Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [NIV]
Thank you again for your prayers. On the flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, Neil was seated beside an American Kenyan who runs a senior assisted living house in Spokane, Washington. They had a good visit. Neil slept only a couple of hours on that 8-hour flight, so he was very tired by the time he arrived in Amsterdam. There, he met his friend Jim Hallaway, who had arrived a few hours ahead of Neil.
Although they were on the same flight to Nairobi, Jim's seat was about 10 rows behind Neil's. Neil called at 2:34 p.m. our time, which was 10:34 p.m. Kenya time. While Neil was waiting in a very long customs line at the Nairobi airport, he had an interesting chat with a guy from England. When it was Neil's turn with the customs agents, they scanned his bags and then asked about the contents. One box was stuffed full of 72 new soccer balls gifted from a church in Iowa for needy children at the churches and schools. He was told to exchange $30 US dollars into Kenyan shillings to pay the customs fee. Then, he was to wait his turn to have his bags opened for a full examination of the contents. That was going to be an even longer stay because there were two airport trolly cars full of luggage ahead of him.
While Neil was waiting, he remembered our friend John MacFarland's story of his first solo trip to Russia in the 1970s when that country was under communist rule. John was the "Brother John" mentioned in Brother Andrew's book, God's Smuggler. John had asked the older women in his church to sew pockets in his long underwear, shirt, trousers, and overcoat so he could fill all the pockets with little New Testaments printed in Russian. It was a great idea, but he was a tall, thin Englishman and was hardly able to walk, bend over, or sit down after he was suited up. He had to sit with his long legs sprawled out in front of him. The secret police were on every plane heading into Russia. In those days, they would walk through the cabin randomly selecting passengers who would be body searched on arrival in Moscow. John felt as though he was waiting for the hangman on that trip. But the Russians were never as efficient as the Germans or English. So, he was sent to a waiting room for the search in the airport. But after waiting a very long time and no one showed up to examine them, John looked at the other line of passengers going through the regular check-in and decided to go over and join them. No one called him back, and he made it through safely.
So, after waiting for the customs officials to show up to go through all that luggage, Neil stood up. An agent asked if he was done. Neil said, "Yes," and the agent said, "You can go now." This was a tremendous relief because Neil also brought gifts for the Medley family in Nairobi. Neil wasn't questioned further and was not asked for customs payment.
Neil called at 4:40, long enough to say, 'Hello," and then his phone cut off. When he didn't call back, a little thought tried to frighten me that there was an accident on Nairobi's crowded roads, and Neil was hurt. But I pushed that fear aside and just waited. Neil called back at 5:40 p.m. our time (1:40 a.m. Nairobi time). His Kenyan cell phone was out of minutes since his last trip in August 2024. They had to find a store to buy more minutes for him. It is so good to hear his voice sounding like he is calling me from as close as downtown Morris. When he was on his first overseas mission to the middle of Siberia in 1996, international phone calls were too expensive, and even email was such a new thing he had to ride a bus all the way to the middle of a large city to find a computer cafe' to rent time to use WIFI. Our meetings in Russia always had at least one secret policeman jotting down what we were saying and the names of those attending the sessions. The head of the Siberian airport gave his testimony on one of those nights and lost his job.
In comparison to Siberia, Kenya is a walk in the park. But in contrast to Mexico missions, Kenya is a bridge too far. I was thinking about our conversation with our friend at The Church in the Pines in Alexandria on Monday. We didn't allow him to say "no" to going on a Kenya trip. But every person needs to know it is a call from the Holy Spirit saying, "Go and make disciples of all nations," and not just a good idea or pressure from a friend. The Holy Spirit will call and send us to do the tasks He has assigned us, giving us the power we need to be His witnesses. Jesus also gives us authority to be His representatives -- when we are willing to be trained as His disciples with Bible study, prayer, and the things we suffer that help us become obedient and willing followers of Jesus. When we love Jesus, we want to do the things that please Him, and we want to love people the way He loves them. It is exciting to walk with Jesus; because He never has a dull moment, He can answer every need, and He can do anything.
At 9:00 a.m. Kenya time (1:00 a.m. Minnesota time), Neil, Jim, and their translator/driver Francis will drive Cosmas' van to the Southwest part of Kenya to visit eight churches we have helped for 21 years. There, they will interview the 57 children sponsored through Outfitters for Adventure and teach in the churches. On Monday, Cosmas will travel by bus to join them at Port Victoria in the Northwest corner of Kenya at the mouth of the river flowing into Lake Victoria. Francis will translate for Neil and Jim as they speak at Cosmas' regional pastor/leaders conference for Riverside Ministries churches in Western Kenya.
Please pray for:
- Thank God for safe arrival in Kenya
- Sound sleep
- Safe Travel
- Healing for a skin rash troubling Neil that may be from digestive difficulties
- Clear teaching & clear understanding
- Love, grace, peace, & joy from the Holy Spirit