Breaking Through: Letters from Kenya
by Trevor Smith
May 17, 2008
I am about to head out into a whole new part of the world! Well, new to me at least. Honestly, I'm both excited and nervous. First, I'll be in Kenya for just a month, which will undoubtedly go fast. I have the wonderful opportunity to live with Dr. Bransford, a gifted and wise missionary doctor who has been there with his family for more than 25 years. Following this experience, I will spend a few weeks with the VOX team in Johannesburg, South Africa (my high school youth pastor heads up this ministry). This will be a time of decompression before riding in whatever form of transportation presents itself as a way to Jeffrey's Bay. In J-Bay I will be attending the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) school to learn more about Jesus with others from around the world. The schooling period at the base will last three months and be followed by an outreach portion (also three months), which could literally be anywhere in the world, but likely will be within Africa or toward India.
May 31, 2008
What do I find encouraging? A woman named Mama Anna is the loving mother of a cute little baby girl with hydrocephalus. The case is quite advanced and has resisted eight shunts and several other different techniques. Yet, what remains true? Her faith in the Lord. She smiles whenever she sees me (even at 6:30 a.m. during rounds!). The Lord is with her. So what encourages me? Let me ask you. What do you find remarkable? Someone who is “happy,” has a great job and goes to church on Sunday? Do I find that encouraging? This is not lesser, and I fully intend not to get mixed up in any judgment-making of the Lord's work in people's lives... But the Lord's power is and forever will be more evident in weakness. That is, I believe, why I find it so humbling. When Mama Anna looks me in the eyes and says, “We are not to avoid the troubles. We are to embrace them and praise the Lord.” I might be able to brush that off if her daughter wasn't lying right there with a measured 26-inch-circumference sized head (Or was it 28? Can't remember). Praise the Lord, oh my soul, praise the Lord!
June 28, 2008
An incredible safari trip in the Maasai Mara, which is the extension of Tanzania's Serengeti where “The Lion King” was filmed. Yes, filmed. I saw the Big 5, which are the hardest five animals to hunt – lion, leopard, cape buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant and the other incredible parts of God's creation. The "The Circle of Life" song has new meaning after driving past fields of wildebeests before even entering the actual Mara zone. It also gained meaning in the literal sense, considering I saw at least 20 hyenas eating an elephant, after battling for their prize with a lioness (the hyenas won).
My time in Johannesburg has been great. The Lord allowed me to enjoy some time of relaxation. Following the relaxation was a sweet trip to Swaziland. We headed out to Swaziland for the first few days followed by a trip to Kruger National Park. We dropped off 25 sewing machines to women connected to ministry, which will allow them to make more money to support themselves and their feeding station ministry for starving children.
The name "feeding stations" sounds lame compared to what it actually is, but God put a huge burden on a man's heart to make it come to fruition. His capital to start this thing was... can you guess? ZERO dollars. Was that a problem for the Lord? Ha. Not at all. This jazzy-looking black man named Walter took a small offering from his church and collected spare scrap metal. He sold the metal and with this meager amount of money, he purchased a bag of cement. So what did he do then? Made some bricks. (If you're like me, at this point you're thinking: this dude is for REAL!) Next step: sold the bricks. Why not make more? He bought more cement and made more bricks, which he sold. The pattern is pretty simple. After he had enough bricks of his own, he built his first feeding station. It's here that the homeless children of the area get their food. Think of the lives saved at that single building alone. But no, he continued with the ministry and built six more! Praise God for this man's obedience. The two furthest feeding stations were 60 kilometers away, and Walter doesn't own a car. That means this man walked the distance. This is obedience my friends. Sacrifice? Yes, but more importantly, obedience.
August 1, 2008
The Discipleship Training School (DTS) has been incredibly challenging. I have been forced to face who I am... every last little, frustrating detail. Two weeks ago we did something called “plumb line.” The idea is that a physical plumb line is a weight hung from a string to measure how straight a wall is. In this case, the plumb line is divine. The concept is a simple metaphor to describe how God has a specific standard for how we live our lives – a standard that allows us to be free from the bondage that most of us carry. The plumb line is not a set of rules; it is living the best life God has for me.
After a few days of learning about walls that people build in their lives from rebellion, rejection and things of that sort I tried to hear from God what my walls were. Tremendous frustration resulted. I thought, “What is wrong with me? Why can't I break through?” I know I'm not perfect, and I place walls in my life just like everyone else but I couldn't figure it out. Eventually, God revealed it to me. My frustration wasn't from not being able to figure out my wall. My frustration was my wall. I have been angry at God for quite some time, frustrated that my relationship with him isn't the personal kind I want it to be. Jesus wants a personal relationship with you and me, but I think I threw this around as a Christian phrase for far too long without realizing I was cutting it short. So the tough part was forgiving myself, but with the support of others, the result was great.
I'm on a journey. Oswald Chambers says in his book, "My Utmost for His Highest," that "We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; he is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end."
I would have been finished long ago with the idea of a personal relationship with God if I did not see the personal aspect in the lives of others. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century cook, went throughout his entire life living every day with the Lord at the forefront of his mind. Just as it is typically now, in 1666 only clergymen or “pastors” are expected to hear from God. But Brother Lawrence believed God’s promise to never leave us regardless of society’s rules for God. How foolish it is to think that the God who breathed the stars into existence and created us for his own enjoyment would limit his voice to only a few people worldwide. Our God is always speaking. Will we listen?
Published September 9, 2008. All rights reserved.