Bald Man Blogging
Bald Man Blogging
“If Jesus was on the earth, I think this is what it would feel like to walk with Him.” Francis Chan
It finally dawned on me this morning what really struck me most about my recent trip to Tanzania and Kenya (as well as Germany for the Christ’s Hope International Board Meeting). I was listening to a great message by Francis Chan from 2010 entitled, “Think Hard, Stay Humble: The Life of the Mind and the Peril of Pride.” It is a great message about love, humility and what is really important. Talk about convicted! Take a few minutes (OK, take and hour) and listen to it in its entirety...It’s well worth the time:
Toward the very end of his message, Chan tells the story of a youth pastor named Vaughan that had a profound impact on everyone that he came into contact with. Quoting the people who were impacted by this man, he says, “The day I spent with Vaughan was the closest thing I’ve experienced to walking with Jesus... If Jesus was on the earth, I think this is what it would feel like to walk with Him. He just loved everyone that He walked into and He would tell them about God.”
It occurred to me that this is how I always feel when I’m in Africa working with our amazing staff and volunteers there.
Kenya CarePoint Staff Preparing for the Day
The main purpose of my trip this month was to do a deep dive review of our ministry work in Mwanza and Kisumu. While the audit was really a really valuable experience not only for me but also for our ministry teams in the field
(I hope), what I really came away with was a profound sense of awe and respect for our staff and the way that they display the love of Christ to everyone they come in contact with.
Teaching God’s Word in the Igogo MCP, Mwanza
As part of the audits, I witnessed and we talked about countless examples of how our CarePoint kids are growing physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. These included everything from the Headmaster of one of the schools where our CarePoint is located begging us to enroll all of his students in our program to the mother of one of our kids ceasing to sell illicit alcohol because of the participation of her son in our CarePoint. In our Ombeyi MCP, 48 of 49 children are single or double orphans and most are children of our Care and Compassion patients. Many of these children are attending school for the first time because of the hard work and dedication of our staff and volunteers.
Care and Compassion Nurse Riejanne Nevin Teaching in the Ombeyi MCP
Francis Chan says in his message, “Some of you have been studying Christ for years. But does your life look anything like His? Can you say like Paul, ‘Imitate me as I imitate Christ?’ Do you look like Jesus? Do you love like Jesus?” I can say without hesitation that the people that I find within Christ’s Hope International (although they probably wouldn’t do it), could answer that question in the affirmative. And I wonder, as Francis Chan does, would anyone in their right mind say the same about me?
BH
Thursday, October 23, 2014