Kenya and Beyond 2010 - Team Blog

Trukana Bible Study

March 9

Luke 10:25-37 was our bible study on Wednesday after we worked with the well drilling crew. They had lunch with the community and sat down for reading and sharing of the word.

Luke 10:25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answered”………………………

We asked the Trukana after the reading of Luke, who is the Samaritan in your culture. This is a society where killing of a cow or camel can result in taking of human life and tribes do not help their neighbors. Yet the CMF water team is cross cultural ( different tribes ). They use CHI to define how to help. They establish this pattern of collective work, meal and Bible study with each new project. They also require a community that successfully establishes a well to work with their neighbors on their new project. so who is our neighbor?

I have been reading “Sitting at the feet of the Rabbi Jesus” which focus on how Jesus taught and how being a Rabbi directed his ministry.

Mathew 22:36 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

These are powerful passages together and that’s what The Rabbi was teaching.

This was a powerful day as we saw Kingdom building while neighbors helped neighbors.

We fledged among ourselves about the generational investment in this area. The three generations of missionaries and their partners the Trukana. Now the children of church leaders are going to Bible school and leading Bible study.

May we all be as fruitful as these great people.

Return home

I will post more observations as I travel home. The last few post are out of order due to how they were posted, but I am on the other side if the world, so be easy on my posts.

Trukana observations

Monday was the day the board divided up to visit Tanzania, Trukana and Masai Mara. Some of the group stayed in Nairobi to work o Micro finance, staff development, bead skills and child sponsorship.

Our group was Doug Priest, Dr. Roy Lawson, Dr Warren Miller and Ann Miller. We took a 2 hour plane ride north to Trukana which is a desert area which recorded less than 5 inches of rain per year. It does have a river running through it which is a great resource. This river at one time flowed all year fed by “mountain streams”. The Kenya government famed the river and built hydroelectric plants to product electricity. Problem is they sold all of it to Uganda. The river has been slowed but not stopped.

We were greeted by Lynn Pottinger at Lodwar. Eric, Simon and Silvester were our traveling hosts. Lynn directed the tour and was our host. She made us feel at home and treated us like Kings.

Lynn teaches adult literacy and bible classes at TIBI. She has been in Kenya for a number of years, working in the bush as well as in town. I was very impressed with heart for the Trukana people. It mirrored George Powell’s message on Sunday. She knows them, She Loves them, she pursues them and she forgives them because she was forgiven.

MOHI and CMF board overview

CMF Board

We were lead in song and devotions by Connie Crum There was a review of financial and business activities of CMF. The sub teams met to reviewed their agendas. I sit on the Micro finance and urban poor ministry. The global efforts in this ministry are expanding with new works in Thailand and Ethiopia. We came to Kenya to view the Missions of Hope International work.

John Sandcock (sp) the Masai Mara CMF clinic leader presented an overview of the history of the clinics that now serve 75,000 patients per year. They have 75 staff over 8 clinics. Their are 5 levels of care in Kenya from dispensaries (1) to critical care (5). The CMF clinics are mostly (3). Malaria , Respiratory and parasites as the most common health concerns. HIV/AidS is still a major issue but varies in magnitude based a number of factors. The incident of new cases have been reduced in Kenya. Diabetes is more common and a growing problem due to diet and poverty.

MOHI visit was 2 days and we saw 4 schools in Mathare Valley. We visited homes and community projects. CMF has championed CHI, Community Health Evangelism. This is wholistic approach to Kingdom building were the mission works with the community to define their resources, their needs and priorities. They start small and establish success. They then work on a plan for addressing a series of projects. As they work together mission plus community they share the word of God. Small cell groups are formed. These become churches and Christians are born.

We heard testimonies of 3 community members which were posted with their pictures.

We returned to the main center to see the production of the MOHI home craft units. This is where ladies are taught skills such as sewing and bead work to produce products for sale. The quality of the work is incredible vs. A year ago when we were there. This is the impact of partner churches which have come and taught skills.

A powerful message to me from this visit is that the seeds of faith are planted by many missionaries. If they get watered by Christian Love and cared for by Christian Leadership they grow and spread.

None of these Kingdom building efforts are quick or single person actions. They require a community of believers and supporters.

We traveled to Joska on Sunday for worship with the community. There was signing and praise by the students and community. We fellowship with student and community church.

George Powell presented the sermon on;

Luke 19 Zacchaeous and Jesus

1  And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2  And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. 3  And he sought to seepaise Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. 4  And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. 5  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. 6  And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. 7  And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. 8  And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9  And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 

Four key points were ;

1. God knows me
2. God Loves me
3. God pursues me
4. God forgives me

God can Love me dispute the knowledge he has of me. As I sat there and reflected on my sins, it was convicting to understand that no matter where he knows me and still Loves me. The fellowship with the children and community was deep and impacted us all.

We ate together and prayed together.

The tour of Joska showed many new developments from October of 2010. A new multiple purpose room is growing out of the dust. The farm garden has expanded and a new compost pile system is established. Irrigation feeds the garden and a shade house is growing tomatoes.