Kenya 2012

Our recent trip to Kenya was filled with different daily activities than our normal schedule at home.  The theme that permeated our time was:  hurry up and wait.  We hurried to the airport…then waited in lines at the ticket counter and going through security.  In Atlanta, Amsterdam, and Nairobi it was the same:  hurry up and wait.  After we landed on a dirt air-strip on the shores of Lake Victoria, we waited for a van to pick us up.
The first day at the S.E.E.K. mission base we started the plans for FUN DAY.  This is a yearly event that the ministry hosts, much like a school field-day.  The plans included anticipating hundreds of children showing up at the end of the week to play games and hear the Gospel.  The planning meetings came together slowly and we hurried to make the needed preparations.  I believe you begin to see what was happening.  We had time to relax when we were ‘geared up’ to work.  Sometimes, when we wanted to work, we lacked direction or resources.  Did the team get frustrated?  A little, on that first day.  But, the next morning we gathered early and asked each other if we believed that God was in control of our schedule.  It was an easy question to answer.  Everyone agreed that the Lord was in control of their lives and if He said ‘relax’ or ‘work’ we would obey.  We smiled and went on with devotions, worship, and the day’s assignments.
FUN DAY arrived on Saturday with six-hundred children attending from all over the community.  A boat showed up at the beach with thirty school children—some had NEVER been off their island home.  One little girl climbed out of the boat with a quart-sized water bottle balanced on her head—her safe drinking water for the event.  ☺  There were many smiles as the children had their faces painted, ran races, played volleyball, colored, popped balloons, did crafts, and had a lunch of beans and rice.  They hurried from game to game and then waited in line.  There was no pushing, shoving, or quarrels.  They all knew they would get their turn.  After a full day of waiting they heard the Gospel in dance, song, skits, and stories.  They waited to hear about our Lord.
As the children departed and we began to pack up the games, we knew we had followed Christ and ministered to those He loves.  Amazingly, we were not tired.  Again, we confessed that the Lord had been in control of the entire day.  I believe Isaiah 40:31(NAS) is true, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
Now that we are home we are challenged to live out this scripture every day.  We have learned that we must wait on the Lord to be able to follow Him with renewed strength.