Back With the Team!!!

Hey everyone!!! I know that it has been awhile since I last updated my blog. I didn't have any internet access where I was staying the past three weeks. Gosh, what to say...

I guess I will just say what I have been telling my teammates. My ministry assignment was good, but it was really really challenging. I redlined so many times while I was there (basically just freakin' out). There was absolutely no privacy EVER. Even at night there was members of the family sleeping in the next room, and we had no door to close. The family members would always be walking in and out of our room, so there wasn't much alone time. We were constantly on the go. We would wake up at around 8:00am, leave the house at 10:30ish, and then get back at around 7:30-8:00pm. There were 7 children in the family, then the parents, and a grandmother, plus neighbors and their children coming over every night. We would eat lunch around 3:00pm and dinner around 10:30pm, going to bed at midnight. The area is large rolling hills/mountains; very green and wet. It rained every day for the last 1.5 weeks we were there. So that is the background info I guess.

So basically our program was a lot of door-to-door evangelism, going to church members' homes to encourage them, going to schools and talking to the children from the Word and telling them the importance of education, going to church on Sunday, and that is about it. A different family from the community hosted us every day for lunch, where you are always served ugali, rice, potatoes, cabbage, japati, meat, and lots of chai.

Hmm, what do I say??? It is difficult to summarize 3 weeks worth of information. Like I said, it was really challenging. I felt very uncomfortable evangelizing the first day, and though it got easier as the days went by, it didn't get any more comfortable. The evangelizing for the most part felt very impersonal since the people we were talking to were complete strangers. However, I saw God do incredible things in that area. Truly the harvest is plentiful! Many people accepted Christ from the evangelism; at least 35-40 people, so that was really amazing to see. Even if I felt awkward or insincere when speaking, God worked through me for his glory.

I preached for the first time the first Sunday we were there. I talked about the lives of Joseph, Moses, and Gideon, showing how God can take ordinary people, no matter their weaknesses or current and past situations, and do amazing things through them. I called the sermon "From Ordinary to Extraordinary". Amazingly, when I got up to preach I was not nervous. God calmed my nerves and I was able to just enjoy the experience, going away from my notes at times and just letting God lead me. That was cool to experience. The people were very receptive, and a good number came to the front to get prayed for.

What else...? The food was really good but there was just so much of it. A lot of chai too. I got sick from the fresh milk, so I stopped drinking that and was fine for the last half of the ministry. I have never shaken so many hands in my life, or met so many people. I have also never been stared at so much before. We stuck out a lot. We climbed mountains every day for our ministry, so I now have legs of steel.

There is so much more to tell, but it is hard to explain on the internet, so I will share stories when I get back. Right now I am back with my team in Nairobi at a retreat center called Little Sisters. I have running water and a toilet again. My hot shower this morning was the best thing ever :) We got back to Nairobi yesterday afternoon, so we are having a rest day today. That is good, because I need time to myself to sit and reflect and recharge. I will update you all on what is going on again when I get the chance, so for now I will just say I miss you and love you all!!!