Benya

Stolen Updates

2011-08-18T08:58:00.002-06:00

Hello all. I apologize for my recent silence / black out. I promise a real update from me personally by next week. In the meantime, Dennis Omondi gave me a good idea to just let all of you know of a few updates he has written during this time with our current Short Term Team from Denton Bible Church. Enjoy these three updates from the Omondis:

The first is an excellent challenge in regards to the Spiritual Poverty that reigns in Kenya along with some pictures of a conference we had in Ujamaa with BTCP alumni:

Spiritual Poverty

The second is another update with more pictures from Ujamaa:

Thursday Update

And the last is what you should click on if you only have time for one! Graduation Ceremony at Serve Kenya Ministries! With excellent pictures of the graduating class of 2011!

This Is Why We Are Here

Enjoy! And you will hear from me soon!

In Christ,
Ben

Teaching on Paul's Prayer for the Colossians

2011-05-19T10:50:00.002-06:00

Colossians 1:9-14

Here is a sermon from Benya on May 15th, 2011 at Word of Life Fellowship Church

"Spring" Update

2011-04-22T00:08:00.004-06:00

We don't really have a "Spring" here in Kenya. Actually, it is FINALLY starting to cool down just a little bit, although it is still quite hot. But it is not nearly as hot as it was last month. The rainy season has begun with little rains here and there and more clouds and slightly lower temperatures. It has been a relief!

I want to update you through a video here. This is a different video from the one below.

Also included below is another video from the 2010 Lausanne Conference that is my prayer for our church which is filled with very busy people who usually work 50-70 hours a week. I think you might find it important and applicable for you as well! Pray for yourselves, your church, and ours as well here in Kenya across the world, struggling with some of the same problems of modern life.

If you watch both videos, it will be about the time that it takes to watch an episode of Seinfeld that you fast forward through the commercials, but it will be of greater benefit. :)

Back to the Future

2011-03-02T10:27:00.002-06:00

No, no, no. Not that "Back to the Future". Although that is one of my favorite movies and probably my favorite 'trilogy'. I once had a birthday party as a young boy where we watched all three in a row. I think the day before that party I was really excited and was playing on a tree in my backyard singing "Power of Love". My brother saw me and it was ALL over from there. They STILL tease me about that :)

What I mean to say is that I am back to my future here in Kenya. God only knows how long I will stay in Kenya, E. Africa, or this part of the world, but for now, I am here until the next Missions Conference in 2013. That's one of the things that made leaving a bit difficult. The baby below, my nephew Lincoln, will no longer be a baby, and my grandma will likely go home to be in the presence of the Lord where she won't ever have to eat hospital food again ;).

From Going Away Party 2011

From Small amount of pictures I took while visiting the states

It was tough to leave again, but God was so gracious! The trip here included an extra 24 hours in New York City at the JFK airport due not just to snow, but to mechanical failure of the plane...and then a heck of a lot of snow.

From Small amount of pictures I took while visiting the states

When I arrived here in Kenya I was shocked at how American I was acting. Culture was tough, jetlag was the worst I've had, and the heat was ruthless in comparison to the winter in Texas. But now, a month later, I feel I've adjusted back here well. I'm feeling back in the groove and even better than ever in regards to relationships, ministry, familiarity with places, navigating the culture, etc. Overall I feel quite content and excited for what the Lord has for me here.

Classes and the Church are going on very well. I am teaching Bible Doctrine again in our night classes on Tuesday and Thursday and Church History on Wednesday mornings. The church is going well even though we run into our fair share of difficulties: church discipline, conflicts between members, death in immediate families. All part of the work I suppose. We had a good Valentine's Day dinner which I managed to survive and even have a good time :). If you know me well, you know I don't like events all that much, especially ones of this nature. Here is a link to the album:

WOLFC Valentines

One thing I have been very excited about is that a few people from the classes and the church are beginning to catch the smallest of visions, or perhaps at least the smallest of understanding that the church in Kenya really SHOULD do their best to reach out to Muslims and share Christ with them in an effective way. This is something I end up talking about a lot from the pulpit and in my classes. I can't help but talk about it. It's been a passion of mine for years. Here in Kenya like many places where Muslims and Christians co-exist, most Christians' default position is, "The Muslims have made their choice. It's impossible for them to come to saving faith in Christ." Which to that I usually retort, "And how were you saved? Was it because you were so smart or because God created new life in you doing the impossible for you?"

All that to say, I am excited for the people of the church to continue to grow in their understanding of God and His Word and my prayer is that it will never simply stay at understanding but will move on to application, action, and even mission! May God do a miraculous work in the Kenyan church and revive them to care more for God's fame than their own, to seek the heavenly riches over the earthly, and to sacrifice all out of love for God and an openness to His calling even to a place that is hard and a people who hate them. Would you pray that with me? Consider also praying that for the American church as a whole as well.

texas

2010-12-14T15:45:00.004-06:00

After a really relaxing and enjoyable transition week in Dubai / Oman with some great friends, I am back in Texas! I will be here in Dallas/Denton until the end of January through the Denton Bible Missions Conference

Once again I got to go on a really awesome hike in Oman, then later that week on a tour of Old Dubai complete with sharks, gold, spices, and a dhow ride across the channel. This is what I have pictures of, but the best things about my visit are simply moments enjoyed together with good friends, encouraging conversations, times of prayer, and learning how to best pray for my friends. Enjoy the pictures here:

Goodbye Cake, Oman, & Old Dubai

Please forgive the lack of updates. I've come to a place where I can't even remember what's the last thing that I wrote to you all about. Probably something about the trip out to Meru. Well since then, things have been busy as usual. Before getting on a plane to come home for a while, I was able to continue preaching a series on the Sermon on the Mount and complete that. Also, I was able to finish the Bible Doctrine Survey class Ujamaa.

With Dennis and I gone, the main person in charge is James Muthee. He will continue to lead the church leadership team and be taking his fair share of preaching as well. Please pray for James, Jacinta, and their baby Daniel. It's a lot to take on by yourself and there is a good share of issues that are coming up within the church as usual.

In the meantime, I will be here in Dallas / Denton enjoying Christmas, my family, my friends, and supporters.

If you want to see a few more photos of my trip to Ethiopia, a graduation ceremony, and a church Fun Day, you can go here.

God bless (Jhn 3.30), and thank you for your prayers.

Ben Warren.

Pictures, Videos, & Sermons

2010-10-20T22:25:00.003-06:00

Due to the fact that things have been VERY busy here in the Omondis' absence, I'm finding it hard to sit down and write a good update. So for now, I'd like to share with all of you some of the things I have been doing through Pictures, Videos, & Sermons!

Pictures:
This is our first Baptism Service. We were able to do this just before Dennis left on the 19th of Sept.

Baptism Service

In early October, I had the chance to go to a rural area about 5 hours from Nairobi. It was a LONG journey: 1 1/2 hrs. to Mombasa, 8 hrs to Nairobi, 4 hrs to Nkubu, 1 hr to Mitunguu, and 30 minutes on the back of a motorbike to get to our destination. It is an area called Meru. Daniel Gitonga, our Serve intern, grew up there and is hoping to return to his home in order to teach and train pastors and work with his father in ministry. Missionaries and other NGO workers typically don't go there, so they were very happy to receive us and their hospitality was amazing. I don't ever remember being hungry! I was sick with a cold during that time but God gave me grace especially on the day of our seminar where 50 people showed up. Three old men rode their bicycles for an entire DAY in order to arrive in Karoche where the church was. They spent the night, went to the seminar, spent the night again, and rode for an entire day back. They are hungry for the Word and willing to sacrifice in order to receive it. Pretty amazing! Daniel's father is also a very influential leader in the area who has been preaching and doing ministry for 40 years. He also has established an irrigation system in his town which has really blessed a lot of the local farmers. Most of the people there simply live off the land.

BTCP Trip to Meru

Just the other week, the young people of our church (really college age) put together a Mbuzi Choma (Goat Burn) party where they bought a goat, slaughtered it, cooked it, and ate it. I led them in a Bible Study on the link between trust/faith and obedience. It was a really good time and a blessing.


Mbuzi Choma (Goat Burn)

As for the videos:
Dennis had asked me to make videos of many places and since they are already online now, I thought I'd share them with you:

Inside the Serve Center!
Outside the Serve Center!
Outside Bathrooms At Serve!
Inside the Main House!
Just Before Church!
During Church!

And lastly, the sermons:

I have been preaching since Dennis left every Sunday. We are doing a series on Jesus' Discourses and Matthew. We started with the Great Commission and then moved back to Matthew 5. We are on Ch. 6 of the Sermon on the Mount now. Feel free to listen or download!

Great Commission (Mt 28.18-20)
Sermon on the Mount #1 - Beatitudes (Mt 5.1-10)
Sermon on the Mount #2 - Suffering Salt & Light (Mt. 5.11-16)
Sermon on the Mount #3 - Obligations of Obedience (Mt 5.17-48)

one year (!)

2010-09-15T05:08:00.004-06:00

Jerry Clark and his Team:
My life is a mess, but my heart is encouraged.

For any of you who know me well, you know I don't handle busy-ness that well. I need the occasional evening free and at least one day of the week where not much happens or is planned. In that sense the two weeks the team from Denton Bible was here was tough, but in another sense, they were all very encouraging. They taught very well and I was blessed by their teaching and by the trip up to Nairobi last week.

We had a week of conferences here in our area and a week in Nairobi. The men were teaching pastors who are all either current students or alumni of BTCP (Bible Training Center for Pastors) while the women were visiting ladies' homes from our church. Each evening we met back together at the Serve Center for an evening seminar on Conflict Resolution with Jerry Clark speaking. Jerry is on staff with Denton Bible and works with the Men's Ministry and Reconciliation Ministry (counseling couples with struggling marriages). Each night people packed into our small classroom even to the point where some people (me every night!) having to stand. Everyone seemed to walk away with one word in their mouths, "Wow". Then we had a team day with the men which was incredibly encouraging as Jerry gave us some wisdom about 'temperaments' that people have. Apparently I'm laid back and a perfectionist at the same time! No wonder I'm so conflicted :). The next day was a wedding which I stood in giving me the opportunity to where an African dress shirt. Apparently, according to the comments I received I looked "gooood".

We took a day off and then headed out to Nairobi for another conference on discipleship. I was encouraged and reminded of my desire to work for the kingdom of God by making disciples of men. Please pray that God would bring faithful men into my path and I would know how to lead them towards maturity.

For more pictures from the last two weeks go here: DBC Team 2010

The Omondis are leaving:
Next week Dennis, Allison, and Anjela Omondi are coming to the states for home service for 5 months. James and I are left in charge of Serve and James, myself, and two other men are left in the leadership of the church. I am anticipating a challenge here, because it doesn't seem like the workload will be reducing at all even though the workers are reducing. There is a lot going on in the church including this current "Vision" - click on it to see more.

Pray for the Omondis - for rest and spiritual rejuvenation, for their support raising and care for their supporters, and for their time with family.

Pray for us - to work with the energy of the Lord. To have precision in our times of preparation for class and studies; to use less time but be more effective.

Me?:
During all that crazy busyness stated above, I turned a year old. I left the states on September 5th, 2009. I've passed the year mark! Looking back, the amount of progress that occurred is....well, it's a lot! There's so much to learn! Culturally, I feel like I have been picking away at the ice of a frozen lake for a year now getting closer and closer. After a year, I've broken the ice, but I'm realizing that the lake goes down 200 feet deep, and it's very wide too. I'm sure you can measure it in volume as well...that's a lot of liters. Culture! Wow. So, one year. Is it 1/4 of the way through my term? Is it, "Wow, I've been away for SO LONG!"? I think it is more like, "Ok now I've officially started. Now I'm just beginning. I'll let you know if I say the same thing next year too :)

I'm good, but a little overwhelmed as usual. We are going to do a sermon series at the church over the Discourses of Matthew.

I will begin on the 26th of Sept with the Sermon on the Mount and preach through October.
I hope to make two trips - one possibly in early October to a rural region in Kenya NE of Nairobi with James and our intern Daniel Gitonga, and another possibly in early November to visit some friends in NE Ethiopia.
I am beginning Bible Doctrine Survey in one of our classes every Tuesday & Thursday morning.

I suspect that I will be coming up for air again around the second week of December when I come back to Texas for the holidays and the missions conference.

Prayer Requests:

Praise God for a good time with the team from Denton and all the ministry we were able to accomplish.
Praise God for the wedding that happened two Sundays ago. Many people from the church rallied together in service each playing their part to celebrate the union of Delvis and Elizabeth.
Praise God for one year in Kenya!

Pray for the church during this time without their official pastor. May we all grow in grace and learning. Pray for their spiritual growth and ability to stand firm as the leadership team leads them.
Pray for the Omondis and for James Muthee, Martin Murigi, Godfrey Ikanda, Esther Karanja, and myself as we lead Word of Life Fellowship.
Pray for me: spiritual fortitude, wisdom & discernment, faith/trust in God and not my logic nor emotions (I'm actually very logical AND emotional - another contradiction ; ) ), rest and energy which comes from God, and a focus not on my teaching but in the students' understanding.

New Testament Survey

2010-08-19T06:38:00.002-06:00

Today we just finished the Epistles of Paul in our New Testament Survey Course. By the end of it, I will have taught 13 out of the 27 books of the New Testament. It has been challenging, but very enlightening. I praise God for the privilege of studying and explaining His Word. Here is an attempt we made in class to summarize the books thus far with one word or phrase:

Matthew - Jesus as King
Mark - Jesus as Suffering Servant
Luke - Jesus as Son of Man
John - Jesus as Son of God
Acts - The Church - Foundation (Peter) & Spread (Paul)
Romans - Gospel of Righteousness
1 Corinthians - Correction
2 Corinthians - Defense of Ministry & Minister
Galatians - Freedom in Faith
Ephesians - Church
Philippians - Humility
Colossians - Worthy Life
1 Thessalonians - Future Hope
2 Thessalonians - Not Yet, so Stand Firm
1 Timothy - Guidebook
2 Timothy - Soldier
Titus - Practice what you Preach
Philemon - Forgiveness
Hebrews - Superior / Better

Easter Sunday in a Massai Village

2010-04-06T07:29:00.004-06:00

Time has passed as I have continued to work on this update. It is now Monday, the first day after Jesus' resurrection. Amefufuka! (He has risen!). Amefufuka kweli kweli! (He has risen indeed!) I was privileged to be the Easter guest of Lemsanya Ole Tisho. We went to his home, a Massai village about an hour from Morogoro, and enjoyed the Easter service which had an incredible choir, an easter sermon with many interjections of Bwana Yesu Asifiwe (Praise the Lord Jesus) and the above "amefufuka's", and a small skit in the Massai language about two families, one Christian, and the other traditional whose problems only became worse as they continued to go to the witch doctor for help. "Cast your burdens upon the Lord Jesus, do not multiply them by witchcraft," they said.

When they had a time of prayer, many people of the church came forward. We all raised our hands as a congregation and the pastor prayed for them in general terms asking God to heal them of diseases like typhoid, malaria, or even cancer. That God would deliver them from sadness and despair. That God would protect them by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus from the evil forces at work in this world. As he prayed, he touched each one of them lightly on the head, praying in general terms, but making sure he specifically encountered each person in need of prayer. I was already in front, but I wanted to join them. I wanted him to pray for me to protect me from spiritual attack which weighs down my soul with anxiety, or sadness, or loneliness, or a spiritual flatness. I didn't take that one step forward, because when you don't know anything about a culture, the safest thing to do is usually nothing at all. Then I wondered if my problems could be compared to theirs? I'm an American, and my opportunities are endless. I have support and a salary through generous givers and wonderful employment. I have food that does not make me sick nor hungry. I am healthy. As I look back, it could have been a good gesture to show them that I too am in desperate need of God's help at all times. I am lost and helpless apart from the Spirit of God. I stand condemned apart from the blood of Jesus. I too must abide in Jesus Christ, for without Him and His life from the vine infusing my life as a branch, I can do nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Tisho and his mjomba (maternal uncle)

BTCP Graduation in Ukunda, Kenya

2010-04-06T00:40:00.004-06:00

Dennis clapping for the graduates

James graduated with some men from Word of Life Church

Why was the trip to Kenya so good?
1) Fresh Eyes: I got to see the work we are doing in Ukunda, and even the place and people there with new eyes. Some eyes were fresh, some were wise, and my own were opened. Luke, a friend from language school who accompanied me on the trip brought the fresh eyes. John and Alan, the wise eyes. And through them seeing where I live and work, and the purpose and vision of Serve, mine were opened a bit more than before. I cannot tell you how valuable this was and is to me.
2) Home is People: Home is not a place nor things. Over Christmas I received a package full of wonderful things that reminded me of home: gum, granola bars (I have two left still), and other things like that. They reminded me of home, which is great, but they are not home. I visited some friends in the Middle East over Christmas. It was home there in the Middle East. John was home and we were in East Africa. Home is people. It was wonderful to spend time with John Brown and Alan Chamberlain to be guided, encouraged, and spiritually directed by them. As I reflect on this, I realize also that if home is people, then in time (not a short time, but in time) Kenya might just be home as well. That's an encouraging thought while in such a long transition.

Malaria, Initiation to African Mission Work

2010-04-06T00:39:00.000-06:00

Some would say that during this month, I have been initiated into African missionary work. Malaria. Praise the Lord, that he preserved me from this sickness until after my trip to Kenya for the BTCP graduation and a wonderfully encouraging time with John Brown, one of the missions staff with Denton Bible, and Alan Chamberlain, a Denton Bible elder. God knew that I needed that time in so many ways. Two days after returning to Morogoro, malaria kicked in. I'm glad for the experience in many ways, although I do not want to repeat it. The unknown is usually more scary than something you've already experienced. Now I know what it's like (the vomiting, the aching, the fever, the extreme weakness), and I no longer need to fear it :). I thought it was funny that on the fifth day after I had completed my medicine and was feeling better that I tried to sweep my room and had to take a break in the middle of it because I was too tired! My room is seriously very small. After about a week I was fully recovered and getting back into Swahili. Praise the Lord for my new friends here who took very good care of me.

Two Moons Ago: Swahili time

2010-04-06T00:34:00.002-06:00

Two moons ago I arrived in Tanzania. I remember just before I left Mombasa (Ukunda), I went swimming in my favorite spot on the beach, the one where there are almost no beach boys, where there is soft sand in the water and no rocks and sea urchins to step on, where there are the best waves at high tide. Full moon and high tide, waves that violently slam into your body and twirl you around like a squirrel in the mouth of a dog, except less biting.

It is a full moon right now (as I write this around the end of March), and although I have calendars everywhere that tell me I have been here two months, I'm reminded of the passing of time through the Swahili word for moon and month. "Mwezi". It is the same word.

I'm really enjoying the Swahili way of telling time.

7am is 'saa moja', 1:00, the first hour of the day. Think Biblically and you got the Swahili way of telling time. Hour one, saa mbili (2), hour three, saa nne (4) hour five, saa sita (6), time for lunch ... and so on. I have set my watch this way to help me think in Swahili more. By the time 4 or 5pm arrives, I feel like I have accomplished much because I've been up and actively doing things for 10 or 11 hours! By 7pm, it is the first hour of the night and the sun is shedding its last bit of light for the day.

If you get into more remote tribal peoples, they might tell years by counting rainy seasons. 10 seasons ago, 5 seasons ago, etc. I was reading a book by a Massai, the most well-known African traditional tribes located in Tanzania and Kenya. The author was relating his story about when he went off to boarding school. When he returned home for break, his father took a rope and tied thirty knots in the rope. He ordered his son to untie one knot every morning and when three were left, they would travel back to the school. This was back in the 70's, and life has changed rapidly even for traditional tribes like the Massai.

Right now I'm in my first rainy season. I've experienced 5 moons in Kenya and 2 here in Tanzania. As I write this, it is the 9th hour of the day, on the Thursday before Easter, the day that commemorates Jesus' institution of the Lord's Supper, our symbol of hope, forgiveness, and union / communion in Christ. In Christ. In Christ and He in us. Jesus spoke these words that very night:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ~ John 17:20-23

Morogoro, Tanzania

2010-03-02T12:35:00.003-06:00

Baba yetu uliye mbinguni,

jina lako litukuzwe.
Ufalmo wako uje.
Mapenzi yako yatimizwe
hapa duniani kama huko mbinguni
utupe leo riziki yetu. Utusamehe makosa yetu kama sisi tunavyowasamehe waliotukosea. Usitutie majaribuni, lakini utuokoe na yule mwavu. Kwa kuwa ufalme ni wako na nguvu na utukufu hata milele. Amin.

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’

We say this every morning before class during a short devotional time. This is the Lord's Prayer in Swahili and in English. About a month ago I asked you to pray that I would have friends here at the language school. I remember worrying so much about going off to Tanzania alone. A country I had never been before going to a school I'd never seen to be in class with people I'd never met for four months. What if I didn't make any friends? Will I be completely and terribly alone? "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." ~ Ephesians 3:20-21

God has answered your prayers abundantly. The community here is incredible. It is so diverse, loving, and encouraging. We have Catholic priests (Joby, Jackson, Prijo, and Shaju the Indian Fathers, Gideon from Ghana, and Michael from Indonesia) and sisters (Prerna from Northern India who I call 'Sista P!' and Cecilia from Nigeria), Lutherans from Iowa (Liz, Lu, and Kristen) and Finland (Leena & Erne), a family from Arkansas with Pioneer Bible Translators (Ben, Jennifer, Charis, Levi, Luke), and Presbyterian Koreans planting a church in a very small town in Western Tanzania (Qyn Hwan [Paul], Kim Sol Jeong [Jean], and David their son). Today actually was the first day I was able to find more information about the Koreans through conversing in Swahili since they do not know much English. It was exciting to get to know them a little after a month of just smiling. I'm also getting to know some of the teaching assistants, especially two Massai guys named Lemsanya & Kadeghe.

Our Massai guides and Swahili teachers up in the clouds: Kadeghe & Lemsanya

This is the other Ben from Arkansas.

So why did I worry? Why do you worry about things? Utupe leo riziki yetu - Give us today our daily sustenance, daily bread. Do not give us tomorrow's bread today, please don't do that! It will spoil. Just today. On Sunday I was joining Erne in an old sauna that some Finnish missionary built here at the school 20 years ago. Apparently saunas are a really big deal in Finland and they find it even necessary in a hot climate like Tanzania. Anyway, there I was sweating until my fingers were pruny with Erne, the Finnish Lutheran, and we were talking about how we shouldn't plan or worry about tomorrow because today's trouble is enough on its own. Then I suddenly thought, "If that were something I believed, wouldn't the most worry-free time of the day be the evening?" The day is over and there is nothing more to worry about since tomorrow has not arrived. Lord, give us the grace to live this way. I know I need that because my mind so easily moves toward the future.

Swahili has been great. I feel I've improved a lot and can carry on a very simple conversation as well as read kids books with the help of a dictionary. For some reason I really enjoy languages and even grammar...oops did I say that? Over the last week I read a story called, "Pilipili Hoho", which is about a boy who grows green bell pepper for a competition at school. One of the bell peppers, or pilipili hoho, grows to be the size of a watermelon and for some reason has legs. It's my first official book to be completed in Swahili and a delightful story. I got 80 new words from it that I'm now working on memorizing. My favorite verb is 'kutekenya' which means 'to tickle.'

Blessings to you. Thank you for praying and for allowing me the privilege of learning Swahili in such a beautiful place and with such beautiful people.

The mountain side is filled with villages and farms at a steep slope.

Prayer:

Pray for continued diligence in my studies of Swahili.
Pray for the seminars, conferences, and BTCP graduation that is happening in Kenya this month. I will be traveling next week for the graduation on the 13th as long as I have my passport. I gave it to the language school office when I arrived for visa purposes and haven't seen it yet. When I told the head teacher about that today, he seemed surprised. So pray I get my passport back and if I do, pray for safe travels.
Pray for the student Bible study Ben and I started - for the gospel to be evident.

A Kick in the Pants from D.A. Carson

2010-02-20T11:26:00.002-06:00

"There are preachers who so loudly declare their love of preaching that it is unclear whether it is their own performance and their love of power that has captured them or their desire to minister to the men and women who listen to them. A church organist may buck every suggestion that a young, new musician be permitted to serve in this way, and pretty soon the reason becomes clear: the organist's self-identity is so bound up with the public performance of music that any thought of serving people has been suppressed, to the point that the thought of being replaced is intolerable.

As someone who has taught seminary students for more than fifteen years, I worry about the rising number of seminarians who, when asked where and how they think they might best serve, respond with something like this: "Well, I think I would like to teach somewhere. Every time I have taught, people have told me I have done a pretty good job. I get a tremendous sense of fulfillment out of teaching the Bible. I think I could be satisfied teaching Scripture."

How pathetic. I know pagans who find satisfaction and fulfillment by teaching nuclear physics. In any Christian view of life, self-fulfillment must never be permitted to become the controlling issue. The issue is service, the service of real people. The question is, How can I be most useful?, not How can I feel most useful? The goal is, How can I best glorify God by serving his people?, not, How can I feel most comfortable and appreciated while engaging in some acceptable form of Christian ministry? The assumption is, How shall the Christian service to which God calls me be enhanced by my daily death, by my principled commitment to take up my cross daily and die?, not, How shall the form of service I am considering enhance my career? This is not to deny that Christians may derive joy from work honestly offered to God, whether that work is vocational ministry or research into the properties of quarks. But it is one thing to find joy in the work to which we have been called, and another to make joy the goal of life, the fundamental criterion that controls our choices. It is one thing to weigh a Christian leader's evaluation of our gifts, and another so to focus on our perception of our gifts that self-worship has crept in through the back door. It is one thing to think of people as a live audience that will appreciate our displays of homiletical prowess, and another that passionately shapes each sermon to convey the truth to God's people for their good...

In short, Paul not only wants to be with [the Thessalonians], he wants to be with them for their good. And that is a demonstration of elementary Christianity. Christ Jesus came to us, choosing to be with us - and this for our good. He chose the path of self-denial, dying in excruciating shame and degradation so that others might live. He calls us to serve the same way, not by lording it over others but by open-eyed death to self-interest, for the good of others. This stance is not a mask to be donned as a disguise at religious conventions, but the hallmark of Christian living. Paul understood the point and lived it out. His prayers for believers are nothing more than an extension of the same love that he bore them."

A lot of life

2010-01-29T13:37:00.003-06:00

Somtimes I feel like I'm completely surrounded by living things here. I woke up a couple of times in the night last night to hear the stray cat and kittens that live in my ceiling playing noisily and a weird sound that I could only assume was a monkey mating call of some kind...maybe a bush baby? Not sure. Then there's the neighbor's dog Dusty who sometimes gets into fights with the other neighbor's dog, Blacky. Or the cats that belong to the owner of Blacky. One of them always finds its way inside my house and would spend hours if I'd let it rubbing its sides back and forth along my legs.

Geckos or small lizards scurrying along the wall that supposedly eat some of the bugs in the house. And there is the unfortunate lizard that occasionally finds itself on the inner side of the hinges just before the door slams...smush. Some of the lizards outside are quite beautiful with green bodies and black heads with white spots, or blue-green bodies and a beautiful orange head.

Then there are the insects. The occasional roach that I try to ignore and hope goes away. The small spider that I always see when I lock the handle on my outer metal gate. The long legged spiders in the corners trying to trap ants. The trains of ants marching toward the destination of anything sweet. Medium size ants, big ants, and tiny sugar ants that find there way into anything unsealed. Black ants on my porch that seem to confuse my finger-nail clippings for food crumbs because they pick them up and take them home. I love to watch one line of ants moving along in one direction with one ant that is moving in the wrong direction. They have a head-on collision every two seconds, yet they seem to just stop short of bashing their heads together as if they were purposefully doing it to give one another a quick greeting before they continue their busy search for the sweetness.

During the rainy season, the mosquitos come out in full force and I invent new ways of killing them. Doom, the death knell of all insects in an aerosol spray can, is great for a large gathering of them near their dark refuge of my black bookcase. The classic move: a round of applause. The wrestlers' hand slam that knocks them out of their sense on to the ground with just enough time to squash them with my foot. And then the experimental 'grasping at the wind' where I hope that they will end up in my clenched fist.

Every morning I get to hear the sound of many, many birds. When I first arrived I remember thinking that they are kind of loud! But now I've become used to it. My favorite one makes a low-pitched sound a little higher than when you blow across an empty glass bottle. The sound comes out once, twice, and then many times in a row like when you drop a basketball on the court and let it bounce until it stops.

Then there are the monkeys around the area. Gray territorial ones, endangered black collobus monkeys with white tufts of hair extending from near their armpits, small, light colored, turquoise balled ones, and large, stocky, confident baboons sometimes with their young offspring clinging to their mother's stomach underneath looking like what we all imagine a demon to look like - big head, small body, large ears, beady eyes, and sharp fangs.

As long as we are outside, there are the cows grazing with their herdsmen and crossing the roads. The goats are all over, some tied others running loose, some males chasing the females for a quick sexual encounter, and one in particular that I saw itching it's chin on the edge of the road looking suicidal, as if it wanted me to run over its head.

Even though the mosquitos terrorize my skin, the ants ruin my food, and the monkey steals my spaghetti noodles from my house and a few pieces of bread from my grocery bag in the back of the car, that I was worried that the cat in my ceiling was a rat and relieved that the cat was a cat, and it seems that the goats are sometimes trying to get hit by my car, reflecting on these things make me grateful for being surrounded by so much life.

Tides of the Heart

2010-01-24T12:54:00.003-06:00

I am transitioning out of Kenya for the next 4 months.

What? Did you say you are leaving Kenya? That’s right. I’m not exactly getting on a plane though. Bus, to be more precise. In early February I’m bussing it to Morogoro, Tanzania where I will spend the next four months in classes learning to understand and speak Swahili. I’ve been looking forward to this time where I can completely focus on this one thing rather than juggling lots of other studies and ministry. I’m excited about what the Lord has for me in Tanzania but at the same time life here continues to lead me in a perpetual state of transition. I’ve spent a little over four months here in Kenya, learning, adjusting, breaking down, building up - being reminded of God’s goodness. Now I’m going to go to another country to do the same I suppose. Ni bahati yangu (It’s my luck) that I am staying in E. Africa. It’s not exactly the huge jump in cultures that it was from America to Kenya.

High Tide, Low Tide:
This month has been hard when it comes to culture. They say people tend to get hit with culture shock again at 3 months and 6 months. I guess mine came a little late. I was able to go to Dubai to spend Christmas with some really great friends. I had a blast with my friends and really enjoyed seeing Oman and the Emirates. When I came home though I got hit with it. Empty apartment - no Dustin. No friends that I’ve been close with for the last 5 years like the ones I just visited. Ughh. Loneliness. After a week of battling through that, I felt much better. I had a great week after that. Then….Ughh, loneliness, unmotivated, bleh. Is this depression? Man, it feels like I’m depressed! A week later. Huh, I feel better now.

A man alone in culture shock is like the tides of the sea. One minute he’s strong in his own strength, self-confident, out conquering the land, sand castles, and the tourists who want to remain dry. The next minute he’s weak, receded, and rather static.
This is how I’ve felt this last month. Up. Down. High tide. Low tide. Tossed helplessly by the moon’s gravitational pull of self reliance, culture shock, and loneliness. Unless…

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Ask God. Ask God for wisdom. Ask God for wisdom in faith, no doubting. Ask God for wisdom, wisdom that would allow you to see all the wonderful and beautiful things of Him that obliterates all the things you feel you lack and are in desperate need of. To be grateful, rejoicing in His goodness, daily mercy, and provision. Instead of setting your mind and heart on your circumstances, divert both mind and heart to God’s deeds, works, and wonders and ask yourself, “The God who did these things, can he be trusted? Can I trust this mighty God with my own circumstances, my own heart, my own life?” In light of his works, all creation cries out a resounding and confident “YES!”

Psalm 77:11-15
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

This has helped me in many ways. Focusing on what I believe I need and lack gets my heart into a lot of trouble. Focusing on God and His goodness and glory does not fulfill what is lacking but instead causes it to recede like the tide of the ocean. And instead of being static, unmotivated, still, and depressed, I am at peace with God in the low tide.

Safari Story

2009-12-19T09:35:00.005-06:00

Here's a great story about the safari Dustin & I just went on. We arrived at the Tsavo East Park at around 11am. The plan was to drive around looking for animals to see (Elephants, Gazelle, Impala, Zebra, etc.) until about 1pm when we'd arrive at the lodge where we would have lunch. We saw a few animals, it rained a little, and as I was standing up with my hands up in the back of the safari van with the raised rooftop getting wet from the cool raindrops and the cool breeze lacking the humidity of the coast, I realized how draining the Mombasa humidity can be and how refreshing this was.

We came to the road for our lodge, but there was a river running through it so we went the long way. Our driver was in a hurry as we were late for lunch so he sped on through the bumpy road. We were going much too fast to see anything so I continued reading my book. The nice young German couple were standing up in the front, their hair and faces becoming redder and redder with the African dust kicked up by other vans in front of us. Suddenly I hear a scream and see a small yellow thing flash in front of me and I feel a little splatter on my face. I looked to my right to see a beautiful, yet headless, yellow bird on top of my small, black N. Texas dufflebag. A small pool of blood gathering next to its missing head.

"Ahhh!" I said.

I picked up the bird's body and hung it over the side of the van. I was going to drop it, but then decided it would be best to document, thus the pictures. One of us finally said what everyone was thinking, "Where's the head?" The young German woman looked down to her feet and screamed, "Ahhh!" We all laughed a little more, took a few pictures and had a good story.

Brown-Outs: Reflections on the Universal Church in Kenya

2009-12-19T09:29:00.004-06:00

All of Kenya electricity operates out of one company: Kenya Power & Lighting. It is run by the government and is very unreliable, so much so that many have called it, Kenya Power & Darkness. Black outs are frequent, candles and flashlights always ready. You never know when it will go, and once it goes you never know when it will come back, anywhere between 20 seconds and 12 hours. But the strangest kind are what Dennis Omondi calls, 'brown-outs'. The fan makes one revolution every 5 seconds, the lights are dim and pulsating, and it confuses appliances so much that it is better to turn it off.

Brown-outs. Somehow, it describes the state of the Church in Kenya. "You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Mt. 5:14,16). It's a bit dim here. Some pastors, some churches, and some 'Christians' are like those confused appliances - it would be better to just turn them off because they are doing more damage than good. Some have no light to shine and therefore no good works to give God glory. If you take the church in Kenya as a whole, it's average is a brown-out. But if you start digging deep, looking for a few good churches, a few good men and women that shine with the brilliant light of Jesus Christ in all they do, there is hope for both Lighting and Power in Kenya.

Some have told us,
"You mean that the pastor of your church isn't all about money and offerings? He's not greedy for power, riches, and fame? That's weird."

"I've never been to a church that preaches God's Word for what it actually says!"

People from our church, helped raise over $2500 and some traveled 1000 km across the country to be present for Evan's burial (for the full story of this faithful man's death, click here) in Busia. They left with 14 people and returned with 4 or 5 people. Why? Because the family turned on them in anger looking for someone to blame and judge for such a tragic and awful event. The light of Christ shined bright by the few into the brown out of the many.

Pray for the church in Kenya, that it might truly be a city set on a hill. Pray for our local church, Word of Life Fellowship. Our church is maturing but is not lacking in its own occasional brown-outs.

Something terrible has happened that will be used for God's good purposes

2009-11-25T01:56:00.002-06:00

November 24, 2009.
Yesterday morning one of the most faithful young men of our church was killed. Evans, brother to Archie, best friend to Alfred. Evans was 23 years old and his days were numbered until this one. We were expecting many more, but God knew from the day Evans was born that this would be his last day.

Alfred and Evans were driving to work as they usually do at around 7:00am in their truck for Darad Hardware. A minor accident occurred and their side mirror was broken. When an accident occurs here in Kenya, you pull over and discuss with the other person what happened, make negotiations, and then go to the police station. They decided to all drive to the police station. Evans rode with the other car, Alfred followed in the truck. The other car passed the police station and continued on, Alfred followed. They made it 10 minutes outside of Ukunda, Alfred overtook the other truck and blocked their path. As words were being exchanged between Alfred and the driver, Alfred heard THUMP, and Evans was lying on the ground. He was hit by some blunt object wielded by someone in the truck. Alfred picked his best friend off of the pavement and put him in the truck racing back to Ukunda, to the nearest hospital. When Alfred and Evans arrived at Palm Beach Hospital, only Alfred remained. Evans was pronounced dead on arrival. And the names which were always affixed together, "Alfred and Evans", are now separated.

Senseless greedy wickedness!

As family, friends, and church members grieved in the hospital, Alfred was giving a statement to the police and the police were tracking down the other vehicle. The car was found, then the driver, but not the man who hit Evans. The driver was locked up in the police station. And so was Alfred until all could be sorted out.

Alfred, Alfred, oh poor Alfred! His best friend is dead. He should be here with us finding some spiritual comfort in the presence of the redeemed! Not sharing a cell with people responsible for killing his best friend!

Corrupted wretchedness that takes righteous life!!

For what! FOR WHAT! A side mirror? 5,000 shillings ($65)? Is that how much life is worth now?

Alfred was finally released last night at around 7:00pm.

Something terrible has happened that will be used for God's good purposes. How? How can this be good? It cannot be good. Wicked man cannot be saved from indwelling wickedness...unless, unless he gets a new heart, unless, unless he is born again. But that's impossible. True. But God is not. God is not. This is God's specialty. He is Creator. He can speak to nothing and even nothing will obey the sound of his voice in fear and shape itself into something. He is Redeemer. Even when His creation is marred and corrupted by sin, He can buy it back out of its wickedness and pronounce it clean, pure, and innocent once again. Born again. Redeemed. This is what He does.

Redeem this wicked act Lord Jesus, I pray.

I was thinking about just how sad this day was. I was praying for Alfred, Cecilia, Archie & Tabitha, Fred & Tabitha, and Evan's family I don't know. All I could say was, "Lord listen to my spirit and intercede on my behalf," and this verse: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27).

Evans is with Christ, and it is so much gain to him, so much better there than here. We live on, and for us to live is Christ as we live in Him and with His message of hope and salvation to the world. And as we live in a world of suffering, we will suffer, some with a greater pain than others. But God has spoken through His apostle Paul who suffered greater than all of us and considered it all as 'this light momentary affliction [that] is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison' (2 Cor 4:17).

Please pray with us for the family and friends of this great young man who loved Christ while he was here and now loves Him in the deep presence of God, greater than we can comprehend.

"smoke from a thousand villages"

2009-11-05T10:43:00.004-06:00

(This is a long one but worth the read. Feel free to go to the bottom summary points)

When David Livingstone arrived at the missions station in S. Africa in the mid-1800s , there was one thought that drove him, compelled him, and stirred up a passion within his soul. He would look to the north. The land was unexplored, and thus unexposed to the truth of the gospel, that Jesus Christ came to redeem from sin all who would follow and believe in Him for salvation. In the morning sun, Livingstone would look to the vast plains of the north and see smoke rising, smoke from a thousand villages who had never heard.

Livingstone and many other missionaries contributed to the romantic understanding of Africa that I can only understand when I look out at the open plain. It is a feeling I only receive when in the villages. Quiet, beautiful, serene and simple. Sometimes I wonder if Africa as a continent would have been better off untouched by modern life. Sometimes I wonder if this world would have been better off untouched by modern life, the 'noise, hurry, and crowds' that our Adversary focuses on to keep us from a contemplative life.

There is something growing in my heart that both stirs an exciting passion in my soul and an uncomfortable fear in my flesh. It is a greater desire to be a witness for Jesus Christ among those who have not clearly heard, and more specifically among the Muslims of this area. I am finding that my desire to be a teacher of God's word in order to lead believers to maturity is not contradictory, but complementary to my desire to be a teacher of God's word in order to lead the lost to faith in Christ and maturity in that faith. That they are one in the same.

However, I still feel conflicted. Longing with a deep desire to lock myself up in the office and study God's Word, study Islam, study Swahili, drink deep of knowledge and its useful purposes. And yet also longing for a deeper understanding of the people and engaging them with my whole heart.

Question: In one day, is eight hours of study, worth one hour of wise words finding their origin in God and given in a timely manner? (seriously, what do you think?)

In all this flood of impractical thinking, I remember that I've only been here two months. God is leading. God is growing my heart. God is working. God is my shepherd, and I am his sheep. My only responsibility is to hear the voice of my shepherd, and to follow him. The shepherd is the one who feeds, loves, and leads his sheep to the green pastures, the still waters, and even through the valley that we might trust Him in all seasons.

On a practical note, October has brought:
- an opportunity to preach at church on the meaning and significance of the Lord's Supper
- James & Jacinta our national teammates had their firstborn son, Daniel.
an outside bathroom at the Serve Center which will be used a lot once we officially open up to the public. It is our desire to use this place as a resource and training center for the pastors in this coastal region.
- Several teaching opportunities for myself. Worship team Bible study on Spiritual Disciplines, weekly devotionals with the Team, a study with college students in Mombasa over Galatians for all of November, an informal class on Ecclesiology for the church leadership team at Word of Life.
- An increased Swahili vocabulary
- I've been able to get to know some of the other missionaries here and talk with them about learning from them more about evangelism in this area.
- Many small opportunities from sharing Christ on the beach to having lunch with the caretaker of my apartments and his brothers.

Looking back over the month I can see that a lot is taking place. I need to learn not to measure my worth upon how much I accomplish in a day (or in a year or ever for that matter). No one can accomplish much in one day, but in 365 of them a lot can happen. Whether or not it is worth something or just chaff driven away by the wind, is up to God who breathes life into our work and causes the growth. We learned in church last week that we are farmers. A farmer is to work very hard, but ultimately what he does is plant a seed, bury it under ground, and wait for this magical thing called 'growth' to happen. God is that magic. Praise God! Because none of us have any ultimate control over the hearts of men. Growth is an impossible task for men, but farming is not.

Pray that I'd be a faithful and hard working farmer, planting seeds of faith in believers and unbelievers alike with the Word of God and the Gospel of Grace & Peace, today and for the next 20,000 days if my life remains and Jesus tarries.

In Summary:
- I have a greater desire to share Christ with those who do not believe.
- And yet a greater desire to study, study, study
- Right now I'm doing a lot of studying and teaching Bible studies
- I'd like to create a balance by spending some time learning how to share Christ in the villages and building stronger relationships in the church.

Praises:
- Increased learning and adjustment to life here in Kenya
- God's leading and direction in my heart
- An increase in our team unity

Prayer:
- To be a faithful, hard-working farmer
- To walk closely and personally with God and be daily amazed by God's love
- To be patient throughout this first year of ministry and to not put too much pressure on myself

Poem on Missions from a Friend

2009-10-13T10:29:00.002-06:00

Go to the people,
Live among them,
Learn from them,
Start with what they know,
Build on what they have.

But of the best leaders, when their work is done, the people will all remark,

"we have done it ourselves."

That sounds great. Pray with me that I might actually know how to do this through God's grace and enabling in my life.

Excerpt on Edwards

2009-10-06T12:11:00.002-06:00

The following excerpt is from Iain Murray's book, "Heroes".

"What Edwards Has Left Us"
#4. Edwards' great lesson is the call to cease looking to men and to live to honour God alone.

Ask Edwards what he considered is ever the first need of the church, and his answer is very definite. It is 'humility', for pride is the peril ever nearest to us. It was pride that brought down the Northampton church. It was pride that led the eighteenth century to glory in the delusion of its supposed 'Enlightenment'. And in the way it can turn even the best of things to its use, pride is the most subtle of temptations. Orthodox faith, good scholarship, able preachers, successful congregations - these are all desirable things, but pride can ruin them all.

We want revival, but revival where pride is not mortified will quench the Holy Spirit...

Pride is the cause of the idolatry that is hateful to God. Congregations can idolize preachers, preachers can idolize congregations. In Edwards' life we are taught not only by his words but by his history, that we are to 'cease from man'. The praise of man one day may turn to opposition the next. We are not to depend on human nature. 'Beware of man', is the injunction of Christ. And the warning is most needed when it seems least necessary.

To the Bible's question, 'What is man?' Edwards knew the right answer: man is 'a leaf driven of the wind, poor dust, a shadow, a nothing'. And of himself he says that he was empty, 'a helpless creature', of small account, and needing 'God's help in everything'.

There is one text more than any other to which the life of Jonathan Edwards leads us back. It is at the heart of the Resolutions he wrote as a young Christian; he preached it in Boston at the age of twenty-seven when he said, 'the creature is nothing, and God is all'; and he delighted in it the longer he lived. The text is 1 Corinthians 10:31: 'Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' To exalt man is to disown the purpose of God that 'no flesh should glory in his presence'. All good is given to believers - all grace, all revival, all redemption, all eternity - that we might be abased and find our all in God. Whatever the hardships, the persecution or the disappointments in things temporal, the churches brightest and happiest days are those in which she is learning to sing, 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory' (Psa. 115:1), for this is God's preparation for the world where all will say,

Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen (Rev. 7:12)

I'm Two Years Old.

2009-09-27T10:41:00.002-06:00

I'm sitting here in my living room in Kenya under a ceiling fan that was just installed thinking about how I can summarize my first 3 weeks here. As I adjust to life here in Kenya, stick out like a sore thumb, and learn all over again how to do basic tasks I've been doing for years, the theme of the 2 year old continues to come up again and again. Anjela, the Omondi's daughter, just turned 2 this week. She's had 2 years of experience now in Kenya. I've had a grand total of 3 months. So, I'm a two year old? Yep. Exactly. Other friends I have that are just entering the mission field have expressed the same kinds of feelings. One realized that his teammates' daughter knows the English alphabet better than he knows the Arabic alphabet! Hi, I'm Ben Warren. I may look 28 years old, but really I just turned 2.

Reminding myself of this is helpful. I think a large part of me expects to be able to jump right in to ministry here. I feel awkward when someone asks, "What do you do here?" I say, I'm working with Dennis and Serve. They say, "Well what do you do?" I say..."Figuring out what I will be doing" Remembering I'm a two year old takes some of the pressure off of myself that I need to have an established ministry already. Jerry Clark from Denton Bible came out last week. As we traveled around and spoke to many pastors and church leaders, he told me something he had heard from Mel Summrall: "When you come to a new place, you can't expect for the people to catch your vision or listen much to you. First they have to know you, then they have to like you. This has to happen before anyone is willing to follow you or hear what you say."

So this is what I'm doing. Getting to know people. Learning Swahili. Learning how to live in Kenya. I'm a student. I'm a 2 year old. I'm a missionary.

Here are some pictures of my home in Kenya

The Electric Shock of Culture.

2009-09-27T10:30:00.001-06:00

From Kenya House Pictures

On Thursday morning, an electrician from the church who also sells used furniture and fans, came to my house to install a ceiling fan that I purchased from him. Once it was up and running I was very happy to have some air moving in the main room. Dustin and I went out to meet with Dennis and came back ready to make some dinner. I grabbed the empty coffee mug on my table and went for the fan's metal regulator box on the wall to turn up the speed of the fan.

"Ahhh!!"
"What?", Dustin said.
"I just got shocked!", I said, in a loud voice one might consider a yelp.

When the electrician returned, he found that the metal box had pinched a wire against the wall, exposing the wire and running a current throughout the entire box. Looking back on it, the shock felt familiar to a shock I received one summer afternoon at one of my Dad's jobs when I grabbed a loose plug by its sides. Both my American and Kenyan shocks probably ended up around the same voltage. In Kenya all the electricity runs at 220 volts while in America it is 110 I believe. So I think I received an American shock by an indirect exposure through the box of my Kenyan fan switch.

The whole situation became a lesson in culture, as I began to question whether or not I was sold a bad fan and taken advantage of, as happens often to people in Kenya, especially mzungus (white people). I don't think I was taken advantage of with the ceiling fan but it brought some interesting thoughts and I'm glad I experienced this little 'shock' in culture.

My question: Is an untrusting attitude just as bad as a deceitful one?

I've been pondering this and I'm not quite sure of the answer. I know that after a while I can easily grow a hard heart to all the people here in Kenya who will do whatever it takes to get your money - either through stealing or through deceit.

My conclusion for now: I would rather be generous and trusting (but not naive or gullible), then be stingy and untrusting. Which character qualities would you rather have? Exactly. I'm going with the former by the enabling of the Holy Spirit.

(Let me know what you think! Do you have any advice for me? Any thoughts. I'd love to hear from you!)

Sometimes we talk about how America's spirituality has declined due to the love of money and its prosperity. You would think that a less prosperous country might be able to have a greater spirituality without this distraction. Sadly, this place is FILLED with the 'love of money' especially in this area which has a high tourist population. Did you know that poor people can be just as obsessed with the love of money as the rich? Last week one pastor in Nakuru exclaimed, "I will not die poor!", as we discussed the validity of the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel is a different gospel, not the good news of Jesus Christ, because its central focus is not on salvation in Christ, but on physical possessions and money. As we continued to share the true gospel from the Scriptures with this group in Nakuru, the same pastor said, "But what about prosperity?" As if this was something that had to occur for all those who follow Christ. What do you think? Did Jesus Christ experience a 'prosperous' life? Did Paul? Did they die rich men or poor men? Respected by the world or persecuted by it?

Week 1 out of...oh wait, I live here now!

2009-09-20T09:11:00.001-06:00

I wrote this last week and have just got to internet to post it. It's a bit outdated, but it'll do:

Well, I am here in Kenya now. I hope to send this off before we travel up country to Nakuru, north of Nairobi. Chris Cobble, Jerry & Linda Clark, and Janis Seville from Denton Bible Church came on the 11th so it has been busy and will be busy until the 19th. This is probably good for me because I have had a very difficult time since last Saturday when I left my family. Leaving them turned out to be SO much more emotional than I thought it would be. Having Dustin Moore travel with me helped a lot.
Once I arrived it was even more overwhelming. "Can I make my life here? What have I done? What has God done?" There has simply been way too many things happening at once and I've been extremely overwhelmed by everything that I suddenly own here. Some people describe it like you become a two year old again and you have no idea how to do anything anymore. Culture shock, plus jetlag, plus emotion of leaving = overwhelmed.

Friday was a very encouraging day. We went back to Ujamaa where I taught church history last summer. We spent the whole day there at a BTCP Alumni conference where there were about 20 alumni from the area that gathered for some teaching and fellowship. I got to see some of my old students and enjoy their greetings. When we began, we sang a couple of swahili songs - no instruments, just voices and clapping. Hearing the pastors sing praises to our God in Swahili reminded me of why I came. I did not come because I thought it was better to live my life in Kenya than America. I came for the people. I came for the believers who need teaching, encouragement, and discipleship.

Thank you for your prayers. I sent a few emails out describing how I was feeling on Thursday, and I believe God is answering many of them through this small encouraging moment on Friday and others. There are many months ahead of adjustment, culture shock, and emotional breakdowns. But I had a good day, and I am thankful for it.

A story for my nephew

2009-09-01T16:15:00.005-06:00

Here is a little comic I created for my nephew. I pray that he learns early what it means to be a disciple of Christ, one who follows after Him wherever He leads.

*You can click on the images to get a closer view.

10 Days or "How Deep the Father's Love for Us"

2009-08-27T11:02:00.002-06:00

Pray:

That I would have a greater knowledge and faith of God's overwhelming love for me.
For goodbyes and transitions.
For my family, especially my Mom, as I depart for Kenya.

With 10 days left before I depart for Kenya, I've been reflecting on one major thing. God's love for us, God's love for me. I was in a wedding last Saturday, and during the service they had a time of worship. A hymn they sung stayed with me for a couple days. "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" below are the words to this wonderful hymn.

You see, what I've been thinking about is how central to our Christian lives it is to know and believe God's love for us. If I could grasp this love, its height, depth, breadth, and length, if I could know this love which surpasses knowledge, then I would be 'filled up to all the fullness of God' (Eph 3:17-19). This was Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. It was a request for the impossible - to know that which is beyond knowledge, to comprehend something that has no boundaries, measurements, or limits. Its height takes us to the very throne of God (Heb 4:16), its depth pierces through us even to the division of soul and spirit (Heb 4:12), its breadth is as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12), and the length of the steadfast love of God is everlasting, enduring forever (Ps 136).

If I would truly know and believe in God's overwhelming love for me, I would long to love him in return and please him in all that I do. My greatest struggles with sin would be countered by this love because I would choose God over any lesser thing. My joy would be found in Him, my acceptance would be found in Him. I would not fear man nor what man can do to me because I am accepted in the Beloved of God. I would not do my work to please man and gain praise, but to give all glory to the Father whom I love.

This is not something that just happens immediately, but I must daily meditate and believe that this is true asking God to increase my faith and knowledge of His love and to increase my love for Him. But as this increases, so will my joy, my holiness, my compassion for others, my desire to shout and sing and teach of His glorious majesty and steadfast love.

Pray for me. Pray for others. Pray for yourself, "that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; and that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God."

"How Deep the Father's Love for Us"
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Departure Date

2009-07-29T20:39:00.002-06:00

My departure for Kenya is set:

09/05/09

Pray for my final preparations this next month. I'm very excited to start moving forward in these final steps to the field.

It's weird how all this preparation and work has been put in the front end...and now it is time to

BEGIN.

Dearborn?

2009-07-14T19:58:00.001-06:00

Here's a little bit about the city I'm in right now. I just returned this evening from the mosque that they show in the video.

A dream of Jesus

2009-07-13T20:20:00.003-06:00

"You know I've seen Jesus. He's beautiful. I was sleeping and in my dream he came to me in a beautiful white robe. He had leather sandals, a long beard, and a white hat. He looked just like the imam from the mosque."

"What did he say?"

"He told me to, 'Walk with me.' He took me to a beautiful, green hillside and we just stood there and looked at it."

He told us this after an hour and a half of Muslim / Christian apologetics and debate. Then they had to go. We have his number and hope to meet with him this week. God willing, we will have a chance to share some verses with this man, for example,

‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. - Rev 3:4-5.

Please pray that we might have the opportunity to share such things from the Scriptures with him. Many Muslims have dreams and visions of Jesus Christ, but they do not come to Christ until after a second experience with a Christian or the Bible. Pray that he will put his faith in Christ and that the Lord Jesus would lead him to "lie down in green pastures...beside quiet waters..." and restore his soul in the path of righteousness (Ps 23).

Pray for dreams and visions
Pray for the tired and weak who long to be freed from the burden of Law (Mt. 11:28-30)
Pray for the individuals we have talked to (they all need Jesus)

Dearborn

2009-06-29T20:46:00.004-06:00

In two days I will be heading out to Dearborn, Michigan where I will be participating in a 3 week evangelism training course.

If you are interested in what type of evangelism, and why Dearborn, contact me and I'll let you know.

Please pray for my time there. I will be in classes from 8am-3pm and then in the evenings we will put to practice what we've learned by going out to the community and sharing the message of the Father and the redemption offered through His Son.

The program is from July 5 - 26, and I have heard it is very intense. As a good friend of mine who has done this program said, "Pray that you won't get in the way. Your most effective witness is to let the light of Christ shine through you." So I ask you to pray for this, the ministries up there and for the hearts of the people we will be speaking to.

I will try to be better at keeping you all informed during my time up there. Pray for safe travels. I'm driving alone to Memphis on July 1 and to Chicago on July 2 where I'll stay with a friend of mine for a few days before heading to Dearborn on the 5th.

Recap:

Pray that I won't get in the way. My most effective witness is to let the light of Christ shine through me.
Pray for the hearts of the people I will be interacting with.
Pray for the ministries in Dearborn reaching out to these people.
Pray for my travels.
Pray that in many ways this training will prepare me to be a good witness to the people in the South Coast of Kenya; pray also that it will help me to train the believers in Kenya to engage these people who are spiritually perishing right next to them.

Graduation, 100%, & the Missions Conference

2009-05-15T19:58:00.007-06:00

A lot of great things have been happening in the Benya world!

Graduation:
Last Saturday, on May 9th, I had my official commencement ceremony from the Missionary Training Institute. It was a wonderful and encouraging time that I got to share with my family and some friends. The last two years have been challenging but very rewarding from class to my internship with DCC to the support raising process.

Support:
And Praise God, I have finished support raising! I am at 100% of my monthly needs and about 58% of my one time needs. However, the remaining 42% should be taken care of through the monthly donations rolling over through August (my estimated departure). Our team, however, is still support raising for a project in Ukunda. Ask me about it if you are interested.

Thank you for going on this journey with me. If you have been praying, know that you are a part of this and I'm extremely grateful. Rejoice with me because God has answered your prayers.

Missions Conference:

For those of you in the Denton / DFW area, I'd like you to come celebrate with me all the great things God has done and is doing at the Denton Bible Missions Conference: Love Your Neighbor. You don't have to be a part of DBC to come and I'm positive it will be worth your while. Details are below. Click on this link to REGISTER.

The conference will be a great event to . . .

Get to know our missionaries: DBC has 73 missionary families sent out from our body serving around the world in a variety of ministries. We hope to have over 50 of these missionaries here at the conference. You will have the opportunity to hear them share with the conference, attend one of their break-out sessions, or visit one on one.
Learn about DBC missions: The conference will highlight several of our field ministries and offer break out sessions for in depth discussion of each of our key ministries.
Be challenged with solid teaching: Mark Young (Executive Pastor of Missions at StoneBriar Church, Professor at DTS and President Elect of Denver Seminary) and Tommy Nelson will be challenge us on loving our neighbor
Get involved: Opportunities for local and international involvement will be highlighted throughout the conference
Bring the whole family: there will be a childrens program on both days that will take the kids to far away places like China and Kenya while having them back in time to be picked up. Kids last year loved the event and it motivated whole families to begin praying and participating in outreach.

Conference Details:

The conference is on Friday night May 29th from 6 – 9 PM (doors open at 5) and Saturday May 30th from 9 AM to 2 PM (doors open at 8AM).
The cost is free but we are asking everyone to register. Lunch on Saturday is $5 per adult and $2 per child and requires a ticket purchased prior to the event.

Reflections on Disparity

2009-04-14T11:18:00.002-06:00

Disparity.

I've been thinking about this word a lot lately. I promise I'll make this reasonably short.

This last month I was able to spend a week in Memphis with 140 college students from the college ministry of Denton Bible Church. It was a great time of service, learning, and reflection on the need for Christians to infiltrate culture and be a witness in all areas of life which include rich and poor, black and white, not allowing our cultural biases or inner prejudices keep us from engaging in cross cultural ministry here in our own country.

Sadly I only took 3 pictures. The one above is at the Civil Rights Museum that is built around the motel where Martin Luther King Jr was killed.

I also have been able to teach a lot this last month and I am continuing on with my Church History class on Monday nights for two more weeks. But on to the word at hand.

Disparity.
Martin Luther King rose up to fight, but not to kill. He rose up to challenge, but not injure. And they killed him. He recognized the disparity between white Americans and black Americans, all citizens of the same nation but one being treated as less than human.

Disparity.
Why does a group of men and women get to come to a church on a Monday night and learn about Church History, when some PASTORS elsewhere in the world have never even heard that Christ is returning...yet still have faith in Him and follow Him?

Disparity.
Why do some people live in incredible luxury and wastefulness, while others simply long for the basic needs of a human being? Water. Bread.

Disparity.
Why are we able to gather in some places with thousands of Christians while some entire nations do not have the same amount of believers as our typical SMALL GROUP?

Disparity.
Why do we have multiple choices of English translations when many people groups have no Scripture in their language to guide them to the truth of Christ?

Perhaps why is too philosophical, theological, impractical of a question? Maybe the question for all of these is WHAT can we do about this massive gulf of difference between our world...and the rest of the world.

Yes, Christians are missionaries and disciples of Christ wherever we are and there IS need everywhere. But what should be done about the disparity? This word just keeps staying in my head. Disparity.

I think the answer is found in the heart of God who crossed the ultimate gulf of difference, the ultimate disparity and came to redeem the world in Jesus the Christ.

Pray with me for more laborers for the harvest, 'for the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few' (Mt 9:35-38).

Quick, someone join the Benya support team!

2009-04-04T13:23:00.002-06:00

So, the other day I was looking at how much more monthly support needs to come in for me to be at 100%. I had just registered a new support team member and so I took my total and minused what I have coming in right now.

(Suspenseful moment)

I have exactly $666 a month needed! Isn't that a little crazy? Someone needs to join quick! I don't want to stay at that number for too long :).

I'm sure it's fine......

Alright, who's been praying?

2009-03-09T10:38:00.006-06:00

Alright, who's been praying? Come on. Fess up. Because surely someone has! Missionaries don't have 23% jumps in their monthly supporters in one month. This just doesn't happen! And yet it has. God has been knocking my socks off with people who are interested in joining the Benya team and being a part of the work in Kenya. For example, last week I had 9 appointments. Out of those, 7 of them wanted to join the team. Out of those, four of them already have turned in the paperwork and are already starting to give! Unbelievable! But shouldn't it be believable oh me of little faith?

Things are getting quite busy as everything I am doing this semester is hitting at once: Spring Break Mission trip to Memphis with College Life (March 15-21), teaching 3 sessions of OT Survey (starting 3/23), teaching 6 sessions of Church History (starting 3/23), along with continued support meetings. I'm starting to wonder if God is going to bring in my support early just so I can rest for a while before leaving!

Will you leave as soon as your support is raised?
On this side of August, no. I'm still planning on being in Denton early June for the Denton Bible Missions Conference and going to Dearborn, Michigan in July for 3 1/2 weeks of training on how to share Christ with Muslims. I am becoming more and more convinced of the necessity of this training in Michigan so that in my ministry with Word of Life Fellowship Church and in pastoral training I can encourage them to local outreach and evangelism of the Muslim people in the South Coast of Kenya.

Please pray:
- For more people to join my support team and for my one time support to be raised.
- Pray for my teaching this next month - Old Testament Survey / Church History
- Pray for the Spring Break trip to Memphis - for hearts to be conformed to Christ.

Immediate Fruit?

2009-02-12T10:39:00.003-06:00

The hardest part about support raising in my opinion is the waiting. We are typically not very patient people, humans that is but especially Americans. But a lot of support raising is simply waiting on God to move in the hearts of the people you meet with to sit down, pray, look at the budgets, decide whether or not they can support you, and then fill the forms out. It takes a long time to get all that done when life is hectic and kids get sick and jobs get demanding. I think God really uses this whole process to develop missionaries before he sends them out to the field.

How would missionaries react if 100% of their support came in the first month they started support raising? I'd probably be pretty overwhelmed and simply not ready to leave yet! Also I might go to the field expecting the same kind of immediate fruit in the ministry. "Immediate Fruit" - well there is an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. There is absolutely nothing immediate about fruit if we are involved in the planting, watering, cultivating, and waiting process. It's the same with ministry, and the same with support raising.

Praise God, I have been making significant progress and it has been very encouraging. I was at 40% in December and now I have 55% of my monthly support covered. Praise God for His provision!

Please pray:
1) For my patience and faithfulness in the support raising process.
2) For God's provision in God's timing.
3) For the many other things I am attempting to juggle at the same time: Class on Islam, Discipleship, teaching a Church History class and 3 weeks of OT Survey in MTI after Spring Break, Personal Reading, etc.
4) Most importantly pray for my own faithfulness in prayer. "Lord place in Ben and place in me daily a stronger heart of prayer and desire to pray which is our great and wonderful privilege as redeemed children of God."

FUN-draising...

2009-01-08T11:17:00.003-06:00

That's what my Spring semester will be full of: FUN-draising. What is 'draising'? Don't you worry about that...because it is FUN.

The chart above describes my financial needs for moving to Mombasa, Kenya by August. The pictures are of pastors that I met in Kenya and signify how many givers I need at varying amounts per month.

If it comes to mind, please pray that God would provide and allow me to discover who He has given to be a part of the Benya team!

Graduated but not Graduated

2008-12-16T17:01:00.004-06:00

Well,
15 books,
576 hrs. of class,
30 projects, papers, & presentations,
1 year of internship with practical ministry training at Denton Community Church,
2 months of teaching, preaching, and observing in Kenya,
and 3 semesters later,

I have finished Denton Bible Church's Missions Training Institute. There will be a graduation ceremony in May along with several people from Denton Bible's BTCP/BTCL classes.

It's been a challenging journey but extremely rewarding. Not only have I been blessed with an incredible education, but I feel like I truly have been trained and prepared for ministry on the mission field. And the coolest thing about all this is that my teachers have now become my bosses. I now know these men both personally and professionally and they know me. I have seen first-hand their character, their family life, and their spiritual life. This will allow me to submit to their leadership in a trusting manner and follow their decisions without reservation yet still feel comfortable enough to give my own input and opinions. I will be sent out from Denton Bible Church as a Denton Bible commissioned missionary through SERVE, the missions agency of DBC. My own church has trained me, prepared me for ministry, and is now sending me out to continue to work under their authority and leadership in Mombasa, Kenya.

I cannot imagine better circumstances and a better situation to serve God in missions. What a blessing it has been to be equipped in this way and to continue the journey with such great and humble men of God. I am honored to be in this place. I thank you all so much for your prayers during this time, your financial support to allow me to intern at Denton Community Church for the past year, and for joining with me as a part of gospel ministry both in your own areas and with me through your support.

Please pray for the other graduates as they continue their own journeys to the mission field: Tania Woodruff (France), Ray Franks (France), Chancey Graves (France), & Clay Cooper (my roommate looking towards the unreached).

P.S. For those of you interested in pursuing missions, I HIGHLY recommend this training program. So sign up for a Missions Stint and get started down the road as ministers of the gospel to the nations. It's worth the sacrifice. God is worth the sacrifice. Is He not?

Thanksgiving Challenge

2008-11-18T19:18:00.005-06:00

I recently preached a sermon at Denton Community Church on Ps. 107, and I'd like to recommend a devotional activity. Read through the Psalm thanking God for his great redemption and steadfast love (I recommend ESV, because it uses steadfast love [loyal love, covenantal love]). Notice the 4 examples of those who were in a place of humility, lowliness, need, and even on the brink of fainting, death, and insanity. Notice the structure of each of the 4 examples.

Then, take some time and write your own story of His redemption of you through salvation. Here's the structure:
1) A description of who you are, where you are, and the problem you have
2) A cry out to God for deliverance - Then they cried out the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
3) God delivers you and meets your specific need
4) A challenge to thank God for his steadfast love and wondrous works - Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
5) A further explanation of God's specific redemption of you and / or a further challenge to praise God with sacrifices of thanksgiving, songs of joy, and public praise of His glorious name and steadfast love.

Here is what I came up with for my own redemption story. Enjoy:

Some were following a form of godliness
Yet denying it’s divine power.
For they had established a law for themselves,
Attainable by their own will
A false hope in their “holy ways”
Unknowingly rejecting God’s necessary enablement
So by the sin of their hearts, He convicted them
By the blood on their hands, He rebuked them
They beat their chests for mercy knowing their enemy lay beneath
Of which the skin, muscle, and bone could not hide
A heart of stone beating tainted blood
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
And he delivered them from their distress.
He transformed hearts, stone to flesh,
And purified their blood in the Sacrificed Lamb
A covenant of Grace and a life of the Spirit
A new law, a new godliness, a new walk
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
For his wondrous works to the children of man!
Let them praise His holy name among all people,
Let them shout with songs of joy to all the earth.

Drowning Fish

2008-10-30T15:30:00.002-06:00

A typhoon had temporarily stranded a monkey on an island. In a secure, protected place on the shore, while waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed obvious to the monkey that the fish was struggling and in need of assistance. Being of kind heart, the monkey resolved to help the fish. A tree precariously dangled over the very spot where the fish seemed to be struggling. At considerable risk to himself, the monkey moved far out on a limb, reached down and snatched the fish from the threatening waters. Immediately scurrying back to the safety of his shelter, he carefully laid the fish on dry ground. For a few moments the fish showed excitement, but soon settled into a peaceful rest. Joy and satisfactions swelled inside the monkey. He had successfully helped another creature.

This story comes out of Duane Elmer's book Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility.

We read this book in my Cross-Cultural Anthropology class for MTI and I thought it was incredibly valuable. The monkey in a way is what could be called a 'benevolent oppressor'; the monkey has the kindest of intentions but his understanding of the fish is that fish need air to breathe not water, and in attempting to serve the fish, the monkey killed it. Elmer builds off of this theme for missionaries. Often times, missionaries go to the field thinking, "I have the key, the information, the education, the resources to fix this country up to where God has always intended it to be." Somehow that pride, that sense of wanting to fix things that are broken seep in without us realizing it. Instead of pride we must be humble, instead of thinking we have all the answers we must serve and learn from the people we are serving. It is a great reminder, and the book as a whole is worth a read whether you are a missionary or not. I was quite convicted about how I evaluate people and make small judgments about them without even knowing them. I like to people watch, I think it is fun. But when people watching turns into thinking you know who they are based on what they wear or how they act in a certain place or time is another.

Along with that class, MTI has been going strong this semester. We are in the middle of the Protestant Reformation in Church History which is appropriate since tomorrow is REFORMATION DAY (a.k.a. Halloween). We are trying to understand English and Greek grammar in New Testament Exegesis of Epistles, but often failing - grammar is a language of its own. And we are priveleged to read and study the New Testament in a survey class. All in all, things are great and I cannot believe that in six weeks I will graduate from the Missions Training Institute! Craziness.

Plus! Great news. Several new people joined my financial support team putting me at around 40%! Praise God for His provision!

Thanks for reading, praying, giving, and loving!

I still have Africa on my shoes...

2008-09-15T12:01:00.006-06:00

Hello everyone, I have a small newsletter entitled: "I still have Africa on my shoes..." Click the link to download the newsletter. Feel free to print it out, show your family, or throw it up on the fridge.

Thanks for reading and praying!

Pictures!

2008-08-30T20:14:00.001-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen and kids of all ages. I have finally edited my 1,000 pictures I took this summer to around 250. I hope you enjoy them and can get a glimpse of what my summer was like. Don't worry, some words are on their way too with an update of some sort. Click on the link below. I suggest the "Slideshow" view in the top left, above the thumbnails. ENJOY!

Kenya 2008 Photo Album

Shillings to Dollars

2008-08-07T06:31:00.002-06:00

Sixty-five shillings to a dollar.

In many ways that describes cultural re-adjustment to me. When I went to Kenya there were 65 new things I had to learn for every one thing I already knew. Now, upon coming back to America, things are reduced significantly. I find it so easy to slip back to the way of life I have known for so long. Small things are interesting though. I enter into a house and automatically take my shoes off as they do in Kenya. I drove for the first time since I've been back and very briefly find myself on the left side of the road. I find myself staring at American money and thinking, "Has it always looked so weird?"

I watched a little television yesterday which is something I am realizing that I prefer not to do. It really makes sense that Americans are so solution-oriented. You got a problem or any minor discomfort in life? Fix it. Do it yourself, take hold of the reins of life and buy, buy, buy my product! I had forgotten how weight-oriented, image-focused, and drug-happy us Americans can be. If you watch television, may I suggest a technique of my friend Josh McCallister? Mute the commercials and yell at your television saying, "I don't need a new cell phone! I don't care if it's truck month. Every month is truck month and I don't need a new truck!" How great would it be if your kids started saying, "I don't need that new toy, I'm perfectly content with the one I have." Not likely, but you never know unless you try.

But you know, that's our culture...which isn't to say we accept everything that our culture feeds us, yet we don't give in to it either. Everyone fights culture at times and rides the current of it at other times. Wisdom is found in knowing what to fight and when to ride.

Regardless, I'm very glad to be home. Why? Because it is home, and nothing will ever change that.

End of my time in Kenya

2008-07-29T03:07:00.002-06:00

Coming very soon. I leave in a little less than a week. Last Sunday was good - I finished my church history class. We spent 6 sessions, 1 per week, 3 hours at a time and covered 1,938 years of events in Christian history. Of course it was not at all comprehensive, but I think these pastors now have a broad understanding of where the church came from, where it has gone, and how it is the way it is today. We were able to see the patterns of decline and reform, of Christendom and the kingdom of God, and of doctrinal orthodoxy and departure. I have learned so much during this time and I am very very excited to now take John Brown's Church History class starting in August. Yes, it is a little backwards that I taught Church History before I took the class, but now I am extremely prepared and excited to build on the knowledge I have learned. Church History opens my eyes and brings me a lot of understanding of how God has worked in the past and how the church ought to function. I'm excited to continue learning.

Yesterday I got to visit a friend of mine that I made in the Glory Guest House. Juma changes my sheets and cleans the bathroom occasionally and he is a very kind, hospitable guy. He is married and has 5 kids living in Ngombeni which is close to where I was teaching Church History in Ujamaa. I took a Matatu out there and he met me beside the road. We walked to his house, sat down for a little while and talked. He then climbed a 40 foot palm tree and picked off 6 green coconuts. Watching him climb the tree was a highlight. I'd love to learn but will need to start small! The way to do it is to take a piece of strong cloth, tie a knot to make a circle, twist the circle in order to make an infinity symbol (mathematics, not the car symbol). Then you put your feet in the holes like stirrups. Grasp the palm tree with the bottom of your feet on the sides of the tree and the cloth supporting you on the front of the tree. Good, now you are stable, but you have to climb to get the coconut water! Take your right hand placing it in front of you with your fingers pointing to the ground and your palm against the front of the trunk of the tree, this is for more support. Then, take your left hand and use it to pull yourself up a few feet. Repeat until you can reach coconuts.

We drank the coconut water which is very tasty, then we had a cup of chai (tea made with milk), and talked some more. It was a short visit, but I hope to continue to get to know Juma whenever I return to Kenya.

See you soon. I return to America on Aug. 5th.

Crazy Kenya.

2008-07-08T01:10:00.002-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post.

Man, Mombasa is nuts. For example, just the other day I was walking along and bam, What I thought was a rock turned out to be a giant Tortoise! So crazy. He was a nice old fellow. One thing Dennis showed me was that if you pat him on his armpit he slowly rises up and fully stands. Once you stop, he goes down. So funny.

Well, the truth is. We went to a small park called "Haller Park" or as we like to call it "Holla Park" - holla, holla, holla. It was a great way to spend the 4th of July with tortoises, giraffes, monkeys, snakes, lizards, hippos (who were shy), and a few other various wildlife. Mombasa, really is a bustling city. You do find monkeys and lizards in various places, but really more people and trash in the city. Why is it that you go to a wildlife reserve and everything just takes care of itself, but when you go to a city there is trash everywhere? Aren't humans also a part of nature, shouldn't we act naturally too? Guess not. FALL. SIN. DEATH. SEPARATION FROM GOD. EVIL. and on and on. Wow, that was a tangent. Guess I am a little pessimistic at times, but for good reason.

Joshua Smith

My friend Joshua came out to Mombasa for 2 weeks. I had a great time with him and I always enjoy our talks. He was a great encouragement to me just being around. He's in Nairobi now where he is working with AIM doing mechanical work on planes. I didn't realize how encouraging it really was to have someone else around for 2 weeks until he left. It's difficult to relate to people from a different culture and so it's nice to have someone that you easily connect with. Thanks Joshua! Please pray for Josh's safety in the city that is nicknamed Nairobbery of which Joshua has already experienced.

I'm a Preacher, I like to preach.

Things have been busy here. For example, last week I preached a sermon on Discipleship on Friday night, a sermon on Sunday morning at the Word of Life Fellowship Church, and 3 hours of Church History that afternoon. Yikes, that was intense. I was very tired and rested all day Monday last week finishing Season 3 of Prison Break - bought off the street by Joshua Smith, made in the Middle East somewhere, and claiming to be Season 4 but really is just the second half of season 3.

Life has begun to be a little bit challenging as of late. Definitely not culture shock, but what I like to call culture 'funk' - the desire for normalcy, that which I am used to. Often times it is just the little things that I miss. Cold 2% milk. Driving my car on the right side of the road. The ability to blend in without being stared at.

But other little things about Kenya have now started to feel normal - which is kind of freaky. Matatus (Nissan minivans doubling as Kenyan taxis) and Tuk-Tuks (3 wheeled motorcycles that can carry 3 passengers) all over the roads, thousands of people always walking around, kids in school uniforms all over the place - bright colors: purple, pink, and yellow, women carrying heavier things that I can pick up ON THEIR HEADS. These things have become normal now. Strange to feel normal in such abnormal surroundings (from a foreigner's perspective).

And then being really frustrated over other little things - the way you can hear half of almost every conversation because of the amount of English, Swahili, and Sheng (the slang combination of Swahili and English - their version of Spanglish) constantly being interspersed in everything. Another thing that has started to frustrate the stink out of me is how they all love to have every single electronic device as loud as it can possibly be. Microphones are turned up so high that you really can't even hear what they are saying past the feedback and the rattling of the speakers. Oh yeah, and music. Ah, music. There is such a rich heritage of beautiful, percussive African music that is being exchanged for electronic, cheezy, Western music. It's sad for a music snob like me.

But for the most part the last couple of days I've felt very good. The bottom line is that life in another country is difficult, but hey, life is difficult and we all have to seek God's grace in some area of our lives no matter what. Mombasa's good, Mombasa's bad, Mombasa's weird, Mombasa's beautiful, Mombasa's ugly. It's just life juxtaposed between that which is phenomenal and that which is horrendous and all those things in between.

The City of Mombasa

2008-06-27T07:41:00.009-06:00

Let's see...how can I describe this city? Let's start with the trees. The trees are rich, beautiful, and very very old. Mango trees, palm trees, baobab trees (my favorite) and many other trees that I haven't learned the names of.

Also, Mombasa itself is an island. Thus there are lots of great views of the ocean! Joshua Smith and I just recently had a nice dish of pilau (rice, meat, Kenyan spices) while looking at the view you see on the left next to Ft. Jesus, an old Portuguese fort that is now a historical museum in Mombasa. I need to learn more of the history of this old port city.

Finally, in the description of Mombasa, I think I will mention that there are a lot of markets, mosques, and Muslims. It seems like everywhere you go there is someone trying to sell you something, the call of prayer echoing through the city, and Muslim men and women in their traditional, religious garments.

Hopefully, this gives you a better idea of the city where I am staying.

Exactly where I want to be...

2008-06-24T08:39:00.005-06:00

The picture above describes how I feel about ministry, and especially ministry with Serve, the missions organization of Denton Bible Church. Serve's motto is "Leaders Serving Leaders". It is my desire and hope to be in the background behind the pastors of many churches. I desire to equip them, to train them, to give the tools they need to be able to shepherd their congregations, to be the kind of pastor that God wants for them and for their churches. I want my ministry to be a service to them - this is the vision of any kind of discipleship, which just so happens to be my passion.

Last week was, and probably will be my busiest week in Kenya. We had another 5 day conference in a village just south of Mombasa where we left the house every morning by 7am and returned anywhere between 3 and 5pm where I would rest, eat, and continue to prepare my teachings for the rest of the week.

I was able to teach on the Sermon on the Mount. It was a fantastic time where we spoke a lot about the difference between BEING Christians and ACTING Christian, and the difference between the heart of worship before God and actions of religious obedience. The Sermon on the Mount is a horribly convicting passage that simply attacks jab after jab straight at the heart of any sinner...so it was appropriate for all of us sinners to hear and ponder on.

Our time together was really effective, and I was able to experience some new things in African Preaching: such as preaching over the yells and screaming of the playing children just outside the school, preaching over the sound of thousands of raindrops slamming into the tin roof above me creating a noise that cannot possibly be overcome (so we waited until it past), and preaching while roosters crowed outside. All these things generally NEVER happen in American ministry, and I'm glad to have experienced them. The pastors responded very well and I received a lot of great feedback from them personally and through Drew Trenz and Dennis Omondi who also taught at the conference.

While we were teaching through the whole morning, Jill Senechal and Allison Omondi had an hour and a half with women from the village. Some of them pastors wives, others just women from the area. They could have used so much more time with the women, but the women's schedules often times do not permit it with their cultural duties of housekeeping and child-rearing. Overall it was successful as Jill taught on what it means to have inner beauty as a woman of God (see here for Jill's description of the conference).

After a long week, I had Saturday to prepare for my 3 hour Church History class the next day. I didn't feel adequate to teach the class until I started teaching it and found myself really enjoying what I was introducing to the pastors and church leaders on Sunday. I will be continuing this class for 5 more weeks. These 9 church leaders have been going through BTCL for the last 2 1/2 years, and they are almost finished, graduating on August 16.

Below is a picture of the men we taught on the week of June 16th.

Thanks for praying. Please pray for me as I am adjusting to new, more flexible schedules and trying to learn greater independence in the city and learning more about what life is like here in Mombasa, Kenya.

One of the funniest things I've seen on TV in Kenya...

2008-06-20T10:25:00.002-06:00

That would be a Spanish Telenovela (soap opera), dubbed over in English, and played on Kenyan TV. For some reason that international combination made me laugh hysterically. Plus it was funny to have the combination of already bad acting in Spanish with bad acting that didn't match the mouth movement in dubbed English.

Just thought I'd share that with you.
Update on the Ujamaa conference is coming up soon. I taught the Sermon on the Mount all week and was able to teach Mt 5:1-6:18.

ben

Ripcord

2008-06-14T13:33:00.002-06:00

The ripcord syndrome.

I think it was John Brown who described this to me, but I'm not sure. There is something about a short stint or even a long stint where your mind at all times acknowledges the fact that you only live where you live on stint for a short period of time. For me it is only 9 weeks, 2 of them already completed. There is a sense of security knowing that I will be returning before I know it. This is the cultural ripcord, that now within 7 weeks I can pull the ripcord and parachute home. This is one of the many things that separate this experience from the future experience of moving to Kenya.

It is interesting thinking through the culture and the place with a long term vision of living here. I might be more observational because of it. I think being in the security of the Omondi's home and being with the team has caused my adjustment to be quite easy. Tomorrow or the day after however, I will be moving into the Glory Guest House where I will spend the remainder of my time. Here I hope to be better at talking to people in the area and building relationships on my own. At the Omondi's, all I have to do is stay put and 5-6 people will cycle through the apartment. Dennis calls it Grand Central Station. A lot of people know the Omondis and come often to visit. The picture above describes their house perfectly (hint: it is culturally accepted that you take off your shoes before you enter a house).

What is good about this last week has been preparing for teachings that I will be giving this week. Monday through Friday we are having another Pastor's conference where I will be teaching through the sermon on the mount. I have been working hard on these messages that have a certain theme of Being and Doing. We must act out of a flow of our transformed being. The Holy Spirit lives within us and His power must flow out of us like streams of living water (John 7:38).

Please pray for these pastors we will be teaching that God may speak to them through His Word and my feeble attempts to preach it.

Thank you.

Mtwapa Conference & First Week in Kenya

2008-06-07T08:49:00.004-06:00

For more pictures from the conference, click HERE.

It still has not been one week since I’ve been in Kenya, but it feels like it has been much longer. I suppose it has to do with adjusting to culture, weather, time, and the busy schedule our team has been on with the pastors’ conference in Mtwapa. I arrived late Monday night and slept and slept and slept. Tuesday was the first day of the conference, which I missed. So the last few days have been spent like so: wake up at 6 or 6:30 am, leave at 7 am, arrive in Mtwapa at 7:30-7:45 and spend the whole day there until 4 pm or so. Each day of the conference had a morning sermon from Gayman Helman on discipleship, a question/answer session with Dennis, a sermon from Dennis, question / answer session, lunch, and more question / answer. Gayman spoke about discipleship and the importance of retaining and guarding sound doctrine & Dennis spoke about the process of church development, marriage, and many other important things during the question/answer times.

This has been a really good time for me to learn more about Kenyan Christianity and the problems within the Kenyan church. There is a lot of accepted heresy around Kenya, much of it imported from the American heretics of the prosperity gospel. I knew this before, but it is a different thing to see it. One of my favorite things that Pastor Chiro said, the man who organized the conference and provided the tea and food (which is UNHEARD of in Kenya especially if there are Americans in attendance), was that if Paul or Peter were alive today, they would not go to church, or at least they would not go to our churches because they would be so appalled by the false teaching. He then said, “I’ve even been to a meeting where it began by locking the devil up and putting him in the corner of the church. Everyone was cheering that the devil was locked up in the corner and they were so happy and excited. But what is the devil doing in the church! They are excited that the devil is in their church!” Chiro is a great man with a great heart. Dennis only recently met him, but he has been teaching BTCP classes in the area for 7 years. He loves the word of God and desires God-centered churches in Kenya.
I got to speak once for about 15 minutes. The night before Dennis asked me to look into Melchizedek and who he is especially as it relates to Hebrews 7:3 where it says that he has no father or mother. I did some research and prepared a small talk. It went very well and everyone seemed so appreciative to hear the answer I gave (which was from commentaries, research, and study notes). If I did not have those resources I honestly don’t think I would have been able to come up with the answer I gave – especially the part about the ancient Jewish interpretive principle that what is not written or recorded is treated as not existing. Resources. I got it from resources. Teaching is all about education & resources and then communicating those things clearly to others that do not know. Many of the pastors simply do not have the resources or education that we have. If you were a pastor who had to preach every Sunday, how well would you interpret the Bible if all you EVER had were the words themselves? I’m sure it would be pretty decent, but surely your culture, tradition, and experience would be a large obstacle to getting it right, as it is for everyone. But the more we are able to study and hear other’s views on topics, the more we are able to filter the truth away from those obstacles to correctly understanding the Scriptures.

The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 is asked by Philip, “Do you understand what you are reading?” and the eunuch replied, “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” This is the ministry of Serve, to explain to those that have been given the role and responsibility of explaining to others. These pastors and church leaders have the responsibility to teach and preach the truth of the Word of God, yet for many of them, no one has explained it to them or trained them how to read, interpret, and apply the Scripture correctly. Think about the massive amount of resources even a small pastor in America has. The regular pastor in Kenya does not have those things: no commentaries, no background studies, no word studies, no podcasts, many not even a capable mentor. I’m excited to be a part of this ministry because there is great need here and we have great abundance in the area of knowledge. IT MUST BE SHARED. It must.

Paul warned the Romans of the heresy to come:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out or those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people. Many of these heresies come from Kenya’s own culture and traditions, but many of the new heresies come from America. I’m starting to wonder if we as American Christians ought to take responsibility in correcting the heresies that have been birthed out of our own country’s greed and self-serving deception of the naïve people who seek relief in this difficult world. Pray for Kenya, for Serve, and all the other Pastor Chiro’s in Kenya who are seeking doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness through the inspired word of God (2 Tim 3:16).

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him – to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Rom 16:25-27).

I am in Kenya

2008-06-04T09:03:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I slept almost the whole day. At night I got to go to a college meeting and see some familiar faces: Marto, Ivan, Betty, Sylvia, Jackie, and JJ. I look forward to spending more time with these guys and girls who I spent 2 weeks with last summer here in Kenya.

Today I spent the whole day at a Pastor's Conference North of Mombasa in Mtwapa. I met some great pastors there and heard some good teaching. Tomorrow and Friday I will be spending the day there as well. Tonight I eat, and prepare to answer for tomorrow a difficult question raised up this afternoon: Who is Melchizedek and why is he said to have no father or mother in Heb. 7? We'll see if I come up with anything?

ben

2008-05-31T15:49:00.003-06:00

I leave tomorrow for Kenya. I'm a little nervous, but I know my friends are behind me. :)

I will arrive in Mombasa at 11:30pm Monday night and leave Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm. I add some hours, so the actual time is only 24 hours. Please pray for my travels, and by-chance that I get some sleep on the plane which is unusual for me.

Thanks so much, and if you haven't downloaded the PRAYER LIST please do so now. Your prayers are SO important to me. Thanks!

Passport & Ticket: June 1, 2008

2008-05-07T21:37:00.004-06:00

[Before I get started, please consider downloading this Prayer List for the summer trip and praying for me and the Kenya team.]

Well, it is settled, I am going to Kenya this summer. Sure that was the plan, but now I have my plane ticket and my 9 year old passport in hand (and yes, I was 17 years old when that picture was taken). It's official, like DFW to Amsterdam to Nairobi to Mombasa, June 1 - August 4 kind of official.

I am starting to get excited about my time in Kenya and all the crazy things I will get to do with the Kenya team, which by the way includes an addition of 6 month old Anjela Grace Omondi. Anjela is the soon to be adopted daughter of (currently niece of) Dennis and Allison Omondi. I'm excited that when I am serving in Mombasa for the long term that there will be another baby in my life, although it won't be the same as being able to visit my nephew Sean in Dallas, I will still be able to act out my Uncle Ben role by being an uncle to Anjela. You can compare / contrast between my American nephew and Kenyan pseudo-niece:

Anjela of course is on the left.
Sean on the right gettin' ready for a bath.

So, what the heck am I going to be doing in Kenya for 2 months! That's what I was wondering until I spoke with Dennis Omondi this week. For a while, I only had one or two goals for my trip this summer:

1) To grow in my relationships with my teammates and the people of the church we will work with, and 2) to get the most accurate picture of what it will be like to live in Kenya. These goals will assuredly still be accomplished, however, it is looking like things might be a little busier than I first thought.

I will be doing a lot of teaching while I am there. Every Sunday after church, Dennis and I will be going to a Bible Training Center for Leaders (BTCL) class and teaching Church History. Dennis has asked me to do most of the teaching, which I don't mind, but this Fall I will be taking the Church History class at MTI...so, it's a little backwards. Or maybe not, maybe this is the best education I can get for church history. Learn it, teach it, and THEN go to class to study it! HA! Crazy. Secondly, the month of June is packed out with 2 pastors conferences where we will be teaching about church ministry and discipleship. The Helman family will be arriving the day before I arrive and running this first pastors conference from June 3-6, and then Dennis, myself, and Drew Trenz (a previous stinter in Mombasa making his 3rd trip to Kenya) will be teaching at the second conference from June 8-16. Not sure what I will be talking about there, but as long as I have a few hours to prepare and EVERYONE's praying, I'm sure God will use it.

My good friend Joshua Smith is still planning on being with us in Mombasa during June and then leaving for Nairobi for July and August to work with Africa Inland Mission (AIM). I'm praying that he might be able to get booked on the same flight out of DFW on June 1 so that my travel time isn't so lonely. Cynthia, an MTI classmate and fellow stinter, is hoping to spend as much of June and July in Kenya as she can, but is having support issues. Please pray that God would provide the finances for her to make this trip to Kenya.

Concerning my support, God has been gracious and I am doing well. My finances are looking good, but it can often be difficult to tell exactly where I am at concerning my goal for the summer. I could be on target, but I could be anywhere between $300-$500 off. Regardless, God has been amazing and even though I don't know exactly how much I need, God does. So pray with me that He would provide whatever it is that is needed for the summer.

I plan on blogging (BENYA) more during my time in Kenya because I expect I will have more to say than when I am in the states, so check that for updates. Also, I am planning on reading through all of the letters in the New Testament (Romans - Revelation) while I am in Kenya. It is just 3 chapters a day, and if you are looking for a reading plan this summer, why don't you join me? Reading Plan.

Please don't forget to download and print the prayer list! Thank you for your prayers. We'll keep in touch.

Thoughts on the church

2008-04-22T21:18:00.003-06:00

I've been learning a ton about the church. It appears Jesus' Bride is not lacking in complexities. Often imbalanced. Typically selfish and hurtful. Although this may be the case much of the time, the Bride of Christ is also unwaveringly beautiful, elegant, and loving, and of such high worth and honor that to look upon her instantly brings thoughts of how majestic her groom must be. The Bride and Body of Christ is given much worth because of Christ, Himself, who has brought His own presence into the church. The church is the place where individuals with the presence of God within them through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit come together as one to reflect their Savior-God in fellowship, service, and outreach, and respond to their Savior-God in worship and instruction.

It is in the church that the world around us sees the presence of God, active and alive today. And it is in the activities of the church where the world gets its impression and understanding of who God is. This is why every local church's activities must be centered upon Christ and acting on the principles of Biblical Ecclesiology (the study of the church). A church should be centered in Christ expanding in 3 relationships: 1. with God in worship and instruction, 2. with other believers in fellowship and service, and 3. with the community/world around them in outreach of good works and good news.

There are a few concerns I have in observing my generation and younger.

1) We confuse the fact that we can have fellowship and edification with each other as an extension of the church, with church itself. Church is not a small group. Not your roommates. Not a discipleship relationship. In some ways it is, because of the gathering of people who are believers in Christ to encourage one another in following Him, but in other ways it misses some qualifications that are very important to a church - usually, the one it misses is: elders. They are our spiritual authority, whether we know them or not.

2) We become imbalanced by overemphasizing or under-emphasizing certain activities of the church. They are all important and all must be emphasized as an integral part of the church. See the diagram - an upward call of worship, downward call of instruction, inward call of fellowship/service and an outward call of outreach in good works and good news. Four different people will say in unison four different purposes of the church: “The purpose of the church is worship! The purpose of the church is Community! The purpose of the church is Teaching the Bible! The purpose of the church is Mission!" I think these are the activities of the church and the purpose of the church is Christ for we are His bride & body.
3) Lastly, we all too often treat all the activities of the church as a way to spiritually benefit. To RECEIVE rather than GIVE. But each function and activity of the church is meant to foster an opportunity for each member to give of themselves to God (Love God) and others (Love others). In worship we give an offering of praise to God as we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1). In instruction we learn of God so that we may be equipped and adequately prepared for every good work in which we give to others (Eph 4; 2 Tim 3:16-17). In fellowship and service we seek to give to one another as we mutually build each other up and stir up love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25). In outreach we seek to give to our communities as light and salt and share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ alongside our good works.

Those are my thoughts. Regardless of their validity or accuracy, I'm learning a ton and I'm excited to be thinking about such a beautiful thing as the church of Jesus Christ, His temple, bride, and body.

Can I make a quick suggestion...

2008-04-17T13:28:00.002-06:00

At some point in the day that you read this, take a walk. Don't finish every task on your to do list. Turn off your computer, or even more radical...turn off your cell phone! Spend more time in a conversation than your productivity would allow for. Reflect on a Bible verse. Pray. Think of one of the thousands of things you can thank and praise God for and then praise Him for it.

Do one of these things today and remember that life is not about industry, production, task completion, but about the worship of our Creator and Redeemer and the enjoyment of Him among the community of people around us.

P.S. For centuries, people have lived without computers, phones, cars, and all the other technological advancements that somehow make us take more work upon ourselves in order to consider ourselves as 'faithful'. Many people in the past have been deemed as 'faithful' and have completed far less tasks than what we take on.

Travels, Libraries, Newsletters, & New Life

2008-04-07T15:20:00.004-06:00

This is going to be a really exciting update, guaranteed! You know why?
Good things happened in March!

1) Snow. It snowed somewhere around 6-7 inches in Denton, Tx! Since when does that happen??

2)A Trip. I had two weeks off of class, a much appreciated break, in which I was able to take some time to catch up on school assignments and take a trip to Lubbock & Clovis, New Mexico. Many of you probably do not know, but I went to Texas Tech my sophomore year (2000-2001) and I’ve had the privilege of staying in touch with a few friends out there. It was a very nice and relaxing time of catching up and great discussions on the church (a topic of conversation I am increasingly interested in), ministry, life, and Kenya. Often times I get caught up in enjoying the conversations and company that I forget to take pictures all together. But I did take ONE!

These are my friends, the McCallisters, in small town Clovis, New Mexico. In many ways, they are missionaries also: they are in a very different culture and there is great need for church-goers to be Christ-followers worshiping in spirit and truth.

3) First Newsletter. I was able to send out my first Benya Newsletter by God’s grace, Justin Pocta’s design skills, and Jill Senechal’s editing skills. Hopefully you have received it and enjoyed reading what I enjoyed writing.

3) A New Believer. And lastly, some very exciting news. One of my friends that I have been meeting with, studying the Bible with, and hanging out with off and on over the last 3 years, just trusted in Jesus Christ as his Savior recognizing that nothing he can do could ever earn him the right to be called ‘good’. The way to God is only through His Son, Jesus Christ, who dealt with sinful hearts in a very specific way on the cross. We cannot approach God without His forgiveness and Christ’s righteousness, and my friend came to that realization by God’s great gift of faith. Praise God!

Well, on to a couple of other items of business. The Omondis arrived safely in Kenya, and Jill will soon follow sometime in mid-April. The team is reforming and excited to be back home in Kenya to minister to the needs of the people. One thing the team is working on currently is a Resource Library for the pastors that are trained in the area by our ministry. At the Library, they will have the opportunity to come study God’s Word together and prepare sermons for their congregations using the many resources for understanding the Bible and communicating it effectively. If you are interested in helping us make this happen, you may help in 2 ways:

By donating relevant reference books you don’t use anymore.
By buying one of the books on our wishlist (Click HERE)or sending a check to the address below.

Denton Bible Church
Attn: Missions Office (Kenya Library Project)
2300 E. University
Denton, TX 76209

If you think you have a book that might be useful or want to know more about the project, click on this link for more information: Pastor’s Library.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. My trip this summer is coming fast, so please pray that I'd be prepared in body and in spirit.

Videos about Kenya

2008-03-19T20:02:00.002-06:00

Here are some great videos made by my teammates the Omondis & Jill Senechal that I pulled off of the Omondi's Blog. A few of them I had never seen and they were educational to me as well:

This one was from the Denton Bible Missions Conference:

This was a documentary of a short term trip taken in 2005 that can help you get more acquainted with Kenyan culture:

And finally, here is a short video made by Dennis & Allison Omondi that does a great job at explaining our ministry and the values and beliefs of Serve:

A helpful audio file...

2008-03-11T14:15:00.003-06:00

From a couple of peoples recommendations, I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll on the Emerging Church. For those of you like me who are just now learning about this important issue, Driscoll was actually a part of the original members that led the movement that is now labeled Emergent, but left the movement early on when he recognized his friends were questioning things that the Bible does not question but states as clear fact: Is there a hell? Does the Bible call homosexuality sin? Did Jesus really raise from the dead?

Driscoll has an insight to the movement beyond many people because of his involvement and even friendships with some of the spokesmen for the movement. This allows Driscoll to proclaim what is heretical but to do it with humility and with a deep love and sorrow for his friends who are teaching it.

Click here: Scroll down to "Mars Hill Church and The Emerging Church". You can listen online or right (ctrl) click and save the link to get the Mp3.

A Sermon, Georgia, and Peace in Kenya - March 2008

2008-03-04T14:29:00.006-06:00

So what is going on in the world of Benya? February was a good month. After beginning MTI again, getting sick, going to Georgia where I helped a friend move to beautiful Savannah, click for pictures, spending 20 whole hours visiting and 35 hours driving, and preaching my first church sermon on the tail end of the sickness, I think I feel I am getting into a routine. Now I just need to add some of things I've neglected like continuing support appointments and reading the Bible (kidding on the last one)!

The Sermon:
I was given the opportunity to preach at Denton Community Church and I am very pleased with the result. Not because I think I did a great job nor because I think I was hilarious and entertaining, but because many people came up to me and said that it was very applicable to their lives. The text was Genesis 30:25-43 and it was about creating a balanced trust in your life where you are not frantically acting all the time believing you have complete control over all situations in your life and you are not resting so fully in God's sovereignty that you have stopped working or acting all together. Faithfully resting in God's sovereignty and faithfully acting according to God's principles. This balance is something we all need. Without the trust in God's sovereignty, stress levels become unhealthy, and without the faithful action, we become lazy and not useful to God.

Kenya and the Kenya Team:
This month has allowed for several meetings with the full time missionaries of the Kenya team who are all still in town because of the political strife in Kenya. It has afforded good times of hanging out, getting to know one another, and planning for the future that are all very valuable to the future functioning of us as a team. Also, within this month the country itself has made some great progress in their negotiations between the two political leaders at strife with one another. President Mwai Kibaki has now agreed to create a Prime Minister position for Raila Odinga who was the opposing party that ran against him in the December elections (click here for more info.) This means that Kenya will prayerfully be at peace from the fighting and the country can begin turning their attention towards rebuilding and helping their people. Praise God! Keep praying for peace in Kenya as the Omondis and Jill look toward heading back to Kenya by the end of this month.

Prayer Points:
Please pray for this month as I will have some time off from school where I hope to have support appointments and to be diligent in working on school projects. Also, pray for the Kenya team as they head back to Kenya and for the country itself and its continued peace.

P.S. If I have your address, expect a letter from me this month - my first official, printed, BENYA newsletter. (Pray that I use my time wisely to get these out!)

Emerging, Emergent, Etc.

2008-02-26T13:35:00.002-06:00

I really had not heard much about the Emerging / Emergent Church movement. I have recently become more curious as to what the Evangelical church was discounting or denying. I had a basic understanding of its ties to post-modernism and an understanding that it tended to ask some important questions that many Christians should ask, but often at the cost of losing the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the essential doctrines of the cross in the atonement. I had heard of McLaren & McManus, read Donald Miller, and listened to Mark Driscoll, but never really understood where they were diverging from orthodox Christianity, if at all?

If you are in the same boat, I'd highly recommend this 6 part series on a blog called Parchment and Pen (a collaborative blog with several contributers, including Dan Wallace of DTS) by C. Michael Patton: "Would the Real Emerger Please Stand Up?"
It will probably only take about an hour or so to read. It is a very educational and respectful approach to the complicated issue that only tends to get more complicated with labels and boxes and the oh-so human tendency to categorize things we don't understand in order to know who we can agree or disagree with, and often times to our shame, who we can or cannot be friends with.
You can click the link above and go from part to part or click this link to download the series in its entirety in PDF form. I would recommend however, looking at some of the comments and conversations that come up at the end of each post of the blog. Below is a quote from one of those comments as to why Patton wrote this series:

I was hoping to help a primarily evangelical audience that does not know much about the emerging movement outside of the criticism of MacArthur and Carson realize that to be emerging is a complex issue that cannot be broadbrushed with a simple critique. I want people to have balance in their understand, realizing that the voices in the emerging movement are real and significant.

I also wanted people to understand that to be emerging does not mean that you have departed from historic Christianity. I want people to know that there are many within the movement who are extremely orthodox such as Dan Kimball, Scot McKnight, and Mark Driscoll. And I want people to see that there are those such as Tony Jones, Brian McLaren, and Doug Pagitt who are stepping outside the bounds of orthodoxy...

Finally, I hope that this distinction between emerging and Emergent becomes widely recognized so that honor will be given to those who are truly soldiers of the cross reaching out with a pure Gospel even if you don’t agree with them on everything (i.e. Dan Kimball).

This is really worth taking the time to look over so that we 1) know where we stand and more importantly why we stand where we stand within Christian orthodoxy, 2) that we become more respectful to those we disagree with, and 3) that we are walking in the freedom Christ has given us and the obedience to Christ that He calls for us day by day as His representatives to the world.

P.S. Here is an extra clip of some theologians discussing the emergent movement (or at least the section of it that is most tied to post-modernism) CLICK.

Read the Label!

2008-02-14T16:08:00.003-06:00

Happy Valentines Day. Well, I'm not much for Valentine's Day in general so I'm not awfully disappointed in today or anything, but it has been interesting to say the least. I think my favorite Valentine's Day was many years ago when my Mom bought me and my brothers a plastic hockey game (kind of like foosball, but on the ground and hockey). We played that game so much!

I have been sick and I woke up this morning with a really bad cough. So I went to the store to get cough medicine and waited in line behind all the men who woke up this morning realizing they needed to go get some flowers, candy, or perhaps a life-sized white stuffed bear and black balloons? I got home and was still coughing pretty badly so I wanted some medicine, quick! I opened the package, took the little cup that is provided, filled it to the brim, and drank it down. I then looked at the measurement for the cup and it said 4 tsps. I looked down at the box and it said the dosage is 2 tsps. Ooops! Four hours of extra sleeping and another 4 hours later, and let's just say I'm still kind of dizzy. My cough went away though :) !

One thing that I'm keeping in mind is that God is a relational God. The purpose of Valentine's is not as so many Americans gravitate towards, about spending money, greasing the wheels on the capitalistic machine; it should be about relationships. God is relational. We were created to have fellowship with Him and to enjoy Him in relationship. Sin created conflict in that relationship, distance. God sent the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ, to bring reconciliation and restoration of our relationship with Him. Sin still creates conflicts in our relationship with God. We hurt God's feelings when we sin, when we choose our sin over God in a rip-off exchange (see Rom. 1). The Christian life is not necessarily about growing into a 'better person' - "Be your best You", but that is a result which comes from growing in relationship with our Heavenly Father. We become different, better, more holy as we cling closer to the holiest, the best, the most distinct being there is, God.

Let's remember the relationship and not get distracted by all the fluff that is constantly surrounding us.

February

2008-02-02T13:08:00.000-06:00

This update includes:

Missions Training semester commenced
Joy of 1-1 Discipleship
Denton Community Internship
Praying for Peace in Kenya

Missions Training
I was very happy this week to begin my new semester of Missions Training. Mondays we will be studying Case Studies and problem-solving skills so that we can be better equipped to make decisions on the field, and Old Testament Exegesis where we will learn the best way to study, analyze, and interpret narrative, poetry, and prophecy. Wednesdays and Fridays we are studying Christian Doctrine: mostly we will be studying man, salvation, sanctification, and end times; the second class period is over Ecclesiology, the study of the church, what it is and its purpose in the world (I Peter 2:9). If you ever want to talk about any of these areas, I'm happy to discuss them with you. It actually solidifies what I'm learning when I get to have conversations about these things.

PRAY: Titus 1:1 - "Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness." Please pray that as I study in MTI, the knowledge of the truth will sink into my heart and will make me a godlier person as the Holy Spirit applies the truth into action.

Discipleship
The joy of one-on-one discipleship is something that I can't get enough of. At the beginning of the new semester, I've been able to re-connect with many of the guys that I have discipled in the past and connect with some new guys also. I have learned over the last few years that through life-on-life discipleship, modeling, teaching, leading, and shepherding, every single believer can impact the world. Those who are faithful to take what they have learned and invest it in other people can influence generations for Christ whether they see it or not. I am very pleased to have the time and flexibility in my schedule to take part in the things that I desire to do in Kenya, right here in Denton as I continue my training.

PRAY: for the current ministry and preparation for future ministry - all this training has one goal, to make disciples according to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

Denton Community Church Internship
I have started working with Denton Community Church. Thus far, I have mostly been spending time with the pastor, Bryan Collins, and the worship pastor, Dustin McCarty, and helping out a little bit with the preparation of study guides for the church at home groups. I am very excited about the opportunity to preach this month at the church. This is something that I need to become experienced in because I will be doing a lot of this in Kenya, either planned or on the spot.

PRAY: For the sermon preparation this month and that I would be able to both LEARN from the church and SERVE the church in a mutually beneficial way.

Continue to pray for Kenya
The state of Kenya is still really bad. Killings have increased and no political resolution has come. Please continue to pray for peace, justice, and unity for the Kenyan people. Click here for article on the very recent violence in Western Kenya.

PRAY: Peace and unity in Kenya between politicians, tribes, Christians, and countrymen. Pray that Kenyan Christians would see the current crisis as an opportunity to share their faith.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for praying!

Briefly...

2008-01-23T08:34:00.000-06:00

So, the Bible is pretty amazing.

Exodus 9:29
Egypt is experiencing a hailstorm from God that they have never seen not as a generation, but as a nation. All that is in the open dies from the hail. Pharaoh calls for Moses to come to him so he can ask him to pray that God would have it stop. Moses miraculously makes his way to Pharaoh's palace and back out of the city IN the hailstorm unharmed. Matthew Henry puts it well in his commentary in saying that peace with God, makes men thunderproof. Those whose sin has been dealt with already by the cross of Jesus Christ have no fear of God's judgment and wrath:

Observe, the place Moses chose for his intercession. He went out of the city (Exodus 9:33), not only for privacy in his communion with God, but to show that he durst venture abroad into the field, notwithstanding the hail and lightning which kept Pharaoh and his servants withindoors, knowing that every hail-stone had its direction from his God, who meant him no hurt. Note, Peace with God makes men thunderproof, for thunder is the voice of their Father.

A Joyful Busyness

2008-01-19T12:05:00.001-06:00

Consisting of (skip the first 2 paragraphs if uninterested in my personal reflections...I won't be offended, mostly because I won't know):
- Reflections of my childhood
- Busyness & Availability
- Denton Bible's Missions Conference
- Support Raising

The last month has been very busy. Which is strange considering it consisted of my Christmas break from Missions Training. I've never really been the type to fill my schedule with my own goals or aspirations. I grew up being much more of a follower. I remember one birthday of mine when I was young where a few of my friends came over, spent the night, and on my birthday we had a Back to the Future marathon. As soon as they all left, I remember telling my Mom 10 minutes later, "I'm bored." She replied, "Ben you just had your friends over for almost 24 hours! You need to figure out how to occupy or entertain yourself." Well, I suppose that time has come.

However, I don't want to go too far on the other extreme of to-do lists, minute-by-minute day planners, and never having a moment of availability, silence, or rest. Ah. Availability. To whom? A friend - The telephone rings - hey, do you want to get coffee? - Yeah, let's do it. What about the Holy Spirit? We need to make sure that we are available to the Holy Spirit's leading for us to share the gospel, go to a coffee shop, be and live in an unhurried manner that allows us to have impromptu conversations and interactions. I think it's important, and if we don't make intentional efforts to stay available, the current of our culture will sweep us away into everlasting schedules.

I want to be available to my friends

I want to be available to my family

And I definitely want to be available to the Holy Spirit. I suppose it just requires the attempt at being unhurriedly occupied without being anxiously busy.

Well, on to other things. This last week I got to spend an entire week with many of Denton Bible's missionaries who came back for Denton Bible's first Missions Conference (click here for pictures). It was amazing to fellowship with them, learn from their many years of experience and wisdom on the field, and learn about the importance and priority of prayer. It was a really encouraging time and after the week, I felt like I was part of the team there at Serve. I am really excited and encouraged to be going out as a missionary from Denton Bible Church. There is a feeling of intimacy and support that goes with being sent out by a congregation. Although, I cannot compare with what it feels like to be sent out by an organization and I'm sure it is fine, but I feel very happy to be where I am. It was exciting to see the entire congregation become passionate and excited about world missions and great to see the church as a whole supporting what we do.

On another note, one of the things that was a major goal of mine over the Christmas break was to begin support raising. I wanted to raise enough financial support through monthly contributors to be able to spend my work hours of the semester giving my time to Denton Community Church as an intern. In order to do that I had to have enough money coming in through support that could meet my bills and God has provided within a month! Isn't that incredible! God is so good! I have also been able to send out postcards asking people to pray for me as I continue my preparation and training for Kenya. This has been exciting because it has allowed me to really place prayer as a higher priority than finances which is something we all SHOULD do, but all struggle with. Without your prayers, I can do nothing; if I am doing and doing out of my own strength nothing will come of it, just as David said, "My goodness is nothing apart from You." (Ps. 16). Missions Training classes will start soon as well as my work with Denton Community Church. During this time I will also be slowly having support appointments so that I can build my monthly support up to where it needs to be in time for my two-month trip to Kenya in June. If you are interested in a meeting, please email me (rollinwaren@gmail.com) and I will bump you up to the top of the list.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

ben

Pray for Kenya

2007-12-31T17:26:00.000-06:00

Please pray for Kenya that the violence will stop soon. After the current president was re-elected, violence broke out from the opposition and claims of fraud in the counting of the votes were spoken. 100 are dead mostly in Nairobi and western Kenya, Kisumu. Please pray that this will stop immediately. All the Denton Bible Missionaries are here in the states for a Missions Conference - good timing.

Thanks

Ben

BBC News Article

Denton Community Church

2007-12-17T11:35:00.000-06:00

In my last update I said I'll be working with Lifeline Church. Well, after some good advice from my teachers and talking to several people I have decided to work with Denton Community Church mostly because I need to branch out from College ministry. I love Lifeline, but right now it consists mostly of college students and I'd like some more ministry experience among adults, families, and youth.
The great part about all this is that by the time I get to Kenya full-time there is a high possibility that Dennis Omondi will be pastoring a church and need me to do a lot of work within that church. God is good and He has a definite purpose for me working with Denton Community Church. I am going to find out all the things that Dennis would like me to have more experience in and then attempt to get as much experience in those areas at Denton Community Church.

I'm very excited about this next year.

Thank you for praying!

Missions Journey

2007-12-01T14:33:00.000-06:00

The above diagram comes from a highly respected man with 30 years of missions/ministry experience. When asked in our Missions Training class, what he feels the most important thing to tell us as we prepare for the field, he gave us this.

Why is it that we so often seek to find the specific country God wants us to go to first? Have we gotten into the habit of doing things a little backward? Here, he says that the vision is the first priority, the vehicle the next, and then the venue can be addressed. As you make these choices in your journey towards the mission field, the question of where is actually narrowed by the answers of the first two. If you know why you are going (vision) and you know how you are going (vehicle), where you will go simply takes care of itself.

This has been my experience: Vision (discipleship and evangelism); Vehicle (Denton Bible, MTI, and Serve); Venue: Kenya. Why Kenya? It just got narrowed down and I feel that Kenya is the place and the team that God wants me to join above all the others that DBC has on the field. God's will became much more obvious as I narrowed down the choices.

Something to think about if you are currently on this journey.

Life Updates Pt. 1 & 2

2007-11-25T22:52:00.001-06:00

If you are on my update email list, you've already received these.

11/12/07
Life Update (pt. 1 of 2)

This is my first update in a long while, but I will begin sending these out more frequently. I just want everyone to know of all the big changes that have been occurring in my life recently.
This last semester has been a big transition for me. I quit my full time job as an Assistant Hall Director at Kerr Hall, moved out of the dorms at UNT and into a lower-income neighborhood consisting of a lot of apartments and very little grass (thus dubbed “Cement City”). I began my first semester of the Missionary Training Institute (MTI) at Denton Bible Church (DBC), and made my decision of where I will serve after the training is over: Mombasa, Kenya. This first part of the “Life Update” will consist of the missions side of things, while part 2, coming soon, will be on the ministry side of things.
The training I have received at MTI has been phenomenal. It was a difficult transition at first, but God has given me grace in learning new ways to manage my time and devote myself to my studies. The missions staff of DBC are incredibly gifted and educated men with great devotion to Jesus Christ and His church. I have learned so much about the life of Christ, details of Christian Doctrine, and the intricacies of how to deliver a sermon effectively. I have also been meeting with Dennis Omondi, the field director of Serve Kenya every Tuesday morning to talk about life and ministry in Mombasa, Kenya. When I started meeting with Dennis I was fairly certain I wanted to serve in Kenya, not so much because I feel a specific calling to Kenya or even East Africa, but simply because I feel like I have a place there. I fit in with the team and the ministry work of pastor training, college ministry, leadership development, and possibilities for Muslim evangelism. I can see no better place for me to build a foundation of mission work for my life. After a few weeks of meeting with Dennis, I saw we had very similar hearts, visions, and ministry desires. We are both fairly convinced that Kenya is the place that God would have me commit to for at least one term (four years). This summer I plan on spending two months in Kenya along with my friend Josh Smith; during those two months we will be able to work under Dennis and experience life, ministry, and culture in Kenya in a deeper way as well as lead/host the College Life summer mission team coming to Kenya in July. I will be meeting with this team as their leader starting in February or March.
I thank you for all your prayers, encouragement, guidance, advice, love, support, and friendships. I am very blessed by the Lord to be surrounded by such great groups of people so devoted to God and His purposes. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.

Life Update: Ministry (pt. 2 of 2) – 11/26/07

We are not very balanced people; we like to see-saw between extremes rather than stand in the middle, balanced & steady. I have found it difficult to balance ministry with my studies. I could easily spend all my time just working (20 hrs a week for UNT Housing), but I know that God desires faithfulness in ministry during my time of training. This semester, most of my ministry has taken place in the context of my neighborhood, “Cement City”, a mostly Hispanic, lower income neighborhood right next to the UNT campus. I joined a group of friends from College Life who intentionally moved into a lower-income neighborhood in order to build relationships, meet physical needs, and meet spiritual needs by sharing the gospel and serving the community. It has been slow and at times frustrating, but there are moments where I am affirmed why God has raised up this team of people to pray and serve this community. Just this month, Carlos, one of the kids across the street accepted Christ as his Savior and his siblings, Roberto & Stephanie, are being prepared day by day for the same! We’ve also been able to incorporate a system of telling stories of Jesus’ life every time our neighborhood kids ask to borrow our bike pump! Most of our time is invested in the kids and we pray that our love for the kids will earn respect and an ear open to the gospel from both the kids and their parents. We need lots of prayer because we are constantly evaluating what should be changed about our focus and our actions in this community.

Starting at the turn of the year, I plan on working for Lifeline Bible Fellowship, a church plant of DBC focused on reaching out to the urban & hip/hop cultures. In this, I hope to learn some areas of church ministry and administration that will help me as I prepare for the mission field; I also have a great respect for this church, their vision, and their strong emphasis upon discipleship. After 3 ½ years, I will be quitting my job with the Department of Housing. This semester I have only worked enough to pay my bills and plan on raising monthly support in order to meet those needs since Lifeline is a volunteer position. I am looking for monthly commitments from people who are interested in partnering with me both now as I prepare and train for the mission field and in the future work God is calling me towards in Kenya. If you are interested in setting up a meeting in regards to this, please send me an email so I can share more with you about the ministry. Otherwise, I will begin by contacting certain people that have already expressed interest in my support raising endeavors.

I thank you all for the joy of being partners in the work of Christ and for your support and prayers while God continues to take me on this journey towards Kenya.

Your fellow servant in the Lord,
Ben

The Tangibility of God

2007-10-06T15:54:00.000-06:00

This blog entry by my friend Mackenzie sent me into an whirlwind of a huge idea. By the way, it seems as if the most impactful ideas and times of understanding of God, humans, myself, the world always begin within some context of community and fellowship. Just hanging out with people, fellowshipping, talking about life and then BAM I realize how important and overarching the idea is that we are talking about and it stays with me for at least a week. These are probably moments when the Holy Spirit really wants to teach me something, but I find it interesting that it comes out in this context of other people – this supports my point exactly.
Read this paragraph from Mackenzie talking about words, God, and tangible feelings:

this all got me to thinking of how words from tangible people impact me deeply and immediately. written. spoken. unspoken. if coming from a tangible person, i am impacted. but from our invisible god? its much more difficult for me to trust the depth of those words. for them to impact me in the same way. i am, and have been, wrestling with wanting to be touched and changed by them much more deeply than by tangible mouths. its not that i don’t believe what he says. it just takes much more of an effort for them to sink in than do those coming from tangible bodies. will it always take this effort? i’m not sure. but today, i was also struck by how the lord uses tangible people to speak to us. to encourage. rebuke. wrap in love. even, and especially, on funky stationery or in a steamy bosnian bakery.

The words of God takes more effort to sink in than those coming from tangible bodies with tangible mouths. The effort for the word of God to sink in to our hearts into tangible feelings is the effort of faith, but God also uses these tangible mouths and words to reveal Himself

God is invisible, yet still tangible. Just because I don’t touch Him directly doesn’t mean that He is not clear or definite in that since of tangibility. Tangibility can mean the ability to touch something or the ability to discern something as clear or definite. Moses saw the back of God’s glory and came down from the mountain with his face radiating from that glory of God (Ex. 34). We cannot touch Him, yet He touches us. We cannot see Him, yet He sees us. We can talk to Him, yet He talks to us. Ben, are you saying God speaks words to you? Yes I am. Is it audible? No. Is it tangible? Yes. The communication of God to us is not the way in which we communicate to each other, but that has no effect on its tangibility or clarity.

God is invisible yet reveals Himself through tangible means. A good question to start off with is, “What do you know of God that has not been expressed, revealed, or communicated within tangible or natural means?” I cannot think of a single thing. Creation is an act of God’s words and hands in revealing who He is by the complexity of life around you every day (Rom. 1). Every time you see birds, crunching nut hats, or a soft breeze hits you, isn’t God speaking to you, “I love you.” When you see a smile on a child’s face or their energy build up into a visible and bodily earthquake, isn’t God saying, “I love you?”

God also has revealed a major part of Himself within Scripture. When you read the words of God which came to you by natural means of God inspiring men to write His words, you learn of His wisdom, character, fervent and longsuffering love for us, He is saying to you daily, “I love you.”

We can reflect upon Jesus Christ, the ultimate manifestation and revelation of God to men and He bids us to come to Him, touch the wounds of His side and hands and ask us, “Do you love me?” God Himself came to us and ate with us, laughed with us, mourned with us, taught us, disciplined us, rebuked us, worshiped and prayed to the Father with us, and died for us to bring us to the Father. “Do you love me?” Jesus Christ is the most tangible form of God this world has ever known and all of these tangible revelations give us a peace and assurance of God telling us, “I love you.”

If that wasn’t enough, and it usually isn’t for untrusting people such as ourselves, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us when He left to comfort, guide, and impart the wisdom of God to us. Through the Spirit we can reflect Christ to others as a tangible influence of God in others’ lives. We become a part of the tangibility of God. We touch others; we love others; we comfort others; we bear hug others and write letters to others to show the grace and love of Jesus Christ, the grace and love of God intangible in tangible ways. We the church, the bride of Jesus Christ show the light of God to those who cannot see nor feel because of lack of knowledge or lack of faith.

God is invisible yet reveals Himself in visible ways. God is intangible yet reveals Himself in tangible ways.

When you desire to see, hear, and know God in a tangible way, know He is intangible, but has revealed Himself in creation, the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the church…us. Know that through these means He touches us and speaks to us 10,000 times a day, “I love you.” The question is, will you listen? Will I listen?

Pray.

(feel free to email or comment on anything you agreed or disagreed with)

What is a Missionary?

2007-09-02T09:39:00.000-06:00

I’ll post a little about the Missions Training Institute I just began after a while, but first I want to tell you all about the situation I am in right now and how unique and rewarding it has been to be a part of it.

The Oasis Apartments:
Zach, Doug, and their guests Dustin, Cody, and Josh Ward are all staying in a first floor apartment. Dana and Ale are living above them on the 2nd floor.

Woodvine II Apartments:
Myself, Steven, Justin, and our guest Paul our staying in #9 on the first floor. Directly above us is Lauren and Kana.

We are a team of missionaries. Students, Workers, “in transition”. These are the titles that could be applied to us, but we are all missionaries. Let’s talk about this word missionary for a little bit. Missio is a Latin word that means ‘sending’ or ‘to send’. A Mission is defined as “an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving travel.” Missionary is the “person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country.”

We all lived in houses and apartments spread out through the city of Denton and all collectively decided to move into this poorer neighborhood with the intention of seeking God’s leading in how we might be integrated into the community, meet their needs, shine the light of Christ through our actions, and by divine appointment share the message of Jesus Christ to those we encounter. Now it is not a foreign country, but it is a lot closer to a foreign country than where we were to begin with. Everything else applies though for us to be missionaries. We live, we work, we continue our lives as usual except with the goal and intention of perhaps making a difference in the lives of the people we meet in this particular community, our home.

Our actions:
Sometimes we can be very open and bold in meeting people or setting up times to hang out with others, and other times it simply takes stepping out of our shell, resisting the urge to look through the blinds and peepholes, and walk outside to see what kind of interactions might take place with our neighbors. But every time requires us to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to not resist the ideas that God gives us that works so steadily against our comforts or preferences.

Sometimes we feel like we aren’t doing anything at all, and other times God orchestrates so many ‘chance’ encounters and ‘random’ interactions that we cannot help but fall on our faces in worship and rejoicing in the privilege of being used by God in the subtlest of ways.

I write this to tell you what is happening in my life, but I pray I do not write this out of a desire to boast. If I boast, I boast in the joy of serving Christ and not in my own works. But most of all I write this out of a belief that the most radical movement and revival of the American church can and will occur if only everyone sitting in the seats of churches every Sunday would begin shaping an identity for themselves as ministers and missionaries. No, they do not need to leave their homes or jobs or quit doing the things that they feel God has gifted them so abundantly to do. Our group has only switched homes but maintained everything else in our lives. What you must do is simply consider yourself as a missionary right where you are, as one called by God and sent to your workplace and neighborhood in order to carry out the most important assignment and orders of our Lord Jesus Christ to, “make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things,” Jesus has commanded you to observe. If only we all could take this vision as our own and shape our identity as missionaries.

Would you please pray for us, for yourselves, and for the American church to act out the love of God and calling of Jesus Christ in whatever ways the Holy Spirit might lead us all to do?

Confirmation of "Spiritual Learnings" by A. W. Tozer

2007-08-08T19:36:00.000-06:00

From A. W. Tozer - "The Knowledge of the Holy"
Confirmation from A.W. Tozer:
“To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.
There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him. Here is His promise: ‘And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.’
Let Him lead thee blindfold onwards,
Love needs not to know;
Children whom the Father leadeth
Ask not where they go.
Though the path be all unknown,
Over moors and mountains lone.
~Gerhard Tersteegen
God constantly encourages us to trust Him in the dark. ‘I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.’”

Spiritual Learnings

2007-07-31T22:10:00.000-06:00

I’m thinking about a lot of really big issues or thoughts on the Christian life. Occasionally in my life I experience these moments either through prayer, a conversation, a Scripture, or just a daily moment in life where it’s like God truly steps down and reveals something directly to me. It can be something I have heard hundreds of times before, but somehow hearing it again in just the right way causes me to think deeply about it and to understand what God is teaching me at that moment. This is actually God’s Spirit at work which I will discuss later.

1) Hard not Heavy

Jesus says, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:30). Christ’s burden that He carries is easy and light meaning He has plenty of strength to help us and carry our burdens in our place. When the Christian life becomes heavy – stressful, anxious, worried, controlling, burdensome – this is due to your own control and your lack of surrender unto Christ who will carry your burdens for you. We like to hold on to the reigns of our lives (even though we all know the final result of doing so ends in disaster) and control our lives making “bootstrap” accomplishments that we can pat ourselves on the back with and say to ourselves, “Well done good and faithful Ben. You had a problem and you took care of it yourself without even having to ask God for any help at all!” This is what the world praises right? Self-sufficiency. Individual accomplishments. Awards. Cinderella sports teams. Hear me now my family in Christ! If the entire weight of the world lay on your shoulders, it would not begin to describe the burden that is upon you without Christ! Jesus Christ is stronger than you are and He calls all people to lay down this burden that you cannot even stand under and give it to Him so He may free you from this stress, this anxiety, these desires. Jesus frees people from their own contradictory and self-destructive selves. If only I could just submit to God and let go of my control over my life, things would be so much simpler. Letting go is the hardest aspect of the Christian life.
So it is meant to be hard? Yes, the Christian life is meant to be hard, but it is not meant to be heavy. Does that make sense? Heaviness is you carrying an impossible burden on your shoulders. Hard is dying to yourself and letting go of your control over life trusting in God’s sovereign and loving nature to lead you through. Heavy is the pressure that is placed upon yourself to do and not just be.

2) The Spirit and the spiritual: the only way to learn, the only way to change

The Holy Spirit’s movement is the only way I can ever understand anything; it is the only way I can ever change or learn anything about God or about myself. Without it I stay the same man year after year, I read the same scriptures over and over having no ears to hear the words and no eyes to see the truth that lies within it. I said above that what needs to happen in the Christian life is a dying to yourself, a release of control. How can I give up control of myself, how can I die to myself?? The first lesson is recognizing that you don’t know how to do it nor do you have the ability to do it. I’ve been praying for God’s Spirit to work in me because without it, without Christ the vine, I can do nothing (John 15). Abiding in Christ simply means to remain as you are – don’t break yourself off from the tree. It is only by the Spirit that I can learn these truths. It is only by the Spirit that it becomes spiritual knowledge and not just information stored in my brain. It is only by the Spirit that these truths will actually stay with me long enough to have any effecting change. It is only by the Spirit that truth finds its way to action in my life. Yes I want to be more than do, but as you are being, doing will occur naturally and led by the Spirit of God rather than by your determination, drive, discipline, or boldness to change yourself (James 1).

It is good to feel God’s Spirit working in my life after a month of distance and distraction.

Reluctant Leadership (the Moses in all of us)

2007-07-22T10:54:00.000-06:00

Here's a little guide to keep you from getting confused: when I say Moses, I am referring to the Moses of the Bible, and when I say Moses A., I am referring to Moses Abele my Kenyan ministry partner pictured above.

Every now and then in life you come across an incredibly vivid and powerful analogy of Christian living drawn from an everyday life circumstance. Moses A. experienced something like that the first Sunday we were at the Word of Life camp. I was able to hear of his experience when we met together the day after for our first official discipleship time.

Moses A. is a great guy. I really enjoyed getting to know him while in Kenya, connecting with him, sharing struggles with him, and teaching him through my experiences. Moses A. has a natural leadership quality to him. No matter what I think people will always look to him in some way to lead, he cannot hide from it. Yet like all of us there is a reluctance to lead. Some have this reluctance from lack of self-confidence like the Moses of the Bible who five times gave excuses to God for the commission given to him by God (Exodus 3:11,3:13,4:1,4:10,4:13). Moses said, "I am not good enough," and God replied, "I will certainly be with you." Moses said, "The people won't know your name," and God replied, "I AM WHO I AM. They will know my name because they know my faithfulness to them in history." Moses said, "They won't believe that You have really appeared to me," and God replied, "I will give you signs and wonders as proof that I am with you." Moses said, "I cannot speak well," and God replied, "I made your mouth and will give you the words and ability to speak." Moses said, "Please send someone else," and God replied in ANGER yet mercy giving him Aaron for help but still giving His presence and power to Moses. Moses' reluctance to lead was based in his lack of self-confidence which adversely affected His trust in God's power; along with his self-confidence issues, he did not believe the people would even want to follow him - this is based in his thinking of himself as lowly and thinking of the people as un-trusting or unfaithful (not so far from the truth). The problem with both of these thoughts is that they are true by a strictly earthly view, but if you add God and His power into the equation, all things become possible. With God, you become a confident leader and the people become faithful followers. It is good to be lowly and humble in your own sight, but if it gets to the point where you stop trusting in Jesus, His power, and authority, it becomes a problem of unfaithfulness in God to use the lowly.

On that Sunday, Moses A. and the rest of the group had decided to go to the beach for an afternoon swim. The beach area right next to the Word of Life camp was not a good place to swim. Moses A. was the only person in the group at the time that had been there before and he knew of the perfect place to swim. So he was automatically placed as the leader of the group for a while. Moses A. began to lead the group on a 20-minute walk to the best swimming area. After about 10 minutes, some people in the group began to wonder how far this place was and asked Moses A., “Are we close yet?” The area they were walking through was very rocky and there also were a lot of sellers on the beach, which were causing some of the people in the group to get a little uncomfortable. As Moses A. continued leading, he began to doubt himself because the people were complaining, but he knew that where he led them was the perfect place to take them for swimming. He was the only person who had seen how good the place was, and so he pressed on because he knew what was best for the group.

This is exactly what we have been called by God to do every day. The commission that Moses received by God was to deliver His people from Egypt and the commission that we have received by God is to go and make disciples of all nations. We are called to lead people no matter how we feel of ourselves – we are to be humble but not doubt in God’s power to use us. We are to lead people into the glorious relationship with Jesus Christ and then teach people how to ground themselves into a loving and fruitful relationship with their Creator. This will cause some discomfort in the people we are leading, but we must stay focused and continue to lead them because we have seen it is good and it is the very best place for them to go. This is the essence of a shepherd, and exactly what Jesus does with us everyday as we follow Him towards the very best things that He is giving us. For Jesus, the Shepherd, to teach us and grow us, He will cause discomfort so we will walk closer to His side as He leads us. Leadership / Discipleship always begins by being led by Jesus, by being a Disciple of Jesus Christ.

Application of Learning

2007-07-14T16:10:00.000-06:00

Claus, Anthony, Chris, & Ivan

Landon with Moses on the right.

Today, I want to tell you of a really neat situation that occurred during our discipleship - two situations actually. Meet Anthony, an 18 year old freshman from Dallas, Tx. Anthony has a dry sense of humor, a faithful and obedient heart, a love for God's word, and a really deep voice. Meet Ivan, Anthony's discipleship partner in Kenya. Ivan is a 30 year old Kenyan involved in FBC's college ministry at Mombasa Polytechnic. Ivan has a great smile, a servant's heart, and a passion for evangelism. Anthony was a little intimidated or confused when he, the youngest guy on our team, was paired up with Ivan, the oldest guy on the Kenyan team. "So Ivan's like 30," was Anthony's way of telling the American team that he was concerned about the situation. Throughout the course of the week we all found that the pairing couldn't have been a better fit. Ivan loves to act; he's a servant and evangelist after all. Anthony loves to study - he's becoming a man of the Word. With this, God had set up for Ivan exactly what he needed to learn the week we were with him. This was a direct answer to prayer of which I had asked all of you to pray - thank you for praying, God is good!

Anthony found his time with Ivan very focused when going through our curriculum, The Timothy Principle by Roy Robertson as Ivan was eager to learn. Out of the four hours we had each morning, Ivan and Anthony would be finished with the lesson in less than half the time. These two men decided that the best use of their time would be found in evangelism on the beach. By Wednesday of our week at the Word of Life camp, two men that had approached a couple of our girls the day before with spiritual questions came to know Christ as their personal Savior. Chris and Claus had entered the family of God through the power of His Spirit and the faithfulness of His servants. On the same day, Landon and Marto were able to share Christ with a Masai man named Moses who also accepted Christ. I found it so wonderful that on that day the lesson in the Timothy Principle was about follow up and the lesson before it was about evangelism (the Bridge illustration). Anthony, Ivan, Landon, and Marto were taking what they had just learned and immediately applied them in action. Not only that but God was blessing their action with immediate fruit - the very fruit that we began learning about that Monday. "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." - John 15:16. "Go and bear fruit," "Go and make disciples," the fruit is new believers and their growth in discipleship. Throughout the rest of the week Ivan and Anthony continued to split their time - half in discipleship and learning, and half in evangelism and application (shouldn't our lives look so much like this daily? WOW!) We are hoping and praying that the Word of Life staff have continued to follow up with these men who really do not know the first thing about following God in a daily Christian walk, and you may pray with us as well. Conversion unto Christ is not the end, only the beginning of a long relationship with Christ. God has, we pray, chosen Chris, Claus, and Moses and appointed them that they may go (learn of Him and grow in Him) and bear fruit (of righteousness, faithfulness, and the Great Commission), and that their fruit should remain (meaning they themselves will one day share Christ with another Kenyan and disciple them as they were discipled).

The Humble Servant of God

2007-07-07T22:13:00.000-06:00

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.

The Cost of Discipleship : The Call to Missions (Part 1)

2007-06-30T16:19:00.000-06:00

This was something I read this morning and felt was too appropriate not to share (be patient and have some time for you to read through it all – it’s long).

Luke 9:57-58 - "Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, 'Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

There are three men in this entire passage, but today I just want to talk about the first man. This man makes a very bold statement out of emotion, passion, and how he felt at the moment in which he said it, but he didn't count the cost of his promise to Jesus. What exactly was it that this man felt? It could have been love for Jesus and His ministry, excitement for the coming kingdom of the Messiah, or possibly even guilt for not joining Jesus' ministry earlier? We really don't know, but we do know that there was something that was not genuine about his statement because Jesus knew that this man did not have knowledge of the sacrifice that his promise required.

Following Jesus wherever He goes requires a great cost. Jesus' direct response mentioned the fact that He did not even have a home to rest His head which is something that even foxes and birds have. Jesus had no home and none of the basic and proper necessities of life. Following Jesus would require this man to give up all those necessities. Not only this, but Jesus was heading to Jerusalem (9:51) the place where He will be beaten, tortured, and crucified (Source: Bible Knowledge Commentary). Would this man follow Jesus to the cross as Jesus Himself taught just before the transfiguration (9:23-27). To all who wished to follow Him, there was a requirement to "deny himself, and take up his cross daily." All who followed Christ sought to lose their lives for His sake in order to truly save it.

Matthew Henry speaks about Jesus' self-title of "Son of Man". "[Jesus] glories in His condescension towards us, to testify His love to us, and to teach us a holy contempt of the world, and a continual regard to another world." The title of "Son of Man" identifies Jesus with mankind and causes all who hear that title to recall Jesus' great humbling of Himself descending from the throne of God to become, live as, and live with mankind (Philippians 2:5-11).

Jesus gave up His rights, and condescended Himself to become a man. Why? To save us (Luke 19:10), and to serve us (Matt. 20:28). How did Jesus do this? Was it out of boldness? Emotion? Passion? Love? Yes, all these are true, but the foundation of how or why the Son of God came to man as Jesus Christ lies in His OBEDIENCE to the Father. Jesus came because He was sent by the Father out of the Father’s LOVE and MERCY. Jesus came out of OBEDIENCE because the Father had sent Him. The Father commanded that He go, and so He went out of Obedience and Love towards the Father. The Father commanded that Jesus be sent to the cross, and Jesus prayed for another way yet remained faithful in attaching the clause, “not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16); “But God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8); “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). It seems that here Love and Obedience are tied to one another. Some say Love is an emotion, others that it is a decision or commitment. Perhaps it is both. Jesus loved us, because the Father loved us and they are one in the same. But Jesus came because the Father commanded Him to come, and so He did because love and obedience are connected. That is to say, obedience is the effect, while love is the cause. The Bible talks about hearers and doers (James 1); to hear and not do is the same thing as loving and not obeying. If obedience is not there, then the love that is supposedly there is not trustworthy; if action is not there, then the hearing of the word of God must be called into question.

This passage has application in all of the Christian life; it is the cost of being a personal disciple / follower of Jesus Christ, but I want to talk about something that my team and I spoke about a lot during the trip, the call to missions.

So many young people have the same story. They went on a short term mission trip, and then they preach God’s calling of them to the mission field. Either that or they just woke up one morning and God spoke to them that they are to personally go do missions in a very specific country. Now, it is very possible that all these experiences or callings are really true and God is working on someone’s heart to go on the mission field. It would be wrong of me to deny their personal experience. However, when many people preach their calling to missions, go on the mission field for any extended period of time, and then suddenly come home without that calling, it makes me wonder what happened?

This, I think, is what happens. The calling of missions can be founded by emotions or obedience, by one’s personal feelings or by their commitment to the will of God in their lives. And as I was discussing with a friend, he helped me realize that if your commitment to missions is based on your passions, emotions, or romantic notions of serving God in a foreign context, you will fail and come home to America defeated. Why will you fail? Passions wane, emotions are fickle, and romance dies when trials come. These things are the chaff that is blown away by the wind (trials), and you are left with only the wheat (your commitment to the will of God) which turns out to be very little. But I don’t want to sound so stoic and unbalanced. Passion, emotion, romance are all great things and I think they are necessary for daily living, but if they are the reasons you are serving in a difficult and often times, lonely place, they are simply not enough.

The calling to missions is the same as the calling to be disciples of Christ. Both callings must be founded on obedience and commitment to the will of God while counting the cost of difficulty that lies ahead. If the calling is founded on how you felt at the moment when making that commitment it will not stand the test of difficulty. Not all people are called to the mission field, but we need more. Not all people that stay to do the work of ministry in America actually do the work, but they should. The problem lies in a faulty, fickle commitment to God’s will, God’s law, and God’s way. To say, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go,” must be said out of obedience. Anything else is a rash, emotional statement made without true commitment.

So I will make a bold statement which could be proven wrong by more experience and wisdom: stop asking if you are “called” to missions, and start praying about how far you are willing to follow your Lord and Savior. If it’s not very far, pray for a greater love for God, the type of authentic love that demands a greater obedience and commitment to God’s will for your life.

God's Sovereignty: The Stranded Frenchman

2007-06-27T18:20:00.000-06:00

As I begin to tell the stories of the trip to Kenya, it only seems right to begin with the most exciting if not devastating portion of our travels to Kenya. Our flight connections went as follows: DFW to Newark, NJ - NJ to London - London to Nairobi - Nairobi to Mombasa. So after 3 hours on a plane we arrive in the Newark airport a little late due to weather and Continental Airlines. We still had a few hours to kill before our next flight and for some reason it did not click with either myself or Shanda that we have not passed security yet for an international flight. On top of that Virgin Atlantic closes their gates 30 minutes before departure. Well, by the time we got to the gate and security check-in, it was already past 30 minutes and they wouldn't let us in. After much shock and then deliberation with the Virgin Atlantic counter, we accepted the fact that we missed our flight and hoped / prayed that we wouldn't miss any more. We then went to Continental because we hoped they might be able to book us on another airline. This didn't work, but they did give us a hotel for the night in NJ as well as Meal Vouchers for the morning. Since Virgin only flies out of London to Nairobi once a day, it was now our plan to spend 23 hours at London, Heathrow. This was obviously a little test in patience and flexibility for my whole team, but they did a wonderful job in rolling with it and simply accepting the loss of a day in Kenya. We focused on the fact that we were still going to Kenya even if we'd be a day late.

Now, the blessing of God's confirmation that our mistake was really His sovereignty came in the form of a stranded Frenchman named Jeff. Jeff was also stranded in New Jersey for the night, but because he didn't come in on Continental, they were unable to give him a hotel room. Shanda and I realized that we had 4 hotel rooms which allowed for me to share a room with Jeff so we quickly offered him a place to stay for the night. Jeff seemed very grateful and followed us around hanging out with the team until Shanda and I finished tying up all the loose ends for our flight in the morning. I ended up having a substantial amount of time with Jeff traveling to the Hotel Shuttle area and then waiting for our van to the Radisson to come. God obviously had His hand in the entire thing because my conversation with Jeff was one of great openness about Christ. I pray that after our conversation He was able to understand the gospel and message of Christianity with much more clarity and know exactly what he must to do be saved whenever the Lord would call him to that faith.

It was about 12:30 am by the time we got to the hotel and we needed to be back at the airport by 5 am. I couldn't sleep for the life of me because of all the thoughts of what I should have done differently rolling around in my head. It was 2:30 and I resolved to just soak in the bath if I wasn't asleep by 3. As I was wishing I had not made the mistake that I did and failed my team as I did, I remembered that God calls all of His servants to simply be AVAILABLE for His use but not because of our ABILITY. So I began to cry thanking God for His goodness and love for me. Then I began to laugh silently as not to wake Jeff. Then the thought of waking Jeff, a Frenchman who I shared the gospel with and Continental hooked up with a hotel room for the night in Newark, New Jersey at 2:30 in the morning, just made me laugh all the more. Why was I laughing? One because it was an experience I am sure to never have again, and two, because often times OUR MISTAKES SHOW GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY.

The blessings that came from our mistake are numerous. Jeff in New Jersey; our team being forced into flexibility on the front end of our trip; staying in two cramped hotel rooms in London (one bed, 5 girls; one bed, 3 guys) and having the team sneak into the hotel unsuspiciously so we wouldn't be forced to get more rooms at outrageous prices brought a great deal of humility to the team; Amadala, the girl I sat next to on the plane to Nairobi - a Kenyan living in London who found out that she has nothing holding her back from praying to receive Christ in her life and knows that she can pray to God at anytime to be cleansed of her sins.

God used this "mistake" to prepare my team greatly and to bless two to five different people's lives through our unique circumstances.

And we're back!

2007-06-25T10:24:00.000-06:00

My team and I arrived at DFW around 11am yesterday. We are all excited to be back and to process through all the things we've learned and experienced. I'm sorry I was unable to communicate at all while we were there but the 2 chances I did have to use the internet were taken away by the service being down.
From here on out, my plan is to write small memories or stories to share with you all about what the team did, how it went, and the impact it has had on me, my team, and the Kenyans as well. I will try to publish / email these out once every other day.
As a whole, the trip was a great success and we accomplished the main purpose of our being there which was to teach, encourage, and spread the vision of discipleship to the Kenyan leaders of the college ministry of Mombasa Polytechnic.
Thank you for your support and prayers throughout this time. Continue to pray for me and my team over the next week or two in readjusting to normal life. For me especially, it is hard having so much work and leadership placed into this trip and then have it suddenly taken away. I experienced a little shock yesterday from being alone and without my team. It's hard to spend 3 weeks constantly around people and then to suddenly be alone, but today is already better. And luckily for me I have the next two months or so to rest and begin preparing and looking forward to my Missions training that will begin at the end of August! You will be hearing from me soon.
ben

And we're off!

2007-06-04T22:11:00.000-06:00

We will depart our beloved country sometime Tuesday evening from New Jersey.

From Newark we will depart to London.
From London to Nairobi, to Mombasa. From there it will be June 7th and we will have some time to rest.

I feel that my team is prepared as we ever can be and now it is finally time to go. We are excited as we trust in God to do great things according to His will. Please join us in confident prayer for God's will to be done in Mombasa, Kenya and through us , His humble (and pray for humility too) servants. I John 5:14-15: "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

I should be able to communicate only twice while I'm in Kenya. I'll do my best to remember my experiences and relate the best ones here or in person when I return. Thank you so much for your prayers.

ben

Prayer Calendar

2007-05-29T11:22:00.000-06:00

If you are on my email list I'm emailing you the attachment so it can be printed easily and placed on your refrigerator or someplace where you will remember to pray for me and my team. If you'd like the actual file and are not on my email list, just email me and I will send it to you. Don't feel like you have to read all this at once; it's meant to be taken a day or several days at a time. The portion at the end are things that you can pray for every day of the trip.
We are resting as the branches of the vine of Christ. Apart from the vine, we can do NOTHING! Therefore, prayer, trust, and daily abiding in Christ is essential not only for trips like these but even for daily life. I highly encourage you to pray for us, because we are lost without it (John 15:5).

PRAYER CALENDAR:

Please pray each day for our team:

Humble attitudes and servant hearts
Respect of culture
Joyful spirit content in all things
Submission to authority (Jill, Ben, Shanda, etc.)
Grace in dealing with heat & insects
That we could be true examples of the Christian walk – that the Kenyans may see our dedication and love for Christ, but also our faults and daily need of Him.
HEALTH – big one.
Flexibility – this trip is all planned out, but it could all change and turn on a dime as it already has once.

Today – June 5^th

Final team meeting on May 31 with Dennis (Kenya field director) and Allison (Dennis’ fiancée).
Kate, Carmie, Rachel, & Landon’s passports to come through. Possible trip to Houston – June 1^st for re-application.
Our team’s Creativity & the Holy Spirit in preparing for the leading of devotionals, church times, and a chapel service.
Small gifts to Kenyans will be chosen wisely and used to encourage, show love, and edify the college leaders we will be working with.
Spiritual, physical, mental readiness for the team.
Pray for Dennis & Allison as they prepare for their wedding in North Carolina

June 5^th – June 7^th (morning)

Safety in travels
Patience with 4 planes & over 14 hrs of layover.
Use the time wisely for team building and more prep. for the time in Kenya
Pray for Moses – my Kenyan ministry partner. That I may teach him in Bible study, leadership, and what he needs most.

June 7^th (afternoon) – 8^th

· Become well-rested in Mombasa

· Sharpness & Organization in planning and gathering of supplies before we go to the Word of Life camp

· Pray for Jill as she guides us in all the aspects and logistics of this trip.

· Pray for Landon meeting with Martin. That Martin might learn what he needs most from Landon.

Saturday June 9^th

Safety in traveling 30 miles to Ukunda (roads are really bad in Kenya)
First meeting of Kenyan College Leaders – pray for energy, joy, and excitement to build the relationships with our two teams
For the Word of Life Staff – be a blessing to them and an example of Jesus Christ.
Pray for Anthony meeting with Ivan. That Ivan might learn what he needs most from Anthony.

June 10^th – 17^th

Every day, 9AM-1PM: Discipleship times with ministry partners. Pray for love, relationship building, use of curriculum, and discernment on the most important things to talk about
Every day, 2PM-6:30PM: Ministry / work projects in the Word of Life camp or Ukunda village. Pray for servant hearts and strong role modeling of the Christian life as seen in service and giving.
Every day: That the Holy Spirit would impart the vision of discipleship, evangelism, holiness, the reading and studying of the Word of God, prayer, fellowship, accountability, and service as essential parts of the Christian life to these Kenyan leaders and all the Word of Life staff and people of Ukunda as well as Mombasa.

Monday June 11^th

Work project at Word of Life – manual labor on the 11^th, 12^th, & 14^th – pray for safety and to be a help to the camp
Pray for Carmie meeting with Betty. That Betty might learn what she needs most from Carmie.

Tuesday June 12^th

Our team led devotionals for the Word of Life staff & Kenyan college leaders on the 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th – to effectively encourage and edify those around us
Pray for Laci meeting with Jackie. That Jackie might learn what she needs most from Laci.

Wednesday June 13^th (Ben’s birthday)

Visit of elementary school in Ukunda – the gospel could be shared with emphasis on growth in Christ and the personal relationship with God. Be an example of loving evangelism for our partners.
Pray for Kate meeting with Lynn. That Lynn might learn what she needs most from Kate.

Thursday June 14^th

Traditionally someone gets sick while in Kenya – pray for health for my team members at this midway point.
Pray for Rachel meeting with Sylvia. That Sylvia might learn what she needs most from Rachel.

Friday June 15^th

Morning Chapel service with 600 kids – the team will be doing some sort of skit or devotional
Evening “Youth Worker’s Fellowship” – the team will also be leading in this time. Pray for preparedness and the Spirit’s leading to say or do what GOD wants to be said or done and not our own thoughts, words, or desires.
Pray for Shanda meeting with Kenalyn. That Kenalyn might learn what she needs most from Shanda.

Saturday June 16^th

Visitation of Word of Life staff members living in Ukunda and evangelism in their neighborhoods. Encouragement, effective gospel presentations, and modeling evangelism to ministry partners.

Sunday June 17^th

Presentation at church service: skit, song, or devotional.
Goodbyes to our new Kenyan friends and ministry partners: Pray that both the Kenyans and Americans will remember one another by their mutual love for Christ and that there would be exponential impact that occurs in all our lives after having met, served, and learned from one another.
Travel back to Mombasa after church

June 18^th – 21^st

Debrief time for team. This is still ministry time for Shanda and I; pray that we would effectively lead our team to think for themselves and to remember the things God has taught them through this trip.
Pray for the lives of the team members to be forever changed having seen God acting in another part of the world
Pray for direction and future involvement in foreign and local missions
Pray that their hearts would be forever bound to Christ and their passion and vision would forever be grounded in evangelism and DISCIPLESHIP.

June 22^nd – 24^th

Safety in travels home
Patience with 4 planes and over 15 hours of layover.
Pray for God to raise up full time missionaries for Kenya to join the Denton Bible team in Mombasa.

What am I doing from June 5th - 24th?

2007-05-24T19:07:00.000-06:00

I’m glad you asked that question. I’m going to Kenya!

Well, a lot has happened recently to change the nature of the trip this June. Dennis Omondi the Denton Bible Missionary whose hometown is Mombasa, Kenya had to come home early. Dennis planned on being involved in our trip and taking us and 8 of the leaders in the college ministry in Mombasa to Western Kenya for a mission trip / work project there. But the laws of immigration and marriage has called him to the states early, and it would be unwise to travel within Kenya without a Kenyan.

So, our plans now are to go to Mombasa, then after a day or two of planning and resting from the 3 days & 4 planes of travel, we will meet up with 8 of the leaders of the college ministry and go to Word of Life, a youth camp on the Indian Ocean about 30 minutes south of Mombasa. These Kenyans are students or just out of college. Some have been saved for a while, others more recently, but all have a lot to learn about the daily Christian life and walk. It is our team’s goal to model the Christian life for them through living life with them, taking them through a curriculum (The Timothy Principle – based from the Navigators 2:7 material by Roy Robertson), becoming their friends, peers, disciplers and guides. It is our hope that the things they hear and see from us will be taken into practice and passed down to all of the people involved in the college ministry in Mombasa. Because this is our main ministry, we will be spending every morning over the next 8 days with our ministry partners. I will be meeting with Moses who has been involved in the college ministry for 2 years now and will be part of the core leadership team in the fall. His favorite soccer team is Manchester United (I just realized that if I’m going to be a missionary, I must know and appreciate SOCCER – I’ll be working on that). I hope to get to know him, love him, show him how I live life and teach him in areas of leadership and Bible study methods. I could share with you about the other people that each one of my team members are paired up with, but I’d rather tell you about that when I really know them and have pictures to accompany my words.

In the afternoons we will be doing a service project for the Word of Life camp as well as visiting an elementary school to share Christ with the kids there one afternoon. The idea for these 8 days is to be with these key leaders of the college ministry ALL THE TIME! We will read with them, pray, hang out, eat, serve, work, play, sleep, everything. This is the discipleship that Jesus displayed with the apostles and I am excited to follow in that pattern at least for a few days. Perhaps it will urge me on to following His pattern much more closely and consistently?

After that, the Kenyans will go home and we will return to Mombasa to debrief. Some may say, well at this point ministry is over right? Not at all. Because since the first team meeting in April, discipleship has been happening. This debriefing time will be a key time for my team to think about God, missions, discipleship, service, and ministry in a whole new light. Recently I’ve come to realize that mission trips can be very similar to Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. He was riding along the road minding his own business, and all of a sudden knocked off his horse. When he looks up, he sees Jesus face to face. Missions can have a profound effect on a believer. It is like getting slapped in the face or knocked off a horse to find you are staring at the face of your Lord and things have never been so clear.

Coming Soon: a Prayer Calendar with dates and suggested prayer topics.

"Social Finals Week"

2007-05-22T14:22:00.000-06:00

Wow! This week has been really crazy. Really. I have called it "Social Finals Week" or "Social Marathon" because I have been so busy. It is starting to finally slow down after all. Let me take you through a synopsis of the week:

Monday:
My good friend Levi came into town. He stayed with me for the week and we hung out with Brian Allgaier (who got married on Saturday) while watching some awesome Jazz music at the Greenhouse.Wednesday:
Drove to Dallas to celebrate my brother Peter's 30th birthday. Good time with mi familia. That night my other brother Andy and his wife checked into the hospital because their baby was ready to become a new Warren in the world.Thursday:
Sean Warren is born at 1:29PM!! Bachelor Party for Brian Allgaier in Ft. Worth, Texas. All was planned by me, the Best Man.Friday:
Rehearsal at the church and Rehearsal Dinner at Texas Land & Cattle (tasty). Brian gave me a French Press for the groomsmen gift!! Very exciting

Saturday:
Wake up early. Go to Dallas to see Sean Warren for the first time and hold my 2 day old nephew. Pick up Kenya team member. Buy supplies to decorate the wedding car. Practice Best Man speech. Go to wedding!Sunday - Monday:
Wake up early. Go to church. Pack up Kenya team in a suburban to drive 3 hrs. to the Wichita Mts. in Oklahoma. Stinking beautiful and fantastic camping.

Kenya Support Amount Raised!

2007-05-01T15:34:00.000-06:00

I am at full support with several hundred dollars extra that will go directly to any team members that might be lacking in their support. If you were planning on contributing to the Kenya mission trip and are willing to have the money go to other team members or Denton Bible Missions, I am positive that God will use your donation toward His glory in whatever way He sees fit.

I must say that I have never seen so much generosity so quickly. It is all God's doing whether the reason for it is simply to encourage and affirm myself and my future direction in missions and full-time ministry, and/or because God has blessed me with incredibly godly, generous, and loving friends and family who have God's heart for the world.

The body of Christ stands united as a team when we gather together with one purpose and one heart which is God's purpose and God's heart. This will of God is that ALL NATIONS see and know the glory of His Son Jesus Christ and put their faith in God's salvation through Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for our desperately sinful hearts.

2 weeks and one day!

2007-04-27T14:11:00.000-06:00

Why do we raise support for these trips? There are so many reasons. The people of God investing in the world around them through money and prayers. The body of Christ becoming directly involved with the gospel being spread to all nations of this world. For me, right now, one of the reasons is the feeling that I have of complete confirmation from God that I am supposed to be doing what I am doing right now. Complete affirmation that I am within the will of God right now. I raise support because I have to, also because God blows me away with a reliance upon Him and a recognition that there are NO OBSTACLES that can EVER stand in the way of God's wishes.
It has been two weeks and one day and God has brought in almost 90% of the amount I need to go to Kenya! I have NEVER seen money come in this fast. God is so good!!
I will keep updating where I am at in support and where my team is at in support amount. Any excess that comes in to team members will help other team members who are struggling in there support. Excess on top of that will go to Denton Bible Missions.

Kenya Team and MTI

2007-04-18T19:22:00.000-06:00

We've got our team together for Kenya! The support letters are out and the finances have started to come in! It is very exciting. I get to spend my Saturday with my team and really start to get to know them this weekend.
In other news, it is officially official that I will be attending the Missionary Training Institute this Fall starting in late August. This is something that I've been wanting to do for over 2 years and I am overwhelmed with how blessed I am to be able to do it. GOD IS GOOD!!

MTI link: www.serve-international.com/home/mti.cfmof

Why Kenya?

2007-02-25T11:46:00.000-06:00

I was recently asked why I chose Kenya for missions. Well, I wouldn't say that I have chosen Kenya, because that would be unwise to assume that God has definitely called me to a country I have never been to, however, I do feel assured that God is leading me there to do my 6 month stint with Dennis Omondi in Kenya.
But before I get into the process of how this came about, I'd like to ask a different question, "Why missions?" Why is it that so many of us spend so much time deliberating over whether God has called us into the mission field or not? Has He not given us a command and commission? Has He not told us to take His gospel unto all the nations and to make disciples of all peoples?

Matt. 28:18-20 - The Great Commission: "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

There has been commands and commissions given to us. In asking if God has called you to missions, the answer will always be yes, but the next question will be, "Where Lord will you have me go?" That place may be exactly where you are right now, or it may be somewhere in the U.S., but it may also be a place that will strip you of your comfort and force you to rely upon His grace alone to complete the work He has charged you with.
I believe that God has called me to obey His Great Commission in the context of full-time ministry and possibly a long term career overseas. Whether or not that will ultimately be the case, I cannot say; all I know is that God has placed in my heart a desire to be trained for the mission field. So in asking the question, "Where, Lord, will you have me go," I came to realize that the place I go to is not as important as the reasons why I go. Missions is nothing more than light going into a place of lesser light in order to shine the light of the worship of God in darkness. If God has called you to missions, should you go to the place where there seems to be the most harvest, the least harvest, the least reached, the most need? No one can really say, but I believe that you should simply follow the leading of God through His Spirit and prayer and lay open your plans wishing only to serve and represent Christ as His ambassador in a place of darkness. This really could be anywhere.
I came to the decision of going to Kenya for my stint through first of all being grounded in the desire to go through MTI and then praying about the places where Denton Bible has missionaries: Russia, Mexico, Kenya, Argentina, China, Romania, etc. I prayed, I flip-flopped back and forth all the while knowing that my flesh most of all did not want to go to Kenya. It's hot there. It's on the equator! But Kenya seemed to be near the part of the world I have been drawn to over the last couple of years. Kenya also has a significant Muslim population which has also been growing in my heart (side note: The Muslim world is no more lost or gridlocked than the Communist Soviet Union was before their collapse in '91. God has a way of breaking through impossible religions and ideologies). The Denton Bible Kenya Team also has the most need for new team members. Right now, there is only Dennis Omondi, Jill Senechal, and in 2008 Allison (soon to be Omondi; Dennis' fiancee). All that, plus a vague sense of the Spirit's leading within me that only grew my conviction to choose Kenya above the other places.
That was a long description of the process of my choice. But in the long run, if it were any other place I would be just as excited about the upcoming possibilities for ministry, missions, and the work of the kingdom of Christ. Ask God about the where knowing that the why has already been answered in His Great Commission given to us almost 2000 years ago.

First Post

2007-02-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

Right now, the question of the hour is: Will I go on my 6 month stint to Kenya starting this summer or will it be in January of 2008. For some reason my guess is that it will probably be this summer. I am committed to lead the College Life team from June 2-23, and it would probably make things a lot simpler if I simply stayed there until December. We'll see.