5 months have come and gone so fast! It is hard to believe that I am down to my last month in Kenya! I have already had to say some hard goodbyes to high school students and have had to come to terms with the idea that my time here is limited. I have been very busy serving the children of Rongai with my team. This place feels like home and I have developed such a love for so many of the people here. Here are some of the things I have seen the Lord doing over the past few months:
Every Saturday we have kids club which is considered our biggest day of ministry. It is a huge part of our focus as we plan for it throughout the week. Ever since I have arrived, I have only seen the number of children attending every Saturday increase. Typically we have about 250 children but the past few Saturdays we had over 350 children! It is awesome to see the work that God is doing expanding the program and allowing more children and families to be reached through it. I also often think of the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 because we often run short on food when feeding the children lunch but every week God multiplies the food and provides enough food so not a single child goes without food. God is using the Potter's Field ministry here to bless so many children! I have the opportunity to love lots of children each week and always feel blessed after serving them.
There are a handful of children that are especially special to me. One of those Girls finished class 8 and is now in high school. I have had lots of chats with her before she went to high school as she was pretty new to the faith. We developed a friendship and I had the opportunity to guide her a little in her walk with the Lord. It was so hard to see her leave for high school but when she returned for break all my worries went away when I talked with her and saw the young lady God was molding her into. I had sometime to chat with her before she returned and found out she is helping to lead a Bible study every week, encouraging girls, and even witnessed 5 classmates receive Jesus as their personal Savior. She encounter some difficulties and when she talked to me about it, she told me that she thought of Paul who endured so much and yet stood firm in the Lord. It was incredible to see her flourish after just a short while at high school. God is going to use her in some incredible ways. As she continues to draw closer and closer to him. Knowing her relationship with Jesus was becoming more intimate made it easier to say goodbye, but it is still hard knowing I will not see her again until we meet in Heaven.
Every week we sit down as a team with all of us interns, Geoff, Linda, and Harrun to prepare for the next weeks lesson. As we look at stories that a very familiar to me, it amazes me how much I have missed from these stories. Each and every story is loaded with truths about God and how much he loves us, yet it is so easy to miss all that good truth when reading the Bible. It has changed the way I read the Bible because the stories I think I know I am realizing I know very little about and the chapters that seem to have nothing in them are loaded with things I have never taken the time to see. Every word in the Bible is God breathed and is important to knowing God so even the books that are hard to read are so important to read and study and understand.
Every Sunday we go to Ngong, which is about an hours drive to a children's home. We spend a few hours with the children playing with them, reading to them, and teaching them a Bible lesson. I am always exhausted on Sundays and feel like I have no energy to serve the children but the joy on the kids faces when we arrive causes my energy level to rise. They are always so happy to see us and are excited to see what books we have brought that day. When I think about it, I am sure Jesus was often times exhausted but he knew why the Father had sent him and knew what his mission was here on earth. God has sent me to Kenya to serve the children and to teach them about God's love and grace and so much more. Even when I am exhausted I should press on because God has called me here to complete a task and until I get on the plane to go home, my task is not complete. I love having the bracelet that reminds me of Acts 20:24 on everyday to remind me to press on. Acts 20:24 says, "Nothing moves me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God."
I have so many different children here that I love and could talk about for hours. They are all so close to my heart and I feel honored to be able to serve them. Sometimes I feel like I do not have much to offer them but Matthew 25:31-40 reminds me that it is not the children I am serving but the one I am actually serving is God. "And the King will answer them, 'truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me'." Please pray for all the children in Rongai and the ministry that is here as we serve children in many different ways. Pray that the Gospel would be heard, understood, and received. Pray for the leaders, Geoff and Linda Simpson, as they lead and serve here as well. I also ask for prayers for me and my fellow interns as we spend our last month here. Pray that God will prepare our hearts for the time we are to leave and that we would be able to remained focused on the ministry and not become distracted by what lies ahead. Pray for the whole world as so many people are still desperately in need of a Savior here in Kenya but also in every country around the world.
All for the Glory of God
Every Saturday we have kids club which is considered our biggest day of ministry. It is a huge part of our focus as we plan for it throughout the week. Ever since I have arrived, I have only seen the number of children attending every Saturday increase. Typically we have about 250 children but the past few Saturdays we had over 350 children! It is awesome to see the work that God is doing expanding the program and allowing more children and families to be reached through it. I also often think of the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 because we often run short on food when feeding the children lunch but every week God multiplies the food and provides enough food so not a single child goes without food. God is using the Potter's Field ministry here to bless so many children! I have the opportunity to love lots of children each week and always feel blessed after serving them.
There are a handful of children that are especially special to me. One of those Girls finished class 8 and is now in high school. I have had lots of chats with her before she went to high school as she was pretty new to the faith. We developed a friendship and I had the opportunity to guide her a little in her walk with the Lord. It was so hard to see her leave for high school but when she returned for break all my worries went away when I talked with her and saw the young lady God was molding her into. I had sometime to chat with her before she returned and found out she is helping to lead a Bible study every week, encouraging girls, and even witnessed 5 classmates receive Jesus as their personal Savior. She encounter some difficulties and when she talked to me about it, she told me that she thought of Paul who endured so much and yet stood firm in the Lord. It was incredible to see her flourish after just a short while at high school. God is going to use her in some incredible ways. As she continues to draw closer and closer to him. Knowing her relationship with Jesus was becoming more intimate made it easier to say goodbye, but it is still hard knowing I will not see her again until we meet in Heaven.
Every week we sit down as a team with all of us interns, Geoff, Linda, and Harrun to prepare for the next weeks lesson. As we look at stories that a very familiar to me, it amazes me how much I have missed from these stories. Each and every story is loaded with truths about God and how much he loves us, yet it is so easy to miss all that good truth when reading the Bible. It has changed the way I read the Bible because the stories I think I know I am realizing I know very little about and the chapters that seem to have nothing in them are loaded with things I have never taken the time to see. Every word in the Bible is God breathed and is important to knowing God so even the books that are hard to read are so important to read and study and understand.
Every Sunday we go to Ngong, which is about an hours drive to a children's home. We spend a few hours with the children playing with them, reading to them, and teaching them a Bible lesson. I am always exhausted on Sundays and feel like I have no energy to serve the children but the joy on the kids faces when we arrive causes my energy level to rise. They are always so happy to see us and are excited to see what books we have brought that day. When I think about it, I am sure Jesus was often times exhausted but he knew why the Father had sent him and knew what his mission was here on earth. God has sent me to Kenya to serve the children and to teach them about God's love and grace and so much more. Even when I am exhausted I should press on because God has called me here to complete a task and until I get on the plane to go home, my task is not complete. I love having the bracelet that reminds me of Acts 20:24 on everyday to remind me to press on. Acts 20:24 says, "Nothing moves me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God."
I have so many different children here that I love and could talk about for hours. They are all so close to my heart and I feel honored to be able to serve them. Sometimes I feel like I do not have much to offer them but Matthew 25:31-40 reminds me that it is not the children I am serving but the one I am actually serving is God. "And the King will answer them, 'truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me'." Please pray for all the children in Rongai and the ministry that is here as we serve children in many different ways. Pray that the Gospel would be heard, understood, and received. Pray for the leaders, Geoff and Linda Simpson, as they lead and serve here as well. I also ask for prayers for me and my fellow interns as we spend our last month here. Pray that God will prepare our hearts for the time we are to leave and that we would be able to remained focused on the ministry and not become distracted by what lies ahead. Pray for the whole world as so many people are still desperately in need of a Savior here in Kenya but also in every country around the world.
All for the Glory of God
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