Resting in the Lord

     Guys, I am so sorry that I have not posted in awhile but this past week i was gone to the Rondo Retreat Center in the Kakamega rainforest at a missionary men's retreat and wireless was not available for the week i was gone.  It was a great time of relaxation and rest but also of just worshiping, praising and learning more about God with some real men of faith.  

     The focus of our retreat was "resting" in the Lord.  And I do not mean the fruitless action of just resting and relaxing and getting away but of the fruit filled action of taking time every day to rest (praying, meditating, reading God's Word) and focusing your future action on the presence and person of Jesus.  In Mark 6:30-31 we read: The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."  Jesus had previously sent out the twelve apostles and they were now coming back to report to Jesus what had happened in their ministry experience.  As they were in this discussion so many people were coming and going that they did not even have time to fully discuss their experience and to even eat.  So Jesus simply recommends . . . come away with me . . . and find rest.

     Now note, right after this passage, as they are leaving in a boat with Jesus, that many people see this happening and meet them on the far shore when they land the boat.  So the feeding of the 5,000 begins shortly after Jesus wanted to get away with his apostles to allow them time to come away with Him and to find rest.  So notice, our rest is not found simply in getting away from people and being by ourselves.  It is found in "going away" with Jesus and "resting" in who He is.  In identifying that He is Lord of our lives, that He has control of our circumstances and we live to walk in faithfulness to the opportunities He has placed in front of us.  The feeding of the 5,000 happened immediately after they "rested" with Jesus . . . almost as if it was a test to remind them who is in control and where the source of their power comes from.  Our energy in the Lord flows from our ability to recognize who our power source is and to "rest" in His ability to help us in any and all circumstances.  We have the ability/power to do anything because Jesus is Lord of our lives.  

     Paul writes: "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Eph. 3:16-21).  Remember this week that all that we do flows out of the love of Christ.  You have tremendous power to accomplish things in the Lord's name when you operate from His rest!

Road to Success

The kids on the way to the Learning Center

On the road to the Learning Center (where classes take place)

     We all know what roads are used for.  Roads are typically what we travel on to get us from one destination to another.  Roads are the means by which we travel and one of the many ways that we can get places quickly.  But, we see for Jesus that roads were not just a means for traveling.  For Jesus roads were what he traveled on to change people's lives.  On roads, Jesus was typically traveling for a specific purpose to achieve a specific goal.  It is on roads that Jesus had intimate conversations with friends, with His apostles and with those he wanted to mold into the image of His father.  For Jesus, roads were a tool that he could use to make a difference in people's lives.

      Everytime I travel over to East Africa I am always amazed at the poor quality of the roads that I travel upon.  Most of the secondary roads are dirt and they are bumpy, dusty and rock filled.  The main roads (though mostly paved) can be even worse as they are filled with potholes, dangerous shoulders and wild drivers.  The road I (and the kids) walk every morning to the learning center at MITS is a dirt road.  This time of year it is typically dusty and filled with large rocks.  When it rains the road becomes treacherous with mud and a type of mud that sticks to everything.  But what makes the road to the learning center at MITS  unique is that it is a road that is leading to success for so many young street kids.  It might be ugly, dirty, muddy, rocky and just a down right pain to walk (or drive) on but it is built for success.  As I walk down this road with the kids I imagine Jesus walking beside me talking to the kids, encouraging the kids and just absolutely loving these kids.  This road, because of where it leads, is giving hope to so many street kids.  It is giving them an opportunity to receive an education.  It is giving them an opportunity to learn a skill and apply it in the real world as a job.  It is giving them an opportunity to get off of the streets, become free from drugs and addictions and just find a place where someone loves them.  And most importantly, it is giving them an opportunity to learn about God, His love and His plans for their lives.  

Michael & Simon (from left to right) on the road to success.

      How about the road you travel everyday?  Is it just something you take to get to another destination today?  Or do you travel that road with a purpose . . . or more importantly, do you travel that road as an ambassador with a calling?  Do you seek to make a difference when you reach your destination?  Are you striving to love people, encourage them and teach them about the love of Jesus?  If not, begin thinking about how you can use your road today to help people find success in the kingdom.

The gate at one of the boys compound (the writing reads:
God's Leaders are Made in the Streets)

Mean Streets of Nairobi

     Every other Friday, the MITS staff travels in to Eastleigh (Nairobi city center) to visit bases (outdoor areas where the street kids reside) and get to know many of the kids that live on the streets.  This past Friday was no different as we left Kamulu and MITS around 10 AM with a bus full of staff and a few students.  The drive takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic and road conditions so i spend much of that time observing people, gazing at the city and just trying to take in all of this strangeness.  The city of Nairobi is cloaked in noise and smells but yet it also feels strangely familiar.  I noted the distinct sound of crows at one place we stopped but also noticed the crows are not jet black like ours in America but instead have white breasts.  You also hear the sound of honking horns and yelling people and the distinct smell of diesel and exhaust fumes.  At the first place we stop to visit street kids, we got out near a busy intersection, crossed the street and walked through a market area.  The market area is mostly made up of small wood stalls typically covered with cardboard, plastic or any discarded piece of trash that people can manage to scavenge to keep their stall free from rain (if and when it comes).  The market vendors are usually selling any small item you can think of like used clothing, hardware items, fruit, beverages, shoes, etc. and most of these items are sold at bargain basement prices.  Soon after exiting on the far side of the market we come out onto the fringes of a dump, searching for the street kids that typically live in and around this area.  But we are disappointed when no kids are there to greet us when we arrive.  So we trudge back through the market and get back on the bus for our next stop.  Our next stop is back in a neighborhood and we park on the side of a street to walk for a good distance to our next base.  After walking for about 10 minutes we again arrive at the edge of a trash pile and soon discover about 15 young boys (youngest probably 8 years old) sitting in the shade of a tin building.  As we stop and greet all of these boys i note that we seem to be surrounded by a whirlwind of blowing confetti.  Besides the many rotting things you would normally find in a trash dump, these boys have also found trash bags that are filled with shredded confetti and are using them for seating, sleeping and just overall comfortability.  As i stand there and meet these boys and talk to them i am overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells (8 year old boys, rotting trash, diesel and exhaust fumes, the glue the boys are sniffing, the occasional smells of fruit, crowing of birds, etc.) that assault me in endless waves.  After briefly spending time greeting and encouraging these boys and trying to offer them some hope and maybe an escape through MITS, it is time to leave.  We hand each of them a bag with two meager loaves of  bread as some source of physical sustenance.  Again, my heart is broken knowing such young boys will spend that night sleeping on the ground, in awful clothing, amidst blowing confetti and an ongoing assault to their senses from the sleepless city.  

     As we are driving back i notice a solitary stork flying clumsily in the air to land on a tall building.  I glance around and notice many other storks standing on tall buildings like silent sentinels taking careful measure over the city they stand guard over and I couldn't help but be reminded of God.  Of being reminded of God's love for His creation no matter where that creation may choose to call home.  I can't help but imagine the love that God must have for these street children and His desire to help give them a better life.  I keep imagining the responsibility that God has laid at the feet of those who have so much to help those who have so little.  And i am thankful for the people at MITS that God has placed in this position to serve not just as silent sentinels to watch over these children but as willing helpers to teach, serve and enable these kids to find purpose and meaning for their lives. And finally I am reminded of the Apostle John's words when he writes, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4)"

Words . . . Just Words!

     As you can imagine, even in only two weeks time, there has already been many things that have challenged me, frustrated me and made me laugh about living in a different culture.  Most recently I have laughed many times at the words that Kenyans use for some things that would be very recognizable to us Americans.  For instance, they call an interstate overpass a flyover.  If you need to speed up and catch someone on the road while driving . . . that is called overtake.  They call an iron (thing that you iron clothes with) an ironbox.  The trunk of a car is a boot and the hood of a car is the bonnet.  A trash can is called a dust bin and a flashlight is called a torch.  And my new word for today was gumboots which apparently is the same as a pair of rainboots.  Now i'm not telling you this to mock Kenyan words or to convince you of the superiority of American English but to just solely point out the differences in language.  But it is also fitting to me that i can at least understand the origin of where these funny Kenyan words came from (I can understand how they came up with the word flyover . . . it fits!).  I also tell you this to point out that two people can be speaking the same exact language (in this case english) and yet still not totally understand what the other is talking about.

     I have found this same concept at work in my study of Scripture.  Recently I have been teaching the kids the life of Christ out of the Gospels.  Specifically as I study through Luke I notice how people were amazed at Jesus' early teaching because he spoke as one who had authority.  Jesus' wisdom and knowledge of Scripture was obvious to those who heard him speak, even from a young age.  But soon, we begin to see Jesus' authoritative words accompanied by strong grace filled action with healing and acts of love towards social outcasts.  We see Jesus speaking the same religious talk as the Pharisees and teachers of the law and yet they were the very ones who misunderstood who he was.  In Luke 4, we witness Jesus be rejected by his hometown because they couldn't accept that Joseph's son was the Messiah.  In Luke 5, in response to Jesus forgiving the crippled man of his sins, we read that, "The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, 'Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy?  Who can forgive sins but God alone'" (Luke 5:21)?  As you can see the very people who should understand Jesus and know who he is just can't and don't know how to accept Jesus as the Messiah.
     Today, sometimes we can talk a lot of religious speak but never achieve any measured success in our lives or in other's lives.  Sometimes we say all the right things but our lives don't match up to those right words!  Does this describe you?  Do your actions measure up to the righteous life you talk about?  My encouragement to you today is to seek to be like Jesus . . . follow up your spiritual words with decisive action that can change your life and others.