Hello, everyone!
This is a test to see how the new blog posts appear in an email. Look forward to receiving soul-stirring, faith-deepening content again soon! We have also redesigned the blog site which, we hope, will make it much easier to navigate and more pleasant to look at.
Our life in Kenya is entering its tenth month now. It seems like it has been ten weeks, and at the same time, a decade. Jennifer and I have been overwhelmed with new information, adjustments, cultural understanding, and ministry. We have already trained more than 100 pastors, chaplains, and ministry leaders since we got here. Everything is new, of course, from pumping petrol at a service station to opening bank accounts, buying a car, renting a house, and ordering utilities.
The challenge includes presenting True Identity in appropriate cultural contexts and adjusting to the African concept of time. It’s not linear, like in the U.S. and Europe, and so starting your training at a particular time is a flexible concept. That makes it challenging at times to get all six sessions of the True Identity Program in with ample time for discussion, reflection time, and activities. But we’re learning.
Every day presents itself as a blank slate full of events, happenings, plans, relationships, and expectations of what may unfold. We have learned thatëverythig by prayer” must become a lifestyle here.
Hence, the picture of an open Bible. We live what we teach: that our true identity, and our daily walk in it, is rooted deeply in prayer, meditation on the Word, and intimacy with God. Someone once said, “The morning is the gateway to the day and must be well guarded with prayer.” How true. Out of Word-based worship and prayer, we step into what God has already ordained for the day.
Neglect it, and you miss it and, instead of a shield of faith, take up a big target for Satan’s arrows. In the U.S., our comforts can lull us into a false sense of security that we can make it through the day just fine when we skip our morning prayer time. On the mission field, it is not an option!
If you find yourself flagging in seeking the face of God daily, pray and ask that the Holy Spirit ignite a new thirst in your heart. Let that thirst draw you to His presence first thing.
You’ll find the day unfolds differently than when you don’t!
