Today has been another amazing day, rich with God's blessings and divine appointments!
The
day began with church; I (Jeff) was
given the opportunity to teach the adult Sunday School class, and
shared about God's love for each of us from 1 John 4. There was good
discussion, and many were moved by the message that God brought. It was
fun to see the Holy Spirit move in just simple ways: I wanted to give an
example of how we rejoice when we see God bless other people, and I
pointed to a young man in front and said, "For example, when this young
man just got married, we rejoiced with him," and then quickly added,
"Well, you know this is just an example, I don't know if he got
married.." and as I was beginning to say that, he beamed a smile and
said, "Yes, I just got married. See here is my ring!" So, I just smiled
and praised Jesus!
The church service was a real blessing. It
began with a wonderful time of worship, praising and blessing the Lord,
Jesus. Then we enjoyed the talents of the Langata children who put on a
skit, and danced for us. Matt
Howe then went to the pulpit to share from the word. Matt spoke on how
our limitations keep us from experiencing all that God has for us, and
used Peter as an example of someone who faced his own faith
limitations--e.g. sinking in the water when walking to meet Jesus, and
his denial after Jesus' arrest. Following his message, the team come
forward to pray for anyone who wanted to come forward, and many took
advantage of the opportunity. After
church, each of us shared how God had blessed us by the opportunities
to pray for real needs for our Kenyan brothers and sisters. My personal
experience went like this: Earlier in the service, they had passed the
offering, and I was ready with money to give, but the offering bag never
came to me, so I was feeling disappointed. Later, when a gentleman came
forward and asked me to pray for him to get a job, and the means to
support his wife, I realized that the money I was going to put in the
offering, God wanted me to give to this man, so I was able to bless him
with that right after service.
After
the three and a half hour service ended, we were all very hungry and
ready to join Jennifer and David Hatley, along with some of their
children and grandchildren, back at the guest house for lunch. A few
words about the guest house, which is located onsite at the Langata
Children's Center (this is where the children's homes are, as well as
the school buildings, offices, and a beautiful new church building that
seats about 300-400): It is beautiful! This house was only an emptied
out building when I visited Langata five years ago, but now it has been
transformed into amazing hotel-like accommodations. It is very
convenient to be so close to the children, and the facilities
themselves, while modest, were incredibly comfortable and welcoming.
They also have an amazing cook, Felix, who so far has prepared the most
delicious food for us, every single meal! So, tremendous thanks to the
Hatleys for all
the time and energy spent to make such a nice place for guests to
stay.
The
Hatleys blessed us during lunch by telling us more details about what
was happening in the ministry in various parts of the country. And
later, I was able to learn more from their son-in-law, Scott, who told
me more about church planting and ministry work going on in the outer
parts of Kenya, Northern Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda and Botswana. They have
now planted nearly 250 churches in this part of the world! Each of
those are overseen by local, native
pastors.
After
a nice lunch, and some down time, we joined the children for an
afternoon of fun and games. Of course, it had to begin with the passing
out of candy!! This is something the children really love--and sometimes
get a little carried away with. But for the most part, it all went very
well. We will likely do this again tomorrow, since we have hardly begun
to make a dent in the 8-10 gallon-sized bags of candy we have with us.
After the candy, we split up and found children--or rather THEY found
us--and did everything from singing songs,
dancing, hair braiding, running, rough-housing, reading, and playing
games inside. There were also the obligatory photo-shoots! A small
group of boys insisted that Matt take pictures of them in every
conceivable location on the campus--in front of this building, in front
of this bush, then that one, on top of the water tower, in this tree, on
top of a stump, and on and on it went!! I allowed one of the boys,
Brian, to use my video camera, and he was off taking videos of his
friends doing all kinds of crazy things. I have yet to see what all he
filmed, but I'm sure it will be quite amusing!
It
was a joyful time to spend loving the kids. They are all so wonderful,
so deserving of love, and anything we can give them. And as we shared
our hearts with them, they made inroads into our hearts and filled us to
overflowing with their love and joy in return. Once in a while, the
loneliness and sadness of a child came through, and then we were there
to comfort and love them. But most of the time, the children just craved
our attention so very much. And it was a blessing to be able to share
whatever talents and gifts the Lord has blessed each of us with.
By
dinner, we were completely exhausted, and hungry. After sharing a
devotional time together and preparing for the next few days, we got
ready for a very well-deserved sleep!
Praise Jesus for His love and blessings, and the opportunity to participate in this grand adventure!!
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