I was a product of the “Jesus Movement”. We were a bunch of flower children, psychedelic drug users and pretend revolutionaries, who came to the end of ourselves and found Jesus. For a number of years, we were the happiest people on earth. Our faith was real, our love was real and our unity without question. At the end of every meeting we held hands and sang a Jesus People Classic, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that our unity with this day be restored and they’ll know we are Christians by our love! All of us thought that our unity would last forever.
But within two or three years things began to fray. Perhaps it was the fact that we got to know each other a little too well; more likely it was the subtle work of an unseen enemy who had a long term strategy to bring us to an end. Either way, within a few short years the glory was gone and we all went our separate ways.
I tell you all this to say, one of our personal objectives for this trip to Kenya was to “reunite” our WorldCOMP family. As soon as we arrived we began a series of personal meetings with the key couples within WorldCOMP. We wanted to see where everyone was at personally and especially, to find out how they were feeling about each other. We wanted to draw the honest truth out of them.
Here in Kenya “Truth” is elusive and hard to come by. It is a cultural norm to not share that you have “issues” with another person. People, however, tend to act out the reality of their true feelings by withdrawing from one another. Truthfully, we had already heard that several people within our network had hurt feelings and some were drifting away.
As a result of our meetings, every one of our team members connected with us in a very meaningful way. But that was not what we were aiming for. We wanted them to practice forbearance and forgiveness with each other and to fight for unity, knowing that there is a higher purpose in our being together than our own personal feelings.
Well, everything came together last night at our “Farewell Dinner”. It had been a long time since all of our project leaders and WorldCOMP board members had been together in an intimate setting. The evening started off slowly but finished in triumph. As we shared words of admiration and appreciation for the work of the Lord and for each other, the ice began to melt. With each passing moment there was more and more of a Spirit of unity in the place.
The reason for this is that all of us began to appreciate the incredible things that God is doing as a result of our coming together in Him. Mountains have been moved, thousands of people have been blessed, a large number of people have seen their lives and circumstances changed and many others have been saved. In many places in Kenya we are “the talk of the town”.
We closed in a very powerful time of prayer and what followed was proof that we had come together in unity. What was that proof? Laughter! People were just enjoying being together. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord! And they’ll know we are Christians by our love!
I don’t know if you have ever made a “Things I am Thankful For” list, but after being thankful for my wife and kids and grandkids, I am most thankful that the Lord has joined us with this large group of Kenyans in such a meaningful way. We are truly “brothers and sisters in Christ” and it is grand. And the best thing of all is that “God is in our fellowship”. Something dynamic is generated when we come together and work together. We are blessed! I have seen something in the life of the apostle Paul that I really identify with. He had no greater joy that to see the people under his care living and working together in unity. Every Pastor and every parent can identify with that and I am leaving Kenya with that joy in my heart!
On a larger scale I know with all my heart that the Lord wants the body of Christ to be together “with a purpose”. It’s not enough just to be together. We need to share God’s purpose together and to strive for that purpose with all our hearts. It starts just the way WorldCOMP started– a few came together with purpose! But we have grown. Others have seen what we are doing together and asked to be let in. It’s a happy day, my friends, and I just wanted to testify to the goodness of the Lord!
Sitting in the Airport about to leave Kenya
Love you all
Richard Vicknair