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 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