Kenya, July 16- Lauren Gurgel

Today we taught at two schools in Moi's Bridge here in Kenya. We started out at Baraton Academy and taught about 40 kids. When signing the guest book there, we actually looked back and found Tom's signature from 14 years ago! Then we headed over to Mustard Seed School, where we taught about 180 kids. This was the first time the Mission Helpers have been to this particular school. Neither of these schools are part of the KCLC; they both have Christian Religious Education (CRE) in their curriculum. After teaching, we visited one of the pastors here, Pastor Samson, at his home. Then we went to visit the family of one of the elders of the church, John, who passed away last week. What a unique experience and blessing to have the chance to share a devotion with them and share love and encouragement in our Savior's victory over death.

In Kenya, the prosperity gospel is widely taught. Many of these children believe that God wants believers to be healthy and rich, and if you are not, that He must be mad at you. They believe you have to do things such as increasing church offerings or doing charitable work, and that will give them earthly gain. Fruits of faith are good things, but they are surely not what save us. We of course know that we are saved by grace alone through faith, so it's important that we emphasize this in our lessons! 

This is my third Mission Helper Trip. When talking with people, they often say I'm an 'old pro' or something along those lines. But every time I teach, it can be easy to feel inadequate. I've never enjoyed speaking in front of groups very much, and with a soul-saving message, it's especially intimidating! But what a comfort it is to know that I am merely clay in the hands of the Potter. Our job is to spread the seed the best of our ability, only God can make it grow. 

The name of the school (Mustard Seed) we taught at today reminds us of the passage:

Matthew 17:20b "For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

What a beautiful reminder to us!

I'll end my post by adding a few interesting things about Kenya:

For the majority of our trip, the elevation has been much higher than we're used to. We're currently at 6,300 feet!

A main export of Kenya is their tea, they grow it all over here!

One of our main contacts here, Mary Sagala, actually came into contact with the CLC when she was visiting her sister in Phoenix, Arizona, and she attended a service at Holy Cross. She has been kind and welcoming to us, and we are very thankful for her!

In Christ Alone,

Lauren Gurgel