Neil's Easter Sunday message focused on the transformation that takes place when we die to our old way of life, are buried with Christ, and rise to new life in him. As the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our spirit, it is as if our spirit is given wings to soar, giving us new eyes to see our lives and the troubles of this world from God's perspective. The message was well received. A person gave their testimony that they had been healed at the downtown market outreach.
After Neil got back to James' house, he was seated on the foundation listening to Eunice, a pastor to a Ugandan Island in the lake, when a tiny girl lay her head on his leg. He messaged the little girl's neck. After a while, her mom came to get her. She was out cold, she was sleeping so peacefully.
Eunice asked for financial help. She is a single mom of 3. Her husband drowned 2 years ago when she was pregnant with her 3rd. Eunice pastors a church on one of the Ugandan Islands. She had her fishing boat confiscated by the police. Ugandans are pretty narrow-minded about the boundaries of the lake. She has a church of 30 people. The building is shot. She looked pretty shot, too, when she arrived, but looked refreshed as she left. James, the pastor we are visiting, will visit her island to check out her situation and report back to Francis. If someone wants to help Eunice financially, we can find a way to get funds to her.
Neil enjoyed the lunch of pork, rice, and greens. Delicious! James asked Neil why he didn't take more. Neil was full. James is particularly interested in Neil's hog roasts.
At the evening meeting, one person gave her life to Jesus, and 3 people felt the Lord touch them with healing. It is a beautiful night with the temperature at about 75 degrees. Neil talked about the dirty secret of the assassination of Zechariah exposed by Jesus. Then he talked about the dirty secrets of the village - sex for fish, the whisky stills in the swamp, etc., and how all secrets will be exposed by fire. But the confessed sins of those who have turned their lives around to follow Jesus will be covered. Now back to dancing... We have no keyboards tonight. Francis is running the music off his phone. He really is a technical whiz.
On Easter evening, at 5:00 p.m. Minnesota time, Neil and Francis had already had a short night's sleep and were heading toward Kisii. They stopped in Nyamira to visit Francis' friend George, who is a pastor. Neil showed George our book and invited George to pick a chapter. George picked the chapter on How to Grow and asked Neil to preach to his first church on that topic. George liked it so well that he asked Neil to also preach on that topic in his second church, but Neil suggested that he pick another topic. So George picked the chapter on prayer, but insisted that Neil teach on How to Grow first. So Neil preached on growing and had Francis teach the chapter on Prayer. Neil said he was reminded of Keith Hazel, and used Keith's illustration of a baby drinking from a bottle as an encouragement to grow beyond the need to be constantly fed to become those who are able to teach others.
Neil also remembered our friend Ove Lackell, who was a gifted evangelist. Neil invited the children to come forward and asked if they were saved. First, one hand shot up, and then all the others raised their hands but didn't look as confident. So Neil asked the others if they responded just because they saw their friend raise his hand. They kind of hung their heads. So Neil explained what it means to give our lives to Jesus, and then invited them again. This time, they all gathered around and wanted to give their lives to Jesus. There was a similar response in George's second church. In George's second church, one old lady joined the kids for salvation. She was so blessed when Neil gave her a hug. Once again, Neil polled the crowd for one husband who had asked his wife for forgiveness. None. The women were laughing and cheering Neil on. Neil has been asked to come back for a longer time.
George said the greatest need is for Bibles, but they want Bibles in the Kisii language. They had only one Bible for each church. Neil explained that we would not be able to purchase many because the Kisii Bibles are so expensive. George then asked for Swahili Bibles, but Neil had only Bibles in English. So they accepted some of the English Bibles rather than go without.
Francis has done a nice job of driving. It has been relaxing when they are not in a rush to arrive at a scheduled time. This evening, Neil and Francis arrived in Kisii. Kisii has doubled and doubled again in population since Neil began visiting there in 2004. Neil needed to purchase more minutes for his Kenya phone, gas for the van, and some peanut butter for the white wonder bread they serve. Neil had already added to his supply of instant coffee. It was raining off and on this afternoon. After shopping, they headed to Mary Makori's place for dinner and a bed for the night. However, the rain had turned the road into a quagmire. The van slid off the road as they attempted to drive up the hill. They had no means of getting the van back on the road until the sandy ditch would dry out, perhaps by tomorrow. So Mary sent some of the children down the hill to help carry their luggage as Neil and Francis slogged through the mud on foot.
The transmission on the van has been slipping, but they will park it while in Kisii and rely on motorbikes and a friend's car with hopes that the van will make it back to Nairobi.
They were happy to have reached their destination. Mary's house feels like home after so many years of visiting Kisii. Her husband Thomas walked partway down the hill to welcome them. Mary fed them a dinner of beans, avocados, greens, raw tomatoes, bananas, oranges, and green peppers. Neil still hasn't eaten one bite of ugali on this trip. Folks were wearing winter jackets. It was about 60 degrees.
Prayer
- Lord, we pray for Eunice, the pastor on the Ugandan island, for provision, encouragement, and strength.
- Lord, thank you for bringing Neil and Francis all the way to Kisii safely. We pray that the van may be pulled out of the mud tomorrow and that the weak transmission will make it all the way back to Nairobi.
- Lord, thank you for the children in George's church who dedicated their lives to you, and for the healings and salvations in James' church. We pray that the pastors and people who attended James' meetings last week will be able to put the teachings to good use in their lives.