The call to the Mission Field

Excerpts from a sermon by Rev. Ian Harris entitled "The Call of God to the Mission Field":
Rev. James Morgan (from Presbyterian Synod of Ulster) said in 1833 --
"As soon as anyone knows Christ, he desires that others should know Him too. His love to Him is the measure of his anxiety that others should know Him too. So far as any Church breathes the missionary spirit, it is characterised by the spirit of its Founder; but so far as it wants the missionary spirit, it is destitute of one of the marks of the Church of Christ."
The work of missions is not some Para-church group ministry -- it is the work of the church in its entirety. Every church member ought to have an interest in missions, and potentially is one whom God could call to the field. The individual or the church that lacks the missionary spirit is destitute of one of the marks of the true church of Christ.

Outreach in Morchichi

We went to a village called Morchichi on Wednesday evening to stay overnight and then do outreach all day. Morchichi is way out in the bush -- very remote and very poor! It's an extremely dry area -- they have a real problem with soil erosion. It is mostly the Pokot tribe that live there -- in fact, they gave Brian and me Pokot names while we were there! Brian's is "Kiptoo", meaning "one who brings visitors". Brian has been to Morchichi several times during his stay in Kenya, and the people have been encouraged by visitors who have come in during his visits. My name is "Cherop", meaning "one who brings rain". Apparently it had not rained for months, but then it rained just a day before we went.

The people need a lot of prayer -- some of them are caught up in cults, some in Roman Catholicism, and then of course there is the usual strange mixture of tribal religion and Pentecostalism that results in just utter confusion. One of the groups that went out on Thursday actually met Seventh Day Adventists also going round the homes!

We were staying with folks in the church -- well, I was. The men all slept in the church. I had a room to myself, and once I got my mosquito net hung (which took a while with only a flashlight to see by), I was pretty comfortable for the couple of hours that were left of the night! People in Morchichi seem to like staying up late -- we arrived about 9pm, supper was served at 11:30pm, and then people began coming for a late-night meeting! One of the pastors spoke on Romans 12:1-2, and we dispersed around 2am probably. I asked our hostess, Delphin, where the nearest toilet was, and she took me on a ten-minute walk into the bush! We did eventually arrive at a toilet -- a Kenyan toilet that is (a hole in the ground inside a cubicle). So by the time I got settled it was nearly 3am, and then up again at 5:30!

We split up into teams of two or three in order to cover as many homes as possible, and we had a good reception. Four people that our group visited during the morning turned up at the meeting that afternoon, and we were also encouraged by one young lad who said he wanted to be saved. We explained the Gospel to him, and we're trusting that God will indeed do a work in his heart. After about 4 hours of outreach, we headed back to our host family's house for lunch and then on to the church for the meeting. Brian was informed on the 10minute walk to the church that he would be preaching that afternoon! There are times when I'm very glad that I'm a girl so I don't get pounced on like that!

I was speaking today at the closing assembly at BCFC Christian Academy. It's probably the largest audience I've spoken to - about 600 kids, plus teachers and staff! I had to speak through a translator, which I find really difficult at the best of times, never mind when I'm speaking to children. But pray that the Lord would use His Word. I've had III John v. 4 laid on my heart for these kids for a while now -- "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." I'm constantly aware that I'm only here in Kenya for a short time; I really want to take the opportunity to get to know them and minister to them in whatever way I can, but at the same time I know I'll be leaving soon so I almost don't want to get too involved, emotionally at least. But I can always pray for them!

A Missionary Heart

Back in Kapenguria, Kenya! I arrived here on Tuesday evening, after having spent a couple of days in Nairobi. I visited the Bible College of East Africa on Sunday morning; Monday I spent in shopping -- first time in a long time that I've shopped for a whole day! For those of you who know me well, you will know that shopping is NOT my thing! At least it wasn't clothes shopping -- it was mostly groceries and household things that we can't get elsewhere, and of course a bookshop or two just to relieve the monotony! I plucked up my courage on Monday morning and decided to drive myself rather than get a taxi for the day (Dave had left his car in Nairobi for repairs so I was able to use it). I only had to make a few U-turns throughout the day, so I was pretty proud of myself for not getting more lost! On Tuesday, one of the drivers from the school here came up to drive me back down to Kapenguria (it's a six/seven hour drive on sometimes bad roads so it's good to have company)! We crossed the equator on the way. :-)
I spent the rest of the week getting back into routine -- it's a little different at the moment because Margaret has had to go back to NI since her mother isn't well. Pray for Margaret and her mum, and the whole family circle. She is certainly missed here! Brian and I decided to take an afternoon off on Friday so we headed out to an animal sanctuary. It is possible to take the tour of the sanctuary on horseback so we decided to do that -- they have rhino, giraffe, ostrich, impala, zebra, goats, etc. We hadn't gone very far before the guide stopped his horse and began explaining about the rhino which we were nearing. While the horses were stationary (I thought), I got the camera out to take a picture of Brian.

Unfortunately, Brian's horse suddenly took off, and mine decided to follow! I was turned slightly in the saddle, had my camera in one hand, and was clutching my bag and the reins in the other, so I knew right away that I wasn't going to be able to stay on too long. Obviously, the horse only spoke Swahili, and my English "whoa" was doing nothing to help slow it down, so I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and that I'd better fall off while I could. So I did. Very gracefully of course! (Actually, the guide wanted to know if I was an athlete because he said I executed a perfect roll as I hit the ground! LOL. That was also planned of course! not.) The good news is that my camera is ok. I was walking like an old woman for a day or two, and strangely enough, Kathy's chairs had never seemed as hard before! Anyway, I remounted and we continued on, but we had to abandon the horses shortly afterwards because they were really spooked by the rhino and kept bolting off (or trying to). So we never got to see the zebra or impala, but we fed the giraffe (very beautiful and graceful, but oh-so-slobbery), and then got a ride on the ostrich. You maybe think the men holding on tightly on either side were afraid that I was going to fall off the ostrich as well, but apparently they do this for everyone. They said an ostrich can reach speeds of 120 km an hour!
Brian and I went to the English service this morning at the school. Rev.Kendagor was preaching on the birth of Christ. He quoted John 1:14 as he spoke of Christ's humbling Himself -- He dwelt or tabernacled among men. To show the reality and magnitude of this condescension, Rev. K used the illustration of a missionary he had known in years past who came to the Turkana tribe in Kenya and lived among them -- ate their food, slept on a skin on the floor, etc. He was known among these people as one who loved them enough to live right in their situation so that he could win them. I was thinking as he spoke of some of the huts I've seen here, or some of the filthy shacks in Liberia or the Philippines. I wouldn't want to live in them! But I was just thinking -- would I be willing to live in those conditions if it was the only way to reach those people? Christ humbled Himself more than that in order to save me.
Imagine the filthiest, most debased living conditions that you can -- and then imagine the gulf that exists between that situation and where and how you now live, and then consider the sacrifice that you would haveto make to move down that far. But even if you have the best imagination in the world, the worst-case scenario that you could nightmare up would be nothing compared to Christ's humiliation. It consisted not even so much in the physical conditions that He came to (the manger, the stable, the "no room in the inn"), but it was more intensely the fact that the Creator came to live among His creatures, that the perfectly Holy God descended and condescended to live among the vile refuse and filthiness of fallen sinners (us). Why? Because the Son of Man came "to seek and to save those who are lost." Is this not truly the personification of a "missionary heart"?

last post from Liberia

My apologies to everyone for not writing for so long! I have unlimited internet access here (although it's slow) – but not much time to write! Dr. Allison and Paulcy left this afternoon, and I’m leaving tomorrow. We finished the workshop meetings yesterday – the last kids’ meeting was packed! A few of the women from some of the churches came in to the last few meetings to try to learn some of the choruses so they can continue teaching the children. They were asking if we could have a teaching session about children's work on the next trip -- I think it would be a really good idea, if we could fit it in. Pray for the Word that has been taught, both to children and adults. Dr. Allison was teaching on Roman Catholicism during these sessions, and there was a Roman Catholic man there yesterday! He was asking some questions, and actually debating a bit with Dr. Allison at one point, but pray that his eyes will be opened through what he heard. At the end of the workshop yesterday, each of the team was presented with a Liberian tunic (or dress in my case) as a thankyou for being there. This is the fifth Liberian costume that I've been presented with, and I really like this one!

I made my debut on the radio on Monday! We went to visit a radio station that is run by a Baptist church in Monrovia – they also have a medical clinic onsite, and a school nearby. This station just went on the air about 3 months ago – apparently it’s the only completely Christian radio station in Liberia. Rev. Richard Wesley – the pastor – says that his vision is to focus on preaching – he wants 80% of the air time to be given to sermons and the other 20% to good Christian music, Bible stories, and announcements. So he went looking for good sermons, and found Sermonaudio, and started airing some Free Presbyterian ministers – downloading their sermons and then broadcasting them. When we went to visit on Monday, the plan (as I thought) was to interview Dr. Allison, but somehow I ended up getting asked some questions too. So I got to give my testimony and tell of my call to Liberia! Then he asked a few questions that were a bit more difficult – like “What difference do you see between young people in the US and those in Liberia?” or “What advice would you give to young Christian women in Liberia?” I can't even remember what I said now because I had to think on the spur of the moment, and I'm not very good at that!

We had a baptism service this morning. 2 men and 4 teenage boys were baptised – they’ve all been saved in the last year or two. One of the men had a family member with him who is a Muslim! She wanted to come along and see what happens at a Christian baptism. So please pray for this lady. Pray for the spiritual growth of the people who were baptised and all the believers in the churches here. The burden on my heart for Liberia is still that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge".

I am leaving tomorrow – it’s always hard to leave here because you just know that there is so much to be done! This time it should be a little easier because we’re leaving Dave behind to teach the pastors so at least that part of the work will keep moving forward. Pray for him – it’ll probably be pretty quiet for him here in the next couple of months, although he’s going to be kept busy!

This is the oven he's going to be cooking in! LOL. The cook was explaining it to us today -- it's just a big pot that you heat up -- burning charcoal below it and on the lid as well; heat it up to 350 F or whatever temp you want (she has a thermometer to check the heat); then you put your cake or bread or whatever you want to cook in its own pan inside the pot and put the charcoal back around it -- and hey presto, you've got an oven!! We went grocery shopping tonight -- he's going to try making pizza tomorrow for lunch before I leave -- he'll be cooking the pizza base in this oven so I'll let you know how it goes!

Sunday

Just a clarification here! Don't know why the previous post showed up for Nov 1 which is Sunday, but it was from Saturday. Just in case you think we had a swimming party on the Sabbath! :-)

Update

Happy Reformation Day/Weekend! The pastors and ministers are having a meeting out in the common room, which means that I need to stay in my room -- but I have AC, my laptop, and plenty of reading to catch up on! So no complaints. We had a workshop this morning again -- I had over 70 kids stuffed into one little room! It really is getting to be too much to be honest -- there weren't as many the last couple of days, and it was much easier to keep control and get them to quiet down. Today, although they quietened down pretty well for the story, by the end of the two hours they were getting very feisty and I could barely make myself heard. I had already done a lot of singing with them, but I eventually had to just keep singing their favourites over and over again in order to keep them in any semblance of order while we were waiting for the adults to be finished. I'm not complaining about the number of kids -- it's great to see so many in! But pray for the situation because I do want the kids to hear the message and be able to learn the Word of God. It would really help if we had a bigger room, because then they wouldn't all be crammed on top of one another.

The picture above is of some of the pastors on the beach, along with a bunch of the kids who came over this evening to go swimming. It was so refreshing!

We went to see some property today that is for sale and might be suitable for building a mission house or residence for a missionary (me?!) It's quite exciting because it's a nice property and a very good price! The next step is to get the deeds checked out to make sure that it hasn't already been sold to someone else -- or a few other people! Apparently that happens quite routinely here. And it would need to be surveyed etc. So pray that these matters will go smoothly and if it's the Lord's will, we might even be able to acquire this property. It would be a real step forward!

Below is my newest room-mate! Although the partnership didn't last long. I thought it was a massive spider when it first went scuttling across the floor, but turns out it was a crab. We've seen several inside the guesthouse so I keep my room door firmly shut now!