One Month Later

Almost a month has come and gone since my return from Kenya. The images, smells, and sounds of the slums are somehow fading. I find that fact almost surreal, images I thought would never leave me, are slowly fading into the past. That's a shame. To say I will never forget would be folly, everything fades, Kenya, my father, everything.

I will remember some things though, I will remember people care, I will remember people are working towards meeting the needs of others. I will remember the dying words of my father, "Remember the poor." I will dad. I will remember how a small amount of money in the right hands can do so much good, I will not allow all of the memories to fade.

Faith Akini Opondo, I may have seen her in Baba Ndogo, I will never be sure. I see her everyday on my refrigerator and on my office wall. $35.00 a month, she will be in school, educated in Christ, fed and clothed. I have two sons, they always wanted a sister, today they do, she's adorable.

I opened my 401k statement last week for the first time in months, I should have waited, 50% of my investments are gone. My first reaction was to think of all the hard work gone, my second was to think of all the "stuff" I could have purchased, I could have paid off the mortgage. God sees it differently, he asked how many people could I have helped with that money? Max Lucado calls it crying over spilt champagne, we just don't seem to get it. We have so much more than most of the world, they cry over not having milk, I'm crying over the spilt champagne.

We are blessed to be a blessing to others and to point them to Christ, bless some one today.

After Africa

During the past two weeks I have come to view the world through a different lens, the blinders I have worn in the past have been raised enough for me to realize things are not exactly as they appear. The trouble with the new lenses, is that they allow me to see, not only the failures of politicians and governments, I also see my own failures. That is never comfortable.

As a Christ follower, I have the tendency to assume growing in faith means daily bible reading, praying, the occasional fast, tithing, and lending a caring and compassionate ear when needed, because I do these things I am mature. These are all good practices, and they help in the maturing process, they are not however what defines a mature Christian. Maturing in Christ means responding to him as he reveals his will for us through those practices. I am not mature because I do those things, rather I mature as I respond to God's leading that resulted from practicing spiritual disciplines. I am mature in Christ when I make myself available to his leading's, and when I act act upon those leading's. Biking is a release for me, I train so I can race. The training does not make me a racer, entering and competing in races makes me a racer. It is always the doing that shows the maturing of the believer. James paraphrased: Faith without deeds is dead, I show my faith by what I do.

Two Kenyan women, Elizabeth and Frieda, I am sure neither one reads. Both former prostitutes, neither keeps the same spiritual practices I do, yet they are more mature in Christ then I. Christ followers, they turned away from their former lives to embrace Christ. Frieda, a widow has 23 people living in her 10'x 10' shack, she recently opened her home to her orphaned nephew, both parents dead from aids, she no longer has a source of income, yet opens her home to an orphan. Becoming a Christ follower has made her life harder, for the first time in my life I see firsthand, suffering because of loving Christ. I see maturity as she relies on God for her daily needs, if they are to be met, it will be a miracle, in the Marthae Valley, miracles happen. Elizabeth, a young mother of two, has a business selling tortillas, men reject her, she will not do what they want her to. She turned her life over to another man who lived 2000 years ago, her life was easier before she did, she is mature in her reliance on the promise offered in the next life.

These new lenses have shown me my immaturity, my self deluded pride, and my failures as a Christian. These new lenses have shown me hope.