The Simple Life

Hello from the middle of nowhere Africa!  And when I say middle of nowhere, I mean it.  There is absolutely nothing out here.  A lot of open fields, few trees, very spread out houses, no modern civilization at all.  We’re here in a village in Kenya called Tangeytatue, where many people of the Masai tribe live.  We’ve been doing door to door evangelism and going to schools talking to and playing with the children.  The people here have an amazing love for the Gospel.  Members of the church are willing to walk miles to come to church on Sundays.  The pastors are willing to walk even more miles to go with us to spread the truth and love of Christ to people.  Definitely humbling. 
But today I want to focus on the simple life.  Like I said, there is very little out here.  No running water.  No stores.  No beds.  No modern comforts.  And even though it’s hard, I kinda like it.  There’s definitely something to learn from being in a place with few possessions or modern comforts. 
In Matthew 13:44, Jesus tells His disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.”  In other words, Jesus’ love is so amazing that we should be willing to give up everything that we have in order to achieve it.  When we’re in a place with little material possessions and distractions of the modern world, it’s a lot easier to focus on God.  And I’ve seen that not just in myself but in the people here.  Obviously, they didn’t choose to have very few possessions.  But nonetheless, the Christians here have more joy than most western Christians.  And I think a lot of that comes from knowing that God is everything and not having a desire for the things of this world.  That’s a lot easier to do when you don’t know a lot of the things of this world.  Maybe the simple life is what God truly desires us to live. 
Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 
P.S.  Please continue to be praying for our team.  We just finished up two weeks with the Masai tribe in Tangeytatue.  Please pray that the seeds that were planted as we evangelized will continue to be watered by the church here and grown by God.  We also came across several people who need healing and other needs.  Please pray for John, a 6 year old boy who, because of being paralyzed on one side, spends all day in lying in a bed.  Please pray for several mute and deaf people that we came across. Please pray for Cecilia, her 11-year-old son Emmanuel and her 19-year-old son Daniel.  Cecilia and Emmanuel both suffer from HIV/AIDS.  Daniel, due to the death of his father (also from HIV/AIDS) and the frailty of his mother, now has to be the provider for his family.  Please also pray for Joseph and his son Mowgli.  Mowgli is a special needs child and his father desperately wants to send him to a special school but needs the money. 
You can also be praying for the team.  On Monday, we will be headed to Kiale, another village where we will spend two more weeks sharing the love and truth of Christ with the people.  Please pray for continued joy and strength for the team. Pray that we will all continue to see God’s purpose in what we are doing and that God will continue to use us in amazing ways.
Finally, please be praying for Hailey and I, that we will continue to have wisdom and discernment as the leaders of the team.