Blog
Can you imagine what it would be like to have a five year old child who has never experienced rain? It is a situation we have difficulty imagining. We need rain, but for us it is more of nuisance than a life threatening situation. I recently returned from a mission trip to eastern Kenya where our team spent time working with churches and leaders where drought is threatening the lives of thousands. They have not had rain in five years; rivers have dried up, once green regions are brown desolate territory, and fields where seeds were planted are just baking in the sun. And the problem is being amplified by the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia that have come into the region as they seek relief from the terrible drought.
As we spent time working with pastors and leaders I discovered an amazing truth; these people who we would expect to be desperate, fearful and hopeless are instead joyful, focused and alive with a love for Jesus and an expectation of hope in His presence. More than once I heard testimonies that would say things like this, “Wherever there are Christians there always seems to be provision. We are doing better than those who don’t know Christ; somehow He is taking care of His people.” They are walking in a confidence and faith that many of us could use as an example for our own lives.
Whenever I travel to a third world country I go prepared to teach, to train and to help in any way I can, but as much as I try to give, I always come away knowing that it is my life that has experienced the greatest change, and I will never be able to go back to the way I was before I went. God has a way of taking our experiences and using them to shape us and prepare us for what He has ahead. There are several things I learned on this trip. First, this was a region where Christians were viewed as evil. The representative in the Garissa District was elected on the promise that he would drive all Christians out of the region. Everywhere you go you are watched and monitored to make sure you don’t say something offensive to their beliefs or to their religion. I learned a little about what it is like to experience spiritual oppression. Secondly, in the midst of this oppression we saw people accept Christ as savior; we saw miraculous healings; we saw Christ at work in peoples’ lives. I learned that Christ will make a way, anywhere there is need He shows up. And the last learning came from the experience of spending time with a group of twenty five pastors who are developing a strategy for taking the Gospel into Somalia. These were men who realize that when the day comes that they cross the border some of them will pay with their lives. I learned that Jesus is still worth dying for, and not just figuratively. Jesus is worth our very lives.
I hope that you are living your life in such a way that Christ can challenge your thinking and your attitudes and can take you out of your comfort zone. When you do, you’ll discover a place where Christ is real, is alive, and is active. He wants to take you there if you’ll let Him.
If we can help you in your journey of faith, we are here to help. You are always welcome to give us a call or to visit us at The Crossing.
Thought for your day: “The lowest station in the Lord's house is better than the highest position among the godless. To bear burdens and open doors for the Lord is more honor than to reign among the wicked. Every man has his choice, and this is ours. God's worst is better than the devil's best." - Charles H. Spurgeon.
Rev. Tim Franklin
