The Humble Servant of God

I'd like for you all to meet my Kenyan friend and brother, Jay Jay. Or as Jill Senechal likes to call him "Pepe". One of the things I feel like I learned the most about God is how much He delights in His servants who humbly and daily die to their own desires or needs in order to serve and love others. I feel I was able to learn the most through the example of JJ. JJ, an old friend of Dennis Omondi's, was asked to help Jill host our team in Kenya as well as organize and administrate the Kenyan team. With Dennis in the states, Jill needed someone to help her with the loads of work that comes with hosting a short term team; also, it was important to have a Kenyan with her during any business transactions as it is commonplace in Kenya for a mzungu (white person) to be overcharged if not ripped off. JJ gladly accepted this task and took 2 weeks vacation from work in order to work with us. From the very first day in Mombasa to the very last day in Nairobi, Jill and JJ were with my team guiding us every step of the way and freeing us up to do the ministry which we came to do - disciple and cast a vision of discipleship with the Kenyan college leaders.

But this is not nearly the half of what God has taught me about service through JJ. I feel like we are impacted the most and even shown our own failings the most when we see someone who is doing it right and well in front of our eyes. This is one of the many reasons why discipleship works and an older person's association with the younger is the most important part of discipleship.

First of all, whenever I see a need whether it occurs right in front of me like an elderly person who drops something or I hear about something or someone in need and I am not in their presence, there is often times a hesitation to serve them or meet that need. This hesitation will often come from a variety of places. Selfishness: "I just have more important things to do right now. I feel bad, but what help can I be to them anyway." Laziness: "It's finally my day off. I just want to stay in and watch movies." Self-Consciousness: "They really don't want my help," or "We would both be embarrassed if I tried to help them." I think the last one is best explained with the example of chivalry shown towards women. With the world telling us men over and over again that women are equally strong and equally capable of taking care of themselves, it is hard to remember chivalry as an act of service these days. What makes it so hard is that self-consciousness, thinking that the other person does not want my help or service. Kind of hard to explain, and I digress. The great thing about JJ is that he doesn't really hesitate to help the needy or a friend. As soon as he sees the need, he's off and running to meet it. This made me really admire JJ in the end.

There are tons of little stories that could help you understand JJ's character and service to others, but there is one that illustrates this point the best. We were eating together as a team on our last night in Mombasa. As we got up to leave, Jill gives JJ some money to tip our waiter. As I walked out with Jill, she grabbed me by the arm and whispered, "I think our waiter is trying to pay JJ!" I looked at her confused. Once we got out of the restaurant, JJ came running up with a huge grin on his face laughing at the situation. "They paid me! Can you believe it! They thought that I brought all of you and so they paid me! HA!," JJ exclaimed. You see, we were a big group of mzungus and JJ is Kenyan, therefore the logical conclusion of the waiter was that JJ brought all of the business in and the waiter wanted to 'thank' him so that JJ might bring more mzungus in the future. JJ, Jill, and I rode home in Jill's car laughing and joking about the situation. As we were navigating through the Kenyan roads, JJ tells Jill to pull over to the side of the road in a specific place. JJ gets out without explaining and Jill and I look at each other thinking we are experiencing a cultural moment. 5 minutes later, JJ gets in the car and Jill asks, "What was that all about?" JJ responds, "Just meeting some people." What had happened was JJ knew some people in need that were on the way home, and he set it up to give them the money that he had so unexpectedly received. He gave it all away. No hesitation. No thought of keeping it for his own needs or desires. Like I said, he's someone to be admired.