From Geoffrey to You! Awestruck

Sunday April 26, 2009

We hit a little bump in the road this past Friday night at Kesha, the night of prayer and worship. We were all set and ready to get started and then the electricity went out. It seems like it happens almost every Sunday, in fact, I have gotten quite used to church without electricity, but there was a big difference between not having electricity during the day and not having it at night. I explained to you the extremity of the overwhelming darkness in this place, the piercing darkness of this past Friday night was no exception to it; I actually think it was darker than normal due to clouds concealing the stars and moon. I don’t know if you have ever sat in complete darkness, lacking the ability to even distinguish a hand in front of your face, but those were the circumstances that we found ourselves in.

What are you supposed to do when you find yourself in that type of a situation? What do you do when you find yourself completely swamped with the darkness brought by the night? We had a room filled with people expecting a night of worship, prayer and crying out to God; we had to give the people what they wanted. Lacking lights, instruments, microphones, and the ability to make out any objects in the room we began to worship.

With eyes clenched shut, hands lifted in adornment and the gentle sound of blissful songs of praise in the darkness, and with the lack of electricity we worshipped with everything we had. Within minutes the electricity came back on. The inexhaustible darkness was no more because the light had come. We were with electricity for the remainder of the night, until almost six in the morning.

These past few days have been ridiculously hot; once again, my bedroom became the 110 room. This famine and drought is the worst that has ever happened in Kenya and with each passing day the death rate increases. What used to be the busiest days of the week, Mondays and Thursdays (market days), are now just another day of the week. Businesses aren’t getting any business. Shops have no customers. No money is being made which means that no food can be purchased. This unbearable drought is killing an incomprehensible amount of people each day. The arid climate seems to worsen with each passing day and our only prayer is for rain. This morning in the midst of our worship the heavens opened up and water, something of more worth than gold, began to fall from the skies.

The power of worship never ceases to amaze me.

Acts 16 gives an amazing account of Paul and Silas. They had been flogged and thrown into jail. Do you know what it means to be flogged? It means that they were whipped up to 39 times. A whip was crafted with numerous strands of leather tethered together; each strand had either a jagged piece of metal, a sharp stone or a pointed piece of pottery attached to it. If the one dishing out the punishment was talented he was able to tear the flesh from the stomach, side and back with each lashing. Imagine what condition these two would be in after receiving this punishment; they were bloody, bruised, covered in lacerations and probably barely within an inch of their lives. After they were flogged they were thrown into jail. If anyone could justifiably hate God or doubt God it would be Paul and Silas, they received this punishment because of their faith. If two ever existed that could justify not worshipping God, it was these two. Covered in blood, wincing with each breath they took and unaware if they would survive the next day, instead of cursing God, Paul and Silas began to worship God. The purest of all worship comes out of the most treacherous and agonizing storms. In storms our faith is put into action, we either are the real deal and worship God despite our circumstances or our faith crumbles in the sight of tribulations.

If there was ever a group of people who could justify cursing God and walking away from their faith it is the people of Kenya. With famine exhausting the economy, with over sixty percent of the nation unemployed, with AIDS taking more and more lives each day, as malnourished and starved children fill the streets these people have every right in the world’s eyes to curse God. But they don’t. They continue to worship in the storms that life brings and God responds.

God is in this place.

Asante,

Mwendwa

Prayer Requests:
The disabled woman named Betty that has the successful farm has been hospitalized today. Please pray for her recovery.
A young girl named Faith got malaria and didn’t respond to the medicine. She keeps on falling unconscious. Please pray for her.
Pray for the Youth Camp and my speaking at it
Pray for finances for a generator

RANDOMS:
Potatoes the size of walnuts
My name is on the Sunday bulletins as Pastor Geoffrey Mwendwa
We found a dead bird… the pastor decided it would be funny to chase after one of the students with it… it wasn’t funny… it was hilarious
Have you seen Billy Madison? There is a part when one kid pees his pants, then Bill Madison puts water on his pants and tells everyone that all of the cool kids pee their pants. Then all of the kids pee their pants. I think that is the cool thing to do in these parts cause I see kids all of the time with pee covering their pants.. the funny thing is that they act like it is no big deal and carry on with life. I think I need to live more free like this. No more smelly bathrooms for me

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