Thoughts from Kenya
Greetings from Nairobi, Kenya. Cyndi and I have been here for the past week in a training conference. We have been attending an orality conference. We live in a place that does not communicate like you and I and most of the western world. Most of what I have learned I have done by sight, probably you as well. We even say a picture is worth a thousand words; that may be true if that is how you have been trained to process information. What happens if you don’t know how to read, or even how to think in a linear fashion as we do. How often would you draw a map to show someone how to get some place they have never been, that is never the case here. If you ask for directions here the typical response would be “It is just there, beyond the tree.” Which tree? “Just there.” If you are African you get it, if not you don’t, much the same applies when we try and teach with our western ways; hence the training on oraility. We are trying to learn to teach in a way the learner can better comprehend and typically that is through something called Storying. The idea is to share The Bible through telling the stories found in it. Easier said than done. Stop here for just a moment and tell the story of the creation of the world. What did God create when? Not only do you learn a new way to teach you also learn to read more deeply and hide the Word in your heart in a new way.
We have also learned to further support the telling of the story through dialoging the story, helping the student retell the story, and most importantly, retelling it through drama and indigenous song. All of this is in between painting a house and refurbishing an apartment in Lusaka.
Kenya is beautiful. Their climate is almost perfect year round. It is lush and green with flowers in bloom constantly. The rolling fields are immaculate with either coffee or tea. Interesting unlike most of Africa there is some middle class here which has developed and supports a rather thriving economy.
We will return to Zambia on Tuesday, January 23rd, to finish the flat and the house we are currently working on. As soon as we can we will return to Isoka to transport some furniture for the new missionary family living there and say goodbye to many of our fondest African friends. Very shortly after that we will be planning and beginning work on a home in Luingu. There is currently a family of five there living in a 950 square foot home. It is possible our living conditions there will be the toughest we have yet to encounter and are yet to be determined.
We also have plans to begin assisting two missionaries in southern Zambia with their ministry efforts. Currently they are working alone and have a people group of over a million, their area covers all of southern Zambia and into Zimbabwe. Our home church and another partnering church will also be sending a group of twelve in April to further support the work in this region.
We would ask you to consider praying for that group who is answering a call on their own lives; that as God reveals His will they will continue to respond in obedience. Also the family who is living in Isoka is having some serious medical issues. Blake Kimbrough has been in and out of the hospital with complications of Kidney stones and drug induced Hepatitis caused from taking a malaria prevention drug. He is once again in the hospital. Please pray for him, his wife Dawnya, and three small children, Isabel, Abigail, and Isaac.
As Cyndi and I took a walk this morning we were sharing some things we were grateful to the Lord about. One of the things I shared is the opportunities God is giving us in our lives right now. As a young man it never entered my imagination that I might live in Africa, see such a broader span of His creation, or love people that I didn’t know.
One of the stories we spent some time on in our conference was that of Moses and the burning bush. I feel sure most of you know that story but if not let me give you the short version. Moses was minding his own business, tending to his father-in-laws sheep when God spoke to him from a bush that happened to be on fire. God basically told him no longer would life be as he had known it the past 40 years. God was asking him to leave home, go to a place that had real potential to be dangerous for him,(considering he had killed a man there) and do something Moses didn’t feel he was capable of doing. Moses thought of ever excuse he could think of not to go but ultimately was obedient. As the story unfolds it is obvious God had a great plan for Moses. What if Moses had said no? What if he decided life was pretty good as it was? After all he had a family and responsibilities, and there were surely others more qualified. No doubt God would have still deliver the Israelites from Egypt, but what about Moses’ life? Would he ever have been all God intended apart from submitting to his creator?
What about your calling?
We continue to be humbled by the prayers lifted on our behalf and pray that God will bless your faithfulness
We have also learned to further support the telling of the story through dialoging the story, helping the student retell the story, and most importantly, retelling it through drama and indigenous song. All of this is in between painting a house and refurbishing an apartment in Lusaka.
Kenya is beautiful. Their climate is almost perfect year round. It is lush and green with flowers in bloom constantly. The rolling fields are immaculate with either coffee or tea. Interesting unlike most of Africa there is some middle class here which has developed and supports a rather thriving economy.
We will return to Zambia on Tuesday, January 23rd, to finish the flat and the house we are currently working on. As soon as we can we will return to Isoka to transport some furniture for the new missionary family living there and say goodbye to many of our fondest African friends. Very shortly after that we will be planning and beginning work on a home in Luingu. There is currently a family of five there living in a 950 square foot home. It is possible our living conditions there will be the toughest we have yet to encounter and are yet to be determined.
We also have plans to begin assisting two missionaries in southern Zambia with their ministry efforts. Currently they are working alone and have a people group of over a million, their area covers all of southern Zambia and into Zimbabwe. Our home church and another partnering church will also be sending a group of twelve in April to further support the work in this region.
We would ask you to consider praying for that group who is answering a call on their own lives; that as God reveals His will they will continue to respond in obedience. Also the family who is living in Isoka is having some serious medical issues. Blake Kimbrough has been in and out of the hospital with complications of Kidney stones and drug induced Hepatitis caused from taking a malaria prevention drug. He is once again in the hospital. Please pray for him, his wife Dawnya, and three small children, Isabel, Abigail, and Isaac.
As Cyndi and I took a walk this morning we were sharing some things we were grateful to the Lord about. One of the things I shared is the opportunities God is giving us in our lives right now. As a young man it never entered my imagination that I might live in Africa, see such a broader span of His creation, or love people that I didn’t know.
One of the stories we spent some time on in our conference was that of Moses and the burning bush. I feel sure most of you know that story but if not let me give you the short version. Moses was minding his own business, tending to his father-in-laws sheep when God spoke to him from a bush that happened to be on fire. God basically told him no longer would life be as he had known it the past 40 years. God was asking him to leave home, go to a place that had real potential to be dangerous for him,(considering he had killed a man there) and do something Moses didn’t feel he was capable of doing. Moses thought of ever excuse he could think of not to go but ultimately was obedient. As the story unfolds it is obvious God had a great plan for Moses. What if Moses had said no? What if he decided life was pretty good as it was? After all he had a family and responsibilities, and there were surely others more qualified. No doubt God would have still deliver the Israelites from Egypt, but what about Moses’ life? Would he ever have been all God intended apart from submitting to his creator?
What about your calling?
We continue to be humbled by the prayers lifted on our behalf and pray that God will bless your faithfulness
posted by Tommy and Cyndi at 4:44 PM
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