Typical, Atypical Life

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin.

So much more happened in one week in Kenya than a year in the States, yet it's almost impossible to write about.

I guess I'll start with what our "everyday" lives were like. We stayed in a motel in Maai Mahiu - a place rampant with alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution, and fear.

  

We were blessed enough to have running water, though the shower was less than ideal. Freezing one minute, boiling the next. The motel staff was amazing, ready to serve whatever we needed. We ate several variations of rice and beans, accompanied by chicken or beef or fish. Chapati was everyone's favorite. It's a kind of flat bread that's absolutely delicious.

 

The best part (aside from our ministry, of course) was worship and teachings every night. We had church in the motel bar every evening. One person brought a guitar, and we learned the songs as we went along. There was a mosque located right across the street, and we could hear their prayers happening at the same time as ours.

God was very real in this place, and he showed himself multiple times. Sins were forgiven, souls were remade, truth was revealed. On the last night, even miraculous healings occurred right before our eyes. Who knew such amazing things could happen in a bar in the the worst place in Kenya?

You don't need a million dollar establishment to worship. You don't need fancy projectors or speakers or even instruments.

All you need is a group of believers. And one bold voice to get started.

James 5, The Prayer of Faith

James 5:13-20

The Prayer of Faith

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgive. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

My brothers, if one of you should ever wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

I'm still working on my prayer skills. I grew up praying constantly, especially with my mother. She still calls me her "prayer partner," and calls me when there something or someone we need to pray for. A lot of those prayers weren't so full of faith on my end, though. They became redundant and almost meaningless. I've gotten better at it, though. I don't pray as often now, but I know my prayers are full of faith and that I'm talking to God.

There are other ways I communicate with him too - through my music especially. I see that as a form of prayer as well. I hear his voice and see his glory. There are so many ways I connect my music to my faith, and I will have to make another post about that later.

James 5, Patience in Suffering

James 5:7-12

Patience in Suffering

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.

Honestly, I think I only worry about the Lord's coming when I read verses like these. Otherwise, I don't think about it much. I do what the Bible tells me, and I try to love and respect everyone equally. I know he is coming, though, and I know I will go to join him. I don't obey God's commandments only to get to Heaven, but because it's the right thing to do. 

The verses about grumbling against each other sometimes hit home, too. I am definitely getting better about that, but there are days I still slip up. I'm working on taking more responsibility for my words and actions, and having a more positive attitude towards others.

James 5, Warning to Rich Oppressors

James 5:1-6

Warning to Rich Oppressors

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Though I am not a particularly rich woman, I take passages like these to heart, because I know I am so rich compared to others, and that sometimes bothers me. I can get so wrapped up in money because I can't buy as much food or I have trouble paying bills some months. But I still have so much more than the poor.

If there's one thing I learned from Swaziland, it's how to be grateful for everything I have. The Swazis never complained. They had the basic needs, and they didn't want any more than that. I am so thankful to live in this country and to be raised in a family that could provide for me. I am thankful I get to study at an amazing school so I can do what I love for a living. I am thankful for the roof over my head and the food in my belly, and I try to give as much as I can back to society and to the poor.

James 4, Boasting About Tomorrow

James 4:13-17

Boasting About Tomorrow

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

This is so incredibly humbling. My life is so small and so short compared to the big picture. We must consider God as the center for all our plans, so that it is always his will to be done, and not ours.

I know I must be conscious of God's will and how that must control my life. I am learning to be flexible and go where the Holy Spirit leads me.

As I prepare to leave for Kenya in less than 48 hours, so many emotions come over me. Anxiety, nerves, excitement. I pray it is God's will that I travel safely and, more importantly, effectively minister to the people there. It is going to be an amazing journey, and definitely not the one I had planned to take this summer, but I know it's where he wants me right now. It's hard not to boast about it, because it's so exciting, and I love serving our Lord overseas. 

I do not know what will happen tomorrow, but I pray it is God's will, and not mine.

James 4, Submit Yourselves to God

James 4:1-12
Submit Yourselves to God

4:1-3 Quarrels
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

I tend to have trouble asking God for help. It's not usually a pride issue, like some people have - it's more not feeling like I deserve his help. But I do. I'm always afraid that my motives are wrong, like what James writes about here. But I can't be afraid to ask God for help, even when I think my motives are wrong.

4:4-6 Friendship with the World
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

It makes me nervous thinking about being friends with the world, because it's so hard to tell with today's society if you're obeying the world, or obeying God. I always try to make glorifying God the main priority in everything I do. As long as I want to please him, I know I'm on the right track.

4:7-10 Purify Your Hearts
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to god and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

I read this as a "pep talk," though it's not very peppy. Change our joy to sorrow? What?! But it's just a reality check. We're ALL sinners. We can't change that. We should be filled with sorrow at our sinful ways. But God saves us from sin and forgives us, and we should be grateful.

4:11-13 Judging
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?

I know I need to watch my words towards others - not only to their faces, but also behind backs. We all struggle with this. We want to rant and vent about that person who makes our day miserable...but that's not what we should do. We don't know what kind of day they were having, or what's going on in their lives. We should focus more on bringing positive attitudes to others and brightening their days, instead of bringing them down with hurtful words.

James 3, Two Kinds of Wisdom

James 3:13-18
Two Kinds of Wisdom

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes fro wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Here is this passage in a nutshell...

Wisdom from the devil:

• Bitter envy
• Selfish ambition

Wisdom from heaven:

• Pure
• Peace-loving
• Considerate
• Submissive
• Full of mercy and good fruit
• Impartial
• Sincere

Obviously, it's much easier to be full of unspiritual wisdom than wisdom from heaven, especially in our society. We must be constantly checking ourselves and our intentions. Do we want to please the world, or do we want to please God?