Leading people to Christ

We have been working hard all week. On Tuesday the medical team saw more than 200 people. My team, the evangelism team, walked part of the way to Karanjee, which is about 4 or 5 miles from Brackenhurst. We finally caught a matatu to take us to Karanjee, where we had to walk up another road to get to Imani Baptist Church. We weren’t certain where the church was located, so we wandered around for awhile before we found it.

When we arrived at the church grounds, there were more than 100 people waiting to see the doctor. We met with the associate pastor, Shadrack, who found interpreters for us. My interpreter was named James, and I think he took a liking to me. We went around and introduced ourselves to the people waiting for the doctor. We then asked if they had any prayer requests, prayed for them and then gave them a word of encouragement from the Bible. We gave away a few Bibles in the morning, but we quickly ran out. Many people asked for the Bibles, and they were disappointed to learn that we did not have anymore.

I also sang a few songs with the children who were waiting there. They were a little shy at first, but soon they sat closer to me, and they began petting my hair. They had not been so close to a white person before, and they were very curious! They also like to have their picture taken.

In the afternoon we walked to a nearby slum called Misiri, which is the Swahili name for Egypt. The slum was home to James, who is Kikuyu. James taught me several words in the Kikuyu language, but I only remember how to say hello. He showed us around, and we bought some fries from some ladies. The Kenyans call them chips. We gave the fries to some children following us. The children laugh when they see us, and they say, “How are you?” over and over again. We got to know some of Misiri, and I talked for a while with an older woman who knew English. It was hard to understand her English, but it was pretty clear that she wanted to come to America with me.

We did not eat lunch, and so we were all very hungry by 3 p.m. I told James, “Nataka chakula,” which means, “I want food.” Then I asked him if he had eaten yet today, and he said no. Then I felt bad for wanting food.

We went back to Karanjee on Wednesday and ministered to the people waiting outside the church. Then we headed out into the community. We met a couple of ladies outside a shop, and we stopped to talk to them. One lady, named Jane Rose, was not a Christian, and she had only heard part of the good news. My friend Whitney and I told her the story of Jesus, and then told her that to be saved and set free from sin, she had to believe in her heart that Jesus is her personal savior, and then she had to say so with her mouth. We asked her if she wanted to be saved. She said yes, and Whitney lead her in prayer.

Then Shadrack led us to a housing unit, where several people were saved, including an entire family. I met a lady named Mary, and she let me hold her infant while my friend Al talked to her about accepting Christ. At first she did not want to, but he asked why, why not today? After talking a long while, he lead her in prayer to accept Christ. As she was praying, she began to cry, and it was touching. But I was glad she finally accepted, because the baby was getting heavy!

Then we met two young ladies who lived together. Their names were Margaret and Elizabeth. I talked to them about accepting Christ, and they said they wanted to become saved. So I lead them in prayer to ask Jesus to come into their hearts. That was the first time I had ever lead anyone to profess his or her belief in Christ. It was a good feeling.

Then Margaret and Elizabeth offered to cook for me. It’s rude to say no, so I agreed, even though I wasn’t very hungry. They made me some hot chocolate, and then they scrambled some eggs. James buttered some bread for me. He held the bread in his hands, which I could tell hadn’t been washed in a while. I said a little prayer to God to keep me healthy. Then the girls made me a scrambled egg sandwich, which was actually very good. We talked for a while, and I showed them pictures of my family and friends.

Then we went next door, where the other members of my team had led a man named Antony to Christ. He also offered us hot chocolate and two pieces of bread. I had eaten a big breakfast that morning thinking I would go hungry again, but now I was stuffed!

After we prayed with everyone, we went back to Misiri. We visited an orphanage for a few minutes, and it was sad to see so many needy children. I also met James mother. She wanted to cook porridge for us, but the sun was starting to set and we had to be back before sunset. We had to refuse, which I’m sure was very rude.

We went back to the church and said goodbye to our friends. Shadrack had given his Bible away and had reminded me that I had promised we would get him another. We didn’t have anymore, so I gave him mine. I’m without a Bible now, but my brother was very happy.

Today, Thursday, we changed locations. We drove about 20-30 minutes to another slum called Gachie. This is supposedly the most dangerous slum in all of Kenya, so our leader hired armed guards to protect the church while we were there.

There were children gathered at the church, and we played with them for a while. Then we left all our valuables at the church and went out into the community. The pastor of Gachie West, Pastor John, lead us to another apartment complex just adjacent to the church. We met two ladies, Aida and Janet, who had prayer requests. We went to Aida’s home and gave them encouragement with the Bible. Both were Christians, but both had been out of work for a long time. Aida’s mother-in-law had taken her children, and she lived with her husband in a dying marriage. She said they lived more like brother and sister instead of husband and wife. We prayed for both of them.

We ate lunch in a home nearby. We had delicious stew and potatoes, as well as some bread that looked much like tortillas. Then at 2 p.m. we attended a baby dedication ceremony at Gachie West church. Dr. Shaw led the ceremony, and several of our team members sang songs. The baby is a beautiful little girl called Phyllis – named after an influential woman from my hometown.