Those Who Sow

Kenyans are a deeply welcoming people. We are consistently met with smiles and appreciation for being here. Our first two days of being in-country consisted of meeting our Kenyan partners at DICE Ministry and beginning our preparations for ministry in the local schools — we also spent the days clawing our way into the local timezone.

‍

Friday was our first day of official ministry at Landmark School to about 150 8th and 9th graders. Our “Royal DICE” team taught them about how Jesus is our “good shepherd.” After the teaching they broke into small groups to have discussions about the material and we debriefed those discussions that night.

‍

Two of our students Ellie and Dinah mentioned that it was very fun getting to have those conversations with the Landmark students. Others of our team — like Adaiah and Lily — expressed more struggle with a lack of engagement from their groups, but that they were confident they had done a good thing in trying their best to share their faith despite the disinterest. When it was all said and done, we reminded ourselves of the Royal Servants definition of successful witnessing: “Taking the initiative to share Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, and leaving the results up to God.”

‍

I was encouraged by how almost every member of our team so quickly fell back on the mentality of doing our best to obey God’s call, but not letting pushback or stonewalling destroy our resolve. The next day, we read from John chapter 4 where Jesus says that “one sows, and another reaps.” One of our students, Tirzah mentioned that this is the perspective to have as we share Christ with people who may be at different stages in their journey to accepting Jesus as Lord.

‍

Saturday we took time to practice Sabbath, intentionally resting and trusting God with everything we may worry about. Then today we were blessed to spend the morning with our partner church, Green Pastures Tabernacle Church, worshipping our Father with other brothers and sisters. I asked the team what they thought of it and their enjoyment and appreciation of the experience was evident even before the cries of “IT WAS AWESOME” came up in response.

‍

Despite the craziness of our schedule thus far, tomorrow begins a full week of daily ministry. We are praying for God to give us the strength and wisdom to do His work and to do it well. Pray with us as we proclaim the good news of Christ’s redemption in an area that knows His name, but not his nature.

‍