Healing

Spiritual gifts are a controversial topic on today's Christian circles. Some say they died out with the establishment of the global church in the early centuries, while others believe that they are still very much in operation today. The evidence supporting the latter view in overwhelming and is getting to a point where the body as a whole cannot deny the work of spiritual gifts in today's spiritual climate. I myself have seen mighty miracles here on the campus of Appalachian State University and Boone this past month. Believers and non-believers alike have been touched by the raw love and power of Jesus Christ in recent days. I have testimony after testimony of legs growing out inches, knees twisting into realignment, years of back pain being taken away in an instant, and more. I would say I witnessed at least 25 miracles last week alone! Now either we are all lying or there is something to all of this. Do your research and you will find that the underground church in China has been fueled by signs, wonders, and miracles. Same thing in India. On my recent trip to Little Rock, I met someone who ran a missions sending agency through which 300,000 people have come to faith in Northern India because the blind see and the deaf hear. The miraculous is a natural and expected thing for them.

Unfortunately in the US, many people are left using man-mad techniques to confirm the reality of a God that is anything but man-made. Years of unbelief have resulted in what I call the Nazarene mentality. If you recall, Jesus was unable to perform many miracles in his hometown of Nazareth due to their unbelief in Him. Instead most believers in the U.S. are left thinking that God exists while in other places they know He does.

As Bill Johnson says, and I'm paraphrasing, "Signs, wonders, and miracles are not the fullness of the gospel, but the gospel is not full without them." The Lord is so ready to reveal the truth of who He is to people, and gospel confirming miracles will become a reality in the U.S. when a change in thought and identity in Christ occurs as a whole. It all starts with believers acknowledging that we are found in Christ. Seek and you will find (Matthew 7:7). As a whole, we are great at the seeking part, while neglecting that we are found! Seeking the Lord has almost become a stumbling block to believers left and right. Instead of seeking more of the Lord, we need to see that we have found Him. When we witness to people, we are not inviting them into a seeking relationship, we are inviting them into a relationship where their identity is found, and as the bride they are being pursued by the bridegroom, who is Jesus Christ. After all, He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20). We see so many "seeker churches" in today's society. Imagine what could happen if they instead became "found churches" where people understood their identity as a follower of Jesus.

Signs, wonders, and miracles are therefore my focus when I am out witnessing in the world. I choose to let Jesus accomplish in minutes what it would take me years of talk and debate to do. That is, to confirm that God is real and His nature is to love. Scripture even says that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20). Miracles confirm the truth of the gospel and are a wonderful invitation into a relationship with a God who loves people with a perfect, everlasting love. I'm not a miracle chaser. I'm just passionate about seeing people come to the realization that Jesus is chasing their hearts and pursuing them with a perfect love. Miracles just so happen to follow.

AHHH-Merica

Ahhhh Kenya where have you gone? I have now been back the the states for a little over a week and the transition into life here has been anything but easy. I find my heart wanting more. My soul desires to be in Kenya right now away from all the pettiness, materialism, and complaining. I don't hate America or anything, in fact I'm part of it. And when I say my heart desires Kenya, it's not the land itself I covet. It's not even necessarily the people or places either. Rather, I find myself yearning to see Jesus like I did in Kenya. I am coming on 7 weeks of just heart-changing encounters with the savior of the world. Daily I was challenged, loved, renewed, and restored by the God who led the Israelites out of captivity and into the promised land. How do you come off a time such as that and step back into life as it was before?
To be honest, ministry in Kenya was almost easy. The Lord had set before me opportunities to share Jesus with people over there and the only thing I had to do was walk in His Spirit on a daily basis. I almost feel like I went to Kenya to be filled up so that I could minister to people back here in the states. Seeing those opportunities here is hard! I don't have any German's coming up to me telling me how money does not make them happy nor do I have opportunities to walk into homes of HIV-positive women to pray and encourage them. These things happened in Kenya. So how do I minister here in America?

If I had to pick a favorite song of all time in would probably be I Will Not Take My Love Away by Matt Wertz. It is a simple yet powerful song of how the Lord never takes his love away from us no matter what comes around us. As I sit here listening to it, one part really resonates with where I find myself:

I will give you what you need
In fancy or in poverty
Forever, always, look to me
And I will give you what you need

I was in poverty in Kenya. I was in the slums around just brokenness, confusion, and chaos. However, in the midst of it all there was hope. I saw Jesus at work in the hearts and minds of the people in Mathare Valley. I looked to Him in poverty and he showed up. How then do I look to him when I have plenty, as is the case back in the US? As the song says, the Lord will give me what I need even in the midst of everything I have here. Forever, always, look to Him. These aren't revolutionary ideas either. These simple truths, however, take on a new meaning when viewed through the lens of my 7 weeks in Kenya.

I could go on and on describing the different situations and experiences I had in Kenya. I wish I could pick and choose a few to go here, however that would be impossible. Instead I decided to talk about my heart and feelings since coming back to the US. That seemed easier. I will be doing an update later this week that shares trip experiences and offers more of a recap! The pictures at the top show the kids I worked with for 3 weeks in Mathare Valley at Naoith Education Center. Check back soon for that recap!

Kenya has my heart

Hello friends hope all is well. I have about 2 weeks left here in Kenya before we head back to the states. This means 2 more weeks of ministry opportunity. This also means 2 more weeks of experiencing the Lord's love in such a mighty way here in Kenya.

About 4 days ago I finished up my 3 week ministry assignment in the Mathare Valley slum of Nairobi Kenya. Leaving it had to be one of the hardest things I had done in a long time. I grew to love the teachers, the volunteers, and all 115 students of Naoith school. Being "Teacher Rich" to those kids for 3 weeks was absolutely an honor. This slum has captured my heart. I hope and pray earnestly that I will be led back here one day.

Kenya has been a trip full of first time experiences. Last weekend I had the opporunity to preach for the first time. It was a fantastic experience for me my friends. The Lord allowed me to see fruit from my message as someone in this church of fifty people decided to give his life to Christ. Seeing his tears as he stood up in front of the congregation accepting the love of Jesus was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. If I came to Kenya just to preach the gospel so that this man may experince life, love, and freedom in Jesus then the trip was worth more than anything else I could be doing with my summer. This day was the day I became "Pastor Rich" (bestowed upon me by my Kenyan brothers in the curch).

I love Kenya. Kenya has captured my heart.

Kristin

Friends,

So far I have spent just over a week in Mathare Valley. One of the things I do is visit homes in order to offer encouragement in Jesus and pray for the home. Last week I had the opportunity to visit the home of a women named Kristin. Kristin lives in a pretty hopeless situation when viewed through American eyes. She is undergoing her second bout with tuberculosis. Her husband left her because of the disease. She cannot afford to send her three children to school and lives with her brother in Mathare Valley. When we first met her, she was not a believer. As I sat in the home, wondering what in the world I possibly had to offer this woman, I took time to simply sit quietly before the Lord. Readers, let me tell you, the Gospel and truth found in Jesus Christ is made powerful in circumstances such as these. After Nathan and I prayed for her, she made the decision to accept Jesus as her savior. After leading her in a prayer of salvation, we all left the house. As I was leaving Mathare Valley for the day, I remember looking back and catching her eyes. Eyes that were joyless and lifeless now had a glimmer of hope. She managed to crack a smile. A few days later I ran into her again. She was walking around and told us she was feeling much better. I cannot but think that one day this American here and this Kenyan will be praising the Lord together. The power of the Gospel is something to be experienced my friends. It all starts with a quiet submission to his will.

Mathare Valley

Friends,

Tomorrow I am departing on my 3 week ministry assignment to Mathare Valley in Nairobi Kenya. There I will be teaching in a school, working at a daycare, ministering to women who are HIV positive and doing street evangelism in the slums. I will also probably be preaching at a local church. Mathare Valley is the oldest slum in Kenya and possibly all of Africa. It was the place we visited a few days ago. It was the place I met Desi. I will be staying at the home of a Kenyan pastor and he will direct some of our ministry. Apparently, there are sometimes where me and my ministry partner will be dropped off in the slum and told to evangelize. So street preaching is a real possibility. I am excited that the Lord has called me to be good news to the people in the slum of Mathare Valley. I am excited to have an opportunity to be a bold ambassador for Jesus. I am bracing my heart to be ripped open during my 3 weeks in the slum. The spirit of the Lord is present in Kenya. Peace is upon me. I will proclaim the good news of the gospel wherever I go.

Desi

Kenya is a beautiful place my friends. I arrived here safely and can say that these two days have been packed full of awesome times and new experiences in the Lord. One of the opportunities I had was to visit the second largest slum in Kenya, Mathare Valley, yesterday. Words cannot describe what I experienced there however I am going to try to paint a picture of an interaction I had that changed my life. Amongst the abject poverty, there is a daycare where children can be dropped off if a parent wishes to leave the slum to go into the city and look for a job. The kids in this daycare and malnourished, abused, and most likely live in a single mother home. When I walked in there for the second time that day, a girl walked up to me, arms extended, just wanting to be picked up and held. Desi was her name. She was cross-eyed, couldn't really speak, and to the best of my knowledge had some sort of mental handicap. The only thing I had to offer her was a simple touch of love, a time to hold her and hug her. Walking around the daycare, Desi in my arms, I prayed blessings over her. Her hugs went straight to the soul. She wrapped herself so tight around my arms indicating she never wanted to let go. After 30 minutes I had to leave and when I put her down she reached back up, wanted to be hugged for just a while longer. Instead she had to return to a world where the hug of an American stranger is the only comfort she ever finds. My body and my spirit have cried many times for Desi as I try to understand her plight. I will always remember her smile and laughter that day that I held her. I will always pray and remember this beautiful child the Lord used to change my life. Sometimes 30 minutes in Africa is all it takes.

I will likely only be able to have internet access about 4 more times so updates may be few and far between. There is much more to write about. I love this place and love you all. See you soon!

Waiting

12 hours from now I will be waking up to fly to New York and begin what I hope is a summer of experience. If you are anything like me, life as I know it can be a real snooze fest sometimes. Sure, I have lots of things that I enjoy, but at the end of the day am I truly happy? To be honest, usually the answer is no. Instead, life sometimes feels like these fleeting moments of purpose during which you align with the Father's will for your life for just a momentary spot in time. The rest of the time is just kinda blah. This could just be me. Someone once told me "normal life doesn't work to well for you." Don't get me wrong, college has been fun. It just seems like my heart is in waiting mode. Because this "normal life" doesn't seem to motivate me, I find myself waiting on a life that is far from normal. I want to experience the wildness and purpose that comes from walking in a spirit of oneness with Jesus Christ. I am ready for a calling and a purpose.

And now I get to go to Kenya. I get to be around the poor, the needy. I will interact with those who should have no hope, no reason for living. Peoples whose needs are so drastic it will be unlike anything I have ever experienced. However, in the Lord there is beauty in everything and I so look forward to witnessing beauty in these places. Mostly I desire a new heart. I have this idea or image of myself and who I want to be, however the harder I try to get there, the harder being that man becomes. I hope to experience new and exciting things as the Lord moves in my heart and molds me into the man he has designed me to be.

This is my journey friends. It should be a fun one this summer.