Attached is a copy of my latest supporter email:
Ejoka! (Hello!)
This summer has flown by, and I can hardly believe that I only have one more week with the drilling crew. The past few weeks have consisted of lots of drilling, teaching, laughing, & learning. This summer has been humbling in realizing my purpose for coming to Africa. I expected to come here to be the “muscle” (some of you are probably laughing right now!)—doing the grunt work of the drilling crew, showing the Turkana what hard work looks like. And God has found ways to reveal my own arrogance to me countless times. I expected to come to Turkana and find broken people, pagan people lacking proper nutrition both physically and spiritually. But what I have found has been the opposite. I’ve worked alongside guys on the drilling crew that outwork me each and every week. And when I come into town on the weekends, they stay out there turning that drill! I’ve sat next to people in Bible Studies, who know stories from the Old Testament that I’ve never even read! I’ve taught classes on spiritual warfare, only to discover that there’s a spiritual battle going on that’s so much bigger than I ever wanted to imagine! And I’ve listened to people pray prayers & tell stories of faith that resonate the Gospel in ways more beautiful than I could begin to express. I would be arrogant in saying that I’ve made significant changes in these peoples’ lives. If anything, it’s been the opposite. And I’ve been blessed to have learned so much from God through these people the past several weeks.
We serve an awesome God, and this past week he really brought things together from this summer. Our host missionaries invited us to come to the coast with them for a Spiritual Retreat. I of course agreed, but I think all I heard them say was “Coast.” But I feel like God really spoke to my heart over the past week. We went to church in Nairobi last Sunday, & the preacher raised a deep question: “What are you involved in that will outlast you?” And for some reason, God really spoke to me through that question and his sermon. All our work this summer suddenly made sense. Through all of my “learning” this summer, it’s been difficult to see how I’m really being used. And I think it’s because I’m involved in something that will outlast me. I’m not vital to the work that’s happening over here; these guys on the drilling crew will continue drilling wells when we’re back in the States, and I think they’ll do just fine. Please don’t think I’m saying I’m not being used over here. I know God’s using me; I am just being continually reminded that He’s using me for His kingdom, not mine!
Over the past weeks, I’ve heard three different people talk about how nothing is impossible for God. At the retreat, one of the speakers talked about how we serve a God who has the power to resurrect life. At church last Sunday, one of the ladies leading the service talked about how God answered a huge prayer request in her life the past week. Both of them somehow touched on God’s ability to overcome the impossible. And last week with the drilling crew, when my stomach was messed up and I felt weak and tired, Danger (check out the blog to learn about his name) told me, “Don’t worry Ekatarot (my Turkana name). Nothing is impossible for God!” This was coming from one of the guys who had just drilled the 6th unsuccessful well in the last 2 weeks. That means lots of work for no results—just 6 holes in the ground! But it shows the kind of work God’s doing in the hearts of the people over here. These guys who have very little, who are surviving on maize, beans, cornmeal, & occasional goats; these guys who rarely see their families because they’re always out here working; these guys who have never been on a plane or seen the coast—Danger, one of “these guys” was ministering to me! These aren’t pagan people; they know God & they trust in His word. We might say it with our mouths, “Nothing is impossible for God,” but they believe it with their hearts!
There’s interesting symbolism involved with digging wells. So many times in my life, I’m consumed with things that will not outlast me. I’ve either created things to be dependent upon me in order to ensure my own success, or I’ve filled my life with earthly things that simply will not last. And when I remove myself from these things, they fade away; they become just another hole in the ground. But this work I’m doing now involves so much more. And I can find peace in knowing that these wells will continue bringing light to people’s lives even after I return home.
The Bible has lots of metaphors about gardening, and in Galatians 6:7-8, Paul talks a lot about planting and says that we will reap what we sow. I pray that we would seek to plant seeds that will bring glory that abounds for all eternity. Someone planted that seed in Danger’s heart years ago, & I’m blessed to have him plant that same seed in mine. I pray that all of us might lose sight of the empty holes that sometimes consume our lives, and that we would instead find joy as gardeners for God’s kingdom.
What are you involved in that will outlast you? I hope you know that you are involved in an incredible ministry in the Turkana district of Kenya. You are involved in God doing the impossible, providing water and irrigated farming in the middle of the African desert! And the Gospel is being shared in one of the most remote regions of Kenya! And I cannot thank you enough for being involved in my life. Thank you for the prayers and words of encouragement. Know that every message you send my parents about my blog gets sent my way, & I am extremely grateful for each of those emails. I hope God uses my words to plant seeds in your own lives, words like Danger planted in mine.
Please continue to pray for God’s work in the lives of the Turkana people. Pray that he will bring a bountiful harvest & that these wells will overflow with His abundant life.
Thank you again!
Peace,
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