Secondary Blessings - Kenya (7/18)

 Pastor Tom Naumann here. 

Today was a rest day for our team. There is no school on Saturday so no opportunities for us to teach. For the past 8 days we have either been traveling or teaching or both. It was nice to have a day to relax before a busy Sunday tomorrow. 

We spent the day at the 40-acre farm of the Sagala family. The matriarch Anna Sagala (87 years young) is the one who walked into Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Phoenix, AZ one Sunday in 2009, thus beginning the CLC’s involvement in this area of Kenya. We visited with Anna, her daughter Mary, daughter-in-law Alice, and granddaughters Tessie and Anna (named after her grandma). We ate a traditional African lunch complete with Kenyan black tea. We walked the property and saw cows, goats, chickens, guava trees, avocado trees, eucalyptus trees, mulberry trees, coffee trees, and banana trees. Although we did not see monkeys, we’re told they are a serious nuisance to the fruit trees. 

The day made me think about some of the secondary blessings of participating in a Mission Helper Trip. Of course, the main purpose of these trips is to declare the simple gospel of Jesus Christ to children and the primary blessing we seek is the furtherance of God’s kingdom through His powerful and effective Word. However, God also provides many secondary blessings along the way. Here are just a few near to my heart today:

• The blessing of fellowship with likeminded believers like the Sagalas, a family of faithful Lutherans who kindly share their home and lives with us. 
• The blessing of friendship with fellow mission helpers whom otherwise might never meet. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know Elijah, Abby, and Lauren. They are all incredible young Christian people and they are an encouragement to me that the future of the CLC is in good hands. 
• The blessing of sharing. Isn’t it often true that the one who gives actually gains more than the one who receives? It certainly feels that way on Mission Helper trips. We give our time, our energy, our money, and our teaching so that the good news of Jesus can be shared, but I always feel like I’m the one who gets the better part of the deal. I return feeling refreshed and encouraged in my faith, and excited for the gospel work at home and abroad. 
• The blessing of perspective. Visiting a developing country like Kenya helps a person view life in a well rounded way. People are people wherever you go. They all fall short of God’s glory and they all need the good news of Jesus and His free grace. 

There are certainly more secondary blessings which God provides on these trips (a big “for instance” is the incalculable blessing of meeting my wife Ashley on a MHT to East Africa in 2012! Talk about a tremendous secondary blessing!!). But above all, we ask God to bless both the teaching and the hearing of His Word!

Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we are scheduled to attend two services. First, 10am at Holy Cross in Moi’s Bridge. Second, 12:30pm at St. Peter’s in Kitale. At both services our team will conduct our teaching program for the children and I will preach the sermon and administer Holy Communion. 

Thank you for continued prayers!

In Christ alone,

Pastor Tom Naumann