The last two days have served as real confirmation that God has called us to the Kager village for a reason and a purpose – that this week we joined a River called Kager. A River that’s been flowing for hundreds of years -- long before we arrived. A River that God is guiding – and He’s guided us to join it. A River of faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.
Before the Tuesday night church service, John, Craig and I had the opportunity to meet and dialogue with the local church leaders of the Kager Vision Centre. We shared with them what we had learned the last 3 days as we lived with and talked to the people in Kager. We shared with them our vision for the Jubilee Village Project and the essential nature of their leadership and involvement in leading the church-centered transformation of their community. We agreed the community’s greatest needs / opportunities centered on bringing electricity to the village, improving water supply and irrigation, increasing farming output and securing food supply, educating the children and building new micro-enterprises. It was a very humbling moment as they invited us to become part of their community and called us their friends and partners. Bishop Christopher closed our evening together, reminding us we have to trust God to provide and guide our next steps.
That evening we joined about 100 people from the village in a night of celebration of praise. John and Craig were able to share words of encouragement with the people (with John reminding them that one of the fruits of the Spirit is “patience”) and I taught from Romans 12 and was able to invite people to receive Christ. It was so cool for us to be able to look out and see the smiling faces of people in whose homes we had visited and in whose fields we had walked and talked. Three days ago they were strangers – now they were friends.
As we said our good-byes to the Kayando family and other villagers who had stopped by to give us their good wishes, it was a nice feeling to know this is not the last time we will be in Kager. Unlike many mission trips where no one ever seems to return, I am convinced we are just getting started. We are leaving Kager much richer men – richer in knowledge, but more importantly, richer in friendship. We came to Kager and to Kenya with the goals of learning and building lasting relationships – and with God’s grace and provision, we have succeeded in doing this.
John 15:16 says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” Our parting prayer is that the seeds of fellowship and love we planted this week in Kager will grow and bear much fruit in the years to come.
Glory be to God.
Ned
Tuesday afternoon we had the opportunity to meet with the headmaster of the Daypsring Academy (the local private primary school) and all of the teachers of the God Kado Primary School (the local public school for grades 1 to 8). Our discussions were wide ranging, engaging and thought provoking – they made me realize that regardless of location, good education is always undermined by the presence of hunger, broken families, undisciplined children and hopelessness. It is very evident in talking to the children, parents and community in Kager, that a very high value is placed on education in Kenya. In Kager, they face even greater challenges: poor facilities (no electricity, leaking roofs), inadequate staff (if they are paid at all, teachers make just over US$ 200 / month), increasing orphan rates (due to parents dying from HIV/AIDS) and lack of basic resources (chalk, textbooks).
Before the Tuesday night church service, John, Craig and I had the opportunity to meet and dialogue with the local church leaders of the Kager Vision Centre. We shared with them what we had learned the last 3 days as we lived with and talked to the people in Kager. We shared with them our vision for the Jubilee Village Project and the essential nature of their leadership and involvement in leading the church-centered transformation of their community. We agreed the community’s greatest needs / opportunities centered on bringing electricity to the village, improving water supply and irrigation, increasing farming output and securing food supply, educating the children and building new micro-enterprises. It was a very humbling moment as they invited us to become part of their community and called us their friends and partners. Bishop Christopher closed our evening together, reminding us we have to trust God to provide and guide our next steps.
That evening we joined about 100 people from the village in a night of celebration of praise. John and Craig were able to share words of encouragement with the people (with John reminding them that one of the fruits of the Spirit is “patience”) and I taught from Romans 12 and was able to invite people to receive Christ. It was so cool for us to be able to look out and see the smiling faces of people in whose homes we had visited and in whose fields we had walked and talked. Three days ago they were strangers – now they were friends.
As we said our good-byes to the Kayando family and other villagers who had stopped by to give us their good wishes, it was a nice feeling to know this is not the last time we will be in Kager. Unlike many mission trips where no one ever seems to return, I am convinced we are just getting started. We are leaving Kager much richer men – richer in knowledge, but more importantly, richer in friendship. We came to Kager and to Kenya with the goals of learning and building lasting relationships – and with God’s grace and provision, we have succeeded in doing this.
John 15:16 says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” Our parting prayer is that the seeds of fellowship and love we planted this week in Kager will grow and bear much fruit in the years to come.
Glory be to God.
Ned
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