Day 7
Dawn breaks and we begin. It is the end of “dry season” and each day starts without a cloud in the sky. By late afternoon, it is mostly cloudy and today while it threatened to rain, we only felt a few drops of rain before night fell and the clouds dissipated. This part of Kenya has plenty of water and OneLife’s well sustains the immediate community with water which is a great blessing during this short time of no rain. They have a strong well that brings water from over 250 meters (over 810 feet) deep.
Perhaps the constant activity is starting to make an effect on us all. Our morning worship time started about 20 minutes late as our attenders came to the meeting place a little later than normal. None-the-less, worship time still was great and the energy returned quickly.
Mercy (sounds like Marcy) shared her testimony. She was a Pastor’s Kid who was being asked to live a life with unrealistic expectations placed on her. This made her angry and she walked away from the Lord when she went away to attend the university. She actually converted to Islam. She began to steal and party with her friends and she developed quite a reputation. One day she woke up with rheumatoid arthritis and her joints we so swollen she was almost relegated to a crippled life. She was angry with God and would even tell Him “no matter what you do to me, I will not change.” Not being able to continue her studies she returned home. One night she had a dream where a man in white came and handed her a Bible. She woke up the next morning and her arthritis was gone. She went to her father (now a bishop in the Anglican Church) and told him, “I want to go to Bible College.” Before she went to school she went to the hospital which confirmed the arthritis was gone and it has not returned since. She is now a leader in her church and she is a worship leader with a beautiful voice at our seminar. What an amazing testimony. She is a great inspiration to all of us.
Due to some technology challenges we started with a video that told the story of the book of Esther in 4 minutes. The idea was to save some time but it became immediately apparent that the narrator of the story was talking way too fast for the audience whose language of the heart is primarily Swahili. So we showed it again and all seemed to gain greater understanding and were grateful for the “second chance.” So much for saving time! But it all worked out and it reemphasized to us that time is not as important as understanding and relationship.
We followed the video with a group activity where the team wrote down about 25 different things people could be afraid of and put them in a cup. We had them pull them out one at a time and describe these fears without using the actual words, doing as many as they can in 20 seconds. With lots of laughing we managed to get through the whole cup.
The lesson on the book of Esther focused on Courage, reinforcing the idea that great leaders must have courage. Using the story of Esther, we saw how Esther’s courage was strengthened by the Counsel of others, her Commitment to her faith, and her willingness to have Crucial Conversations. The last point created great conversations the rest of the day as Kenyans have a very indirect way of communicating through conflict. Most of them would prefer to not have a conversation about conflict and would rather push it aside or ignore it, leaving the conflict unresolved. The Kenyan team co-leaders (a little older and mature in their faith) felt it was be important to have Bidan (BEE-DAN) reinforce this concept and he followed the lesson with a short charge to the attenders to consider how to graciously, humbly and after depending on God (also part of the lesson) confront injustices or conflict. It was a great addition to the lesson and spurred lots of discussion in the discussion time.
We followed the lesson with another group activity which they wrote down what fears they have personally and in leadership. They then picked them from a pile one at a time and expressed how one could deal with the fear. Kim was next and gave her testimony using 20 year intervals to describe how God was growing her courage. Kim’s gift of encouragement added much to the lesson.
Peggy and Margaret followed in the afternoon with another great time of sharing Bible Study Skills. The students are really digging in and we are seeing their confidence grow. Continue to pray that the students will grow and continue to use what they have learned. God is blessing this training time with Peggy and Margaret.
We (really Kim) taught the team how to play ping pong (they call it table tennis) and they quickly picked up that skill with of course, much laughter. In the evening we had a movie night where we showed a worship video that Tim had created with landscape photos from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was followed with a surprise. We had purchased ice cream. Kenyans love ice cream but have it infrequently so it was enjoyed by all (especially Tim who was going through withdrawal!) After that the students watched a movie while the team went to bed!
Praise – lots of great conversations and even deeper discussions. Pray that God would continue to move. Peyton and Kim are feeling much better – thanks for praying. Continue to pray for good health for all.
For Him,
Tim Scott
Dawn breaks and we begin. It is the end of “dry season” and each day starts without a cloud in the sky. By late afternoon, it is mostly cloudy and today while it threatened to rain, we only felt a few drops of rain before night fell and the clouds dissipated. This part of Kenya has plenty of water and OneLife’s well sustains the immediate community with water which is a great blessing during this short time of no rain. They have a strong well that brings water from over 250 meters (over 810 feet) deep.
Perhaps the constant activity is starting to make an effect on us all. Our morning worship time started about 20 minutes late as our attenders came to the meeting place a little later than normal. None-the-less, worship time still was great and the energy returned quickly.
Mercy (sounds like Marcy) shared her testimony. She was a Pastor’s Kid who was being asked to live a life with unrealistic expectations placed on her. This made her angry and she walked away from the Lord when she went away to attend the university. She actually converted to Islam. She began to steal and party with her friends and she developed quite a reputation. One day she woke up with rheumatoid arthritis and her joints we so swollen she was almost relegated to a crippled life. She was angry with God and would even tell Him “no matter what you do to me, I will not change.” Not being able to continue her studies she returned home. One night she had a dream where a man in white came and handed her a Bible. She woke up the next morning and her arthritis was gone. She went to her father (now a bishop in the Anglican Church) and told him, “I want to go to Bible College.” Before she went to school she went to the hospital which confirmed the arthritis was gone and it has not returned since. She is now a leader in her church and she is a worship leader with a beautiful voice at our seminar. What an amazing testimony. She is a great inspiration to all of us.
Due to some technology challenges we started with a video that told the story of the book of Esther in 4 minutes. The idea was to save some time but it became immediately apparent that the narrator of the story was talking way too fast for the audience whose language of the heart is primarily Swahili. So we showed it again and all seemed to gain greater understanding and were grateful for the “second chance.” So much for saving time! But it all worked out and it reemphasized to us that time is not as important as understanding and relationship.
We followed the video with a group activity where the team wrote down about 25 different things people could be afraid of and put them in a cup. We had them pull them out one at a time and describe these fears without using the actual words, doing as many as they can in 20 seconds. With lots of laughing we managed to get through the whole cup.
The lesson on the book of Esther focused on Courage, reinforcing the idea that great leaders must have courage. Using the story of Esther, we saw how Esther’s courage was strengthened by the Counsel of others, her Commitment to her faith, and her willingness to have Crucial Conversations. The last point created great conversations the rest of the day as Kenyans have a very indirect way of communicating through conflict. Most of them would prefer to not have a conversation about conflict and would rather push it aside or ignore it, leaving the conflict unresolved. The Kenyan team co-leaders (a little older and mature in their faith) felt it was be important to have Bidan (BEE-DAN) reinforce this concept and he followed the lesson with a short charge to the attenders to consider how to graciously, humbly and after depending on God (also part of the lesson) confront injustices or conflict. It was a great addition to the lesson and spurred lots of discussion in the discussion time.
We followed the lesson with another group activity which they wrote down what fears they have personally and in leadership. They then picked them from a pile one at a time and expressed how one could deal with the fear. Kim was next and gave her testimony using 20 year intervals to describe how God was growing her courage. Kim’s gift of encouragement added much to the lesson.
Peggy and Margaret followed in the afternoon with another great time of sharing Bible Study Skills. The students are really digging in and we are seeing their confidence grow. Continue to pray that the students will grow and continue to use what they have learned. God is blessing this training time with Peggy and Margaret.
We (really Kim) taught the team how to play ping pong (they call it table tennis) and they quickly picked up that skill with of course, much laughter. In the evening we had a movie night where we showed a worship video that Tim had created with landscape photos from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was followed with a surprise. We had purchased ice cream. Kenyans love ice cream but have it infrequently so it was enjoyed by all (especially Tim who was going through withdrawal!) After that the students watched a movie while the team went to bed!
Praise – lots of great conversations and even deeper discussions. Pray that God would continue to move. Peyton and Kim are feeling much better – thanks for praying. Continue to pray for good health for all.
For Him,
Tim Scott