We spent the last week in Mombasa, a city on the coast of Kenya and the birth place of missions in East Africa. We saw some really old churches, some tombs and monuments, you know the typical 'important historical location' stuff. But the parts I really enjoyed were hearing about the people who were there at the beginning. This German guy named Johann Krapf came with the Anglican church to bring the gospel in the 1880's and to this day the two churches he planted are the oldest in East Africa.Now, I have some opinions about the method of sticking a cement block church in the middle of the jungle when no one's ever seen a structure like it and gets freaked out by everything we call church, but the point is that God used Krapf to advance the kingdom in Africa. It's incredible how staunchly some of the locals have clung to their tribal beliefs despite over a century of exposure to the truth (if my bluntness in calling the truth the truth bothers anyone we can pound that one out sometime later). The first tribe Krapf shared the gospel with, according to one of its own members, has held on the longest to its ancestral, spirit and animistic worship practices. I wonder if someone missed a step along the way or failed to clearly communicate a vital part of the gospel, or if this tribe has simply chosen not to follow God.
Another experience we had was at a local church where the pastor's wife preached a sermon on revival. I was amazed at her wisdom and Biblical teaching on setting oneself apart for God to use and refusing to be lukewarm and serve two gods. I was so excited to sit in an African church that was entirely run by locals and seemed to be on the right path! She came so close to finishing well, but right at the end she threw in a point about spiritual revival leading to physical and financial blessing...to my very Prosperity Gospel sensitive spirit, this was like a stab right in the heart. How sad that the culmination, the end goal of revival or of a closer walk with God would be financial gain or physical comfort. That's NOT the point! A week later, I'm still praying and thinking about what it is in the African church that is so drawn to this idea.
Over all, I was simply encouraged in my time with God that I am walking in the right direction. I felt like I was lifted out of my situation for a moment and saw my life from a higher perspective, and praise the Lord it wasn't terrifying! Instead I felt great peace about where God is leading me and excitement about the work I can see him doing around and through me. How incredible that I can be used by such a mighty God...I am blown away by his power to redeem and his desire to use my weakness for his glory.
Hmmm...any other thoughts from the trip? Well, the trips there and back by bus were quite the adventure, but mostly a lot of mud, potholes that should really be called craters, and a bus quite illegally packed full of people sweating and bouncing around for nine hours! Once we were there I spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach at our guest house, and swam in the ocean for maybe the second time in my life. It was super salty, the tides were crazy, and I got stung by something (maybe a jelly fish or an anemone). I've now officially been exposed to the ocean in all of its glory and confidently say that the Great Lakes of Michigan are ten thousand times more enjoyable. :) But that was still much nicer than the semi desert I've been in for five months!
Well, I think that's about all the processing I can do for today. We have a Cultural Anthropology class all of this week that is about 7 hours each day and a few hours of homework every night so it's quite miraculous that I felt up to typing this out! If you think of it, pray for energy and concentration for this week.
Thanks for reading!
(If you'd like to see some more pictures, here's the facebook link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122746&id=558574223&l=e56afb815c )
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