Communication!!

You think you're a great communicator -- well, not really, because I had rather just stay in the background.  But I did learn the local language, and most people here speak mine.  And I went to school...forever...so I should be able.  But...

I have reached the point where my doctor said, "Charles, your pancreas has retired.  It is finished. So...it's time for insulin."  I looked at him doubtfully, and his P.A. said, "You'll have so much more energy" (very energetically).  I looked at her doubtfully, so she said it again.  He claimed it's not as bad as it used to be, and said he would give me some samples to get started. He sweetened the pot by offering me a little gizmo that attaches to an iPhone and it reads your blood sugar and records all the tests on the iPhone, and the iPhone dances when the blood sugar is below 100.  Well...who can resist technology?  So I took it all home.

So now I shoot myself once a day, in the stomach.  And he's right.  It isn't as bad as I expected it to be.  I just put an alcohol swab on my skin, stick a needle on the pen, crank it up and stick it in and push.  Hardly hurts.

But I came to Kenya without my alcohol swabs.  So I decided to look for some in Nairobi.  I went to Quickmart because it is close to home.   I went up to a counter where they sell a variety of products, near the cosmetics and medicines.  I asked the young lady, "Do you have alcohol swabs?"  She didn't know, obviously, because she looked at me without comprehension. So I tried to describe it.  Wouldn't you know they are called "alcohol pads" here, but I only found that out later.  When I repeated myself, she heard the word "alcohol," so she pointed to the other side of the store.  I walked over to the other side, and as I drew nearer I felt sure there was some mistake.  But I went up to the counter, and I could see bottles of beer, whiskey and other clear liquids.  I told this young lady, "I have probably been sent to the wrong place, but do you have any medicinal alcohol."  She also looked at me without comprehension, so I once again tried to explain and describe.  She finally heard the word "medicine," and she said, "No, we have nothing like that here."

So...I decided to go and look at an area of the store where they have things called "spirits," which is different from the one with all the bottles you drink.  I found white spirits, and methylated spirits, and then I spied a little bottle with clear liquid and written on it was "surgical spirits."  Hah...victory!

Communication isn't always easy when you are in another culture, but it is always fun!!

Mortals Making a Difference

"Death is swallowed up by life," Paul writes in the New Testament.  But before that, life is swallowed up by death.  We face our mortality, our quick venture into the world, like grass that fades in the hot sun.  It is what Paul writes that makes the follower of Christ face mortality unafraid, for Christ is risen, and he is the first one of many who will follow.

Still, I hit 69 years a few weeks ago.  Jesus was killed at about 33, my Mom took her last breath at 57, and many of my friends have been swallowed up.  So it creates a certain amount of anxiety.  That anxiety is really the strong desire to make my life count, to do something in Jesus' name that is wonderful and good and lasting and approved by the Father.

This week Darlene had her birthday, number --- well, she was really young when we got married.  And it made me think all over again about the course of my life.  I tried to think back on times where I might have some bragging rights, but I can't find any.  The really good things that were done were all initiated, empowered and completed by God.  I was a willing participant, but no credit can be issued to me. Still, if we get something done that God wants done, it makes life worth living.

I read now and then about people who are making a difference, and their stories inspire me.  There is the man in China who lives near the big bridge over the Yangtze River.  Over the years many Chinese have committed suicide from that bridge.  This man rides his motorbike over the bridge in his time off from work and talks people out of jumping - he says he has kept 235 from jumping so far.  That is a "front-line" task.

We have a greater goal - to keep people from going to their deaths by way of drunkenness or drug use, or theft or lying or greed or sexual impurity or jealousness - to get people to turn to Christ and follow him, obedient to his will.

Paul Ochieng is a friend who lives in Mombasa.  He has moved into the Soweto slums there, in a heavily Muslim population, and wants to love and lead them to Jesus.  He understands how to do it and follows the guidelines of the Church Planting Movement or Disciple Making Movement.  Last month he was in Juba, South Sudan, together with Peter Ladu, teaching and encouraging people there, and they had a very successful series of meetings.  Enough people making a difference like this can change the world.  He preaches for a very small church as well, and he is in need of support.

The Team of MITS is also on the front line.  There is a certain amount of risk in working on the streets where there are so many young people sleeping in the alleyways and up against walls and wherever they can find a place there they are not run away.  There is drug use and anger with violence.  And the Team keeps going, making a difference.  I am glad to have a small part in their ministry.  We often say that we hope to gain heaven by hanging on the coattails of street kids, for God loves them.

I know he loves me too.  And that is the real reason I want to make a difference.  I want to love others as he has loved me.  I'd love for people to think that would be a fitting line for my tombstone, which brings us back to mortality.  Let's remember to bow the knee and confess that the risen Lord is our Lord.

The picture is of a large group of street youth gathered at our Eastleigh Center, where they are loved by the Team.  Making a difference.

Interview with Death

   Death:  Have you seen my latest work, Charles?
   Charles: Watching you work is not my great interest.
   Death: I thought you like me. You think about me enough.
   Charles:  True, but....
   Death: And you know I am necessary to the world.
   Charles: But....
   Death: And we will meet face to face one day.
   Charles: Of course, but....
   Death:  I plan to be quick and gentle with you.
   Charles: That I would appreciate.  What I don't appreciate is the pain and loss some of my friends must endure, and the pain of families left behind.
   Death: I'm not promising quick and gentle, of course.
   Charles:  Don't tell me....
   Death: What's bothering you?
   Charles:  Charles and Jack and Bryce and Connor...the recent ones...it's painful for us.
   Death: You know they served well.
   Charles:  True, but....
   Death:  I take no one lightly; my work is serious.  There must be a season of harvest.
   Charles: I worked in harvest - the grain is cut, and dies.
   Death:  But it feeds life.
   Charles: True, but....
   Death:  You've read Paul.  "Unless it dies, it cannot rise."
   Charles: Thanks for reminding me of hope.  It still hurts.
   Death:  I know.

Good is where you find it

I went gold mining in the Sierra Mts in California with a friend several times. When we first went, I asked him, "where will we find gold?" he said, "gold is where you find it." It is a little more complicated than that, but still true.
We have discovered in Kenya that "water is where you find it." We wanted a source of water at Kamulu and heard there was only shallow water, and not much. But Kilimanjaro is only 120 miles away, we thought - there must be water. So we drilled, and at 304 feet, we were gifted with lots of water.
Now we have land for Made in the Streets on a small mountain just east of Nairobi. And they say there is no water, and it looks like they might be right! But....John Wambu was walking on the property, followed by a hyena, and he saw where hyena had worn a path. He followed it and...a spring! Now we have dug about 25 feet down and the water has risen to the top of our hole. Note the pic. So...I wonder if the Kilimanjaro water rises up here...?

Didn't God make a great world?

God's Great Plans

We had planned a trip back to Nairobi now, but plans change. And God gives new opportunities. the Team in Kenya does this ministry very well. We are truly proud of them and their work with street kids. Let me share how very good God is to us. I cannot fathom why He should love me as much as He obviously does, but I am glad. Since we were not going back now, we decided on the spur of the moment to go to California. I have a bad tooth anyway and a dentist I love in San Jose. Zoo we decided that in 8 days we would visit the Malibu, Conejo and Campbell Churches. So... First the dentist said "Sure we can fit you in - Friday the 21st. Then the Malibu Church said "we'll pick you up at the airport. And would you help lead communion service Sunday?" When I contacted the Conejo Church about visiting on Tuesday and Wednesday, they said "We're going on a church camping those days. Join us." We would have no camping things with us, but one of them said, "our kids are leaving Tuesday morning. We'll leave the tent set up for you" then someone at Malibu said, "We'll loan you a car." When I contacted the Campbell Church, they said, "You can preach for us Sunday morning. Want to stay with us?" What can you do when God is that good about working out a schedule - not to mention how kind His people are? You just do all you can do to serve Him well. And you rest assured that God blesses street ministry.

Goodbye and Hello

Darlene and I, along with Jackton Omondi, Joel Njue, Victor Otieno and Robin Ndunda (all Team members at MITS) went to the Eastleigh Church at KCITI to say "goodbye" to Berkeley Hackett. Berkeley was one of the key people in getting KCITI and the Eastleigh Church off the ground.  He and Charlotte raised much of the funds for KCITI in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.  After my four years as Director of KCITI, Berkeley continued as Director until Lydia Wanjiku was appointed in 2010.

It was sobering to say goodbye to someone less than 2 years older than I am, and someone with whom I worked so closely.  I mentioned in the previous post that Berkeley is the one who invited us to move to Nairobi.  There is another really helpful thing he did for me.  When it came time for Made in the Streets to leave the KCITI campus, due to overcrowding -- the industrial training was growing, the street ministry was growing and the church had a Sunday school of about 350 -- Berkeley was willing for us to stay on campus until MITS got its own building to work out of.  So he let us stay for more than 3 years after I resigned as Director and began full-time street ministry.  That was a great gift.  There was pressure on him to have us leave quicker, but he quietly let us stay much longer than some wanted.  By the time we moved out in March 1999, we already had a contract to buy a building and friends in the USA had already committed the purchase funds.  All that made saying goodbye a moment both for sadness and gratitude.

We met Charlotte for a short time.  She is doing well, confident of Berkeley's relationship to God and the happy life he now has, at home with the Lord.

And a wonderful thing about a funeral is the people you get to see!  There must have been at least 50 former students in the computer and electronics program from when I was Director. And we saw more than 30 of the youth group we led from 1992 to 1996.  And lots of the kids from the Sunday school who are all grown up now.  Plus several former staff members at KCITI who have moved on to other jobs.  Sammy Gitau was there -- he is the first street kid we ever met, and the one who brought so many more to us, including Francis Mbuvi, our MITS Administrator.  Sammy is now working in several slums in Nairobi as a community development person.  He has gone from living on the streets in 1992 to having his Master's Degree in Community Service and he has begun work on a doctorate.  What a Treasure!!!

Here is a picture of Sammy hugging Darlene.  

And we saw some of the women whom Tony Mauldin helped go to the USA to play college basketball.  There were 2 sisters, Maureen and Mercy, so I was asked to perform Maureen's wedding in June, after which she and her husband will go back to Texas.  And another former teacher at KCITI sent us a resume as she is looking for work.  I saw several people who have become preachers; I am really pleased about those guys.

Another special thing was that we sat behind a girl who was working for Good News Publishing International, who were asked to video the funeral.  She had on a black T-shirt with "Crew" on the back.  It was our own Anastacia Njoki, who completed our program in 2009, got an internship with GNPI, then a full-time job.  We have some really good kids who come through MITS.

So...a day to treasure!

Sorrow with Memories

I have felt sad for the last couple of days.  And I have been filled with memories of our early years in Nairobi.  John Wambu, who handles all our property matters and construction, went to Eastleigh Monday to do emergency repairs on our Center there.  The rains - and it is raining as I write this - have been great this year, but that means leaks and damage to buildings that were put up in 1937 (like our Eastleigh Center - we have a title that was granted by King George III).  While there he talked to an old friend whom I hired as a guard when I was Principal at KCITI.  Then John called me to tell me that Berkeley Hackett has died.  I felt great pain at the loss, especially of a friend who is only 3 years older than I am.  And I thought of the loss that many churches will feel, and especially the Eastleigh Church and the staff at KCITI (Kenya Christian Industrial Training Institute was the dream of missionaries in Kenya, and especially of Berkeley, who wanted to see a school and a church that would serve many Kenyans. The end result was the brainchild of Bill Stevens and Bob West of California, who gave computers and electronic equipment and came up with the initial scheme for courses).  The Hacketts came to Kenya in 1970 and committed themselves for the duration.

Immediately I was flooded with memories - of the breakfasts and lunches Darlene and I had with Berkeley and Charlotte, of the rapid growth of KCITI, of the occasional problems of staffing we had to deal with, of the Bible courses we wrote, of the development of an administrative structure for the school, and much more.

Darlene and I were very involved with teenagers and with Sunday school, and that led to street children coming to the building.  As we became more involved with them and an outreach program began, it became obvious to me that I could not do both things well. So I left the administration of KCITI and began full-time work with street kids.  Berkeley was gracious and allowed us to continue the street ministry on the campus for almost three years.  The street ministry grew and KCITI continued to grow, and finally it was not possible to have a college, a congregation and a street ministry together.  So we moved down the street. After that we did not see one another very much, even though we are in the same section of the city.  There is always plenty of work for a missionary.

I feel gratitude to Berkeley - especially for 2 things.  The first is that he and Charlotte are the ones who invited us to move to Nairobi to live.  I doubt we would have made the decision if they had not invited us.  And that has made all the difference to our lives, for I found my heart's desire in Nairobi, among the street kids.

The second is that he introduced me to Maureen Nduku.  She was in the ninth grade at the time, and the family did not have school fees.  One Sunday morning Berkeley and I walked in front of the church building (and chapel) and I met Maureen.  From then Darlene and I paid school fees.  She became a teacher in our evangelistic youth group, and she went on to be a teacher of street girls when that program started (she still goes to Eastleigh on Monday mornings to teach street girls).  And the day came when I did the wedding for Maureen and Francis Mbuvi, who is now our administrator at MITS. It was a little like marrying my own son and daughter!!  

Maureen has done great things for the Kingdom.  She oversees the Kenyan end of a large World Bible School program that John DeFore and others at Golf Course Road church in Midland, TX, support.  She oversees several orphanages which are supported by members at Golf Course.  And they also have feeding centers where poor grandmothers who care for grandchildren come for food.  Many evangelists look to Maureen for guidance.

I would not have met Maureen if Berkeley had not cared for her and wanted someone to pay her school fees.  Of course God is able to do what He wants in many ways, but in face he chose to work through Berkeley, and us and Maureen to accomplish a great work in Kenya.  So I am grateful.