CONFRONTATION AT JOMO KENYATTA (Day 8)

After the boys dropped me off at Jomo Kenyatta (Nairobi airport), I had a couple of hours to kill until my flight left for Heathrow. I cruised every single African sculpture shop (there must be 20) and saw a lot of carved elephants and Masii warriors, but nothing that caught my eye. My travel tradition is to buy a snowglobe for Rebekah (yes, they have snowglobes in Kenya) and a sloppy t-shirt for Alexa (Java Nairobi Coffee / Red / Small). I sat in the Java Coffee House and watched a meaningless football (soccer) match on TV and drank my last two Crests (bitter lemon drink made by Coca Cola of Kenya).

I decided to wander down toward my gate and was making my way down the crowded concourse when I heard an English-accented voice say behind me, “Jesus is King?” I turned around and expected to find a smiling face, but instead found a man with his wife and baby – and he wasn’t smiling. He approached me and fired away at me, “Your t-shirt says ‘Jesus is King’ as if it is some sort of fact, but it's no fact at all.” He continued railing on me, pressing me to provide him the facts of my t-shirt’s claim.

Needless to say, I was a little taken aback by his attack. But I felt God whispering to me and reminding me what I had taught on earlier in the week at Kager, “Show this man My love.” I told him Jesus was my King, and that I accepted this claim as a matter of faith, not because it was a proven fact. Unconvinced and still armed, he continued his assault and asked me if I was going to try to convert him. All I could do was smile and tell him “Man, God is the only one changes a man’s heart.”

And with that he smiled and put out his hand and said, “It’s good to meet you brother, my name’s Errol Jacobs and I’m a pastor from England.” And I smiled, too (and let out a small sigh of relief). We went on to have a great discussion about missions (they had served as missionaries in upstate New York) and they invited me to come speak at their church if I ever made it to Essex, England.

As we parted ways, the words of Romans 1:16 came to my mind, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone that believes.” It was a good reminder of how God arranges divine appointments, even in faraway airports. I really appreciated the way Errol had put my faith to the test -- and I was glad I had passed the test.

Ned