Sunday – 24 – The Never Ending Day!

I waited to record the events of this day for ample time to describe it. For those of you who are fans of the TV show, 24, you will identify with this account, for if you are like most of us, by the last few episodes of the season you are so ready for the day to end! That’s how we felt on Sunday as we were to leave Nairobi to fly to Burundi. The following events occurred between 5:00 AM Sunday and 5:00 AM Monday.

We got news Friday that the flight attendants for Kenya Air had gone on strike, asking for 130% increase (not bad if you can get it!). This brought all flights to an instant halt. We attempted to get any information on our flight for Sunday, but no one state side or in Nairobi seemed to know what was going on or be willing to give out any information. We were told to just show up at the airport as planned, so at 5:00 AM we made our way to the airport for our 7:30 morning flight (getting us to Bujumbura in time for church; it’s just a bit over a 1 hour flight). There wasn’t too much of a line outside as we got there, but that swelled quickly. Since flights had ceased for two days, there were thousands of people stranded, waiting on flights to resume whenever the strike was settled. Apparently no one had been put in hotels, etc……just waiting. No one is allowed in the building without confirmation of a ticket, so no one was inside, leaving the throngs to wait outside on sidewalks in the cold. Yes, I said cold; this is their winter. Picture thousands of tired, angry, frustrated travelers, many toting babies and little ones, frantic to hear if they were going to get to fly out, travelers from all over the world, many not speaking English or Swahili. And so we joined the swelling crowd to stand…and wait….and wait. We got word that the strike had been settled; they agreed on 20% over 2 years, a far cry from demands which would have bankrupted the airline, so now it was a matter of contacting flight crews and getting them back to the airport to see if any flights were a go. From then on it was mayhem! No one knew what was happening; there appeared to be no contingency plan. One minute we were told yes, there would be a flight….sometime, then no, it would be cancelled. This bounced back and forth for hours; we’re still outside in the cold, little access to food, water, and two bathrooms accessible outside…..for thousands. We crouched on the sidewalk, propped up by our stacks of luggage. About 10:00 AM the incredible young people in our group pulled out the guitar and drums and began a time of praise and worship! As they led us to take our focus off our circumstances and turn toward the Lord, we had the most amazing church service ever! People began to stop, join us, sing along or just stand with us. One policeman said he wished he wasn’t on duty so that he could dance and sing with us! A young South African woman moved toward us and began singing in a beautiful voice. She had worked with YWAM and joyfully joined in. Some of the few people who had made it inside motioned to us through the glass walls that they were thankful for the music and to please continue. The local Nairobi TV station had a cameraman out filming the situation. He motioned to one of our gals, Melanie, and proceeded to interview her. I guess he was disappointed; apparently he was looking for disgruntled/angry travelers, and Melanie was saying that she was focusing on praising rather than complaining. But when the music rose up, he moved toward our group and filmed a good bit, which made it on the evening news!!! Judy Mbugua, our Africa director, saw it on the news……we were singing Mambo Sawa Sawa, a Swahili praise song! What a noticeable change in the crowd….and in us as well. This continued for about two hours when we got word that our flight was a “go” and we needed to get to the front door to enter. Thus the challenged began.

Convinced that they would force their way into the terminal and determined that they would indeed fly out that day and would stand their ground until they did, hundreds were crammed against the only entrance to the terminal; no one would budge. I spoke with a policeman, telling them that our flight had been called and that we had to get through the door. He motioned us to come ahead, but that was easier said than done. No one was willing to relinquish “their spot.” We stood as patiently as possible as groups pushed their way through, only to be turned away and unable to go against the flow away from the door. The airline workers stuck with overseeing this operation were given an impossible task, apparently weren’t getting any reliable information and at a loss how to proceed. A riot could have easily erupted.

At long last, we worked our way (having to employ elbowing our way through those who simply refused to budge an inch to give space to pull umpteen suitcases through) and after TWELVE HOURS we were inside the door. Thus begins the security checks and getting into endless lines to get to the ticket counters.

Again…..mass humanity crowding the counters. There are no such things as lines pretty much outside North America and some of Europe. People were pushing, shoving others aside, with a few outbursts here and there; we waited. After about SEVEN HOURS, we were finally at the front of a line to get to the counter. An airline worker then announced that they were moving us to another line….and at the end of one to boot!! Beyond disbelief, we drug ourselves to the far end of the counters. A guy behind the desk shouted out “Anyone going to Entebbe?” and there was an instant mass rush through ropes supposedly to direct the lines. It was a miracle no one was trampled to death, only for the guy to yell that there was no flight: I guess he was just wondering who was wanting to go there!!!! That was a tense moment.

After TEN HOURS of working our way through these lines, we finally got bags checked and received boarding passes, proceeding through more security checks and finally to the gate.

We were to have left at 7:30 AM Sunday morning; it was now about 4:00 AM Monday morning. What a journey!! At last, we boarded the plane and arrived in Bujumbura about 5:00 AM. Surprisingly, there was barely another soul at the airport, save poor Peace, our Burundi director. She had already made several runs to the airport, trying to find out our status and if we were going to be able to come. She had been so concerned, had everyone praying for us, and finally, we were in Burundi!!!

Looking back, we can laugh at the situation, though we weren’t exactly chuckling during those 24 hours. God does have a sense of humor; we recalled the teachings of the previous week at the camp which focused on persevering during troubling times as we looked at the life of Joseph. The memory verses took on a fresh, personal meaning:

Psalm 4:4: Be angry, but do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.

Isaiah 41:10: Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Genesis 50:19: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

We had felt anger and frustration. God did take care of us and was with us. The strikers may have meant this for evil, but God used it for good by giving opportunity to have a worship service available to literally thousands outside the Nairobi airport, not an everyday occurrence.

And thus this never ending day came to a close! And now we can laugh about it.

Final thoughts from Diane

Saturday – Homeward Bound!

Having a night’s rest certainly does make the journey home more bearable. Now we just have a 10 hr. flight home, or at least to Houston. The descent into Houston evokes joy…..we are back in the USA! All bags have arrived (Yeah!). We hug our wonderful teammates from Lafayette who will have one more short flight to get home; how this team has bonded! The Houston group reunites with family and everyone is heading home. Our suitcases are full of dirty laundry, but we are so full with everything God has allowed us to see and experience. Our hearts are full of joy as well as sorrow for the trials our African family still endure. We’ve seen God at work in powerful, miraculous ways! We have bonded with our brothers and sisters in ways we could never have imagined, and we are grateful. And now we begin to digest it all! Processing will take time, and we know that the Lord has something special for each of us as to how He wants to use all this in our lives. Some of us will probably return to Kenya and Burundi; some may not be able to. Regardless, this has been a life changing experience that God will use in incredible ways both for our benefit and for the benefit of His Kingdom.

We encourage team members to come up with three descriptive words that will capture their experience. My three for this trip are:

Healing: We saw God bring deep inner healing to deep inner sounds, those of our African friends and in us as well.

Haunting: As we heard the testimonies of the people, began to feel their pain and anguish, we are haunted by the mental pictures formed in our minds.. We don’t want those images to fade, but to remind us of the work yet to be done.

Hopeful: God is at work in Kenya and Burundi! The Christians we worked with there are amazing; such self sacrifice! Hearing the testimonies of those who have come to the Lord are thrilling. Seeing the changed lives of those involved in our ministry projects energizes us to keep these ministries going and expanding so that many more may benefit. The transformation of the lives of the street guys and the women in the ministry projects confirm to us that God is very much in the miracle working mode…..even today.

Our sincere thanks to all of you who have supported this ministry outreach with your prayers and financial support. You are an integral part of the team; we couldn’t have done anything without you! Thank you!

Please continue to pray for our partners in Kenya and Burundi, Judy and Peace and all those who help them. Pray for the ministries reaching out to those living in the Kibera slum, rural villages, genocide widows and orphans and those living on the streets. All are loved by Jesus!

Pray about coming with us next time so that you can experience for yourself the joy of being on mission with the Lord; you will never be the same! We can safely say that everyone on this team has been changed….for eternity.

Final thoughts from Melanie

I always love when God grants me the opportunity to dive into a different country, a different culture, a different people group…to be able to watch and learn and enjoy. God has wired my heart to be missional in nature, missional in a cross-cultural sense. I always feel more alive and more myself in foreign cultures. Africa was certainly no disappointment. And this trip to Africa was definitely an opportunity to gain exposure to something different than I had ever worked with before.

Spending a week out in the villages reminded me of how much I enjoy the simple life, and how far removed I am from it in America. Seeing the women of the Masai and Chuka villages…seeing their perseverance and determination, their hard work ethic, and passion in worship, fueled and challenged me. Their lives are an inspiration…seeing those with so little still be so generous. Amazing!

Regarding the second week, a camp for teens out of the Kibera slum, I loved every minute of it. It was the chance to remind these kids that they are loved, are precious, are valuable…a chance to love on them when you wonder if they feel loved by anyone at home. To hear heart-breaking stories of rape, physical abuse, and hunger and still see the joy of life in these children’s eyes is amazing to me. More important than doing for them, was being with them. And I enjoyed being with them. I enjoyed winning them over after seeing initial walls of mistrust. How can you come to love someone so much after only a few days? Only through God. I was confronted by my own lack of trust in God, having to wrestle with the tension between having mercy and compassion and at the same time trusting in God’s sovereignty in the lives of these children. And I also felt challenged in my thinking regarding what would help these kids. Am I tempted to think that if I could fix their circumstances that it would improve their lives? Or do I really believe that it’s more of the Lord they really need and not just more stuff? I still wear the cheap rubber band of our team color we were each given at the camp as a reminder to pray for them. I know they are wearing theirs too. My heart feels forever connected to them.

The third leg of the trip was in Burundi. I loved the fire in the hearts of the women we spent time with, especially as we worshipped with them in song and dance. Seeing their bodies reflect the attitude of their hearts of worship was uplifting. It really was a time of celebration. If someone walked into a church service in America during it’s time of worship music, would they know we are celebrating? Would they be able to see outwardly what is going on inwardly? And I felt really privileged to get to know Peace (PACWA leader there). Hearing some of her story, seeing her obedience to return to Burundi upon God’s call, seeing her be a strong rock for these women, giving them leadership and guidance, selflessly giving her life away. This is a woman who is truly in love with the Lord and committed to Him. She is constantly emptying herself. It made me want to move there just to be a friend to her, someone who she could turn to, someone who can fill her when so many others in her life drain her. And I am challenged to know she clings to the Lord to fill her up.

Overall, I’m still trying to process all that we saw and did on this trip. God really used it to refuel me. It was a gift of so many of the things that I enjoy…simple life, the outdoors, adventure, new experiences, relinquishing Americanisms, interacting with new people, teaching, etc… He used it to affirm my gifts and what He has made me for. He used it to show me more of myself. He used it to show me more of Him, and to help me see Him in new ways. He used it to show me changes I want to make in my life here because of things I saw there. He connected my heart to a different part of the world. He used it to increase my burden for the world, molding my heart to be more like His, a heart that longs to see people from every tongue, tribe, and nation worshiping Him. And this trip has left my heart in a state of greater determination to be used by God to bring this about.

Final thoughts from Stacy

I have met people who in spite of their seemingly insurmountable problems and horrific past, not to mention an uncertain future, have joy that is beyond anything I have ever witnessed and a faith that can truly move mountains. Their attitude is pretty much, yes, I have had horrible things happen to me and life is a day to day struggle but that's OK because I have Jesus, He will provide all I need. This was humbling for me because I tend to keep him in a small box and take him out only when I really need him. I went to encourage them but instead they encouraged me. I have learned that as long as I keep my eyes focused on Him there is nothing in this world that can steal my joy or assurance of the love he has for me. I have fallen in love with Africa and its beautiful people. He has touched me and I will never be the same. Praise God for that!

Final thoughts from Mary L

The three words that sum up the two weeks I spent in Africa on the recent Global Action trip to Africa are challenging, heartbreaking and life-giving.

I thought I was prepared for the culture shock plus jet lag but found myself feeling depressed, confused, overwhelmed, angry, impatient, and just plain exhausted the first couple of days in country. Remembering that this was fairly normal helped, but I still felt unsettled and out of control. “This is hard, Jesus, I’m not sure I can do this”, I prayed. He said, “I know…you can’t…but I can. Relax and rest in Me, trust me with yourself. I’m with you.” The challenge the next two weeks was a moment by moment opportunity to take Him at His word. Spending that first Sunday in Judy Mbugua’s church and later her home began the first week with a focus on the reality of the hymn we heard called How Beautiful is the Body of Christ.

Yet God…how He showed up in HUGE ways, time after time. Oh my!! Watching the kids warm up and just enjoy having the freedom to play, laugh, eat when they were hungry, sleep in safety when they were tired, and experience Jesus loving them in countless ways during the camp week blessed me beyond words. Hearing their stories broke my heart, but also testified to the power of God to overcome the evil one. I received a note from one of the girls, writing words of encouragement to me after our group time in which I’d shared struggles in my own life. She asked to speak with me alone. During that time, she told me a story she’d not ever shared with anyone of rape at the age of six and female genital mutilation at age eight. Despite living in pain, she has a deep faith in God and dreams of becoming all that Jesus created her to be. She is fourteen years old, living in Kibera slum, yet trusting Jesus in ways that put me to shame. I am so grateful that God allowed our journeys to intersect now and for eternity.

Being in Burundi brought many more tragic stories from the 50+ PACWA (Pan African Christian Women’s Alliance) widows and orphans of the 1993 genocide that we met with. Their lives continue to be so difficult, most living in constant “survival mode”, but their faith and joy in the Lord was contagious and life-giving to me. It was my privilege to share with them for two mornings from a counselor’s perspective on the reality that Jesus loves them and wants them to give Him access to their past wounds/trauma so that He can heal them and set them free from the captivity of their shame. In many ways, I was speaking to the choir because so many of them have a deep, abiding experience of Jesus loving and caring for them. Meeting Peace, hearing her story, observing her great love and advocacy for these women caused me to praise God for the huge sacrifices she consistently makes in His service. Others like Pastor Alban and his heart for the men of Burundi also brought praise and thanksgiving. Being a small part of God’s ongoing work in Africa for those two weeks increased my faith, my appreciation, and my love for my God. I am in awe of Him. He can and He did!

Final thoughts from Brandi

The past two weeks have been amazing. The teams of people that God has put together have helped me grow in my faith. But most of all, the people of Kenya and Burundi have shown me what an incredible God we serve. First, I totally underestimated the power of Satan. My mind cannot wrap itself around the idea of any human being doing the things we heard of. With that being said, there is only one God who can bring us that much joy from that much pain and suffering. I have not experienced what some of those men and women and children have experienced. I can't say that I would have reacted and forgiven the way they have. I would hope and pray to God that I would if it were to happen. But, it really shows how the power of God overcomes the power of Satan. God really is a WINNER and Satan really is a LOSER!! (Haha)

I've also learned that Americans have so much stuff...everything we want, everything we need and yet, we still have feelings of hate, depression, hopelessness, envy, jealousy, etc. The people that have nothing, eat nothing, wear the same outfit day after day, hardly sleep, get beaten and raped...they have the most amazing joy and hope I have ever seen. They only have God to rely on which produces a faith that can withstand anything. That is more than enough for any aethist, buddhist, muslim, or any religion to see that there has to be a God and only one God.

So, being home is kind of bitter sweet. I have found that I am blessed more than anything. I have an amazing family. I have a roof over my head. I have food to eat. I have more than one pair of clothes. I have a great job. I have a decent income. I have nothing to complain about. I thank GOD for blessing me. At the same time, I wish I had the faith those people had. I felt so at home and whole being amongst those people and our fabulous team. Being home, I feel like something is missing, like it's not home. I feel like the same routine of "get up, go to work, come home, got to sleep" is pointless. That's not God's purpose. I'm still trying to figure out where God wants me but, I definitely know it's NOT doing real estate the rest of my life. God has a bigger plan for me. I'm just waiting on him. While I am waiting, I will continue to serve him the best I can.