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Posted in 8 Uganda by Jennifer Mitchell on 3/11/2010
I am sitting under the stars in Uganda.
The house we are living in has no power, so they are the clearest I have ever seen them.
It's nighttime and most of my team is already asleep.
Trying to unwind, I decide to wash my feet.
As I take the wash bucket, I begin to clean off layer after layer of street dirt.
Dirt as red as Georgia clay.
It is a peaceful night and I am at rest after a very hard day of ministry.
No sleep. Fear. Power. Healings. Demons. Muslims. Opposition. Freedom. Salvations.
This month has been the hardest yet, but also the most rewarding.
As I look at the dust I begin to wonder. Maybe the dust is not simply dust at all. Maybe it is so much more...
As I study my feet I begin to think of all of the steps I have taken on the journey so far.
Step one – Ireland. Back to Dublin. Leaving home. Surfing. No turning back. Healing on the Street. Kids ministry. Danielle's leg growing. My team.
Step two – Romania. Living with the Gypsies. Catching the vision. Painting Pape's House. Alex. The Mud Village. Caroling for Christ. Apple Picking. Swimming in the lake. The Funeral.
Step three – Croatia. Back to Hungary. Painting the church. Prophecy over the youth. Tasha. ATL with Danielle and Lauren. Train rides. Preaching for the first time. Communion on top of a mountain.
Step four – Turkey. The 10/40 widow. God calling me to the Muslim
world. Least evangelized country. Dancing. Ephesus. Roof top
worship. Tea and Jesus movie. No One Worships Artemis Anymore. The carpet shop. Aydin. Greece.
Olive grove mountain. Photography.
Step five – Israel. Back for the third time. Jerusalem. Tirza and her beautiful children. Desert. Shabbat. Hanukkah. Christmas away from home. Petra. The pyramids. God growing a vision for ministry in the Middle East. Abandonment.
Step six – Kenya. Africa for the first time. New Years. Orphanage. The street boys. Bishop Emmanuel. The poverty. The children. Leading three Muslims to Jesus. The Hospital visits. Melissa. Worshipping on top of the mountain. Door to door evangelism. Bibles. The VBS. Preaching for the first time. The Simple Life.
Step seven – Uganda. Intense Spiritual Warefare. The dark house. Witchdoctor. Sleepless nights. Deliverance. Crusades. Miraculous healings. Leading. The Bush. Teaching in schools. Hut evangelism. Preaching. Over 500 Salvations.
And now...Four more steps.
Four more steps for God to be preached to the nations.
Four more steps until this trip is complete.
Four more steps until the next leg of my journey.
Four more steps for my feet to be covered in dust.
Four more steps for my feet to be like one man, whose feet were so
covered in dust, that a woman knelt down and washed them with her tears
and her hair.
The dust will be long washed off my feet, and the memories will grow dim at times, yet the impact will remain.
For I am forever covered in the dust of my Rabbi.
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Posted in 7 Kenya by Jennifer Mitchell on 3/9/2010
This post is another story I want to share with you in my effort to live the Simple Life back in Kenya.
In the town of Bungoma, Kenya, there are many churches.
In those churches there are many pews.
In those pews there are many Christians.
In those Christians there are very passionate hearts.
But in those hands, there are no Bibles.
The church in Bungoma is alive and
well, but unfortunately, they lack resources to get Bibles into the
very eager hands.
When we were doing house-to-house evangelism, I
asked the pastor if there was any way we could get Bibles to the people
that just accepted Christ. One of my biggest fears is leading someone
to the Lord, and then leaving them with a serious lack of
discipleship. In the much quoted Great Commission, Jesus told his
disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all
nations – not just converts. So we set out to undertake the Bibles for
Bungoma project. Our contact knew of a Bible distributor in the area
and told us that each Bible would cost around $8. For two cups of
Starbucks, we could make an eternal impact in the lives of Christians
around the world. So we began to rally our resources. I am still
amazed at the way the Lord moved so quickly and greatly. In a matter
of four days, three girls had raised almost $2,000! That money bought
over 190 Bibles and discipleship manuals for the wonderful people of
Bungoma!! The Lord never ceases to amaze me. 
The wonderful part about this whole story is that all we did was
simply put ourselves in a place of asking questions and letting the
Lord respond. I asked if Bibles were available, and God found a way to
get them to Kenya. We asked our friends, families and supporters if
they wanted to invest in God's Kingdom, and the Lord moved mightily!!
He is just so good!! I will never forget the joy on the faces of the
people who got to hold their very own Bible, in their own language.
They truly were in love with the Living Word. I want to thank many of
you who contributed to this project and rejoice that in a matter of a
week, almost two thousand dollars were raised and the Bibles were
distributed into the hands that desperately needed them.
Thank you for sewing into the Kingdom, and helping us disciple the nations.
** As quickly as the Bibles got to Bungoma, they were gone almost as
quickly. There is still a great need there, as well as all over Kenya
and Eastern Africa, for Bibles. If you are interested in investing $10
for the Kingdom, please contact me at JenniferLeeMitchell@gmail.com and we can get a Bible into the hands of those who need it!! Thank you so much!
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Posted in 8 Uganda by Jennifer Mitchell on 3/6/2010
God is Good!! I came to know this phrase in a whole new way this week.
It
was the end of a very long week for us. I had been leading a team of
12 in the bush and our ministry lasted about 13 hours a day. It was
our last night before a day off and we were all exhausted. "Just a few
more hours" I thought to myself. We turned the Jesus Film on and
expected to have a few hours of rest until prayer time at the end.
However, within moments of sitting down for the first time that day,
Pastor Godfrey came and said that there was a woman who wanted prayer.
She had what looked like a growth on her abdomen that was causing her a
lot of pain. We asked if she was a Christian and she said the only way
she would accept Jesus was if he healed her right then. "Ok, here we
go" us prayer warriors thought.
So we began praying for healing and expecting God to heal her
instantly. It seemed perfectly appropriate. After the prayer, she
said her pain had gone down, but since it was not a complete healing
she would not accept Jesus. Slightly dejected, we watched her get up
and go on her way. Not thinking much after that moment, I went about
packing up my stuff and loading the van.
About an hour later, Pastor found me and said that I must pray for
someone else. He said there was a woman who wanted to become a
Christian. (See, here in Africa, people just walk up to us on the
streets and confess their sins. It really is quick inexplicable).
When he brought me to the woman, it turns out it was the same woman
from our prayer hours before! Even though she was not totally healed,
she decided to give her life to Jesus. I led her in the prayer to
commit her life to Jesus, with Pastor Godfrey translating. When we
finished praying, the other women present started breaking out in yells
and cheers. I was filled with joy as well, but this celebration was
deeper than normal salvations. I asked the pastor what was going on
and he said that the woman was his sister! His sister had just
accepted Christ and her whole family was surrounding me celebrating!
Martha heard the commotion and joined us as we began dancing in the
backyard and the old African mama's began yelling "Iasou Mulungi! Iasou
Mulungi!" "God is good! God is good!" It was such a beautiful
celebration. I could see Jesus joining with the angels as his one lost
sheep came home.
When the commotion started, Abraham, the pastor's 12-year-old son
came running around the corner and jumped into his Aunt's arms. He had
a smile so big it took up his entire face. His father told us that for
the past few days Abraham had been trying to get his aunt to come speak
with us because he knew that if she just came, she would accept Jesus.
She had continually told the boy that she would not go speak with the
white people, however today God had different plans!! It was the faith
of this precious 12-year-old that planted the seed in his aunt, which
God watered right in front of our eyes!!
I praise the Lord to be part of his wonderful celebration as the lost come home!!
God is SO good!
Iasou Mulungi!
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Posted in 8 Uganda by Jennifer Mitchell on 3/3/2010
"For I, the LORD your God,
am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to
the third and fourth generation of those who hate me..." ~ Deuteronomy 5:9
Does God punish children for the sins for their fathers?
Does this Deuteronomy passage speak only to the Israelites of the
Old Testament? Or is there some string of truth for the world today?
While we were going evangelizing a few days ago, a 10-year-old girl
named Flo approached me. She asked me to pray for her baby brother.
Thinking she simply wanted me to pray blessings over him, I easily
agreed. However, I was not prepared for what I experienced next. Flo
brought me to her one-year-old brother who was completely covered in
open soars. Our translator said that the child was afflicted by an
advanced case of AIDS. With tears filling my eyes, I laid hands on
this precious life and prayed my hardest for an instant healing for the
boy. I knew he did not have long to live. After praying, Flo asked me
to go pray for her house.
When we arrived at the hut, Flo's mother was sitting under a rundown
hut, smoking a pipe and cutting vegetables. When I saw her it was like
I ran into a brick wall. I knew instantly that the spirit of
witchcraft had a huge hold over this household. I began speaking to
Flo's mother with my normal evangelism opening. "Hi, we are from the
States, we believe in Jesus and that is why we are hear." She
instantly interrupted me and said she did not want to hear anything
about Jesus, but we could pray for her kinds, that was all. Ignoring
that remark, I told the woman that we would pray in the name of Jesus
for healing and explained that He is the only true power on Heaven and
Earth. I told her that Jesus loved her so much and wanted to set her
free. She quickly responded that she was demon possessed and that she
worshiped demons. She said she did not want to be free and she
certainly didn't want Jesus. Then she told us again to pray for her
kids.
I watched as hopeful little Flo placed her hands on her baby brother
and joined us for praying for his healing. I could feel the
desperation in the girl. She was desperate for an act of God. Even
though we were filled with faith, the Lord chose not to heal instantly
in that moment. I prayed for Flo and told her that she was completely
loved by God. I encouraged her to keep faith in Jesus, despite having
two parents who worshipped demons. I left the house wondering if I
could have done more to encourage Flo and heal the little boy.
As I prayed I felt the Lord reveal to me that this poor child's
affliction was directly related to his mother's practices in
witchcraft. I don't know if she placed a curse on him, or if it was
simply tied in the spiritual, but I did feel like the boy would only be
healed once his mother had left her demonization practices. This
caused great distress in my mind. Could a little baby boy really be
punished for the sins of his parents? Isn't God merciful? Doesn't God
want all of his children to be free?
Later that night, we showed the Jesus Film in the middle of the
town. As I sat down to pray, a small girl came up to me and asked if I
would teach her songs about the love of Jesus. Even though it was
dark, I was able to recognize Flo's hopeful eyes. I sat and sang with
her for hours as I encouraged and prayed for this powerful Christian
warrior. Even though I did not see her whole family set free, I know
that Flo is going to be a powerful witness to her parents. I am
standing on faith that her little brother will be healed, and both of
her parents will be set free. I believe God is in the business of
freeing people, and it is his desire to have all people come to him.
Even though I don't have a theology worked out for a demon-possessed
mother, and a baby boy dying of AIDS – I do know that God is good, he
is just and he is loving – and it is in that truth that I put my trust.
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Posted in 8 Uganda by Jennifer Mitchell on 2/26/2010
It
was just a normal day of ministry. Schools...evangelism....preaching...utter
exhaustion....I felt myself slip into autopilot...just one more school
before lunch break...
We
walked up to the school and I opted to teach the older students for an
hour. We began by singing some praise songs in English, and then the
students sang to us in Ugandan. It was then that an older girl, about
my size, in the front row started stepping out...I thought she was going
to dance...when she suddenly collapsed on the ground...right in front of
me. Thinking she had fainted, I quickly ran to her and tried to lift
her into a sitting position. It was then that the headmaster said over
my shoulder, "Pray for her, she needs deliverance." "What?!" I thought
in my head... "We are in the middle of a school, in the middle of the
day, in the middle of me being exhausted...what the heck are we going to
deliver?!" I allowed those thoughts to go through my head for about
half a second before I lifted this beautiful 110-pound girl in my
arms. Martha, Lauren Williamson
and I took the girl, Kadogo, under a nearby tree and began praying. As
I lay the unconscious girl on the grass I was instantly filled with
compassion for this girl who was in desperate need of freedom. I
looked into her eyes, and I saw tears streaming down her face. The
teachers told me that she was demon possessed and needed deliverance.
The first thing I thought was, "I am not equipped for this. What the
heck am I supposed to pray?" But pray I did. We were determined to
see this precious girl free. I began to speak to the spirits of worry
and fear and witchcraft and tell them to leave, and surprisingly, they
did. Kadogo went from trembling and calling to her dead ancestors to
silently weeping.
Martha asked if she could say the name of Jesus, but she still could
not. So we kept praying. We learned that she was not a Christian, and
when we asked if she wanted to accept Jesus, she nodded her head. Even
though she was unable to speak, I led Kadogo in the sinner's prayer. I
prayed as hard as I could for this precious life. I quoted every
scripture I could about freedom and new life – It was all I knew how to
do. Amazingly, at the end of the prayer, Kadogo was able to say
"Jesus". I heard her whisper it over and over again. She was free!!
All three of us were in utter amazement of the Lord's good work. God
used an attack of the enemy to not only free one of his children, but
give her eternal life. God set her free!! It was such a beautiful
moment. Still in shock that God cast demons out through us, Martha,
Lauren and I could only pray and praise God for the amazing work that
he did that day. God put me in a situation where I had no idea what to
do, and he again used my weakness to do miracles. He never ceases to
amaze me. I praise Him for being so good! He loves his children and
he desires to set the captives free.
Praise God we are free.
We are free indeed.
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Posted in 8 Uganda by Jennifer Mitchell on 2/24/2010
The
World Race program talks about the different steps many racers go
through to get to the point of Kingdom Empowerment. They say the steps
are abandonment, brokenness, dependence, and finally empowerment. I
feel like I reached abandonment in Turkey.
This week I have completely understood what they mean by
dependence. Tim and Paul, our team leaders had to go to Kampala, the
capital of Uganda to get some work done for next month. They left Ashley Higgins,
an amazing woman of God and videographer, and me in charge. I was
honored for the position, but a little worried. I have no clue how to
lead as far as AIM programming goes, much less in the bush of Africa.
Nevertheless, off Tim & Paul went, and up Ashley and I steped to
lead the group of 12. Our week was scheduled for us to travel to two
different Bush towns and work with local pastors there. We packed up
on Monday and arrived late that afternoon. After a quick meeting with
the pastor, we went right into house-to-house evangelism. Our schedule
for the next few days was: Up with the sun, quick breakfast, then
teaching at local schools all morning, break for lunch, then
house-to-house until dinner, finally finishing the night with a crusade
or a showing of the Jesus film. Now, as excited as I was to have
tangible ministry this month, I had no idea we would be having as much
or as strenuous as we did. I am learning that ministry takes a LOT out
of you. By the time lunch came around each day, we were completely
exhausted....It takes a lot of energy to keep the attention of an entire
elementary school. When it came time to evangelize each day, I was
completely spent. I had literally no energy at all. I remember the
first day stuttering and stumbling over my words as I attempted to
relate the Gospel to a Muslim woman. I was completely weak. But
amazingly, it was in those moments that God did a miracle.
I was utterly spent – at the end of my own strength – after
countless confusing and stressful meetings as a leader, and hours of
ministry, I could no longer go on. It was there that God met
me. I heard him say, "Lean on me Jennifer, my yoke is strong". This
week, I learned the meaning of complete dependence. When I have
absolutely nothing else to lean on, that is when God can begin to
move. There were so many prayers prayed that I don't remember what was
said, so many people touched and I have no idea how – other than the
power of God. He worked through me when I was at my weakest. I think
he was able to truly work in the lives of others because I was no
longer in the picture, I was completely set aside and all ministry was
completely God. I love that.
God wants to get us to a place where we
are completely dependent on him so that He can be the one working.
I
hear him whisper to us all, "Lay down your own strength, and trust Me...I
am able."
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Posted in 8 Uganda by Jennifer Mitchell on 2/22/2010

Spiritual Warfare. Most Christians in the West hear that term and
instantly think of crazy over-the-top charismatics, or some witchdoctor
sitting in a smoke hut communing with the dead. However, here in
Africa, Spiritual Warfare is common jargon among Christians because it
is something that they face literally everyday. Here, it is more
common for people to seek the help of a witchdoctor than it is to see a
medical practitioner. People face spirits everyday. This week we have
been working in Bugobi, Uganda, a small bush town. Within a few hours
of being here we learned that it is a common practice for parents to
commit their newborns to the service of demons within hours of their
birth. Children wear amulets and bracelets demonstrating their pledge
to evil spirits. There are also people who practice child sacrifices
in order to appease the evil spirits. Literally everyone is walking
around under spiritual oppression and the Christians are bright lights
amidst a very dark environment. The people here worship demons and
believe that any health and wealth they have comes from them. In as
much as the people worship demons, they are also terrified of evil
spirits. They have many rituals and practices in order to keep the
evil spirits away. They are in such bondage and deception that they do
not realize that the thing they worship is the very thing they are
afraid of.
As Christians, we have to daily put on the armor of God. We are in
the middle of a battle here, and at times we can literally feel the
enemy at our heals. The first night in Uganda, we knew something was
wrong. Many of us were plagued by the spirit of fear and were
oppressed at night. Last week I slept a total of about five hours. We
could hear people screaming at night, and their chants drifted in with
the wind. The enemy was fighting very hard to get us to leave.
However, we are not children of the darkness, but children of the
Light. (1 John 1). We don't have to walk in fear because there is no
fear in Christ Jesus. I never thought I would become one of "those"
Christians, but I constantly find myself rebuking the spirit of fear.
Yesterday I found myself casting the spirit of infirmity off of my
teammate who was feeling sick. It is common for me to begin a praying
for someone on the street, "I rebuke every spirit of witchcraft on this
person, you have no power here." In Africa, everything is spiritual.
Illnesses are very rarely just illnesses, depression is very rarely
just because some one is having a bad day. Oppressive spirits run
rampant here and we can see as people walk around plagued by them. It
makes me wonder how much of the Western world is under a different sort
of spirit. Here, things are so active because the people are used to
that culture. In the West, it seems as though people are perfectly
content under their lethargy and spiritual dryness.
As much as it kills my skeptical, Western spirit to admit it –
Spiritual Warfare is alive and well...both in the bush of Africa, and in
the business world in America. Though we are battling different
spirits, evil forces are at work all over the world. Jesus even says,
"If you are not for me, you are against me." People all over the world
are buying into the lies of the enemy and following evil spirits rather
than the Truth and Light. As Christians, it is vital for us to not
only be equipped for battle, but to actually fight. God says that he
has given us the keys to the kingdom, and he has dressed us for
battle. The battle is his, and he has put us on the front lines.
Whether we are casting out demons in Africa or battling spiritual deadness in America...the battle is alive and well.
It is time for the Church to rise up and fight.
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Posted in 8 Uganda by Jennifer Mitchell on 2/20/2010

When I picture traveling evangelists, I usually imagine a bike, a
crisp white shirt, and a perfectly tailored answer concerning
salvation. That, or a sweaty purple suit shouting something about
fire, hell, and brimstone. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine
that I would become the very thing that I do not have a particularly
good taste for. In my mind, door-to-door evangelism was not only
ineffective, but was intrusive, and certainly not the Lord's plan for
me. One would think that seven months on the race would rid me of
planning my own life for myself...but I guess I still have more to learn
on the subject.
This month my team is in a tiny town in Uganda. We have no electricity or water, and are camping out in our tents indoors
because the bugs are just that bad. In the midst of these conditions,
my team has one directive – evangelize. We began last week giving a
whole new meaning to door-to-door evangelism, because when I say we are
in a tiny town in Uganda, I mean tiny. We basically go into
the bush every day and share the Good News to every hut that we
encounter. Enter: my cynical mind and skeptical spirit and you have a
perfect combination for Spirit-stifling. However, I decided at the
beginning of the month that I am in Uganda doing evangelism right now
because that's what I was created to do. God created me specifically
for a purpose, and if I believe that he has good plans for me, then
Uganda is part of those plans. So I decided that no amount of doubt
would prevent me from bringing Kingdom to these tiny huts in this tiny
village. We split off each day into small groups with our translators
and preach the Gospel to anyone who has ears. Each day has its own
challenges – one day it's a resistant Muslim woman, another day it is a
husband preventing his wife from faith, yet another day brings
translation issues – it seems like no amount of preaching will ever get
done....and yet, somehow, at the end of the day, I am amazed at how many
people confessed with their mouth that Jesus is Lord. One would think
that I would have learned the lesson of the simple Gospel(Insert Could
It Be That Simple) back in Kenya, but I am nothing if not stubborn.
Each day God continues to show me how much he loves the people of this world.
My heart skips a beat every time I get to say with a Muslim "I believe that Jesus is God and he is the only true God".
I am constantly amazed at the size of the harvest and vastly ashamed that the workers so few.
I grow increasingly grateful as I present the Gospel and trust that,
"at that time, it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father
speaking through you." (Matthew 10:19).
And I am boldly walking in the promise of God, "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance." (Psalm 2:8).
Look out huts – I am evangelizing.
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Posted in 7 Kenya by Jennifer Mitchell on 2/2/2010
What does it feel like to have all
of your debts completely paid for? What thoughts would go through your
mind if you never felt the burden of finances again? This week I got a
little taste of heaven as I watched God free a precious girl from her
burdens...
It was after dinner when Simone began her story. I did not notice
her much through the meal – she was a quiet girl, content to sit in the
background while other people carried on the conversation. It was only
after the meal was over that I began to think that God had a bigger
purpose for this quiet, beautiful young girl. Simone, a 15-year-old
girl, began telling us the story of her life with such honesty that I
began feeling the emotions as she expressed them. Simone is an orphan
whose parents died when she was young. Her aunt took her in, but did
not have very much to help take care of Simone. She lived her
childhood with barely a full stomach, and always on faith for school
fees. Simone ended up being brought to church, and it was there that
she first heard the Gospel. She quickly received and fell in love with
Jesus. She is very active in church and in her youth group. However,
at home she was constantly battling the enemy. Her uncle is a
witchdoctor, and would constantly try to curse her. Though Simone is a
Christian, I could see the fear in her eyes as she remembered evil
spirits tormenting her at night. I asked her what her burdens are and
she shared about fear from her uncle and the struggle to get her school
fees paid for. She shared with me her dream of becoming a lawyer, but
her doubt that she could do it because of finances. I found out later
that her school costs the equivalent of $135 for an entire year of high
school. One hundred and thirty-five dollars is the only thing that is
standing between this precious girl and her dream.

The
next day, our team prayed and pooled our resources and decided that we
would pay for Simone's school this year. So Martha and I hopped on
motorcycles to the girls' school about 30 minutes away. I then watched
a quiet, small girl blossom right in front of me. It was like a huge
rock had been lifted off of her. I watched as Simone jumped up and
down and smiled bigger than her face could hold. She was elated.
Words cannot express the joy that was in the room at that moment.
It was then that I began thinking about the situation from an
eternal perspective. It was almost like I could see God doing the same
thing for us. As sinners, we deserve nothing at all. Our sins compile
debts that we could never repay. We were suffering and dying under the
weight of it all. Then Jesus came and completely paid our debts in
full. Now we get to live in freedom, free from that bondage and
burden. Praise God that our debts are paid in full!
And the best part is, that God removed our debts, not because of any
merit of our own, but because he loves us that much. My team was
overwhelmed with love for Simone after meeting her just once. We knew
we had to do something to help her. How much more so does God love us
and want to give good gifts to his children!! Best of all, he paid a
debt that he did not owe, so we could be free – We are paid in full.
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Posted in 7 Kenya by Jennifer Mitchell on 1/22/2010
This month, God has been working on my heart about what true Christian living looks like. What does it look like to actually be
Jesus on the streets of a small town in Kenya, or the busy sidewalks of
America? I posted earlier this month that God showed me how simple
evangelism can be. I am beginning to think that simplicity is the
mantle that Jesus is calling me to in all aspects of life. As I was
painting a school building last week, I was thinking about the words
that Jesus spoke to his disciples. I thought about all of the lessons
he taught them and all of the stories he told. One rang true in my mind...
"And the King will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his
left. Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are
blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for
you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I
was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed
me. I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to
visit me." ~Matthew 25:34-36
As I was walking back to the clinic where we stay, I passed by
children who don't have shoes or pants...little boys no older than 10
begging for their next meal...sick people who cannot afford a
doctor...lonely hearts without any hope.
And then it hit me...
Simply, Jesus is all around me!
I think so often we Christians like to think the Bible is more
confusing than it actually is. We like to think that what the Bible
actually says isn't what it actually means. We do think so we don't
actually have to do anything about the great need that surrounds us. We
use phrases like, "Don't give a man a fish, teach him to fish" as our
mantra. Our great excuse. But Jesus didn't say, "When I was naked, you
taught me how to sew." Dear friends, there is such a great need all
around us. Jesus even told his disciples that the poor we will always
have among us. They are God's heart. The lost, the poor, the sick, the
broken – They are God's heartbeat. They are Jesus.
God is calling us to a simple life. When we see someone hungry –
feed them. Visit those in prison. Give clothes to people who don't have
them. How can we ever profess to love Jesus if we are unwilling to get
out of our comfortable lives and clothe ourselves with the scent of
poverty?
So I set out to begin living life with the eyes of helping Jesus. I
never want him to say that I didn't give him food when he was hungry.
Here in Bungoma, the need is great – at times it seems overwhelming,
but God is greater! So Martha, Ashley and I set our minds to always
stop for the one...to look at everyone with the eyes of Christ...to not be
so consumed with schedules that we pass someone by...and to seek God in
every situation. We have been trying to live this way for only a week,
but we have such incredible Kingdom stories so far!! I cannot wait to
share these experiences with you.
May we each strive to live the Simple Life. May we not be so focused
on our own plans for the day that we miss what God is leading us to.
May we be willing to sacrifice our time, our money, our possessions for
Jesus. There is always someone who needs the Jesus in us. May we be
available so Kingdom can come on this earth!
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