Neil driving to Mombasa
At around 4:30 a.m., Ruth noticed that Francis had been sending the receipts for the children's caregivers that had not come through on his bank records earlier. It is reassuring for Ruth that Francis is able to transfer the funds on to the caregivers and document the transactions. With God's help the two of them should be able to keep the funds for Kenya flowing, and Ruth will be relieved of some of the work and most of the stress. Jesus, you are so good!
At 6:52 a.m. Morris time (4:00 p.m. Kenya time), Neil texted his morning greeting:
"Good morning, Sweet Pea! I slept well -- 'til 10:00 a.m. Kenya time. Now we are half way on the Mombasa Road. It is very dry all over Kenya. Please have our prayer team [that's you] pray for rain.
"There are traffic stops at places where there are hills and the international trucks are moving at 10 mph. Other vehicles pass and the police up ahead see it and pull them over. Francis just got pulled over. The fee started at 10,000 Kenyan shillings (around $80 USA). Francis settled for 750 Kenyan shillings (around $6 USA)."
Ruth asked if the police are trying to improve public safety, and Neil replied:
"No. It is a trap. They are doing nothing where the guard rails are mashed into the ground from vehicles plummeting over the cliffs. When they see a white boy in the car, they motion for the vehicle to pull over. Other than that, it is a beautiful day here, partly cloudy and about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. I wish you were here to share the drama."
Ruth said, "Bernie and Judy et all will be on Zoom in half and hour for our 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning prayer. We will pray for rain. Then I'm heading to Doug Webster's funeral in Fergus Falls at 1:00. I watered the garden yesterday. Everything looks good. I love you, Honey. You're getting lots of prayer support."
Neil: "Hi to Bernie & Judy and whoever else shows."
Ruth: "Whoever else didn't show this morning. I sent a text to Jon Power saying I hoped he and Donna would be able to come, and how important it is to Doug Webster that someone give the invitation for folks to entrust their lives to Jesus for salvation. I got a text right back informing me that I had the wrong Jon Power. If I had been Doug W, I would have asked THAT Jon Power if he was sure of his eternal destination."
Neil: "Yah, that was a missed opportunity with an open door. Here it is now 7:00 p.m. and dark as pitch. I had told Cosmas 3 weeks ago that we would no longer travel the Mombasa road in the dark. We still have a couple of hours to go. We are constantly needing to pass, because most semis are going 20 mph. Every time we pass, there are one or two sets of headlights coming right at us. The only remaining question is, "Do we feel blessed?" God never says "lucky". About 10 miles back there was a semi flipped on its side in the middle of the road without any other visible damage. How do they do that?"
When Neil saw Ruth begin texting a response, he called her. She was able to fill Neil in on the funeral. Jon & Donna Power were there and they sat together. At lunch, the young pastor at Life Church joined them. Ruth mentioned Neil giving his mentoring book, Navigating Life: A Mentoring Toolbox, to the pastors in Kenya. When the Life Church pastor expressed interest in the book, Ruth went to the car and gave him a copy.
Ruth is meditating on God turning what Satan meant for evil into good in God's kingdom. Does God use death to weave the threads of broken hearts together into a beautiful tapestry? Take Jon Power, for example. When Jon was still in high school, his brother Gary died in a car accident, and Jon inherited Gary's drum set with the condition that he needed to take lessons before using it. Ruth had taught the percussion portion of the brass and percussion methods course for music majors earning their teaching licensure. Jon called Ruth and asked for lessons. After showing Jon the basic techniques, Ruth turned Jon loose with the drum set, seeing that he was highly motivated and was learning more quickly by listening to groups and imitating their styles. Years later, Jon's father mentioned to Ruth that Jon was the co-director of a Christian coffee house ministry in Alexandria. It wasn't long before Jon and his wife Donna started a Christian coffee house in Morris and then helped Neil start a church. Jon became Neil's right arm in leading the Morris Community church.
Doug Webster was Judy Webster's brother. Judy was Ruth's best friend when Ruth was a freshman at the University of Minnesota, Morris in 1964. When Judy's father died in the early 1980's, Doug came home for the funeral. He spent much of his time at Judy's home in Morris the week of the funeral. Neil and Ruth Thielke attended a Bible study at Judy's house. They were looking for a church that followed the pattern found in the Book of Acts. Doug was part of that type of church. Doug spent many hours with Neil the week of his dad's funeral. Doug called his pastor friend, Fred Herzog, and invited him to come to Morris to meet with Neil and Neil's friends. Fred brought a young man named Jim McCracken with him. Jim had just received a prophetic word at a conference that he had an apostolic calling on his life. Jim agreed to work with the Morris church plant, and we became the first of Jim's churches that later developed into the family of churches known as TrueBridge as other churches asked Jim to serve as their apostle.
Out of Gary Powers' and Don Webster's deaths Jesus brought new life. We believe that out of Doug Webster's death, Jesus is calling all who knew Doug to carry on the work of evangelism. Doug laid down a mantel of Holy Spirit anointing to help others put their trust in Jesus through good humor and genuine interest in their eternal wellbeing. It is that genuine love for others that prepares the good soil in their hearts so the seed will produce a crop -- a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown [Matthew 13:8]. Evangelism wasn't just Doug's calling. Every member of Jesus' body is called to carry on Jesus' work of bringing new believers into the Kingdom of God so we can share eternity together in the home Jesus has prepared for us.
Later back in Kenya, Neil was up during the night hearing mosquitoes. There is a travel warning about dengue fever along the eastern coast of Kenya. Neil was making sure his mosquito netting was securely fastened around his bed. He said they were staying in a small hotel that was bare bones, but clean. They are about 45 minutes from the church where they will be teaching tomorrow.
Please pray for:
- Pray for Neil, Francis, Martin, and the people they minister to along the Indian Ocean coast in Eastern Kenya to be protected from dengue feaver.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit's annointing to love and care for the people in their circle of acquaintances to prepare good soil for Jesus' invitation by asking "How are you doing? I mean, how are you really doing? As in, how are you doing with Jesus?'
- Pray for God's good rain to fall on Kenya -- both for their crops as well as for their hearts.