Dear ITEM Prayer Partner,
Jerry, Patrick, and I started our day deep in the interior of Kenya around 9:30 when we left for church. We pulled into our guest house at 8:30pm and had dinner and I am settling in to write this at 10:10pm. I will rush through this report, upload some pictures, repack my luggage, and get to bed ASAP in preparation for our 8:15am departure from the guest house.
It was a full day with a full house. Interestingly there were two worship services back to back but from what I saw, it was one long service with two sermons.
We arrived about 10am and were greeted by a large crowd standing on the side of the road above the church, which was down a hill (see the picture). We carefully walked down the hill to the church, got seated, they sang a song, Patrick (our trip coordinator) introduced us and Jerry got up to preach at about 10:30.
Oh, the original schedule was: First service 10-11. Second service 11-12:30. Lunch 12:30-2. Apologetics seminar 2-5. Then the drive back to Nairobi.
Jerry preached from the first seven verses on 2 Timothy 1, filling in details from many other places in the New Testament. He finished about 11:15. Then there was about 45 minutes of mostly singing and dancing (see a couple of videos I uploaded). I got up to preach at 12 and Patrick told me to stop at 1. I had been asked to preach on the subject, “Why Do Christians Suffer?” I explained that suffering is mentioned throughout the New Testament… over 80 times. After listing some wrong theories about that try to answer the question, I listed three legitimate causes: 1) Bad choices 2) Persecution and discrimination of and against Christians 3) The affects of the fall in Genesis when sin entered the world along with every disease, sickness, disaster, etc. And all of us are affected by something and all of us will suffer something at some time.
We went for lunch and got back to start the apologetics part of the day at 2:45. I was committed to being done by 5. So, I finished the first, longer presentation at 4, we took a 10 minute break and I started the second session. Our video projector stopped working shortly into the talk but fortunately I had a backup, which we quickly set up and resumed, finishing at 5pm sharp.
The first apologetics session is entitled, “Finding Answers to Life’s Hard Questions.” I list several wrong places look for answers. Places like culture, traditions, community, and social media. I explain that these all are constructed by people and that we need to look beyond man’s answers to God’s answers and that is where we turn to religion and ask which one.
I then compare the core beliefs of Islam and Christianity, asking which is true and I suggest that whoever has the proper view of Jesus is the one to choose. I then demonstrate that the history of Jesus in the Bible is the same as the history of Jesus that is recorded in secular history, therefore we choose Christianity as the right religion to follow.
The second apologetics session is, “Finding Answers in God’s Story.” I explain that there are two possible “stories.” One is the story of evolution; that the universe exploded into existence 14 billion years ago. It made up of matter only with no purpose, meaning, or values. Man was somehow formed out of the matter and became a living entity. Some how, nonliving matter because living beings.
There was an interesting response. When I started talking about how evolution explains things (the universe exploding into existence on its own) they started laughing. This is a foreign concept to most here. I then stopped them, “You laugh but this is what the majority of the world believes.” They got quiet after that.
I explained that this theory, this story has no answers for life’s tough questions because life is just an endless chain of cause and effect.
Then I explained God’s Story from the Bible. Chapter 1: Gen 1-2, creation and everything was very good. Chapter 4: The need for a new heaven and earth (why did it need to be remade?) because of chapter 2: The fall when sin and every evil entered the world bringing all forms of suffering. We all agreed that the world is broken. Then I asked the question, “how do you fix it?” New government leaders? New form of government? New laws? Education? NO! None of the counteract the affects of sin from chapter 2 (Gen 3) in God’s Story. What fixes a broken world in in chapter 3 of God’s story book, redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus. I explain how it is one life at a time now but eventually it is finalize with a new heaven and earth.
These lectures were very well received in Kenol Friday and today in Kiriani. I am so grateful for the opportunities God is giving me to explain these concepts to these believers.
That’s probably more than enough. It is 10:42pm. I have much more to do before hitting the sack. Tomorrow we fly to Madagascar and settle in. Tuesday I meet with the team early in the day and do an online Worldview presentation in the afternoon. Wednesday I come back to Nairobi and Jerry heads home.
Thanks for praying. Please continue to pray for rest, stamina, energy, safe travels, clear communication, clear understanding of what is being presented. Thanks.
CLICK HERE for the picture album.
I uploaded many pics from the time in Kiriani.
By His grace,
Steve