Here I am. Send Me

 

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

In the 1980s, when Neil started traveling to other countries on short mission trips, he prayed, "Send me where no one else wants to go." Later after arriving in some of those places, he wasn't so sure he wanted to be there either. Thankfully, he wants to be in Kenya even though he doesn't want to be away from me. So for the children's sake, in 2004, Neil began making annual trips to Kenya, but God had so much more in mind. In one of the villages the other night, 2 people were saved, and then children hopped onto the back of the truck. I could hear their happy chatter in the background when Neil called. He said it was like the church hayrides he remembers as a kid.

There are many wrinkles in relationships among people and churches that God uses Neil to help iron out. This is Neil's 20th year visiting Kenya. People are beginning to take Neil's counsel to heart, because they recognize Jesus' heart in him. It takes years for someone in ministry to develop people's trust to the level where they allow you to help them work out the deep issues of the heart.

One of our caregivers had stopped attending the Riverside Ministries church in her village. The pastor asked me to put her on probation for a few months and finally asked me to remove her from support because the caregiver had not responded to several invitations to return. Neil visited with the caregiver and discovered the issue was with the woman's husband wanting her home fixing him breakfast during church meetings. Neil explained the importance of ongoing fellowship for her life in Christ and the grandchild she cares for. It will take a few months of faithful attendance before she can be returned to ROCK support. We will also need a new sponsor for her grandchild because the previous sponsor has been asked to support another needy child. The pastor had tried to bring the woman back to church, but it helps to have Neil explain more fully. Please pray for this woman to be released by her husband to attend church and for a new USA sponsor for her grandchild.

Another village almost begged Neil to come aside to visit them. Their church was folded into another Riverside Ministries church recently, but they have two desperate families who need help. Neil was happy to see they were trying to get help for the destitute, not just their relatives. They are beginning to embrace Jesus' mission to help widows and orphans in their distress. But we also need sponsors for those two families before we can help them. We are not God, but we can help them connect with Jesus, who is the supplier. Our hands are empty, but the Father's are full of every good thing. The first good thing is connecting each person heart-to-heart with Jesus. It is so amazing that our God, the Creator of all, wants to develop a personal relationship one-on-one with every person on earth! 

Neil and Francis left Mary's village yesterday and arrived at Sengera last night, where Hellen is the pastor. Hellen also leads the HIV/AIDS ministry group in Sengera. Here is Neil's text message from last night: 

We are all sitting in Hellen's dining room. The evangelism truck rained out. I got left behind with two one-year-olds on my lap. By and by, they fell asleep. They are still conked out on the couch.

Today Neil texted:

We are a couple of miles north of Sengera at an intersection with the evangelism truck. Francis is speaking. The roads are drying, and walking through the fields on the way here was pleasant. The fields have just been planted in moist soil. Corn, peanuts, edible beans, and sweet potatoes amid the bananas and tea.

Neil called me this morning to hear each other's voices. He and Francis will be with Hellen in Sengera Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, they will make the long trip to the Tanzania border to Chacha's church to interview his 5 ROCK children and their caregivers. After that, they will return to stay the night in Sengera with Hellen. Very early Thursday morning, they will visit George, a long-time Riverside Ministries pastor in Nyamira. Then they will continue on to spend the night with Maurice's family in Kisumu. Friday through Sunday, they will be in Maumau along the Ugandan border. Maumau is on the waterway to Lake Victoria, so many fishermen are there. On Monday, they return to Nairobi, where Neil will stay with Cosmas Solamba. Cosmas will bring Neil to the airport late Tuesday night.

Please pray:

• Neil & Francis to be given fresh energy to continue their ministry.
• Box truck will hold together on rough roads.
• Holy Spirit continue to draw people to Jesus and pour out healings and provision.

Saturday night, I hardly slept, so while I was awake, I had one of those special conversations with the Father. I told him how much I long for the Holy Spirit to use me for his miracles, healings, and other aspects of Jesus’ work that are so needed. Would you like to know His response? 

He said, “Move aside and let the Holy Spirit do the work.”

It wasn’t condemning or full of reproach. It was just matter-of-fact; this is how it’s done. I can see how I have put the emphasis on me doing the work of the Holy Spirit when all I need is to be a container of the Holy Spirit and then let him direct and guide me. In other words, it doesn’t depend on me. It depends on Him; He is the ball carrier on the field. We can run interference against the enemy in prayer, but we don’t want to be the interference. We can set up the play by bringing people to him for ministry and encouraging them to stretch their imagination as far as it will go concerning what He can do and expecting even more than they can think or imagine. But then we snap the ball and let the Holy Spirit run the play. He makes awesome touchdowns when we let him be someone’s Faith receiver. We never want a person to have faith in the effectiveness of our faith. We want to connect them with Jesus, who has more than enough ability and desire to satisfy the deepest longing in their soul. 

It really made sense to me. That is what I have been trying to do, but I have allowed others to look to me as some wonderful Christian when all the glory belongs to Jesus.

Some of you asked, "What is Ruth doing while Neil is away?" Ruth is talking with/texting Neil, writing the updates on his blog, editing Neil's book, trying to figure out our taxes, doing administrative work for our Outfitters for Adventure missions organization, and watering Neil's garden. Neil planted the seed flats the day before he left.