Becoming Sin

I used to think the battle for our souls was waged the three days in the tomb. You've probably heard some creative orators imagine the battle that took place in time, space, and history during those three days Jesus lay buried in the tomb, postulating the possible stories of death's defeat and life's victory celebrated for all time and history in His resurrection.

But as I study the crucifixion of Christ this week before Easter Sunday, I feel my eyes have been opened, and I am astounded and humbled. 

Every step of Christ's ministry here on earth, He raged a war against the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. The battle began as soon as His heart beat miraculously inside the womb of a virgin girl who thirty something years later would weep at the foot of her child's cross.

Jesus came to earth to do exactly what His people, the Jews, wanted Him to come and do--overthrow an evil, oppressive kingdom. It just wasn't Rome. It was bigger than Rome. So much bigger. No, He came to wage war and defeat the principalities, the powers, the rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness of this world. (Ephesians 6:12) He came to destroy everything and anything separating His people from eternity in His Father's presence.

So He became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). In His human form, God the Son became the very disease that plagued His creation and slaughtered it once and for all--for all mankind, for all eternity.

What does it look like to become sin?

It looks like an innocent man who lived a life of peace and miraculous provision, freedom, and healing for all who encountered Him to be accused falsely. For this man to be treated to one of the most unjust trials in the history of trials only to be condemned by not just Jews who were suppose to know Him, who should have been studying for His arrival and known the signs of prophecy He fulfilled, but to also be condemned by the indifference and cruel apathy of the Gentiles under Pilate's cowardly sentence. Becoming sin looks like suffering injustice, indifference, apathy, having a blind eye turned, and cold hearts in charge.

How the Jews must have hated him! In their self-righteous hypocrisy, they schemed for the murder of an innocent man choosing to release a known criminal instead. To become sin, Jesus bore their hatred, vehemence, murderous hearts, their jealousy, ignorance, fear, and pride. His battle looked like bearing suffering with dignity and self-control. Always speaking truth. 

Even when they stripped His dignity. Skin ravaged, probably hanging in strips from His flogging, He endured the shameful mocking of bored Roman soldiers who treated Him like their afternoon entertainment. They did not know Him. They didn't care to. Their hearts were foreign to the words of God, unlike the Jews steeped in them. They fashioned a crown of thorns to shove on His head for fun. To make fun. The mocking robe of purple they threw across His beaten back must have felt like sand paper on His open wounds. Only for a rough piece of heavy lumber to be strapped to His back. Only for it all to be ripped off His body again. I'm sure some of the blood from His wounds at started clotting around the cloth pressed into His back only to be ripped off once again. Agony! Torture! To become sin, Jesus carried the weight of humiliation, cruelty, the depths of the depravity of a human mind and heart to the hill of Golgatha, the place of death.

Take note of every detail friends, we are watching the Creator of the Universe battle our greatest enemy for us, in front of us.

Naked. Completely exposed. Blood dripping over every sinew of His form. Nailed with scientific precision to be lifted up between two known criminals, yet Jesus takes center stage. There in utter torture He would suffocate in front of a watching world on a hill near the entrance of Jerusalem where all coming to celebrate Passover would be sure to see Him. King of the Jews. Innocent. Not giving up His Spirit one second before every prophecy was fulfilled concerning His death. Not one prophecy went unfulfilled. He didn't give up His Spirit until He had fully become sin, right there on the cross for all to see, for all history to re-read.

As sin, Jesus was mangled beyond recognition. Scripture says He was so disgusting in form, many could not even look at Him (Isaiah 53:3). As sin, the sky darkened over all the land as He drank the full cup of the Father's wrath and for the first time in all of time, the Son was physically, emotionally, spiritually severed from the Father's presence. Forsaken. If you read the details, every Gospel account together, and if you ask the Spirit to open your eyes and open your heart, you see Jesus become sin, what sin looks like, what sin smells like, what sin feels like, what consequences sin ravages on our souls. What we always complain is so hard to see and understand because it exists in a spiritual realm is right there in front of you, on display, for all the world to see on a perfect, innocent, spotless human. 

You want to know what sin looks like? What it does to the heart and soul of a man or woman? Look to the cross. Don't pretend it's not real. Don't turn away and believe the lie it's not that big of a deal. Don't be indifferent. Let your eyes gaze upon the picture of sin, the very real proof and evidence, the unseen we're always asking to see. Gaze upon Christ on the cross, and let the nausea, repulsion, and anger be turned back upon yourself because my sin put Him there.

My sin put Him there. My rebellion. My need for control. My selfishness and self-righteousness. My pride. My greed. My jealousy. All of them. All the sins. They are mine, and He took them and became the picture of them, so I would understand their cost. A cost I am incapable of paying despite all my good intentions and positive thoughts and right motivations. In the eyes of God, my life looks like the ravaged form of Christ hanging on the cross. That is what sin does. That is what sin looks like.

And until a perfect sacrifice was made we were condemned to that fate, that gruesome fate, eternally severed from connection with God. Living tortured, broken, scarred, shame-filled lives, marred inside if not also out.

But the more I study the crucifixion, the details, the intention of Christ, the more I believe we are watching the battle for eternity be fought in front of our very eyes. Satan threw his absolute worst at Jesus, tempting Him to give up His mission with every excruciating breath. Yet, we watch Jesus stay the course. Fulfilling every prophecy to the last detail. What the crucifixion of Christ shows is the innocent Son of God, human in every way we are human, yet also one with God the Father and God the Spirit--we watch Him become sin before our very eyes.

And in willingly and purposefully giving up His Spirit at the exact perfect time in history, we watch our innocent, perfect, omnipotent, obedient Lord defeat sin. He became sin and crucified it on the cross.

He became sin and crucified it on the cross.

No other human in history could have done this. Born of the seed of Adam, we are all born with sin (Romans 3:23). That ugliness already exists within us from our first heartbeat. It's in our DNA. Only God Himself in His perfection could have planned a way to save us. So now, once again, as in the Garden of Eden at the beginning of all mankind, we have a choice. Because there can be no true love without free will, so there must always be a choice.

At the fall of Adam and Eve, Satan thought he had stolen our choice, and for God to make a way for another one once again for all time, He had to provide a better choice, one we could better see and understand the consequences, counting the cost of our choice. The choice not to eat the fruit of a physical tree or not, but the choice to eat of the Body of Christ or not, to be one with Him in the Body of Christ by the body of Christ or to be separated from God belonging only to sin. There only ever has been and only ever will be two choices.

Christ willingly bathed Himself in the blood of our sins, so we could choose to be cleansed by that same blood, wrapping our sinful lives in the righteousness of Christ's sacrifice, the innocence of His sacrifice. We can now choose sin's guilty rags or Christ's innocent robes. We can choose to live in an eternity of filth or in an eternity of the cleansing, bathing Light of Christ. We can choose separation from God or unity with Him forever. We can choose death or life.

I cannot help but love my Jesus for the hurt and unimaginable pain He willing endured both emotionally, psychologically, and physically on my behalf, in my place, for my sin, choosing to do something I could not do even if I had wanted to. I LOVE Him for that choice He made. I am moved to a deep realization of gratefulness I too often forget. Satan, this world, this flesh, too often distracts me from the love, devotion, and gratefulness I have for my Jesus.

May we all take the time to truly appreciate the cost of having a choice, and the Love it takes to be able to willingly give that choice to children who despise their Father, their Creator, in their ignorance. Because sin breaks, bruises, mars, ravages, and fatally wounds every aspect of our senses, yet God loved us enough to send His only Son to not just die, but suffer, becoming sin, in our place, just so we could have the CHOICE to choose Him again.

Whatever you think you know of God, whatever false image of judgement, wrath, suffering, indifference, etc. that may be stamped on your heart or mind of who He is, I pray the scales of blindness and the walls of false, self-preservation will fall this Easter season in light of the reality of what God orchestrated just to give us the opportunity to choose Him again. Knowing too many still wouldn't choose Him, God the Father sacrificed His only Son to give us all the same chance anyway. The same choice. The same chance. Equal opportunity.

WHO DOES THAT?!?!? Who do you know who would willingly, intentionally do what Jesus did? Because whoever that person is, they deserve my whole heart for my whole life.

Christmas Letter 2023

I know. It’s February. That should tell you something about life (LOL!) But I can’t write more blogs without first publishing this first. I’m a little OCD like that. Enjoy!

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Dear Family & Friends,                                                                                                                          December 2023

 

On December 31^st, 2022, Joey’s grandmother turned 100, and on September 1^st, 2023, my grandmother turned 90. It only seems fitting to honor these two women with our Christmas card while compassionately acknowledging Joey had another grandmother go home to be with the Lord this year as well. A reminder of lives well lived. A reminder of the legacy of the love of Jesus Christ. A reminder of the importance of the Lord’s emphasis on family, God’s family, our eternal family. A reminder of the mantra which has woven like a thread of thought throughout the tapestry of my life this past year: God wants your whole heart for your whole life.

 

Instead of one word, I’ve heard this phrase whispered into my heart and mind throughout my days this year. God wants my whole heart for my whole life. What does that mean? What does that look like? How do I live that out? These matriarchs of our family have lived lives answering those very questions, and I am forever grateful for their legacy of faith, love, and family. Each of us benefits from the generational blessings their faith adds like compound interest to our own lives.

 

Weston took a big step in his own faith this year choosing to be baptized in October at the age of 14. I have observed the growth of his faith by watching him continue to dig in and choose to rise to the challenges set before him. He has grown in his soccer abilities, choosing to condition and hone his skills in his spare time. He maintains high grades in the highest level of classes as an 8^th grader, but more telling of his character may be the friends he chooses to invest in. I admire the way he is boldly unmoved by the opinion of the crowd while also meeting people where they are as they are. He started his first job in February as a soccer referee, and he continues to prove himself faithful and steady. He is an excellent son, and I am proud of him. More importantly, he is a child of God who seeks after Jesus.

 

I’ve seen Savannah blossom and grow in her own faith through her commitment to her own personal Bible study and her willingness to host and help lead Bible study on occasion with her friends. She worked through hard things learning how to be a setter for the first time in volleyball this year. Playing as a setter for both her club and JV school team as a sophomore, she showed perseverance, resilience, and a willingness to put in the hard work to grow and improve. She continues to earn high grades in her Honors classes while balancing an active social life. She is a good friend. Being reliable and responsible, it was completely natural to hand her a set of keys when she turned 16. She started working at Chick-fil-A in June, and I look forward to seeing what doors the Lord will continue to open for her enthusiastic, creative mind. She is an excellent daughter, and I am so proud of her. More importantly, she is a child of God who seeks after Jesus.

 

Joey and I have held the status quo in many respects. Joey still enjoys the work of leading a small but mighty team of awesome people.  He also enjoys taking on small side projects to keep him engaged inside and outside of Chick-fil-A. His commitment to weekly Devotions with Dad is impactful. His presence in working together to intentionally raise godly teenagers is needed and appreciated. Raising teenagers is hard, but he shows up. He engages. Every day. We are committed to the calling of a godly AND healthy marriage for the benefit of our children to the glory of God, and for us, that means marriage counseling. It’s not easy. It’s scary hard on some days, but God’s best is always worth pressing toward. We are blessed when He is honored. I am grateful to be bound in covenant for all our lives to a man who values the mission of faith, marriage, family, and servant-leadership—in that order.

 

I have enjoyed spending my time and energy as a BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) leader and being present for my teenage children. This season of parenting for a stay-at-home-mom has been challenging. I have struggled with the questions of my own worth as my children’s physical need for me continues to diminish daily, but I have grown in my knowledge and appreciation of my relationship with the Holy Spirit as I learn to lean into His guidance for the spiritual, social, and emotional development of healthy teenagers. Maybe I’ll go back to work. Maybe I won’t. What I’ve been learning is how to lay my heart’s desires and concerns at the feet of Jesus then let them go, let Him have control, let Him lead. Where the Spirit blows, I follow because Jesus wants my whole heart for my whole life, and He’s teaching me how to give it to Him in daily, tangible practices that look a whole lot like spiritual disciplines such as solitude, silence, and confession. For me, these are not the fun disciplines to practice, but I am seeing how necessary they are for Jesus to have my whole heart for my whole life.

 

Visiting our missionary friends, the Sawyers, in Kenya at the end of the school year was an eye-opening experience. A soul-shifting encounter. I would encourage anyone reading this to go read the four blogs I wrote about our trip. (One, Two, Three, Four) Living in Kenya for those 10 days was an immersive experience in what it looks and feels like to give your whole heart and whole life to Jesus. Every interaction felt like it had eternal meaning without striving for eternal impact. It felt like cracking open a door to something maybe our future after kids might hold. Not that we feel led to be missionaries (at the moment), but that I felt called and at peace living a life where learning about Jesus, talking about Jesus, serving in honor of Jesus was invigorating. My purpose for life so full!

 

Our culture of excess and access means more distractions and barriers to overcome when it comes to living this life of giving Jesus our whole heart for our whole lives, but I believe He is capable of teaching us if we will give Him the time to teach. So, will you give Him the time to teach? 

 

My missionary friend, Laura Sawyer, recently posted this on her Facebook page, and it rings in the back of mind now:

Voddie Baucham preaching at the funeral of Mwansa Mbewe: “It’s always amazed me how people spend their lives not having time for God, being too busy for Him — but hoping to go to heaven for all eternity and be with the God for whom they had no time for. NEWSFLASH: When you die, you will continue your same relationship with God!”

 

Maybe that’s too bold or in your face for a Christmas letter. Maybe that’s offensive, but Jesus said hard, bold things also. He was the Son of God who came as an embryo in a uterus, so He could experience every moment of our sinful human existence only to sacrifice His perfect life for OUR eternal salvation, for OUR ability to have direct access and relationship with the God of the Universe, and then upon ascension back to heaven He left His Spirit as a gift for His followers to continue to live powerful lives drawing others to His kingdom with their love, compassion, and bold stand for truth. Is this you? Are you His child? If not, why not?

 

There’s no better season than Christmas to consider the Greatest Gift of Jesus and what He means to all humanity. It is why we celebrate after all. Or has the excess and access already gotten the best of your own heart this season? Jesus wants your whole heart for your whole life, friend. How can you begin the journey today of giving Him that gift this Christmas season and for every day that follows? Because once you know Him, you realize He deserves nothing less.

 

May the gift of a soft heart and teachable spirit be yours this Christmas season as well as the joy that comes from the gift of His presence (Psalm 16:11).

 

Joey,                                        Jennifer,                                      Savannah,                                    & Weston Durham

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

Christmas Letter 2022

Once again, if you didn't get a Christmas card for one reason or another, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours!

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Dear Family & Friends,                                                                                      December 2022

This year. This year has flown by. Trips to Montana, Key West, Chattanooga, California, Yellowstone, Bahamas, St. Augustine, Cloudland Canyon, the GA/FL Game, and Black Rock State Park all seem like a blur. I had to actually scroll back through my photos of the year to remind myself of all it has held.

Weston has had a rough year of sports injuries, illness, and weird disappointing circumstances. I’ve watched him face each trial with maturity. I’ve watched him get back into the game with dogged determination. I’ve watched him cast his cares on the Lord and lean into the truth of Jesus for his support. I’ve watched him bloom, making new friends, trying new things, doing hard things. Now 13 with a set of new braces this year, he continues to improve as a midfielder in soccer and as one of two bassoonists in the band at the middle school. He makes good choices. He honors his parents. We are so proud of the young man of God he is seeking to be.

Savannah has had a year full of firsts! She ended up voted MVP of her first-ever volleyball club season team.  Starting high school this year, I’ve watched her weigh her options and make balanced, thoughtful choices. She works hard in her honors academics. She makes wise choices to balance her life responsibly between school, friends, and her ever-increasing babysitting jobs. With her learner’s permit in hand, she has also proven to be a trustworthy and capable driver so far. Most importantly, I’m watching her open her Bible on her own and start to seek the Lord personally. She’s making her relationship with Jesus her own, which makes my heart sing. So proud of who she is inside and out.

Joey has enjoyed starting BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and an adult recreational soccer team this year. He has fully transitioned into his new role with Chick-fil-A. On one hand, he misses the day-to-day interaction with operators, but on the other hand he loves serving his new team, and they have fun getting work done together.  He affectionately refers to his team as the “A-team.”  I keep waiting for him to come home with a black 1980’s era van with a big red A on the side. He continues to be an intentional and present father during this season of teenage transition with the kids. I couldn’t ask for a better teammate in life to help shepherd our two. He is a man of humble integrity, and his love and devotion to our marriage keeps me moving forward and looking forward to a lifetime of adventures with him.

As for me, well, I haven’t blogged much recently because this new season of being a stay-at-home mom of teenagers is quiet during the day, then helter-skelter after school. My main job for now is chauffer, which won’t last forever, so I’m not complaining, and I’m soaking up every minute of time driving the kids around to all the things.

I’m asked often how I feel about the transition from California to Georgia. To be fair, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. I like them both. They are completely different experiences. My life looks completely different now than it did for the previous seven years. For me, it has been 18 months of change, grief, adjustment, adaptation, and now the process of acceptance and embracing the joys of this new life.

I’m reminded often of the concept of God’s Waiting Room and what it looks like to live life in the In-Between or the Middle. California felt like a roller-coaster ride of adventure to me. I fully enjoyed every moment. The highs and the lows carved themselves on my heart. Life in this season in Georgia is much quieter in all the areas. Steady. The highs and lows not quite so extreme. And that is something to be grateful for!!!

We have settled our family at Stonebridge Church, soaking in the scripture being taught from leadership, fellowshipping with sweet believing friends who love Jesus with their whole lives. I began leading a BSF group (bsfinternational.org) for the first time this year, and it has kept me humble and buried deep in God’s Word. The women in my group have been a blessing I didn’t know I needed. Studying the Old Testament kings and prophets has been a journey I didn’t know would be so convicting and rewarding.

So maybe that’s the current story of our lives being written here in Georgia—We’re living in the blessings we didn’t know we needed. I didn’t know I needed growth in the disciplines of stillness, silence, and solitude. I’m still learning how to appreciate them (LOL!) I didn’t know having a pool in the backyard would create opportunities for family bonding, or that having a body of blue water near would comfort my heart’s longing for the ocean just a little. I didn’t know that living under the ever-changing canopy of hardwoods in our neighborhood would bring me so much joy and a sense of security. I didn’t know I was thirsty for a church where the scriptures were explained verse by verse. I didn’t know I missed the depth and challenge of BSF to live wholly devoted to the Lord. I didn’t know my kids would blossom in public school. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I still don’t.

So, I’m challenged to live this life of the In-Between major milestones in such a way that still honors the Lord. I’m challenged to continue to make daily choices that are right and good and in-line with God’s ways, taking regular daily steps toward Jesus on this steady part of my journey. The discipline of being consistently faithful and committed when life feels a little less stressful is actually more of a challenge than I anticipated. Apathy and distractions are real obstacles to overcome.

But recognizing where you are in life is half the battle. Jesus meets you exactly where you are every time. High, low, and all the places in-between, He is faithful, steady, and present. Like His continual reminders to an ever-straying Israel, He is relentless in His love for me and my family. He is relentless in His love for you as well.

Maybe you’re like me, and this letter finds you in the middle of a season of In-Between. In between schools, jobs, decisions, achievements, relationships, so many things where you find yourself simply waiting, not really knowing what to do with your time, talents, or energy. If this is you, be encouraged you’re not alone. God has not forgotten about you. He’s not put you in a waiting room because He doesn’t know what else to do with you or for you. Quite the opposite! He knows exactly what He’s doing, and He’s always working whatever it is for your good, your abundant good.

So maybe the best gift you can give Jesus this Christmas is to just trust Him. Trust Him in the waiting. Trust Him in the In-Between. Trust Him with open hands and a surrendered heart. He sees you, and this time of waiting is a precious opportunity for you and Him to get to know each other better. You never know how long this season will last—weeks, months, or years. Will you determine to be faithful, loyal, and true to the God who sent His only Son to be your payment for sin’s price on your head?

That first Christmas long ago was a milestone in the life of eternity—our Savior, our Creator, born in human flesh. But he spent the next 30+ years living on earth, here with us, in the middle, in the in-between, growing, learning, being human, and remaining faithful to the call of His Heavenly Father on His life. That 30+ years must have felt like the longest Waiting Room, part of Him knowing what was coming already. I’m grateful my Jesus knows exactly how I feel and perfectly understands each season of life I experience. May you and yours find comfort and joy this season in that truth as well.

 May your Waiting Room be filled with the hope, presence, and promises of Christ this season.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours,

Joey, Jennifer, Savannah, & Weston Durham

The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

2 Chronicles 16:9