True Identity

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 22:45KST/19:30UTC/15:30EDT

God is amazing.  Ten days before our team was to depart for Kenya, one of the nine members dropped out citing safety concerns.  Then five days later two more members begged off citing unexpected work conflicts that had to take priority.  The team leadership was certainly thrown a curve ball, but God had a marvelous better idea.  After praying about it, the last two resigned members donated their tickets to the church for two replacements if they could be located on such short notice.  After much prayer the leaders made two phone calls and got two positive replies.  Two individuals that God had prepared - one a young African-American school teacher fresh back (the end of May) from a mission trip to Uganda, and the other a respected bible study leader who has a wonderful women's ministry, said, "yes, I'll go."  And so it was that the eight of us came together for this marvelous journey of faith and obedience.

And because of that faith and obedience, today was a miraculous and transforming day in the lives of thirty Kenyan women who came together for a women's mini-retreat.  We had planned to have this retreat all along, but God has a way of taking our small offerings and perfecting them for His kingdom.

Because of her last minute opportunity to join our team, and because her obedience to come we were able to present a training session that was life-changing.  The women's ministry leader who joined us at the last hour has written a book, True Identity, that explores the tags and labels that women are given or that they assume due to appearance, peer pressure, or culture.  She helps them to do personality assessments that identify their natural gifts, talents and tendencies, and then teaches them to see these other traits in the people that they live with, work with, and encounter each day.

They learn that no matter what their personality type may be, they are first and foremost a child of God. And as such, they are special and unique. They have been given a special title of "princess of the King".  Armed with this knowledge, they are better able to understand how to interact in their community with grace, poise and dignity.  They are encouraged to be bold and confident in their daily living and not be afraid to claim their royalty status.

It was an amazing transformation.  These thirty ladies, who all came in on a bus like you would imagine a third-world bus would look like, were soft-spoken and quiet, humble and unassuming.  As they boarded that bus for the ride home they had a totally different countenance. They were lively and chattering, smiling and excited. They had been given a new lease on life.  They had been equipped with a knowledge and understanding of who they truly were and how they were made that enabled them to face their lives with confidence and understanding.

For those thirty women God had worked a miracle. And it was because two team members who had planned to come and be ministers, allowed two others to stand in their place.  Sometimes we don't understand why, when we have our hearts set on a goal it is inexplicably taken from us.  Here is a concrete example of how God can transform our loss to His gain.

This has been an amazing journey for me.  I've done things I've never done before and seen things I've never seen before.  I've made new friends here in Kenya, and I've fallen in love with the country.  Yes, it is a troubled nation, but it is also a nation that has a love for God.  The churches are exploding with new members seeking to find and follow Christ.  The mission and task of Divine Providence Training Center is more critical than ever.  This truly is a field ripe unto harvest in dire need of trained and equipped laborers to shepherd the congregations of believers.

The planned trip to DPTC from Roswell UMC in November is almost full.  If you would be interested in coming to Kenya on mission, I would ask you to pray about it and start planning for next July.  It will more than likely be around and over the Fourth of July holiday, so mark your calendars and make your plans.  But most of all pray daily for the Divine Providence leadership, and for the people and nation of Kenya.  I believe, and political scientists will tend to agree with me, that as goes Kenya, so will go a great deal of the African continent.

Tomorrow, after another day of making landscaping improvements to the camp, we will board a Swiss Air plane at 11:00PM local time,and fly over night to Zurich, Switzerland.  We will have a lay-over long enough to enjoy a good breakfast there then board an Air Canada flight to Toronto and then another one to Atlanta arriving late Thursday afternoon.  Please pray for travel protection and safety for our team.

See you soon...