Wise ole Mango Tree

As I lie in my tent looking out on the setting sun and a very large mango tree, I reflect on what God has been doing in my life over the past year. I think, as Christians, and maybe even as humans, we all want to be wise old oaks (or in my Kenyan case, Mango trees). We wish to be large, substantial, noticeable, firm, steadfast, admirable, producing fruit, and giving shade. I think we view our success as Christians and humans as how well we are doing and how grandiose we have become. We see our purpose to be efficient and effective and can only be successful if we accomplish these things on a large scale.

However, I feel this is contrary to the purpose and plan of God. While we yearn to be large and to leave our mark, God only wants us to find the small part of ourselves that reflects His glory. The piece He has instilled in us from the beginning. Our mission is to reflect his grandeur not become anything in and of ourselves. I believe anything that speaks contrary to this is pride. We want to make a name for ourselves, we want to be successful, and we want to give largely and without expectation because that reflects well upon us. I think this is only natural and part of the human self and psyche, we want to like ourselves, and so we do things to enhance our image. Yet, in doing so, I believe we are obscuring the Son. If I am that large mango tree and God is the sun, the larger I become, the more of Him I block others from seeing.

I believe we all want to be old, large, wise oaks (or mango trees) when all God really wants from us is to be toothpicks. God has a special plan for each of us, and a unique design for our lives, but it requires very little, if almost nothing of who we are. All He desires is for us to reflect His glory. So as we continue to try to grow into those large oaks, He is constantly chopping (sometimes it feels like hacking) down our limbs. We are trying to grow to be something of stature yet we keep getting knocked down. Often I think we wonder, why would God do such a thing, why am I not progressing, why would God allow this to happen to me? We have a different vision than His; we desire to prosper in ourselves when all He wants is our surrender and for us to submit to His pruning. So He chops, we resist. We grow new branches (some which might be very nice and even produce fruit) but He cuts them down, so we try once more, but again it happens, sometimes over and over again until we are broken. Beautifully broken.

I feel it is in this brokenness where we truly find God, where we accept grace, where we submit to “not my will but Thine” where we can let go of our pride and our identity and grasp solely to Him. We allow the pruning, the chopping, the sanding, the shaping until we are whittled down to nothing more than a toothpick. A tiny, insignificant toothpick that is easily overlooked, small, and sometimes brittle. Yet, its function is completely tied to the Creator, to reflect the purpose of His grand design. It leaves no doubt who is at work, for its identity is tied up in Christ. So my prayer tonight for myself and for each of you is to “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.” Psalms 46

For Such a Time as This

“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places, But there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” 

- J.R.R. Tolkien

It’s early morning. The sun is not quite up, but yet I feel called to write. Many times, I believe, we write to clarify our own thoughts, to process things that are going on in our own lives, or that God is teaching us. This note is no different, although writings take many guises; they all help us come to grips with ourselves, regardless of who they are written to. I write this letter to the church at large, to acknowledge where we, as a body of believers are, and to help myself process where we should be heading.

Dear Church,
I have nothing but love towards you, for you are a deep part of me. My heart has been torn for us, and the struggles we are having. I pray for us daily. I know we are hurting. I know we are broken and torn in two. I know there is turmoil and that battles wage within. Differing opinions and strong words have left us battered and confused. From loving sinners, accepting outcasts, supporting the downtrodden, and determining the authority of Scripture and the character of God, we are and have been left divided and broken. Issues of faith and our worldview are often the dearest to us, the hardest to let go, and the easiest to get hurt over.

In this time of mourning and of brokenness, I urge you not to give up and not to circle the wagons. I know you are struggling to follow the steps of the Savior amidst differing opinions and strong points on either side of the line. In disagreement and hurt, the easiest thing is to round up our defenses and focus inwardly and lick at our own wounds. It is exactly what the enemy wants and exactly what we must avoid. When we stop at no cost to not to lose what we have gained, we cease being the very thing we were created to be. In focusing inward, we lose our outlook on the world at large. We lose our effectiveness for we are no longer going to the world we were so called to serve. We are too busy maintaining what we have for fear of any further loss.

Following Him is not easy. We will most certainly see loss. It is dangerous and we will most certainly be uncomfortable, oppressed, among sordid of people, and possibly even in fear for our lives. Yet, it will all be worth it. I urge you church do not become so inwardly focused on the trials at hand that you lose the vision that Christ has given you as the church. We must be focused outwardly if we are to remain the church at all. We must be active in our communities, and in the global church, if we are going to say we are following the vision He has laid before us.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is in Esther 4, verse 14. “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” “For such a time as this” is one of my favorite phrases in scripture. Everything that has led up to this point in Esther’s life, in my life, in your life, in the life of the Church, could be for such a time as this. What then if we circle the wagons, if we call it quits, if we focus so much on our inward dilemmas that we neglect our people, our tribe, or the ones we came to serve?

Will this stop God from accomplishing His purpose? Of course not! May it never be! God will accomplish His will with or without us, despite and sometimes if we are stubborn in spite of us. As it says in Esther, if you remain silent, deliverance will arise from another place. The question is: will you revel in joy in being part of God’s plan, or just watch it happen from the sidelines? We must be active. We must be willing to lose it all. We must give freely, because who knows if this is not why we have been put in this position, been given everything we have been given, if this is our moment. If we stop reaching out, what have we become as a church? We will then be nothing but a club, an inward focused organization that is of no good to anyone. One might say, “Yes, but we are rallying the troops for later”. What later? Do you not know the time is drawing near? Behold He comes quickly! Who knows if everything you are is for such a time as this?

“Sigh. Let's be blunt. We're a little distracted. What do you want? Once we could follow, now we cannot. You would not fit our image, so we lost the plot. Once we could hear you, now our senses are shot. We've forgotten our first love. We have lost the plot. When you'd come back again. We'll be waiting for you. When you comin' back again? We'll be ready for you. Maybe we'll wake up when... You come back again. Lies. Let's be blunt. We're a little unfaithful. What do you want? Are you still listening? 'Cause we're obviously not We've forgotten our first love. We have lost the plot. And why are you still calling? You forgave, we forgot. We're such experts at stalling, that we've lost the plot.”

-Newsboys, Going Public, Lost the Plot

If we remain silent, if we cannot perform our mission as a body of believers, if we cannot sort our differences, and learn to work together, God will bring it up from somewhere else. It is only whether we want to be a part of His good work, or not. I encourage you, be a part of the work He has called us to do.  We need to come along side others in our community and in the world at large and give the shirt off our backs, to walk the extra mile, regardless of the cost.  There are many ways and many places. But as a church we need to be involved somewhere, in His great plan. For we are His body, His hands, His feet, for such a time as this.

Palms open, held upward

“Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the Lord”. It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received. –C.S. Lewis

Kenya and the African way of life have taught me many things, much of which I have not began to process or fully understand myself. However, Kenya has taught me to give generously, and to hold nothing with a closed fist, to hold this life and all that is in it with open hands, palms held upward. One’s palms being up shows a submission, openness and honesty. They also indicate humility and uncertainty. I believe that is exactly what God desires from us, not the closed fists with which we hold things so often. Over our time here we have had money, possessions, and plans all taken from us. We have been stripped down to nothing but each other and God, and it was enough. Teaching me that nothing in this life is truly ours: not land, not a building, not money, not a plan, nothing is ours. It has all been given from the Father of lights, so why should we flinch when it is taken away? We (and I include myself) as westerners, as a culture, have entitlement engrained into us. We are self-made, hardworking, and do not quit. It is because of such that we believe we are owed something for our efforts. Not a bad way to be. Our tenacity is admirable, however, we must get over the fact we are owed something.

I think we justify most of this through comparisons. We work hard, harder than them, therefore we deserve this and they do not. Yet, when we flip that comparison against God, we are the ones left completely undeserving. Yet, that is not a comparison that many of us are willing or able to fully make. We are not willing to admit that in comparison to our Lord, our efforts are nothing and we are deserving of nothing.

In Kenya, there is not much that is actually yours. Living in a communal society anything you have is open to be taken from someone you have a relationship with that needs it more. If you hold to anything too tightly you are viewed as selfish and unloving. This is not so in the west, and at first, and to be honest even still, this frustrated me. Not only could I not hold on to my stuff, I saw Kenyans as having no concept of saving, or future planning. Yet, lately I have begun to wonder what are future plans truly? Who can truly plan ahead, especially when the present is hurting so? It is easy to trick yourself into a comfortable future when your needs are met in the present. One has to ignore those who are suffering because to acknowledge them causes your walls to crash to the floor, makes all of your planning for naught. We as westerners can save for the future because we are individualistic. One might say we are selfish, only looking out for ourselves. That is all we are truly responsible for in this life, right? Communal societies in many countries in Africa, in Kenya, and among the Maasai would disagree. They might say we are in this together, they, as the church should, see the suffering around them and take it upon themselves to meet it. They do not hold large grants or savings, they rarely have more than to get them through the week ahead, yet they give it more willingly out of their little than we give from our surplus.

There are many differing thoughts on this. Some might say not to give because it causes dependence. Some say only give to emergencies, to sustainable causes. True, some giving creates problems, but I feel ultimately that problem is one of the recipients making, not a large responsibility of the giver. I think so often we use the possibility of people misusing money as an excuse not to give; rather than giving freely to needs and letting the Holy Spirit be at work through the gift and convicting the recipients where there is misuse. This is not to say not to be wise stewards of the money you have been entrusted with or not to be involved personally with those you give it to, for indeed it has been entrusted to us. However, at the same time we must remember it has only been entrusted to us, it is not our own, we are merely the stewards. So why do we grasp it so tightly? We would rather bury it in a hole where we may never touch it again, than sooner let a cent pass through our fingers.

This is quite the opposite in Kenya. Kenyans never have money, and never are able to save, in part because soon as anything comes in, it is spent or given away. At first I saw this as irresponsible. However, one day I went out to the bush with a friend. This man has a job, makes a reasonable salary for Kenya, and I watched him visit his mom, his dad, his uncle, aunts, and community members, and he gave his months salary away to them for groceries and transport. It was at this moment, along with an accumulation of many others that something began to change. Again, I speak as someone grasping at truth he can see, but does not yet comprehend. I am not claiming to have all the answers. Yet, I do know that as a church we are called to give all that we hold: be that time, money, efforts, plans, world-views, biases, possessions, what have you, and follow Him.

Following him is never easy, and will most certainly leave us with many questions and concerns for the future. Yet, we must stay focused on the present, doing the work He has called us to do, holding on loosely to all that we have and entrusting the rest to Him.

Re-crafting the Vision: Chronological Bible Storytelling

Entasopa Pookin! Greetings from Kenya! We wanted tell all of our loved ones, supporters, and church friends back home about what God has done in the last year. We also wanted to share how God is using us in Kenya now through your support to further His good news!

Before we moved to Kenya, we met with many of you and presented the vision of developing a pastoral training center for pastors who would not have the opportunity or means to attend a Bible training school. At the same time, we tried remain open to how God would move in the years ahead. Knowing our Lord, and knowing Kenya (things often move very slowly), and knowing our plans were shortsighted and human, we began our year of language learning with open hearts.  Our prayers continued (and still continue!) for the development of the training center and for the needs in our community among the Maasai and other local Kenyans. During this time we attended trainings and visited other missionaries in remote areas of the country to see what has worked and what had not for them over the years. We also began meeting with community members to see what was desired and what they needed while discerning what exactly God was calling us to. We are excited to share that although some of our plans and means have shifted through this searching in the last year, we are still pursuing that original vision. God has blessed us in pursuit of some new areas as well.

One of the missions we saw working well, that fit with our vision, and excited us most was sharing the Gospel through stories known as Chronological Bible Storytelling. We have been piloting this method out with many groups: pastors and pastoral trainings teaching them how to do CBS with their congregations and leading CBS in various schools ourselves and training leaders. Along with that, we are hoping to start a few community groups with people we interact with on a regular basis in our area.

What is CBS you ask? In the mid-1970’s an Australian New Tribes missionary in the Philippines attempted to correct a situation where a people had been semi-evangelized but had no real concept of sin and Christ as Savior. He found that he had to go back to Genesis and teach chronologically through the Old Testament to the story of Christ before his listeners really understood their lostness and were open to a Savior and the great story of redemption. Storying was used early on as a culturally appropriate and field reproducible method of reaching and training nonliterates. It was soon found that where those who were nominally resistant and even hostile to traditional presentations of the Gospel were attracted to storying sessions and began to respond.

-CBS is chronological. It teaches the stories of the Bible in chronological order, beginning with creation and continuing to the stories of Jesus. By doing this we lay a firm foundation of who God is, who man is, and how God wants to relate with humanity.

-It is the Bible. It is not simply using stories from our lives to illustrate the message of our sermons. It is not even simply using Bible stories for illustration only, which are both common issues in the local church. It involves telling the Bible stories accurately and teaching the main principles of redemption found in these stories.

-It is storytelling. Stories help isolated truths make sense because they give context, are more interesting to listen to, and are far easier for people to repeat to their friends and family than are three point sermons! Therefore they can more easily share the message with others.

We tell the story as a story while only telling what is in Scripture. For many people that we teach, this will be their main form of knowing Scripture. After telling the story multiple times, we ask observation and interpretation questions to test listener’s comprehension (such as what does this story teach us about God and His character?) We then move on to deeper application questions to have our listeners relate the story to their lives and their own personal stories and lead them in a memory verse related to the story we have learned. We finish by praying, fellowshipping, and worshipping together.

In the short time in sharing this method, we have received great response. Our students have been excited to be interacting with a story instead of merely being read to or listening to a sermon. The pastors seem to desire deeper training on preparing their sermons from Scripture and exegete Scripture, which is something that training them to craft their own stories from Scripture will help with immensely. Recently, we have started sharing with a group of Maasai ladies at the market in Maasai. Although I admit, they are having to help me along a little bit!

We want to thank you for your support as we continue working with pastors in how to teach Scripture and craft stories based off of Scripture to their congregations in the days ahead. We ask for your continued prayers as we work to tell the stories ourselves in the schools and start to find new groups of the unreached in our community wherever we go. It is easy to take and share a story on the road. We are so thankful for each of you and your continued support in this venture. We would like to leave you with part of a story, some sample questions, a clip of us sharing the story, and some of our girls acting out the Christmas story for you (although we apologize for the quiet audio). May God richly bless each and every one of your families as we participate in this work together!

Year One: The Recap

For many months, I’ve had thoughts running in my head about ways to sum up this first year. Although I’m sure Chase’s experience is different, I can certainly say that I have never been more challenged or more sure of God’s abundant grace. I’ll first start with a little (or…long) year recap for this blog entry:

From our first steps on this soil, God’s grace was present. I remember being surprised and saddened by how culture shocked I was. After all, I thought, this was my third time being here. I remember feeling unsure and maybe just a bit afraid of all the unknowns ahead. As Wendell Berry writes, “You are undertaking the first experience, not of the place, but of yourself in that place.” I was uncovering myself in this place and it was strange.

As soon as we hit the ground in Nairobi we checked in with our friends Mwita and Monica who had been living the past six months in East Africa. To my surprise and to my heart’s thankfulness, they happened to be IN Nairobi on the day we arrived! I remember thanking God over and over for the blessing of catching up with them and hearing their stories from past months. One entire day overlapped for me to spend time with Monica and I remember us talking together thinking how many similar struggles we were dealing with at the time. We kept on saying “me too!” and I think God knew that familiar feelings would provide my spirit with the comfort to move ahead. The next few days were when we met George Mixon who helped us get to know some Maasai people not far from Narok near where he and his family had served in years past. I distinctly remember asking him if his kids went to Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe (not knowing about local missionary kid schools or Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi) and him saying, “No, no. They are rivals.” Those funny thoughts and questions seem so long ago! The Mixon family has been a tremendous source of Christ’s strength, hospitality, and love to our family over these many months.

The first two weeks of our being in Kenya, we stayed with two of our friends in the Ngong Hills area. Jeremy and Becky welcomed us into their home to stay for two weeks while we sorted plans for where we would venture to next. I was so excited to meet their new (at the time 3 month old) baby Natasha "Tash". She was so small in this photo!

Time with Jeremy, Becky, and Tash

The month in Olepishet was an experience to be sure and a good one at that. It’s certainly one we won’t soon forget. We spent time in language learning for a month with two bunk beds squished together and enjoyed our trek every few days in Fred Foy’s Landcruiser out to a place with Safaricom internet connection to call our parents and MAYBE only maybe check our emails, post a blog, and checking facebook messages. It was like hitting a homerun every time we saw another one load.  It was also at this spot, where we would have loads of visitors come and stare at us through our car windows, and I don’t mean just casually glance at us through the glass, we are talking faces pushed up against the glass, tapping on the windows trying to talk to us or see what we are doing as we are trying to communicate with our parents on the phone. For the entire forty-five minutes we were there. I can’t blame them. I would too.

We experienced the kindness of that community and it excited us as we looked forward to our work in Kimana. I remember eagerly waiting for the news of the Strang’s arrival. I can remember where I was sitting in that same Safaricom (our internet/phone provider here in Kenya) spot when we called Fred Foy and found out the success of their fundraising. We were overjoyed!

Language and Maasai culture learning in Olepishet

This same rock is where we were invited (by phone) by American missionaries we’d never met to attend Thanksgiving in Bomet at Tenwek Hospital. Those few days blessed us deeply as we got to witness firsthand the impact the Espy family had made on their community in two years serving there. I mostly remember boxes, pizza, tears, and deep conversations. AND, GENEROSITY at its finest! They unloaded tons of spices and useful things for our home to take with us! It was like Christmas morning. During this period, we also found out about (and were in awe of) God's provision as we needed extra funds for a sturdy car. December was another month of displacement where God completely met our needs and exceedingly blessed us. Another dear missionary friend extended her apartment to us for three weeks and we loved getting to know more about her life and ministry, as she also worked with the Maasai. She even had a small Christmas tree set up which did something for this sentimental heart. Rhonda’s encouragement and love to us has been so good for our hearts. And, did I mention she has the best couches ever?!

Mudding a house with folks from Tenwek in Bomet, Kenya

The Strangs arrived a couple of days after Christmas and it was so amazing to see them after months of anticipation and prayer about where this journey would take all of us. We rented an apartment for the month of January and began using it as a base to look for more permanent housing in our area of ministry near Kimana (about 4.5 hrs from Nairobi). We looked at many places, but the prices were much too high. Like eyes popping out of our heads too high. We just had to trust that we would find a place somewhere. Then two of our friends brought us to a house in Loitokitok (the town south of Kimana). Upon opening up the gate, I think Cecily and I both were overcome by the "homeyness" factor.  It was a sweet little place that, with some adjustments, could work for us. And it has! It has been a sweet, sweet place of growth and surrender as the four of us studied language and discerned about where the days would land us all. Nine months in, when we finally were able to put our bags away, I think my spirit breathed a sigh of relief.

Fixin' up the place!

Not too long after our move was Chase’s birthday and unfortunately, gift giving is not usually my forte. However, I think I scored big this year. Chase has wanted a pup ever since we got married. While I am a big dog lover, the thought of having to leave one back in the US was just plain too much. As we neared time in Kenya, Chase kept dropping the hint that he wanted a pup soon. And Mozzie joined our family on May 9^th of this year at nearly three months old! He’s brought some extra laughter and snuggles and has taught us much. He’s a great little guy.

Then: our first meeting on April 17th (Chase's birthday)!

Now: Still loves giving kisses at seven months!

As we look back into a season of transition and unknowns, I see that God was preparing us for something (but that's for another blog). ;) His faithfulness in providing friendships with American missionaries and Kenyans alike has overflowed our hearts with joy.  The love and communication and support between our supporters have uplifted our spirits. It is a great blessing to be on this journey with you.

Be on the lookout for "Year One: The Reflection"

Goat Roast

A couple of weeks ago we were able to host a couple of our friends from our small group in Virginia for a few weeks. Just before they left, we were able to have a traditional goat roast. The first step was a trip down to the local Maasai animal market on Tuesday to pick out our dinner. This was a fun experience, learning what to look for to pick out a healthy goat and then bargaining with the Maasai for the best price. There we were able to practice many of our language skills and got to see a few friends in the process.

After collecting our goat and stuffing it into the back of our car, and praying it did not use the bathroom or attack anyone on the drive back home, we brought it back to the guesthouse until we could prepare dinner. The next day we arrived around 2pm dressed in our Maasai garbs to start our meal. I tried to introduce our dog Mozzie to the goat, but neither seemed to care much about the other.

To see a video of the traditional goat slaughtering and roast click here!

We had a couple of good Maasai friends come over and they taught us the traditional way to slaughter the goat and clean it. Ben was given the pleasure of eating part of the kidneys raw along with the other Maasai men. We then roasted the ribs over a fire, and fried the rest of the meat with some vegetables. Once dinner was ready, we had a few different couples come and join us as we had a Kenyan style goat roast, pot luck dinner. It seemed to be a hit, and has recently been suggested that we have another one soon!

Loitokitok

Loitokitok sits at just over a mile high right on the slopes of Kilamanjaro and the border of Kenya and Tanzania.  There are probably 30-50 cinder block shops, a vegetable and clothes market on Tuesdays and Saturdays, a hospital and three or four schools.  I would guess the population to be about 3,000 or so people, widely spread out among the town area. 

To see a drive around our town on market day click here!

Loitokitok is one of the 2 bigger towns in about a 2 hour radius and has a newly paved (about 5yr old) road from the main highway to the town.  Most of the roads off of this road are  just dirt.  It is pretty easy getting around town, just a 20 minute drive down to Kimana where there are a few restaurants and another market place, as well as where many of our Maasai friends live. 

A lot of times we will walk from our home to the town center which is only about a mile or so away and do most of our grocery shopping for the week.  We enjoy taking walks with Mozzie around the neighborhood and try to visit with neighbors as we do so a couple of times a week.  It has been fun to hear the children call to us as they are learning our names, lately I have heard a lot of Cheese! and Chess! Although they have Mozzies name down pat.  Right now we have been in a cloudy and cold season, but hopefully things will start to warm up soon.  To see a bit of our town and a market set up watch the video included here.

Making our Beds

           Over our months here in Oloitokitok Audrey and I have had the great pleasure of visiting many local Maasai villages of friends and acquaintances.  While doing so, we have been able to ask cultural questions, practice our language, and even observe some exciting and interesting cultural practices and rituals.  We have seen everything from cows giving birth, local warrior villages, and recently got to observe the creation of a traditional Maasai bed.

            I always knew that the Maasai were creative and thrifty in using every single part of an animal they had slaughtered as they distrubute different cuts of meat and organs for different members of the family and community.  They boil the head and other left over bones with meat for soup.  They use the tails for fly swatters and such.  I knew that they use the skins for things, but I had never really observed what for.  In our recent talks we learned that often the Maasai use the smaller skins (enchoni, such as goat) for shoes, and the larger ones (olchoni, from the cow) for making their mats for beds. 

            My mother always used to tell me to me to make my bed, little did I know the cultural context this would take as we entered the village to observe and help out.  Now, I am being awfully plural in this because Fred Foy and my role in this was very minimal, but of course very important. We sat as the rest of the men did on the outside of the circle and “supervised”.  Audrey & Cecily had the opportunity to roll out the skin, cut small holes around the perimeter of the skin, then make wooden stakes and drive them through the outer holes to stretch the skin out flat along the stony dirt ground, so that it could dry for a couple of days in the sun. 

To watch a video of Audrey and her hard work on the bed click here!

            They then, along side and with the help of their Maasai tutors worked on scraping of the ruminants of meat, muscle and tissue off of the skin so that it could properly dry and cure.  After the skin sat in the hot sun a couple of days it would then be ready to use as a new bed mat.  

Heart of Worship

One of the hardest, yet most joyous things Audrey and I have the opportunity to do every week is to visit varying local churches in the bush.  It is exciting to get to see firsthand what God is doing among His people in different denominations and cultures.  However, at the same time it can be hard to feel a part of a worship service at times that is so different culturally (as well as in a different language) where many times you are left wondering exactly what has been said. 

Yet, at the same time I have learned definitively, that you do not need to know what is being said, or even understand completely what is going on, to join alongside fellow believers to worship the One who has created and redeemed us all.  It has been a delight to stand alongside our fellow Maasai brothers and sisters in Christ and see the depth and beauty of their hearts as they worship God. 

It is also hard culturally because we are expected (as missionaries and pastors) to often sit at the front of the church, give a greeting, a brief word (or a longer sermon), and are wanted to sometimes take over the rest of the service.  That can be a struggle because they want to honor you and your position as "missionaries" but at the same time, you are trying to empower these very pastors to see value in themselves, and what God is showing them, to share among their congregation and culture.  I worry sometimes that this may be a result of laziness on their part, or even perhaps feeling unequipped or inadequate, but we are slowly and steadily trying to encourage these pastors and affirm them in their identity in Christ and as leaders in the community. 

To see our Maasai church introduction click here!

Please pray for us as we rejoice with our brothers and sisters as we worship in our new home and cross-cultural context.  Pray also for us, as we struggle to feel a part of the church as a whole here and for our praying for our dear brothers and sisters in leadership roles in the church here as they grow in Christ and their roles as leaders of the church. 

Gifts which flow from the Heart

“A gift is not given because it is enough, it is given because of the joy we have and wish to share.”

When there is rampant need and you have limited resources how do you decide how to give? Do you take each request, pray, and give as you see fit? Or is it all just first come first served? Or can one take a middle road of giving an item instead of money, food for the hungry or a blanket for the cold? Is giving a material thing even the only way to give? For me, unsolicited giving, taking others by surprise, and meeting ones need at a deep level is one of my greatest joys. Yet, when it comes to a personal request of people struggling asking me for specific things, I start noticing how hard it is to give, and how my heart often hardens. I would rather hear about a need at a distance and give large and anonymously than to have someone approach me on the street and ask me for something small. Part of this, I think, is at a distance I have time and resources to research and plan a helpful attack. Whereas when it is personal and immediate, I have no way to know if something will be put to good use or abused. And the most frustrating part is I don’t know if my mental philosophy is just me being a good steward or using that as an excuse to not trust people, and not give generously. This all becomes even more complicated and difficult our fast paced, impersonal, materialistic society.

Ideally for me, I would like to invest in these people personally. But then what happens when you run into need outside of your community where it becomes difficult if not impossible to personally invest? I believe it is my responsibility to find people in my immediate community in need and come along side them to help with a more long-term and sustainable solution to meet those needs. To build a relationship where there is trust and love, so things are given freely out of love rather than of obligation. However, what happens when this is not possible? What happens when these people are outside of the realm where we can realistically invest in their lives? Is it only our responsibility, or does it require something more, from other communities in other areas, other “churches”, and other individuals trying to do what is right? For many it may seem like an unrealistic thing, can’t we just write a check and move on, we did our giving for the month? I don’t think we can. Throughout Scripture we are called to love, “Love God first, love your neighbor”, “Love is the fulfillment of the Law” (Romans 13) and in case you were wondering I am pretty sure the loving God part perpetuates the loving neighbor part. I also believe a lot more goes into love than just giving what is asked for or required. Even Maslow in his hierarchy of needs has the first few taken up with things that have to do with being showed love and respect.

 
Lastly a misnomer that I believe keeps people from giving is that they do not have enough, or cannot fully meet a need. Recently, we went to visit a Maasai village and were trying to bring something small (tea and sugar) that would be a gesture of kindness and something that would help them. However, just before we arrived we were told there were over fifty households in this village, and we could not take the amount of tea or sugar needed for the whole community so we best just take money instead. While I was struggling with this cultural issue in my mind and trying to communicate why I would rather not take money to give to a chief, which may never be seen by anyone else. Unfortunately, giving money creates a perception of being a source of money rather than the idea of being present for relationships, which is what we were trying to establish for ourselves.

 I was reminded by a Maasai friend standing nearby, “A gift is not given because it is enough”. We do not give simply because we can meet a need, nor should we neglect to give if we cannot meet a need. I believe we give because we have joy in our hearts, and we wish to share that joy with others, even more so with those especially in need of some joy. One of my favorite thoughts on this came from one of John Piper’s earlier books, Desiring God. He says if you go somewhere and have the best hamburger of your life, you are not going to go back home and pretend that it never happened. No, you are going to tell everyone about it. Especially those who you know would appreciate it, or are in real need of that juicy hamburger! The joy we have experienced can only be fulfilled and expanded upon when we share it with others. It is my prayer that we all learn how to give joyfully, sacrificially, and personally in ways which show the unconditional love that has been bestowed upon us by our Creator.

The Language Helper

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in this house for almost one month. This of course included a trip to Nairobi to get some furniture and other household items and ended up being an extended stay due to a motorcycle running into our car. Fun times! (Thankfully we had a wonderful Kenyan friend help us sort it all out!) We’re glad to be back home. Our responsibility for these next months is to be diligent in language learning and we are thankful and excited for a space where we can do that more regularly instead of being on the move. When we moved in, our landlord, who is Maasai, said that he would look into finding us a language helper. Not sure if this person would be the right fit, we agreed, and he came into our home to help us a couple of weeks later. This young man introduced himself as James and I found out that he was about the same age as my brother, James. I have to say it warmed my heart a bit.

James is a high school graduate who made average grades, his mother passed away some years ago, he is the 5th of 8 children, and helps his father in the garden (shamba) day to day. He hopes to go to college to be a teacher, but can’t afford it. We have both been so thankful for James. He is humble, patient, and just has a sweet spirit about him. Our eighth time with him, he informed us that he was being drafted to the police force in Nairobi because of the recent Garissa attacks and security issues. I was shocked by the news. All of a sudden, this would be our last day with him as our teacher. I was shocked with just how I sad I was for him to not be our language helper anymore.

Corruption is very common in police work and my heart prayed that James would be able to be stand for the right things despite the temptations and difficulties that awaited him. I wanted so much to express our thanks on his last day. We all shared our daily hot beverage, and James showed us a list of things that were required for his entry to training and I remembered the many toiletry items that our dear friends the Espys had graciously gifted us before their departure in December. It was all that I had to express our thanks. But it brought me such joy to be able to give him some small things to check off his list. We dropped him off in Kimana that day, and tears started rolling down my cheeks. “He’s so young to be going into the police force,” I thought. There was just something special about his willingness to help and the friendship the three of us had already created in two short weeks. 

After this, I e-mailed a few folks to pray for James and for us to find another language helper that would be a good fit for us. We traveled to Nairobi, arrived back, and found out that not only had the government changed the police recruiting, but unfortunately, he hurt his foot and was unable to participate in the running portion of the tryout. So other than James’ hurt foot which seems to be doing fine now, we are thrilled for the good news. Ultimately, I hope to find a woman to help me in language learning too, but he has really been a great teacher for us both. Thanks for all the prayers you’ve prayed for God to bring people alongside us in this community. James is truly an answer to our prayers. Pray that we would be a blessing to him, too. Next Saturday, Chase hopes to go and play football (soccer) with him and his friends to meet more youth in the community. We think this is the beginning of a long friendship.

Whirlwind Wishes

Well, I think I’m way overdue for a blog post! First of all, there are so many thank yous to be uttered that they can’t be counted. The numbers of prayers, words of encouragement, and emails to uplift us through this whirlwind has been such a profound blessing. As many of you know by now, we’ve been traveling for a long, long time. Even though a few of those weeks we were with family in Martinsville, Chattanooga, and Anderson, our “life in a few bags” began at the end of July. After July, we set out on our road trip full of goodbyes, see you laters, hugs, last stateside conversations, sharing about the work we were moving toward, and preparing for our new life here in Kenya. It was a packed, but joy filled, few months. We traveled to Bristol TN, Columbia SC, Marion NC, and then between in Martinsville, Chattanooga, and Anderson. I spent four weeks in additional training. I remember wanting to move to our “next” journey, but I also remember being a little afraid. What would more “long term” life look like on the other side? What will we do? Who will we meet? Where will we go? How long will we be here? I remember vividly being in Anderson and realizing in was the last night before we were set to fly out of Greenville. I tried not to be sad, but really that couch at Grandma and Grandad’s has become one of my favorite places on US soil. And, suddenly, I was overwhelmed with just how much I loved the people God has so graciously placed in my life’s walk. Chase, and through being an Arndt--two sets of incredible grandparents and in laws, wonderful Usry extended family, my extended family, my Forest Hills church family, our Blacksburg family, our very large King, First Pres, Bristol family and church family, all of the churches and individuals who understood our calling and decided that they were about it too. I stand it awe when I thank God for the people in our lives who love us so well.

We landed here completely exhausted, but encouraged, and set out after four days to stay in Kona Baridi for two weeks with our friends Jeremy and Becky. That seems like AGES ago, my friends! Since then, we have stayed in numerous places. Other missionaries have graciously housed us during times we’ve needed to be in Nairobi. We’ve stayed at guest houses, a hostel, visited Tenwek Hospital to see friends, lived in Olepishet for a month, stayed with a missionary for nearly a month, rented a missionary family’s place for nearly a month, and camped on (yes—on!) the car on multiple occasions. In every. single. circumstance. God has provided a place for us to be. There have been days when the next two days are unknown to us. Our time thus far has been oh-so-full of relationship building, language learning, car purchasing, and house searching. I have been humbled with the generosity of local Kenyans and fellow missionaries who have been so willing to take weary travelers into their homes! We have witnessed God’s loved poured out on us. He has been faithful through each phase, each useless worry, each night we lay our heads on a new pillow. And, even though this has been difficult at times, I truly wouldn’t trade it. When we get comfortable, that’s when we stop relying on God and stop experiencing the ways he longs to show us His overwhelming love. I am so guilty of being too comfortable. It’s so easy to worship on Sundays and forget those around us, our very neighbors (and I'm not talking necessarily about the guy right beside your house). When you’re moving about, you have to be somewhat alert of your surroundings. You make choices about where you will stay, what you will buy at the duka (“store” in Swahili) down the road, how long you’ll need X amount of supplies, where you’ll store your other supplies while you’re doing X. By it’s very nature, moving around causes us to be a little more aware of those around us. But, a constant relationship or friendship that can be depended upon and nurtured isn’t really in the mix. That’s what I’m really missing, but I'm thankful for God's (and Chase's) constant companionship.

Even though this phase has brought us a new awareness of God’s very real ability to provide abundantly, we are very ready for community. We are ready to surround and encourage a community. To learn from a community. To pour into people and let them pour into us. We are ready to put some roots down. And although I believe we are getting closer to that time, God still tells us to wait. We want to be faithful in our language study so as to serve people well. And even though I’m itching to know what our roles will be, I’m committed to trying my best to communicate in the language of the people we came to serve. I’m trying daily to be obedient to God’s call, knowing that nothing is wasted and knowing that He is faithful. We westerners don’t like waiting. We like being productive, having something to show for our efforts. If there is something that serving in Kenya ISN’T, it’s that last sentence RIGHT there. And, quite honestly, if earning my latest degree is only used to lighten people’s burdens and point them to the Creator, I am more than content with that.

In my experience, relationships are where true service comes to fruition. Without relationships and knowing people deeply, what do we have? Without intentionality, what do we have? Without a commitment to something, what do we have? Without learning about those around us, what do we have? Without honesty and openness, what do we have? Please pray with us that there will be people committed and ready to help us connect with our community as we stand ready to learn from them. Since language learning is our primary objective for the next six months, please pray for our minds to be able to absorb what they can and not stress over what they can’t. Pray that we will take times to rest and that we will spend time working diligently on language with the help of a language helper. Please pray FOR the people will be our language helpers. We don’t yet know who those folks will be. But, pray that we will love them well. Pray that above all else, we will be Christ to the faces we see in our community. During this season of lent, let us remember that relationships go hand in hand with sacrificial love. Lord, continue to love and teach us how to love sacrificially.

Ann Voskamp says the following and I pray it is true for all of us today and in the days ahead:

By Grace, today I fast from the lie that my calling
isn't great enough because God isn't calling
for people great in skills, schooling, or spotlight -
He's calling those simply great in community,
in confession, in communion, in courage, great in Christ.
Today I will do ordinary things with extraordinarily great love.
We repent of wanting to be great
instead of loving greater.

Inadequate and Useless

Before I begin I want to preface that this is not a pity party, nor is it a cry for help. My self-esteem is fine and I know where my identity lies. However, talking to Audrey the other day, we came to the general consensus that in our current transitional point in life and ministry (in traveling, and language learning), we have begun to feel a little useless and a bit inadequate in our service. Which got me thinking, how does one prepare for ministry, especially a long-term ministry? It would be easier (not easy of course) for one to leave their home, jump into another culture, start ministering, go hard at it for a couple months, then go back home into their normal field of work, feeling tired and worn out, but accomplished none-the-less. This is the way most of my mission’s experiences have been; we come in, jump into a project, conquer, and head home. A feeling of satisfaction, but the question arises, what happens to the building, project, or people once I am gone?

This brings about the thought of long-term missions (which I am going to call mid-term missions) these are the one or two-termers (maybe 2-6 years) who have the idea of a longer vision, hoping to develop something that can be adopted and owned by the people they go to serve (this is where I would say we currently fall). It is the awkward stage of missions, as I think my wife would call it (Similar to her transitional lens glasses, somewhere between regular glasses and sunglasses, which is almost-but-not-yet. The look that always leaves you feeling super confident….). The reason I say this type of mid-term missions is awkward is because of the unknown. We want to learn the language to be more effective and speak to the hearts of the people we are coming to serve in their own tongue; however in order to do that it takes up an inordinate amount of time that could be spent ministering, especially if you pick a small obscure language that Rosetta Stone does not cover and cannot prepare before hand. You work on building relationships in the community, but people are unsure how much to invest in you because they are unsure how long you will be around. So you end up having very few real connections on the ground, and the ones you once had at home are fading a bit due to distance. If you are early in your years and career you have the tendency to be plagued by thoughts of how will this effect my resume, or what about the years I am missing in experience and savings? What about family, and having and raising kids, do you plan them for a furlough, or begin your family abroad, and what effects does that carry over into your family back home, and the young ones you will raise? Therefore, if you do not have proper training, you feel underprepared and inadequate at times, and if you spend your time preparing, you look at all the time that is being “lost” and may feel useless (a lose-lose situation).

Then comes the big, ever-question of sustainability, something every missionary longs for, what supporters want to know more about, but truthfully one of the hardest things, it seems, to accomplish. If you are going to leave at some point, it seems best to have a successor, for success without a successor, is failure. Or is it? Is a mission only successful if it carries on after the missionary is gone, or could it all be about the one person it touched? Do numbers matter in the long run, or are all the finances, work, and hard times worth it for only one? It is hard to justify to a room full of donors, but I think deep down it is definitely worth it, just hard to justify it in your mind sometimes. In my mind it seems the very thing we are called to do is to make disciples, to train up followers that can train others, thus perpetuating itself and becoming a sustainable mission. However, what do you do when the people you have come to serve won’t take initiative? What if they don’t buy in? Or what if they do buy in but do not want to put forth the effort? In our short time here in Kenya we have seen dozens of mission projects that were started with the best of intentions to meet a need in the community, the people were trained on how to carry about the mission, and to continue the good work of the project, but yet when the missionaries left, shortly after the project crumbled and disappeared. Yet, when you go into those same areas, with some of the resources still there, although a bit worse for wear, the people say, “Have you come to start back up the project? It was so good! It helped so much. Someone really should start it again…” The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Whose responsibility is it to perpetuate these “good works”? Occasionally, you may find a local individual with the skill and some vision to carry on (we recently met a 80 something year old Maasai man who is carrying on the torch of some missionaries of the past, but he is the only one, no one after him has caught the vision, or has the spark to take over in his old age). It seems these individuals with vision and gumption are few and far between.

If inspiring and discipling does not work, then the only other option is for the LONG termers. These are the missionaries who have committed their lives to serving abroad. These are the ones who have settled in their places of service, whose homeland is not the same as their children’s. They have learned the language through and through, seen scores of people and tried many a project, some have succeeded and some still floundering, but they are committed to the people and committed to their vision. In the wake of no successors they carry on trying to do the most good for the most people while they are still around, hoping the things they do and the people they touch will one day light the spark for another to carry the torch in their absence. This may not happen in their time there. These individuals may not get to see the fruit of their labor or their efforts blossom. However, as Paul says in Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God causes the growth.” These seeds that have been planted, whether from short, mid, or long-termers, God may use them all and grow them into something far beyond our scope of vision. However, that may not always be comforting when we are hoping to see growth now, to see fruit, and abundance.

Bringing me to my longwinded point. In no attempt to pity myself, it is easy to feel useless and inadequate. We are young, inexperienced, somewhat unequipped and in our preparations sometimes it feels like we are wasting valuable time that could be spent working. In the wake of “failed” projects, broken people, and everyday trials it is easy to get discouraged. However, we deeply trust, as long as we are seeking Him, He will use all that we pour in, if we are faithful, to further His good work. It is just hard to see sometimes in the thick of it. Today I saw a picture that illustrated this point well. It had a man on a bike with a straight road and a finish line in sight, and it was captioned, “our view of life/ministry”. Then next to it there was a picture of the same man on the bike, a very short straight section of road, some hills, curves, ditches, mountains, oceans, cliffs with sharks at the bottom, and a finish line, and it said “God’s call to ministry”. It’s not that God wants us to suffer, but God prepares and equips us. Life, contrary to what we wish, is not a simple easy road. It is full of bumps, curves, trials, excitements, and disappointments, but God prepares us and guides us along the way, testing us and producing endurance. It’s just hard to see sometimes when you are in that ditch. And yet, we persevere and pray for those who will come along side us and carry the torch when we can no longer. We are all inadequate at times, and there are times I am sure we all feel useless, but the encouraging thing is that there is One greater than us working in and through us, even in our times of weakness and inadequacy. We have our confidence in this, in He who started this good work in and through us, will continue it until His perfect completion. While it may take a while to see we have faith that He is making all things, including us, new.

The Other "Tenth" of the Law

Everybody wants to be in control of something be it our children, our jobs, our finances, or our fate. We like having a firm hand on the things that are sometimes uncertain. One thing we have realized being here in Kenya is how much we take ownership for granted in the states. A few weeks after de-embarked from our 24 hr plane ride we realized that apart from the clothes on our back, and what little we carried in our suitcases, we owned nothing. Initially, for me at least, this was a somewhat freeing concept. No bills to pay, no maintenance of things falling apart, no worrying about how to protect or lose once investment nothing tying us down to any one particular area, we were quite literally free to go and share with people in whichever realm we saw needed help.

However, as some days went by we started to realize how hard not owning something really is. It is hard not to have a place to call your home, when you are not certain where you will lay your head at night. Somewhere you can make your nest, decorate, make comfortable, and settle in. Audrey first noticed and expressed these sentiments and while at first I could not echo them verbally at the time, I think my heart was resonating with them along the same lines. There seems to be a comfort we find in ownership. And I do not think this is merely a materialistic comfort or one that is isolated to our American culture either. This seems to be a cross-cultural imperative from what I can see, and while there may be some people groups I have overlooked I think this somewhat universal. We all like having stuff, preparing for the times of want, and being comfortable in the times of plenty. Whether you are a newly wed making your bridal registry of all thing things you may need for your new life, or a doomsday preparer with your fallout shelter, stockpile of beans and SPAM, or an Kenyan stockpiling on radios and televisions left behind when you do not have electricity. We all seem to like to own stuff, even if we do not have the means to use it right away. 

 
This has been an interesting transition in the missionary life. And somewhat of an internal struggle and stressor we are slowly learning to overcome. Can we truly give away all our possessions and follow him as he commands? This is one of the man reasons I believe it was so hard for that rich young ruler to follow Jesus. The further you go down this road, the more things you have owned, and the more solace you feel in this ownership, the harder it is to break away. Audrey and I are somewhat fortunate in the fact that we are young and inexperience to never have owned too many things. I have owned clothes, a car, and some appliances but that is about all we had yet. But even giving up these things was hard in a society that measures success by owning your own house, cars, and 2.5 kids. One is always, although many times unknowingly, struggling towards this end. Is this not the life, love, and pursuit of happiness for which we yearn?

This has been a constant thought over these last few months and it has resurfaced since recently we bought a car, our first “real” possession here you could say. Not that it is really ours, the title is in our teammate’s name, and the finances belong to The Antioch Partners, but it is ours during our work here. And although I hate myself for it, my materialistic side of myself finds some relief in this. In having somewhere to store and secure my stuff, to have some certainty that I can travel from point A to B with little trouble or interference. To not worry about the uncertainty or the “what ifs?” It has been nice. And as we head down to Kimana today to begin looking for houses I find myself both relieved and frustrated all at the same time. We will finally have somewhere to call our own, to rest, to be secure. Yet where in scripture does Christ ever call us to be secure? In fact, at least to me, it quite often seems the opposite. Is it not uncertainty what it is all about? Is that not the premise of faith being uncertain but trusting, hoping? Sure we need to rest, not in our (quite literally in our case) earthen home, but in His presence. We need security, not of weapons and walls but of our identity in Christ. We do not need something but Someone to call our own. So my prayer today, both for myself, our team, and for you, is that we do find comfort, rest, security but that we find it in Him. That we can sort through all of the different ways we try to go about it ourselves securing our own happiness and can work outside of those walls and make ourselves uncomfortable enough to find where our true security lies.