Day Eight

Today's blog comes - for a second time - from team member Patty about our second day out doing ministry in the community around Kilimani. God is doing some wonderful things here, and the prospect of leaving makes us all very sad.

The physical needs of the people here are great. There is extreme poverty, no running water, and for the most part no electricity. Medical care is scarce and we have been asked to pray for many sick babies and a few injured and sick adults. There has been a recent drought which has caused some of the local crops to fail. Grass for grazing the cows and goats is very sparse.

We are also finding that the spiritual needs of many people in the area are great. We are encountering a number of people of the Muslim faith. While a few have been willing to at least listen to us as we share the story of salvation and some have even decided to put their faith in Jesus, most will not listen to what we have come to say. Then there are people we come across who say that they are Jehovah's Witnesses, so they believe they do not need to hear what we have to say. There is also a lot of idol worship and these people are not willing to put their faith in Jesus only. Just as in America, many people put obstacles between themselves and Jesus.

Today, we witnessed to a woman who was blind. She did not think Jesus loved her or she would not have gone blind. We told her Jesus is not why she was blind, and we assured her that Jesus was concerned for her heart. She did end up accepting the love of Jesus and salvation.

We also came across a woman named Joyce. Joyce is a young woman, probably in her early 30s, and she works for an orphanage that is far away from her home. She had been saved as a child and had a very strong faith then. Once she got married, she did not attend church or associate with other Christians. Life was very difficult for her and her family, and eventually her husband died. Now she has to travel each week to earn her living. 

Joyce was glad to see us because many things in her life have made her heart heavy. She feels that she cannot have a relationship with Jesus until her heart is lighter. Pastor Julius and I have met with her twice, and I will be going back on Friday to meet with her again. She is grateful just to have someone to meet with her and listen as she unburdens her heart. 

In the two days we have been going door to door, we have led 115 people to Christ. This is a great number of people, and we know this has been a great harvest. We will spend the next two days going out and I am sure the numbers will increase. Once we leave, it will be a great challenge for the members of Kilimani Baptist Church to follow up with these that have been saved for encouragement and teaching. We can only pray that they will rise to it.