After a long day of packing, driving to the airport, going through endless security and having to repack bags as my carry-on suddenly became too heavy, short flight hops in and out of airplanes, rushing through customs, and waiting somewhat impatiently with a ticket agent who couldn’t bring up my ticket because she continually misspelled my name; I arrived to a gracious reunion with my dear friends, Samuel & Rhoda Teimuge—directors of the Samro School in Ilula, Kenya and Don & Amy Rogers & son Joshua—directors of Empowering Lives Int’l. We had a great time catching up relationally over a delicious dinner at 8:00 p.m. and briefly discussed my purpose for being here and the agenda for the week. I fell into bed exhausted, but happy.
At 4:55 a.m. the alarm clock went off; not mine, but God’s. I woke up thinking through the conversations of the past few days with the educational leaders, and wondering how I could better explain the value of having everyone being a thinker in a paternalistic culture. God immediately brought a diagram into my mind that I promptly transferred to a PowerPoint on my computer. Thank you, Lord, and now I’m going back to bed.
9:00 a.m.: A typical training center breakfast of chi, bread, and sausage with friends and a new church team from Fontana; a good start to my Sabbath. As I had my quiet time this morning, I sensed I had a different feeling being here in Ilula—something of a disconnect, yet feeling okay about it. It came to me that for the first time I am here not as part of Empowering Lives Int’l. There is a new player on the field with the same overall mission to empower the people, but with a different game plan. This is a good thing. We need change whether we like it or not to keep us vital and real in life. I am looking forward to advancing the ball with my fellow players in this new season.
Church in Kenya is special. These people really know how to bring their faith and love for the Lord to the sanctuary. The children always have testimonies that touch the heart because they come from a child-like heart. I also could barely contain my joy when our eleven year old daughter, Diana, came and sat next to me with a hug and a BIG smile. She, and all the other children is why ALI exists. I hope God allows me to see the day when she moves confidently into whatever God has designed her for.
Monday, April 4
God is so smart! The diagram He gave me Sunday morning worked perfectly as I met with Samuel and Rhoda to discuss how ALI will partner with the Samro School. They expressed their thankfulness profusely for helping them fulfill their dream for the children of their school—to grow to be strong Christian leaders for Kenya. They knew that they needed to deliver a higher level of education to the students; they just were unknowing how to do it. In God’s timing, enter ALI, stage left. All is in agreement to help Samro School be #1 model school for Kenya. Tomorrow I will be having more discussions with the headmaster on how the training will happen, and I will do a complete walk-through with the electrical contractor who will be bringing electricity to all the classrooms. I have already told him that ALI desires to prepare the rooms for the power they will need for technology that will come in the years ahead. We want to build mind, soul, and facility for The Power and the power needed at both levels.
Mission accomplished! Now I will just polish the apple a bit more.
No comments:
Post a Comment