Join me in prayer

Yesterday at church our senior pastor led us in prayer for the Mathare Valley in Nairobi, Kenya. This is the same Mathare Valley I will be traveling to in June. Apparently there has been an uprising of sorts in the slum in the past few days and there have been burnings and other acts of violence.

Please join me in prayer for Pastor and Mrs. Karau and the congregation of Mathare Valley Worship Center. Let us pray for a hedge of protection around them and for their ability to minister to those who have been directly affected by this situation.

Everybody's got a water buffalo?!?!

Everybody's got a water buffalo
Yours is fast but mine is slow
Oh where'd we get them I don't know
But everybody's got a water buffalooooooooooooo

"I want to avoid the water buffalo migration."
WHAT?!?!?
"Are you kidding? You aren't serious are you?"
"No, really. The water buffalo migration happens in June/July. I don't want to be there for it." Something about in addition to the water buffalo there are also big "cats" hanging out - presumably thinking the water buffalo would make for many days worth of meals.
I really thought Isam was joking with me but he wasn't. I do appreciate the fact that he is watching out for his team by making sure that we aren't caught off guard by a stray water buffalo or big "cat" in the city of Nairobi or in the Mathare Valley. He was having trouble nailing some key things down for our trip and so he traveled to Kenya in October with our senior pastor and his family. I prayed. I prayed for Isam, that he would be able to accomplish dates and price, I prayed that God would give him a new and fresh vision for what our team - whoever that ends up being - is supposed to accomplish.

We will depart from the United States mid-June 2007 and be in Kenya for approximately 14 days. The updated cost of the trip is $3500. Praise be to God! I have to say a huge thank you again to every one who has prayed and who has been able to financially support me. Even though the price of the trip has increased by $800 I still have much more than I need! God has been so gracious with me. That edge was scary but when I found the courage to near it, God pushed and because of incredible people who believe in me and in God's work I flew. (See post right below this one for quote I am referring to!)

And I'm assuming we won't be running with any stray water buffalo...

At the edge

"Come to the edge," he said.
They said, "We are afraid."
"Come to the edge," he said. They said,"We will fall."
"Come to the edge," he said.
They came. He pushed them...and they flew.
- Guillaume Apollinaire -

Heart Connection

July 2006

Pastor Karau and his wife visited us this month. What a beautiful couple! I was excited to meet them, although nobody would have guessed. I am shy and "unable" (or to be honest, perhaps I am unwilling?) to assert myself with new people or in new situations. Another reason I am glad the trip has been postponed. I need to be confident of who I am in Christ before I trek halfway across the world and all I run into are new situations and new people!

I met them on two separate occasions as Mrs. Karau was delayed in Kenya with Visa issues. Praise God it all worked out! Pastor Karau is a tiny man with a HUGE heart! Christ in him draws you to listen to him and look into his eyes. You know he has walked a road with God - whew, the stories he has to tell. Times of when his life was literally on the line. The Mathare Valley can be a dangerous place. Mrs. Karau has the biggest, brightest smile ever! She is beautiful in spirit as well. She is bold in her faith and believes that we are to be "iron that sharpens iron" (Proverbs 27:17). She made some accurate observations about Americans while visiting us. We were all challenged to do some self-examination!

Here are some facts about the Mathare Valley - one of three large slums in Nairobi, Kenya. It is 6 square miles and houses approximately 800,000 people! Mathare Valley Worship Center provides prayer coverage for the church and the community literally 24/7. Pastor Karau himself spends 3 night a week at the church with others interceding.

Mathare Valley Worship Center is MY church, it's just thousands of miles away. It struck me as we listened to them talk about their ministries. We are two different cultures yet there are no cultural boundaries in the ministries we have. I sat in wonder as I listened to them describe the same things we do here. Thousands of miles do not separate the heartbeat that we share and the vision God has given both of our Bodies.

It interesting to have my mind and heart expanded to begin to understand the work of the Body of Christ. There are no cultural boundaries when it comes to accomplishing what God has set before you.

God's timing - not mine

May 18, 2006

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' " (Isaiah 6:8 NIV)

God called, I responded. And it is a good thing my response wasn't based on a particular year or month! Selah

Isam let me know today that our Kenya trip has been pushed back until June or July of 2007. I am really okay with that. Our team had dropped to 3 people and for the work we do over there that would be ineffective to go. The cool thing is that I have been "struggling" all these months to articulate why I am going on this trip but I was able to last week nail that down in my heart. Whew. What relief to have an answer that makes sense to me finally!

The short answer is this:
God is sending me to Kenya as an extension of what he has been doing in my life since I turned 30. I always have said that when I turned 30 I got a new decade and a new life! It's all about obedience to him. The thought of disobeying God scares me more than the thought of the unknown in Kenya! I have my definition of Beth Peninger and it isn't God's defintion at all. My definition doesn't include Kenya. His definition - who he knows me to truly be - does include Kenya.

So now I just "rest" in God for the next year. I allow him to continue to refine me and mold me and change me and renovate me. I'm basically done with all the required preparations for the trip. I get my last shots in September and my passport has been in my possession for months. Since I am more than fully funded for the trip I don't even have to think about that either.

I wonder. What will God do in the next year of my life?

Could God BE any clearer?

I gathered up my courage and composed a letter. I mentioned at the end of the letter how I needed $2700. That was it. What I need the most of is prayer. If God called me like I am pretty sure he did then the money is the last of my worries! I'm thinking about hygiene issues and clothing and my headaches from the sunlight. I sent the letter and decided I could be waiting a long time for any sort of response, after all it was only January and my trip wasn't until September.

But money started coming in with my name written in the memo line or a note attached with my name. And with every dollar that came in I went to God and asked him what was he doing? His reply? "I'm sending you to Kenya and I have just removed your last excuse." So as the money continued to come in I just shook my head in disbelief and shrugged my shoulders in resignation to God's plan. Sometimes it is just best to go with HIS flow.

By the time May rolled around I had all the money I needed for the trip and then some. By God's grace not only did I have the $2700 necessary but I had right over $4000 sitting in my account at church!

I am not sure that God could have actually been any clearer.

And I'm In

November 3, 2005
I had kind of forgotten about the whole Kenya trip and process. All I know is that everytime Kenya is mentioned I literally see and feel myself stepping on the plane.
So today when the mail came at home and there was an envelope from church I was surprised. And at first couldn't figure out what it might be. DUH Beth.
I've been accepted to be part of the Kenya team that will travel September 9-25, 2006. Whoa, NOW it is real. And now I am scared.
I've been thinking about the support part of it and that has me freaked. I don't really feel comfortable asking people for money but I will need money, $2700 to be exact. And now I have to tell people what's been going on. Nobody has really known to this point - I've kept everything hush hush. The response will be interesting.
MY response is interesting. I'm calm one second, the next I'm scared, and the next I'm almost indifferent.
I think I just stepped on to a roller coaster.

Getting in the Zone

But Lord...
This is so NOT me. This isn't what I do. Who I am.

"Beth, who are you to tell ME who you are and what you do? I AM YOUR COMFORT ZONE. You are mine. Beth, get in my Zone."

Ephesians 2:10, "For I am God's masterpiece. He has created me anew in Christ Jesus, so that I can do the good things he planned for me long ago."

But Lord....

So I started pulling out all the excuses I could think of. Sad and pitiful I know, but I tried!

But Lord...
I am light sensitive and I won't be able to wear sunglasses over there.
But Lord...
I get carsick and I won't be able to drive over there.
But Lord...
In combination with my carsickness the diesel fuel they use will make me even more sick and then I will be useless!
But Lord...
I get horrible sores in my mouth when I'm stressed, when I haven't gotten enough sleep and then I can't talk!
But Lord...
My body just doesn't travel well.

Yeah. God could care less about my lame excuses. He addressed every single one with me. He started on a Sunday morning with a message in which Pastor Al was saying that we can't tell God, "If you just keep me healthy then I can do _________." It isn't about us! It's about God working in and through us.

I still thought that maybe my excuses had some validity. They were real excuses after all. So I offered those excuses to Pastor Isam. Just like God, he shot them down! So I asked God, what now?

And he told me to just be obedient to each step in the process. When, and if, I heard him say "stop" then I could stop pursuing the Kenya trip. But until then I was just to take each step as it came.

Okay, step one. Go to informational meeting. At the meeting I picked up a passport application and signed up for the Saturday School of Missions 101 training.

Step two, fill out application for the team and wait to be interviewed. Just because I am on staff doesn't mean I will be accepted.

On to step three, School of Missions 101. I went, I took notes, I listened and absorbed, and I didn't get scared by the culture stuff we may run into. Oh boy. I'm not afraid of it, just accepting. Who am I? I don't even recognize myself!

Pastor Isam sets up the interview with me. Step four. I cried my way through the interview - poor Isam - and walked out of that room knowing that God wasn't going to say "stop" anytime soon.

But Lord....

God's Holy Experiment

There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself. If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you - and His experiments always succeed.

- Oswald Chambers -

Uh Oh!

July 14, 2005

I am grumpy today. And I think it's because I am so consumed with thoughts of the Kenya team and what they are doing that I am beginning to wonder if I wasn't supposed to be there with them. I never prayed about it and allowed God to tell me yes or no. I just flat out said I wasn't even considering it. So I guess I need to pray about the trip for next September. But the thought that God might say go scares me to death. It's so not me but God reminded me this morning that I am new, I am different now and not myself because of his renovating work in my life. I can no longer use the excuse - it's not me - because he is making a new me. I am scared he might say go but I will if he tells me to.
_____________________________________________________________________

So I started to pray. God had me up all hours of the night while our team was in Kenya. He had me praying for team members, for the church over there, etc. I was EXHAUSTED. I cried out to God one morning - July 14, 2005 - and asked him, "What do you want? I need sleep!" He simply said, "You never asked, you just told me." OOPS. Flashback to December 2004 and he's right. I said no. At this point I had come to trust God with my heart so I said, "Fine, I'll ask."

So I started praying and all this is happening while our Kenya themed VBS kicks off. The team gets back on the first day and a couple of team members appear the second day - with pictures. I got a look at the slum, the kids, the team members and felt like I had been there. Uh oh. Then I saw lots of pictures of lots of kids and the strangest thing happened. My arms started to ache to hold those kids. I wanted to touch the tops of their heads and watch them laugh. Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh.

I think I'm going to Kenya.

The Preface to the Call

In the fall of 2004 I took a little break from "normal" life and God started me on a journey that continues to this day. In order to understand the call to Kenya you have to first understand what God has been doing in me.

God simply asked me to trust him. The obedience comes later. Isaiah 26:3 (Amplified) says, "You Lord will keep me in perfect and constant peace when my mind, both its inclination and its character is stayed on you. For I commit myself to you, lean on you, and I hope confidently on you." That's where I had to get to first. And before he could ever call me to obedience he had to get me to trust him with my heart. Could I trust God with my heart?

In December of 2004 a friend shared that she was filling out an application for the summer Kenya trip. I was surprised and remember so clearly saying to her, "Well good for you. I told God no." OOPS. God would remind me of that comment down the road a bit. See I was still learning to trust him with my heart.

Fast forward to July of 2005. Beth, do you trust me with your heart? Yes, God, I do.

A place for my stories

Okay, so many people have wanted to know my story on this whole Kenya thing that I thought maybe the easiest way to tell the story and continue the story is to post a blog. That way I don't have to tell it 500 times and everyone can read it at their leisure as well as keep up with what God is doing between now and then. So enjoy...