I don’t believe in coincidences/Chances/Accidents

I just finished the two meetings I had scheduled for today with the pastor of New City Fellowship- Chattanooga. Kedric and I drove around looking for a coffee shop with wi-fi. Niedlov`s is the place we settle on- I find a table for us and get some coffee while I tell Ked about my meeting. In the far left corner is a lady working hard on her computer and as usual, I am loud so she can hear everything I am saying. After a while she walks over to our table and introduces herself; her mom is from Zimbabwe and she has two very close Kenyan friends- who attend NCF. As we chat and exchange pleasantries our waitress walks over to us and we start chatting, I find out that she also goes to NCF. Things get really exciting when the lady at a table behind us also introduces herself and says she`s been to Kenya…and was actually working on some projects for Kenya… what a small world? But were these accidents, coincidences, or chances that I met these people? 

So do I believe in coincidences?  The last time I made a similar comment to my pastor, Randy Greenwald, I got a lecture from him (I said I didn’t believe in luck and Randy got ‘all theological with me’ and proved to me that there`s something called ‘luck’). I do believe that God has a great sense of humor, and I do believe that he uses the most ordinary, and extra ordinary means to communicate with us. I think one of the ways God communicates to me (and I stop to listen) is through people. I have learned not to take for granted people who walk into my life, especially people I ran into randomly at coffee shops, churches, on phone or the corridors of RTS-Orlando. Ked is a witness to some amazing relationships that have come out of such random meetings- and most of these relationships always have to do with the Resource Center. So I am convinced that God is really up to something and that the CRC will go a long way. It almost feels like this is God`s way of saying to me “son, you are not in this alone” God is encouraging me through these God-sent saints and servants- so if you`re reading this and you`re one of those people I`ve met randomly, just know God sovereignty planned it, and I`m glad we met!

Inadequacy is a Gift

 

If you asked me what I thought about my trip to Chattanooga on Wednesday evening my answer would have bee- cold, very cold. I was freezing during the whole drive from Orlando, because we decided to take Ked`s car which didn’t have heat. I had a couple of jackets on, hand gloves, hood and a blanket on but nothing could beat Ked`s cold car. On the other hand though, I was able to hold snow in my hands-for the very first time. I also experienced the pain of driving through sleet and icy roads- the Floridians (Kenyans we were) freaked out when Ked couldn`t navigate a steep hill on our way to Bryan College. He asked me what he should do and I told him, “Ked, I`m from Kenya, what do I know about driving in snow?” The cold aside, the trip was quite a blessing and an encouragement to me. Brian and Hellen were wonderful hosts- I had Ugali and fish for dinner, which was a real special treat, thanks to Hellen. Brian and I were able to talk about ministry in Kenya, and it was such a blessing to hear what God is doing through R3 ministries.

The highlight of the trip was meeting the New City Fellowship Church pastor- Randy Nabors. He was so kind to meet with me but also offer much needed encouragement and wisdom on the way forward for the CRC. He talked about the importance of training and equipping local leaders and the benefits of having a sustainable project which does not always depend on funding. When I shared with pastor Randy about my own personal struggles and feelings of inadequacy he smiled and then said something I was not expecting to hear from him, ‘inadequacy is a gift… I feel inadequate as the pastor here at NCF, and I hope you don`t grow out of feeling inadequate.’ That was his prayer for me! When we feel inadequate we can depend on God`s wisdom and strength more than relying on our own ability and strength. The CRC is a bigger vision than I envision it to be and it can only be done through God`s power. My feelings of inadequacy should lead me to look at Christ and see that he has began a good work in me and he will be faithful to complete it in me. I was also reminded of my own selfish ambitions and how easy it is to lose focus of what this Center is for- the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the CRC is not gospel centered and being a witness of Christ to the Kenyan community, we lose the vision. 

II Cor 12:9 “…my grace is sufficient for you, for my power if made perfect in weakness…”

“Cowboy Hats for Kenyans”

I got an opportunity to visit Houston, TX during the Fall break, thanks to Justin & Brandi Hyde and Dr. Jammie Johns of Hamoreh. Justin and I met in Kenya while I was there last Summer, he was preaching at my dad`s church in Utawala, Nairobi. He also taught a few classes at the Kenya Baptist Theological Seminary (KBTC-Brackenhurst) in Limuru during his visit to Kenya. I told him a little about the CRC and he seemed very excited about the idea of having a Resource Center which would cater for the needs of many pastors in Nairobi. I got acquainted with Dr. Johns on phone- we had never met; little did I know that Justin and Dr. Johns were friends. He has been involved in training and equipping pastors in Kenya for a while now through Hamoreh Ministries. He has taught and continues to do so at Daystar University, Nairobi International School of Theology (NIST) and Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST). They were both excited to hear about the CRC and how they can work together with the CRC in providing resources for pastors in Nairobi. Christ Community Church in Branham- the church plant which Justin is a pastor is planning short-term mission trips to Kenya to try and be part of the training and equipping pastors and hopefully will work with the CRC in this endeavor.

A visit to the great state of Texas would not be complete for a Kenyan without a cowboy hat- so I think. So before the end of the trip Justin and I walked into a store and I purchased my first cowboy hat, when we got into the car and I put the hat on, Justin took a picture and posted it on blog with these words “cowboy hats for Kenyans”. At that moment I thought about the analogy of cowboy hats and how it related to the vision of the CRC. The CRC intends to provide resources-(hats) for pastors. For you to understand this analogy however, you`ll need to know a few things about my background…

 I grew up in a small village- dry and hot climate in Eastern Province of Kenya. I was a shepherd boy herding goats and cows in the dry heat. I quickly learned that to be a shepherd, three things were essential, (there maybe more, but I never became a good shepherd, so I wouldn’t know) water, a stick/rod and a hat. A hat especially if you were herding goats as they like to run wild and graze as fast as they can and not allowing you to get some much needed shade from the elements. So I know a little bit about hats and how important they are for a shepherd. Pastors in the same way are shepherds of the flock with Jesus as the Chief and great Shepherd of all. Pastors are called to protect the flock from harm; from false teachings and from the divisive ways of the evil one. They are called to ‘wear hats’ if you will- to be ready and well equipped as the shepherds because the devil will not sit and wait for them to get some shade under a tree before he attacks the flock. Shepherds are to be ready at all times and willing to protect the sheep from false teachings and nurturing the flock to maturity. This is God`s calling for the ministers and pastors- the CRC intends to be part of this endeavor; to prepare and provide resources which will equip men and women of God to be better shepherds of the sheep. We seek to provide these ‘cowboy hats for the Kenyan pastors/shepherds’.

II Timothy 4:2-4 “…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths”

Vision and Strategic planning

I attended a leadership seminar last week that was organized by my pastor, Randy Greenwald. The speaker was Bill Mills, the founder of Leadership Resources International, a mission’s organization that has been doing informal training to pastors all over the world. They focus on a small group of pastors who receive training and free training material for a number of years. The goal is to have these trained pastors equipped so they can train the local pastors and clergy in their respective country. I love the idea of “indigenous leadership” and I am convinced it`s the way to do missions in countries like Kenya. I say this because, the local leadership is better placed to reach out to the rest of the people better than a foreigner, who would have to learn the language and culture of the people. If local leaders are trained, they can take up the role of training the rest of the clergy.


Bill was very encouraging to me as he talked about the place of vision and strategic planning in ministry. I was particularly encouraged with his on view that God is already doing something in the world- in Kenya. He wants us to become part of the work He is doing; to align ourselves with the vision he has for his people. Bill was not arguing that we should not plan and have a vision before doing something, but he was reminding us to be aware that we do not lose focus of our task and calling. We are called to be faithful to God`s calling, as we do that which we have been called to do, we need to remember it is to the glory of our Lord and Savior. It is easy sometimes to lose this and plan projects for self edification and glorification; our ambitions and thirst for success might be the driving force and not listening to the Holy Spirit as he guides us to do God`s will


As I think about the task ahead for the CRC I am reminded that God is at work. Last week`s seminar was a reminder for me to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to guide me through the task ahead. Prayer changes things and I can trust God to provide for the CRC because this is His work, and I am only his servant.

Prayer

This coming week I fly to Houston to meet with Pastor Justin Hyde of Christ Church and Dr. Jamie Johns of HaMoreh Ministries who are already involved with what God is doing in Kenya. Pray that God will bring our hearts and minds together as we discuss the way forward for training and providing resources to pastors in Kenya.

More Stuff...

The church in Kenya seems to be taking a more active role in the society than before, especially in the political scene. There was a time when only a few mainstream churches would dare to get involved in the murky business of politics and governance. I recall, it was during the early 1990`s when Kenya was about to become a multiparty system from a one-party regime, that some of the church leaders came out fighting strongly and helped the country change one of the clauses on our constitution that would usher in democracy. In recent times, 2010 to be exact, the church came out again and showed her stand on the political scene. This time it was the constitution, something that Kenyans have desired to have in the last two decades. The church (at least mainstream denominations) made it clear that they would have nothing to do with it, because of two contentious issues which seemed to contradict or rather go against the church`s teaching. The clause on human rights- specifically on abortion, and another on marriage. Now, I do not wish to go into details about the contents of the constitution and whether the church was right or wrong. But I do think it is important for us to consider what is the right response for the church to issues such as these. I know we all have different views when it comes to the church and the world and how or to what extent, the church should be involved in matters pertaining to politics, education, sports etc. I think this is something the church in Kenya, and especially those in leadership need to learn.

Also


A couple of weeks I read an article by one of the daily`s journalists. Kenya just had a census and it was such a shock to me to find out that the 'so called' largest slum in Africa or even the world, is not the largest slum after all. What is true however, is that Kibera does have the highest number of non-governmental organizations, Christian and secular, in the world. The article raised a lot of questions as to why the government would allow for such a lie to be spread all over the world. The author also noted that most Kenyans, if not all, believe the 'lies' about Kibera as well... The church, is of course heavily involved in providing relief and rehabilitation to the people in Kibera and other slums around the country. This raises questions a lot of questions of course and I do not want to get into that either, but I think this does demonstrate in some way, the power of information. It is because of this information (false- I would argue) spread in the media that Kibera has received such a big attention from the rest of the world and has been the focus for many relief and rehabilitation efforts. How should the church respond to this? I haven`t figured this one out...

What do these stories have to do with the CRC?

The CRC`s goal is to impact the life of the church in Kenya by providing resources for pastors whom God has entrusted with his flock, to shepherd them and shepherd them well. I would humbly suggest that with the church`s involvement in all these aspects of life, there needs to be a biblical training on how the church should respond to these issues. It is very easy for the church to lose her focus and concentrate on pursuing goals which are not really her primary calling and mandate. My hope is that the CRC will be a place where pastors and the Kenyan community can find biblically sound material to help shed light or even challenge their stand on some of these matters.

Summer in Kenya 2010

It`s been a while since I posted something new on this blog and many of you have been asking why I have not done so. School just started which means I`m trying to keep up with all the readings and classes... but I also have to admit that blogging is a new concept to me and I`ll have to get used to it. I need to discipline myself and maybe do a post once a week.
Many of you have been asking about the CRC and if we are making any progress. I am glad to report that, in some way I am making progress; but it is also going slow due to school work and the fact that I`m establishing CRC in Kenya while I`m in the US. It is not the easiest thing to do. Nairobi has been changing drastically in the last two or so decades and if you`re absent from the city for just a month, you`ll notice a huge difference. Just this summer, I was able to go to Kenya, thanks to my Church- Covenant Presbyterian Church, and the changes I saw will affect some of the decisions I had made concerning the location of the CRC. I`m still thinking of Ngong road as an ideal location, but it is slowly becoming congested, that also means housing is becoming more expensive as more and more people are moving in.
One other change that made me think of other locations was the fact that most people are moving out of the CBD (Central Business District) areas, or what we`d call 'downtown'. The CBD is becoming more congested as well and more businesses, schools and other service providers are considering setting up their businesses outside of Nairobi CBD. This is just to show you how difficult it is making some decisions while I`m not on the ground. But I trust that God will provide for a good location for the CRC.
I was able to drive around and see some of the locations I was advised to look into. The location will still remain along Ngong road but we will be moving further away from the CBD. Other options include Mombasa road, and Thika Road

I was also able to visit Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology- NEGST, and see their library. I was really impressed with what they have; they had a good collection of books. Many of their titles were on African issues in Christianity. I spoke to some of the professors about the CRC and they were all very encouraging about the idea. They thought this would be a much needed resource for pastors and bible students in Kenya.
While in Kenya I also received communication from my good friend Chris Gatihi, who is planning on doing church planting in Kenya in 2011. He would like to see the CRC work or partner with "Desiring God" who have been distributing books in Kenya already. Chris`s friends, Chris and Wavinya, have been involved with DG for a while now. This was very encouraging news to me and I know that the Lord will continue to bring in more like-minded organizations and individuals to partner with the CRC. I can`t wait...

Pray that God would provide for a good location so that we can begin to ship the books that people are generously giving.
Pray that I would be able to raise funds for the CRC to rent or lease the space. Pray also that the CRC would be able to work with churches in Kenya, and the rest of the world who would want to see pastors trained and equipped for God`s work.

BOOKS AND COFFEE

When I came to RTS about two years ago I was not sure what kind of ministry God was calling me to. I was not so excited about church planting or pastoral work for that matter, having grown up in a pastors home and with most of my close friends doing pastoral work. I knew (at least in theory), the challenges and pressures of being a pastor. In fact there were times I would pray and ask God not to call me to be a pastor… I still do! But it was through prayer and sharing with close friends that I began to see what God was laying on my heart. I was beginning to be deeply concerned about the pastors and the church back in Kenya. The more I thought and prayed about it, the more I wanted to do something.

A dear friend once asked me while we drove to church on a Sunday morning, “if statistics show that Kenya has 80% Christian population, then why are people dying of HIV/Aids, why are there tribal animosities, high crime rate, witchcraft, and corruption?” I do not remember what my answer was, but I know this question has troubled me ever since. It was only today that a friend from Kenya shared about their burden for Christians who are in the church but are living like unregenerate people who have not been transformed by the Gospel of Christ; to them being a Christian is just a name, going to church every Sunday morning and singing some ‘Christian songs’ that excite emotions. But life is a different story come Monday morning when reality kicks in. As one of my professors likes to pose the question, “if we have the gospel, where is the power?” Where is the power of the gospel? Are hearts being transformed and changed by the power of God`s word? Do we really understand what the Gospel means for us?

Back to two years ago- so I decided to seek God`s direction concerning ministry through prayer and sharing with close friends. At the back of my mind I kept thinking about the church, pastors, seminaries, young people going into ministry etc. I couldn’t stop thinking about many churches that fill up the pews every Sunday but no sound doctrine was being taught. I could almost hear, in my mind, the sound of tele-evangelists on the local Christian media appealing to people to ‘plant a seed and harvest a hundred-fold’ (by giving money of course) or ‘come for your miracle, this is your day’. I was burdened with this and knowing that though many people are coming to Christ, they are not growing, and being nurtured in the right way. The lack of sound doctrine and trained ministers is leading to a misinterpretation and misunderstanding of God`s word. But how can we begin to change this dangerous trend the church is experiencing in Kenya? It seemed to be a daunting task to even think of trying to do anything about it. But I could not help think that there was a way I could make a difference. So this is how the idea of a Christian Resource Center came to mind. If we have a library that would provide good, and sound material for the pastors as well as open it to the public, it will have an impact in the church. As I mentioned earlier, EPI and other organizations are already training pastors in Kenya, so the CRC would serve to cement and complement the work already being done.

I knew this would not only be a big task to undertake but also a challenging one. The main challenge was once the CRC begins, how would we be able to sustain it, even when there is little or no support coming from outside? How could we make sure that the Bookstore for instance has updated books, pay for employees, and just day to day running of the center? Coffee shop! I love coffee, and I love the ambiance at most coffee shops I have visited… I thought this would be a great source of income for the center. Coffee and books sounded like a great idea to try and make the CRC sustainable. I still have not heard any objection to this, so am assuming that most people would agree with me when I say that ‘people who love to read (at least a large majority), love coffee as well”. This is not an original idea anyway; there are many bookstores that serve coffee, so I am not claiming any unmerited credit here. I am simply borrowing from others!

The CRC idea was therefore borne out of this desire to seek the Lord`s will for my life in ministry. I am so glad God planted this idea in my heart and mind, I long to see how he will use the CRC to transform and impact the church in Kenya and hopefully beyond. I long for the time when the church in Africa will not only be described and recognized for her numerical growth, but also for her deep understanding, and maturity in God`s word. This is not a task the CRC will be able to achieve on its own, but requires a collective effort from all who truly love the Church of Christ.