Open the Flood Gates of Heaven

 

Neil Preaching as Francis Interprets

The image above captures Neil and Francis, who, after two days of overcoming numerous challenges to keep the van running and driving through the night, arrived in Nairobi at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Despite their exhaustion from the journey, they got a three-hour nap before beginning their teaching duties. Their resilience and determination are admirable, and a testimony of their commitment. 

The final day of Cosmas Solamba's conference is coming to a close in Kenya. Neil taught in the mornings aided by Francis' amazing translating skills. After Neil's Thursday morning teaching session, he invited people forward to encourage them in prayer. Eight people were baptized in the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues. 

A married couple on the slate of conference teachers is from Northern Minnesota. They are in Dan and Vicki Eastvold's church and were part of a construction team that accompanied the Eastvolds to work on Cosmas' new church and attended the conference last summer. The husband is a husky fellow who dresses in bib overalls, helping Neil feel at home in his jeans and T-shirt. The Kenyans wear dress shirts and suits. In one of Neil's teachings, he spoke about the danger of wanting to play the Big Man to impress others. Jesus taught that to be great in God's kingdom, you must be the servant of all. Jesus modeled a shepherd relating to his sheep heart-to-heart, warning against giving preferencial seats to those dressed in fine clothes.

Although Ruth is unable to accompany Neil to Kenya because of her allergies to smoke, dust, and diesel, she is the home correspondent and administers the humanitarian work, helping to support destitute families, widows, and orphans. Monthly support is sent to the caregivers of the children supported through ROCK (Reach Out to the Children of Kenya) and for the food shelf distributing grain through the churches for HIV/AIDS sufferers. More support for the food shelf is needed, because food is scarce this year. The first crop was destroyed by floods, and the second by drought. Added to that is runaway inflation seriously decreasing buying power especially in remote villages.

A financial problem surfaced at home on Thursday. In the morning Bremer Bank, where the Outfitters for Adventure accounts are held, had their online banking go down. Ruth needed to send funds to the pastors from the Kisii District for their return bus fare from the conference. When the online banking was restored in the afternoon, Ruth tried sending the international transfer of funds to Kenya, but the transfer service she uses, World Remit, had discontinued her account. Throughout the night Ruth continued trying to log in, made phone calls, and sent chat messages and emails to their customer service reps. Still unable to resolve the issue, Ruth finally went to bed at 4:00 a.m. Friday morning.

At 6:00 a.m., Ruth began trying other companies. She tried PayPal, XE, and MoneyGram because each transfers the funds directly into the recipient's MPESA account for personal banking on their phone. MPESA is a form of digital banking similar to a debit card. Kenyans were encouraged to all get phones and do their banking that way when COVID hit so they wouldn't be handling paper money. Now it is Saturday, and each company has disabled my accounts. I think you all would vouch for Ruth that she is not a terrorist, nor is Outfitters for Adventure funding terrorism in any form. Quite the opposite. With the financial gifts from many of you, Outfitters has been helping provide food, clothing, health care, education, and housing for the desperately poor. But it may not be that Ruth is black-listed for suspicion of being dangerous or a fraud. It may have something to do with the changes in global banking. 

While Ruth was working feverishly, trying to find a way to send money abroad, one of our investment counselors called to offer changes to gold or silver. When Ruth mentioned the troubles she was having and that she had suspicions that it might be related to the changes in banking in the news, he said that yesterday was the day that most US banks switched to digital banking. Having been a college registrar, Ruth remembered what hiccups can be expected with major computer system overhauls. The digital currency turnover is the world's largest computer upheaval. Do you remember the impact of the upgraded security in large computer systems software 2 weeks ago that shut down the airlines for a day or more? For the banks' digital currency computer systems rollout, they most likely prioritized live in-person service at the teller's counters to address any glitches that appeared. The next priority would be their online services. Last would be banking interfaces with companies providing money transfers, especially overseas, which are considered peripherals. Their low fees directly compete with the banks' more lucrative funds transfers. Two years ago, pressure was brought on world governments to regulate these intermediary companies providing lower-cost fund transfers. But if we lose access to sending funds to individual MPESA accounts, we are back to square one in getting financial help to the poor in Kenya. So --- this is another God-sized problem and cause for serious prayer. 

However, Neil had an encouraging report on his return trip. Although the air workers union will continue to strike in Nairobi, the Kenyan government has announced it will keep the airport open and will not have massive flight cancellations. The union has agreed to work toward a peaceful settlement and allow the airport to remain open. 

Neil has enjoyed his stay at Cosmas Solamba's guest house, where a gourmet-level chef prepares their meals. Neil has been washing clothes and hanging them out to dry as his thoughts turn toward home. Yesterday, he was inadvertently locked into the house until someone came to rescue him. Today he made sure the key was left in his care. 

Prayer Requests:

• Open the gates of heaven to strengthen and encourage the conference attendees as they head home.
• Thank God for the government and striking airport workers' agreement. May their strike be peaceful as they strive to keep the airport open. May their settlement talks come to an agreement suitable for both sides.
• Ask God to help the funds transfer companies restore all of their functionality so financial assistance can continue to flow to those in desperate need.
• Restore Ruth's rest as she lays down the burden of funds transfers and entrusts the solution to God. Open the gates of heaven to supply those in need.
• Allow Neil to rest and enjoy fellowship with friends these last few days in Kenya. Please be with Neil as he travels on Thursday.