The Wittz End: Gleaning from the missionary Apostle Paul.

Went to see a church play over Easter weekend thinking it would be about Jesus death and resurrection. It ended up being about Paul in jail and the early church growing even though they faced persecution. So timely-God speaking to us!

We just spent 3 weeks in Virginia and now are on the road heading to New York. We got to go to many ballgames of our nieces and nephews and cheer them on, trying to make up for all the games we missed out on over the years. We had some opportunities to share meals with brothers and sisters in Christ which was a huge encouragement to us. We loved joining in worship in different churches and cherish that our children have been soaking up spending time with other children. We are extremely grateful for each opportunity to give the report that God has been changing the hearts of Muslims in North Eastern Kenya and a small baby church of local believers has begun. This reminds us of when Paul and Barnabas traveled to Antioch and "gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles." Acts 14:27-28

We have been enjoying "wearing our hair down" and wearing shorts on the beautiful warm weather days. Some of our daughters have become country music fans and have been drinking sweet tea at anyplace that has it as an option (which is at most places). I had been admiring all the cotton and peanut farming fields while we were driving around Virginia. Life here can seem so vastly different from our lives in Kenya. When we are there us ladies wear long skirts/dresses with a long slip underneath. We do not cover our heads but will always have our hair up when we leave our house. When we visit with our neighbors there, we are offered soda from a glass bottle or a mug of hot chai (tea with milk and flavors of ginger, cardamom, and cloves). We are very intentional to mostly have conversations women to women and men to men because of the culture. We take advice from Paul when he says,

"Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all the things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." 1Corinthians 9: 19-23

Here is another list of us feeling like foreigners in this American land:

1) One of my teenage daughters had to learn to tie shoelaces. We wear open toe shoes all year around in Kenya.

2) We witnessed how convenient it is to order groceries from the phone ahead of time and have it packed into your car once arriving at the grocery store.

3) One of my daughters pointed out that doorstoppers are attached to the door for a quick and easy way to prop the door open. We have wedges in Kenya that often get lost.

4) The slushie machines at 711 are handfree- its weird not to manually push buttons or pull down levers.

5) In America police officers pull people over by turning their lights on in their police cars. In Kenya police officers stand on the road and pull people over by gesturing to them with their hands.