Joy is the Echo of God’s Life in Us

So much to write and share with you…get comfy, because this is going to be a long one!
I am finally feeling myself again- I got sick as I was beginning my journey, a sinus infection, I think- and was feeling very poorly!! Fever, sore throat, aches- the whole nine yards. But now I am well. I am so thankful that I brought antibiotics with me! God is so good and always provides. Dawn has NO idea how thankful she should be that I was less mobile and energetic as I usually am for these first few days! Pastor Carol arranged for us to not have any engagements for the first two days, so we were here at her house resting, studying, and preparing for the weeks ahead. Had I not been ill, I would have been coming out of my skin ready to go see Africa! But, as God would have it, I was glad to be stationary for a while as I recovered.

But now I am back to my old self and loving it! Africa is wonderful! The people here in Kenya are so loving, kind, and giving! They always greet you with a smile, with hugs, and handshakes. They honor us in so many ways. They always want to carry our bags and serve us water or something to eat they want to learn our names, and the list goes on.

Oh, yea, mF- a bumble bee pencil topper, hahahaha…you’ll see it soon! (eJ!)

God is so great and so amazing! I will give you a quick summary of our activity since Sunday- hopefully you are following along on the itinerary I sent to you…because I know you are praying for us and wondering about all the wonderful things God is doing here. Don’t you wish YOU were here!!

Saturday (9/4)- Dawn and I attended the Daughters of Destiny meeting at Pastor Carol’s (PC) church. This is a ministry where the women’s purpose is to find the destiny that God has for them, and for them to live it out to the glory of God. The literal meaning of the Kenyan name of the ministry means to put prayers in a basket- so, they are putting the prayers for their family, and their nation, and their church in the “basket” and watching over them with courage like Miriam watched over Moses in the basket in the Nile. These women are mighty warriors for God! It was at this meeting that Dawn and I distributed some of the toiletries that we brought as gifts.

Sunday (9/5)- Today we were at church ALL DAY. We arrived at 8:30a and enjoyed an hour of prayer with the congregation. After that the service started and we worshipped for about an hour, then Dawn brought a beautiful message from Psalm 19 about how the Lord speaks to us from all of creation. (She was amazing!!) Then we worshipped for another hour, and I brought a message from 2 Chronicles 7 about abiding in the presence of the Lord- in the dazzling light of His presence. I talked about worship- how important it is and how necessary it is. Then, as God would have it, we kicked off a worship extravaganza that lasted until 7:30p. What a day!

Monday (9/6)- This is the DAY the LORD has MADE!! Oh, what a day! This is what I have been waiting for!! Today, Dawn and I awoke early to go to prayer with PC and Peter (PC’s husband- who is also a pastor at the church). Their congregation meets at the church Monday-Friday at 6am to pray for an hour. Peter drove us about 20-25 minutes to the church, then after prayer, he returned us home. WOW! What a sacrifice of time and energy- just the drive! And he and PC do this every day of the week! Prayer was great. When we arrived back home, Dawn and I were able to fellowship together as the rest of the family was taking care of some family business. We rested and studied and enjoyed each other’s company for a while. Then, we prepared ourselves to go to the first night of the crusade at the Mathare (math-are-ee) junction- the second largest slum in Nairobi.

So, you may be thinking “slum” and “crusade”…how does this go together…how does this work…Well, I tell you, it works because God is here and He is calling the Kenyans to His heart! These people are hungry for God! They are a praying people who care for one another, and God is honoring their prayers. In case you haven’t noticed, this is where my heart is. I was kinda’ excited about being here, but after today, as Dawn reminded me, hope never disappoints. Wow! I’m in love!

We entered the slum from the main street, and we began to walk down a dirt path lined with thousands of people, shacks, booths of goods being sold, open fire pits cooking food, people washing their clothes in wash pans, and did I mention lots of people! People everywhere! All of a sudden we here tiny, high pitch voices calling out “how are you?”, “how are you?”, “how are you?”. Dawn and I looked around, and children were everywhere- on balcony’s of the buildings, in the streets beside us, across the ditch- looking at us with huge smiles, waving their hands…”how are you?”, they kept asking. So, we began to wave and greet them, and answer “fine”. Then they would laugh, and wave, and when we asked them “how are you?” they would quickly respond “fine!” Oh my goodness! So precious! We moved on into the open area where we would be leading the crusade, and children continued to flock around Dawn and me. For most of the worship service I had at least 5 children clinging to each arm. They all wanted to hold my hands, so I stuck out each finger and they would latch on. And if they couldn’t get a finger, they held my arm or backed up against me to lean on me. (sigh…) I think I will bring an armload of them back with me!

We enjoyed wonderful worship and got to greet the people. And I must say, Dawn has found her place! She was AMAZING! She had just a few moments to greet the people, and she came alive with fire flowing from her mouth! I know she will be saying, “It was God!” pointing all the glory back to Him! He used her mightily, and I can’t wait to see what happens when she speaks Thursday night. You do realize that she did not come to speak, but only to serve me as my armor bearer. But, she preached Sunday morning, and led the children’s Sunday school class, she is preaching Thursday, and again at the revival service next week. What a woman of God!
So, a couple of “God-things”. God told me as I was preparing to come to Kenya that I would share with the people about His love- His love that brings salvation, peace, freedom, provision, destiny, healing, and joy. Well, tonight, every speaker that got up onto the podium spoke about God’s love, calling out to the people about His great love and how He is calling them. Also, God told both Dawn and me that we would be working with or ministering to children. Well, we met lots of them tonight in Mathare, and we will also be visiting an orphanage with 65 children next week. Tonight we gave out those fun little rubber shape bracelets (I’m sure they have a real name, but I don’t know what it is). Actually, it was the bracelets that John Roberts gave me to bring over here- the zoo animal shaped ones. Someone be sure to tell him that lots of little kids in Africa are wearing the bracelets he gave! And they were so proud of them.

I am really looking forward to the rest of the week. Pray that the fire and anointing of God will fall in Mathare. Pray that He heals the sick and that the hungry find food and most of all that souls answer the call to come home! We have been told that 14 were saved tonight, and this is only the beginning! So much more to come!
Did I mention that God is going to do, and now has already begun to do BIG THINGS!! And that I love HIM! Oh, how I love HIM!
Don’t forget to check out Dawn’s blog. http://www.hearthenationscalling.blogspot.com/
And, there is so much more to tell you, but that will have to come another day.
Love you all!