God's Vehicle

I was able to share a testimony with my church here this morning about God's provision. What happened is truly remarkable to me.

I had the engine rebuilt in my old Pajero about 2 years ago and was told by everyone that once those are rebuilt they will continue to develop many problems. Sure enough over the past two years it has continued buring a ton of oil and the turbo had to be replaced and it still wasn't running right. So two years ago I began praying for God to provide me with something else to help me in the ministry here. I had been consistently praying for two years. Everytime I travelled to Nairobi I would be searching the notice boards and the used car lots and checking the newspapers for possibilities. Most of them were in bad shape. That might have something to do with the bad roads in Kenya and the lack of the word "maintenance" in most people's vocabulary. The ones that were in good shape were way above my own budget. I was close to purchasing one a few months ago, but after I had made a counter-offer, he sold it to someone else. I guess it wasn't meant to be. After that I think I lost hope. I began praying that God would give me a new vehicle or would extend the life of my old Pajero to last me throughout my time here.

When I went to Nairobi in July I wasn't planning on shopping for another one anymore. Then one evening I was in the parking lot at the guesthouse where I was staying and a Toyota Landcruiser pulled in and almost ran me over. When I looked up I saw the "For Sale" sign on it. I looked at it closely and talked to the owner who was a lifelong missionary and father of six children. Their family was preparing for a move to the Horn of Africa to work with Muslims. The vehicle was exactly what I was looking for, but the price tag was beyond my budget. I prayed over it for a couple of days with a lot of hesitancy. The more I thought about it and sought wise counsel, I was feeling strongly that God was telling me this is the vehicle he wanted me to have. After my mechanic gave it a thumbs up, I talked with the owner again who said he could take a down payment and wait for the rest. I have a personality that likes to logically think through things, budget and plan for something. THis was a big step of faith for me. After selling my current vehicle, I knew I would still be short a certain amount and had no idea where that money would come from.

As I was driving back to Mbita the next day in my new vehicle with my friend Pastor Amos, I received a phone call from my parents. This was the first time in six years in Kenya that my parents have ever called my cell phone. We usually communicate through e-mail or the internet somehow. They said they had good news and proceeded to tell me that someone gave a gift in the offering for me. It ended up being the exact amount I had needed. I was stunned. God is so able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than all we could ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). I know this vehicle is truly God's gift to be used for his service. I hope and pray it would be used to help others to come to know him as the True God and that it would be a blessing to many people.

Building School Spirit

On the last day of our secondary tutoring time, we organized a football match against a local club. A couple of us teachers joined with the secondary students to play. We formed a strong team that succeeded in scoring goals in both halves and our strong defense held the ICIPE club scoreless over the 90 minute match. The other students from CGA and the secondary students from CGA enjoyed watching the match and cheering on their team in the 2-0 win. It was an enjoyable way to end the two weeks of tutoring and build some school spirit among the secondary students.

It was nice for me to take a break from coaching and enjoy the challenge of playing again, especially alongside my students

Secondary Students Return

We just finished the second week of tutoring classes for our secondary students. We had around 60 students separated into three different classes. They would arrive around 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning and study on their own or in groups until noon. Then they would have lessons in Math, Physics and Chemistry taught by secondary school teachers from the local area. There was also time included for lunch and sports in the afternoon before going home at 5:30 pm. The students are all on a month-long break from their various schools so this time was a good opportunity to keep them busy with positive activites, reunite them with their former classmates from primary school, help them in academic areas that are challenging sometimes, give them opportunities to share with students from other schools, and allow us the chance to spend some time with them. The students were very prompt arriving in the morning and were very grateful for the opportunity to get some extra help.

Secondary Schools in Kenya are very similar to Universities in the U.S. because the students go to boarding schools, the classes are big (usually 40-60 students and sometimes bigger), the academics are very demanding with 11 subjects at a time and the teachers mainly lecture and expect the students to learn most topics on their own. So the students and parents/guardians are positive towards extra teaching that will help the children to succeed.

Celebration

On Saturday the Suba Lakers celebrated their successes from last weekend. The players and their parents/guardians came to Mbita for a mini awards ceremony and to share a meal together. I (Joe) introduced the club officials and players and talked about the vision of the club. Several parents also made speeches and were happy to report that their child had improved in school and in their character since joining the club. That was encouraging to my heart because sometimes others that are not a part of the club can say negative things out of jealousy or other reasons.

Then, the awards were presented. For winning the Junior Tournament, the club received a set of twenty Manchester United uniforms, though they are way too small for any of our players. The club also received two footballs and a certificate. Since no team scored a goal against us in all eight matches, Dorine Adhiambo of CGA was chosen as the best goalkeeper. She received a certificate, goalkeeping gloves and a small trophy. Our smallest and youngest player, Alicent Awuor, was chosen as the best player. She also received a certificate, small trophy and a pair of new football cleats. Their coach, David Gombe, was honoured as the top coach and he received a warm-up suit and baseball cap along with the certificate and small trophy.

With the prize money the club won this weekend from the two different championships, we were able to get a small gift for each family. We bought 2 kg of sugar, 1/2 kg of salt, soap, pens, mathematical sets and a pair of soccer shorts for each. After the awards ceremony, we all enjoyed a beef or fish dinner with a cold soda. It was a nice way to celebrate the success God granted us.

Road Carnage

On Sunday morning I was driving my Toyota Landcruiser filled with eight girl football players. We had left Kisumu early that morning and were heading to Homa Bay for the finals of the Constituency Tournament. The girls were busy singing praise and worship songs at the top of their lungs. Off in the distance we saw a big crowd gathered on the road. The vehicle quickly became quiet and we tried to see what was happening. On one side of the road was a big semi-truck overturned. On the other side was a bus on its side, totally destroyed. In the middle of the road several dead bodies were scattered along with glass and other remains of the vehicles. There was even a pair of legs lying in the road with no upper half.

It is a hard thing to comprehend and words can’t explain it. All of us were in shock and spontaneously I began a thirty minute discourse on the sovereignty of God and how fragile life is. As I drove down the road, I urged them to put their lives right with the Lord because we don’t know when our time will come and we must be ready. Each of the girls was listening intently. God has promised us in Romans, “We know in all things God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.” That was true on that morning. In the worst of circumstances, he used it to draw others into a relationship with him and allow their lives to be transformed.

Back to Reality

Being around these girls over the weekend and watching them interact with each other; laughing, singing and playing, it’s easy to forget what they go home to. As we dropped many of the girls off at their houses, we were reminded of what their lives are really like. They all live in extreme poverty; the kind of poverty that we cannot imagine and words cannot do accurately describe. Some of them are orphans and go home to guardians or extended family members who give them a lot of work to do. Some of the families were happy to see them when they returned; others were not even asked about their weekend. Most of them were asked to start dinner or fetch water. I will never really know what it is like to live a day in their life. I do know however, that the need to be loved and to feel important is still there and that they hunger for that.

These are their homes and their families. They love to come home just as we all do; that much is clear. I am happy though that the club gives them a place to go where they can just be young girls. A place to have fun and be noticed for their God-given skills; safe from the many problems at home that they shouldn't have to encounter at such a young age.

Three Teams in Unity

While the weekend was action packed and incredibly busy, the need to put God first was ever so evident. The goal of the girls’ football club is not just to win matches, but to instill in every girl that God should be first in everything we do. We began each morning with prayer and worship, followed by devotions for the day. Some of the topics we discussed were putting God first, giving God the glory for everything and to be thankful at all times; in good times and bad. In the evenings, we discussed what things (big and small) we were thankful for.

Unity was the key word for the weekend. We discussed what it meant to be a united team and the characteristics of unity; brotherly love, patience, humility and encouragement. Ephesians 4 was the scripture we turned to so that we could be reminded of what God says about unity.

Later in the weekend, we had a chance to put this into practice. We were 3 separate teams, but one in unity. The teams had to split to play their respective matches. We all wanted to be able to watch each other and cheer for each other in our final games, but the schedule did not allow this to happen. However, in the end, when reunited, the teams shared both victories and losses. They encouraged those that had played so hard, but lost their match and they celebrated with those that walked away champions. This was clear when the coach and team captain rushed back to Kisumu after the championship in Homa Bay to watch the Junior’s final. The captain pulled the trophy from her bag and the Junior girls jumped and screamed and ran with the trophy as it was their own….and it was. We are a team united.