African Missionaries
The following post was written by dear friends of ours who both grew up in Africa, attended Rift Valley Academy, and who have been giving their lives to pointing the unreached to Jesus and assisting the African church in reaching their neighbors.
“The photographer for the wedding needs somewhere to stay. And since the bride and bridesmaids are staying at our house, could he stay with you?” our Kenyan missionary friend on the other end of the line asked.
“Of course,” we answered.
And so it was, later that evening, two photographers showed up at our house to spend the night. We welcomed them and drank “chai” (milky tea) together before heading to bed. The next day was a big day…two Kenyan missionaries who have been working amongst unreached people groups here in Kenya, were joining in marriage. Celebration was in the air!
The next day was an exciting one… my husband drove the car carrying the bride and bridesmaids to the church… the groom came dancing into the church wearing “S” clothing and dancing to “S” music (the unreached people group he has been ministering amongst), there was a time of praise and worship that gets even these non-dancing western feet moving, the vows were said, and then there was the reception, in which the bride and groom had transformed into Maasai… they came into the reception hall decked out, and soon the men were jumping high into the air in celebration. What a party!
That same night another Kenyan friend working amongst the “O” people (another unreached people group) spent the night with us. She was to be interviewed the next morning by a local radio station about missions. She had many questions about what she should say, so we chatted and prayed with her over dinner before she headed to bed. Early the next morning we took her to the radio station, and then returned for “house church,” where we meet with a few other Kenyan missionaries, a yoga instructor and his girlfriend, a Kenyan comedian, and a couple of Indian Hindus who are “seekers.” It’s quite the eclectic group! We studied the Word, had chai and cake and laughed together, and headed out.
A little side note from my sharing about African missionaries: After leaving “house church” we managed to sneak in lunch with our dear friends Jon and Lilli, before heading on to the next event. Lilli, her twin sister Vicki, and I grew up together as boarding students at Rift Valley Academy. Being best of friends, we quickly became known as “the triplets”. We did everything together, from classes to sports to rooming together. And now, as my husband and I serve here in Africa, we are privileged to be on the receiving end of having children at Rift Valley Academy. Our four sons have attended there for years, enabling us to live in far-away places and now, currently, to travel to other countries to run trainings for outreach teams. We could not do what we do without Rift Valley Academy. Our children are being well-educated and discipled…we see the spiritual growth in them when they come home from school. And – to top it off – when they are sick, they are cared for by their amazing “Aunt Lilli”. What more could we ask for? The school is such a blessing to our lives…
OK…back from the side-note… after lunch with Lilli and Jon we headed to a graduation. Not just any graduation. A graduation for a class of 23 African missionaries who had just finished a very intensive one-year training. These missionaries hail from Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya. We had facilitated a week-long training for them back in November, and so we were excited to celebrate with them the completion of their studies and see them being commissioned to go out and serve as full-time missionaries. There were speeches…stories of how the Lord had changed the lives of the students through the training, stories of the Lord’s provision, prayers for the new graduates as they headed out, and of course some great African food afterwards. Another wonderful celebration!
When we arrived home that night, we sat down to reflect on the weekend. It was full of interactions with Kenyan missionaries. One of the privileges of living in Kenya is that God has blessed us with many Kenyan friends who have counted the cost, put aside good jobs and salaries, and are spreading the Word amongst unreached people groups here in Kenya. We have watched them struggle as their families don’t all understand the importance of going where the gospel has not been shared (after all, they have been educated…why let that go to waste?), we’ve watched them struggle to raise the support they need to go to “the field” (the local church is still growing in its passion for missions); we’ve had the privilege of praying with them and learning from them what it means to “Go” by faith, to live simply, to trust, to sacrifice. We’ve been humbled as they’ve asked us to give them trainings in team building and language learning (who are we to do that? Most of them already speak 3-4 languages!). We are blessed to call them our “brothers” and “sisters”.
We ask that you would pray for these beautiful people. Pray that the Kenyan church would grow in its love and passion for missions and help “send” these precious people who have been called to serve. Pray that the Kenyan church would see the need to reach out to the lost people who live right around them (there are all sorts of unreached people groups represented in the city of Nairobi). Pray that we as western missionaries would know how best to love, support, and equip these dear Kenyan missionaries to reach the lost along with us…that ALL tongues, tribes, and nations may hear the good news of Jesus!