Transforming Lives Internationally - in Kenya, Africa 2000!

We flew in a small mission plane from Nairobi to Kakamega. When we landed at the airstrip about 200 children from that area surrounded us. Since it was Sunday, we went in pairs to attend different church services. They spend a lot of time singing, praying and talking about different things that relate to the church. The churches and the people are very poor. One church was making their own bricks so that they could build a larger building. Even though a lot of people speak English, they still translate everything into Swahili. Every

church had to offer us hospitality afterwards. Our services lasted from 2.5 to 4 hours.

Kakamega is one of the larger cities in Western Kenya but is still very primitive. Most homes do not have plumbing or electricity. Many people raise small amounts of vegetables and go into the streets to sell them. Others might sell meat or clothes or charcoal used for cooking. Most of the transportation was public vehicles or bicycles. But overall, most people walked everywhere. The countryside there was very beautiful and green with lots of flowers. The weather was great, probably about 80 degrees during the day and a little cooler at night.

The real experience was the conference itself. The women were packed into the building we had (one room with a stage). They sat outside the windows and doors too so more could hear. We had long days of teaching but I have never seen our staff speak with such power. The women understood all that we taught them. The personal aspects of our lives shared, touched their lives.

They were overjoyed with the materials and small gifts we brought them. We were amazed at their level of understanding and faith. Their singing in worship was the most joyful that we had ever seen. They move their whole bodies as they sing, always standing up. They pray in unison out lout before every session as well as one person praying for us. We were there from 8:00 in the morning until anywhere from 9 to 11:00 at night. They did not want to miss a minute of teaching and came faithfully. The Holy Spirit and your prayers supplied the strength we needed without wearing out (until it was over!) and without sickness.

There was an incredible harvest because of your prayers and God’s Spirit moving in their hearts. There were around 150 women waved and all experienced change in their lives. The issue of forgiveness was huge for them. Culturally, even for Christians, forgiveness is rarely practiced. We emphasized it in almost all of our talk, explaining God’s forgiveness to us, and our forgiveness of others. Women’s hearts were changed and they vowed to forgive their husbands, neighbors and family members. They had an exceptional understanding of all we taught. We believe it is because of their great hunger for God and need for hope. They have so little teaching and so many superstitions and cultural beliefs mixed with their faith. They absorbed everything we said. I believe what we was true revival! It was a major work of Holy Spirit, which crossed geographic, cultural and denominational lines.

We ended up having around 400 women before the week was over. We had only brought materials for 350 so we ran out of materials halfway through the week. We were told that this information will reach at least 3,000 women within two months as they return to their communities and churches. We knew that their circumstances would be much different from ours but the way people relate to each other and to God does not change. It was so encouraging to us to see how our materials transfer so easily and are so relevant to them.

Each of us on the team was changed as much or more as the women who attended. We can’t begin to express the enormity of our gratitude for your support in prayers (we couldn’t have gone without it) and for your generosity in sending us. Together lives were eternally changed!

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