Now starting with Friday morning:
I was honored to again give the devotion for their Friday morning gathering. I put together my "Top 20 Observations of Kenya", and shared my concerns for keeping them from becoming westernized. Here is the list observations first and westernizing concerns secondly.
1. It is a beautiful country
2. The people are beautiful people
3. You are brave, courageous people
4. You are friendly people
5. You have wonderful traditions, like tea at 10 and 3
6. People enjoy relationships more than transactions
7. You are an openly Christian society
8. You have wonderful coffee!
9. People are very well educated and industrious!
10. You eat well! I love the African food…and there is always plenty of it!
11. Pizza can be delivered at 9PM even here!
12. There are no street addresses…just p.o. boxes
13. There are locks everywhere!
14. The journey is as important as the destination
15. You value everyone’s voice; agendas are suggestions
16. Your smiles encourage me
17. All the conveniences are here…not my picture of Africa
18. You love people
19. I love the Kenyan people
20. You get out of the boat all the time. (ref. to previous devotion on Peter's faith to get out of his confort zone..the boat..when Jesus called him)
Some challenges to them to prevent being westernized (contrast to typical American attitudes)
1.Be faithful in the little things, the material goods: Luke 16:11: Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?
2.Acknowledge daily that God owns it all: I Chronicles 29:11-12: Everything in the heavens and earth is yours O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything. Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the Ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength.
3.Watch out for credit cards! And as borrowing becomes easier and easier: Proverbs 22:7: Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.
4.Seek counsel; African proverb….If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. Proverbs 12:15: The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
5.Be honest with one another: Leviticus 19:11: You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
6.Be generous in your giving: Acts 20:35: Remember the words of the Lord Jesus that He himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
7.Your work is God’s work, no matter what you do: Colossians 3:23-24: Whatever you do, do you work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men…It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
8.Be careful about trying to hit the big deal, the get rich quick schemes; guard against investing for the short term on the hot tip: Proverbs 21:5: Steady plodding brings prosperity: hasty speculation brings poverty.
9.Don’t become materialistic and comfortable: Philippians 4:11-13: I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity….I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
10.Keep your family first before your work: Mark 8:36: What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? "Never confuse involvement in ministry with intimacy for the Master."
After devotioins, I worked on a micro finance proposal JP has been putting together for some time; it involves 7 key churches, and WR administrating it. I spent 3 hours reviewing, and then started rewriting the executive summary. I enjoy it, and am learning a lot.
We left at 12:30 for the final get to gether for the NAC center volunteers' Appreciation Luncheon. They were presented a certificate of appreciation, signed by the appropriate people, and JP is getting Kofi Annan's signature...can you believe that? I asked him if he would get one for me! _Here are a couple shots at the luncheon; it was outside at a restaurant called GARCIA's; but it wasn't Mexican. Go figure.ha
This went until 3PM, then we rushed to a meeting at the Life Ministry building (a Campus Crusade office building), for a debrief and further planning for the 'Hope for Kenya' pastors' healing and reconciliaion. We were there until 6PM. It was a great meeting. Went home!! I made a peanut butter/jelly sandwich, had milk, and went to bed!
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This morning (Sat)I got up at 9:00 AM...lazy huh? But, I went to bed last night at 7:30 PM!! I read for 2 hours (John Grisham's new book, THE APPEAL) and turned the light off at 9:30. Woke up at 3AM fighting a mosquitoe. Yep, A mosquito; it had been buzzing around driving me nuts for 10-15 minutes. I finally turned the light on and found the little creature...actually, it was a BIG creature, and chased it around, finally into the bathroom. I won! (after losing the first two battles on my ear and elbow.
(I'm struggling to find the sacrificial, heart breaking missionary story, can you tell??)Obviously I was then wide awake. So I turned the TV on and guess what...they had CNN on! First time I've seen it in 17-18 days! So I figured out one of the local channels (all 2 of them) must have CNN on after midnight or so...who would have guessed. So I caught up on the world for 2 hours, went back to bed, and woke up at 9 AM.
Caught up on emails, started (key word STARTED)figuring out my current finances (how much have I spent)..takes a spreadsheet for me to figure out what I have and don't have (conversion rates). Caught my journal (hand writting) up for last couple of days. JP picked me up at 2PM and and dropped me at Yaya Center where I did some serious shopping..cards,Java House of course, couple of t-shirts, and something special for Judy...no I'm not telling what.
The pick-ups for me was in-between trips to the doctor/hospital for VICKIE..their little 2 year old.
JP picked me up at 4PM and I've been resting and reading. I will go grocery shopping with Clementine and him at 8PM...their shopping night weekly when the kids are in the bed (Clementine's 16 year old niece lives with them and stays with the kids when necessary. Vickie was sound asleep in her mother's arms. Yep, no car seats and no seat belts for the kids here. No worry, the traffic is so congested in town that you can't go over 5 miles per hour. Seriously.
Well, I need to prepare for visiting Possibilities Africa-Kenya next Wednesday morning; it is a business incubator for young entreprenuers, and I got in touch with their Exec. Director at the request of Joe Davis and Dan Malty. He wants me to share lessons learned from my sales and marketing carrer; how do you do that in an hour. I'm God will provide the right info that they need. You can look them up on their web site..use the name above. It is a Christian ran non-profit org. on the micro-small finance type program, but for very talented young business people who just need some initial help. Pray for me in this.
Well, gotta go.
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