Kenya Day 5

 

Trinity Baptist Church, Nairobi, Kenya

Kenyan Diary - Day 5

Monday, January 10 

Pastor Nate Davidson and I are on day 5 of our Kenyan trip. Yesterday was a long but rich day (Lord's Day) here at Trinity Baptist Church in Greenfield Donholms district of East Nairobi. If you look at a map of Nairobi, you will realize that we are only three miles from Nairobi National Park, where lions, zebras, impalas, cape buffalo, giraffes, etc., roam freely in the only national park to border a major urban area. 

Worship: Yesterday was eye-opening. Sunday school at 9:00 AM (till 10:00), one hour break until 11:00, first worship service from 11:00 until 12:50, lunch with visitors (lintel stew on rice with greens), followed by a Communion Service (2:00 to 3:00), followed by an afternoon service from 3:00 to 4:30. Nate preached a wonderfully rich sermon from Ruth 1 in the first service; Pastor Murungi preached from Micah 2, though I had tapped out due to jet lag. I appreciate the seriousness of our African brothers and sisters here in Nairobi; they are not flippant about gathering together for corporate worship. 

Jet Lag: Speaking of jet lag, though I have traveled a lot internationally in the last nine years, jet lag is still the real deal that requires some navigation. I can count on getting very tired in the afternoons as well as waking up in the 3:30 or 4:00 AM range and seeking to stay asleep for several more hours. Some combination of coffee/tea, showers, walks, etc., work for me.

Accommodation: Nate and I are staying in a very adequate 550 SF 2-bedroom second-floor apartment on the church grounds. It is furnished with a two-burner gas stove, small refrigerator, mosquito netting over the beds, but with no air/heat or ceiling fans. The temperatures are pleasant, as equatorial Nairobi is over a mile high at around 5,900' in elevation. High temperatures are around 80 degrees with mornings in the upper 50's. Comfortable but like several steps above camping. Still, totally sufficient. Urban Nairobi is loud, so all night we hear people talking, trucks, dogs, birds, and after 4:30 - a crowing cacophony of the local roosters!

Our work at Trinity Pastor's College or TPC: On Wednesday we will teach (we are called instructors or lecturers :) a course in Hermeneutics (Biblical Interpretation) to a group of Kenyan men, some who are currently pastors and others who are preparing for pastoral ministry. They are now finishing their coursework for the last quarterly class (or perhaps five per year). The textbooks, readings, course outline, and homework is provided for Nate and me. We will flesh the material out, and seek to also point out other authors and resources. For example, I will reference the work of Grant R. Osborne and The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, as well as How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Doug Stuart and Gordon D. Fee. Nate will teach some of the principles, practices, and study tools (like arcing, phrasing, etc.) he learned from Bethlehem College and Seminary and teaches at Biblearc.com. We aim for a mixture of instruction, encouragement, dialogue (question and answer) by also taking the Scriptures and wrestling with interpretation issues concerning real passages in the Bible. An important caveat: we also come as fellow learners, and not as "experts." We too need the Spirit's illuminating work, humility, and diligence in this enterprise. FWIW, the teaching format is six (6) hours per day over six days. Nate and I will alternate teaching in two-hour blocks punctuated by tea breaks (after all, Kenya was a British colony) and lunch.

Bonus: When Cheryl arrives on the 19th, she will also use the book by Fee & Stuart - "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth." I'll aim for an update about every other day from this point on. Thank you for your prayers and support for this trip for our fellow saints over here in East Africa!

"Pray for us!!" - 1 Thessalonians 5:25

In His Bonds, 

Pastor Mark 

Trinity Baptist Church

Greenfield Donholms, 

Nairobi, Kenya

A giraffe in Nairobi National Park, with Nairobi's skyline in the background.

In The Air Again

On January 6, 2022, Mark flew to Nairobi, Kenya with our friend Nate Davidson. They will teach seminary-level modules on hermeneutics to national pastors at Trinity Pastors' College. Since we all arrived back in the US after living in Beijing, God has opened doors for both Nate and Mark to continue teaching God's Word both in the US and around the world. Here is a Mark's Day One report of this 2022 trip to Kenya. 

Nate Davidson and I made it from Greenville to Charlotte to London. On our way now to Nairobi via British Air at 10:20 AM London time. We made it to Nairobi at 10:00 PM; my Covid result arrived just as we landed! Reminds me of the quote, “God is never late, but He is rarely early.”

 This trip reminds me of several things:

1.    The value of flexibility. International travel rarely goes as planned. Ours has not! Today was no exception.

2.    The world is far more diverse than our monochromatic middle-class suburban [small city]. London’s Heathrow airport is a collage of people from the world’s people, tribes, languages, and nations.

3.    The need for patience with the airlines, TSA, and fellow passengers. And I need theirs with me. O Lord, grant me this fruit of your Spirit!

4.    The increased complexity of international travel in the Covid-era. This trip required airline tickets, passport, visa, Covid test, Passenger Locator Form for Heathrow’s airport and Covid 19 Clearance Form for Kenya. Uggh!

5.    I need to abide well with Jesus to arrive in Nairobi with a mind, heart, and spirit prepared to teach as a fellow learner with our fellow saints at TBC.

6.    The joy, safety, and accountability of traveling with a co-laborer in the gospel to pray with, converse, and remind one another of God’s promises. Nate is just that!

People Stories - N from Germany

[The Bible, God’s Word, was] written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:31

One recent Saturday afternoon we received the following email from our church secretary. The email is slightly edited for clarity since English is the writer's secondary language.

My name is N. I’m from Germany and wanted to reach out to Pastor Mark with my story and how his ministry in Beijing literally was the starting point of me giving my life to Christ. As I don’t have any contact information for Pastor Mark, I decided to send this email to your church and would be really happy if you could forward it. I usually am not one to write such emails but as I continually get the impulse to reach out, I finally was brave enough to write this email.

In 2017 I had the chance to spend some months in Beijing. By that time, I was 26 years old and had just started my dream job at BMW the year before. All the studies did pay off well, and I was finding myself in the privileged situation to spend three months in Beijing working on an interesting work project.

I was thankful for the opportunity, really happy to “have made it” when I started thinking about life and what actually matters. I started talking to friends, family, and mentors, about what made them happy and literally would never ever have thought of Jesus as the answer.

Faith and church didn’t play a role in my life or the life of my family or friends. When I became a teenager, I concluded that faith is a useful invention for the weak and for the worried. But I, someone who is well educated and rational, will not believe in such an invention and also that I didn’t need to. And to be honest I lived quite well: everything worked out the way I wanted. I had lots of friends and after having successfully graduated, I even got the best job I could dream of. And just at that moment, a colleague [from Germany] who had gotten to know your ministry during his time at BMW in South Carolina, invited me to come to this church in a shopping mall in Beijing, China.

At first, I declined and was even more confused about the invitation, but then I got curious. And even though I thought it was ridiculous to visit a church in China after I have not even entered a church for years in Germany, I decided to join him. It probably was the first Sunday in June 2017. I have never heard somebody talk about the gospel like that before and even though I left the church with lots of questions and doubts about God, this was the moment where God started his journey with me. I got invited to lunch after church and had small talk with some of the guys there.

What I will never forget is this feeling of peace, fulfillment, and joy that I saw in these people. After having heard that Pastor Mark and other members left their “comfort zone” in the U.S. to go to China to preach the gospel [to foreigners], I was so confused about so much passion, that this left me with only two conclusions: either these people are completely brainwashed or there is something real about the Jesus they are talking about.

To make a long story short: this was the only time I went to that church, but God planted a seed in my heart that day. After coming back to Germany, I contacted a local church, confronted them with all my questions and doubts and was able to encounter God in that journey.

I gave my life to Christ, got baptized a year later, and am now part of a church in Germany where I lead our social ministry/charity department and get to experience God and his miracles while serving him. And yes, I am still working at BMW and am thankful every day for that placement in Beijing and the invitation to church that really changed my life.

 I just realized that this email was really long but I hope you still enjoy it whilst reading. 

This is basically only a “thank you letter” from my side for your ministry in China and that this allowed me to visit church that Sunday back in June 2017 in Beijing.

 Best regards and greetings from Germany, N

 Our reaction? WOW! JUST WOW! God does amazing things when people hear His Word of life and truth. We rejoice with N and her new life in Christ. Maybe someday we can meet her again.

Reflections on Returning - Dec. 2020

DECEMBER 2020

Mark and I have been back in the US for almost 1½ years now. It’s hard to believe. The time has gone by fast, but it’s beginning to feel like home again. Some say “home is where the heart is”. Yet I think a better point of view might be “home is where God has us at this point in time.”

It took us a long while to adjust back to life in America. Some people call it reverse culture shock; maybe a better term is reverse culture adjustment. I expected a rocky re-entry. I had read about it and planned for it. Maybe that’s why I expected the reactions and feelings that we encountered. We just didn’t know what to do with them.

We landed back in the US on July 2, 2019 and took that whole month to try to readjust. We reconnected with our kids by having a family vacation at Smith Mountain Lake in VA, but Mark was anxious to get on with a new life at Grace Baptist Church, our home church of many years. However, six weeks in, he realized he dove in too deep too fast. We pulled back and scheduled re-entry counseling and a trip to see friends that we had known in Beijing. The counseling helped us gain perspective, clear our heads and hearts, and see the parts of readjustment that had to take place. We had to grieve the loss of our Beijing life. We had to go through the chaos of figuring out how to live in the US again. We had to develop new skills. We had to figure out where we belonged. Visiting our friends who had re-entered the US before us helped us talk through all those things with people who understood and “got it”.

The adjustment back really hit hard at times - like eating at Panera Bread or going to Wal-Mart. I couldn’t figure out how to order at Panera. Fast food restaurant choices and menus confused us. In Wal-Mart, I wandered around as if I were lost. I was!   

Our first Easter home some friends staying with us asked how we normally celebrated Easter. I didn’t know anymore. All my props were gone. I had given away our 12 Days of Easter (aka Resurrection Eggs) supplies; I had no Easter baskets or visual reminders of Jesus’ death and resurrection. I floundered but cooked a new menu that didn’t really reflect who we were. I was lost – again.

Mark and I often talk about the things we miss from Beijing that are so foreign to life in the US. Like the two produce shops in our complex where we could buy so many varieties of fruits and vegetables. Like the convenient and efficient public transportation. Like the ability to walk to a grocery store or a restaurant or a park. Like the constant stream of people outside. Like the dancers in the parks. In our town, we don’t have any of those things. We felt lost – again.

As I talked with people and re-built friendships here, I often exclaimed “I’m a mess.” No one understood what I meant. They all said, “No you’re not. You’re fine.” Neither Mark nor I were fine; we were lost in a familiar but unfamiliar place.

But the grace of God and time have smoothed out adjustment wrinkles. During that time, I often reflected on God’s never-ending, steadfast, covenant love, and faithfulness. He never leaves His people and He wouldn’t leave us floundering. He was (and IS) the sure and steady anchor for our souls.

We feel like we are beginning to find our US “sea legs.” When God unexpectedly took us out of a place and work that He sent us to and that we loved, He opened other doors of work and ministry here. Because of our experience living overseas, God has broadened our vision and perspective. We now see internationals and other cultures all around us. We make international friends at the YMCA. We cross cultures with our local neighbors, and we journey across oceans to train Christian leaders.

Just before we left Beijing, we met an incoming university freshman who planned to come to our town. When she came, she introduced us to many of her international friends. That one introduction opened up a whole new opportunity for us. God has allowed us to use our home in ways we never imagined. Hospitality has always been a part of our life, but this new opportunity led to long-term hospitality. We have had the privilege of hosting several international students when they needed off-campus housing. These students have blessed us with their lives and conversations. We have great conversations at the dinner table and just by living life together. The Lord has also had to teach us to grow in patience and understanding in ways we didn’t expect. Our hearts and home are full again for which we are thankful to the Lord!

Although we didn’t know it at the time, we see and appreciate God’s sovereignty in the timing of His bringing us back to the US. Through some aggressive treatments, Cheryl’s lung health is back to (her) normal. Just in time to be healthy in the COVID environment. We thank the Lord often for that provision. It’s a reminder that God knows what He is doing even when we don’t.

Recently Mark and I traveled to Myrtle Beach to see friends that lived across the street from us in Beijing. How good it was to be with them, reminisce, reflect, and hear how God is still at work. We will always share a special bond with our Beijing friends, no matter where in the world we all are.

In the meantime, life goes on. In 2020, both Brent & Kristen and James & Amy celebrated 5 years of marriage. We rejoiced as Philip married Amy Victoria (the second Mrs. Amy Hatfield) in May during the coronavirus restrictions. Alicia bought her first home, a townhouse nearby. And we all anticipate the birth of a second Odom little girl next February.

As we reflect on the past year and a half, we thank the Lord for His kindness, faithfulness, and wisdom. It makes us worship Him more fully. Therefore, this season of Christmas helps us refocus on Christ’s incarnation and coming to earth as the perfect God-Man to save us from our sins. We need Him. He gives us eternal hope.

Loving people left behind - Leaving a task unfinished

On July 2, 2019, after almost six years in Beijing, Mark and I will move back to the US. We are in the process of selling our possessions, closing out our apartment, and saying goodbye to people we love in Beijing, China.

How does one leave the mission field? We never called ourselves missionaries because Mark pastored an established international church in Beijing. We did not go to Beijing to start something new, to plant a new church, but to carry on something already established – to encourage, to teach, to disciple, to evangelize internationals living in Beijing.

It really feels strange to be returning to our US home. Although Mark initially committed to two years as an interim pastor, we fell in love with the people, the intimacy, the diversity, the broadness, the adventure, etc. – everything that makes up serving the Lord in a foreign, urban megacity. On one level, we do not want to leave Beijing. We feel like we are leaving people that we love behind. We feel like we are leaving a task unfinished.

For example, one Sunday several months ago, we had a brief conversation with a shy, quiet family whom I thought would be the kind to pop in and pop out, people who would just come to observe but not appreciate the teaching or participate in church life. How wrong I was. Not long after we met them, they told us they planned to move to another city. Yet, they confessed that after being at BBC for several months, they wish they were not leaving. At BBC, they discovered a gospel-based, intentional church that they want to participate in.

In addition, I look around BBC and see God working in so many of our people. People study God’s Word on their own initiative. For example, Hutch gathered Oliver and Emmanuel both from Liberia to study the book of Romans. Young men from various countries came to our home to study biblical manhood. Viktor from Belarus reached out to many Russian-speakers in the city and invited some to BBC. The community groups gathered and gelled as a way to build Christian fellowship. Often I can walk into BBC and sense the deepening walk with the Lord – an ongoing answer to prayer.

These situations remind us that we leave a task unfinished. It reminds us that we leave behind people that we love and appreciate. A few people, like Ashley, came to BBC at the same time we did. We’ve known her and walked the Christian life with her for almost six years. We met the Gonzalez family during our first year and have walked beside them in their Christian faith, discussing faith, marriage, parenting, etc. We have rejoiced to see God work in parents to bring the gospel to their families and children grow in knowledge and obedience of the Lord. We have watched with awe as God saves people from their sin, and they hunger and thirst for righteousness and Christian fellowship. I can’t name everyone whom we love and will miss; there are too many.

How do we walk away from ministry here? I know others have done it and will always leave a field for various reasons. I know that the Church is God’s Church, not ours, and he will not let the gates of hell prevail against it. He will not let it fail. Yet we have felt privileged to participate in this part of his Church.

Mark says that he can help GBC. Of course, he can. He would benefit and provide structure and strategy any place he landed. At the moment, it feels like we are quitting while the going is good – while God is working. I feel like we are walking away from God’s calling here. God obviously is opening the door for us to return yet it feels empty, simple, and backward – like leaving loved ones behind, like leaving a task unfinished.

Pray for Beijing Baptist Church as they search for a new pastor. Pray for us as we face a new season of trusting the Lord and transitioning back to our passport country.

2019 Beijing Baptist Church Retreat

In early June, Beijing Baptist Church held its sixth annual all-church retreat. Along with heartfelt singing, teaching on intimacy with God, and relaxed fellowship, five people received the joy of baptism. The children heard lessons centered around John 14:6 where Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me."

People Stories - Stefan & Carisha

It wasn’t only Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome who got up very early one Sunday morning looking for Jesus.

Easter morning a few weeks ago, a young couple from Tianjin came to Beijing Baptist Church. What a delight to meet Stefan & Carisha from South Africa. As we got to know them more over lunch, among the laughter and tears, they told us their story.

After living together for several years as non-Christians, they broke off their relationship and went their own ways. Eventually, they both came to know the Lord separately around Eastertime 2018 and later realized they really loved each other and wanted to be together. They married in the Lord November 2018 and moved to China a few weeks later.

We met them after they had lived in Tianjin for about four months but had become spiritually dry for lack of Christian teaching and fellowship. Because they so hungered for biblical teaching and hadn’t yet found a church close to them, they searched the internet for a church in Beijing and found Beijing Baptist Church. So on Easter morning, like the women on the very first Resurrection Day, they woke up early “towards dawn of the first day of the week” and left Tianjin (5:30am) to travel via bus, subway, fast train, and another subway to Beijing Baptist Church. They arrived at BBC at 9:30am, in time for some pre-service coffee and fellowship. They soaked in the teaching and fellowship at BBC that Easter Sunday and we have stayed in touch since then.

Like so many people seeking job opportunities in China, they teach English but discovered their recruiting agency and school not as scrupulous as originally presented. Having experienced so many new things in the last year, they are learning how to walk with Christ and apply His Word to their life, work, and marriage.