G.O.S.P.E.L

Day 20 -

“Today was a challenge. We got ready for a long trek around Mwangaza to visit the families of the students.”

Saturday had approached us again, yet this week we were committed to doing ministry to the families around Mwangaza. Most of the families had children going to the school, but there also was a mix of families who were/had been attending the church. Pastor readied himself as we donned our sunscreen and bug spray and we headed out of Matuga village toward the school.

This day is a permanent memory in my mind because I reached a high point of discomfort…not of the physical (even though it was a hot day), but of internal struggle and interaction with strangers with a language barrier. And, of course, we never knew what to expect or what we were specifically expected to do or say. There’s nothing like being unprepared.

Our first stop was to the woman who cooks for the school - a tiny, old woman with bone-thin arms that I would see carrying a ten-gallon bucket of water on her head. I admired her dedication. We entered her mud hut with a roof of tin, and it was cool and cramped. The children around smiled or stared as we were warmly welcomed. Pastor asked us to pray for her and her household, and from that point on, Bea and I came to an unspoken agreement to take turns praying from house to house. Pastor had to translate the whole time, the whole duration of our tour because many only knew Kiswahili. The rest of the houses picked out by Pastor were a little ways away from the school itself. He kept turning around to make sure we were keeping up and that we were doing okay with the distance (which we were, coming from two states with mountains and hiking galore). “Are you still there?” he would call to us over his shoulder.

I loved walking through the beautiful, lush land dotted with mud houses. The countryside was breathtaking. We visited about 6 houses that day and prayed for every household. There were a couple sick boys we prayed over, a family we encouraged to return to church that Sunday, and we visited the Sunday school teacher. Priscilla, a 7^th grade student, walked with us toward the end helping us carry the gifts (on her head) we received from the families (maze and mangos). The most challenging was a family who was Muslim. I don’t know if they were devout or culturally religious, but they weren’t as friendly. Pastor talked to them for a while and then turned toward Bea and me to ask us to share the Gospel with them. Not unlike Moses in the Bible, I am not the best person to “throw” into a situation like that because I have a difficult time expressing with thoughts through the spoken word. Sure, I prepared for a moment like this, but it didn’t seem to help much. Yet I used the outline I’ve had in my head from a conference I went to several times in High School:
         God created us to be with Him
         Our sins separate us from God
         Sins cannot be removed by good deeds
         Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again
        Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life
        Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever

Even then, I felt inadequate and unsuccessful, but we moved on and eventually ended up back at the school. The amount of exercise felt great after almost three weeks of insufficient walking coupled with the large amount of food we had to clear on our plates. For fun, I tried to copy Priscilla’s way of carrying our bag of gifts and failed. It takes quite a bit of strength in the neck to carry much on your head apparently…

Back at home, Blessings was being both annoying and really fun. She loved to copy Bea and me especially with writing. She wasn’t satisfied unless she had some paper and a pencil. Pastor was okay with her desire, but I think deep down he wished we hadn’t introduced it to her at the age of 2. Also, I taught her the phrase, “what’s up, dude!” while giving a thumbs-up. Her response gave me a fit of giggles as she stuck an index finger to her chubby cheek and said, “dudie!” Oh, what joy she was (sometimes)!

I ended the day with a nap and preparing my sermon for the next day. I felt significantly unprepared, but I knew God would give me strength – He had shown me His faithfulness countless during the trip already. Bea and I also had a good talk before bed. We didn’t get many times to talk out of the earshot of someone and it felt so good to discuss what our struggles were. Sharing la la salama’s (goodnight), we fell asleep yet again.