Kenya: The Vision & The Opportunity

Webster’s dictionary defines mission as 1) a specific task with which a person or a group is charged, 2) a pre-established and often self-imposed objective or purpose, 3) a calling or vocation, 4) a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity, 4) a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work, 5) a local church or parish dependent on a larger religious organization for direction or financial support, and 6) the act or an instance of sending.  These are the person, place, thing definitions. All of these are what Travis and Laura have worked to establish in Kenya.

Mission as a verb, an action, means to send or entrust with a mission; to carry on a religious mission among or in. The Sawyers are both—missionaries missioning with a mission on a mission. In essence, they embody the word mission. They are fulfilling the GreatCommission by spreading the Truth of Jesus Christ, but they are also the hands and feet of Christ on the ground and in the community fulfilling the call of every believer to go and be ambassadors for Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

When they began, they were sent by a larger organization that has since diminished. In response to that organization’s decline, the Sawyers started their own mission organization through which they collect and distribute support. Straight Up Missions currently supports six other missionaries located in Romania, Kenya, France, and Haiti. But that’s it. It is not a large organization. In essence, SUM (Straight Up Missions) is simply an umbrella under which these missionaries can receive help with their legal documents and accounting. Short of paying for the salary for the one person who does this for them, you can be assured every penny you send goes directly to the needs of each missionary and their God-ordained mission.

Yes, each missionary family needs monthly support. Travis recommends most do not enter the mission field without $5000 of monthly support. However, he is very up front with the numbers. He shared his family of six pulls a monthly salary that is a small fraction of that monthly number. With that monthly support, he also pays for insurance and a plethora of other generous endeavors on the mission. When they told me they personally sponsor a large number of the children on the mission, I had to assume the money comes from this support. The difference an American dollar can make in Kenya is mind-blowing. Travis has calculated that just $250,000 would allow him to finish every building project currently planned for the future of the mission! $250,000 won’t even buy you one house in some parts of the United States, and he could finish building schools, boarding houses, apartments, soccer fields, additions to the clinic, and so much more!

My favorite part about being partners with the Sawyers is their ability to share needs and post picture updates for how your money is being used and spent. There was a need for washing machines for the laundry of all the clothes for the children who board at the school. He posted the dollar amount, and it was an amount we could give at the time, and as simple as that, we were partners in providing means for the children at the mission to have clean clothes. Sometimes he needs funds to continue building projects. Sometimes he needs to provide desks for classrooms or school supplies. Sometimes a student or child needs a sponsor. The needs are many, but I appreciate how they only ask for what I would consider the imminent needs. When you follow them on Facebook or Instagram, you don’t feel like they are constantly asking for money—even though they could. They also give you glimpses of how the money has been used and the difference it is making on the mission. They provide snapshots of Kenyan life and updates about the current ministries and progress of the church in ministry. They can show you how the clinic helps the community and also celebrate the school’s achievements. When you give to the Sawyers, you don’t feel disconnected by miles of ocean, you feel connected through the work of the body of Christ.

So now what? What is your opportunity? I’ve mentioned several already, but the harvest is ripe in Sekenani! Here is what I know, what I observed and heard, and what I can offer…

Travis needs people who are called to missions. A full-time medical staff person would be life changing. Maybe teachers. Maybe chefs. I’m not sure there’s a tradesman who couldn’t be put to work on the mission, but he needs you to be passionate about Jesus first and foremost. Any other agenda or purpose is secondary to leading these people to Christ and living lives filled with Christ-like integrity. Ultimately, his goal is not to bring outsiders in to be in charge of all the things. He needs servants willing to train and teach the people with high levels of integrity fueled by their love for Christ, so others can follow your example, and the people can begin to help themselves and help each other more effectively. Could you raise $5000 a month in support so you could be sent? Would you even entertain a conversation with Travis about what this could look like? It’s been a long time since I sat through a mission’s service at any church I’ve attended in the last twenty years. When I was in high school, churches used to constantly support and send. I don’t know where that falls on the priority list of church business these days. I don’t know who’s promoting the sending and the going, but the need is still very real.

The Sawyers need more givers. You can even designate to what you’d like to give—the Children’s Home, the clinic, Mara Christian Academy, Ten31 projects. Travis has visions and plans for decades of progress. He wants to build a soccer field not just for school athletics, but a place where the community could gather to watch football (soccer) games together which opens up more opportunities to connect and minister and spread the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel. (Soccer is not America’s sport, but in case you’ve missed the memo, it’s the rest of the world’s. Building a soccer field and offering a communal location to watch games is the equivalent to churches hosting Super Bowl parties.) 

Ten31 is an ingenious plan to not only provide more jobs in the community, but to funnel funds back into the mission through the sale of gasoline. Travis would like to build shop spaces and apartments at each of the gas station locations. Some of these shops could allow some of the girls from the Haven (girls who have graduated secondary school) to possibly start their own businesses, such as hair braiding. The apartments could allow income revenue from rental, providing jobs for the people who would oversee these businesses. He would like to equip each gas station with a local “grocery” store and possibly a snack shack. His ideas are endless and only limited by the amount of funds he’s able to procure.

The secondary school is still in need of finishing. It is their current imminent project with a fast-approaching deadline for the following school year. The school will need to be outfitted with supplies in the coming months on top of finishing building. While the dollar stretches further in Kenya, Kenya is not immune to the rising costs of building materials. As each month passes, materials become more expensive. Buying in bulk sooner at lower prices would be wise if the funds were available.

There’s a dream of adding a boy’s home also. Unfortunately, there are more girls who come to them in dire circumstances, but that does not mean there are not boys in need also. But that’s another building and more staff and more food and more need.

There are plans to expand the clinic to include a labor and delivery room along with a room for quarantine purposes (which is needed for many of the diseases they treat). There’s a need for a new X-ray machine and other medical equipment.

The opportunities are endless. With the vision big and God bigger, there is a sense when you visit that the winds of change and progress and growth are only beginning to blow.

Maybe this all seems out of your pay bracket. Maybe these projects are too sacrificial an ask. But maybe sponsoring a child is not. Girls in the home and children at the school are constantly in need of sponsors to help with costs. I believe $30-$40 a month can send a child to school. Comparable to Compassion International in cost except you could actually ask for updates on your child in real time, inquiring about specific needs or desires, and truly invest directly in a child’s life. I’m not knocking Compassion International. (Our family sponsors two children through them as well!) I think they do as good of a job as they can on the large scale they operate, but here’s an opportunity that’s just smaller and can be a bit more personal.

Travis is also good about posting big and small needs on the mission on his Facebook page. Unfortunately, Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms do not always place them at the top of your feed, so you may have to be more intentional about favoriting them or just purposefully checking in from time to time yourself. Odd how that happens. Good people doing good things often do not get highlighted in our feeds. Wonder if that’s by someone’s design? Hmm. But I digress. (Most people know I’m a bit of a conspiracy theorist when it comes to government and media, and I’ve read all of Frank Peretti’s Piercing the Darkness series and C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters—fictional pieces, I know. But still, I’m not opposed to blaming the devil for anything when it comes to social media, advertisement, or promotion on those platforms.)

So grateful my God is bigger than any roadblock Satan can scheme to throw up! So grateful technology can be used for good—to connect, to close gaps in distance and time, to bring face to face what could not be twenty years ago. Grateful for pioneers of how to operate missions differently like the Sawyers who demonstrate how technology can be leveraged to bring not just people, but cultures closer together, who can account for every penny ever sent their direction and show you proof of where it went and how it was used, who understand the purpose of missions is helping the people, not helping themselves.

I’m not sure how much you give, how sacrificially you give, if giving is something you’ve never even considered, or if you give to a million different charities already. My ask would be to dig a little. Dig into the study of God’s Word and find out what promises He fulfills for those who give. Dig into your heart and uproot and take a good hard look at anything rocky or weed-like keeping you from having a grateful, giving heart. Dig into your pockets and find some change to spare. Dig into your charities. Do a little deeper research. How are they being held accountable to accomplish with God’s money what you think you are supporting? Ask hard questions and hold them accountable, and if you can’t find suitable answers, be a better steward of the finances the Lord has given you. Dig in. Be diligent and ask the Lord to guide you in wisdom and understanding. Don’t just blindly stroke a check or automatically pay someone every month without knowing what you are supporting.

Does the money you send to support your child actually support him/her? How would you know for sure? Did the gifts you purchased actually get to a child who needed it? How would you know? Are the missionaries you support using your money to build a house for themselves or the people they are sent to serve? How would you know? Do you just take the organization’s word? Your missionary’s word? Have you seen proof recently in photos, emails, or newsletter updates? I ask these questions not to discourage giving, but to encourage accountability. Even missionaries and the organizations they work with and for are sinful humans. They make missteps. They fall short at times. Corruption exists within any business as a result of sin, and no business is without sin. That doesn’t mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater! That means as an investor you check on your investment from time to time, and if the company you’re investing with isn’t doing a good job or won’t make changes when held accountable, then you prayerfully consider investing somewhere else.

And maybe you just need to go see it all for yourself.

Travis loves people to come and stay and do life with them. He loves people to see how they live and what the Lord is doing in person. Their family is a gracious host, and to sweeten the pot, he has a relationship with one of the best game drive (safari) drivers in the area. The plane tickets to get there will cost you more than the rest of your trip including the game drive. It’s not an easy place to reach. Almost 24-36 hours of flying time plus a 4–5-hour drive when you land is no joke, but if you’re making this trip with comfort in mind, then you’re going for the wrong reasons. While I felt we were hosted with the utmost of hospitality and the best of what the Sawyers had to offer, you are in Africa, not the United States. There’s a motto I like to live by in life currently, “Keep your expectations of life low, but your expectations of God high, and you won’t be disappointed.” Our family was not disappointed in the least by our visit. We slept in safety, had hot water for showers, and were fed well.

My kids have already asked to go back. Lord-willing, this won’t be our only trip to Kenya ever. We will see how the Lord guides and provides. But if you can go, you should pray about going. If you can give, you should pray about giving. Like I said, do a little digging and see what the Lord uncovers in your heart, your life, and your finances. There’s not a penny we’ve given we regret. Not one.

How is the Lord calling you to dig in? What will be your response to what you find? Praying you are blessed in your efforts to sacrificially give. And if you need a place to start, you’ll find no better place than with the Sawyer family.

 

To find out more information about the Sawyers and the mission, please find them here:

Website:https://straightupmissions.com/

Facebook: Straight Up Missions, The Sawyers in Kenya

Instagram: @sum.travis @laurainthemara

Kenya: The People & The Mission

I have often wondered what it must have been like to live in a world pre-Holy Spirit. In my study of the Old Testament this past year, I began to realize there are instances where the Spirit was sent upon certain people in the Old Testament, but He did not reside with/inside God’s people. God the Father dwelled with His people in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the Holy Spirit did not dwell personally with the people. He couldn’t. Their sin separated God and man constantly. This is why constant animal sacrifices were needed. This is why God promised a new covenant. (Jeremiah 31:33)

When Christ came, God the Son, completely God and completely man, to sacrifice His perfect life in atonement and payment for all sin, for all mankind, for all time, He created a way for God to dwell with and in us. Hence the ability for the Holy Spirit to be sent and indwell the believers of Christ. Ever since the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell the first apostles, He has been spreading and dwelling and taking up residence with believers in Jesus Christ ever since. Where He lives, the fruit of the Spirit can be found. (Galatians 5:22-23) Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are fruits of the Holy Spirit. Proof He is present and working. Where His presence is lacking, you see less of these fruits.

When the early church began to spread, the Holy Spirit began to spread with each person who believed. The more concentrated the believers in Christ, the more presence of the Holy Spirit. The church grew and expanded. More love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control was experienced in communities where the Holy Spirit resided. I’m no fool. No community is perfect. Never has been. True believers in Christ have always walked the narrow path and been in the minority, but as I’ve mentioned before, God has a miraculous way of multiplying Himself through His people. If there’s just one true Christ follower in your neighborhood or on your street, you benefit from the fruit of the Spirit that flows out of their home in intangible ways you can’t quite explain. Even if you are an unbeliever, the fruits of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life overflow into yours. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control are not attainable without some influence of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing good in this world that cannot be attributed to God. Period.

For centuries now, cultures where the Gospel has been preached and accepted more prevalently have thrived more abundantly. Cultures where the Gospel is persecuted still live imprisoned by their gods, their idols, their false teachings, yet their underground churches thrive and experience a life for which our desensitized American church longs. America and countries where the Gospel is free to be preached take for granted the effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit on the country as a whole. When something is taken for granted, it is often not used, accessed, or appreciated to its full potential. These countries long for, pray for, and have experienced revivals in their histories because believers and non-believers repent of their sins. The Holy Spirit awakens in old residences and fills new ones, and everyone in the community experiences the blessing of the fruit.

Now, imagine a world where there actually were no believers to begin with. Imagine a world where the name of Jesus is completely foreign. The idea of Jesus is completely foreign. Because there is no Holy Spirit indwelling in anyone, imagine what a world lacking true love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control might look like. What are the opposites of each of those attributes? You can read about it in the Old Testament. God alludes to what the world was like when He created rules in the Old Testament for His people that made them different from the surrounding nations. History outside of the Bible records well how the world functioned. Men ruled the women. Women were often viewed as property with no rights. Their use and value were in bearing children, producing heirs, gaining a dowry from marriage, forging alliances by the unity of two families. Think of the atrocities that can arise from such a view of women: rape, incest, female genitalia mutilation, other physical and sexual abuse, and polygamy to name a few.

The god of men is wealth because that is not just how they thrive, but how they also simply survive. What happens when a people become solely focused on their means of survival? They lie, cheat, steal, betray, slander, gossip, murder—all in the name of surviving or getting ahead. These people are unfaithful, untrustworthy, disloyal, petty, corrupt, lack integrity, and often childlike in their thinking. The highest bidder gets their loyalty, wife, child, land, cattle, or anything else they can sell, and you might be the highest bidder today, but someone with a higher bid might come tomorrow, so they leave their job you gave them with no notice and go. Drunkenness and addiction become people’s only hope when their god of wealth cannot be attained. It’s the only place they can escape the misery of their life. Imagine that kind of world. Maybe you can. Maybe pieces of this sound familiar.

The number of children men have is seen as a sign of prosperity and status, yet also a burden to provide and care for. Child labor, malnutrition, neglect, beatings, favoritism of the oldest son—all of these and more are results of this world view, this lack of Jesus, this need for the presence of God to indwell. And these neglected, malnourished, beaten children are the future of the people, so why wouldn’t the cycle persist for centuries? How do you break the cycle? Where do you even begin?

You give them the Truth of Jesus. You bring the Holy Spirit into their midst, and by the power of Christ flowing through you, through the Spirit, you start to hand out the fruits of the Spirit into the six-foot sphere of influence around you. And the little children start to come because the world has not yet jaded their hearts and minds, despite the atrocities they have already endured. Because all any child wants in any culture is to be seen and loved unconditionally. They don’t care about gods yet. They will flock like fireflies to the Light of Love. Real Love. And when the children come, and they are loved well, you begin to win the heart of the Mamas because every mother around the world loves and appreciates someone who loves on their babies, who shows them how to love their babies well or better because all Mamas just want to be better Mamas unless they are deeply broken. And when the women start to come, the heads of the men pick up and begin to watch and turn. Who has their wives’ attention other than them?

This is what Travis and Laura have done on the mission. They started in the church, preaching Truth and Light on Sunday, then living during the week according to how the Scripture says to interact with others, spreading and shedding the fruit of the Holy Spirit everywhere they stepped.

And the children came. So, they built a school. Because somehow the people figure out a way to afford schooling for their children. Many children are even sent away to board at their schools even at a young age. Families know at a minimum their children will be fed and housed. In the poorer villages and towns, most family homes only consist of 1-3 rooms in a house. These rooms are the size of modest, American walk-in closets with 2-3 children sleeping in a full-size bed. Sending the children away to school if they can just makes sense.

So, the Sawyers started Mara Christian Academy on the mission, and they are able to educate the children in Christ and academics during the week. I'm not sure how many of the children who attend are actually sponsored by Travis and Laura themselves, but I know they do their best to meet the needs of as many children as they can. They try hard not to turn any away who come in dire need. Many of the families of the school children began to attend their church on Sunday. The fruit of the Holy Spirit continued to spread.

Over time, the Mamas recognize the Sawyers are helping. The Sawyers are giving their children something they cannot provide, so they send their children to them for help. Girls in need of haven and safety. Girls escaping early marriage and other abusive acts. Girls in need of food and shelter and a safe place to heal from heinous acts. So, the Sawyers started a children’s home for girls. They hired a local social worker who advocates for the children and is a liaison between the families, the government and court cases, and the Sawyers on the mission. Her name is Miriam, and now I’m crying because the significance of that Biblical name just hit me as I typed. Miriam watches over the children. The children escaping atrocities. She advocates for them and finds them safe space, just as Miriam did for Moses in the house of Pharoah. Some coincidences are just worth smiling about and praising God for being involved in the simplest of details.

So, the children are coming, and the Mamas are coming, which means the men are coming now too. The Holy Spirit is blowing and passing out fruit everywhere it spreads. I’m not sure the order of operations from this point forward, but the 35 acres of the mission now holds a complete primary school with a secondary school being built. The mission will educate children ages 4 through grade 12 when all is built. The Sawyers added a medical clinic, school boarding buildings for girls and boys, a kitchen to feed all the children, a laundry to clean all the clothes, a bath house for the boys and the girls, and boarding for all their staff. They started a training academy for anyone in the community who wants to be trained in how to study and teach God’s Word. Travis meets individually with the men interested in being discipled and teaches them how to preach. Because many of the girls who graduate are not in a safe position to return home yet, they built the Haven where some can live a little while longer until they feel they can leave and thrive safely off the mission.

Travis was able to obtain his permanent residency within the last year, so he now has the ability to buy property in Kenya. With this ability, he worked to brand a gas station called Ten31 to be run off the principle of 1 Corinthians 10:31. The profits from every gas station are funneled directly back into the mission after paying employees with the hope the mission can become self-sustaining over time. I want to expound on this idea more in another blog, but my point is, the Spirit is moving in Sekenani, and the harvest is multiplying. It’s beginning to multiply outside the city boundaries of Sekenani.

Families, children, youth, young men and women, old men and women are coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is taking up residence in their lives and in their homes, and they are learning how to rightly read, understand, and teach God’s Word. Many women are given audio Bibles in their own language, and while they cannot read the words yet, they can quote you the truths of God’s Word because they listen to it non-stop everywhere they go. They carry this Bible in a little zippered pouch like a necklace around their neck, and they listen while they haul water from the well back to their homes. They listen while they wash their clothes by hand and lay them to dry over bushes. They listen while they nurse their babies and work to cook for their families. They listen and the fruit of the Spirit is feeding this impoverished community. In some ways, some of these women are more full and more alive than many women I meet in the States. Their physical poverty mirrors our spiritual poverty and vice versa.

Oh, the conviction of taking for granted my access to the Word of God in my own language, in my own home! Woe is me for taking for granted the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, for choosing to do my own rowing instead of putting up the sails for Him to blow.

“Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for my callous heart, for my desensitized eyes, for my deafened ears. Forgive me if I have quenched, grieved, or ignored the Holy Spirit in my life. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Help me see the offensive ways in my life, so I can turn away from them and back toward You. Thank You for the gift of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for still working, always working for Your children’s good and Your glory. Keep working, Father! And if I can help, open my ears to hear, and I will go with a grateful heart because You haven’t given up on me yet!”  (Colossians 1:11, Ephesians 4:30, Psalm 51:10, Psalm 139:24)

To find out more information about the Sawyers and the mission, please find them here:

Website:https://straightupmissions.com/

Facebook: Straight Up Missions, The Sawyers in Kenya

Instagram: @sum.travis @laurainthemara

Kenya: The Missionaries

If I have one regret from this trip, it’s that I did not get one picture with our two families together!

Travis and Laura came to Kenya May 5^th, 2006 with their oldest two children, Sarah & Summer. They moved into a tin shack of a home in Sekenani, Kenya, right outside one of the main gates to the Masai Mara Reserve in January 2007.  The Sawyers came to join alongside the work of some previously sent missionaries. (SO MANY stories to tell there!) But it wasn’t long before they found themselves the only missionaries left to do the work alone and on their own. In the years that followed, missionaries would come and go to work alongside them, they added two more daughters, Savannah and Skyler, to their family, and under the God-given vision and love for these people, the mission grew.

Travis is a visionary builder in every sense of the word. He literally, physically plans and builds things, even in his sleep (by his own admission). Trained to draw architectural plans, lay foundations, operate heavy machinery, and construct, he has built homes, schools, and structures throughout the community over the years, not just on the mission property. He is a rural, mountain man raised in the North Carolina Appalachian region, so if you’ve ever wondered what the language of Swahili in a southern drawl sounds like, he’s your man. I’d call him a redneck, but his passion for Christ and love for these people erases any negative connotations of that stereotype when you meet him. He lives to serve, to lead his family well, to protect them and the people God has put under his care on the mission, and ultimately to spread the Gospel truth of Jesus Christ to everyone he comes in contact with, whether it be the local chief, mayor, local authorities, or even government officials. He is respected in the community by those who know him as a man who has actually made a difference in improving the community, and he is often slandered by those opposed to the truth. He can talk all day, every day, non-stop. He has enough stories to fill three volumes of books, and every day they live is a chapter of a book. He is the Sekenani Energizer Bunny for Christ, and his vision for the future of the community is inspirational, and by the power of God, he’s making it happen. Also, someone I don’t have pictures of (LOL), he just rarely sits still!

Laura is a Titus 2:3-5 Mama. Read it. She embodies every word. Her Mama-heart pours into everyone on the mission. I met her in high school when we worked together at Sweet Spirit Christian Bookstore. She loved the Lord then, deeply, sure in her faith, steadfast, calm, and fully ready to commit her life to Christ through missions even at a young age. In many ways, not one thing I admired about her then has changed to this day. She is quiet, kind, loving, but sure and ready with an answer from Scripture for everything she believes. She’s not argumentative, but immovably convincing in what she believes. In the face of disturbing news, disappointing facts, frustrating irritations, concerns with sicknesses of her children, I watched her remain calm, collected, and at peace. She expresses her feelings, acknowledges them, but she remains at peace, centered, and constantly continuing to move forward, taking the next step, counting the cost, and moving forward regardless. For eight days, I watched her make meals from scratch—including biscuits, muffins, and hamburger buns!—keep her house clean and organized, washing laundry with no working dryer, preparing her family of six to leave for the States for the next four months, all while making space and time to listen empathetically to the Mamas in the community who needed to speak to her, the children on the mission who just needed her hugs and hand holding, her own children who were wrestling with their own emotions about this upcoming visit to the U.S., and me. In the middle of all these things, she took the time to care about who I was as a person too. Oh, and she taught Bible study with different groups of women at least three times during the week we were there!

I know. This makes them sound super-human, but they’re not. They are simple and real and sure of who they are in Christ. He gives me hope for the future of mission organizations. In a system where corruption and the pursuit of business and profit has too often overshadowed the actual work of the Lord needing to be accomplished, Travis is the example for how it can be done right. She encourages me as a wife, mother, and woman of God. Being just those three things is enough. If I am filled up with Jesus, I will impact the world around me in not just ripples, but crashing waves being the most Christ-like wife, mother, and follower of Jesus I can be. Those three roles in life are enough when embraced and valued fully. Those three can define who I am for the rest of my life. They can be the answer to the question “What do you do?” every time, and I don’t have to cringe inwardly wondering if that’s enough. I watched it be plenty and more for Laura, and I am encouraged from this day forward it can be plenty and more for me.

They’ve raised four beautiful and completely different daughters while living in Kenya, all of whom love Jesus deeply, each one gifted uniquely. The two younger, Savannah and Skyler, are the same age as my kids, so it was a blessing to watch the four of them bond, and to see my kids meld and mesh so quickly into the daily life of a missionary kid. Their fast friendship was ministry to all of them in many respects. Being introduced to some of the local mission teenagers gave my kids the experience to make friendships in Christ on the other side of the world, and the gift of technology allows them to still stay connected. As always, watching the Lord work in the youth of our generation, no matter the culture, fills me with hope and joy and a renewed motivation to keep running this race for Christ. It’s a long, hard marathon at times, but the fruit you experience when watching the Lord work in the lives of others, especially children, has always filled my soul with hope like an energy shot or gummy along the way during the race. God is working. Constantly. He never stops. He pursues the people He loves relentlessly from one generation to the next. Fix your eyes on the prize of Himself at the finish line and take note of who’s running with you along the way. You are NEVER alone. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Travis always tells the people there are those who are sent and there are those who send. Both are necessary and as much needed as the other. He tries hard to convince the locals that what they see him able to do and accomplish is not a direct result of his own wealth. He talks about his supporters, his senders, with the people, so when you go to visit them, the people are full of love and gratefulness and show appreciation through the gifting of items they sell to make money for their families. For as little as they have, the people are very generous. As a family, it has been a joy to be senders for the Sawyer family. For over twenty years now, we have given monthly in some format to the mission. There were months or years where it seemed like finances were too tight to give, and I believe there was a time when we did stop giving for a season, but it never felt right, and it never sat well with my heart. I don’t believe much time passed before we decided to send the money once again.

In this day and age of great strife, need, corruption, inflation, and economic instability, it’s easy to justify funneling your funds to other needs in your own home, life, and family. It’s easy to become disillusioned with well-meaning organizations when you discover the corruption and lack of accountability that exists inside those organizations. It’s easy to believe your money is better served close to home under the watchful eye of your own discernment. And maybe, in some instances, this is a prudent stance to take, but not in the case of the Sawyers. Every penny you send goes directly to investing in the mission and local community. I think I will expand on this in another post, but for now, my point is everyone needs to be either someone who is sent or someone who sends. In both aspects, you are fulfilling the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20.

There have been times in my life I have felt guilty about my inability or unwillingness to actively pursue the Great Commission. I used to believe it was necessary to be gifted in evangelism with a call to missions to give this commandment feet and traction in obedience. Joey and I experience great joy, satisfaction, and pleasure in supporting the missional non-profit organizations the Lord has led us to. It’s not a check we stroke every month begrudgingly, although we obediently do strive to give sacrificially. But more importantly, I have come to believe this is how the Lord has gifted us to help fulfill the Great Commission. This is the part He’s gifted us to play. I believe anyone with the privilege of living in a first-world country has been gifted the talent to give something to further the kingdom of God, and I’m not just talking about your tithe, I’m talking about something deeper, more purpose driven. Money you give knowing you are being obedient to further the kingdom of God specifically. Tithe is an act of gratefulness to God which He has always designed to support the Body the of Christ and the servants of God. (Numbers 18:21, Nehemiah 10:37-38, Malachi 3:10) Sacrificial giving, whether it be $1-$1,000 more and in addition to your tithe, is how the Great Commission is fueled in today’s society. It can be an act of worship and faith to actively further the kingdom of God. I can smile and rejoice in every soul saved and every child educated and sheltered at the mission in Sekenani because the Lord allowed us the gift of fueling the Great Commission being fulfilled there. (2 Corinthians 8:2-7)

It's not about dollar amounts. It’s about being faithful stewards of what the Lord has given, of what already belongs to Him. (Matthew 25:14-30) Like all things in the Bible, it’s not about the outward amount of money, it’s about the motivation of your heart to give. (2 Corinthians 9:6-7) We used to pass around the offering plate for missions every Sunday night in the Baptist church where I grew up, and I remember placing my quarters in that plate as a child. I believe with my whole heart God honored every quarter given in faith and sacrifice.

Are you the one being sent or are you the one sending? Every one of us is one or the other. It is how we fulfill the commission of Christ when He ascended into heaven. He left us (for now) to be sent or to send. What part of obedience do you play? Can you lay your head down at night in peace knowing you are using the privilege, gifts, and talents of your place in time and history to further progress the kingdom of God here on earth? (Esther 4:14) He will return as soon as every tribe and tongue hear. (Matthew 24:14) Don’t just say, “Come Lord Jesus, Come.” Be a tool in the process and be blessed through the sacrificial obedience. 

To find out more information about the Sawyers and the mission, please find them here:

Website:https://straightupmissions.com/

Facebook: Straight Up Missions, The Sawyers in Kenya

Instagram: @sum.travis @laurainthemara

Kenya: Some Takeaways

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I have been delighting in the Lord’s creation since my earliest memory of exploring my back yard, my dog Princess by my side picking the purple “berries” off monkey grass and turning them into “soup”. I have treasured the truths of God’s Word revealed in the life experience around us since I was eleven years old, studying the dynamics of how God wants us to relate and connect with each other and with Him. I have sought to live my life to serve Him and serve His people because no matter what I have going for or against me in life, serving Him and others gets me out of bed in the morning. I am keenly aware every day of my life in every pore of my body that my home in the United States of America is a microscopic grain of sand in the greater realm of millions of miles of God’s shoreline of creation. There is more to this world. There is more to this life. There is more to Christ and His plan than I can hope to experience in this one life He’s granted me. Thank God one day I’ll have an eternity because given the little I’ve seen of this world, it will take an eternity to explore it fully when He makes it new again!

I have always desired to see the world. All of it. In the flesh, it’s a selfish desire. At times travel has become an idol in my life, something I’ve worshipped and longed for more than the Creator Himself. But in Christ, in the Spirit, my desire is to see more of God. To not just see, but experience firsthand His unrivaled ability to design in creation. To immerse myself in the people He created to think, live, struggle, and thrive differently than I do, but also in many of the same ways I do. We all need food, water, shelter, love, family, and a million other shared needs across any culture or geographic region. But, we also all need Jesus Christ and the truth of His Word in the Bible. We need to know and understand the depth of Father God’s love for us. We need to know how to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live our best lives here on earth, to help us embody Christ here on earth, to be His hands and feet to those around us. (John 14:6, Romans 5:8, John 3:16, 1 John 3:1, John 14:26, Romans 8:11, Matthew 25:31-40)

Travel is a family value for Joey and me. Some people choose to spend their money on clothing, second homes, decorating, renovating, or improving their current homes, sports activities, or a myriad of other expenses. One of the desires of my heart has always been to see the world, whether for the fleshly or Spirit-led reasons mentioned above, it is a deep desire of mine, and the Lord gave me a husband who has come alongside me to support that desire. So, we plan, save, and execute on travels I fully realize not everyone has or will have the opportunity to take in a lifetime. I view every trip we are able to take as a gift from the Lord. I view each of them as an opportunity to expand my perspective about and correct my biases about people and the world in general, to gift my children with a grand view of Who God is and of what He is capable, to enlarge our family’s view of how God is working in the world and how we can participate.

Kenya was the first trip we’ve taken as a family that perfectly melded every experience I’ve ever wanted for my children into one “vacation”. But every trip we’ve taken prior to this one was preparing them. My kids are seasoned travelers. Our previous travels taught them how to navigate airports, what to expect, how to comfortably ride on airplanes, cars, trains, bikes, etc., how to observe their surroundings and take it all in and be aware, how to appreciate, be grateful, be helpful, how to not complain, how to pivot and turn every misstep into an adventure not a dead end, how to take a deep breath and just be, see, fill, intake, rest, enjoy, how to plan, prepare, pack and think ahead, how to just keep moving forward, how to see Jesus in the good and the hard, how to trust God to provide and make a way and be our Safety and Security in the unknown. When done intentionally, travel teaches valuable life skills, and I fully believe God will use all of these skills in the lives of my children for His glory even if they choose not to value travel the way Joey and I have in their future. These skills will still serve them well.

Kenya was the culmination of everything I’ve ever wanted my children to experience. It was not a posh hotel stay, but we did get to go on safari. It was not a mission trip where we worked to accomplish a pre-determined task or goal. It was an extended visit with friends combined with a cultural immersion experience. Whatever our friends the Sawyers did, we did. Wherever they went, we went. We watched, observed, and absorbed the way they live their lives on the mission the Lord has led them to build over the past 17 years in Sekenani, Kenya. We watched them oversee each of the ministries the Lord has led them to build in service to the people in this region. They oversee a church, a children’s home, a primary school, a secondary school, a clinic, and now local gas stations that have been branded in hopes their profits will help the mission become self-supporting in the future. The safari we got to experience was breathtaking. God’s creation on display is awe-inspiring, but living life alongside the Sawyers and the Sekenani people was even more deeply impactful.

During our trip to Kenya, I saw with my own eyes how using the truth of God’s Word can build a firm foundation for moving forward in creating a community where people understand how they should act and treat each other. It felt very much how I imagine the early churches in Acts might have tried to organize themselves. Plenty of sinful people still making mistakes but using God’s instructions for how to handle and address those mistakes to move forward. Travis and Laura Sawyer are modern day Apostle Pauls. I’m not sure I saw that so clearly until I just typed it. I’m 100% sure they would not put themselves in that category, but this is what they do on a daily basis.

Like Paul, they received a very distinct call on their lives over twenty years ago. Like Paul, they have counted the cost and suffered through living conditions, sicknesses, betrayal of the people they came to serve, and many other hardships over the past twenty years. Like Paul, they are trying to teach a people who have zero basis for understanding who Jesus Christ is. Like Paul, they are the example of Christ among the people to whom they minister. The ministry starts and stops with them at the moment. I suppose these statements are true of each of the apostles in the New Testament. Paul just happened to have penned the most books. Like Paul and the other apostles, the Sawyers are working hard to train the people in God’s Word creating more disciples who rightly understand, so the massive amounts of heresy and false teaching prevalent among the people can be battled and defeated with the Word of God. Travis is training young men and Laura the young women just as Titus instructs in hopes they will go out into their community and continue to dispel lies and spread truth. This has not happened overnight. Decades of counting the cost, planting the seeds, obeying despite the suffering have been invested, and God is unquestionably moving and working in the tiny, poor town of Sekenani. You can see it, and you can feel it when you’re there.

And despite the lack of American comforts, it was refreshing and peaceful to do life alongside people making decisions based on the truth of God’s Word. When inconveniences occurred, like the dryer not working, I watched them do their best to fix the problem, but it did not consume their attitude, their schedule, or their outlook. (Like it would mine.) They just hung the clothes out to dry on a line and kept moving forward. When people didn’t show up on time, they didn’t get mad or upset or let the irritation of someone else’s lack of responsibility affect their attitude, they acknowledged the setback, but in the end were grateful that what needed to get accomplished eventually was accomplished.  Acting and reacting this way, in even the simplest of irritations is a Biblical response. Not worrying, being anxious for nothing, working hard, but trusting the outcome to God—these are Biblical principles. (Matthew 6:34, Philippians 4:6-8, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, Proverbs 16:9) And these are just the small things! Travis spent a full day rightly adjusting gas pumps to insure they were giving customers the promised amount of gas for the said price—making sure they were using just scales. (Proverbs 11:1) Sarah counsels children all day. She openly corrects their misbehavior with love and firmness while encouraging and instructing them in how to make things right with those they wronged. (Proverbs 22:6) Both of them go to war with injustice, but not in an angry-I’m-on-a-mission-watch-out-here-I-come kind of way. No, they just gather all the people together who need to hear truth, they speak it plainly with love and authority backed by Scripture then set clear expectations for success and outline the consequences of failure. Then they follow through. There’s no impassioned pleading or scolding or guilt-trips or passive aggressive maneuvers. Just truth spoken in love. And they speak this way to everyone—adults, children, their own children, co-workers, employees. Oh, the joy of living in a world where you never have to second guess someone’s motives! It was utterly refreshing and convicting. (Ephesians 4)

After doing life with them for eight full days, I believe they are capable of living this way because they spend as much time living the truths of God’s Word as they do reading, studying, and teaching the truths of God’s Word. How much they fill up with God’s Word is equal to what they are capable of pouring out plus more because we know God is capable of multiplying the little we bring to the table. But it only makes sense the more there is to multiply the larger the result that is multiplied.

For example, in honesty and comparison, I read God’s Word, study, and teach it at the level of maybe a 4, and I watch God multiply Himself through me into a 400 level in the world around me. The Sawyer’s are intaking, studying, and teaching God’s Word at a level 10, and God is pouring Himself into their community at level 1,000 because the more you’ve invested to multiply, the more the Lord multiplies. (Matthew 13:8, 23, Matthew 14:17, 20-21) It’s not that they’re holier Christians or people. What they believe and how they choose to live is not unattainable. It is, however, a direct result of the amount of time and energy they spend reading, studying, and teaching God’s Word. Period. It’s that simple, and that convicting.

I have so much more to share about this trip, but I’ll choose to stop here today, and leave you with these thoughts to ponder as I have:

-Why do you choose to invest your time, energy, and money the way you do? How does it bring glory and honor to God?

-Where in your life can you make more space for the things of God? What can you sacrifice—be it time, energy, or money—to increase today your intake of Jesus over yesterday’s intake? Can you choose Christian music over pop? Can you choose a more God-pleasing show to watch? Could you not play that video game, and send an encouraging text instead, or simply sit in stillness with Jesus for just a moment?

-Who did you talk to today about Jesus? About the things of the Lord? Conversations about God were never meant to be contained to just inside churches and Bible studies.

-How much time have you scheduled to read, study, and teach the Word of God? How does that amount of time compare to other priorities in your life?

-Are you even convicted at all yet, reading any of these questions? I am. By every one. If you feel no conviction, what does that say about the state of your spirit and your relationship with Jesus?

The deepest desire of my heart is to please the Lord with my life, to live in such a way that His Name becomes great, and I disappear while reflecting His glory, purpose, and relationship with His creation. Any other desire He chooses to grant outside of this is just favor and blessing and good gifts from a Good Father. 

To find out more information about the Sawyers and the mission, please find them here:

Website:https://straightupmissions.com/

Facebook: Straight Up Missions, The Sawyers in Kenya

Instagram: @sum.travis @laurainthemara