A Thanksgiving Prayer

Let us give thanks for this meal, saying, we thank you, Living God.
For this breath, for this heartbeat, for the gift of these companions, we thank you, Living God.
For this nourishment and flavor, for soil and sunlight, air and rainfall, for all to whom this food connects us, from field to farm and store to table, we thank you, Living God.
As we share this meal together, may our thirst for peace be strengthened and our hunger for justice deepened, until all are fed, and safe, and well. We thank you, Living God. Amen.

-a prayer by Brian McLaren

photo by Michael Thornton, Ngong Hills, Kenya

FAQs

Hello, friends!
A heartfelt thanks to all who have been praying for us in this adventure and for taking a few moments to read our blog updates. Today marks our first official time telling the story of what God is doing in our lives as we begin to partner with the Strangs, serving the Maasai people of southeast Kenya. Chase and I set up a table at Northstar Church in Blacksburg, Virginia, the church where we attend. It was encouraging to speak with other missionaries, college students, individuals, and couples who were interested in what God is doing. Here's a little cell phone snapshot of our table below. (Chase didn't know I was taking a picture.)

Since we shared a lot of this information today, I thought that this week I would clarify a few questions that may be floating around!

A few FAQs:

Where are you going?

We are planning to work in Kimana, Kenya on the border of Kenya and Tanzania near Olitokitok. In Kimana, you can look over into Tanzania and see Mt. Kilimanjaro clearly on most days. Kimana is about a 3.5 hour drive from the capital city, Nairobi.

How long will you be there?

We have committed to at least a three year term, but are going under the banner of long term missionaries, and are waiting to see where and how God leads.  

Who is supporting you?

We hope to be supported by friends, families, churches, and individuals.  We are raising our own support which gives people the unique opportunity to become more involved with our mission to Kenya.  Therefore, we are relying on your support: prayer, financial resources, interest, Skype calls, and visits to Kenya from people who want to play a part in God's work in Kenya.

What organizations are you working with?

We are under the The Antioch Partners (TAP) that base out of Houston, TX. TAP provides member care, financial and missional accountability, helps us with fundraising, covers us in prayer, and insight due to their number of years experience on the mission field. 

www.theantiochpartners.org (TAP website)

http://www.theantiochpartners.org/arndt/ (Our biography on the TAP website)

We will be working with Maasai Special Project Fund (MSPF) throughout our time in Kenya. This nonprofit was started by Fred Foy in 1990. The goal of MSPF is to provide a Theological Training by Extension center Oldoinyo Kiti to enable local Maasai pastors to study the Bible without having to leave their families. The hope is that this center will also meet other needs of the community by providing resources for education and health and wellness.

www.mspfonline.com (MSPF website)

Who are the Strangs?

We are working with Dr. Rev. Fred Foy Strang and his lovely wife, Cecily Strang, who have been mentors to us since 2008. During our time at King College, Fred Foy and I connected over our passion for East Africa. I had just returned from Ntagatcha, Tanzania before starting my freshman year at King. Chase met Fred Foy in 2008 and they bonded over their love for Jeeps. We knew Fred Foy before Chase and I knew the other existed! Fred Foy was excited for our passion for the people of East Africa and has taken both of us to Kimana. He married us on August 5, 2012. Cecily has been a friend and mentor throughout me knowing Fred Foy and is currently working on her Ph.D. in nursing research. Hopefully, I can help Cecily where I am needed as she educates the community about malaria prevention.

When do you hope to leave?

If funds were raised, our hope would be to depart around October 2014.

How can we support?

-Prayer!  We need your prayers as God leads us on this journey of support raising and holistic ministry.

-Financial Support: We are in need of both monthly and annual donors; we have committed to long-term ministry in Kenya and as a result your provision will enable us to keep serving, confident of God’s provision.  http://www.theantiochpartners.org/arndt/ (Click on donate under our profile)

-Referring others to us: If you are part of or know a church or churches that are looking for missionaries to support, whether in Africa, to the Maasai people, or even just in holistic ministry, we would be thrilled to come and share with them the work that God is doing in Kimana, Kenya. 

-Future involvement with us on the field.  If it is a Skype call or a visit to work with us on the field, we would love for you to be somehow involved with us as we continue on our journey.  

What do we plan to do?

Our goal is to provide holistic ministry to the Maasai.  For the first year, we will be primarily engaged in culture and language learning building up some preexisting relationships in the community as well as developing some new ones.  It is during this time we will be assessing needs in the community and some ways to meet those needs even further.  We are looking at ministering to the all the Maasai peoples needs, not only their need for Christ.  One of our main objectives where a need is present is the the need for theological training for Maasai pastors.  With Chase's background and M.A. in Intercultural Studies, Chase hopes to work alongside Fred Foy in pastoral training and the development of the Oldoinyo Kiti, a Theological Training by Extension center. 

We also hope to be involved with agricultural development, provide clean water, work on construction projects, teaching and/or tutoring in ELL (English Language Learning), and healthcare methods within the community. Additionally, I hope to explore and advocate for the mental health needs of the area since I'm currently earning an M.S. degree in Counseling and Human Development. There is a possibility that I will work in partnership with Cecily Strang in holistic ministry (the combining of mental wellness and physical wellness) as she seeks to teach malaria prevention and education in the area and around the globe. Hopefully, students from King University (formally King College) will spend some time in Kimana for study abroad experiences within their different disciplines in the future. I would enjoy working as a coordinator and leader as far as getting teams and individuals acclimated to the culture of the Maasai in Kimana.

During our weeks of working and internship we're continuing to set up times to meet and talk with various churches. We're getting a few dates on the calendar, which is exciting! Between my internship, work, classes, and classwork, I've had less time to devote to this than I would like. Thankfully, Chase has gracefully picked it up between working his full time job.

Mark Yaconelli, in the book Dangerous Wonder, put this experience well when he said, "What moments! What holy moments! To be in the presence of God, frightened and amazed at the same time! To feel as if you are in the presence of Life itself, yet with your soul shaking in both terror and gratitude."

Gathering in the Results of Prayer

When I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:15-19

Support: Unfortunately, a dirty word for some, and a scary word for those of us relying upon it. Before Audrey and I began pursuing mission work, I had heard from some of our friends that were pursuing long-term missions, about the perils of support raising and the many responses one can encounter.  Some of these statements we have found to be true, while others have not occurred to us personally, however, I would like to share some of these responses to fundraising:

-Missionary support is begging from friends or family and should be avoided.

-If you are not working on a project, you are not a worthy investment.

-I would love to go on an all expenses trip paid to (wherever) why should I send you on a vacation.

-Missionary support is a necessary evil that must be overcome to do God’s work.
 

First of all I believe there is a biblical basis to supporting missionaries and mission work. 

Now when I say support raising I am not merely referring to the raising of funds but rather an authentic biblical partnership, with many different partners working together in a variety of ways, doing God’s kingdom work.  Audrey and I, as long term missionaries, are only a small part of this partnership.  We are not the only ones, the lone rangers, out on this mission fighting injustice, and false prophets alone.  We have a team, a family, a body of believers, churches behind us and with us every step of the way.  Just as it takes many different members to make a body, we need many different partners on the field using the gifts God has gifted them with to accomplish His kingdom work, ministering to us, to each other, and those on the ground we go to serve.  It is together that we make the difference. That being said, we do not merely ask for you to do something for us, but to join us in the mission WE have been called to, to further His kingdom.  Join us in making a difference in Kenya, in the Maasai peoples lives, join us in fighting disease, false teachings, water shortages, abuse, and in spreading the gospel.  Become part of our team.  

Often missionaries face a variety of warfare, from doubts and fears, to finances, to language barriers, health issues, culture shock and other spiritual warfare.  We rely on your prayerful and generous support, both individuals and churches.  Without the dedicated and consistent support of the body of Christ, overseas long-term missions would be impossible. There are several general reasons I believe it is important to give, but nothing makes quite the impact of seeing it for yourselves.  I would love nothing more than for all of our friends and family to experience Kenya and the Maasai people on a visioning trip, or in any fashion, but until that time I am going to attempt to paint you a picture...

The Maasai people are some of the most welcoming and friendly people I have ever met.  A simple nomadic tribal people, raising goats, sheep, and cattle, they rely on support from their family and friends for their survival.  They go where the food is, where the water is, live in simple mud/dung houses, they have no electricity or “clean water”.  Their diet consists mainly of ugali (a grit like meal) and rice.  There is some church influence in this area, primarily Pentecostal and Presbyterian, but large majorities of the people remain unreached.  Malaria and AIDS plague the people, and often there is drought and famine, so the members move from area to area in search of food and water for their family and animals.  Lately the prosperity gospel has become more and more prevalent in the area, and people seeking truth and seeking God are lead away by false prophets and promises.  These are some areas in which we hope to serve and assist.  By working among the Maasai people in Kimana Kenya, we can help them learn the Word of God for themselves, teaching them how to read and understand scripture instead of only relying on others.  We hope to help them with language and reading and writing. We hope to train pastors at a Theological Training by Extension Center so that they may better minister to their own culture in their own culturally sensitive ways.  We hope to dig wells, help with farming methods, train people in malaria and aid prevention as well as community health.  In all these this we, as a body of Christ, help the Maasai people in holistic ministry, giving them an understanding of God’s love for them.  It is with your partnership that you will gain the knowledge and satisfaction of radically changing lives of the poor and hungry into brothers and sisters that radiate and reflect the face of Christ.

"Prayer is the real work of the ministry. Service is just gathering in the results of prayer." -S.D. Gordon

Ways to support us in Kenya:

-Prayer!  First and foremost we need to be surrounded in your prayers before, during, and after, as God leads us on this journey of support raising and holistic ministry.  Join our monthly prayer letter list, follow our weekly blog, be intimately and continually united and committed to us and with us in prayer. 

-If you feel called to support us financially, we are in need of both monthly and annual donors; we have committed to long-term ministry in Kenya and as a result your provision will enable us to keep serving, confident of God’s provision through you.  Commit to us, and to the Maasai people, as we commit to you and our brothers and sister whom we serve.

-If you are part of or know a church or churches that are looking for missionaries to support, whether that be in Africa, or Kenya, or to the Maasai people, or even just in holistic ministry, we would be thrilled to come and share with them the work that God is doing in Kimana, Kenya. 

-Future involvement with us on the field.  If it is a skype call, a care package, visioning trip, or a visit to work with us on the field, we would love for you to be somehow involved with us as we continue on our journey. 

 If you would like become partners with us on our journey or have any questions check out the Antioch Partners website at http://www.theantiochpartners.org/   click on partners and then The Arndts to learn more! or email us at chasevarndt@gmail.com or audreymarndt@gmail.com we would love to talk to you and tell you more!