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 5th, 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
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