The weeks
leading up to Anne leaving for Kenya, I felt it was very important that she
continue reading God’s Word while on her trip.
Our church had developed a reading plan that outlined what we should be
reading each week, but I knew it was not going to be a priority for my wife
while exploring a foreign country.
By exploring
a foreign country, I mean: we knew she had a very clear mission question, ‘can
you live here and do ministry with the nationals?’ That was what my wife was trying to get her
hands around. Let’s be honest: it sounds
cool to be a missionary in a foreign country, but do you really love the people
there? Can you eat their food? Can you survive the climate and
wildlife? Those were all questions that
we discussed before Anne went to Kenya.
If she said, ‘no’, to those questions, how would our family, along with
young children, possibly be able to say, ‘yes’?
Our plan had changed because of the influence of the Holy Spirit – which
meant she was not simply going on a short-term mission trip. This was a scouting trip; she was using her
own weaknesses and strengths as a litmus test before introducing our children
to a full-blown survey (as much as I wanted to go, I had already been called by
God to attend a domestic mission trip at the same time).
In an effort
not to bore you, I’m going to tell you a story that, hopefully, will summarize
my wife’s trip.
Backtracking
a moment - remember the importance I see in a devotional life? To keep Anne on-track with her devotional
life, I wrote a short devotion for each day of her trip. I tied that day in with a chapter from our
church’s reading plan (which covered more chapters, but I needed to focus on
one chapter for a devotion) and how it may be applicable to her situation.
It was a
brutally long series of flights and delays before Anne and the other short-term
mission team arrived in Malindi – 46 hours. Ryan Copico kept me up-to-date with their
progress and delays via text messages, but, when it was all said and done, my
wife and I were reading ‘Day 3: Acts 16’.
Here’s that devotion (the first 8 days of our devotion is shown in the
picture; the other days were on the back – I wanted it to be portable because
Anne’s trip involved visiting all of the church’s the Taylors had planted
around Malindi. Mine is beat-up, dirty,
and scribbled on because I also traveled while she was away: that’s part 4 of 4!):
Day 3: Acts 16
God impressed this
chapter on my heart when you found out that your trip would consist of
travelling from place to place and meeting with people under trees. The story of Lydia’s salvation is so simple.
The missionaries go
down to the river to sit and talk with people – they meet Lydia who is a
merchant of expensive textiles – I know you are going to meet ‘Lydias’ – people
leading simple lives of trading.
Stop.
Pray.
Talk to them.
Okay, not
much of ‘devotion’. But, it was on that
day we were able to talk for the first time since she had left. The end of our conversation is what I really
want to highlight. Anne quickly said, ‘I
have to go. Bats are flying around my
head!’
I was so
happy – that’s right! She hates
bats! If, tomorrow, she is still
enjoying herself and answering ‘yes’ to the questions I listed earlier, God’s
being very clear.
Day 4: Acts 18
Consider this day a
follow-up to Lydia’s story. (By the way,
I’m trying to get you to think about the ‘lesser’ stories that we tend to skip
over.) I know you are also going to meet
people who have faith. They will already
know Jesus. However, they might not have
any other tools to work with.
I’m especially hoping
you encounter faithful women who – I’ll pray for this – you can identify their
talents and encourage them to share their faith. Your mission is to spread the Word, but also
equip the locals to carry it on once you leave.
This day was
a special moment for me – when I talked to Anne that day, and after she got
back home, I asked my wife this question, and she had the same answer both
times, ‘what are/did you enjoy(ing) the most about Kenya?’ Her answer: she loved the women she met. She was passionate to help them, and desperately
wanted to come along side them as a mentor!
I saw a
little note I scribbled on my devotion by Day 4: it said, ‘…be the Miss Renee
in the bunch’. (Renee Johnson: our
pastor’s wife who Anne admires as an excellent model and example of a Godly
woman, wife, and mother who counsels other women in those areas.) I felt a great sense of peace that God had
prepared my wife to be a ‘missionary wife’.
She faced her greatest fear (bats flying around her head…and a situation
filled with unknowns), and remained focused on the purpose God had placed in
our sight – she was there to fall in love with the people of Kenya, and she
did.
We weren't concerned with the missionary team on the ground in East Kenya for Anne’s trip, to be honest. I knew enough pastors that
spoke highly of the Taylors. Anne,
though, was a bit concerned that Kenya Taylor would be ‘Wonder Woman’, and
perfect! Again, something she needed to
understand: what is a ‘missionary wife’?
Anne quickly realized that Kenya, a ‘missionary wife’, was just like
her: passionate, built by God’s design, a mother, and a wife who was accessible
and not unlike any of her friends back in the States – a wonderful woman. We had been ‘doing life’ and ministry with
families at our local church for years and felt our chemistry with the East
Kenya Mission’s team was important, but needed examined after we understood our
call to the people and country they were working with.
That was
after four days. We had an answer to
some of our questions: God said, ‘yes!’
But, what would happen over time?
Anne was in Kenya for two weeks – the last installment in this series
happens during her second week abroad while I was in Indianapolis on a domestic
mission trip. I want to share with you
what God was doing at City Reach, USA. I
heard God say ‘yes’ to more questions – and then I had more questions! More importantly, God made me realize I had
some work to do in my own Christian walk, first.
