The following are first hand perspectives from some of our team members on how the trip has impacted them and how God is changing their lives through this experience.
Michael Prevett (Student at North Greenville University):
I went to Kenya out of obedience to what I felt God was prompting me to do. Matt Williams mentioned during a service about needing singles to go to Kenya, and I just really felt like I should talk to someone about it. I ended up talking to Mike Collins and he suggested I come on this medical trip. Overall this trip has allowed me to experience many things, and God has shown me many different things as well. Here are some of them:- Although I do not feel like I am going to be a missionary, I was able to see firsthand the value and importance of God's global purpose of salvation, and how as an American I am privileged to use the affluence I'm surrounded with for His glory among the nations.
- I was able to see how important it is to visually demonstrate the Gospel, and how people are more receptive to the Gospel when it is connected to their physical needs being met at the same time.
- Pastors around the world desire to have a more thorough education, be it seminary or however, and I want to find a way to help some of these pastors come to seminary in the US if possible.
- I also again saw the importance of the local church. We were able to serve Koinonia Baptist Church this week by meeting the physical needs of the people, and the group of pastors from surrounding churches came and evangelized the patients as well. Almost 60 people were saved this week, and they are all going to have a local church that will be there that can assist in their spiritual growth.
Dori Clark (Physical Therapist):
Fear…Before going to Kenya God was already dealing with me on this subject. To be honest with you, I’m kind of a chicken. Although I have traveled a lot, even to Africa, I still can be ridiculously fearful of everything all the time! My faith is so small! I am fearful to fly, fearful that Somalians are going to cross the border and come down and attack me, fearful that something will happen to my family or my dog while I’m gone. My imagination runs wild. There were other fears that God was dealing with in me before my trip to Kenya also…fear of not accomplishing all I want to in life, fear of not finding the right guy, fear of finding the right guy and having to give up my independence. I’m fearful of not being in control of my life. But the truth is, I’m not in control of my life. I decided to follow Jesus a while back, and I need to just “take up my cross and follow him”. God has really been teaching me to throw all fear and control aside, not to worry about the details, and to just to follow Him. I knew God wanted me to go to Kenya, and I am so glad I went! It was well worth it.God is everywhere, even though in my small mind he lives in the USA. So I have been to church in other countries before. I even sit in church at Grace sometimes and think about how cool it is that I know there are Christians in Nicaragua that are worshipping similarly to the way we are. But there was something really powerful that happened Easter Sunday at Koinonia Baptist Church. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing (and I hate to cry!). We worshipped with the Kenyans, and they sang in Swahili as we sang in English the song “He is Lord”… “every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord”. It was a beautiful moment in which two cultures were joined in worshipping the Lord. It really felt like a small glimpse of Heaven, when there will be many more than just two cultures joined together, bowing together, confessing together our love for the Lord. I want to worship like that more often, keeping in mind how big God is and that he is everywhere…not just here with me in the USA in South Carolina at Grace Church. He’s all over the world…….and at the same time. This blows my mind!
God is the Creator, and he is creative! So before I went to Kenya I told everyone about how badly I wanted to see a lion. I was very excited about our safari. We went to Samburu National Park for a safari, and we saw so many amazing animals. We saw tons of giraffe, zebra, warthogs, impala, gazelle, cheetahs, elephants, and lions!!! That whole day I kept looking at the animals and thinking, ”Seriously?? They look so weird. These animals have crazy long necks, spots, stripes, long noses, big ears. They don’t even look real!” It just impressed on me how creative God is. I bet he had fun making the animals way back in the day! It was very neat to enjoy that part of him on safari!
Steve Arnold (Nurse):
This is the second year that I've had the pleasure to serve in Kenya in a medical capacity, and my sixth year serving on medical missions with Grace Church overall. Every year I attempt to prepare myself for the task at hand by praying such pious prayers as " Lord use us as vessels to reveal Your glory to the locals" and "Lord help us to be the salt of the earth" or "Lord guide us in our endeavor to carry out your Great Commission" but secretly I'm always thinking in the back of my mind "Lord what am I going to get out of this mission trip". Without fail God shows up on all fronts. The thing that struck me most on this trip (and I'm not certain why it has taken this long) is the responsibility that we bear as ambassadors of Christ. In the past without verbalizing it or even admitting it to myself, my attitude has somewhat been "ok... I'm here in a medical capacity, that should be good enough right?” We treat the patients, give them some medicine and leave the evangelism to the experts. I came to the realization on this trip that evangelism starts from the time they walk through the gates and every step and every person they encounter from registration by the local volunteers to the folks that triage and take blood pressures, and certainly the providers listening to their chief complaints assessing patients and prescribing treatment. All these steps and all of us they encounter are preparing these folks for the final step of receiving evangelism. We are preparing their hearts to receive the most important treatment of all which is Christ’s love and salvation.
It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers. How many did we treat today? How many did we move through the assembly line on to the important part where the pastors tell them about Christ? And then on the last day, a particularly fruitful day working through some pretty decent numbers and feeling quite pleased with myself, I walked in on one of our team members and medical providers Steve Geary who was praying with a family. I have no idea what the family was being seen for, but I saw that family walk into the next room where the local pastors were presenting the gospel, already feeling cared for not only as patients but as people. Their hearts were prepared to receive. And it struck me, that is what we are there to do. Treating their bodies is very short lived…..touching their souls and putting them in a position to effectively hear the gospel is what we are really there to do. So to make a long story short, my secret prayers were answered. I did indeed get something out of the trip... I got convicted! Convicted in a good way. If you are reading this and have been deciding whether or not to take the plunge and step outside of your comfort zone by becoming involved in missions, be it foreign or domestic, do not ignore that call. God has great plans for you and will reveal himself to you in ways that you never thought possible. You may not even like what He is revealing to you initially. But He will use it to draw you closer to Him, and the reward of that far supersedes any discomfort you may encounter along the way.
This is the second year that I've had the pleasure to serve in Kenya in a medical capacity, and my sixth year serving on medical missions with Grace Church overall. Every year I attempt to prepare myself for the task at hand by praying such pious prayers as " Lord use us as vessels to reveal Your glory to the locals" and "Lord help us to be the salt of the earth" or "Lord guide us in our endeavor to carry out your Great Commission" but secretly I'm always thinking in the back of my mind "Lord what am I going to get out of this mission trip". Without fail God shows up on all fronts. The thing that struck me most on this trip (and I'm not certain why it has taken this long) is the responsibility that we bear as ambassadors of Christ. In the past without verbalizing it or even admitting it to myself, my attitude has somewhat been "ok... I'm here in a medical capacity, that should be good enough right?” We treat the patients, give them some medicine and leave the evangelism to the experts. I came to the realization on this trip that evangelism starts from the time they walk through the gates and every step and every person they encounter from registration by the local volunteers to the folks that triage and take blood pressures, and certainly the providers listening to their chief complaints assessing patients and prescribing treatment. All these steps and all of us they encounter are preparing these folks for the final step of receiving evangelism. We are preparing their hearts to receive the most important treatment of all which is Christ’s love and salvation.
It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers. How many did we treat today? How many did we move through the assembly line on to the important part where the pastors tell them about Christ? And then on the last day, a particularly fruitful day working through some pretty decent numbers and feeling quite pleased with myself, I walked in on one of our team members and medical providers Steve Geary who was praying with a family. I have no idea what the family was being seen for, but I saw that family walk into the next room where the local pastors were presenting the gospel, already feeling cared for not only as patients but as people. Their hearts were prepared to receive. And it struck me, that is what we are there to do. Treating their bodies is very short lived…..touching their souls and putting them in a position to effectively hear the gospel is what we are really there to do. So to make a long story short, my secret prayers were answered. I did indeed get something out of the trip... I got convicted! Convicted in a good way. If you are reading this and have been deciding whether or not to take the plunge and step outside of your comfort zone by becoming involved in missions, be it foreign or domestic, do not ignore that call. God has great plans for you and will reveal himself to you in ways that you never thought possible. You may not even like what He is revealing to you initially. But He will use it to draw you closer to Him, and the reward of that far supersedes any discomfort you may encounter along the way.
Kristi Sargent (Mom and soon-to-be Nurse):
As I sit on the plane for the final hour of my first Kenya trip, I have much to reflect on. God has opened my eyes, and worked on my heart in a multitude of ways over the last ten days. One thing He has specifically shown me is that I do not trust Him in my day-to-day life. God has used this trip to reveal to me my struggle with control and how it limits me.Ten days ago I stepped on a plane at GSP and flew away from everything that was comfortable to me. I knew that nothing from that moment on was in my control. I put myself solely in God’s hands in a way that I do not at home.
I first realized the difference this made in me as we drove away from the airport in Nairobi. Driving in Kenya is not like driving in America. Cars constantly pass one another – into oncoming traffic, up hills, and around blind curves. People dart in and out of the street with cars speeding by mere inches away. Here I sat, with no seatbelt on, zooming through the streets of Nairobi and Banana Hill with no fear. I was able to sit and absorb everything around me, to be fully present in the moment.
It occurred to me that people in Kenya drive much worse than my husband, yet my reaction if I were home with him driving would be much different. I would be slamming on my imaginary brake, punching his arm, and “encouraging” him to be more careful – in a way that might require some repentance later. I would be unable to be in the moment because I would be too busy trying to exert control. I have to keep us safe…….I am responsible.
So why is it that I can fully trust God with every aspect of my life while in Kenya yet I hold back in Greenville? Any sense of control that I feel is only perceived and not real. My attempts to “maintain” control only cause me to fear and miss out on where God has me at that moment.
As we prepare to land in Greenville I pray that I will carry with me the trust that I had while in Kenya. I pray that I would live my life with the sort of reckless abandon and freedom that only a child of God can fully know. I pray that I will be able to live in the moment, for every moment that God chooses to give me.