Today I Knelt at the Feet of a Murderer

"Momma Precious" at Precious Bakery

Today had one of those few moments in my life that I would personally call a "defining moment".  Let me start by saying that any time you face a different culture, especially one so drastically different than where you live, there are always moments that you remember or events that impact you, startle you or leave you just shaking your head in bewilderment, disbelief or wonder.  A "Defining Moment" in my mind is one of those moments in life that make such an impact deep into your heart that in some respect you are never the same again.  Today was one of those days that I am sure I will remember and refer to many times over in my life.  I'll get to the details in a bit.  

A local barbershop 

You'll see scattered throughout this blog, some random photos of life around here to give you an idea of what it is like day to day.

Jannekah's 30th Birthday Party

It has been fun having Hannah and Isaiah and Christina here along with Janne and Martin. Christina is Jannekah's mother and Hannah is Jannekah's sister (Isaiah is Hannah's son). They have been serving alongside the Guyas since the first of Nov. and will be here until April 1. They are providing some great testimonies at the various events and are of course a huge support for the Guyas.  

My Bedroom for the two weeks.

Due to changes over the last two days we ended up ministering at both the Youth Prison and Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.  At the Youth Prison many of the boys were not able to attend the meeting due to work chores, discipline or ????.  We spent about an hour with these boys ages 17-21.  I told them since they were my sons ages, they were going to hear from a fathers heart.  We talked about making choices, consequences and that their choices today had everything to do with their eternity rather than just their life on earth.  They were great listeners, appreciative and about 6 of these amazing young men made a decision for Christ.  We then blessed them with the care packages which were a shopping bag that had a very large bar of soap, underwear, toilet paper and a toothbrush and toothpaste.  Honestly, you'd thought it was Christmas morning.  Big smiles, many thank yous and a very happy Pastor Margaret who is the prison chaplain and momma.  Thanks to all who helped provide these items.  

The Team with The Kamiti Warden

This is only the second time that Martin and his team have been allowed into the Kamiti Max Security Prison. Unfortunately, due to recent security breaches we were not allowed inside with the camera.  The pictures below were taken during Martin's first visit. Kamiti is the largest Maximum security prison in Africa and houses aver 3,000 inmates most of whom are serving life sentences or are "condemned" to execution, although Kenya did away with executions several years ago. Let's just say that they are housing El Shabab terrorists, the organization responsible for the Nairobi mall masacre and when we were arriving they were transporting several Somali pirates out the front door. 

We had a very surprisingly warm welcome from the Warden (guy above in green) and were invited to sit down with him after the service for sodas and fruit.  He is a Christian and encourages Jesus to be proclaimed. I can't even imagine this happening in America! Once we went through a security search, we were led into the inner compound, yes, directly into the open area where a lot of the prisoners were hanging out. All I could think of was, 

Dancing With Joy and Sentenced to Life in Prison

"what if one of those prison riots started?"  Of course, since Jannekah was with us, we had more than our share of looks in our direction.  We were taken to a large covered open air area where they hold their gatherings.  The Praise Band was playing and once we sat down up front facing 300-400 guys in stripes, the singing started, the smiles came and the dancing unto the Lord began.  I have not seen that exuberance in what appeared to be a hopeless situation in all my life.  I was expecting blank stares, low energy and a lot of anxiety.  What we got was anything but that. 

Sing with Joy to The Lord

Justin and I looked at each other after we had sat down and noticed we didn't see a guard in sight. Now mind you, it was only us, several hundred prisoners, a couple chaplains and I am sure a guard somewhere outside but not where we were. A little anxiety turned to excitement and a big smile in short order. I sensed peace, a ton of joy and looks of appreciation that we would care enough about them to come.  Martin and Janne sang and then Martin and I preached the Gospel standing just a few feet away from the front row.  I began with Ezekiel's vision of dry bones and ended with Jesus washing Peter's feet at which time I knelt at the feet of several of these murderers, armed robbers, rapists, many of whom had been redeemed by Jesus and were no longer identified by what they did but rather by who they are now in Christ.  Three men humbly gave their life to the Lord and will now attend some discipling classes to help them grow in their faith.

We got to meet and talk with several following the service.  Justin and I talked to one young man 24 yrs old who was condemned on death row for a violent robbery (most likely involving a murder).  When I asked him what his sentence was, he responded that he was "condemned".  I was honored to look him straight in the eye, with my hand on his shoulder and proclaim, you may be condemned by man, but as a child of the King of Kings, there is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION.  Never will I forget his smile or the smile of the many others who stood no longer condemned by God.  May it be so with all of us.  May you never be defined by what you did, but rather be refined and redeemed by the grace of Jesus.  

The Prison Praise Team was Awesome!

I will never be able to teach on the joy of the Lord without thinking about the joy I found in Kamiti. It has forever been etched into my mind and heart. So what is it that is stealing your joy these days?  Not your happiness necessarily, for it is circumstantial. But your joy? I would contend that it is worth contemplating and perhaps consider not getting so wound up about the things that aren't really worth that amount of energy. Fight against anything that steals your joy in the Lord and while you are at it, why not let your hair down a little, try not to be so serious and loosen up a little especially when coming before the Lord in praise and worship. It might just be contagious!

Peace
Dave

Not The River I Was Expecting

It's a challenge each time I visit Kenya to express in words what my heart feels.  I think I 

I wonder if God's plan for cameras all along was so that 

we could be reminded that true joy is not a result of 

our circumstances.

have that disease that shuts my emotions down when I experience something so unnerving and so hard to understand that it is just easier to deal with if I just go through the motions, keep the stiff upper lip and smile a lot.  It's that disease that encourages us to click the remote to a mindless sitcom or some silly rehearsed "reality" show whenever a story of poverty, ethnic cleansing or some radical group that murders another 5,000 comes on.  (notice I didn't pick on NCIS).  Do you have that disease sometimes?

It is what it looks like

I was blessed, humbled and privileged to preach at the Reuben Church on the Rock which is located not just in the Reuben Slum but in a very destitute part of Reuben where the raw sewage runs openly and freely, where the streets (rocky hard dirt paths) are framed in on one side by a river and on the other side by homes.  Mind you, the definition of home has nothing to do with the structure but rather with what goes on inside as a home as the people who dwell in the structure do their best to raise families and survive. 

The River

Within these structures of sheet metal, mud and sometimes cinder block are people who are sleeping in multiple numbers in one room and most likely as many beds, people who don't have refrigeration, running water, an oven, a stove and I wont even mention the other necessities of life like microwaves.  What you will find however, are people who are doing their best to make a home.  When I met them they had gathered for Sunday service, it was stifling hot in that tin building but the Spirit was flowing.  I asked myself the same question I always end up asking, How can they be so filled 

"fearfully & wonderfully made"

with joy? What did they have to sacrifice to find that suit or dress...truly their Sunday best....how can the dance and express their love for the Lord with such exuberant reverence after walking across the "river"? Uncomfortable chairs, 3-4 hour services, loud distorted keyboard, drum machine and chorus' that repeat as many times as the hairs on your head.  Church growth books would say they are doomed for failure...I'd say those gurus of church growth need to stop trying to figure out the movement of God and how he works and doesn't work.  How dare we measure the heartbeat of God, especially among the most marginalized in the world or the wealthiest in the world? The answer to the above questions can only be Joy in the Lord.  

"I live just across the bridge on the other side of the 'river' "

I was asking a church member where they lived and they smiled and said, "I live just across the bridge on the other side of the river".  Not quite the river I was expecting to see and definitely not as pristine looking and smelling as I am used to...

Sunday Night Crusade - Reuben Slum -
100+ make a decision for Jesus

In the evening we went back into the heart of Reuben Slum and put on the Crusade for a much larger and just as responsive crowd.  They were hungry for hope.  I found myself feeling very humbled to stand before those were hungry for a message of real hope. No way was I going to entertain them with 8 Ways to Have a Better Life or "Five Steps to Real Happiness".  How dare I patronize them with anything other than the Giver of "abundant life", Simply Jesus and nothing else.  I have 

Look at that cute Guya Face!

nothing they need other than the Gospel, so that is what we gave and that is what more than 100 received with anxious and willing hearts.  It was thrilling to see that several who attended the Crusade on Saturday night and had given their hearts to Jesus were at the morning service I preached at. The church leadership was thrilled, God was given the glory and there you have it! 

Today, Monday, was supposed to be the Boys Prison Day but that was postponed until Wed. Instead it was filled with video production training, grocery shopping and planning and executing a 30th Birthday party for Jannekah, complete with all the Kenyan ministry team hiding and screaming "SURPRISE" when she walked in.  They were giddy with excitement having never been a participant in a surprise party.    

Peek a boo!

I'll post again after we visit and preach at the Kamiti Maximum Security prison.

Peace and keep fighting the good fight.  It's worth it!

Sharing The Mission of Kenya

Greetings from the beautiful and somewhat dusty city of Nairobi, Kenya. My hope is that this blog over the next 10 days or so will give you a glimpse of what we are blessed and privileged to be a part of.  

Dave, Justin, Ray, Martin, Isaiah, Jannekay, Adeli,
Hannah Christina

We arrived Thursday night Kenya time which is 11 hours ahead of Seattle after a long but thankfully uneventful 18 hours of plane time.  We were met by the whole Guya household, extended family and some of the ministry team guys who you will get to know throughout the week.

Due to time constraints let me give you a summary and a few pictures with more details to follow later.  

Friday was a catch up day and the start of the video production training for the ministry team that helps the Guyas.  These guys are great and really took to Justin Englet who is traveling with me.  He is training them in pre-production, production and post-production with the intent of giving them the equipment, tools and training to shoot music videos for other Kenyan Artists as a revenue generator to be able to expand the ministry. They will be shooting video of all the event this week as their first project is putting together a short documentary of all the amazing ministry work that the Guyas accomplish.

Edu and Jimmy Negotiating the underwear purchase

Saturday was more training, buying all the underwear, soap, toilet paper and toothbrush/toothpaste that will go into the care packages for the 16-21 year old boys in prison who we will minister to on Monday.  Thanks for all your generous donations....we obviously were able to expand the gift to more than just underwear.  They literally would not have any of this while in prison without being gifted it from the outside.  

Care package contents for the young men at Kimiti Prison

Saturday night was the first night of the Crusade in Rueben Slum. Not as well attended as last year but powerful nonetheless and I think tonight will be a much larger night for crowds. We had in excess of 50 people make a decision for Jesus last night as well as scores of people wanting prayer for physical healing and release from bondage in their lives.  It was a sweet time with some very sweet people who are in very difficult and heart wrenching circumstances.  We are pointing them to get involved with "Church on the Rock" in the slum.  We are actually heading there in just a few minutes to preach at for the morning service.  Tonight we will have the last night of the crusade.

Justin overseeing Antonio shooting the Crusade

Monday is Kamiti prison with the young men and more video training and who knows what else. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. Justin and I are both struggling with the whole sleep adjustment so that would be a point of prayer if you don't mind.

Look forward to sharing with you some of my passions in life this week.  More later.
Dave