Peace in God's Timing

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." ~ Psalm 4:8

For the first time in a long time, Sarah slept peacefully three nights in a row last weekend when she stayed with us. She slept in a room that overflowed with God’s peace and was surrounded with His protection. Each night we rebuked any demons that were planning to interfere or cause trouble, and we prayed in faith that God would put a hedge of protection around us and that we would enjoy a restful night’s sleep. God answered so many prayers that weekend, He is so faithful!

In our last update we left off telling you that she woke up wanting to know more about Christ, and so we spent the much of our Saturday reading through the gospels of John and Luke. Each time we discussed it with her she would say she believed and yet she couldn’t bring herself to make a commitment, she didn’t exactly know why she was a Muslim but she also didn’t want to turn her back on it. It’s as if anytime she is faced with the decision, confusion fogs her mind, in fact her speech often becomes a bit disconnected. Even still she insisted she wanted to keep learning. Saturday afternoon we went to the market, enjoyed some ice cream and baked dinner for the family, it was certainly a blessed time. The next morning we went to church, Sarah hadn’t known that we wanted her join us and was thrilled when we assured her she would be coming.

This was Sarah’s first time in church, so we were careful to be prepared for anything. We arrived early to find that a time of prayer was taking place before the service and so we joined in. At one point everyone was asked to spend time in prayer alone but aloud. About five minutes in, I asked Sarah how she felt, I was not surprised to hear that her head was burning and that she had the strong urge to run out of the room. She said despite the pain and struggle to remain inside the building, she felt peace in the church and was doing her best enjoy the service. Throughout the actual service her behavior and level of pain heavily depended on what was going on. During times of worship and prayer she felt something kicking her back, and Bethany and I were consistently feeling heat on her head and responding with prayers for healing. During announcements or church news she felt very little, but again any reading of scripture or talk of Christ brought about more physical pain. Despite her apparent discomfort I could not help but tear up and lift my hands in praise as I watched her smile and sincerely seem to be allowing the words of each worship song to wash over her in joy as she attempted to clap and sing along.

The rest of the day we walked around town, she remained quiet and seemed a bit out of sorts, but I suppose so would I if I spent most of my life in the slum and had only been outside its walls for medical attention or a drive to the upcountry. Bethany and I were so excited to eat at an American type restaurant that we hadn’t even considered the fact that she had never been to a restaurant let alone a nice one. She didn’t know how to order or use the menu, and I struggled much of the day with whether we were treating her to a nice lunch or if the amount spent was more of an insult than a blessing. Ironically enough, mine and Bethany’s food choice turned out disappointing while she ordered what ended up being the best dish on the menu. We walked around town some more and finally took a matatu home.

It was a long day, and Bethany and I knew it was our last night with Sarah, we were all tired but we wanted to make the most of our time left. God’s timing is never our timing, and we had both hoped by that time some sort of decision would have been apparent, or that some deliverance could take place, but God is sovereign and His will never ceases to amaze me. We ended up watching a movie and practicing a bit of our Kiswahili before bed, certainly not what I expected the night to look like. Her family was planning on leaving for Tanzania Tuesday and we knew that Sunday night may be all the time we had left with her. Nonetheless Bethany and I both had a peace that God was working things out in a timeline He would soon reveal to us, and so he did when she walked into the school office at 1 o clock on Wednesday after we had given up hope of seeing her again…

We are working on writing out all that followed that afternoon and hope to post it soon.

P.S. Thank you all for your prayers, we cannot communicate enough how comforted and empowered we were and are by the prayers of our friends and family. God is good, and He heard your prayers.

August 1st Update

Hey everyone just wanted to let you know how last night went and where today is headed! Its saturday morning here in Kenya, and we are encouraged by your prayers and God's faithfulness. Last night we watched the Chronicles of Narnia, Sarah loved it and was picking up the symbolism in it which lead to some good conversation after the movie. We spoke about what believed was going on inside of her, we talked about where she was in regards to Islam vs. Christianitity, and we shared with her that our greatest desire was to bring her into a loving relationship with the Lord, and through Him bring healing to her as well. She wants to be free, but she also confessed to not knowing enough about Islam or Christianity to make a decision but that she wants to know more. When asked what was keeping her from putting her faith in Christ she responded that she had many questions but that when she tries to ask us her mind goes blank so we took the oppurtunity to pray for clarity and prayed against confusion. Soon after she began to share that she wanted to know how both religions "started" where the sacred books came from, what is the end of theetc. We went to bed soon after because we were all tired and prayed for a peaceful night and protection. We woke up the next morning to Sarah saying she slept through the whole night and only woke up once to the thought " I want to know more about Jesus." We had posted verses up on the walls around the room, and some at the heads of the bed, and she told us that when she woke up she automatically turned to read the one by her, and that she really liked it, and wanted to know Jesus today. So today we are going to be going through the story of salvation from creation to resurrection to Revelation. Please pray again for her salvation, for clarity of the gospel presentation, and for healing. Love you all! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

Deliverance

Mark 16:16-18
16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

For those of you who have read the previous blog titled “Sarah” we would like to update you further and request an abundance of prayer over this next weekend.
After talking to and praying for Sarah, we shared with Rick and Steve, and as a team we prayed over and discussed the situation that night. While praying against the demons we believed to be in Sarah, Rick and I both received a picture of her looking extremely angry, specifically in her eyes. The next day confirmed that what we had seen was inside of her.
We asked Sarah’s permission to pray for her, and the 5 of us gathered in the pastor’s office. Rick asked her questions concerning her salvation as we attempted to discern what she meant when she said she believed in Christ. She confessed Christ as her savior (though we are currently thinking she may not understand that Islam and Christianity are mutually exclusive.) Rick asked Steve, Bethany, and I to quietly pray as he began to pray aloud and claim Sarah for the kingdom God and began to rebuke any demons. The 45 minutes or so that followed are difficult to explain. As Rick began to address the demons, Sarah no longer seemed present, she closed her eyes, her shoulders sagged, she often yawned and when asked questions she had a difficult time answering, at times of consciousness she complained of not being able to hear us well. When Rick demanded in the name of Christ her eyes be opened, what stared back was not the girl we had gotten to know but the eyes Rick and I had seen the night before. Rick repeatedly tried to get the demon to tell us what it wanted and how it got there, but it refused.
At one point while praying it was impressed upon me that we should try to weaken/fight the demon by reading scripture aloud and I suggested such to Rick. What followed should not be surprising. I read aloud Mark 16 hoping to remind the enemy of our victory through the Resurrection, Steve followed by reading Job 38… “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? … Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place?...” (read it, even now I have goosebumps, our God is awesome.)We continued on and on reading verse after verse, speaking truth after truth. She covered her ears, closed her eyes again, and started stretching her arms over head in a manner that didn’t appear very comfortable. When bringing our attention back to Sarah, Rick would ask her what she was seeing or hearing, she would say in a strained voice that she felt darkness, at one point that she saw angry eyes, and complained of pain in her back, and felt very cold. For the majority of the time though her consciousness appeared to have shut down. Towards the end of our time Rick again tried to call Sarah to attention asking her to say Jesus is Lord, and then led her through the Lord’s prayer. This was a very long and drawn out process, at times she would barely whisper as she repeated after Rick, other times she would remain silent, eyes shut, seemingly shut off from us before finally repeating a verse. As the Holy Spirit led the time to a close, Rick ordered that that the demons be bound, that the voices would cease, that her headache would cease, and prayed a blessing of protection over her. As she came to, it became apparent to us that she didn’t seem to have any memory of the past hour. She said that she was exhausted and felt very weak, but as she regained her focus she spoke of peace and her headache being gone.
This was a new experience for all of us, it was a lot to process, a lot to try and make sense of. I do however feel that the Lord blessed us with an opportunity to learn, and opened the doors to minister to her again. She missed an entire week of school due to sickness and so we didn’t get to talk with her much but we continued to pray fervently. She returned to school this week and the Lord has brought about the opportunity for her to come spend the weekend with us. She is coming home with us tomorrow (Friday the 31st) and we want to put on the full armor of God and shower the following days in prayer.
Please pray…
· Through conversations we’ve had it has become evident that Sarah has had some damaging experiences in life such as instances of abuse, that may need to be dealt with before confronting any demons again. Please pray that Sarah would be able to forgive those who have brought hurt to her life, that she would be willing to share with us and that in return we would be able to speak truth and love her.
· Pray for protection over Sarah, Bethany, and myself as well as our friends and family that are praying for us.
· Please pray that we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit; that we would seek to listen first and then act.
· Pray that if Sarah is not truly saved she would come to know Christ in full this weekend and renounce Allah and Islam.
· Pray that time and interruptions would not be a hindrance or constraint on our conversations or times of ministry/possible deliverance.
· Pray that we would have a spirit of boldness not of fear, an attitude of love and humility not control.
· Pray that this weekend would be a blessing to Sarah, a growing experience for us, and that all involved would experience the love and power of Christ.
· We will be taking Sarah to what is probably her first Sunday morning service at a Christian church. Pray that it would be a positive experience and that the message would speak to her.
· Pray that she would be delivered from the demons.

"Sarah"

We will call her Sarah for the caution’s sake and the delicate nature of her story. Sarah is almost 18 years old and only a freshman in high school. We met her within our first few days at the school; her vibrant and outgoing personality ensured we wouldn’t be there for long before knowing her name and face. Sarah wears the same white head covering to school every day, she is a Muslim. She is always seen socializing, making others laugh and forget the worries of their day. Everyone knows who Sarah is, “I am I” and “Me is Me” as she likes to joke. But at the risk of sounding cliché, something was not right, and there was a deep stirring in my heart that warned me and grew with each additional day spent with her.
I wish I could remember the details of that morning, that I could remember what exactly prompted and guided my conversation with Sarah in such a way that she began to reveal the dark afflictions of her life. She told me of the nights she walks around at night alone through the streets hearing phantom feet following closely behind, only to turn around and find a pair of faceless eyes filled with hate. She told me of the voices that plant evil desires in her heart, sometimes so strongly that she had to walk away so she wouldn’t bring harm to loved ones. She talked of nights she wakes up to something strangling her, something that enters her body and then exits again leaving her empty of all strength, she told me of the restlessness that plagues her and the desperate craving for peace. For one period of time school mates would confront her dangerous actions the previous night to which she would have no memory, and at one point she “woke up” far from home and could not remember her identity, she was put in a children’s home for months. In addition to tormenting nightmares and dark voices, Sarah is plagued by burning headaches and pains throughout her body. In fact sometimes her head burns so intensely that heat pours down to the tips of her head covering. Her parents naturally wanting to relieve their daughters illness sought out any help possible, whether it be the prayers of Muslim priests, “Christian” pastors who required payment, town doctors (witch doctors) and of course hospitals. The Muslim priest only offered false hope, with the pain always returning within a few days, the witch doctors I’m quite certain only gave the enemy a stronger hold on her body, and any visits to true doctors resulted in dead ends, each time doctors and medical tests would tell her the same thing, “There is nothing wrong with you.” This “illness” resulted in years of missing out on school, at times because of her dark behavior, at times because the pain made it nearly impossible to read or take examinations, consequently as mentioned earlier she is only in the 9th grade. She remains physically present but is rarely mentally engaged in the academia, as Sarah put it, “It’s useless, all I am is here, I am present, but I cannot learn, I cannot move forward, I can go nowhere,” hopelessness overwhelmed her attempt to smile. I am not one to jump to supernatural explanations for every hardship faced in life, however I believe those of us on the trip were all in agreement that the presence of the demonic affliction was the reality and to ignore it would only be give the enemy more power.
We continued to sit and talk with her in the hallway of the First Love office, she began to cry, and ashamed of her tears attempted to change the subject. Bethany and I both responded asking if we could step inside one of the private offices and offer her prayer. She accepted and we stepped into the small room and closed the door. I knew there was demonic attack occurring in her life, we had just happened to be reading a book on spiritual warfare, and I knew the Lord had been preparing us to meet Sarah. Attempting to quiet our hearts before the Lord, Bethany and I both seemed to be on the same page. We would wait to discuss with Steve and Pastor Rick about what we had heard in regards to the demons, for now we would pray for healing over her head. We would pray in faith, pray that God would reveal His power and love, and that the burning would stop. Bethany laid hands on her head, and I began to pray, next Bethany prayed. I don’t know how long we prayed for exactly, but as we finished, she looked up at us, peace beginning to show, “Thank you,” she said smiling, “I feel better.” She explained that her head was no longer burning, we felt her head, not only was the heat gone, but it was almost cold, Bethany later told me that she felt a cooling sensation moving from her fingers onto Sara’s head.
God is good, He is merciful, loving, and powerful. He is the healer of all wounds. He cares and He hears our prayers. This happened only our second week and we just now finished writing about it. Much has happened since, and I am confident that there is more to come. The war is not over, but what joy we have to know that we serve a victorious God. We want to continue to love her and to live in the reality of God’s truth that perfect love casts out fear, and that we have authority in Christ. Please pray for boldness, discernment, wisdom, strength, love, time spent with the Lord, and protection. We will update you soon.

Do I Look Fat in This?

Do I Look Fat in This?
Before leaving for Kenya I had assumed there was a universal answer to the titled question. Normally I would also assume that I needn’t tell you that the answer should be a resounding and unquestionable, “NO.” However, after a conversation with a secondary student at school earlier today I realized that not only would this question perhaps not have such a well known reputation, but that neither is the “fat” topic, quite the touchy subject we consider it to be between men and women. What exactly did a high school boy say to me today to prompt me to right such a post? It went a little something like this…
After eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a FEW pringles, I headed out to the school yard to join the students during their lunch break. Benjamin, a 19 year old sophomore Bethany and I have become good friends with approached me smiling as always, with his lunch bowl scraped clean. “Did you have lunch yet?” he asked me. Upon answering him that I had indeed and that I had enjoyed it he turned his eyes to my stomach an announced that I looked “quite full,” his apparently objective comment was accompanied by a chuckle. Taken a bit aback by his laughter I sarcastically responded in a similar fashion as to when a friend back at home told me to stop wearing horizontal stripes, and that my future husband would appreciate me doing a few sit ups. He didn’t seem to understand why I covered my stomach with my hands while telling him not to make fun of me, and consequently insisted that I remove whatever was under my shirt. “Nothing is under my shirt; it’s my stomach Benjamin…” He didn’t believe me and decided to ask our friend prudence what she thought. This whole scenario played out for at least another 5 minutes, and I am quite certain that he remained unaware and unclear as to why I thought he was calling me fat, and why that did not delight me. Needless to say, I don’t think I will ask him his thoughts on my skinny jeans, instead I will leave him to his regular comments on my hair and make-up looking “smart.”
Before leaving for Kenya I had assumed I could gorge myself on In N Out burgers and Ben n Jerry pints, since I had been well assured that missions trips inevitably lead to weight loss. I had affectionately referred to this as my Kenya diet. Clearly I had never been to Kenya and apparently neither had they…

In Case You Were Wondering...

I realized that it may be important or at least beneficial to give you all a rough outline/description of what Bethany and I do most days. So for starters we are working with an organization called First Love Kenya. They have two main places of ministries, a home in Karen for orphaned girls from the slums, and an outreach at a pre-k through 12th grade school in the slums of Kibera.
There are 22 girls at the Karen property at this time. On the property there is also a guest house for visitors/missionaries, a wood shop which will be used to teach a trade to boys who don’t move onto high school, a large dining hall is almost fully constructed, and a three story dormitory is in the making to make more room for the many orphaned boys and girls at the school. The difference between where these children were living before and their home now, is really unfathomable. There are mango trees, a swing set, and peace and quiet, they live in safety, in love, the word that consistently comes to mind each time I visit is “sanctuary.” We spent about 4 consecutive days with the girls last week, working on their homework, singing songs, watching movies, baking cookies, simply loving on girls who for much of their life didn’t know what love meant. You can read some of their stories at www.firstlovekenya.org We continue to visit on the weekends or periodicially throughout the week.
We spend most of our time at the school (Raila Educational Center.) Here First Love has a feeding program that provides porridge in the morning and lunch to the 900 students and staff, for many of the students this is their only source of food. In addition to meeting their physical needs they provide counseling and weekly bible studies. They have also started a ministry called Compassion with which they help students with school fees, school supplies, food and in special cases, rent. The student’s are interviewed, their homes are visited and their stories are recorded, then First Love seeks out sponsors to cover the needs for each individual student. During our days at the school we spend much of our morning serving porridge and washing dishes, for the rest of the day when the students are on break we spend time getting to know them, building relationships and sharing the love of Christ. When the students are in class we may help with office work, aid the teachers in grading exams, or make home visits.
Apart from the literal description of what we do each day I also want to point out that a large part of the trip has been characterized by learning. Learning how to adapt to another culture, learning flexibility and submission, learning what life stripped of American society feels and looks like. Bethany and I both felt called to this trip for numerous reasons. Acting out on our heart for missions in a more tangible way and thus seeking clarity on whether or not we may want to pursue that direction after college was one of the main goals we had for the trip. Though we both agree there have been no “ah ha!”moments of great epiphany, for the first time we are at least getting a taste for something we have only dreamed about until now. And so we are trying to live in a spirit of service, and also learn in the spirit of a student.

Dear Reader,

We want you to know God is moving, we want you to know that your prayers are heard, felt, and powerful. We want you to know that your support whether financial, emotional, prayerful, etc is bearing fruit. And we want you to know that we desperately want to glorify God by making known each time we see His mighty power and love, but that we sometimes struggle to find the words to affectively do so. We want to communicate that though there may not yet be posts speaking of healing hands, of hungry children being fed, of souls being nourished, of our pride being broken, and conviction striking deep into our hearts, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening, it doesn’t mean the Lord is not alive and actively working, it simply means our finite minds are still attempting to make sense of the handiwork of an infinite God. We have recently gained more consistent access to the internet and our prayer is that during this second half of the trip, we will have more chances to give voice to our experiences. We want to invite you to engage and connect with us through the blog, we encourage you to share any questions that may come up, comment on what you would like to hear more about, any words the Holy Spirit lays on your heart, offer and of course blessed to hear how the Lord is working in your own life as you follow how God works in ours. We love you, and more importantly Jesus Christ loves you, and your support has been evidence of how much He loves us as well.
Your sisters in Christ,
Bethany and Charlotte