BEFORE YOU CALL

"Before you call, I will answer."

Several times I have explained to Pastor Joel of the Log Church of Kenya that it is not my intention to solicit funds for the 32 orphans under their care.
"God will do that," I have told him. 

“If this is the Lord’s work, then he will provide. Our task is to continue to work at what the Lord has given us to do, and to bring our requests to him.”

It is a constant life of faith, since there are no pledges of funding or any source of regular income. I am not sure how this has been for all at the orphanage, but it has been amazing to me to see how God is meeting the needs. The experience for me has been a series of lessons in living by faith.

Occasionally, because God has moved in someone’s heart, they will give to me or send to me a little money (sometimes a larger amount of money), for the support of the orphans. When enough has been accumulated to make it worthwhile to pay the transfer fee (it costs $10 to send $500), I send it to them. This week I did that. Joel always gives me an accounting for how the money from each transfer is used.

This time however, the sending and the receiving was especially interesting to me. Between the time that I sent it, but before it was available to them in Kenya, I received a text from Joel. He told me that the children had been sent home from school until they could find the money for school fees. Also, he said that providing food for the increased number of children now had was getting increasingly difficult.

“Please pray with us in asking our heavenly Father that these needs be filled,” he wrote to me.

I was able to respond to him, “There is money already at the Western Union office. In the morning, you may go and pick it up.”

It reminded me of some words of God about caring for his people. He says,

“It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.”

God knew of the need beforehand, and he had it all arranged. I did not have to speak to others of the need. God spoke. He had answered even before the call.

Thanks to all of you who listened to God speaking to you, so that these needs could be met.

300

Perhaps you have seen the film of some years ago that was simply entitled, “300.” The movie is a fictionalized version of the Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco-Persian Wars of the 5^th century BC. In the plot of that film, three hundred Spartan soldiers bravely and repeatedly hold off a series of attacks by tens of thousands of Persian forces.

Alas, after fighting valiantly and holding their position for a long time, in the end the Spartans finally succumb to defeat.

The battle is an actual one that took place in history, although of course it is romanticized and embellished for the film audience. Nevertheless, this battle—the Battle of Thermopylae, both in the movie and in actual history, is held up as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending its native soil. The heroes are the 300 Spartans, men who even in their death are revered. 

Today I am going to tell you of another 300. It is another actual battle that took place in history against tens of thousands of opponents.

CHILDREN OF THE LOG CHURCH ORPHANAGE

When I was in Kenya in December, the Log Church in Kisii was caring for 21 orphans in the church, which doubles as an orphanage. Since then, I had lately been hearing about additional children that had come to live there, so I asked Pastor Joel about it. They now have 32.

With each child there is a story of the death of their parents through malaria, HIV/AIDS, being hit by a vehicle on the road, or some other tragedy. Some of the children have simply been abandoned. They do not know where their parents are.

When I was at the church in Kenya last year, I was so busy with the Bible conference on every single day that I did not really have a good opportunity to get to know the children personally. So, I have asked Pastor Joel to send me some of the personal histories of the children and some photos.

He has sent me several of them. It is a difficult process for them to send photos since they do not have computers, but through a cyber-café in Kisii town they can do it, although they tell me that it is costly to do so.

I am going to include some background information about a couple of the children below. Their stories are by no means extraordinarily different than the other orphans, but it will give you a sense of the level of poverty and abandonment that these children come from. I will write about others in the days to come.

This girl is named Faith. She is now 6 years old, but was found thrown in a rubbish pit when she was only 4 and brought to the orphanage. She is in grade 1. She likes singing and reciting Bible verses and says that she wants to become a teacher.

Fabian is 5 years old. His parents are unknown, for he was found wandering in the street and brought to the orphanage. He is in preschool and likes singing and is learning to read. Like Faith, he also wants to become a teacher (maybe he heard Faith say that so he wants to be a teacher too).

This is Josephine. She is 8 years old and like most of the children, she has been in our orphanage since 2016. Josephine`s parents died of diseases and she was left alone. She is in grade 2. She likes singing and caring for other children and wants to become a nurse. 

In the words of Pastor Joel, “Kindly pray for these children, that the Lord will provide for the meeting of their needs, like clothing, medication and shelter. Other children are suffering many sicknesses, such as chiggers, skin diseases, kwashiorkor, and marasmus.” (I had to google these words to see what they were)

Most of the children also have worm illness because they live in dirty places and they do not get enough food. 

There is so much more that I could share. I have said nothing of the work of the church in reaching their neighbors with the message of Christ. Nor have I written about how the church is involved in bringing about new lifestyles in the community, so that many of these family situations like the orphans have come from will not be so common.

It is still puzzling to me how and why God has called me to be so closely involved with such a work so far away after I have spent most of my life ministering in Latin America, and after I was happy to have my overseas work completed so I could just stay home on my farm (or so I thought).

I do not know but I do not complain. These children are precious in the eyes of the Lord, and they now have become my children as well.
If you would like to become involved, write to me and tell me what you have in mind. donaldrhody@gmail.com

GIDEON - THE VALIANT WARRIOR

After the extended time of forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites finally were able to cross the Jordan and enter into the land of milk and honey. Sadly, the spiritual history of the people in that land was not much better than it was when they were in the wilderness.

The sixth chapter of the book of Judges in the Old Testament opens with these words: “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.”