The Kenyan Big Three

Upon coming back from Kenya there were some huge cultural adjustments that needed to take place and some changes from my life before Kenya that had to occur as well. In those two weeks, God taught me SO much and I’m still learning so many of those lessons again and again to go along with many others. But, there were three huge lessons that God taught me, and that is what I’d like to share with you.

1) Spending time with my Love

-While in Kenya, we would wake up and have a quiet time. We would have team time where we would worship and pray. We would talk about how awesome God is while walking from place to place. No matter if it was a 30 minute walk or a 30 second walk. If we were walking by ourselves, we would talk with God. Basically…. We spent a lot of time with God, and man, was it good! So, coming back from such a God focused time was tough. Tough in the sense that spending 24 hours a day with my Love is much easier without distractions.  But, I learned something… I MUST SPEND SOME QUALITY TIME WITH MY JESUS EVERYDAY! Before this trip, I would be lucky to have a quiet time two or three times a week normally, but now… I gotta have it! I yearn this every morning. God has taught me the importance of… Him.

2) Fighting the enemy

- While I was in Kenya something so present in the thoughts of the people I talked with and even some of the fellas on the trip was: fighting and rebuking satan. I don’t know what, but while growing up this wasn’t that big of a deal. Wow, I was missing out on something pretty big.

There once was a time that I was dead; what’s more, I was a dead enemy of God. But God, in His grace and love, saved me and gave me life. He did this through the PERFECT sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I was made completely clean. It wasn’t by my works at all. How big of a slap in the face is it to God and Jesus’ sacrifice if we say that we gained that salvation by our own merit. But it’s also a huge slap in the face for us to think sometimes when we screw up with sin, “I’m just too screwed up to go before God.” So what am I saying, I have been made right with God! The End. Not, I have been made right with if _____.

Now, don’t take this all as a get out of hell free card. God made us right with Him, and by doing so, He pulled us from satan’s side to His own. On God’s side… we have been given victory! That’s why when God’s word says that when we resist the devil, he will flee from us.

“Sin has no more hold on me

You bought my life, You set me free

With all I am, I’ll worship You, My King!”

So, you see, over in Kenya, in our little 2 week “Jesus Bubble”, the work that satan was trying to do was completely obvious, but back here in the States… it’s not. There are so many distractions. And that’s how satan does it. He doesn’t need to use witch doctors over here. He already has so many outlets to take our eyes off of God and onto the world around us. So, a huge change for me has been this… Recognizing what is not from God and at that moment, telling satan to “get behind” me, to get out, to leave me alone! Cause the God that I’m with is with me now and always, and He’s given me victory over satan! Then, you know what I GET to do… praise God! And “He’s been… so good, so so good to me. So good, so so good to me…” Sorry, Kenya moment… you had to be there.

3) Being broken

-This is surely an ongoing process and it will hopefully continue to get more and more intense. So…

Going over to Kenya, I had it in my mind that there was a substantial possibility that may end up there for the rest of my life. Well, the very first night we were in The Bush, God told me, “Nope Michael. Enjoy your time here in Kenya, and I will teach you a ton while over here, but I have work for you back in America.” Well, bummer… not really. It’s always awesome to get another piece of the puzzle from God.

Well, remember that first night cause we’ll come back to that. So, as I’ve been told, “everyone that goes on a mission trip to Kenya has ‘their’ moment.” This “moment” is basically there moment of brokenness for the people around them and place in general. Well, there were a few times that I got kinda emotional and choked up, but I never had “my moment”. I thought about this for the longest time. How did I skip out on that?

Let’s bring this back to America… for the first few days/weeks of being back, I balled my eyes out on a few occasions. Now, this is typical for people coming back from a mission trip like this. They cry cause they’re homesick (of Kenya) or they cry because they worry about the people still over there, but no, I cried because of America. Huh? I didn’t like the good food, the warm bed, the_____…

Let’s pull all of this together, God didn’t break me while in Kenya (even though I prayed for that brokenness daily) because “Nope Michael. Enjoy your time here in Kenya, and I will teach you a ton while over here, but I have work for you back in America.” God saved my brokenness for here, for now, for the people that I come in contact with in a college town. I praise God daily for the salvation and how “I can’t imagine life without You”, but it kills me that on this campus alone, there are 1,000’s of people walking around that don’t have that life! Brokenness, I deemed it as one of the ugliest things to witness, but ya’ll it is one of the most beautiful things to experience. I don’t know what God has in store for me back home but I love going before His Throne broken, so the only thing that can happen is that He rebuilds me the way that brings Him more glory.

Kenya Mission Trip- Day 17

Day 17- January 12, 2011

Well, we got to the airport in Charlotte where I was greeted by my parents and little sister. It felt so weird saying bye to everyone even though we were all pretty much going to Clemson for the entire semester together, but by this point everyone was ready to go their separate ways. Well, me and the fam went McDonald’s. Seriously, this was the top of the list for me. McDonald’s is my definition of American food I guess. I wouldn’t of said it before but there I was craving some good ol’ American food and receiving a flat, greasy hamburger. Well, after falling asleep on the car ride back to Clemson like a champ, and apparently talking in my sleep the entire way as well, we arrived at the Clemson exit off of 85 where I was meeting up with my roommates to pick me up. Well, I was surprised with two of my roommates and 5 girls in this rando car. They had a sign and candy for me… I’ll take that any day. Well, you see there was one problem awaiting me after this exchange… When I left for Kenya, I left my keys and phone and all that stuff back in Clemson. Well, I left them at Wyatt, where the guys slept the night before we left… right? When we finally got through the snow and ice that was awaiting me and to Wyatt, I searched everywhere and couldn’t find them at all! This meant that I couldn’t get into my car, which meant that I couldn’t get my phone and read 1,000’s of messages (slight exaggeration) but more importantly, it meant that I didn’t have my keys to unlock my room. You see, at Hart’s Cove you have the capabilities to deadbolt lock your apt and you own room. I had never locked my room but right before I left for Kenya I decided that this would be the first time… AHHHH! So the first night back to normal life, I didn’t have: my car, my phone, my room, my computer, my shower, my bed, my clothes…

Kenya Mission Trip -Day 16

Day 16- January 11, 2011

The plane travels begin. After that meal at Carnivore (Ridiculous!) and the circus that is the Kenya International Airport, I am currently sitting on the plane to leave this place that I’ve come to love. Sure, I’m glad to be out of the corruption, but there is so much that I’ve come to love about this place! The beautiful creation, the people of Turkana… Samway! I just have God to thank for this opportunity and also for the serious work He’s been doing in my life and in the lives around me. I just hope each person on our team’s personal relationships continue to grow so much each day when we return.

Well, we’ve been doing this plane thing for the past 20 hrs (ish, time period changes throw me off), and I must say, Continental Airline does things right! Food was great; the bathrooms were large, and the movie selection is nice. On the other hand, Brussels Air sucks. All they have to offer is nice blankets, which yes, I did keep (illegally) as a souvenir. With all this free time I’ve been able to sit back and relax. I got another letter (my last), and yes as the letter says, God is faithful (Hebrews 6:10) to me, but even better… I know that same verse applies to Pastor John, Joel, John, Duncan, Regina, William, Cheboi… and all of the amazing Christian leaders of Turkana. He will not forget them, and with Him they are in such a better place than they would have been with only me! I’m having to distract myself for this flight with some C.S. Lewis (who, btw, I’m coming to find out is SO legit). I’m distracting myself from thinking too much about Samway and the fact that he will never experience this kinda plane ride or even the computer that I’m gonna type this on. The pencil and paper that I originally wrote this with is so foreign to most of them! Whew, after that thought, it’s time to hurry back to the distraction of C.S. I suppose.

Well, the moment we got off our Trans-Atlantic flight it hit me officially… our trip is over. I will still claim T.I.A. for everything that happens but instead of it meaning “This is Africa”, it will be “This is America”. I don’t know if I’m ready but oh well, I’ll have to be ready by the time our plane lands in Charlotte and I see that lovely mother and father of mine along with my beautiful little sis.

Kenya Mission Trip- Day 15

Day 15- January 10, 2011

For our last team time in Kenya, where we had 2 Maasai warriors walk in and watch our worship time. That was so awesome; one even joined us in singing…kinda. After we got done we crashed for a few hours of sleep before our morning safari. The morning safari… we saw everything from the day before plus a CHEETAH! It was awesome! Well we had to drive 3 hours on dirt and field and mud and rocks just to get back to civilization. Well, that was risky. Kenya has a lot of corruption and that corruption is still out in the middle of nowhere (where we were driving through). Well, as we passed a “farm” area, I see 10 guys sprinting out ahead of the 3 matatus (safari vans). They were trying to set up a blockade to trap us! I happened to be in the first of the 3 matatus and we got through because we busted through the blockade, but the other 2 behind us didn’t.  Oh crap! We were in some serious trouble here and the adrenaline pumping through my veins probably wasn’t helping my thought process. So in my mind, this situation was much more intense than it needed to be. Granted, it was still pretty intense. Well, our driver, William (45-50 years old), gets out to try and reason with the people to let the other 2 matatus through. At this point, I notice a machete handle sticking out under his seat. For the next ten minutes my hand was on it basically ready to do work on some Kenyan thugs that were carrying big sticks. Well, after ten minutes of tons of Swahili talking and most likely, their threats being paid off, we were on our way and the other 2 matatus finally joined up with us probably a ½ mile up the road a while later. I was freaking out, but when we were on our way… we were on our way and that was in the past. Well, the matatus got stuck in the mud once more before we reached paved roads. Paved roads have their problems too. There are random speed bumps in small towns, barb wire blockades in some places along the roadside. These are there basically for the same reason as we were stopped by the logs thrown out in front of us earlier in the ride. Fortunately after much prayer, we weren’t stopped. William shared with me how he has been shot at many times while driving tours as well. Wow, it kinda breaks my heart to hear about such corruption. I guess it’s true… T.I.A. (This is Africa). Also, by this point we are slightly behind schedule. Hopefully we catch our flight tonight in Nairobi…

Kenya Mission Trip- Day 14

Day 14- January 9, 2011

Well, from one journal writing of being full of food to the next. After the plane ride, we landed in Nairobi and went straight to the Maasai Market. That place was insane! You could get anything there but unfortunately I didn’t have enough money to buy all the gifts I wanted. Whenever the people see us mzungus coming the mzungu prices for the items come out… and they’re way higher than the normal price, so I’m out of spending money basically the moment I left there… still being followed by the people trying to sell me stuff or trying to trade for my shirt, a wife-beater that I’ve worn the past 3 days… ewww. Well, we went to Java House afterwards and all I’m thinking now is that was amazing! We had 1000 shillings to spend on dinner, and believe me, we all stretched that out well. I got a pineapple juice, orange Fanta, fries, bacon burger, and a New York cheesecake, to go along with the fruit salad, chocolate fudge cake, and red velvet cake that I helped people eat. Yeah, I may have gone over-board, and so did every other guy on the trip as well. The amount of food and change in diet was not good to do the way we did. I believe every guy would attest to that fact. Well, after we waddled out of there, we went back to Shalom House, and we got SHOWERS! Haha, it doesn’t seem like too great of a deal, but believe me, it was awesome! We did some more awesome and hilarious team feet washing before hopping in bed (thanks Brooks for being delirious). I was trading a bed and a mosquito net (skeptical one at that considering I woke up with a bite) for the starry night I once had in the sand (just one night before, if you forgot). It already seems far off while I’m only 30 hours removed from Turkana. Wow, that kills me!

Well, besides being “homesick” (of Turkana), our team was doing a safari. All of Bread of Life’s mission trips end this way apparently. We got on the matatus (safari vans) and rode about 6 hours on the bumpiest terrain ever, but when we arrived…this place was posh. Too posh. It kinda broke me to see this resort in the middle of nowhere that we were given  a chance to enjoy, while we passed boma after boma on the way to it that were still in 10 times better shape than the ones in Turkana. As we went out on the safari, it really was awesome that we got to see so many awesome animals: lions, giraffes, elephants, water buffalo… but throughout conversation we continued to circle back to Turkana and what God did there and what He was going to continue to do there. I really am enjoying myself and I’m taking this time as a complete blessing, but I’m taking it with a grain of salt.



Kenya Mission Trip- Day 13

Day 13- January 8^th, 2011

Well, Goodbye Turkana… We are officially gone from The Bush. Saying goodbye to everyone was… emotional. I mean, I even got kinda teary eyed, but having to get on the lorrie helped ease the transition considering we had probably 75 people on there. No, you don’t understand! I had literally ten different people directly leaning on me. There was even someone sitting in between my legs while I was standing up. So yes, I was straddling some rando Turkanan. The lorrie stopped in Kapua where we let many of the kids off for school. They skipped school to see the mzungus (white people), and they did get in trouble for it. 3 days ago we gave the Kapua school kids their shoes because they had to go to school the very next day. Well, Samway got his awesome camo shoes, but unfortunately for me, he stayed in Kapua for school like he was supposed to unlike some of the other kids. I was real upset about this at first. I was positive I wouldn’t get to see him ever again. Well… he was there in Kapua to greet us as we passed through and dropped some people off! He kept searching the lorrie for someone. I was SO awesome that he smiled ear to ear when I climbed up the side and he saw me. (Speaking of grinning ear to ear… just remembering this now is doing it to me.) Well after a while, some of the guys started throwing their hats off for the people to keep. Man, I had on my favorite hat! Throw or no throw… That’s when I spotted Samway again! I gave it to him, and boy, that may have been the cutest thing ever. This kid smiling, showing every tooth he had while wearing a hat that is so big on him that it is just about covering his eyes… Man, I’m going to miss him so much, but I know that God is so in control of his life. He can bless Samway immensely more than I ever could. Well, we arrived in Lodwar (we were almost arrested apparently) for a small plane ride back to Nairobi and… what’s up, we got to drink Sprite and Coca-Cola with our lunch! Eating too much and drinking too much carbonation… I’m kinda full now on this bumpy plane ride.

Kenya Mission Trip- Day 12

Day 12- January 7, 2011

Fast-forward more than 12 hours later from the last throwing up deal I shared about to about now, and I finally have the strength to write in my journal. I threw up directly after I laid the pencil down from yesterday’s journaling and then I continued through team time with zero nutrients in my body cause they were all scattered on the ground. I had to pray and sing worship songs in my head to give me energy and luckily, God answers prayer, and it helped incredibly, but by the time we got back to the boma from the laga, I basically passed out. This sucked big time because my sub-team was in charge of the Jesus film that night. You see, every night this week we set up a projector, screen, generator, and DVD player to show the Jesus film that has been translated so these people can understand. Afterwards, we have one person share their testimony and another person present the Gospel, Jordan and Sanders, respectively, last night. I could only pray for them since Mama Zavakos told me that I had to lie down and sleep. This was tough to do but this whole experience was the most humbling time I’ve ever gone through! You see, often people that love to serve find it awkward and really difficult to be served. Well, everyone on the entire team served me in some way or another. This was pretty awesome to see and experience. Well, after multiple times of waking up in the middle of the night feeling sick or… getting sick, here I am at 5:30 in the morning watching the sunrise with my Lord. Yep, the beauty and majesty of it all is pretty amazing! Today we are doing the food outreach, which will be awesome just to see the gratitude on each of the people’s faces. Though there has been a tremendous language barrier, there are some things like a smile or laugh that is universal.

A question I asked myself went farther than expected in my thoughts throughout the day… “Which would have been better, to get sick at the beginning of the trip or at the end, like I did?” Well, I realized that the end was the best time because it even makes the transition easier. Leaving Turkana is going to be tough, but going 2 entire days on 10-30% energy keeps the emotional good-byes at bay little more than they would be. I’m going to miss these “warriors of God” that I’ve gotten to meet, and I’ll definitely be praying for them daily. They have showered me with wisdom and love and serving so incredibly much… that’s the only showering that’s been going on for the past 9 days though! But you know what, now that I have time to sit down and think about the people and experiences that I’m going to have leave… it’s kinda eating at me. Hopefully the page I’m writing on doesn’t get ruined from tears… haha ok, I’ll be fine… hopefully. This will be the best night of sleep in The Bush, the last night sleeping under the (visible) Milky Way, the last night…

Well, I took a break from journaling to worship and pray in the church with these “warriors”. Such an amazing experience! God has really blown Himself up in my life throughout this trip, and I love it! Goodnight, it’s now time to watch shooting stars like this for the last time…

Kenya Mission Trip- Day 11

Day 11- January 6, 2011

We woke up this morning and were told that we were hiking a couple of miles into the dessert to collect and pile up rocks. Alright, no biggie, right? Well I write this an hour and a half later, and after lunch and a rest, I can honestly say that may have been the toughest day of work. It probably had to do with the give it everything I got mentality that I had since it was our last day of real work.

Pause… I just had to take a break from writing because I felt so horrible. Well after laying on a mat in the semi-shade for forever, I just wanted to throw up so bad. And that is saying something cause I haven’t thrown up since I was 8. Well I continued to lay and began praying then… there was breakfast and lunch before my face. Well, the claim to fame that I haven’t thrown up in forever is gone. This was big. No literally, this was big…volume-wise. I’m feeling alright now, just alright though. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again. Now it’s time for team time where we do some feet washing like Jesus did.

Kenya Mission Trip- Day 10

Day 10- January 5, 2011

Today our sub-team did VBS for the kids. There were so many! It was awesome; we got to do a skit where I was “the prisoner”. After the skit we went through the line and introduced ourselves. “Hello my name is ______.”  Wherever it got to me, all of the kids cut me off and yelled “MICHAEL!” You best believe I was swelled up with pride! Bob, the guy in charge of VBS, looks at me and says, “Michael! You will be their ambassador in Turkana!” Ok, when I get back, I’m packing my bags to stay! Later was the shoe give out time. I absolutely love these beautiful smiling faces! These kids have nothing and they’re still so joyful just to see us.

Kenya Mission Trip- Day 9

Day 9- January 4, 2011

Today our sub-team was in charge of women’s outreach aka our job was to straight up share the gospel. It was so good! There was the story of God being God and being Good, singing and dancing, and prayer. It was so legit and always awesome to have God’s Kingdom added to. Afterwards, we just had fun with them. At lunch, Mel gave me the opportunity to finally meet… Alice! She finally came to our boma. Well you see, Alice is the little girl that my older sister, Lauren, absolutely fell in love with while she was here in July. She sent me with lots of clothes and a photo album with a letter for Alice and her family specifically. Lauren told me that Alice was painfully shy and that she didn’t talk to boys and… dang, was she telling the truth! She wouldn’t even make eye contact with me. Well, I had Alice and her mom, Regina, look at the photo album. This may have been the toughest thing of the entire trip for me so far, and I’m still torn up real bad about it as I scratch this down, curled up in a corner hoping no one sees me. You see, Alice broke into tears as soon as she saw and remembered Lauren. Lawrence looks at me and tells me that a lot of times the kids do this because they get so attached. And now every fear and concern that my sister had for Alice at some came rushing into my heart for each person I’ve met in the past few days. What about Samway? What’s going to happen to him in the next week as we leave? The next year? The next… Nothing is certain out here in The Bush. Wow, I’m kinda heart broken right now and I can’t say I’ve been here often. This is kinda hard to swallow.

(Sidenote for the blog- God quickly comforted me in this and that was great. My being there in Kenya, on my own ability, did nothing to help these people,for their present situation and especially for their eternities. He is in control of it all, and He has invited me to join Him during this time with these people for His Glory. Basically, there was a lot of God happening in my life that got skipped in the journal).

After dinner we had our B.o.B. time (Box of Blessings) and after that… we got another surprise! ICE COLD WATER #2! It blows me away how amazing they’re treating us. Honestly, we’ve been treated like royalty here, which is extremely sobering because we’ve been complaining probably too much (food, sleep, etc.). It’s ridiculous how we’ve treated their gifts to us aka goat…fatty, chewy goat. Besides that, I’ve bonded so much with the guys on this trip and probably even a ton with the girls. This sucks. We only have 3 more days in The Bush.