Doing Small Things With Great Love

It's kind of hard to describe our daily life here in Kenya. It varies from day to day what we are doing exactly. But at the same time a lot of it stays the same. They have 6 day work weeks here in Kenya. We only get off one day a week. So for 6 days a week we spend most of our time with the 20 children here at the orphanage. We absolutely love the children. They are so precious, but some of the tasks can get mundane. Here is a short list of what we do every day: dress the children, take them to the bathroom, feed them meals, change diapers, hold crying babies, brush teeth, clean up messes, watch Barney (EVERY single day), sing and pray together, play children's games, and settle a lot of disputes between children. It isn't easy just because there are so many children, and were in a different country, and they speak a different language. (Which were still trying to learn.) But the work I described is not really any different from any parent, nanny, babysitter...etc. The work, to be quite honest, is what a lot of people in America do every day as well. We're not planting a 100 Churches, or having our lives threatened to death, or doing anything that I might picture the Apostle Paul doing on a daily bases. Nobody is trying to stone us, which we are quite okay with. But it does remind me of a quote from Mother Teresa, "We can't all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love."

In Acts Chapter 6 we read about the beginning of a feeding program for widows. People were discontent with how things were going, so the Apostles said that they should choose 7 men to lead the program. These men had to be full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. Why? That doesn't really seem to make sense. All they have to do is pass out bread. It's not like you need a PH.D. to know how to equally pass out bread. I thought that passing out food is just what the Christians do that are not talented enough to be a preacher... It amazes me how concerned the Apostles and I believe God is about who will be serving on this program. You see, it's a mundane task; nothing to exciting about passing out bread. But these 7 men took it very seriously and did it like they were doing it for the Lord. Amazing.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that a lot of tasks you do during a day are going to be mundane. It doesn't matter if you are a missionary in Kenya, a stay at home mom, a factory worker, business man, teacher...etc. But it's not about doing some super miraculous thing every day. It is about doing the small things with great love. Do the work as if you are doing it for the Lord. It's kind of like it says in 1 Cor. 13, you can give everything you own to the poor, but if you don't have love then it is all pointless. Love is the point and the goal. So lets not worry so much about the "ministry" or actions that we are doing every day, but rather lets focus on doing whatever it is we're doing with great love.

What comes to your mind when you picture an African Missionary? Is it someone changing a diaper? lol. Probably not. But the next diaper that I change today, I'm going to try and do it with as much love as I can. Like I'm doing it for God. (not that God needs me to change his diaper..... lol.)

Be blessed!

The Worst Missionary Ever

I am 23 years old. My wife is 27 years old. We have no children, and have been married for less than 2 years. About 5 months ago we moved here to Eldoret, Kenya to work as House Parent at an orphanage. We felt like it was what God was calling us to do. My wife and I had never lived more than an hour away from our parents in the great state of Tennessee. We came here with big dreams and a lot of high ambitions of what we were going to do. So a quick recap.... newly married, no children, hardly any money, and moving off to take care of 20 orphans in a country that is on the other side of the world. Does that even make sense?..........

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about a man named Gideon. Gideon was the weakest person in his entire family, and his family was the weakest in the entire tribe. His tribe was under captivity by another tribe called the Midianites. Anyways, God came and told Gideon that he was a mighty warrior and that he would drive out the Midianites. Gideon??? The guy who is the weakest in his entire family, which is the weakest family in the entire tribe. And, just like it always does with God, it happened. With Gideon. Does that even make sense?.............

Sometimes I can feel like Gideon felt. I wonder why in the world God would choose to send me over to Kenya. It doesn't really seem to make sense. I mean, obviously there are a lot more qualified people out in the world than my wife and me. I mean, do you have any children? Then you are already more qualified than we are for this task. So for this reason, I feel so humbled that my wife and I have been chosen to come over here and serve God by ministering to these 20 precious children. God sometimes uses our weakness so that he can reveal his glory. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

I guess that what I am trying to say is that maybe you have a dream that you feel like is way out of your reach. You have something great you want to do to serve God. But you feel like it is completely unrealistic... You don't have the money. You don't have the skills. You're not smart enough.... etc. But the truth is that God can do anything when we just have faith and open our lives up and say "YES" to God. The Bible says that God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. So trust in God.

My wife and I may be the biggest "misfits" to ever step into the missionary field. But if God is with us, "then who can be against us?" What has God called you to do? Even if it seems crazy, DO IT!!!

Be Blessed!

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The Little Things

This is an email I got a while back and I found it today, which was perfect. It's all a reminder to us that we are exactly where we are supposed to be at the moment. God is in control.

As you might remember, the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

One fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ turnpike because of an auto accident.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, Took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today..

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong , You can't seem to find the car keys, You hit every traffic light,Don't get mad or frustrated; It may be just that God is at work watching over you

Now when I am stuck in traffic , miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone ... All the little things that annoy me. I think to myself, This is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.. .

What God values

It's easy to get confused about what Christianity is and is not. What is it all about? I know for me, it's easy to think that Christianity is all about going to Church on Sunday, not drinking, not smoking, and not having premarital sex. For a lot of us, these were the things that were stressed in the youth group environment that we grew up in. My question is, "Is there more to it?" Surely there is more to living a life of following God than sitting on a pew from 10 to 11 am on Sunday and tithing 10%. I'm not trying to devalue those things at all, but I believe that there is more to being a follower of Jesus than that. I want to share a scripture from the Bible found in Matthew 23:23, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." I love this scripture so much, because I believe that it reveals to us the heart of the father.

You see, Jesus shows us here that there are more important things to God than just performing religious ceremonies and tithing. What does God value? Justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are things that are more important to God than where you are sitting at on 10 am on Sunday morning. We also read in James 1:27 that, "Pure and undefiled religion in sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and keeping yourself unspotted from the world." God has such an amazing heart. He cares for the poor, the broken, the widows, the orphans, the widows, and all the "least of these." The question I want to ask you and myself is do my priorities and values match up with the heart of God? Am I more concerned about making it to Church on Sunday than I am about sex trafficking? Which one makes you more upset? When you hear someone say a "bad word" or when you see a widow being neglected? I don't say this to put a "guilt trip" on anybody. I'm actually just trying to point out something good about God. He is not boring. He cares more about starving orphans in Ethiopia than he does about you wearing a suit and tie on Sunday. Again, nothing wrong with any of these things. It is important to go to church, but there are more important things....

When we see what God values, it should create a desire in our heart to live in a way that is pleasing to him. I know for me, for a long time I was experiencing some discontentment with my Christian walk. It was not a feeling of guilt or "I'm not doing enough," it was a feeling of "I know that there is more to the Christian life than this." I mean I went to Church every time the doors were opened, and my wife and I tithed. We listened to good sermons, and were part of an amazing Church. But I was still experiencing a yearning for something more. The thought of the extent of my Christian experience would be just 50 more years of sermons just made me a little depressed. What is the point of me sitting here and listening to all these sermons if I'm not going to let it transform my life and act on it? I want to follow Jesus, not just hear a sermon about him.

I have a feeling that several of you are experiencing similar feelings. You know that God is calling you to do bigger things than just sit in a pew on Sunday. You know that you were meant for something more. For my wife and I, it meant moving to Kenya to work at an orphanage and serve 20 children that don't have a father and mother. We have been here for over 5 months now and I can honestly say I feel more fulfilled here than I did just sitting in a Church pew. God may be calling you to something similar, or something completely different. But don't settle for just "sitting on the sidelines," take a risk and seek to follow Jesus in every area of your life no matter what the cost. Once again, I'm not at all trying to imply that people are not doing enough. I'm just trying to write to the people out there that are feeling that something is missing in their walk with God. They are yearning for something more.

Deep calls to Deep. What deep calling has God given to you?

Be blessed!

Single+ Aids + 4 children + unemployed = Hopeless African Woman

A couple weeks ago we started our development project in the Slum of Sukunaanga. The program consists of over 20 Kenyan single mother families. My wife and I are very blessed and humble to be able to minister to them. All of these women are HIV+ and are living in extreme poverty. It amazes me every time I hear one of their stories. These people are living in Hell. It has taken its toll, most of these women walk around with hopelessness on their face, and you can tell they are wondering if life can ever get any better. It definitely can. God is still in the business of redeeming broken people that have been marred by sin that has brought death into their lives.

Today, I wanted to share the story of one of the women that is in our program. This woman (or I guess I should say young girl) got married by the age of 14. By the time she was 20, she already had 5 children. Also, this woman is unemployed. She is also HIV+ and so are her children. I'm not sure why, but her husband decided one day to leave and has never been back. This is a very broken lady who is in desperate need of the redemptive power of God.

I know that the word of God, being mixed with faith, has the power to transform the life of anyone. I look at this woman's life and wonder how she has the energy to get out of bed every morning. She is jobless and has 5 children to take care of by herself. Whenever I think of her I am reminded of the lyrics of a song by Gungor, "you make beautiful things out of dust." This woman can have a changed life. God can resurrect the life of this woman. She has the value of the blood of Jesus.

The sad thing is, that stories like this are far to common, not only here in the slums of Africa but in Third World countries around the world. These people are in desperate need of Jesus. I pray that God will send more people into the field to bring the good news of the resurrection to people just like this woman all around the world. We need people willing to go and minister to these people. We need people that will commit to praying for people like this. We need people that have a giving heart to fund ministries that are dedicated to bringing life to these people.

What is God calling you to do to help redeem a broken world?

Be blessed!

Jesus Did It Anyway

So the past couple of months I have dealt with more criticism, set backs, disappointments, stress, small minded people, than I ever thought I would. It's really left me in a funk. I've turned back into a pessimist and I'm not liking myself at the moment. So I picked up a book I had from a few years back to start reading it again. I'm glad I did, I need to remind myself of these things on a daily basis. Its based on the writings found by Mother Teresa on her wall at her children's home:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

I have to remember that people are going to try and knock you down, and keep you from doing all God has called you to do. They will be critical, harsh, and non sympathetic. But in the end it was never between me and them anyways ! I need to post this on my mirror and read it daily. God doesn't call us to just give up when the going gets tough or when someone shoots down all of your ideas and dreams. He calls us to perservere and to trust him and call out to Him for our judgements of ourselves. To see ourselves as He sees us, which is something I am working on. Most days I don't understand why He loves me or why He called me to this ministry. But He tells me to do it anyway. So i pray for you as well that you will take away an encouragement from this and no matter what life hands you, to get back up and fight for what is right in the world and for Jesus. Like I've read many times: He never said it would be easy, but he said it would be worth it.

Here is a link to the book if you want to check it out:

What I wish I would have known

Being under stress and away from your family and friends is going to bring out the worst in you.You may think coming to do mission work is going to put you around great people and going to increase your faith but in my case and from a lot of blogs I've read (which I wish I had read before hand) it's not. Some people are just not going to like you, and to be completely honest has made me a worse person. It's brought out evil deep within me I didn't even know existed and that I am ashamed of. I'm constantly comparing myself to people, I'm stressed out all the time, I'm angry, I'm mean to Jerry, ha, I shut myself off completely from most because I don't want them to see this in me or I just don't have the energy in me anymore to socialize. I read my Bible less, and most days I question Why Me?Or why would God let things like this disease, hunger, and destruction happen to people while so many are so blessed.

Even though I don't understand all of this now I know one day it will make sense. I don't always understand why I'm here and I'm trying to trust God on that, because I felt the calling so greatly. But just know because you are going to be a missionary in another country or right where you are you aren't going to be saving the world. It might bring out the things hidden in you that you haven't dealt with. And maybe that's why I'm here, for GOD to work on me, and I've been placed with all of these wonderful children to remind me to be more like them. All you can do is try to take one day at a time, and I'm trying everyday to rebuild some of the things in me I lost. I didn't write all of this to be depressing, just to get my feeling out there and hope to encourage someone else to know if they are going through this they aren't alone.GOD has been here with me every step even thought I don't always feel Him, but I know it.