Litein Living

We have been in Litein now for 10 days and what an interesting 10 days it has been. We started the first 3 days in the hospital, getting oriented and learning our way around. This past week we were asked to attend a palliative care seminar. We were hesitant because we did not want to miss time in the hospital but decided to go. The week has been okay and we made it through. I am certain there was a reason that we had to attend the seminar I just don’t know it right now. Someday I’ll know (maybe not this side of heaven though). I must say, we are extremely anxious to get back into the hospital on Monday.

I want to give you a little idea of what it is like each day for us. Most days we finish at the hospital around 4:30 or 5:00 and then head back to our guesthouse. This leaves enough time to walk to the market for vegetables and fruit, to cook dinner, and shower before the sun goes down. Dinner has been fun! We usually use tomatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, and potatoes. The debate usually comes in deciding whether we want noodles, rice, or ugali with our vegetables. Turns out Kate is a big fan of ugali!

Water and electricity have been inconsistent to say the least. It is quite a treat when we have water AND electricity in the evenings. Of course, having both of these simultaneously also makes cooking and showering easier. This does mean that hot showers or showers at all are come and go. We have been extremely lucky the past 4 days in that we have had hot showers. We do not take this for granted. It’s fun to feel like we’re roughing it a little bit.

We are really searching out ways to get more involved in the community. This Sunday we will meet with some of the Kenyan student nurses. We hope to get to know them and find ways to encourage them spiritually. Please be in prayer for this time. Pray that the Lord will build meaningful relationships with these students, and that He will provide a way for us to speak the truth of His love over them. We are also hoping to have an opportunity for more patient involvement in the coming weeks. The language barrier will continue to be a challenge. Most individuals here prefer to speak their tribal language so our English and Kiswahili are not always helpful. I have found this to be frustrating already when a young woman came into the outpatient clinic room I was in and spoke of being beaten. I wanted so badly to talk with her, encourage her, and help her find a safe place to go but she spoke no English and I don’t know that much Swahili. I had to settle for hugging her and telling her how sorry I was for her situation. Sometimes I wish I could just open my mouth and whatever language was appropriate would just come spilling out… that would be absolutely wonderful.

Now on a more personal note… the Lord is busy at work in my life. It seems each and every day He is revealing more and more of himself to me. I am thankful but revelation requires a response from me, a change in my life. The anvil is never comfortable. To be honest, it is painful. I take comfort in knowing that the pounding and shaping in the fire is only to make me more useful in the hand of the carpenter. I often wonder why I must come to Africa to learn such seemingly simple truths. I guess it is when my heart is less distracted that it is ready to HEAR the truth of the Father.
I ask for your continued prayer for safety and health for the three of us. Pray that the Lord will draw us closer in friendship so that we might be a united voice for the gospel. And, pray that we would seek to joyfully do the will of our Father, daily pouring out His love over Litein.
Thank you for faithfully interceding on our behalf. Have a great weekend!!

A Day of Rejoicing

I wish I could do justice with words to what we experienced on Sunday. I know that I will fail, but I will try to at least provide a small glimpse of the sights and sounds of worship in the largest slum in Africa.

Imagine a room about the size of a third of the FLC fellowship hall (I’ll use a FBC Senatobia reference since most all of you are familiar with the building). In this room, all the walls are cement, the floor is cement, and there are movable divisions that have been lifted up from their usual position of dividing the room into multiple classrooms that now occupy the ceiling. Since it is Sunday, the desk have been moved out and there are plastic chairs lined up across the floor. The church usually has about 45 members present on Sunday. Of course this Sunday they had an additional 4 visitors who stuck out dramatically. I am sure our 4 white faces with wide eyes were very noticeable against the sea of dark faces surrounding us.

There service had just begun when we arrived so we, of course, were greeted immediately from the announcer in the front of the room. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind who the visitors are or who he is greeting. After greeting us, the quickly go into the musical praise and worship portion of the service. They sing serious, more reverent songs for the “call to worship” and then starts the praising. I close my eyes to fully take in all that is going on around me. There are people who are shouting, others dancing, still others crying. At several points throughout the service, a very loud “tribal call” goes out. To me it is as if this person is so moved in the presence of the Lord that their heart burst forth in joy. I like to think of it as a calling… an invitation for those present to come with them (dancing and singing) to the throne of God. There are three men at the front who are leading the songs. It seems very spontaneous. There are also young girls who are at the front leading the dancing. Their pattern is much more similar to a “follow the leader” format rather than spontaneous like the men they are helping. The children are sitting on the side of the room, some are participating… others are wandering in and out of the hall. Some raise their hands in shouts of acclamations of all that the Lord has done for them. The preaching comes from the assistant pastor. He speaks in Kiswahili and the senior pastor interprets in English. There was so much animation and shouting throughout the message that I had trouble completely understanding all the points of the sermon. After the sermon, we sang a little more and then ended with the “the Grace”. (I had forgotten about saying “the grace”.)

The most difficult part for me is the harsh truth that many of them are hungry and don’t know when their next meal will come, yet they sing out in worship more joyfully than I have ever dreamed.It still brings me great joy to think of the day when we ALL will be invited to the throne of God to worship together in His presence. I know my imagination is no match for that day. However, what I can attest to is this… if that day is anything like the worship I have been a part of in Kenya, what a day of rejoicing that will be!

“And now, may the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you now and forever more, amen. “

Karibu Kenya

We made it! Thank you to all for your prayers of safe travels. Kate and I arrived in Nairobi late Monday night and made it through customs without a single problem. Praise the Lord for providing a Kenyan friend on the airplane who helped us acquire our Visa and get through baggage and the customs line without any questions. Many of you may remember my fear of the customs process from the last time when I arrived at the airport in Nairobi to find no one working because I had arrived so early. The Lord works in wonderful ways and His mercy really is NEW because this time our new friend walked us right through the entire process without one person stopping us for questions! So, thank you all for praying us through this arrival.

The week in Nairobi has been filled with orientation and meetings. I must say that this orientation week is quite different than the first. It has been wonderful being reconnected with so many of my friends in Kenya, and meeting new friends from Baltimore and Canada. I am overjoyed to be back and once again feel like I have returned to a place, in full obedience, to join the Lord in His work.

Right now, I sit in a flat at Rose listening to the rain pound the tin roofs and know that rain is a link to survival. The drought that plagued Kenya just a short year ago seems to be only a memory as the skies have poured forth the rain this season. I can not wait to go to Litein. The very thought that I will get to do that which the Lord has made me for, is thrilling. I will get to experience medical missions firsthand, day in and day out as I live among a new tribe of Kenya. There will be a new culture, tradition, language, and food. To me, that means a new way to come face to face with our Father.

Christina, Kate, and I leave for Litein this coming Tuesday and it will take us about 6 or so hours to make the trip. Once there, we will remain until the end of the summer. I ask that you join us in praying for safety as we travel. The roads here can be a bit dangerous, and I pray that the Lord safely delivers us to the field out west. We also are immensely aware of the risk involved when working in a hospital, especially in a country that is suffering from fatal, non-curable diseases. Please pray that the Lord will keep us healthy and make us wise in avoiding potentially dangerous situations. Pray, also, that we would joyfully be the hands and feet of our Lord and that we would be bold with the good news of Christ. May you know the love of our Father this week!