Month: February 2024

Wednesday, February 27, 2024 Kitale Town, Kenya I knew Tuesday evening as I lay in my bed in Kitale listening to the pouring rain what lay ahead. A few inches of rain, and the gumbo mud road from the tarmac to the Mount Elgon Training Center becomes impossible. Just after breakfast Pastor Richard called. I was right. The road was a mess. All of the ministry tractors have been moved to the farms. It is nearly planting season. Which answers your unanswered question as to why God would not...

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 Kitale Town, Kenya The slow Kenyan rain provided a soothing ambient background on the metal roof at the Seeds Children’s Home. The thunderstorm in the distant took down the fragile Kitale power grid. The orphanage generator provided just enough power for a couple of dim lights in the gathering hall of the orphanage. And then, worship began to ooze from the children gathered. No one else…. No one else… No one else…can worship God….for me.  Our U.S. team...

Monday, February 26, 2024—Tasha (Nairobi), Kenya Question: If there is a woman in the church who is pretending to have a demon. Disrupting the services and stealing the pastor’s time, how should we handle that? Just one of the simple, straight-forward questions from the Q & A time of the pastors training conference today. Of course, my conservative baptist crew was right on top of the demonic pretending question! No joking, that was a real question today. But, it was imbedded in about...

Monday, February 24, 2024—CORAT Conference Center, —Karen, Kenya Like you, I live in a mansion. My lights come on when I turn the switch. I drink water straight out of my tap. My toilet flushes every time. My room stays exactly the temperature that I set on my thermostat. When I go to bed I set my security alarm. And, when I walk into my spacious shower, I turn on the hot water and take as much time as I want to. There is an “endless supply” of hot water at my demand and command. Those sentences...

Saturday, February 24, 2024—Mathare Slum—Nairobi, Kenya As I introduced Teresa to the children today, I explained to them that we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this year. In the Bible, the 50th year is often set aside as a year of “Jubilee” unto the Lord. I oversimplified the concept of jubilee to simply a “God-party.” I told the kids that we were beginning our jubilee with them. They loved it! But not any more than Teresa and I. As Teresa cut the ribbon for the official...

Friday, February 22, 2024—Nairobi, Kenya Last night was tough! I had trouble going to sleep. Teresa fell asleep while I was praying. Then the mosquitos came. I can’t describe the buzz these tiny gnat-sized malaria transports make here in Kenya! And when I did fall asleep, it would be for an hour or so. I was constantly watching my phone to see how the team was progressing in their flight toward Kenya.  But even in the interrupted naps, God was good. Several thoughts came to polish off...

Thursday, February 21, 2024—Nairobi, KenyaGod gives smiles that miles cannot erase. I remembered a bad preacher joke just now: An old Arkansas farmer had a prize jackass that he loved to brag about. One day he told the crew at the feed store he and “Jake” were on their way to the Kentucky Derby. When the laughter died down a bit, a friend in the crowd retorted—KENTUCKY DERBY?! Why, you ain’t got no chance of winning anything there? To which the Farmer said, NO. We ain’t got a chance a’tall...

Wednesday, February 21, 2024—Nairobi, KenyaI am writing this journal “by faith.” As I type, the North African continent has just appeared outside the airplane window. We’re not in Nairobi yet. But, we have made it to Africa. Unless God has other plans, in a few hours we will collect our luggage, make our way to our hotel, enjoy a long hot shower, and climb into bed exhausted. But, what a wonderful exhaustion it is! It wasn’t fun a few hours ago, but as I replay the images of our brisk walk...

The ministry of shopping.There is something about a new dress and new shoes with ladies. The smile is spontaneous and irrepressible. New clothes don’t make the lady. She is inside there all the time, dressed in rags or as royalty. But, a new dress invites that inner beauty to surface for a smile. Teresa tells me that one of her favorite expressions of my affection for her is when I take her shopping. She says she is treated differently by the sales people when I am with her. She feels...

Always check the gauges!Country boy rules: never turn the switch to on until you check the dipstick and the water level. Then, when she starts… check those gauges! Tuesday, February 120, 2024—Home, Hot Springs National Park, AR Every piece of equipment at our hunting property has one thing in common: it is either worn out or well on its way to being worn out. That’s why I have a hard/fast rule: don’t start any piece of equipment until you check the fluid levels and then the gauges! Well,...