What Problem Are You Trying to Solve?

No matter what plans I take into Kenya, they get changed. I expect it, I'm used to it, and I usually don't let it stress me. It's no one's fault. Rather, it's just the nature of doing work there - there's no way to anticipate in advance what the needs and circumstances will be exactly. So, we go in with a plan that is really just to give us a point to depart from.

This most recent trip, however, had one of the more demanding last minute changes. Again, no complaints, but it required the most radical adjustments so far, and it meant the first week would be incredibly hectic and the second week would be a bit more relaxed. But it was in the middle of that hectic week that I kept turning the same question over and over in my head:

What problem are you trying to solve?

Because I was so short for time, having to jettison every bit of unnecessary weight on this storm-tossed ship of a week, choosing between "mostly necessary" and "absolutely necessary" (since "optional" had already long been tossed overboard), I spun around this question night after night. Make sure you're trying to solve the right problem before you expend what little personal resources remain.

I could be trying to solve any number of problems:

• College credit for 30 or so students as part of their degree program
• Lack of robust collaboration between two organizations doing similar work
• Large scale orphaning
• Systemic poverty
• Lack of rich training materials
• Colleagues with serious illness
• Lack of clean water
• Feelings of personal significance
• The need to "make a difference"
• Faithlessness

And so on. Any number of problems I could be trying to solve. 

I wanted to dig deep into my own motivations - not just the motives on the surface that are easy to identify, but way down in the core of what my motivation was to put myself through these challenges. If, for example, the problem I was trying to solve was personal significance, then I'm wasting time, money, comfort, and sweat. If I'm trying to solve systemic poverty, then I'll never make a serious dent in that problem. It matters what problem you're trying to solve - the deep, secret motives of the heart.

What problems are you trying to solve? Are you trying to solve the problem of personal significance? Are you trying to solve the "problem" of non-upperclass-ed-ness? Are you trying to solve the problem of illiteracy or human trafficking or discrimination? Are you trying to solve the problem of someone else's behavior? Which problem(s) are you really trying to solve? Because it matters. 

If we're not trying to solve the problems we should, we're wasting our time and limited resources. Some problems aren't worth solving. Other problems are enormous, but still worth our efforts. Some problems are exactly what we should be solving.

Asking the question this way ("what problem am I trying to solve?") is not a radical departure from other ways to examine one's life. However, I find the particular wording of the question helps me to think about my life from a different perspective than other questions of self-examination. Perhaps that's only the case for people like me who fancy themselves problem-solvers. Maybe the better question for you is more interpersonal. For example: "Who am I trying to benefit?"

No matter which question you ask, this is the kind of question well worth asking. We have exactly one of these lives to live. I sure want to spend my trying to solve the right problems.

We Don't Have to be Involved

We don't have to be involved.

We really don't. In fact, it would be easier if we weren't. Besides, we have our own problems to worry about, let alone someone else's messes.

In my trip to Kenya, I visited a man named Obedi. Obedi is a former student of mine at the seminary in Ahero, and now is a pastor at a large church in Kisumu. He was always a diligent student with a contagious smile. His congregation loves him and his family, which includes a couple of small children. But Obedi has a heart condition and will not survive the year unless he raises $25,000 to have a surgery done in India. There are no specialists for this in Kenya. They are trying to raise the funds, but fundraising on this scale rarely succeeds. It was hard to look in his eyes, shake his hand, and try to offer support and encouragement, although my discomfort is minuscule compared to what he's facing.

I didn't have to be involved in Obedi's life. I didn't have to go over there and teach, and even going over there, I could have taught without getting involved. I didn't have to stay in touch with him over the years through social media. I could have lived my life quite nicely without getting caught up in his life-and-death daily existence.

I've told many of you about Giorgia, a young woman in Italy, who just had a lung transplant. We've been friends with her family for 25 years, even before she was born. We've visited them at different stages in her life, and each stage was punctuated with breathing treatments and struggles. This last trip, I couldn't visit her because she was in the ICU. We didn't have to get involved. We didn't have to find ways to play with her when she was little in ways that would not take the wind out of her. We didn't have to write her emails when she had to stay in the hospital. We're not heroes and we're not the solution to any of these problems.

Giorgia died last week - the day after I left. And we didn't have to get tangled up with her and her grieving family.

Of course, there are those in deep poverty in Kenya without clean water. There's nothing about our lives that forces us to arrange for dozens of households to get clean water. If this never happened, we never would have heard about it, and our lives would have continued on without a wrinkle.

We choose to get involved in things we don't have to. Not just Lynne and me, but all of us. We choose this. And it would be easier if we didn't. But it wouldn't be better.

Why not just send money?

"Why not just send money?" I get this question a lot. I ask this question a lot - especially while I'm there. Usually on the third or fourth day of the trip, still adjusting from jetlag ... why didn't I just send money?!?!

This is my sixth trip to Kenya. Each trip has a high cost: a few thousand dollars, back-to-back 9-hour flights each way, social unrest in country, somewhat uncomfortable living conditions, heat, bathrooms that require great care and balance, vigilance to keep hydrated with filtered water, and for me, trouble sleeping and other physical challenges. No air conditioning, no ice, language barriers, and at least once during the trip, chicken droppings somewhere in the bedroom. Of course, there are the weeks apart from Lynne and limited communications. It consumes not only the two weeks there, but several weeks of preparation and at least a week afterwards to recover and sort through the tasks that have piled up.

Are all the various costs worth it? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to just send money for needs that they have? My best answer is: the costs are very likely worth it. But I can't completely quantify it.

There are both objective and subjective reasons why I continue to believe so.

Objectively, there are some resources that we have been blessed with that we can turn around and share with those in Kenya, such as seminary-level education. That's something they have scarce little of, and it's too a great privilege to not share with others. I don't have to be an exceptional seminary-level teacher in order to share that blessing.

Furthermore, some of their leaders need encouragement or a break. Having a guest teacher allows them some down time, a chance to receive instead of give, a chance to catch up on student records or grading, and so on.

Considering that a seminary multiplies the good that the church can bring to a society, these are investments that pay good dividends. I taught my students Leviticus in 2006, and still graduates can explain how it benefits their current ministries.

One of our projects this year is to train and equip one of the villages to use water filtration systems. The good folks there have all the will, smarts, ability to run this program, but someone has to acquire, deliver, and initially train them for these systems. We've got to send someone over to do this - just sending the kits and some written instructions will not create a successful implementation. But once we deliver and train, then we can eventually pull back and simply provide the kits. They can take it from there. How much money is a million gallons of clean water worth? How about 30 million gallons? That's the capacity we're bringing over in just this first delivery. Worth every penny.

Just sending money cannot meet needs like these. We do need to send money to resource the Kenyans for things they are far more qualified to do than we are, such as classroom teaching of the orphans, construction in the Kenyan way, and training school teachers (our teaching methods don't always translate well).

But the Kenyans will tell you why they think it's worth it, and their reasons are far more subjective. We simply have a hard time comprehending how valuable the ministry of presence is. They will tell you over and over again that they'd rather have a visitor for two weeks than the money it took to get that person there. Visitors, especially those who visit several times, can do wonders to remind them that they are not forgotten, they are not alone, and they are loved. We are doing life with them, not doing things for them or to them. It conveys the fundamental truth that they are valuable primarily because they are created in the image of God, no less than anyone else, regardless of life circumstance.

Yes, we do projects when we're there, but none of the projects seem to be as valuable as spending time with our friends in Kenya. Which means that task-oriented people like me need to keep reminding themselves to put the project aside and spend time with people. Talk with them, listen to them, laugh together, embrace their hurts and share your own, learn some of their words, sing their songs, and just be there in their space with them.

Sometime between the fourth day and the last few days of each trip, I am reminded again why it's all worth it. And as much as I want to be back home again, I do have to peel myself away, too. (And then that's followed by a couple of months of "I'm never going back" and then later "I can't wait to get over there again.")

Idi nade? Bene!

The Lord has opened up for me a well-packed mission trip this Spring, and I'd love your help to make this trip as fruitful as possible.

I have 4 opportunities on 2 continents to teach and foster discovery:

1. Teaching Leviticus to students at Moffatt Bible College in Kijabe, Kenya.
2. Teaching pastoral ministry to students at the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology in Ahero, Kenya.
3. Leading a pastors’ conference in Homa Bay, Kenya.
4. Speaking and serving on a panel for the Global Marketplace Impact seminar by  CrossWorld in Sesto Calende, Italy. This is a conference for English-speaking ex-pats working in Italy.

We're packing all this into a 20-day trip, from March 18 through April 6.

Homa Bay, Kenya

You can help me in four key ways:

1. Prayer. I'm asking for people to pray daily, starting now and all through the trip. I have lots of prep to do, I always struggle with insomnia and basic health in Kenya, security is now a bigger challenge than normal, and Lynne has 3 weeks to manage everything on her own. Please pray for these things. Pray also that God will impact people, including me, with His Word and His Spirit each day.
2. Care. I do better there when I know people are caring for Lynne here, especially since communications are often limited. Notes, calls, emails, lunches or dinners, and offers to help are tremendous. The grass will be starting to grow, for example.
3. 

   Scripture. Send us a passage you want me to read and pray through while I'm on my trip, and Lynne will pray through the same passages on the same days at home. You will be ministering to us both during our Quiet Times through the Word.
4. Finances. I'm amazed I can do all of this for $3000-3500. Simpler trips have cost more. The less we spend out of pocket per trip, the more times I can return to Kenya. (This will be my 6th trip there!)

“Idi nade? Bene!” That's “how are you?” in Luo and “well!” in Italian. These are two beautiful, lyrical languages spoken by people we've come to know and love. Any way that you can make it easier for me to love them in person will help them and me be more fruitful.

Sesto Calende, Italy

To help financially with a tax-deductible gift, please mark “Kenya 2016” on the memo line (very important!) and donate to:

Grace Fellowship Church

10201 W 127th St

Overland Park, KS 66213

Thank you. I look forward to updating you about the trip in April!

Colby

So Much Death

Last week, one of my students died.

He was a husband and father, and he was one month away from graduation. He fell ill, and within just a few days, passed away. He was gone before I even knew he was sick. Unfortunately, his story is not all that unusual in Kenya.

Edwin was a student at a seminary in Kenya where I have taught several times. I was by no means one of his most imporant teachers, and to say "my student" only means that I had the privilege of having him in a few of the short classes I taught. There are other, very gifted teachers who spoke much more into his life.

Under normal circumstances, we talk about students in terms of their academic prowess, as if that's the most important attribute of being a student. Edwin did good work, and I appreciated his contributions in class and in group assignments. But his greatest attribute was not whether he was an A or a C student, but that he was committed to use whatever he learned. His identity as a student more about applying everything he could learn and less about grade cards or the idle accumulation of knowledge. He wanted to learn so that he could apply it right away.

Sometimes as students we say, "I don't even know why we're studying this." Someone chose it to teach to us, but somewhere along the way, we can end up without knowing what we're learning it for. On the other hand, when we know from the beginning how we're going to apply what we're about to learn, we are far more motivated to learn. Along the way, we ask far more pertinent questions, we solidify it as knowledge by actually using it, and then we have truly "learned."

This is where death comes in. Death is not more common in Kenya than in the US. The death rate in both countries is 100%. Life expectancy may differ, but there is no less death per capita. There is so much death ... in both countries!

Death is why we learn. "Why am I studying this?" Because one day, you will die.

That doesn't render your education meaningless. Quite the opposite! It makes what you learn precious. You will die one day ... but until that day, with a limited number of days between now and then, the things that we can do that will matter will require learning. In almost every case, what we-who-will-die can do that will have any real meaning requires us to learn. And so, because death is entirely common, we learn in order to do meaningful things.

Put another way, since we each only have a finite number of days left, it's hard to redeem those days with activities that require little learning. If we want to spend those days well, we remain students.

For example, it doesn't take much learning to spend time with your kids at the park. But we must be students of both our children and the world around us in order to connect our children to their habitat in a meaningful way. Where did the trees come from? Why does it matter to recreate as a family? Why is that guy on the bench homeless? And what should we do about it? How do you throw a curveball? Why should we pick up our trash (even from a theological perspective!)? Why is fair play important, since the workaday world is dog-eat-dog? Do I have enough money for ice cream? Why is that old woman alone - what is death? What happens after we die?

That which will be valuable in the dwindling days of our time here will be far more substantive if we're students. Death is why we learn this stuff.

The story of Mary

There are too many stories to tell from our trip to Kenya, but there's one I must tell. It is the story of "Mary" (not her real name).

We were invited to visit the home of Mary by her family. Mary was just recovering from malaria, and we were asked to pray for her complete recovery. That sounded simple enough. It was not simple.

The home was modest - not as sparse as many homes we saw, but still humble. The living room was tightly cramped with 10 or so people conversing over lunch, but they did well enough financially to afford a television. Women flitted in and out of the room to bring the handwashing basin, and then the waves of food - rice, ugali, goat stew, chicken, and fish. It was hard to keep track of who was a wife, who was a sister, and who was an in-law. But plenty of smiles and hospitality.

Mary looked to be in her teens, but she's actually in her 20s. She was soft spoken, sometimes too soft to understand. She exuded a sweet spirit (although we later learned that she could have fits of anger). Mary also had some form of speech impediment, which appeared to be related to a slight deformity with her mouth. (I found out in my class later that week that it is common for people in that area to hide those children with deformities. Indeed, people who attended that church for years didn't even know Mary exists.) We were told that she was challenged emotionally and mentally, but it wasn't clear that perhaps her medicines fogged her acuity. The end effect for us was an immediate empathy for a sweet, troubled girl. I was keenly grateful that Janette was sitting nearest to Mary, who directed almost all of her answers toward Janette no matter who asked them.

Pastor Benard, who knew some backstory that we learned only later, proceeded to ask Mary a surprising sequence of questions. Very quickly, he changed from normal questions about her health and recovery to questions about dreams, fears, and how she was treated. Mary was plagued by all three - horrible dreams, persistent fears, and domestic abuse. Those she said were hitting her were present in the room, but it seemed the awkwardness of this was felt only by our team.

In this part of Kenya, there's no place for Mary to go. There are no safe shelters to provide refuge. It would be nearly impossible for her to find reputable work to support herself. It's hard to find a husband in her circumstance, let alone with the dowry and negotiation system for most marriages there. This seemingly sweet girl with extra challenges in life is locked in an abusive situation with no option but to stay.

The Lord gave several of us pertinent passages of Scripture and deep-felt prayer to share with her, and to no little effect. But we were helpless to extract her. We pray for Pastor Benard as he follows up to have wisdom and creative ideas. We pray for her abusers to repent. We pray for her healing. But with only our own devices, we are helpless to "fix" her situation.

Mary is forgotten by the world, except but a handful of people. And now us. And now you.

The Bible consistently teaches (especially in Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah, and Luke) that God's people advocate for the vulnerable. We too often politicize questions about who should and should not receive help, but the Bible seems to focus on the vulnerable. When the Bible was written, the vulnerable were the likes of the widow, the orphan, the sick, the foreigner, and the desperately poor - those susceptible to oppression and exploitation. It is the task of God's people to lend strength and aid to the vulnerable.

Without much physical ability to help the vulnerable Mary, we turn our efforts to helping Pastor Benard to help Mary. If there is anything he tells us we can do, we will share that with you. For now, we render aid by praying for God to provide that aid and to halt the actions of those who oppress her.

Ten Things Kenyan Orphans Don't Know

1. What it's like to fly across the ocean. Not only is the experience of international flight highly unlikely for them, but the concept that a team of people traveled over 24 hours stepping foot in 5 different airports in three nations in order to see them has little context for them. They know that different-looking people just show up sometimes, act and talk a bit funny, talk a lot about God, give lots of hugs, and then leave after a week or two, until the next batch shows up a few months or a year later.
2. That there are sponsors. We don't explain the whole sponsorship idea to them. At the orphanage, we don't have sponsors for every child, so having a label of "sponsored" or "unsponsored" would be very damaging. We tell each of them that they have friends in the US, adults and children, who love them and pray for them and write them letters. We don't mention the money or the status of being sponsored.
3. A mortgage. This is more than just the family never having a mortgage. How buildings are paid for is completely different. Most Luo people in this area will never finance a building. Rather, they piecemeal everything. Save enough money to build a wall, then you build the wall. Then you wait to save more money for the next part. That's also how you put gas in the tank or get minutes on your cell phone. You don't fill up the tank or get a monthly plan. You put in a little bit of gas frequently, because that's what cash you have. You put just a few minutes on the phone because that's what cash you have. Piecemeal.
4. Identity theft. No digital footprint at all. Perhaps no birth certificate. No identity card or even identity number. And therefore, completely immune to identity theft. But also prone to falling through the cracks.
5. Having the air conditioning go out. Sounds obvious. But with this also means no griping and moaning when it goes out. No expensive repairs. No tendency to "hole up" indoors and become more isolated from your neighbors. No monthly bill big enough to buy a couple of weeks' worth of groceries in order to be more comfortable. But also no way to cool a malaria-induced fever.
6. A bad waitress. No restaurants, no waitresses, no bad service. There are restaurants around, but most of our kids won't eat in one until they are much older, if at all. Rather, food preparation is an event, a social interaction, a training time from older to younger, a daily rhythm, a responsibility even for the kids. No Happy Meals with toys that become boring after an hour, no playscapes, no mess left under the table that someone else has to clean up for minimum wage. Food is not fast - food is fellowship.
7. The assumption of medical care. If one of the kids here gets hurt, you just go to the hospital. You don't worry about how much money is in your wallet, or even if your insurance will cover it. You just go. Or better, you just call and they come and get you. In the village we go to, if an orphan gets hurt, there is no hospital nearby. Furthermore, there is no assumption of just going. If you don't have the cash on you, you might not get care, so you count your money to decide whether or not to go. And so sometimes you decide not to go. Instead of the assumption of medical care, your assumption is that the child will just make it without care.
8. Fame. Fame and popularity are amazingly low priorities. Not just "American Idol" fame, but BMOC fame at an orphanage in a village. The group ethic is so much stronger - success is more often group success than individual success. Not a Socialist removal of success to level the playing field, but true success as a group. Fewer Lone Rangers. "Luo Idol" fame, if you will. (The more modern the area in Kenya, the more individualism, it seems.)
9. An unwelcome guest. Yes, there are bad characters roaming around, and they are unwelcome. But other than that, if you show up unannounced, they are actually glad to see you! More than that, they are eager to invite you in. We've seen people show up unannounced, and not only stay for dinner, but stay for the week!
10. Escape. This hits me every time I depart. We heroically "rough it" for two weeks, then leave. Within hours we are in air conditioned, multi-storied buildings, and after an elongated day, back in our own beds. They are still there, where we "roughed it." Our two weeks is their 24X7. What we "put up with," they live. Chances are, it is what they will live their entire lives. Our ministry to them gives them a far better chance to live it well, and perhaps bring change to themselves and their neighbors. But few will know escape. (It’s not a horrible place that needs to be escaped, but there are hardships that do.)

Reread this article and realize how many things that Kenyan orphans know that we don’t. Please pray for these infinitely valuable bearers of God's image who know so much.

How to Teach the Book of Isaiah in Less Than a Week

Every time I go to Kenya, I spend most of my time teaching at the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology (AEST), which trains future pastors, elders, and teachers, both male and female. I usually have just under two weeks to teach. Sometimes I teach a two-week class, and other times a one-week class and either a smaller topic for the following week (or we're in a different location that second week). This year, I'll have 8 days in the classroom at AEST.

What topics I teach are usually up to the faculty of AEST - they have a curriculum and certain topics the students need in order to graduate, so they tell me what they want me to teach to fit into their plan. That usually means that I have to pull together a semester's worth of material from my notes and studies to teach in a week's time. A couple of years, I've had the luxury of bringing something I had already prepared that fit into their course requirements. This year, no such luxury.

AEST wants me to teach the book of Isaiah the first week and apologetics for the partial second week. Have you read Isaiah lately? It's big. It's complex. It's repetitive, and yet it moves in a particular direction. And did I mention that it's big?

How can I teach that big (it's big), complex book in a week? Well, I can do that - but how can I teach it in a way that will be of true benefit in a week's time? It's flat out too much information, too much theology, and too much prophecy to digest within a week.

I could do just a high level survey, but that's not effective for their concrete learning style. I could do representative sections, but then you miss the narrative, and they are also storytelling learners.

Rather than telling them what Isaiah has, my plan is to coach them into discovering what Isaiah has. In addition to being concrete, storytelling learners, my students at AEST are also group learners. So, I will  create three teams. Each day, the members of one team will all be in one minor section, and the other teams will cover the other minor sections. All three will then be covering a major section of the book in a day's time, and by the end of the week, the whole book will be covered. They will do individual work, and then work as teams, to discover what each passage of each minor section has to say. Then in class, the teams will teach the rest of the class what Isaiah has to say. My job will to be to make sure they stay accurate - very little lecture. By the end of the week, they will have a full overview of Isaiah, and will have taught one another what it says.

The great benefits are: 1) Discovery is far more effective than lecture, 2) they will finish the class with a method of how to study Isaiah after I'm gone, and 3) they will have worked together to help one another understand this great (big!) book.

I pray this will work! (I've never tried this kind of teaching before.)

Discovery is something you're going to hear more about at Grace Fellowship as we continue to learn how complete followers are cultivated.

Thank You for the Toys

This week, I got to speak for a few minutes about Thanksgiving with the students in our preschool, Grace Garden, and they taught me a thing or two about Thanksgiving right back.

I asked them, "What are some gifts that God has given us?" - fishing, of course, for things like family, food, homes, and so on. I knew one of the answers would be "toys!" And sure enough on both days, that was the very first answer. And on both occasions, I said, "What else besides toys?", and the response was "Toys!" After another "what else?" I got a list of specific toys. My fishing expedition was not yielding the species of fish I intended.

But later, after thinking about their answer and brewing on why kids are "so materialistic," I realized that they were exactly right. God is ultimately responsible for us having toys. He gives us the resources to be able to afford them. He gives us the families and friends who are kind enough to give them. He gave us safety to be able to enjoy them. And ... He gives us the toys.

If toys are a good thing, and they certainly can be, then they come from God, who is the giver of all good things (James 1:17), and we can be thankful to Him for them. In all my desire to be "spiritual" about the lesson, I overlooked the simple truth - so simple that children see it plainly.

Certainly, toys (kids' toys or grown-up toys like electronics) can become idols, of course. But for the good that they can be, it is not materialistic or non-spiritual to thank God for these things, also. In fact, being thankful for them can help us keep them in perspective, so that they don't become idols.

During my last trip to Kenya, we spent an evening visiting the same family we visit every time we go - Reverend Kute Wellington and his wife Margaret. They live in a hut with no running water or electricity, so every time we go, as the evening wears on, we have trouble seeing one another in the enveloping darkness. Except this last time. The evening progressed, the darkness came, but we could still see one another! And then I realized - the Wellingtons had electricity, for the first time in their lives.

I mentioned how great it was to be able to see them, and "Momma Margaret" proceeded to thank God for electricity. She repeated that praise several times throughout the night. I've had electricity all my life, and I had never in all my years thanked God for it. I had never thanked God for running water. I had never thanked Him for hot water, until my first trip and having to shower daily without it!

My Kenyan hostess and the kids of Grace Garden have much to teach me (the "pastor" and the "missionary"!) about Thanksgiving. And I'm thankful for them for teaching me.

What are the chances?

Ever since I got involved with ministry in Kenya, one huge barrier for us has been that we can't ship anything over the reliably and affordably. It's expensive, for sure, and there's no guarantee that whatever we spent on shipping would actually result in the items making their final destination. I once sent four used books to a pastor friend, all properly labeled and showing that there was no commercial value to the contents, and it still took 18 months for the books to reach him. We've heard worse stories.

This, of course, makes it more difficult to help in tangible ways. We can't ship school supplies, uniforms, materials, lessons, electronics, or any number of things that would benefit the ministry there. We can bring money in and buy materials there, which can work well, but sometimes the options of what is available in country are limited.

We also continually struggle with the lack of reliable electricity at the ministry sites. Some buildings have none at all, some use noisy generators that require fuel, and some have electricity, but it's not reliable and it can be expensive.

So, what are the chances of coming to Kansas City and connecting with a Kenyan pastor (based on a conversation with a waitress) who has a member of his church who owns a shipping business that ships items to Kenya reliably? What are the chances that this man offers to that pastor some of the container space for each shipment? What are the chances of that pastor offering to us use of some of that space for free? And what are the chances that this arrangement has never failed to get the shipped materials through customs and to the final destination in a timely fashion?

Furthermore, what are the chances of getting connected with a professor at JCCC (basically across the road from our house) who has lived around the world installing solar power in developing areas? What are the chances that this professor has a Kenyan student with years of electrical experience and a passion to install solar power in Kenya?

The only way we could ever affordably ship solar devices to Kenya would be to have cheap (or free!) space in a container. Plus we would also need a virtual guarantee that this precious equipment will get through customs and reach its final destination. What are the chances of all of these connections being made in the same week?

That is what is happening before our eyes. And I'm grateful to God for what appears to be an amazing provision for the very things we need.

If the Lord does in fact put all these pieces in place, you will certainly be hearing more about it. In the meantime, please pray that He would make all this happen, according to His will.

Too Much to Process

I have not yet had a chance to sit down and sift through my notes to write up a trip report to encapsulate the last two weeks in Kenya. I need to get this done, and I will. But not today. Therefore, I am left to ponder singular events and activities for the moment.

On Sunday, I briefly mentioned a reading in Jeremiah that impacted me in a strong way while in Kenya - Jeremiah 2:5, Thus says the Lord, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty?”


I was reading this one morning during my Quiet Time. I hadn't read Jeremiah in a long time, and so I just picked it up that morning. There's so much in the first two chapters that catch our attention, and so I've never really dwelt on this verse before. The image of becoming empty because of walking after emptiness shocked my sleepy-headed system. I asked myself, In what ways have I been walking after emptiness and becoming empty?


One could easily say, "Well, here I am in Kenya on a mission trip. I've given up so much earthly comfort to be here. Surely this is anything but walking after emptiness." And it is true. But if one satisfied himself with this statement, he can successfully ignore the power of the passage. Even if I'm willing to go to Kenya, that doesn't mean I don't have times in my life where I'm walking after emptiness.


I can walk after emptiness by wasting time in front of the tube, by pursuing recreation to the point of imbalance, by getting caught up in consumerism, by letting my mind wander onto topics best left alone, even by pursuing ministry goals for personal benefit more than the purposes of the Kingdom. Anything (and indeed everything) I do that is unrelated to the Kingdom of God in some way is walking after emptiness, from sin to idleness to occupying myself with strictly temporal matters.


And by pursuing emptiness, we become empty. In a sense, we get what we've been looking for, to a tragic fault.


"Weigh" the hours of your week. Do you hours have any weight in God's Kingdom? If too few of your hours are pulled by the gravity of heaven, perhaps you are walking after too much emptiness. For our pursuits to be un-empty, they must be substantive in God's economy. We will get what we're looking for - if we walk after emptiness, we'll find it. If we walk after the weighty stuff of God's Kingdom, we'll find it.


I didn't expect that a mission trip to a developing nation would reveal just how empty some of my pursuits are. However, had I read that passage from the comfort of home, I may well have missed what it has to say.

Why not just send over money?

When you've seen how much short-term mission trips cost, perhaps you've pondered the question, "Why not just send over money?" It is perhaps the most common question I get, and it is a logical, legitimate question. After all, how many orphans could we support in a year for the amount of money it takes our team to get there for just two weeks? There's no arguing that in a simple trade, it's hard to see how the trip makes financial sense.

I'd like to offer a few thoughts:

One of the things the teams do is simply to visit with and pray with various people. We meet with the guardians (who care for the orphans), we meet with church members, we meet with Bible students, and we meet with church leaders. We learn from them, perhaps we teach them something, and we develop relationships and pray with them. You cannot imagine how grateful and encouraged people are that someone would come all that way to spend time with them. It's one of the ways they are encouraged to endure the hardships of ministry in a tough place.

We also develop relationships at the institutional level, connecting Kenyan churches and ministries with US churches and ministries. These relationships are crucial for being able to maintain long-term ministry partnerships, which provide framework for that orphan sponsorship that we want to dollars to ultimately go toward. So in a way, the money spent on the trip does go to orphan sponsorship.

By working Bible students and church leaders, we help them to multiply the ministry. The more pastors and other leaders who are trained, the more the churches can move forward with excellence, and the more churches that can be planted. By bringing teaching and encouragement, we have a part in the multiplication of the church, which in turn affects all kinds of ministry. We've already seen several churches planted by the graduates of the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology.

By sending at least one person per year, we also can update all the biographical information of all the orphans for their sponsors, including current pictures. All this data is crucial for the sponsorship program to proceed. Furthermore, regular visits provide a regular form of accountability, so that the ministry never falls victim of any accusation of malfeasance.

Our teams who work at the orphanage also provide a bit of a break for the teachers, who work so tirelessly day in and day out. Often, we can minister to them directly and encourage them as we do the Bible students.

Perhaps the greatest evidence that short-term missions are financially responsible is that our friends in Kenya think it's worth it. They know it's expensive. They know is a long, arduous trip. They know that we give up relative comfort in order to come. And they think it's worth it. So, I'm inclined to believe it's worth it, even for reasons I may not be aware of or even be able to comprehend.

The fact that our Kenyan friends have so much to teach us about faith and worship, endurance, standing up to the real enemy, and even true joy is a fantastic side benefit. It doesn't justify the expense by itself, but it helps the conclusion that it's worth it. Plus, it keeps us from thinking we're the experts who have come to save the day.

The best way to look at this is not to think that money for the trip is being spent instead of supporting orphans directly, but rather that money well-spent on a short-term trip is an investment for the long-term health, success, and growth of the ministry to orphans, students, and the Kenyan church.

The Story of Baby Colby

My first trip to Kenya was in 2006. We were a team of nine, with the rest of the team working primarily at the orphanage, and me spending my time teaching at the seminary. Even though we had received very experienced training to prepare us for the Kenyan culture, we were still tripped up at almost every turn with something new and unexpected. We often misunderstood the situation, what was said, or what something meant.

Most of the cultural differences were just plain interesting, even fascinating. One of the most interesting ended up being one of the most painful.

If there is a guest visiting when a baby is born, it is the custom in this part of Africa to name the child after the guest. The guest is then expected to pay special attention to the child, even help out financially, if possible. It's a tremendous honor, and a responsibility.

The pastor of the orphanage, Chris, and his wife had their second baby just as we were leaving. The named the baby "Colby." I was humbled by the privilege.

Months later, we heard that Baby Colby had some sort of skin disease. Lots of kids there have skin diseases, so we didn't think much of it. But it wouldn't go away, and the sparse emails we got seemed to slowly grow more concerning. However, we never had a proper diagnosis.

Lynne and I considered sending some money over for them to afford to take the baby to the doctor. As we were considering it, we got word that Baby Colby had died. We had no clue it was that serious. We still don't know what disease it was - they could never afford to visit the doctor once.

We were crushed, and went through no little guilt. If we had only sent money sooner, maybe it all could have been avoided. We didn't know it was life-threatening, but we might have been able to make a difference.

The great honor had become a great shadow. The following year, I finally met Pastor Chris' wife. When she heard my name, you could see the pain in her eyes. I was the namesake of their tragedy. But she and I ended up with a good friendship - she's an amazing woman of faith, and now with two more children.

Don't hesitate. I'm not just talking about our personal projects in Kenya, but whenever needs are brought to you, don't hesitate. You can't do everything, but if you can do something, and it seems like you're the one to do it, don't hesitate. Don't rationalize. Don't be selfish. Don't be lazy. Don't miss out on helping someone when God has enabled you to be the one to help.

As an act of grace, a baby was born during my third trip to Kenya. They named the baby after Lynne (whom they have never met).

Return to Kenya

The plans are coming together! From June 24 through July 8, a team of four of us are planning on going to Kenya to serve for a couple of weeks. Our team will be: Joe Graham, John Harrison, and Janette Jasperson, and me. The "Three J's" will be going for the first (and I pray not last!) time; it will be my fourth visit to beautiful Kenya. We will spend one week in Ahero and one week in Wachara.

Our mission will be varied: teach Bible to orphans (from "baby" class up through 6th grade), teach ministry and leadership principles to seminary students, minister to the teachers and guardians of the orphans, teach at a pastors' conference, collect updated information and pictures for 300 orphans, and perhaps even introduce a new crop! Whew! Plus, we'll likely have some role in at least one church service.

Our team asks for your prayer support. We need prayers for:

• Safety
• Health
• Preparation (not only our lessons, but our hearts)
• Boldness
• Team unity
• Spiritual vitality, sensitivity, and growth
• Effectiveness in ministry
• Ability to communicate cross-culturally
• Finances

If you would like to support us financially, you can make a check out to Grace Fellowship Church (10201 W. 127th St., Overland Park, KS 66213). On the memo line, please write "Kenya 2011." If you want to support the whole team, that's sufficient. If you want to contribute to a particular team member's fundraising effort, include a note with your check with the team member's name on it.

Janette deserves double kudos for taking care of all the trip planning necessary. And our families deserve medals for their willingness to send us. The Missions Committee, Bob Graverholt, and the Elders have also been very helpful and supportive. The ministry team is more than just four people. Would you please consider enlarging the team by supporting us in prayer?

For more information on our ministry in Kenya, see http://hungry4him.com.

Don't Buy Me Any Gifts This Year

I'd rather not receive any gifts this year. Seriously.

God has provided everything we need, and work to cover future needs. For now, we have no unmet material needs. That might not always be true, but this year, it is. And we're grateful.

For this year, I would rather my friends and relatives bought some rice. Or maybe a soccer ball. Or little shoes. Or just some ugali. What would thrill me more than a gift-wrapped box is donation to hungry4HIM Ministry (http://hungry4him.com), which supports the Friends of Christ orphanage in Ahero, Kenya. There are almost 300 orphans at FoC, and little donations go a long way. For example:

• You can provide a 5 lb. bag of rice or beans for about $3.
• You can provide a 5 lb. bag of maize for about $5 (20 lbs. would feed the entire school for one meal).
• You can provide a chicken for $5 or a fish for $3.
• 6 pair of socks cost about $2, and a blanket for $6.
• Toiletries? 15 bars of soap for $3 or 10 toothbrushes for $5.

If you would like to provide a Christmas gift in this way, just write a check to "Hungry4Him", put "Christmas fund" in the memo line, and send it to:

  Hungry4Him Ministry
  427 Airport Road
  Dublin, GA 31021

Hungry4Him is in process of putting together a Christmas "catalog" to promote this kind of giving, but I'm just getting the word out early.

Or, there are many other ministries that have the same kind of fundraiser - giving gifts to their ministries in lieu of giving one another gifts (often times, gifts we really don't need anyway). I encourage everyone to think about this as a gift-giving idea, for whoever you would buy gifts for.

I would love it if this practice eclipsed "Black Friday" in the amount of money raised.

How to Get Involved

The feedback from Pastor Benard's visit with us has been thrilling. I'm pleased to see such interest in ministry to Kenya. If you missed the luncheon after church, you missed Pastor Benard sharing what God has been doing 5000 miles from here, and answering a lot of good questions.

Some of you may want to find out what you can do to help out. Here's a quick list:

Sponsor: You can sponsor an orphan for $15 / month to provide that child with two meals a day, school supplies, and a new school uniform every year. See http://hungry4him.com to find out more and to sign up.

Read: There is a book about Pastor Benard's life - an amazing story of his own salvation, plus God building in him a vision for an orphan ministry. See http://benardsvision.com or just drop by the church office to get a copy. Every penny or your $15 (or more) donation goes straight into the orphanage.

Build: We have a "Brick by Brick" campaign to raise money for new buildings - more classrooms, dormitories, and so on. You can "sponsor" as many bricks as you want at $2 a piece, which pays for a brick and the related materials and labor. Again, the information is found at http://hungry4him.com .

Multiply: Contribute to the funds to support orphanage teachers and Bible college students. As we support these workers and students, we multiply the effect, since they each are able to touch so many more people. Contact me personally if you'd like to find out more.

Go: Lord willing, I plan on going to Kenya next summer. If you're interested in joining me, let me know as soon as you can. What we do will depend on who goes and what skills we have, but possibilities include: construction, children's ministry, youth ministry, prayer, visitation, and evangelism - the list is fairly endless.

Pray: Add to your prayer list: Pastor Benard and his family, the Friends of Christ orphanages (one in Ahero, one in Wachara), the teachers and pastors of the orphanages, and the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology and its students.

Please let me know how I can help you get more involved.

Karibu!

I am excited about a special guest coming to visit us in less than two weeks. Pastor Benard Ondiek from Kenya will be with us to share about his ministry in Kenya. Pastor Benard is the man I work with when I have traveled to Kenya in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Pastor Benard is a good friend and a man of inspiring faith.

Pastor Benard has started two Christian orphanages among the Luo people to help meet the dire need that exists in Kenya today - the "Friends of Christ" orphanages. Because of malaria, AIDS, and a variety of other health issues, there are orphans literally every where you turn. Almost every adult we know in Kenya has at least one orphan in their home. One orphanage is in Ahero, with about 300 orphans. The other is in Wachara, with around 50 or so.

Pastor Benard has also started a Bible school to train pastors, elders, and Sunday school teachers, called the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology (AEST). When I travel to Kenya, I spend my time at AEST. This ministry is strategic, because it multiplies. Most pastors are pastoring several churches at once, which spreads them too thin. AEST helps put more trained pastors and elders in these churches.

When Pastor Benard is here Oct 24, he will speak to the children's Sunday schools, share from the pulpit, and then on Sunday evening at 6pm, we'll have a potluck dinner to get to know him better, show some pictures and video from the orphanages in Kenya, and have a question-and-answer session.

There is a book about Pastor Benard's life called Benard's Vision. We will have copies available for you - we ask a minimum $15 donation per copy. Every penny of the donation goes straight into the operation of the orphanage. See also http://benardsvision.com for more about the book.

The organization I'm a part of is called "Hungry4Him" (http://hungry4him.com). We are responsible for finding sponsors for orphans. Just $15 per month provides all the school supplies and school uniform that a child needs, plus two nutritious meals per day. I'll be sharing more about this when Pastor Benard is here.

Also, I'm praying that the Lord would raise up a team of people that I can take on a short-term mission trip to Kenya next summer to work with the orphans, the teachers, the Bible school students, and the villagers. We'll talk about this when Pastor Benard is here, too.

If you would like to provide a meal (in a restaurant or in your home) to get to know Pastor Benard more fully, he would love to meet you. He will also be available to speak to your Bible study or group, any time from Oct 24 through the morning of Oct 27.

I'm anxious to get to share with you something that's been so important to us.

Karibu! (That means "welcome" in Swahili.)