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THE BEGINNING OF THE END, THE BEGINNING OF MUCH MORE
Our trip to Africa is nearly over. So many miracles; so many divine appointments; so much yet to be seen with our eyes; so much we will never see with our eyes; and yet, there is so much to Hope for with only Jesus to put our Hope in. 11/20/09

That sums up our trip. It seems like such an understatement, to say the least: To share all that God has done and have someone grasp the miracles and understand the protection we experienced is to try to understand God and who He is with our limited minds and understanding.

Job 42:2-3… “2 I know You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

These things are too wonderful for me to understand. They are beyond my comprehension and I am standing in awe of God. It isn’t unlike the Lord in my experiences with Him, and yet, it has gone deeper by way of the experiences, the people, and the things we have seen and heard.

The Lord dictated our circumstances. While I planned to blog everyday, I was kept from doing so until now.

FROM THE DAY WE LANDED, WE WERE GIVEN UNWARRANTED FAVOR
We started off going to our sisters’ family’s home. We arrived early in the morning so they fed us a warm Kenyan breakfast: eggs, sandwiches, fruit, and what is to be my all-time favorite; Kenyan tea with hot milk and 2 ½ teaspoons of sugar.

There is something to be said about Kenyan hospitality. Now, Kenya is the only African country I have visited on my two trips to Africa, but I have met many different people from different countries in Africa, and I think the same holds true for the culture of the people of Africa. They have the most genuine hospitality one could experience in this world.

The Cultural Experience
Let me paint the picture for you: Walking into someone’s home in the slums may equal tin walls with a tin roof and dirt floor or concrete; or you might be visiting a more upgraded home on the outskirts; plastered walls with concrete floors and painted walls with a room the size of a 10x10 area rug and a string hanging across the middle of the room to separate the “bedroom from the rest of the room. Or, Perhaps in upcountry you might find a home standing alone with amenities you might find in any American home like carpet laid on the concrete floors and different color rooms with couches and even a separate dining room and separate bedrooms. In any of these homes in the slums you might find newspapers, fabric, or hanging clothing decorating the tin walls. There might be a 4’x6 ft rug lying on the dirt floor. There is no insulation from heat or cold or rain that finds it’s way past the tin barriers in the slums to wet the dirt on the floor that can become mud. Never mind tracking mud onto your floor; your floor becomes mud.

No matter the dwelling, the hospitality is the same. Whether one has much or little, you will find a smile to greet you with a handshake and a hug starting from left lean in to a right lean in. The voice of your host or hostess will utter the Swahili word, “Habari,” (How are you?) to which you respond, “Mizuri” (Fine). Then the welcoming words begin: “Karibu, Karibu!” as they most graciously point out where you are to be seated. In kind you respond thanks by saying “Asante, Asante.” There are smiles all around and immediately you are offered tea with milk and raw brown sugar should they be in a financial position to have bought some. You sit and talk and sometimes experience a lull and the silence is welcome as no one is made to feel uncomfortable. You cannot expect to visit anyone who offers tea without “taking” tea. That would be inexcusably rude. Even if one is in a hurry, there is always time for tea. I say this with a smile because I found even when we were in a hurry, I couldn’t say “No” to tea because it is so very tasty and WHO in their right mind would be willing to offend their hosts by not taking tea?!? It just cannot be done and my taste buds are so grateful fro the unspoken rule.

Sometimes you are offered chapatti (like a tortilla) or a samosa (a triangular egg roll type of food without the egg and cabbage). For those who have enough money to buy bread and Blue Band margarine, they’ll prepare a sandwich consisting of bread and margarine. That can be viewed as a special treat.

This is the hospitality you can expect from everyone you meet who welcomes you to his or her home (if able) and EVERYONE longs for you to come for a visit.

For those who have more than others, you can certainly expect to feast on rice and chapatti and some kind of beef, goat, or chicken (meat not being a everyday food staple for most.)

The hospitality and smiles of the people makes them so beautiful and for those whose hearts have been captured by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; for those who place their hope in Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith… Their beauty is incomparable as a people. When leaving, we were asked, in a verbal survey, “What did you like most about your stay in Kenya?” Our answer: “The People.”

WE WERE LIVING A REAL-LIFE BIBLE STORY
Have you ever watched a movie or read a story in which the events of the characters involved were so detailed that people and decisions that could be viewed as random happenstance and coincidence were overridden by a deeper plot to bring the characters and their circumstances full circle to culminate in a glorious climax in the story so much so that you want to know what happens after the movie or book ends, so you hope and anticipate a sequel to revel in the lives of the characters you have grown to love.

That is how I feel about this trip to Kenya. We had an Author who was writing out our story. Unbeknownst to the characters involved, our lives and happenstance were being written out and woven into a tapestry whose beauty and finished art we did not see nor did we know were being made to be a part of. We were characters and they were characters being written into a larger story whose end will be the King of Glory descending from heaven and setting His feet upon the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

This part of the story did not focus on our adversary as his work was of no consequence to us. We watched the Hand of God move us to and fro sometimes without our knowledge but evident in hindsight.

As we stated several times, we as human beings could not orchestrate the events which led up to and followed our arrival and departure to and from Kenya. When we started for Kenya, we left knowing that should we lose our lives or experience persecution because of those we are seeking out for Christ, that none of it would be in a vain but all of it is out of obedience to a greater Call because God wills that ALL men should be saved.

And so, as I pen our experiences leaving out some details, as there are too many to enumerate, keep these things in your heart:

1. Lord, what are You calling me to do?
2. Where am I not being obedient that I am hindering my response to that call?
3. What am I unwilling to surrender that keeps me from even hearing the call because my cares are choking me out and the noise of this world is drowning You out?