Greetings from Kenya! Wow! We've been here less than a week and it's been a pedal-to-the-metal journey so far! Here is a rundown of what we've been up to, taken from Dennis Hilman's Facebook page, which he tries to update each day:
SERVING IN THE SLUMS Here John Ruotsala is speaking with a very animated translator in a small shack church in the second biggest slum in all of Nairobi. The slums in this city are the biggest in the world and this one was a sea of people and mud. The text from Luke 18, however, about Jesus healing the blind beggar brought our Lord and Saviour right into the middle of this very difficult situation. Leona Matson, Julie Matson and Terri Ann Hilman are also now here.
HIGH LEVEL TEAM KENYA! From left to right Julie Matson, Terri Ann Hilman, Leona Matson, yours truy and John Ruotsala. administrator of the ALCA Foreign Mission. We were on our way from Nairobi to three days of conference and revival services with about 250 people in the western city of Hitali near the Uganda border.
REMEMBERING THEIR CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THEIR YOUTH! Young people on their knees before the altar praying for forgiveness and blessing. They came in throngs after the morning service today on the second day or our four-day revival services in Kitali. Hundreds of people are attending. We begin and end each day with everyone present for messages from the Word by either John or me. For the midday sessions we divide up into different groups - Like John and I with the pastors and the women, youth and children with Leona, Terri Ann and Julie in different combinations.. What a living and spiritually hungry group of pastors John and I met today. This has become quite an experience!!
A TOUCHING EXPERIENCE! Today we have had wonderful experiences here at Kitale - around the Word in general sessions, delving deeply into spiritual truths with different groups such as pastors, women, youth and children - led by different members of our team at different times. For instance I spent 2 hours with the pastors and then well over an hour with about 150 young people fielding the most diverse and deep questions. Then came the last question, "How do you manage your hair?" To help them understand what my soft hair is really like I let as many touch it who wanted to. Many of them did, amazed at its fine texture - so different from theirs. In this picture Julie Matson had the same personal request from the children she was working with. It just shows how much they love us and trust us already! We feel so blessed.
SERVING IN THE SLUMS Here John Ruotsala is speaking with a very animated translator in a small shack church in the second biggest slum in all of Nairobi. The slums in this city are the biggest in the world and this one was a sea of people and mud. The text from Luke 18, however, about Jesus healing the blind beggar brought our Lord and Saviour right into the middle of this very difficult situation. Leona Matson, Julie Matson and Terri Ann Hilman are also now here.
HIGH LEVEL TEAM KENYA! From left to right Julie Matson, Terri Ann Hilman, Leona Matson, yours truy and John Ruotsala. administrator of the ALCA Foreign Mission. We were on our way from Nairobi to three days of conference and revival services with about 250 people in the western city of Hitali near the Uganda border.
REMEMBERING THEIR CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THEIR YOUTH! Young people on their knees before the altar praying for forgiveness and blessing. They came in throngs after the morning service today on the second day or our four-day revival services in Kitali. Hundreds of people are attending. We begin and end each day with everyone present for messages from the Word by either John or me. For the midday sessions we divide up into different groups - Like John and I with the pastors and the women, youth and children with Leona, Terri Ann and Julie in different combinations.. What a living and spiritually hungry group of pastors John and I met today. This has become quite an experience!!
A TOUCHING EXPERIENCE! Today we have had wonderful experiences here at Kitale - around the Word in general sessions, delving deeply into spiritual truths with different groups such as pastors, women, youth and children - led by different members of our team at different times. For instance I spent 2 hours with the pastors and then well over an hour with about 150 young people fielding the most diverse and deep questions. Then came the last question, "How do you manage your hair?" To help them understand what my soft hair is really like I let as many touch it who wanted to. Many of them did, amazed at its fine texture - so different from theirs. In this picture Julie Matson had the same personal request from the children she was working with. It just shows how much they love us and trust us already! We feel so blessed.
FRONT LINE SUPPORT! When any contingent of soldiers is sent to the front lines, some of the most valuable and necessary people involved are the support personnel. Here we find Terri Ann Hilman on the speakers platform in the Kirali Church this morning She is "doing her thing" -praying with her pen - recording her thoughts and prayers for the service and especially for those of us who were to speak. It is quite an expereince at any time to know that you are being prayed for as you speak but it has an even greater impact when someone sitting behind you is writing down those prayers the whole time - and like any modern prayer warrior checking Bible texts on her cell phone.
A VISION FOR MISSION! John Ruotsala is a man of many talents. He can move just as comfortably from his desk in New Hampshire as administrator of the ALCA Foreign Mission to the muddy streets of a village in Kenya, India or the Philippines. Just as easily from preaching about the love of Christ from behind the pulpit to walking with compassion and understanding beside those suffering in a foreign slum . Here he stands at the door of the church in Kitali, Kenya, where we have just completed four unforgettable days of revival services. What is John thinking at that open door?
No comments:
Post a Comment