Application of Learning

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

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)

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

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!

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