Planting Seeds

January 1^st, 2012 Sunday

It is a new year but as I enter the tent church everything stills looks the same. There are piles of garbage to pass by before you get go through the tent doorway. Some of the garbage is burning because the people are cooking their food. Some of the garbage is being pawed through in hopes of finding something to eat or something of value. It isn’t an area restricted to just adults. Small children, toddlers and even babies are seen often in this area. It has become a community of the extremely poor and unwanted.

After the service Joni, a missionary friend of mine, and I have lunch together. There is a street guy here in town known as the “bag man” because he wraps himself in plastic store bags. He looks like he is wearing a goose down coat as he has so many bags tied on to him. He sees us and starts to come our way. This is a man that we avoid and we don’t encourage him to be near us. We go inside the building to avoid any confrontation. From the window we see him looking our way with a big evil smile upon his face. After some time he goes on his way.

January 2^nd Monday

The children at the orphanage will soon be going back to school but there is still time to play. We had story time, song time, walk and talk time and a very special time of trying different hair styles!

Seeds Children’s Home offers the very latest in hair styles. Great service too! I don’t know how many little hands went through my hair. The need to be touched and close to people is so alive within each one of the children. As we were leaving one of the older orphans, a 16 year old boy, came and very seriously asked if he could ask me a question. I hesitated a bit thinking maybe I should find a man for him to talk to. I saw the sincerity within his eyes and said sure you can. It was a question so far from my thoughts that I was still for a few seconds. The question was “Is Santa Claus real?”

By now the younger children were running up to join us so I said, “well the little ones think so.” I could see that he wasn’t reading between the lines and didn’t understand what I was trying to tell him. I also knew that this boy was on his way to boarding school and he was in for some heavy teasing if I didn’t tell him the truth. So I continued on with my answer, “Men don’t fly through the air, it is just a movie.” A smile came to his face. The next time he watches the DVD, which a visitor left for him, I think that he will relax and enjoy it more J

January 3^rd Tuesday

My morning almost always starts with a cup of hot tea. There are many mornings that I sit on the veranda and over look the mountain ranges in front of me. The mornings are beautiful and quiet but every so often the quiet cup of morning tea is interrupted with a monkey jumping up and down on the roof. He is a happy little guy and wants to be noticed.

The market is a busy place. There are piles of clothes, shoes, belts, and household items. There is also an area for food with fresh fruit, beans, rice and vegetables. It is yours for the price and the price goes up and down depending on their assessment of you. In the midst of the piles and the business of the people are little coverings where they also have hot tea and food for sale. Then there is a man or two that walks through the maze of things trying to sell his bottle of “cure all” medicine.

January 7^th Wednesday

So many have been blessed with Bibles and it is because of your giving hearts, thank you. While in Nairobi I was asked to speak in Sonton which is a couple hours ride outside the city. The church was started just a short time ago. Right now they have 12 members attending and not one of them has a Bible of their own. You have made it possible to present each one of them with a Bible in their own language. Now that they have Bibles they want to start meeting together during the week to study.

We haven’t seen rain for over a month now and the roads continue to roll dust into the air as we travel. The beautiful bushes beside the road now hold the red dust from the Kenyan soil. Feeling unwell and with an infection in my lungs the need to retreat from the irritation of the dust was evident. So a few days of rest at the lodge is needed. It is a beautiful place to rest and recharge.

January 14^th Thursday

We had a young girl crying outside our gate last night. The men went to see what was wrong and the women stayed inside as it could have been a set up. There could have been men with weapons waiting in the bushes on the other side of the gate and when the gate opens – you are faced with trouble.

She was very young and alone. She told them that she had been beaten by her husband and was trying to find her mother’s place. She didn’t recognize anything because it was dark and she was lost.
She was taken to the area that she told us she was looking for.

The truth comes out as we hear that she did the same thing at another gate last night. Here she asked for money to get to her mother’s place which now was much further away. So the crying woman at the gate turned out to be a scam.We have great protection at the lodge. We have soldiers on duty round the clock. It is expected that there is oil in the northwestern part of Kenya. The exploration for oil is well on its way and since October there have been caravan after caravan of equipment taken up into the northwest. Security, drivers, soldiers and workers have used the lodge as a stopping point.

After days here at the lodge I am ready to run again. I left the lodge at 7:30 am to make the 2 ½ hr trip up into the mountain. We traveled the first part of the trip in a matutu with a door that wouldn’t shut tight and it rattled all over as we dodged this pot hole and then the next. It is a constant swaying to the left and then to the right trying to avoid the enormous holes in the road. The road conditions never seem to slow the drivers down though. As we travel further out the road width lessens as it looks like big bites have been taken out of the side of the road. The road only allows one vehicle access at a time. The heavy rains and flood waters coming down from the mountain have washed both sides of the road away. Fields of sunflowers stand in their brilliance between us the mountain slopes. Our ride ends in Kimilli and from here we go the rest of the way by motorcycle. The roads are like a wash board and the constant up and down jarring makes one to be sure their tongue is touching the roof of their mouth.

There are 38 pastors and leaders in a small church waiting for us in Kapsokwony. Many have traveled a long distance to be here. The hosting pastor had been given a bicycle which he uses for the ministry. While speaking a young boy tried to steal it, however he was unsuccessful. The bicycle was brought inside with us for the remainder of the class.

We took a different route down the mountain. It was beautiful and mountain air was perfect. We were pulled stopped at one police check. With authority in his voice and a stern look the officer began to question me. Then very suddenly a big smile appeared on his face and he welcomed me to Kenya and told me to enjoy my stay. Further down the mountain we stopped in one small village. There were a few stores on each side of the road. It was an area where everyone stopped what they were doing and just looked! Some walked to the edge of the road and just stood there. The children gathered very quickly around me and were all giggles as I greeted them.

We stopped here for a few minutes to enjoy a soda and the children filled the door way. I encouraged them to gather closer and showed them the salvation bracelets I had in my back pack. Thomas interpreted for me and the gospel story went out. Some adults stood on the outskirts and kept their distance but they also listened as we spoke. All the children received a bracelet before we left and 8 of them accepted the Lord Jesus into their heart. Smiles, giggles, a touch from a white hand, a brief moment and a seed left in the sand.

Luke 8: 11 -15

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.