Pushing with Lewis

Our last evening in Kenya, as we were sharing a meal together in the Conway's backyard, Stephen asked each of us to share a "snapshot" from the trip. A mental image or short mental video clip that will forever be ingrained in our memories. Everyone else on the team had powerful images of pain and suffering and hope and joy to share with the group, and I was a bit embarrassed that my most vivid snapshot was so mundane. As we were traveling back from our visit to the game park in Nakuru, the matatu I was riding in ran off the road a bit and got stuck in a ditch. Our driver, John, couldn't quite back us out of the ditch, so I got out of the matatu and pushed as hard as I could on the front bumper to see if it might help a bit. The matatu still didn't budge. After I had a go at it, Lewis Perry climbed out of the front passenger seat to give me a hand. Now, Lewis Perry is a very big man. I have been told that he once won the world championship in wrestling at the deaf Olympics. I am reminded of his bigness as I type this on the airplane back to Texas with Lewis in the seat next to me. Let's just say we're pretty snugly. So, Lewis planted his feet in front of the stuck matatu to give me a hand. And as Lewis and I both started pushing, I was absolutely amazed at the raw power that was being exerted on the front of that matatu. Slowly and steadily the matatu began to back out of the ditch and find sure footing again on the dirt road.

Now, I readily acknowledge the fact that I was only responsible for about 5% of that matatu-moving power and that the rest of it was all Lewis, but the event was awe-inspiring none the less. And there is a significant amount of personal gratification that comes from playing even a small role in something great. And I think that sums up our Kenya trip for me.

God is working powerfully in Kenya; his Church is hitting hard in those places where evil and suffering are the greatest. And I'm not talking about our own mission efforts in Kenya, although they are playing a significant role in the work of the Kingdom there. But the Lord's Church in Kenya is not sitting idly by letting darkness have its way. Rather, "out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty wells up in rich generosity." As you may have seen on the news last year, inter-tribal conflict in Kenya is not a relic of ancient times but an all-too-present motivator of hatred and bigotry and violence. The racism isn't even masked by attempts at political correctness, rather the average Kenyan finds no shame in publicly disparaging a rival tribe and placing the blame for the woes of the nation on some particular ethic group.

Yet out of the smoking rubble of inter-tribal conflict the Church emerges in green shoots of hope and peace and reconciliation. There are powerful stories of Kenyan Christians hiding and protecting members of different tribes during "the clashes" when doing so could have cost them their lives. There are other stories of the Church making a special effort to avoid the situation in Acts 6 by making sure that the widows of a different tribe are cared for and provided for. And there is another remarkable story of selflessness and generosity we witnessed personally.

On our way to Eldoret we stopped to visit a long-time Kenyan friend of Stephen's. His name is Christopher Otsieno. Chris lives on a one-acre plot deep in the bush of a region called Busia in a house made of mud. We had to drive through a narrow path cut in a cornfield to get to his home, and when we arrived there we were greeted by a wild chorus of screaming and dancing Kenyans. I hesitate to use the word, but I can really best describe the scene as savage, and I would be lying if I told you that at first I wasn't just a little bit afraid. After the wild and extravagant greeting, Chris welcomed us into his home lit by kerosene lamps, and his children came forward one at a time in the eerie flicker to entertain us with poems and songs and amazing performances on a single-string instrument. He then sat before us a feast of ugali and rice and chicken that we had no hope of finishing even if there had been 70 in our group instead of seven. And throughout this extravagant welcome that verse from 2 Corinthians kept playing in my mind: "out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity."

We learned later that the dancing mob of about 60 that greeted us when we arrived were the orphans and widows that Chris is personally caring for in his home. This Christian man who has almost nothing is awe-inspiringly faithful in sharing what little he does have with those less fortunate, and the story of the widow's mites nagged at me terribly. I have never before seen such total and selfless devotion to the Lord's work. The Body of Christ in Kenya is alive and well, faithful and strong. God is working powerfully and visibly in His Church here, and there is so much potential for others of us in the Kingdom to join Him in His work.

Chris already receives some monetary support from Christians in America to help him better care for the orphans and widows. In fact, the mud house we slept in that night was built for $600 with funds from a Christian in Midland, Texas. That same man provided funds for sewing machines for the widows to help them earn an income and be more self-sufficient. And after one of the girls Chris cares for was raped on her long walk to the river to draw water, a group of Christians from New Jersey provided funds to build a water well on Chris's property.

Yet, there is so much more to be done. It is painfully obvious that a one-acre plot of land and a few mud huts is insufficient to meet the needs of the 50 orphans and 10 widows, so Chris's friend Paul is planning to also move to the area to give Chris a hand. The current plan is for Paul to buy a half-acre plot near Chris, but our missionary, Keith Gafner, (who has a close relationship with Chris and Paul) has encouraged them to think bigger. There is a 10-acre plot of land just down the road that they could purchase for about $12,000, and just a few thousand dollars more (at $600 per hut) could properly house them all. There are good schools nearby for the children to attend and plenty of potential for vocational training in agriculture or tailoring or whatever else God's people choose to provide. There is even the potential here to rescue some of the orphans on the streets of Nairobi and give them the opportunity to exchange their urban life of glue bottles and hopelessness for a chance to get a loving Christian home, a proper education, and agricultural training in the countryside of Busia.

Chris told us that our team of seven were the first white people to ever set foot on his small plot of land in Kenya, but I am confident that we won't be the last. The Church is America is waiting to exhale. I see it in the youth, and I see it in the Christian literature, and I see it in the lives of my brothers and sisters in my own congregation. Christ's call to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked and heal the sick is starting to resonate within the Kingdom of God. And James' admonition to look after the orphans and widows in their distress is falling on listening ears. The Church in America is ready to breathe out the blessings of God on a hurting world and to reveal the fullness of the power of God in a miraculous display of sacrificial service and generosity and love.

After Peter's famous confession that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, Jesus said that on this rock He would build his Church and that the gates of Hell would not overcome it. According to Christ, it is the forces of evil that are to be cowering behind the gates. The Church is tired of waiting behind the safe walls of our church buildings, defending against the waves of attacks by the Evil One. Rather, the Church, the Body of Christ, is ready to storm the gates of Hell, to hit the beast hard where he claims the most tragic victories.

If you feel like your faith is weak and stagnant and you need to feel and to see the power of God working in the world, find a place where God is already working mightily and join him in His work. Playing a small role alongside a great power is extremely gratifying. Lewis taught me that.

Lord, bless your Church with strength and courage to heal the suffering of this world in Your name, to reveal your power to a cynical generation in a miraculous display of selfless love, and to storm the gates of Hell. Amen.