1 Corinthians 14:15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.
To catch up on the events of the past few days, Ruth hasn't mentioned the place names for those of you who enjoy following their travels with maps. The first village was Mariakani, which is on the main highway from Nairobi to Mombasa. That is the place where the van broke down on a previous trip during the Covid outbreak and Francis flagged down a semi driver willing to let them ride along and who then smuggled them through the road blocks into Nairobi where Neil was able to catch his flight home. The church in Mariakani was Neil and Francis's first stop. The mannerisms of the tall worship leader in the picture above reminded Neil of a cowboy. He sang with the lyrical quality of his tribe, and not like the other worship leaders who had listened to the worship from large Western churches. He sang with such heartfelt worship of Jesus, that both Neil and Francis cried.
Along the way, Neil, Francis, and Martin stopped at a village market square to buy vegetables. The van was stacked full of the sound equipment for 3 small churches, so they put the vegetables inside the hatch door at the back of the van. Francis made his way around the front of the van to the driver's seat, but Martin noticed the hatch door was still open. He rounded the other side of the van and closed that back door, as the van began moving forward. Martin thought Francis must be pulling ahead and would stop for him, but no, the van continued on its way. Martin is a tall man with good legs and began running behind the van trying to catch Francis' attention. Picture the tall Kenyan runners who do so well in the Olympics. But Martin is also a quiet man who had been sitting in the second seat and didn't join in conversation much while traveling. After running about a kilometer, Martin realized the van would not be stopping. Francis and Neil did not become aware of Martin's absence until they were about a half hour down the highway and needed to exit off the main road. As Francis turned to check traffic, he noticed the second seat was empty. What should they do? Should they turn back to find Martin? But Neil remembered how resourceful Kenyan men are, and suggested that Martin would no longer be waiting where they left him. Sure enough, shortly after they reached the next destination, Martin arrived having rented a ride with a man who was driving a motor bike. He took the incident in good humor and they all had a hearty laugh together.
That story may bring to mind memories of similar events many of you have experienced. Ruth thought of 3 right away, but the one etched into her memory was when she and Neil were stranded in an August snowstorm in the mountain tops of Northern Mongolia on their way across the nation to catch their flight home from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Neil and the Mongolian translator had to push that van each time it slid off the highway and then run along behind the van down the very long hills and up the next to where the van had slid off again. Ruth was screaming, "Stop! Stop!" in the back seat of the van, but the van driver did not understand English, nor would he allow Neil and the Mongolian translator to get back into the van as he drove down the hills. How Neil and their translator were able to keep pushing that van and then run down and up those very long ice covered hills without jackets and just slippery summer shoes -- only the Holy Spirt is able to explain to this day. Neil says he could never do it again!
Neil and Francis taught in the church in Kaloleni where the man with the injured back lives. His wife who had fled with their 4 children to her parent's home, brought them to church with her, which seemed to be a first step toward resolution of that situation, no matter how the Lord leads the family to work things out. It is the husband's family who brought food for Neil and Francis, who live just down the road from where Neil was staying. That family hardly had food for themselves to eat, and they would take no payment for the food. The last meal was something like Wonder Bread that because of his allergies to white flour Neil was unable to eat. But Neil was so amazed at their generosity out of their poverty. Ruth heard a rooster crowing in the background while Neil was telling the story. Neil said he was reminded of Linda Hodgson, because she would have enjoyed seeing the family dog trying to talk to them as if it was actually carrying on a conversation. However, when it put a paw on Neil's knee for attention, the woman came over and gave the dog a good whack to chase the dog away.
Outfitters for Adventure has begun sending the family ongoing support for the 4 children to buy clothing and shoes, help with food costs, and to send the children to school. We already have friends who are providing funds that will cover that expense.
Yesterday, Neil and Francis visited a new church in Kilifi, which is near vast acres of sisal plantations along the coast. Neil asked if the people had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Their church was so new, they hadn't received teaching yet about the Holy Spirit. So Neil and Francis read the Bible passages and then prayed with the people to receive the Holy Spirit. There were about 60 women and just a few men present, as most of the men were out in the fields working. Most of the people began speaking in the language of the Holy Spirit and their faces were filled with joy as they experienced the presence of God. Francis and Martin were able to verify that the people were not speaking in their own dialect or Swahili.
Kalifi is further north than Neil had been on previous trips. There are fields of sisal stretching as far as they could see. Sisal looks like very large aloe vera plants that grow well in poor dry soil, and are harvested for the fibers in the leaves. Those fibers are used to make a variety of products, but are know best in rope making. The workers do not earn much, and the labor is very difficult.
Today, Neil, Francis, and Martin along with one of the pastors and two of the women started out at 4:00 a.m. to make the long trip back to Nairobi for the pastors' conference. Neil and Francis took turns driving the van through the dangerous traffic on the crowded highway. The pastor of the church in Kalifi, who is a military officer, along with his wife were already teaching at the conference when Neil arrived. Neil said Francis suffered through the attempts of the first translator for about 4 minutes before Francis held out his hand for the mic and stepped in. Neil said it was like a Clint Eastwood movie where Clint finally sets his hamburger down and goes to work on the bank robbers.
Neil spoke tonight after he got a nap at Cosmas' house, and then had Martin share the miracle of his church beginning. Sonja Kvale will join Neil on Friday to be one of the teachers at the conference. About 60 friends from Kisii arrive tonight. Ruth asked Neil to greet them from her, and to let them know that if she could be there, she would give them each a big hug.
Please Pray for:
- for the Holy Spirit to speak through the teachers and for those attending to be able to put those teachings into action.
- for clear Bible teaching, strength, grace, peace, and love for the teachers.
- for times of heartfelt worship to invite the presence of the Holy Spirit
- for healings and deliverances, words of knowledge, and prophetic words of comfort and encouragement to strengthen the people
Love,
Ruth Thielke