A Little Mud On The Tires

Rain is such a wonderful sound especially for us as it can be months before we see or hear it. However on a Sunday morning this past June it was not a welcome sound. We were to speak at a church and the only way there was a steep, winding, dirt path.  Slowly we made our way through the muddy terrain. The tires were sliding and we were praying the four wheel drive would work. We could only hope as we had never used it before this moment. We were all smiles as we arrived at the small church to begin the Sunday morning service. We had made it through in one piece. God always has a way of reminding you on the mission field that He will make a way.

The day before this wooden church had been the setting for our third Children’s Ministry training in Kenya. Since the beginning of the year we have been working to hold one in each Conference. We have now had them in three of our five Conferences, and the excitement over the trainings is growing. Early in our time here we began to notice the need. For many the idea of children’s ministry is limited to a lesson time for the children before the Sunday morning service. We are expanding the ideals of ministry to children to include active lessons, leadership teams, and children’s church. Our trainings focus on equipping the leaders here with ways to reach children with the Gospel at the child’s earliest stages of development and understanding. Last summer we were contacted by Holly Hill IPHC in Vanceboro, NC. they wanted to use their VBS offering to reach children in Kenya. To this point we really had a burden to help the churches minister to children and their willingness to give has presented the opportunity to reach many in Kenya. Not only do we train the leaders but we have been able to give over 100 packets of materials for the leaders to take back to their churches and use for sharing the Gospel. How amazing that God is using the children’s offering from Vanceboro, NC to change the lives of children here in Kenya. The pastors and leaders here are so eager to learn and use the materials to touch children’s lives. One conference has asked that we do a training there once a year. We are amazed at the expanding possibilities of this work.

We are also continuing our work in People to People. Our goal to visit each of the five feeding programs was completed this past June. We were able to visit Lokichogio for a week and work with the pastor there who oversees the feeding program. We met many of the children who are being blessed by the work there. We were also able to go to Kakuma Refugee Camp and visit the five churches located throughout the camp. Though we were still in Kenya, visiting the five churches was like a tour of East Africa. There are refugees from many countries being reached by the IPHC pastors and churches.

As we continue our work here we are overseeing humanitarian efforts, teaching and training. We are also students ourselves learning many lessons along the way. God is using the leaders here to build to the Kingdom and we are blessed to encourage, equip, and partner with them. Most significantly we see what life is like here and how many keep going even if the path is filled with difficulties. Whether getting to our churches requires walking through a dry riverbed on a 100 degree day, or through a trash dump that is home to thousands of people, or even getting a little mud on the tires, it is well worth the journey.