Small inconveniences seem bigger than normal, perhaps because we have not traveled in Africa for quite some time.
Getting up in the morning and sweeping out the plethora of flying and crawling bugs that blew in under the door during the rainstorm.
Balancing oh so carefully on the edge of the curb while walking to market in order to avoid the ongoing rush of traffic whizzing by your shoulder.
But small inconveniences for us westerners quickly become just that – small – when compared to the challenges of everyday life for so many people here. I was discussing the issue of rising food and gas prices with the uber driver who put it simply this way: “Many are now left behind.” Meaning that there are so many who do not have the means to keep up with the rising cost of living over this past year and they are falling into the growing chasm of deeper poverty where daily needs are not met.
It’s hard to believe that it can get worse for so many, but while the whole world feels the crunch of inflation and supply chain issues, the poor always feel it worse.
Still, we love being in a place where people take struggles in stride, trust God, and believe that if they have enough for today they can be content. It is a privilege to balance on the edge of the curb with them again for a brief time.
Preparing to enter Africa again brings up a flood of memories of God’s faithfulness in the midst of fragility, uncertainty, and risk that goes with the adventure of Africa travel.
As we prepare to head toward customs, I am reminded of the time we were hauling two extra large suitcases of girls’ pads for the school only to be told that we could not take them into the country without paying a hefty ‘duty tax’, i.e. ‘bribe’, to get these to the village girls who desperately needed them. We decided to hold out rather than give in to this unfair treatment of a humanitarian donation. This meant waiting for hours as one official after another came by to inspect all of our belongings and repeat their warning that we were not entering the country without payment. Despite our tiredness after days of travel, we held firm. Finally, a woman supervisor came by, recognized the need for our gift, and waved us through.
Or, getting ready to head into Nairobi reminds me of the time that we were half a block away when a terrorist bomb destroyed a shop that we were walking toward. Or when, in Kitale, we were minutes away from an electrical explosion taking out the building next to the hotel we were planning to stay at. Or when we foolishly went into a refugee camp as dusk was setting only to find a mob forming who recognized that we may have valuables on us worth stealing. They were correct, but God opened up a way through the crowd and moved us to safety.
There are just so many uncertainties in life, and Africa just seems to bring out a host of them. But the adventure comes in discovering that God is always faithful in the midst of whatever situation comes our way.
This is the reminder that comes to mind as Africa beckons once again. That, and the reality that your prayers are the essential component. God has good things just ahead. Thanks for traveling with us!
When Brooks and I head toward home, we often ask each other, “What stories from the trip stand out?” This is partly practical because, when people ask, “How was your trip?” they are generally not looking for the blow-by-blow details but, rather, a simple story that somehow sums up the adventure.
In my case, though it is a very short story, I cannot get out of my mind the church planter on the East Coast of Kenya because his generous heart and giving lifestyle typifies what we see of the leaders we work with everywhere.
“I heard that the woman’s child was sick, so I felt compelled to go see her. Perhaps God would use this opportunity to open a door to this Muslim family. When I arrived, I took time to greet the family and ask about the child. When I found the child was truly quite sick, I offered to pray for her. However, since they were Muslims, they did not want me to pray. I then asked if I could help pay to take the child to the hospital for medicine. They agreed. So, I immediately left and went to find 300 shillings ($3) so that they could get medicine and also a treatment for their water which I suspected was the problem.”
Now, the story goes on from there as the family did open their home and hearts to this church planter. But I hope you catch my larger point. This church planter, obediently going out to care about others and share the Gospel, did not have even $3 in his own pocket for his own daily needs. Yet, when presented with this family’s needs, he went out to “raise” $3 from others to meet this need. He was not concerned for himself but for the family God sent him to and their simple need for $3 medicine. He may go without meat in his dinner that night. He may not have what he needs for his own daily needs tomorrow. His own pockets are empty. But, for today, he has been sent and he will give all that he has and even what he does not have in order to fulfill that mission.
These are our partners in the field of Africa. These are your partners in the field of Africa. I love them. I am humbled by them. I am inspired by them. I am grateful to be a witness of the power of simple people who are willing to walk in faith, generosity, and sacrifice.
Paul – who shared this story with us – was not thinking that he had done anything out of the ordinary. For him, this is routine “life on mission.”
Margaret lives in the remote Mt. Elgon region bordering Uganda in western Kenya. She and her husband are referred to as “old.” Many times when I ask people how old they are, they have to stop and think. No one really has extra money for celebrating a birthday or gives the passing by of another year much thought, so pretty much everyone is noted as either young or old, a child or an adult. Margaret herself is called an “old woman” and her husband is lovingly referred to as “Mzee,” Swahili for “old man,” a term of endearment and respect. Eventually, Margaret figured out that she had been born in 1969 (50) and her husband was born in 1953 (66) just to give you an idea of what the term “old” means in rural Africa.
Margaret and Mzee were invited to and came down from the mountains to a training with us three years ago. A DMM disciple-maker had visited their village and shared the Good News with them and they had joyfully accepted it. Right away they started a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) group in their home. Today there are 20 who meet there each week. The original group developed into a viable house church with many of those disciples going out to reach others, so today there are 20 house churches that have been started out of the original group. Most of the leaders of these churches have started at least five more house churches and most of each of those five have started house churches, with a few of them reaching out again and starting house churches. In other words, there are now four generations of disciples in that area.
Mzee and Margaret meet with leaders, she very specifically told me, on the 27th of each month. It’s then that they share their lives and needs with each other and also do further trainings. Margaret and her husband are like so many others in that area. They are farmers who work painfully hard to sustain themselves, a requirement even at their age. They are an inspiration to all of us with their passion to serve God when undoubtedly there are times they would rather sit after the physical work required day after day of just surviving. The smiles, the hugs, and the love they express to us and to others they are perhaps meeting for the first time is obviously the result of the joy they feel inside.
Recently I asked Margaret what her life was like three years ago compared to today. I was so surprised at her answer. She said, “Before we did house church with others, my life was so very hard.” Typically, what I might hear next would be “because of lack of finances,” but no, here’s what she said, “I didn’t know how to be with other people. I stayed alone and to myself with so many problems. Today I love when we meet and I can be with other people. We work together and share life with each other. We talk about how life really is and we pray for each other; we read the Scriptures together doing DBS, and we do table banking together. All of this helps to lift us up. Today I really love to be with people.” And, it’s obviously so very true. There’s not a time I get to be with Margaret that a huge smile doesn’t cross her face as she rushes over to embrace me. For someone withdrawn and defeated not that long ago, she’s a complete joy to be with as the love of God that fills her easily oozes onto everyone she’s around. This is God and who He is and what He does. How can we not praise and be in awe of a God such as this!
Martin is an exuberant, over the top excited disciple of Jesus Christ. Whatever this guy does, he does it wholeheartedly. A husband and father of five, he has become a very successful farmer not only bringing an income to his family but helping to train other disciples how to do the same. When we visited his home last year, we trekked from one garden to another where he showed us his local house church community’s rich and growing rows of kale, maize and small vegetables. Martin farms vegetables just like he does disciples. It’s his life – every day – working with plants and with people.
Martin
Gladys, who is a disciple-maker and part of Martin’s house church community, was in the nearby village marketplace selling vegetables when she met Charles, an unbeliever. They talked about business, farming, and Jesus. Knowing the need, not long after that she took Martin to the place where Charles lived so they could meet.
Charles’ wife told Martin about the challenges they were facing: paying rent, lack of adequate food, paying school fees, and the need for medicines. As Martin shared with her and the family, he told them about the Jesus spoken about in John 1. He told them about his life and how because of the help of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit his life is now much better than it was before. Not only did Charles and his family receive this Good News, but that very day four of them were baptized. Now Charles and his wife are being discipled by Martin. They meet regularly in their home with eight others.
Showing God’s love in a very practical way, Martin began training and working alongside the couple in a small plot nearby. At first the project was small, but Martin introduced farming project trainer George and his team to the family. They helped them rent a larger plot and arrived with hoes, seeds, seedlings, fertilizer, and irrigation supplies. They taught them how to prepare, plant and care for a crop to find the success Charles had not been able to achieve in previous attempts.
Before finding this success, Charles described his life when he worked in a tree nursery but was paid very little. He couldn’t provide nearly enough for his family which caused them to constantly quarrel, the husband accusing the wife of hiding money and the wife accusing the husband of not providing enough for the family. They ate twice a day, a breakfast of thin porridge and dinners of a small portion of ugali. The children could not go to school because if they went, they were sent home for lack of shoes and school fees.
Now, because of this farming project, the family’s life has completely changed – spiritually and physically. Excitedly, Charles and his wife told us, “Now we have tea with milk and sugar for breakfast. We even have three meals per day and sometimes there is even enough for a snack.”
Today there is an established house church there, the first one is a group of 10. This group has started several other groups. Charles and his wife work together in the fields, growing crops, and growing disciples. They have four Discovery Bible Study Groups and three established house churches.
Saying our good-bye’s, we turned to Mama Charles and asked how her life is today. Shyly she responded, “For me, I am so grateful. I never imagined that my children would be able to go to secondary school. We thank God for what you people have done.”
Roger 
