournament in Diguna today and it was great and tiring at the same time. I was playing for the oldies team and we barely made it to the semi finals. Some guys beat us to the semi finals then suffered a 9-0 drubbing, and though I should be more supportive, it feels good that they didn't win, hehe.

Somewhere in the night, rest will find me. For now, I am watching Tusker project fake, sorry project shame........the only other options are soaps.

Late Nights

So, at this time of night, I have just returned to my flat. We had an awesome time in church, a late night practice session of sorts. I asked to do my leading first because my voice tends to get easily hoarse so I had a lot of time later to interact with friends.

Early in the morning, I have to set off for Diguna for the one day football tournament then attend camp in the evening, before returning to Rongai for the night.

I have to be up early on Sunday because I am among the worship leaders so that means waking up at 5 a.m. and this is neither easy nor fun, but is nevertheless the price that I must pay and part of the cost of carrying the cross, hehe.

I am looking forward to Monday, probably the next chance I will have to sleep a bit longer and update this blog.

Full Holidays

The holiday programs have begun in earnest and I wonder where the energy will come from. There is so much to do and yet most of it cannot happen without the help of others. The first of two Diguna youth camps begins tomorrow evening and I am part of an awesome ministry team that will help in the facilitation of the camps. I will, however, not be there for the second camp because we leave with the Bible study group on Sunday 5th December for Oyugis for the camp and mission there.
If possible, we could have carried many more people but it would not be wise because some of them still need to attend the normal Bible study meetings before we can go with them for the trip. There is an amazing amount of interest in the trip and I am thoroughly convinced by God's ability to do much more than we expect during our stay.
I am trying not to plan much more for December at this point, unless the plan involves spending time with our family. More to come later.

Oyugis Mission Trip

We are busy preparing for the mission to Oyugis. Schools are closing and we realize just how little time we really have. It has been a year of learning for all of us, and now the time to put all that information to practice has arrived. There are still a few challenges because we are going with young people from Deliverance Church Ongata Rongai as well as some members of the church's worship team.
We already paid the deposit for the bus that will ferry us to Oyugis, now we need to sit and chart the actual travel itinerary. We will have the bus and its driver for the entire duration of our 8 day stay in Oyugis.
It is planned that we travel on the 5th of December which is on a Sunday and return the next Sunday on the 12th of December (Jamhuri day).
We will take part in several activities notably:

• youth camp
• football game
• youth gospel concert
• visit to Oumas
• musical play (husband number 7)
• children's homes visits
• hospital visits

Today most schools close for the December holidays. We look forward to having our team back from school and together getting ready for the trip. More to come as it unfolds........

Movement

We are busy planning for the Million Leaders Mandate training that is happening in May and I must make sure that I get at least 500 people to come.

I am learning many theories about leadership but I don't think I am applying any yet. I sense from the things going on around me, that God doesn't want me to get used to my environment. There is going to be a lot of change around me and it is not going to be easy.

I am, meanwhile, waiting to see what will happen