What is ministry?

Our time here, has been nothing of what I have pictured it to be. It has really challenged my thinking of what ministry looks like. I realized that so much of my opinion of it had very little to do with what the Bible says and more of what the "American mindset" decides what is ministry and what is not. There can be pressure of what do I have to tell people about what we do each day. Have we filled a certain quota of reaching "the lost". What I felt the Lord telling me is "Whose approval matters- what people might thinks of you, or what I desire from you". If the Lord simply wants me to give Him a day of worship and prayer- would that be considered a successful day- if that is all I did all day long? To the American standards, the answer would be no. Jason and I have talked about what discipleship looks like. Jesus had His 12 disciples and what that meant is that they all lived together, ate together, traveled together, had discussions together, etc. There wasn't a certain, booklet they went through or weekly schedule they followed to calculate the amount of time they were discipled. It was just the day to day encounter with Jesus Christ. As I follow Him I want it to be known to others that He lives through me in my simple daily activities I do. With each person we meet may our lives be a reflection of "ministry" and show a difference from what the world does.

Christmas play


What I never want to lose focus in is praying for Kenya and the people I have met and have yet to meet. "Lord please use me and show me what you would have me do and say" I have been reading through Psalms and love when David is talking about God and His heart for the nations.

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him." Psalm 33:8
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do." Psalm 33:12-15
Of course since I live in Kenya, when I read passages like this I am thinking of the people here but I Know this goes way beyond this country and even this continent of Africa. This is talking about the whole word with all the people with different languages and cultural differences. God has made and sees them all.
puzzles


Me and Anna
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I have been so blessed to have met wonderful people even for a short time as we have traveled almost 10 times in the 4 and a half months since being back. This picture is of a lady we hired to wash our laundry during our time in Tanzania. She showed my children so much love by letting them "help her" wash the clothes. There was one day she let Charis put soap suds all on top of her head just to get Charis to laugh.

traffic- We recently encountered thee craziest traffic for 3 hours straight. I cannot make up a story on how this is ministry but I do realize that with whatever circumstance we have before us we have the choice on how we will react. I want to have joy and a christ-like attitude, even when I feel uncomfortable and don't know what to do. "But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands..." Psalm 31:14-15



girls and camels walking away



There is so much to be thankful for each day. I want to have those things at the tip of my tongue and not the things I can complain about. All three of my girls got to ride on camels that are from our town here in Kenya. They enjoyed it so much they did not want get off when the ride was over. They have already had so much opportunities at their young ages of 5, 3, and 1. What a privilege it is to be a part of raising them, disciplining them, and teaching them.