Kenya Team Day 4

Our final day at “God is Able” school was filled with lots of fun. Face painting, balloon games, soccer and ball playing for most of the morning, ending with worship and a salvation message by Mike Cooper. It is such a contrast to go there. The two “10 foot by 10 foot” classrooms are made of old bent aluminum on the sides and roof, dented and scarred by weather, balls and rocks. Inside are hard packed dirt floors and hand drawn spelling & math charts and worn chalkboards that no longer completely erase. The seats are make shift benches from lumber scraps, worn and dirty from grimy clothes and the little posteriors that sit on them. It is a picture of poverty, the likes that we only see in the movies or on the news. However, because of a Godly man and his Christian staff of 4, this place reeks with JOY.

It is hard to explain what a privilege it has been to spend three days with 100 children that cram into these rooms. We brought games, prayer, bible lessons, hugs and high fives for kids that live in a harsh world. They brought joy, smiles and receptive hearts to the God who made them. Somehow we came away receiving the most… that is only possible when Jesus is the real center of attention.

The afternoon agenda was both women’s and men’s study at Calvary Chapel. Cheryl Berkson from our team shared a message from Phil. 2 and they had rich fellowship. It is a mirror of heaven since there were different tribes, tongues and nations all worshiping together. Meanwhile, the men went out in the nearby slum and visited six homes of church members and delivered much needed food stuffs. Many here cannot find work, if they can it’s usually for a few weeks. In fact, one of guides named Nellie shared how they often don’t have food… unimaginable to our western minds. Somehow they survive and have grateful hearts to the Lord. We end up speechless for a few minutes as we walk, they are such a contradiction… without even realizing it – they are God’s tool to make us feel real small. Funny too, we are all loving the fact that God is challenging our thinking and our value system. “Lord don’t let us go home the same people.”

Upon returning to the church, we joined in with the men’s bible study. Walter Bozek shared an insightful study from the Book of Daniel about standing firm in the face of pressure. We bounced back to the guest house in a 20 year old short bus on potholed roads trying to process what we’ve seen and done.

Pastor Gary