This week we did ministry going door to door, went to the deaf school, and orphanage. The first day we went door to door and it was a bit discouraging. We struggled with conversation. Every door we knocked on whoever opened the door kindly welcomed us into their home, but they either didn’t seem interested in talking to us or conversation just didn’t really go anywhere. Wednesday was much better though. I realized that without God guiding our steps and words we were useless and our efforts were in vain. It was much better. I prayed throughout each visit for God to guide our conversation and He definitely did. One of the homes we went to another group had visited the day before. She recognized our translator and said, “I’ve thought about it- and I’m ready to be saved”. It was so encouraging. I immediately thought of the Parable of the Sower. Many times we will sow seeds. Some will fall by the road, some will fall on rocky soil, some will fall among the thorns, and others will fall into good soil (Luke 8). That day we got to see the growth of seeds already sown. It was beautiful to hear Emily accept the Lord into her life. The next door we knocked on we talked to two women for quite a while. They both have been going to church for a long time, pray and read their Bible, but neither are saved. They both said they weren’t ready and nothing we said seemed to change their mind. – Another reminder that everything is done in His perfect timing. Only He can change hearts.
It was really neat to go to the deaf school. The children are so precious. Most of them have been completely abandoned by their family simply because they can’t hear. It was heartbreaking to see. The teacher there, Anna has been working in the Peace Core teaching them for the past two years. She is a believer from Alabama. She said the hardest thing about being here is lack of Christian community so it was really cool to be able to talk with her for a while. I was so amazed by her commitment and love for God.
The orphanage was a lot of fun this week. We painted nails, played, and got to watch them put on a fashion show. They have been working hard making costumes out of feed bags and anything else around the place and were pretty creative!
We also went to revivals every night this week at church. They last about 4+ hours. To be honest, I really have no clue what the preacher said most of the time. He screamed so loudly in Swanglish (Swahili & English combined) that it was pretty impossible to understand. But, after he finished many people came forward and several demons were cast out. I had never seen anything like before. One lady had to be held by 4 people. She was screaming profanity and kicking and hitting anything around her until the demon was cast out. Being from the Bible belt, this was definitely a first to see something like this, but it showed me that God is so powerful and works in different ways in different cultures. Our God relates to everyone no matter where they’ve been or what they have gone through. He is all things to all people.
Yesterday we had an off day and we got to go to Kusumu where we had milkshakes, saw Lake Victoria, the Equator and went to the Masaii Tribe Market. It was a blast!
This week is our last week of ministry. Please pray for us as we finish up our trip! Lots of love.
