Webuye is a town of about 9,000 people. The Life Spring church we were primarily ministering at is actually several miles outside of Webuye, in a rural 'suburb' called Nangili. Most of the members are farmers, although some of the leaders of the church are professionals at the local paper mill, Pan Paper, which is the largest paper mill in Kenya.
The Life Spring church in Nangili is the mother church to several churches in the surrounding area. Started under a tree, by faith, with no plot of land, & no other churches around the area, Life Spring has seen God's provision really bless them as they have been able to buy a nice plot of land & build a lovely & spacious sanctuary in which to worship. When we arrived, there were pastors from at least 7 or 8 different churches from the Western Kenya area. Nearby pastors from other churches with no denominational covering began coming to Bishop Alex, our host & the leader of Life Spring ministries, seeking spiritual covering & guidance - encouraged & challenged by what God had been doing with Life Spring. Bishop Alex is very much a visionary who also oversees churches in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, I believe he said they oversee close to 70 churches in East & Central Africa!
For more information on the Life Spring ministries, the churches we partnered with, check out their website at:
www.lifespringafrica.com
CHURCH ITSELF:
For the entire week following our arrival, there had been dozens of families camping out on the Life Spring grounds. They had come from other sister churches & nearby towns for the 'Billy Graham-Style crusade' put on by Life Spring, & being held at a nearby field, at which we were the guests of honor. Before coming we'd advised Bishop Alex that as far as we knew, there were no Billy Graham's on our team, but we knew God was going to use us for His glory in one way or another.
Sunday morning the church was packed. Bishop Alex had explained to us that the service consists of a time of worship, followed by a half-hour teaching (during which time children went to Sunday school), and then a full on sermon with children back present.
Sunday School was a blast, and as we arrived the children were already being taught a lesson. After worship, all of the team except for Larry, went to minister to the throngs of kids present. There must have been over 300 children and the team really had fun with them. We began by teaching them the 'Stomp' dance, which is a percussive dance, w/ no music - the Kenyan children learned & improved it quickly! After that, Yovana shared a short message about Creation with the kids & then Susan taught the kids the salvation story through the 'little book with no words,' which is a little 5 page book w/ each page a different color representing a different aspect of salvation (black-our sin, red-blood of Christ & His resurrection, white-cleansing power of salvation if we invite Him to be Lord of our lives, gold-represents that Jesus is preparing a place with Him in eternity, green-our need for spiritual growth).
During Sunday school, Larry gave a teaching to the adults & older youth from a verse in Joshua 3:5. God had really impressed upon the team that Kenya was to be a sending nation - and that God has a key role for Kenya to play in reaching other African nations. God's favor is evident in Kenya & it is in large part a Christian nation.
We were, however, a bit drawn aback by how children, in such a developed & Christian context, could be so marginalized & really seen as a nuisance by most. God had called us in large part to minister to the children & youth of Africa, and it was sad to see how they were looked at & treated even in Christian contexts. And they're just so adorable in the 1st place.
So Joshua, as he's getting the people ready to go into the promised land, talks about the need to, "Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." We really felt this was God speaking to Webuye - that He really had great things ahead for the church, but that they had to be willing (unlike the generation of Moses, that died w/o going into the promised land) to (a) Trust God (b) do New Things in New Ways (c) "Consecrate themselves" that begins w/ a self-examination especially in the area of our closest relationships (spouses & children). I think God really spoke to us all & the Spirit really challenged us to reconcile our relationships to God's standards; as well as to learn from & not make the same mistakes as our parents' generation in how we treat our spouses & raise our children.
After the teaching, everyone came together & Roberto really gave an inspired message on the life of Elisha & how God had a unique & powerful calling on his life.
Following Roberto's sermon, the children presented a dance number they'd prepared called, "Marching in the Light of God," as well as the 'Stomp,' the team had taught them. After church many wanted to fellowship and we wound up leaving after 2 pm. We took lunch at the beautiful home of one of the sister's from church. There we had a typical Kenyan meal, & for the 1st time tried 'Ugali,' which is corn based & similar to grits, w/o any butter or salt.
We returned to church after lunch in the evening and presented our entire presentation: choreographies to 'Stomp', 'Shackles,' the Swahili dance & the native Bolivian dance for the 1st time. We also presented the drama 'Everything,' which tells the story of salvation and one lady who was visiting gave her life to the Lord. Sergio & Ingrid both shared their testimonies & Edwin & Larry lead worship. It was a long but enjoyable evening, but we were all exhausted by the end.
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