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

Still Rippling

I've lost track of the years now.  It hasn't even been that long. Two? three? years today, I think? that she silently slipped away out of our lives.

I've lost track of the years, but I've kept track of every moment. Every moment when I thought, "She'd love this. She'd enjoy that. She'd be laughing her head off right now at this. She would have come and stayed for the summer.  She would have gone and done this with me, with us, with my kids. She's laughing right now at that. I would have invited her to come out for this. I would have bought her that." Those thoughts, those moments, never stop. They continue to catch me off guard.

I spent a whole day bawling my eyes out last month for what seemed like absolutely no reason at all. No reason other than I was just overcome with the thought of missing her. The day passed, the tears stopped, life moved on, but on this day, every year, the world slows down just a bit. The sun passes slower through the sky, and it only seems right to honor someone who changed your life.

She really did. She changed the way I viewed people. She changed the way I viewed how to love and interact with people different from me. She changed the way I viewed suffering and how to respond and live life in the midst of it. Her death left me marked for life. For the better.

Not sure I've ever mentioned this, but I've been reliving our last conversation together in my mind for some time now, maybe half a year. I remember her calling me Saturday afternoon before she had her asthma attack on the following Sunday. I remember hearing how tired she was in her voice. I always asked how she was. She always said fine. She asked me some details about the next week because she was going to start babysitting for us for the summer after her finals were over. I remember being distracted, needing to get off the phone for some reason, so the conversation was rushed. I remember wanting to tell her I loved her, but that was weird because I'd never said that to her before (we weren't technically family after all.) But I remember having the overwhelming urge to say it, and then not saying it. Simply saying goodbye, see you next week, and hanging up, worrying about her because she sounded so exhausted.  

And then she was gone. It was Tuesday before I held her hand in that hospital room, hooked up to all those machines, looking like she had long left this earth. And I must have stood by her bedside whispering over and over again how much I loved her, how much I appreciated her. How I knew she knew, but how I wished I had said it out loud more.

That last conversation has haunted me for too long. The truth is, she knew I loved her. I knew she loved me. We didn't have to say it, although it would have been nice. But that conversation was/ is a turning point, a milestone in my life. It's a reminder to me to never be too busy to listen and respond to the things the Holy Spirit speaks. His Voice is often so quiet, so gently prodding, that my busyness inside my own brain, my train of thought that is always pressing on to the next station instead of parking in the moment, often overwhelms and barrels over His always guiding Voice. 

His Voice that is always prompting me to say "I love you", to pour the glass of milk for my son that says "I love you", to lay for two minutes longer in bed at night with my daughter that relays the message "I love you", to scratch my husband's back for just a moment longer to say "I love you." 

Jesus just wants us to ooze "I love you" out of every pore in our body, every action, every thought, every word. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) He wants to be the love that others feel and see and know that is true because HE is the only true Love in the world. (1 John 4:8) 

And while I refuse to live in condemnation of a moment lost to say "I love you" to one of the dearest people I've known in this life, I will never forget the lesson learned. Friends, we are NOT promised tomorrow with anyone, for anyone, by anyone. (Proverbs 27:1) The Holy Spirit knows. (1 Corinthians 2:10) He knows the moments we will regret and relive and yearn for do-overs. So the challenge is to learn to listen AND obey in the moment, exactly when He speaks. No questions, no hesitations, no over-thinking. Not quenching the Spirit with our busyness or sin or excuses. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)

You never have to second-guess or over-think an act that says "I love you" in the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of way. Never. Just do it.

My dear Savannah Veale, I love you. Always did. Always will. You will always be a part of who I was and the catalyst God used for who I am today. You are still a source of great joy for me, even in memory. The ripple effects of your life are still rippling. 

Still rippling.

Now to Him who is able (My God is ABLE!) to do immeasurably MORE than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (emphasis mine)

You Have What It Takes: Lessons with Littles

It was a hot June day where I watched the adults versus students soccer game commence on the steaming astroturf.  My hubby had come out for the festivities, always willing to play a game of soccer and to join in on some school fun as well.  It was the school's end of year celebration, and the soccer field was alive with sweaty kids and adults scrambling back and forth from one end of the field to the other.

Next to me, sat my son. He slouched slightly, huddled up next to me, silently watching the game in motion. My husband had called to him, wanting him to come play with/against him. But my son just shook his head, pressed into my side a little harder and just stared at the game.  I could sense he was unhappy.

"Son, why don't you go play? Every one's out there running around. It looks like fun even if you don't get a chance to kick the ball. Just go run around with your friends."

He shook his head, fidgeting, not making eye contact.

"What's wrong?  Why won't you go play?  You love to run around, and look, your dad is out there and your friends.  What's the problem?"

He turned his eyes to mine, meeting my gaze, and I could see the insecurity and (was that shame?) in his body language. "Mom," he said, raising his hands palms upward to either side of his body, shrugging his shoulders upward, "I just don't have what it takes." And he slumped back, eyes watching the game, defeated. And he'd never even set foot on the field.

My immediate reaction was righteous, holy anger.  In that brief moment, I felt like maybe the way God felt calling for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, seeking them out to join Him. They hid, telling God they were naked and afraid to show themselves, and God's reply was, "Who told you you were naked?"(Genesis 3:11)  That's what I felt.  That moment I wanted to grab my son with both hands and shake him, saying, "Who told you that?! Who told you you didn't have what it takes?!?!?"

Certainly not me. Certainly not my husband.  We have told our kids to work hard and reach for the best of who God made them to be since they were born. We have prayed this over them.  This is not something he learned at home or through his environment or any other adult in his life of whom I am aware.

This was the voice of the devil.  This was the voice of the DNA of his flesh. This was the voice of the world, satan's dominion. This was the voice of a lie. (Ephesians 6:12, Galatians, 5:17, 1 John 5:19, John 8:44)

My son is five years old and already being attacked by the voices I myself have only begun to identify in my thirties. The holy, indignant mama bear in me wanted to wring satan's neck and cause him slow, torturous, unbearable pain for even thinking about messing with my five-year-old boy's mind. But the reality and weight and truth of the moment set in.

My heart softened and hurt for my son. Satan wasn't here himself, whispering lies in the mind of my child. He can't be everywhere at once like God, and I'm pretty sure he's pulling the personal strings of some way more dangerous and influential people somewhere in the world right now. His demons have no reason to be concerned with my son at this point in his life.  It was just the flesh my boy was born with, spiritual, genetically inherited, sinful DNA. My son didn't have to be taught how to believe lies, he just naturally, innately believed them. (Galatians 5:17)

He needed to be set free. The truth will always set you free, even if it's hard. (John 8:32)

I looked him in the eye. Firmly but lovingly said, "That is a lie from the devil. No one has ever told you that. You need to believe the truth. You need to believe what I say about who you are. You have exactly what it takes to get out there and play and enjoy and be successful. So get up. Get out there.  I don't care if you never touch the ball.  I don't care if all you do is run back and forth the rest of the game, not really knowing what you're doing.  Just get out there. You don't have a choice. Now get up and go!"

Reluctantly, he obeyed.

And in reflection, I hear the voice of my heavenly Father, my holy Parent, giving me the same speech, imparting the same truth. He's trying so diligently to always be setting me free. (Galatians 5:1 John 8:36))

"You are not (____insert lie______). That is a lie from the devil. My Word has never told you that is who you are. You need to believe the truth. You need to believe what I AM says about who you are. You have exactly what it takes to get out there and live victoriously, play joyfully, enjoy deeply, and succeed abundantly. I made you! I should know! So get up. Get out there. I don't care if you never reach that impossible goal, attain that important platform, grab hold of that dream. I don't care if all you do is run back and forth in pursuit of Me the rest of your time here on earth, not really ever knowing what you are doing. Just get out there. You have made your choice to follow Me, and I'm not allowing you the choice to live enslaved to fear. Now get up and go!"

Powerful words from the most influential Person in my life. Powerful words to a five-year-old when I am one of the most influential people in his life right now.

And you know what?  In the mass of adults and students running pell-mell around that field, people with way more experience at soccer than my son, he actually got to kick the ball! Twice! In the right direction!  As a parent, I've never been more proud.

And I have to think my Heavenly Father just wants the same from me. My effort to give it a try, my willingness to participate and see what happens. A good attitude helps, but sometimes it's the result of taking that first step anyways. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can be a starting point, but sometimes you don't know what you're capable of until you try, and since no one really knows the limit to God's capabilities, you should assume no one knows the limit of His capabilities in and through you. (Job 11:7) There's no personality or spiritual gifts test that will perfectly package what my Uncontainable God can accomplish in the life of an open heart, soul, and mind of a child who is willing to fully trust and simply obey the words that flow from her Father's heart.

Just like my son, the whispered lies we believe imprison us to sit forever on the sidelines. The plain truth of our Heavenly Father, written clearly and completely, cover to cover in the Bible invites us to play and thrive! (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Just like my son, will you trust Jesus with your deepest hurts, the lies you're afraid to speak out loud? Because I promise, He will come to your rescue. (Isaiah 35:4) He's the only One in righteous anger capable of literally strangling the devil inside you. His words are full of grace and hope and an open invitation to be part of something bigger than yourself. (Ephesians 3:20)

Just like myself, as a parent or an influencer of a child in any respect, will you consider the responsibility, the weight your words carry in the life of a child? You may literally be the picture of God they hold in their mind's eye until they are old enough to learn how to forgive you for how imperfect you actually are. May your words reflect the heart of God into their little lives, and when they don't--because mine sure always don't--may your open confession to them turn their hearts toward the Lord in search of the one Person who will never let them down.

Just like myself, may you hear the heart of God echoed in the words you speak to others and may you experience the same boomerang effect of them coming back around to settle in the heart of your own life.  (And let's be honest, that little speech I gave to my son above, that came straight from the Holy Spirit. I can take NO credit.)

Just like my son, may you hear the words of the Father and respond immediately and accordingly. Trust and obey. Get up, get out there, never stop chasing after the will of the Father. Pity parties on the side lines are the result of getting caught believing subtle lies. Being side-lined by the Father is a totally different feeling and blog for another day, but the big difference is those side-lined by the Father are sitting on the bench, anxiously waiting to get back in the game. My son was side-lined by fear and lies. BIG difference. Know thyself, but know thy God better.

Read Isaiah 42:1-9...
Life is an amazing journey that God created. Be on the journey with Him. Enjoy the journey with Him. Talk about all aspects of the journey with Him. Confession is how we give all the bad to God, so He can in turn bless us with encouragement and fellowship and all the good.

"Jesus is the answer for the world today/Above Him there's no other/Jesus is the way."