Kenya Rediscovered - Part III - Apostles Don't See the Poverty but the Potential

Kenya's Future~
 
The potential outweighs the poverty that you see all around you.

District Directors Obed, Victor & Stanley

Mud Church with a tin roof - a humble beginning

On the way home from my second mission trip to Kenya in February, 2018, Kent Coates and I started to talk about what we had just experienced from the past couple of weeks. We saw some pretty phenomenal things.

The first thing we observed was Kenyan's don't have a lot but they don't need a lot. They are very happy people in the midst of the poverty you see there. But if you are an apostle you don't see the poverty you see the potential.

 The second thing God showed us was that everywhere we went there were humble beginnings. Mike and Pat Heiser, who have been ministering in Kenya for fifteen years, like working in the villages and so do Kent and I. Most of the churches were built with sticks, homemade bricks, and tin roofs. I was reminded of where some of the most significant revivals started, in stables not in stadiums.

We saw many Kenyan Churches like the one above.

Revivals which last start in humble beginnings. Jesus was born in a stable, the Azusa street rival in California started in a horse barn, and many of the Bible schools I helped to start have been in very humble beginnings, Russia, England, and many others.

A Bible Study with many hungry students.  Notice the one by the window.

The third thing which became obvious was the hunger for God's Word. I saw one student who was writing down notes and taking a video at the same time. He didn't want to miss anything. The students were so hungry for the Word.

The last thing we saw was the Pastors of all the churches we visited wanted a school in their churches. One Pastor in a small village told us, "When we have church on Sunday a few people come, but when we have a Bible school many more come."

These observations, coupled with Mike's vision for Kenya, gave us a vision for a second step to the school: training the graduates, there are over 1,000 of them, to go further than just their diploma. Training doesn't stop with graduation, it's only the beginning.

I discussed with Mike and Pat the need to train more leaders like the Regional Directors. All the leaders are going to have to reproduce themselves several times. It's not about us, it's about Kenyan's winning Kenya. They have a culture, just like every other country I have been in. What fits in their culture? After I returned home, I began to develop a leadership manual based on the School of Tryannus, in Acts 19.

Bible School Students in Meru. This is where the school started over ten-years ago.  Over 1,000 graduates from these schools

The next step for Kenya is raising up leaders from the graduates they have; helping the graduates write their Acts 29 chapter. I saw the hunger in their eyes, I heard how much they love God and want to seek Him. Matthew 6:33 comes to mind, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Mike and Pat have asked Kent and me to come back in February/March of 2019 to help them train leaders and graduates in order to begin more Bible schools. Kenya's future is so bright they will have to wear sunglasses to look at it. Can't wait to see what God is going to do in 2019.

If you would like to be part of what God is doing in Kenya you can partner with God and us through prayer and/or financially. We now have a donate button on our blog, or you can send a donation to us at Acts 29 Ministry, P.O. Box 228, Glenwood, Iowa 51534. God is doing some awesome things in Kenya!

A Partner with God ~

Philippians 4:19

"My God shall supply all your need (not needs) according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Most people, including me, thought they were doing God a favor when we put our two bucks in the offering plate on Sunday morning. Kay and I did this for many years, it was like paying to go to the movies to be entertained by God. Maybe it was payment for answering prayers, if I am good Santa is going to bring me a present. These conclusions are all wrong of course.

Over our years of being a missionary God has taught us several lesson about stewardship, not only in the money realm but in running our ministry, running our household, and everything we do in life is about being a steward with God's money and time, He has given to us, to do what He has shown us to do in His vision for our lives. It has worked out very well for us.

When you are a steward of what God has given to you it is like you are a partner with the boss. Now maybe someone can tell me what is the downside to partnering with a boss who owns ALL the cattle on the hills and He owns the hills. Why wouldn't you want to partner with him?

When finances seem to be low, Kay and I ask the question, "What does the boss want?"

Kay and I have never had a lot of money but since being missionaries not once have we had to beg for bread, we have always had enough to meet our need. There have been times when it didn't seem like enough but the Boss always came through with what we needed. It has made our ministry easier to step out in faith when we know our partner has all the money we need. Several things come to mind when you are partner with God.

#1. It was Paul's God, in Philippians 4:19 not yours, Paul didn't know what our god's were, may be your house, car, boat, kids. All of these things can be your gods. It was Paul's God who is going to supply your need. The question becomes what are our god's?

#2. There is a difference between all of your need, rather than your needs. What do we really need?

Kay and I found out, when we became missionaries getting ready to go to the Soviet Union, our total reliance had to be on God. While going to school, in Jacksonville, Florida, I wanted to get a job before we went to Russia at Wendy's. My theory was at least we could eat. God stopped me and asked the question, "Can you work in the Soviet Union?"

The answer to this question was no. "I'm going to teach you how to TRUST ME in every situation you find yourself in. Whether Soviet Union or America it is all the same. "TRUST in the Lord with you whole heart and lean not to your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5. There were many stories how God supplied our need during those times. Every month, it seemed like we had a financial miracle to meeting our need.

Where we trained to go to the Soviet Union~

From this point on we never had a need on the mission field. God always supplied all of our need, not our needs. In many cases we had more money, it wasn't much, but more than enough to survive on. Right now our mission field includes the Gathering Place. We have to ask ourselves how we are doing. Because in the natural it doesn't look good but every time in the last seven years God has met our need, (not needs)

#3. According to His Riches in Glory. It is according to God's gold standard in Heaven not our standard here on earth. There is a big difference. When you partner with God you begin to realize the goal is heaven. Heaven is where the gold standard is much different. I will close with this story about His Riches in Glory:

A rich man was about to die and he packed all of his gold in a suit case, he was going to take it with him. Of course we can't take the earth's standard with us to heaven, but we all think we can. When he gets to the pearly gates, he is met by Saint Peter. Peter asks him "what do you have in the suitcase?"

The man replied, "I have all of my gold in my suitcase".

Peter replied to him, "Why are you bringing gravel to heaven".

When you partner with God you will have a different Gold Standard. Have a nice day.

So you want to be a Missionary???

Kay & Linus in Russia - 1992

As I'm making plans for my return trip to Kenya, I'm reminded that it all begins with a passport. The first thing one WANTS to do is go to a far-off, exotic land to begin their journey as a missionary. It does begin with a vision, but then the work starts. You NEED to get a passport!

Kay's Passport photo - 1971

Clint, 1971

 If you have a passport, you might want to take a look at the expiration date before you proceed on your journey. There are many travelers who begin looking at their passport the night before the trip and find out it's expired or they can't find it. This can be very stressful and very expensive.  If you don't have a passport, it takes, on the safe side, at least two months to get one.

Three words you need to know, cheap, fast, and good. You can only use two of these words. If you want it fast and good, it won't be cheap. If you want it cheap and fast, it won't happen. You get the picture of the example. There are no short cuts when it comes to your passport. The best way is to allow at least two months in order to have your passport in hand before your trip.

"The very first passport Kay's from 1971, her first trip was to Germany, she was only 19-years old.

I have lots of stories about passports, some very good and some very bad. The good stories always come from people who do not procrastinate. The bad stories come from those who delay until the last minute.

Your journey begins with going to the right post office. Many local post offices don't even know where their forms are because it's been awhile since the last time someone wanted one. Another way is to go online to find the forms. One is old school, the other is new school. I'm old school. I would go to a regional post office where they're familiar with passports and may even help you fill out the forms or at least make sure you have the right ones.

The second stop is Walgreens, or somewhere they take regulation passport photos. This takes minutes if someone is available to take your picture. I would get an extra set and keep them with you when you travel; you never know when you might want to go to another country and you have no way to get pictures.

Now the forms are filled out properly, you have your two pictures and don't forget the fee. No fee means another delay because they don't take the excuse, "The check is in the mail." If you have done everything properly, you will get your passport in about six weeks. Good and fast is about six weeks - there is no cheap. If you delay it will cost you a few hundred dollars to have it expedited.

 I'm reminded of my Russian visa experience about good, fast, and cheap which started in England. I had all of my documents to go to Russia except my visa to get into the country. I had been in England for about a week waiting on my visa to be processed from the U.S. I decided to go to the Russian Embassy in London to see if I could get it faster. After waiting outside the embassy for two hours, I finally got to the front desk and a Russian lady asked me, "What do you want?"
I replied, "A visa to Russia."
"How much do you want to pay?" She asked.
"Why?" I replied.
"You want it fast it won't be cheap, if you want it cheap it won't be fast (about three weeks)" she replied.

I got my visa to Russia in about ten minutes but it wasn't cheap. The alternative of three more weeks in England would be a very expensive stay, and I needed to get to Russia to get the school started. As a missionary, you'll find fast, cheap, and good rarely happens. There are no SHORT CUTS!