Back from the wild

I know it has been a while since I last blogged, but it has also been a very eventful time. I was away with some friends in a dusty Kenyan town called Naroosora somewhere next to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. I am not too sure that we weren’t in the park itself because we occasionally met wildebeest and zebra on our way to the schools we had to visit. The rain in that part of Kenya is a blessing for the farmers but a curse for the motorists since the road gets horribly muddy when it rains. The strangest part of this detail is that this road is supposed to connect Kenya to Tanzania and yet it is in abject disrepair.

Anyway, the school ministry visits went remarkably well even though we were only five and the team normally has at least nine people. That meant that we had to play double roles and each person had to give more to the team than they normally would. It sounds like such a difficult prospect but it was more fun than work in my opinion. That’s what happens when your work is also your hobby. At the end of the week, we had hosted seven meetings. One meeting had students from TWENTY ONE primary schools, because they had gathered to do a joint exam.

The journey back to Nairobi was full of event, mostly involving muddy roads and strangely gracious Kenyan policemen. Kenyan traffic policemen are notorious for corruption but they let us so easily off the hook even when there was actually a case to answer….GOD was definitely answering my earlier night’s prayers. Soon after we returned, we had a mission to a church fundraising after which we spirited away to a nearby girl’s high school for a Christian Union leadership event where we had great fun and ministry.

Now a new week beckons and there is lots of planning for our forthcoming December camps to do. We are likely to have more than 200 teenagers on our compound during those eventful two weeks and we need all the preparation and heavenly guidance we can get so please pray for us. 

Max Lonsdale

I read something interesting on the internet this morning. An 18 year-old boy went up to the front door of one of the most famous people on the planet and asked him for a job. His meeting with the famous man was only successful on his fourth attempt. He is an aspiring footballer and the man he was meeting was none other than the manager of the (in)famous Manchester United Football Club, Sir Alex Ferguson. He describes how his well-rehearsed speech vanished into thin air when he came face to face with his potential employer. Eventually, he got an opportunity to train with the illustrious club for a month before unavoidable circumstances denied him a chance to join the team. Sir Alex did, however, arrange for the boy to be taken in by Doncaster football club where he will train once his ankle injury has healed.

Interesting how persistence and courage pays. it is even more interesting to note how persistence and courage should be backed up by competence. You see, no matter how impressed Sir Alex was with the boy’s guts and determination, he probably wouldn’t have given him another opportunity if he wasn’t good enough. What was initially a two-week trial turned into a month-long adventure, culminating in his playing alongside some of the teams other bright young prospects.

Before you go out with your elephant-sized courage and dogged determination, polish those skills. Whatever you are good at can always be improved by practice. there would be little sense in being given a big stage that you cannot perform in. prepare yourself well, for we attract what we prepare for….at least that’s what Erick Gatumu told me. 

Torture

I don’t understand how a normal human being would go out to a football field and run three laps then endure 45 minutes of agony in the name of practice. Honestly, who in their right mind goes out looking for pain? To add insult to injury, the person going for this kind of torture calls it a hobby. What kind of hobby promises more pain than it does pleasure, and what kind of sick people go out to participate in such a ‘hobby’?

Well, I am one of the people who participate in this seemingly senseless madness. I know there will be pain involved but somehow the joy of playing dulls the pain, at least when I am still on the football field and my muscles are warmed up. After a nice shower and a light supper, I drink several glasses of water and wonder if it was all worth it. The pain comes, especially on the feet and knees and the thighs begin to resist movement. Leaving the bed becomes a matter for discussion with the brain and though the brain has lots of convincing ability, the tired muscles normally win and another evening is spent in bed reading or watching a movie.

There are some who do this professionally, and they would rather do this than anything else in the world. Whereas some do it to put food on the table, others do it for the passion in them to find release. We all have different motives but we share the same sport. Life also has its players and each of us has our own motives for doing the things we do. What is your motive for doing what you do? 

Trapped

I have the feeling that God has me where He wants me and will not let me depart for a while. I am caught in a situation that I cannot manoeuvre myself out of and I am not sure I want to escape. You see, I am trapped inside……youth ministry. There is nothing else I can see myself doing in the foreseeable future so I might just as well get used to it and settle down for what could be a long ride

Today is Monday, and Mondays are normally my days off, but there is some work that needs doing and I must do it because deadlines must be met and those deadlines will not move just because I have a day off. We also have our monthly Bible Study group sleepover this weekend and I must make sure everything is ready by then. Thursday is a public holiday and that means that Friday will be occupied by people in the office who would rather be somewhere else. This also means that Wednesday will be like a Friday so today and tomorrow are the only two really productive days this week and I must make them count.

I am currently reading through the Gospel according to Matthew and it is interesting to see Jesus developing from a child who needed protection from King Herod to a master forcefully resisting the devil’s temptations with the Word of God. There is probably something that I should be learning at this stage in life, and I will probably share it with you when I have found out what it is. In the meantime, thank you for all those who pray for me and support me in various ways. You are the fuel that keeps my engine running. God bless you. 

Manna-less people

There was an interesting man preaching at church today. I think he did such a great job of making me think as he preached, that I have forgotten his name already. He said heavy things and threw about challenge after challenge as he unrelentingly spoke the Word of God. He quoted scripture and told rib-cracking stories that kept us all glued to the invisible screen. One particular Bible story that he referred to was that of the golden calf idol made by Aaron for the sinful children of Israel.

Of course God went on to punish many people because of this and Aaron’s leadership skills, or lack thereof, was put on display for all to see. A thought struck me at this point. If these guys were so evil, why didn’t God just withhold manna from heaven and let them die a natural death? God could also have added something lethal to the stuff and made it poisonous and in this way eradicate the problem. Why didn’t God stop feeding them and renewing their shoes and clothes for all those years?

We are told so many times that lack or poverty is a curse and we equate need with sin. These guys were in gross sin and yet God did not withhold the supply of food or cancel the dressing contract. We all have seasons of plenty and seasons of want, but the level of supply varies from one person or family to another. It is important to recognize the season you are in and to learn how to grow deeper in God through whatever experiences characterize the season that you are in. 

One Month Later.....

It has been an interesting one-month journey to various parts of the country with friends from various parts of Germany. It is normally called the Mission Active team and this year’s team travelled to Ngechek, Tinderet, Mbukuni, and Mombasa and finally back home to the Diguna Station in Mbagathi.

We had the opportunity to meet many school-going kids and teenagers as well as their teachers and other members of staff. We were always treated well and no school turned us away although some were much better behaved than others.

Our time in the Diguna stations was filled with practical work punctuated by some practice sessions for the ministry presentation items such as songs and skits. Most of those involved were not used to the physical nature of the work they were expected to assist with and got their fair share of blisters and sun-burned backs.

Mbukuni was our school ministry area and it was very well planned by the pastor in charge of AIC Mbukuni, Shedrack Ndonye. We visited 11 schools, six of which were primary and five secondary schools. We met with the students, teachers and non-teaching staff and got to share the Gospel with them all. The teachers were mostly interested in getting to Germany and were not so enthusiastic with the Gospel. Eventually, the school ministry was over and Mombasa beckoned. After a 12 hour journey, albeit with numerous stops, we reached our destination and embarked on our five night stay and the beach.

When the fun time was over, we drove, though with our normal stops, for close to 14 hours and finally reached Mbagathi exhausted and hungry. Most went to bed almost immediately after eating and the next morning was greeted with a late breakfast. We then went to the Mitumba slums, where the harsh reality of life in the slum was revealed to some very shocked team members. We then proceeded to the Village Market for lunch and some souvenir shopping at the Maasai Market before returning home to a sumptuous supper prepared by the wives of some of our team members.

The German contingent flies back home tonight and we wish them well, although they will be greatly missed. To pick a quote from one annoyed lady at the beach, ‘it is only mountains that never meet, people meet.’