Day 7 The Final Day of Ministry

Our final day began much like the others with worship and prayer following breakfast.  We didn't get to sleep until about 2 am and so we started a bit later than we were expecting.  Fortunately in Africa, if you are only 1.5 hours late you are still on time.  We had a wonderful time of worship and then we headed to Kavonge primary school.   Before we met with the children we had the opportunity to meet the staff.  We prayed for the deputy head teacher and she got instant relief from some back pain. 

Praying for the Deputy

The children were pretty excited to see us.

The Team Singing for the Students.

The team was unable to perform their dance because the batteries on our portable "PA system" were dead, but once again the saxophone was a huge hit.  Andrew gave his testimony and I spoke about how righteousness helps a nation to grow.  

From Kavonge we traveled back to Mutulu.  After the healings that took place on Sunday we received a call asking us to visit a home.  We were told there was an elderly woman who was sick.  When we arrived we found out that she couldn't walk, couldn't feed herself, would only eat porridge, couldn't speak in coherent sentences and was talking to the dead!  It seemed much bigger than we were prepared for, but we began praying and worshiping.  We prayed for close to an hour and a crowd gathered.  She was able to walk with support by the time we finished praying, but there didn't seem to be any significant change. (*Edit I received a message from Mbondo shortly after this post that she is not walking now, she has been able to take a little rice, but her condition remains unchanged)

Some of those who had gathered to watch us pray.

It was disappointing.  Up to this point there had only been one person I am aware of where there was no significant change.  So many people had been healed, why not her?  I don't know, but I've learned to keep praying.  I know God has not healed everyone, but he has healed some.  If I focus on the fact that God does heal and keep praying I continue to see him heal.  If I  focus on the times when God does not seem to answer immediately, then I become reluctant to pray.  When we finished praying for the woman I started praying for other people in compound.  The daughter in-law of the woman we prayed for was healed of pain in her body.   There were five others on the compound who got healed.  I'm not sure why the six were healed and nothing significant seemed to happen with the woman we came for, but if I had gotten discouraged I would have never prayed with the six.

From this home we walked to Mutulu.  We heard that people had been waiting at the church for us to come and pray for the sick.  We had been delayed and apparently some had left.  We were told to eat lunch first and we went to the clinic to have a simple lunch of bananas, bread, jam, and soda.

Lunch in the clinic.

After lunch I headed over to the school, while several team members went to the church to pray for the sick.  From what I was told all those who gathered in the church were healed.  I had this driving desire to pray for sick students and I went to find Alex the head teacher.  Alex gathered the students in an assembly, but then I couldn't help but start sharing with them about how God had blessed the school with a field.  I'll save the story for another post, but God provided money and a bulldozer to create a soccer field on top of a mountain (/large hill).   After sharing the story, I began calling out sicknesses and problems and students began coming forward.  It became apparent that praying in front of the whole student body would not be a good idea so we sent the sick students into a classroom.  By the time we finished calling out ailments there were between 20-25 students in the classroom.

At this point the team had finished praying for the sick at the church and came over to help pray.  We divided into three or four teams and began praying for the children.  Child after child was healed, most after very brief prayers.  There were a few children who we prayed at length for.  One girl had been horribly burned on her arm and her range of motion increased and pain decreased.  There was another girl whose back was severely twisted so that one shoulder was several inches lower than the other.  She had a foot that turned in and limped along slowly.  She looked as though she was crippled rather than just someone with a limp.  We prayed for her at length and there were gradual improvements.  We continued praying for her.  After finding out that she was not a Christian I asked if she would like to know Jesus.  She said yes and I was able to lead her in prayer to receive Christ.  When we had finish praying for healing she had improved dramatically.  Her foot was almost straight and her shoulders were much closer to balanced.  She still walked with a limp, but it wasn't nearly as severe.

Byeong and Ji Ae with Joseph.

Theresa teaching the children some dance moves.

Our trusty means of transport.

After praying for the children we were running late for a program at James's church.  The church is called Mwangya Church of Christ.  They have purchased land and have built the foundation and are currently meeting in a tent like structure on their property.  Church building projects can take a long time in Kenya because many of the church members do not have regular jobs.  

The foundation of the church.

The current structure.

 We once again put on our program, though with dead batteries we were unable to perform the dance.  

It is significant that people had heard about healings a few nights prior and had brought some sick to be prayed for.  The man who had the regular nosebleeds was feeling strong and in attendance!  As I got up to preach there were two children who began crying.

I asked if they were sick and the answer was that they had come to be prayed for.  With their loud crying it was going to be difficult to preach so I decided we could pray for them first.  I had assumed the problem was a fever or something like it, however as the children were brought forward we saw that they were severely handicapped.  The first child a three year, constantly cried and could not be left alone.  He was unable to stand, his eyes did not seem to track movement, and he could not fully support his neck, his back was quite crooked.  The six year old was in similar though perhaps worse shape.  She could not support her neck, had a twisted back, twisted legs, and could not unclench her fists.  It was clear these children would need much more than a minute or two of prayer.  

We prayed briefly and then I asked the team to continue praying for the children while I preached.  They prayed and prayed and prayed.  During my whole sermon they were praying for these children.  I preached about Jesus's healing power.  When I finished I asked if there were any sick with back pain.  An elderly woman raised her hand.  I asked the pastor's wife to pray for her and she got healed.  Then I asked the elderly woman to lay hands on the lady next to her with back pain and pray for her healing.  The next woman got healed.  Then I asked about eye problems.  A young girl came forward and shared she had itchy eyes.  We prayed for her and then I asked the girl to lay hands and pray for the next woman with eyes problems.  She did and that woman got healed.  It was just like the prophecy in Joel 2:24-25 ESV

And it shall come to pass afterward,

    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

    your old men shall dream dreams,

    and your young men shall see visions.

29 

Even on the male and female servants

    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

First we had a middle aged woman pray for healing, then an elderly woman, and then a young girl.  The Holy Spirit used each one to bring healing.  During this whole time the team was praying for the two children.  I called some of the members led by Pastor Kim to continue praying for the sick so I could pray for the two children.  As Pastor Kim and the others prayed people continued to get healed.  Meanwhile some of the members continued to intercede for the two children. We prayed and prayed.  We lost track of time. After nearly two hours of prayer the three year old was doing much better.  He had stopped crying, he could hold up his neck, he could stand, and he could track the light with his eyes.  By the end of the prayer time he was sitting on his mother's lap!  I heard from Mbondo yesterday that he can know play by himself.  Before he would cry constantly and had to be held at all times.  Now he can play while the person taking care of him can attend to other household duties.  

We then turned our attention to the six year.  I believe Hannah and Theresa had been holding her for over two hours at this point. One significant thing that happened was that she could not open her hands, they were no longer clenched fists, she had also stopped crying and was peaceful.  We began praying and Pastor Kim took out the guitar.  We prayed and worshiped, worshiped and prayed.  We were crying out asking God to heal this child for the glory of his name.  We lost track of time and spent another two hours in prayer.  There wasn't the dramatic improvement as there was with the younger child, but the legs were no longer twisted like before and her neck seemed to be firming up.  Again we don't understand why there was dramatic improvement in one child and only slight improvement in the other, but God does heal so we keep praying.

Praying into the night.

We finished praying and found out that we were 4.5 hours late for dinner!  Even in Kenya that is a little extreme.  We hurried over to Pastor Erastus's home and had a nice meal.  We finally made it back to the house about midnight, exhausted.  We packed and cleaned things up because we needed to wake up at 4 am to get ready to go to the airport.  

Day 6 An Amazing Day

As I woke up Saturday, in my heart I felt God saying it would be a great day.  Sunday when I woke up I felt God say it would be an amazing day.  After the day we had Saturday my expectations were high for Sunday.  We began the day with a rich time of worship and prayer as a team.  The times of worship were some of the richest that I have experienced over the last two years.  Perhaps it was because we were meeting every morning and evening to worship, perhaps it was because so many people were praying, either way the presence of God was so strong I often wished we could just keep on worshiping rather than heading out to do ministry.

On our way to the church at Mutulu we passed a woman walking with a cane.  I had the thought to stop and pray for her and I wrestled with it for about thirty seconds and then I told Paul our driver to turn around so we can pray for her.  By the time we had gotten back to her, she had gotten into a car.   We asked if we could pray for her and she got out of the car.  It turns out she had a hip replacement and one leg was shorter than the other.

We prayed for her and nothing happened.  No difference.  As we got back into the van I was confused, wondering why nothing happened. Up until this point we had seen at least some change in everyone we prayed for.  This was the first time where it seemed like nothing happened.  We drove on and I continued to feel confused and awkward for turning the van around.  About ten minutes later I saw a man in the road limping, holding onto a walking stick.  My thought was, there is no way I'm stopping the van to pray for him after what just happened.  Then as we got close I realized it was someone I recognized and knew quite well.  We needed to stop the van out of courtesy for me to greet him.  I asked about his leg and he explained he had fallen out of a tree and broken it two months prior.  Since the van was stopped anyway I asked everyone to get out and pray for him.  We surrounded him and prayed for healing.   When we finished, he tested it out and found that it was fine!  He could walk, he could dance, and he didn't need the walking stick anymore.  We praised the Lord and piled back into the van and I was left to ponder what lesson God wanted us to learn.

Mutulu Chapel

The view near the the church

We arrived at Mutulu Chapel for the service.  The church was fairly full and the worship was full of energy.  In Kenya they love to dance during worship and the praise is joyful. 

It is a bit of a contrast from what we are used to in Korea and we loved it.  The team was also able to share their song and dance. Pastor Kim played his saxophone and Andrew shared his testimony.

Dancing

Pastor Kim playing the saxophone was always a huge hit.

Preaching about Jesus

 I preached on the power of Jesus and then shared that we would pray for the sick.  The choir came up to sing one song and then we started praying.  We prayed for so many sick and hurting people I lost track.  Person after person was healed.  There were ladies in pain who were set free from their pain and could walk and even dance without pain. Stomach pain was healed and vision was restored.  The joy in the house was amazing.   We were dancing, praying, praising Jesus.  Truly in the presence of God is the fullness of joy.   The service began at 9:30 am and finished after 2 pm when there was no one left who wanted prayer.

Jasmine, Ji-Ae and Hannah after the service.

Our driver Paul sampling Korean seaweed after church.  I believe he said it tasted alright.

After the service we traveled back to Tulia for the library dedication. The library is located near the market place of Tulia.  It is in a rented shop and currently houses 265 volumes. Right before we left we were able to purchase two laptops and a printer.  It is a small start, but it is a beginning.  We gathered for a prayer service with a few of the local pastors. There is nothing like the library for pastors to access.  Most of them only have their Bible and perhaps if they are fortunate a few other books.  We are excited to see how the library will grow.

The Team outside the Library

Inside the library before the book were brought in.

Preparing the books.

There is room for many more books.

Pastor Erastus speaking at the prayer service.

Following the library prayer service we ate a snack and traveled back to the church at Musengo for our third and final meeting.  This time the church was nearly full and the people were waiting for us.  The church worship team led us in joyful dancing and then many people were on their knees in worship.  The team performed again and then Jasmine, Pastor Kim and I performed a song together.  After we finished the lyrics of the song we began singing spontaneously.  The presence of God filled the church.

The worship team on their knees.

There wasn't a mic stand so Mula had to hold the mic for me.  We found out later that we played and sang for nearly two hours.  Paul mentioned when we finished and opened his eyes that he was afraid everyone had left the church because it was so long, but more people came to the church.  And Mula held the mic for almost two hours!

The congregation as we sang.

Many of us ended up on our knees.

Andrew and one of the pastors.

Alexander, one of our hosts.

The wife of one of the pastors.

The senior pastor prayed for the Holy Spirit to come and fill us as we finished the song.  Alexander shared the next day that it was his favorite moment of our time together.  I preached a brief message and we then began ministering to people.  We prayed for a handful of sick people, but we also prayed for people with broken hearts and other needs.  It was another powerful time of ministry.  We didn't finish until 11:30 pm. It was a long day of ministry, but it was indeed an amazing day.

Day 7 coming soon....

Day 5. More!

Written by Mula Kimanzi

Day 5 was another remarkable and blessed day,full of God's favor and
special anointing  The greatness of the day cannot be described by
mere words but can only be articulated by the hemispheres of ones
heart.

We left the house  to Alexanders home church at Musengo. On our way
there God spoke to Peter about an old man in the same place who had
visual problems . When we arrived peter told the local pastors about
it and said it was an old man between 70-80, with a walking stick, a
dark coat, and a floppy hat.  About five minutes after he described
the man them the same old man appeared
from no where, wearing a floppy hat, a dark sweater, and walking with
a cane.   The man could barely see a meter in front of him with his
glasses.  After we prayed for him and God healed him both his eyes and
back pain.  After prayers he could see clearly about 20-25 meters
without his glasses.

The group together with some local church leaders divided into two sub
groups where each of them went for  door to door preaching,one group
comprised of Pastor Kim,Sunday,Jie,Mr kim and Mula. The other group
was composed by Pastor Peter,Andrew,Jasmine and Alexander. Hanna and
Teresa were at the same time left in the church to teach the sunday
school kids .

The first group visited three families where they prayed for four sick
people and God through his mercy and faithfulness healed them.Among
them was an old woman who was hypertensive and had knee pains and her
shoulders too were in great pain also two people accepted Jesus in
their lives.

The second group too visited several homes and they prayed for several
sick people among them a woman who could not walk well and also could
not make out the face of a person only two feet away.   She got healed
and was able to walk without pain and could see clear.   Later in the
day she came to testify in the church during the evening session.

In the evening we had a joint fellowship with the church
members,sunday school children praised God with one song followed by
one hyme from church choir.Then it was the time for us where we
praised God with a song,some dance. Pastor Kim played his saxophone
and the church was enjoying the tune. Peter and Jasmine worshiped with
a song  accompanied by Pastor Kim using his saxophone.

Peter delivered the message of the day from the book of Mark chapter
4,after the message the group together with the local church leaders
prayed for more sick people and God healed them.We concluded the
fellowship with a several choruses.

late in the evening we visited James's home.  A few members prayed for
a high school aged girl  with pain in her throat, She was healed of
the pain.  They members also prayed for her mother who could not lift
her arm high above the shoulder and was in pain.  After prayers she
could move the arm freely and all the pain in her shoulder, back, and
leg were God.   We had a great supper and we prayed for his sick
mother who had been taken to Nairobi.  We had night devotion at James
place and we left off to the house to sleep.

Day 4 Wow Wow Wow

It is hard to describe the kind of day we had.  I think I would run out of words and it would all sound like a mission trip cliche, but let me attempt to describe it.

We began the day by visiting the home of an elderly man with Tuberculoisous.  They woke him up when he arrived and he came and sat in a chair outside.  When I saw him, I thought it may have been better for him to stay inside because he was in obvious pain.  We prayed. When we finished his first words were "I can see!"  He explained that prior to prayer his vision was misty and he couldn't recognize our faces.  After prayer his visions was clear.  He also had relief from the pain in his chest.  We then prayed for his wife who had pain in her shoulder and her arm and she found a considerable amount of pain relief.  We prayed for another elderly gentleman for back pain.  We finished and he bent over and tested his back and said "wow it is a miracle"  he was amazed that his pain was gone.

From there we went to a church for a program.  The church praise team led us in some songs and it was so beautiful and joyful.  The team performed the song and dance and they loved it.  Andrew gave his testimony again and then Pastor Kim played his saxophone.  The people really enjoyed the saxophone.   Few if anyone of them have ever heard a saxophone played live.  

After the saxophone I called Jasmine up to sing the song "Holy Spirit" by Bryan Torwalt.  We sang together and then Pastor Kim began playing his saxophone.  After going through the song I began singing spontaneously whatever came to mind.  Pastor Kim began improvising on his saxophone and Jasmine followed me.  The three of us had never done this together before, but it sounded like we had practiced.  I was amazed at how smooth it went.

I preached a message that was not so long.  I finished by saying that I was done, but perhaps the Lord was not.  We waited for a moment and then I called out does anyone have a problem with their nose.  A woman came forward.  We later learned that she had had pain in her nose for four years and just the night before had cried out to God in desperation asking him to heal her.  The pain completely left her.

There were many other words of knowledge and as people came up and received prayer from the team they got healed.  One woman shared that for five years whenever she opened her eyes it felt like needles pricking her eyes.  After we prayed for her the pain was completely gone.  Another woman and back pain that was almost causing mental problems.  The pain completely left her body.

While ministering a word of knowledge came that there was an older woman who lived close to the church was sick.  I asked the pastor to ask if there was anyone like this.  The people answered that there was indeed a woman who belonged to the church who was sick.  After dinner we went to her home.  It was a woman who was probably between 70-80 years old.  She was carried out of the kitchen and placed in a chair.  She was in obvious pain and I thought would probably would have been better if she stayed inside.  We learned that she dislocated her hip and was unable to walk.  We prayed while the pastor and his wife laid hands on the woman.  After they finished praying and we were asking how she was doing, Mula, one of the Kenyan's assisting us, went over to her and told her to get up and walk.  While he was doing this I was thinking "What are you doing!"  But the woman got up with assistance and began walking!  The pastor was holding her hands and he led her walking back into the kitchen she had been carried out of.  I laughed at Mula's boldness, and I was amazed that this woman was walking.  

When we made it back to the house we had an amazing time of worship.  What was going to be a thirty minute time of worship and prayer turned into 2.5 hours.  The presence of God was strong and it was one of the most wonderful times of worship I have had in the last two years.  

Tomorrow we are going back to the church for two more sessions.  I can't wait to see what will happen.  

Please pray for energy for tomorrow, so far no one has gotten sick!

Please pray for my voice because it is almost gone.

Please pray God to continue to move in power and for there to be some who are saved.

Day 3 Healing and Words of Knowledge

Day Three Today was another wonderful day. We have been having deep times of praise and worship in the mornings and the evenings. This morning was shorter than normal, but so good. Mwangya Primary School We started the day by heading to Mwangya Primary School. It is a school that does not have so many resources and most of the students are very poor, but it is a special place. We could sense the love the staff had for the students and the love the headmaster had for his pupils. The team was able to perform their song and dance. Pastor Kim played the saxophone for them and the students loved it. Andrew gave his testimony and challenged the students to love God and to love one another. I was able to speak about Joshua and God's promise to never leave or forsake him. Many of the children are from such poor families that they have little hope of being able to go to a good high school or university because they simply cannot pay tuition. When I speak at the school I try to encourage the students to look to God to provide for them.

 While praying in the morning I felt that the Lord was saying there was a student who had severe headaches on a regular basis. While speaking I asked the students if any of them had severe headaches, but they were too shy to respond. No one spoke up though I asked several times. After we finished our program I asked James to inquire of the 7th grade teacher if there were any students with severe headaches as I felt it was a girl in 7th grade. The teacher responded that there were several, but they were too shy to say it in front of everyone. We went to the 7th grade classroom as a team and prayed for one girl who suffered from regular headaches, after pray her headache was gone. I then had a word of knowledge about a painful wrist. A boy student came forward and shared that he fell while playing soccer and he had pain in his wrist. We prayed for him and the pain disappeared. The next word was of someone who had one leg that was shorter than the other by half and inch. I asked the students to check to see if their feet lined up. A boy in the front row had one leg that was about half an inch shorter. We prayed for him and his leg grew out. The next word was of someone who hurt his knee on a rock. Immediately a boy came forward and shared he had injured his knee playing soccer. We prayed over him and we also prayed for a girl who was felt weak on a regular basis. We then finished our time at the school and headed to the next school.

 At Kyamani Seondary School we repeated the same program at this school. The students especially liked the saxophone. This time I felt there was a boy who had injured his back and was unable to play soccer. Once again no one was willing to come forward in front of the crowd. However after our program a first year student with a crippling limp approached. I honestly thought "oh no, I didn't mean a crippled young man" My faith was fairly weak when I saw him limping. I found out that he had injured his toe playing football when he was young. From that injured toe, he developed a limp, eventually his hip came out the socket, and this in turn impacted his back and even weakened arm to the point where his hand would shake when he wrote, and he couldn't throw a stone. My faith was extremely weak but, I decided with would start with what we could. At first I just prayed with Mbondo and another young man Mula. After we prayed, the young man felt a slight improvement. I took that as a positive sign of God's presence. Andrew joined us and we prayed for his legs to line up, because this young man was about 2cm out of alignment. His leg grew out quite quickly. He still had a severe limp and could not bend his right leg. We kept praying and more members of the team joined us. He continued to improve ad we continued to pray. He wasn't walking normally, but there was a distinct improvement. He also had a significant decrease in pain and he was able to throw a stone fairly far. He couldn't remember the last time he threw a stone. We praised the Lord for what he had done and are hoping for complete healing so that he can play soccer agin.

 We visited the property for James' church and saw the foundation for the building. The congregation is quite poor, but they have been working little by little as they can. We spent time in prayer asking God to bless the congregation and to help them complete their church building. From there we stopped back at the house for a quick though very late lunch. We had Ramen which seemed like a feast for the Koreans in our group who have been almost completely without Korean food.

 Our last stop for the day was to pray for an older gentleman who was suffering from severe nosebleeds and becoming very weak. We arrived at the home and a crowd gathered. It isn't very often that visitors from another country come by, and so the neighbors and those around will show up at the home to see what is going on. Though we came to pray for the Grandfather of the home, I felt led to pray for his wife first. The Lord gave some specific words of knowledge that she had a problem with her knees and her vision. It turned out that she and pain in her back from an operation, she had problems with her knees, and pain in her stomach area. As she was explaining to James in her tribal language that she had a problem with her stomach I asked James about the condition of her stomach. Needless to say that was encouraging and raised my expectations that God wanted to heal. I called two of the members to pray for her and after a series of prayers, she found her knees felt good, her back was okay, her stomach was fine and her vision went from misty to clear. While praying for her another word of knowledge came that a woman behind her had a problem with her hip. When asked, the woman confirmed she did indeed have a problem with her kneed and hip. Another word of knowledge was that it happened when she gave birth. The woman again confirmed that the pain began after giving birth to twins through an operation. With our faith boosted from the confirmed words of knowledge we prayed for her complete healing. Again while praying a word of knowledge came that the woman behind the one we were praying for had a problem with a rapid heartbeat. When asked she shared she had back pain, a severe headache, and a sharp pain in her side. We asked her about the rapid heartbeat and she shared that just yesterday she was out for a walk when her heart began beating very rapidly. She told a shopkeeper that she needed to sit down because she was afraid she was going to faint. She shared that her heart was beating very fast at that moment. We prayed for her and the back pain left, the headache left and her heart rate dropped to a normal pace, but the side pain remained. We prayed once again and then the pain left. After this woman, we finally got around to praying for the old man. After we finished praying he said he felt very good. We'll try to find out tomorrow what his condition is.

 Overall the day was one where we had the opportunity to do a lot of ministry. Everyone is quite tired and went to sleep early tonight. It is exciting to see what God is doing and what he is allowing us to experience. Tomorrow we will be visiting homes and then ending with a meeting at Alexander's church. Once again I cant wait to 't see what God will do.

Day 2 - The Library and Mutonguni Secondary School

We woke up around 8am refreshed and ready to start the day. I cannot speak for the others, but I slept well because last night I was so tired, although satisfied, from worshiping, singing, and praying until midnight with the group. After waking up, we were excited and filled with anticipation in regard to how God was going to use us, what we were going to see and do, and whom we were going to meet. Moreover, I was pretty eager to start setting up the library. Word of Life, by God's grace, has so generously given so much money and a lot of great books for the library along with having supported the library through prayer. Therefore, I realized that I would see the fruition of all of our efforts, giving, prayers, and anticipation today when we would start setting up the library. I was excited. We were excited. Breakfast was simple but delicious. We had bread, eggs, bananas, and tea. We had some peanut butter and regular butter to go along with our toast! Delicious! In Kenya, they have a saying: “Every time is tea time.” Tea is popular in Kenya just like coffee is popular among Koreans. The breakfast was very “western”, which is good for me. However, I think all of us, Korean, American, and African alike, enjoyed the breakfast. Before eating, I had to use the bathroom outside in one of the outhouses. The lock was hard to use as it was a bit rusty. After trying to unlock the lock, I pulled on it really hard because it was being stubborn. I eventually was able to open it, but I cut my fingers in the process. Thankfully, Pastor Kim was able to apply first aid and put a couple of band-aids on them. Then came the showers. I was the first one to shower. Peter turned on the boiler to get some hot water. I got in the shower …. and ….. no hot water. Apparently, the boiler allowed the water to turn from cold to cool. Showering was not very pleasant, but …. it gave me a greater idea as to how people in Kenya have to live, which in turn made me grateful for the blessing that I have in America and Korea of being able to take hot showers. We decided to read Scripture by ourselves for about 20 minutes, think about the Scripture, meditate on it, pray over it, and come back together as a group. Peter asked Joo Il and Hye Yeong (Theresa) to share what they believe God told them through the Scripture, and thus they shared. We spent a bit of time praying and singing worship songs as well. Having finished our time of worship, we were ready to head over to the pastor's library. We were a little bit late, but it was not a big deal. In Africa, time is a bit more relaxed and people are often late and know that others will be late, as opposed to the west where “time is money” and people are expected to be punctual. Upon arriving, we met Pastor Erastus and a schoolmaster named Alexander. We were told that the library needed a good cleaning. Therefore, we started cleaning up the library. We dusted off the shelves and the floor. Also, we wiped down the windows, chairs, and the tables. After cleaning, we had to organize the books. Remember, about 200 books were donated to the library. We were required to enter the information of each book into the computers. For example, we had to type in the title of each book, its author, its IBSN number, its publisher, how many pages it had, etc. There were three computers. Two people worked at each one. One person would read the information, while the other would type. The work, although seemingly mundane, was very important for the creation of the pastor's library because the pastors will be able to find different books based on topic, issue, book of the Bible, book title, a lot more easily since more and more books will eventually be given to the library. Sometimes, others who were not working would volunteer to take over for a while so that those who were working could hang out on the street, play with the kids, and interact with some of the locals. Lunch time came relatively late, and boy oh boy were we hungry! Lunch was simple. We just used the bread, peanut butter, honey, and regular butter we had for breakfast and made sandwiches. We didn't care what we ate. We were just hungry. Furthermore, we had some bananas, too, so that was good. We ended up eating in a room with a table and many chairs that was next to the library. It was a time of good festivity, laughter, and joking around. We then proceeded to visit a secondary school. The Koreans were planning to do their song and dance, I would give my testimony, and Peter gave short speech to the Kenyans. We approached the school, and needless to say, we attracted a lot of curiosity and attention from the students. A female head teacher approached us and guided us. She gave us a little tour of the school, and she directed us to the location where we would be speaking and where hundreds of students were eagerly waiting for us and wondering what we were going to say to them and do. Unfortunately, she wanted us to be “very brief.” She kept on urging us to be quick and she dropped those subtle hints implying that we needed to finish quickly. Because of this, Peter thought it would be best to skip my testimony. The Koreans sang their song and performed their dance. Pastor Kim then played a Christian worship song on his saxophone. Finally, Pastor Peter gave a speech to the Kenyans. He gave his speech like he was preaching a sermon. He was speaking so loudly and passionately. He talked how God chooses to bless nations through people. He doesn't just stretch out His hand and bless a nation while its people do nothing. In other words, Peter talked about how God doesn't bless fools, such as people who steal from their dormitories, sleep in class, don't study, have bad character, make fun of their classmates, etc. Peter mentioned that about 60 years ago, Korea was poorer than Kenya. Now Korea is one of the world's economic powerhouses. Tying that in with Kenya, Peter explained how he believed it was Africa's, and Kenya's in particular, time to rise. If God will bless Kenya, he will do it through people. Peter encouraged and admonished the students to have forgiving, loving hearts, to study hard, to have good character, and to be leaders. Some students in Kenya might feel like doing the right thing is pointless because they might believe that they are always condemned to being poor and living in a village for the rest of their lives. Peter, aware of that, brought up the fact that God isn't going to waste a person's life if he/she works hard, is a good person, and seeks the Lord. Peter told the students a testimony about Mula and how he was poor, had no money, and was from the village, too. However, he trusted in God, and God paid for him to finish high school and eventually university. He has a bright future! If God can do it for him, Peter said, God can do it for all the other students. Pressed for time, he had to wrap things up and told the students to seek the Lord, study hard, and seek God's blessing for the nation of Kenya. The speech was so moving and inspiring; he certainly had my attention! After Peter's speech, the students left to handle their other business. We hung around the school for a little bit by the van. They were really interested in us. It reminded me of teaching English at a public school. It was like “being a celebrity” all over again. Some of us sang with the students and taught them how to do the dance. Others just talked with the students, and we sometimes goofed off with them and took a lot of pictures. Joo-Il even played in their field hockey game. Overall, it was a great time. After a while, we had to go back to the house where a delicious dinner was prepared for us.

Kenya Day 1. healing Prayer

We arrived at 5:00 this morning after a great flight on Korean Air. We breezed through immigration though we were told in Korea that we were taking a risk by bring Byeong with us since his passport was only valid for another three months. It wasn't an issu.

After explaining to the customs agent that we were bring books for pastors we got waved through and were met by Mbondo our Kenyan host, and our drivers Paul and Solomon. We drove to the Kenya Hope office for breakfast and to kill sometime while we waited for the forex bureau to open. Breakfast wasn't ready when we got there so we decided to spend the time in worship and prayer. After interceding for the trip we decided to pray for healing. Each member check to see if their heels were lined up. Two members, Theresa and Ji-Ae each had a leg that was slightly uneven. We prayed for both of them and the short leg grew out until the feet were even. We then prayed for our drivers Paul and Solomon who both had the same problem and their legs grew out. We prayed for Janet one of the staff at Kenya Hope and her leg grew out as well. The difference for her was the most dramatic, one leg was shorter by about .5 -.75 inches. She felt a definite difference after prayer as she walked around. After praying for those in the office we went to Mbondo's house in order to pray for his wife who was suffering from a headache. We first prayed for his sister who was suffering from back pain. The group prayed for her and after the first time she said the pain decreased slightly, we prayed again and the pain moved lower in her back, after the third prayer the pain was completely gone. After praying for Josephine we prayed for Mbondo's wife Purity and when we finished she said her headache was completely gone. Then we prayed for Gideon, Mbondo's two month old son. Finally the team performed their song and dance for the office staff. The ride out to Tulia was uneventful and most of us slept. When we arrived we were able to get our first look at the room that will house the library. It's a small beginning, but it is a beginning. Tomorrow we will set the library up, we are really looking forward to seeing the books in place. After dinner we spent time in worship and prayer and it was good. We prayed for healing for Mbondo and saw an answer. Four years ago he was in a mini bus accident and his arm went through a window. He damaged some nerves in his arms and has had numbness from half his forearm to his little finger since. Through prayer feeling in his finger, hand, and arm was restored. We were also able to pray for one of the caretakers of the house. She shared she had a toothache when we asked if she had any pain. After prayer the pain was completely gone. It was a full day and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us tomorrow.