Psalm 126:1-3 MSG
“It seemed like a dream, too good to be true…….
We laughed, we sang, we couldn’t believe our good fortune.
We were the talk of the nations
—“God was wonderful to them!”
God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people.”
I am safely back home now in the land of working showers, soft pillows, safe food, clean water, paved streets, orderly traffic and a thousand and one conveniences. It’s good to be home, but let me tell you it was good to be doing the will of God. Just can’t thank all of you enough for your prayers, words of encouragement and for the contributions you’ve made to this work in Kenya.
Pastor Rick Warren once told a story about a foreign born nanny. Her English wasn’t very good so when she came upon a situation where the children were misbehaving, instead of asking them “What on earth are you doing here?” she asked them “What are you doing here on earth?” Pastor Warren went on to say; “This is really a powerful question! What am I doing here on earth?” is a question everyone should ask, because we often live our lives with no real sense of purpose. So seldom are we able to look at what we are doing and say “This is what I was born to do” or “ This is what I was put on this earth to do”.
During the course of my life I have had a number of “purposes” that were important and I am sad to say that I have not always given my all to those purposes as I should have. I sometimes I wish I could have a “do over” in some of these areas. I have been a child of God, a husband, a father, a pastor, a worship leader, a witness for Christ and a number of other important things. But I have to say, “nothing I have ever done in my life has ever had more a sense of purpose then what I am doing in Kenya”. And believe me, I take no credit for this. There is no doubt in my mind that it is entirely God’s doing and I thank Him that I am along for the ride. I guess I can credit myself with one thing. I said, “yes” in spite of the fact that, all along the way, the challenge has appeared to be way beyond my own ability to succeed in it”. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever been involved in and I am certain that the Lord wants every one of his children to experience this in their life. So this is my prayer for each of you today. That the Lord will direct each of us into work that will bring fulfillment and joy into our lives.
Valerie and I are planning on going back to Kenya in January. Like we did last year, we will spend 2 ½ months attending to our Worldcomp projects and moving forward with the work. The number of people working with us in Kenya continues to grow and we are planning to have a dinner and seminar with over two hundred people who have become our partners in Worldcomp. In the mean time I hope to raise the resources to complete several new projects. We believe that God has directed us to start our second orphanage. We want build a facility in Kakamega that will house 40 to 50 orphans and be our staging area for all of our work in Western Kenya. Among those of you who support us and believe in what we are doing I am hoping there are some who might come up with some ideas or events to help me raise the money to build this orphanage. We are trusting God to provide. Another thing we are hoping to do by February of next year is to find the resources to buy a second van. We will need about $15,000. We need this van for a number of things. First of all; Our Home of Grace Orphanage needs a vehicle to serve the children there. Secondly we are hosting a team of Northwest University Nurses again in the month of February and they need a van for the whole month, and third we need another van for our medical camps because there are so many people to move back and forth.
Many blessings to all of you dear friends and thank you again for sharing in this great adventure.
More later
Richard