Shared today from Rev. Tom Spence, Burns Flat (Oklahoma) CP Church How do you get from Burns Flat, Oklahoma to Eldoret, Kenya? The answer is not so much a “how” question as it is a “why” answer. Because God sent us. During December 2012, the topic of mission trips came up during the Ministerial Alliance meeting. Two of the pastors were part of recurring mission trips to Central America and to India. They invited me to attend saying another pastor is always a good thing. I let them know that I would know when the time was right. I didn’t want to go on a mission trip just to say I went. I needed to be called or sent or somehow know that God wanted me somewhere else than where I was already going 100 miles per hour in ministry. Besides, I had seen much of the world as a Marine. I knew from first had experience how blessed we are in this country. I had seen living conditions that would shock most Americans. I didn’t need to go to gain a greater perspective of the world. So I declined the invitation with the answer, “I will know when I am called to an overseas mission.” The next week I received an email. It was from Chriss Lusweti and normally I would not have read it. About 200 of the 300 or so electronic messages that I receive each day go unread. Many are mass mailings, blind copy shotgun blasts to huge lists, and some I actually signed up for at some point during some transaction knowing I would not have time to read them. But the message from Chriss read PRAISE GOD in the subject line. So I read it. He was looking for a speaker to teach and train pastors at an empowerment conference in May 2013. It was as if the conference was designed for me. Much of my life has been spent developing junior leaders, empowering people to do greater things, and in developing quality thinking skills. The invitation was so good, that I was skeptical. I swapped emails, researched both my host and this conference, and even watched some YouTube videos from the Eloret, Kenya area. I was convinced he invitation and conference were legitimate. In a world in which a prince in Nairobi only needs your credit card number and security code to share millions of dollars with you, this vetting process was essential. Once I knew this was for real, I prayed. The answer came quickly—yes! As soon as I accepted the invitation, God began filling me with scriptures that would bind the many topics together. They were Jeremiah 31:3, John 3:16, and John 13:34-35. These simple scriptures answered these questions. How long will God love us? How much does he love us? How should we respond to this incredible love? The Mission to Kenya was to equip pastors and leaders to serve their own congregations, but the unifying factor, fiber, and fullness experienced was love. For we were not sent to build another Cumberland Presbyterian Church. We were not sent to expand the denomination upon the African continent. We were sent with and delivered a message of God’s love. We were letters from Christ with a Burns Flat, Oklahoma Postmark. We were ambassadors for Christ sent from Dill City USA. You might have noticed that I use the term “we.” As soon as I told my friend and church elder Rick Ellis, he asked, “Can I go?” The team was in place. Rick and I seldom met during the ensuing 5 months but were both led along paths of preparation that would hit the target on the other side of the world. We also agreed that we would not only bless these men and women with teaching and training, but with Bibles and food. Over 300 Bibles were placed in the hands of pastors and church leaders during the course of a weeklong conference in May. Over 100 of these were in Swahili. In addition to the Bibles, reference sheets were prepared and copied and included in our checked luggage. At this point I will give thanks to American Airlines and British Airways for not charging us for excess weight on our luggage. Rick and I both limited our personal wardrobe and convenience items so we could get just a few more Bibles to Kenya. Most of the Bibles were purchased in country. We did have to spend a little extra in country to get the Bibles from Nairobi to Eldoret, but we arrived with more than 100 Bibles in our checked luggage. Upon arrival, we visited a refugee camp and two schools for orphans before the conference kicked off. Once the conference was underway, every moment was packed with instruction, demonstration, and discussion. Men and women sat for hours at a time on hard plastic chairs in a coated canvas tent and they were attentive. They were blessed with a teachable spirit and their hearts and minds were fully engaged. At the end of the conference and Sunday worship, we conducted home visits. This was a chance to witness with small groups. This had great potential for future visits—getting conference attendees out of the tents and into homes during the conference. For those interested in a more complete report on the Mission to Kenya, there will be a meal and presentation at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, 5 June 2013. The meal begins at 6:00 p.m., Kenyan Music Videos begin at 6:45 p.m., and the mission report begins at 7:00 p.m.
Posted on: Wed, 22 May 2013 20:27:08 +0000
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