So we leave Kenya tonight.
I cannot believe this summer is already over. It has literally flown by. But we are so thankful for the opportunity to
have spent the summer in Kenya with Life in Abundance. We have all learned so much about ourselves,
about ministry/missions, and about God.
As our journey home comes closer and more of a reality (it’s literally
hours away), the harder it is for me to leave.
However, I know that this summer has been a time for preparation and now
I have to go home and implement what I have learned into the community that God
has entrusted me with in Louisville.
One thing that I think we all have learned or been reminded
of this summer is that the gospel has to permeate every single area of our
lives. The gospel has to be central and
then everything flows from it. I know
that the gospel is supposed to touch every single area and moment of my life,
but putting that into practice is difficult at times. We have been blessed by getting to know so
many people here in Kenya and we have been able to see how they live their
lives. Christ is glorified in everything
they do. For them ministry is their life. Ministry is something you do regardless of
whether you are getting paid to do it or not.
The love and truth of Christ is evident in every single activity they
carry out and every interaction they have with other people. For them ministry is something they were
doing before they came to work at Life in Abundance. So now the challenge for us is to be in
prayer and be in step with the Spirit as he guides us to live out the gospel
with our whole lives
So as our journey comes to an end, I’ve cried countless
times and I know that more tears will be coming when we actually say
good-bye. I’ve been thinking about why I
am so emotional about leaving. I know
for sure that one of the reasons is that I’m going to miss my family here in
Kenya. I have had the pleasure of
getting to meet new people here in Kenya and building relationships with
them. Also, I have had the opportunity to
build on relationships that started 2 years ago when I was here. However, I also realized that Kenya holds a
special place in my heart because so much of my spiritual growth is rooted in
Kenya. I’ve grown so much spiritually
and grown so much in my identity over the past 2 years and once I took the time
to reflect it all stems from my first trip to Kenya in 2010 and my second trip
in 2011.
Before my trip in Kenya in 2010, I didn’t get emotionally invested
in things. I was able to just close
myself and my heart off. I didn’t
realize that I was robbing myself of some great relationships and
friendships. In Kenya, their culture
puts a strong emphasis on relationships.
Relationships come before a lot of things, especially time, and while in
Kenya God showed me the importance of investing in people, spiritually and
emotionally. After that trip he put
opportunities in my life where I had no choice but to invest in people’s
lives. As he taught me the importance of
investing my heart into where he has placed me, he also opened up my heart so
that I could fully love and fully invest into the people he had placed in my
life. It’s hard to open your heart and
become emotionally invested especially when you know that your time in that
place will soon come to an end. It’s
vulnerable and it’s hard to transition, but it’s worth it. Even though I am going to shed so many tears
tonight, I have been rewarded and blessed by the relationships that I have
built while being here.
Growing relationally is just one of many roots I have in Kenya, but that one means the most to me right now. While we are all excited to see our friends and family, it will be hard to say good-bye to the people that have been our family over these past 3 months. We are so thankful for this opportunity to spend the summer in Kenya. We all are aware that this opportunity is unmatched and should not be taken for granted. We have all grown so much as individuals and as a team. We thank you all for your prayers and support as we took this journey. We thank God for walking alongside us, for molding us, and for his infinite grace as we tried to figure out how to depend on him and how to follow him.
Mungu Akubariki,
Amy
