A couple weeks ago I was experiencing the best and the worst of what I do. Let’s start with the best:

I was with some absolutely amazing Kenyan brothers and my friend Uriah as we made our way from Nairobi to a small village outside Mombasa near the Indian Ocean. The setting was bucolic, surreal, as I took a run one day along narrow paths and within minutes I was in the midst of Serengeti-like topography, running along paths I imagine water buffalo and wildebeest walk, past watering holes and the African scenery. We stayed in the village home / compound of our coordinator, Bramuel, and ALL of our trainers were fluent in English. This meant that we could train exclusively in English which allowed us to go much deeper than we usually do. It also meant we could build much deeper relationships talking with our brothers until late in the night. What a joy as we learned their stories and shared in our lives together. The accommodations were simple, with no running water so bucket baths were the norm, but the joy of relationships far outweighed the challenges.

I had received ESV Global Study Bibles from Crossway Publishers that I was able to take to the pastors and give each one of them an excellent tool from which we worked all week.

The master trainers we worked with eagerly soaked up all the training we offered them, and formed solid plans for taking this training to hundreds of others across the country. Bishop Abel said, “In the past I have preached typically with my thinking and my words, but now I am committed to preach expositionally because I want to preach God’s Word!” Amen!

 

Our coordinator Bramuel shared, “Following this workshop, I have hope for training oral learners to preach expositionally, which includes so many preachers and people in Africa.”

Pastor Johnson was quite transparent when he shared, “I want to confess I have been teaching, but not in the right way. Now I will begin to study carefully and teach in the right way, from God’s Word.” Praise the Lord!

So as you can see, God’s Spirit was moving in the training, I sensed God’s pleasure as I was operating in my “sweet spot,” and we are thankful for the many who were praying for God’s movement.

At the same time, there were also some real challenges. I ended up being moved to a different flight that meant I went three days and two nights with no sleep, and then even after arriving on the third night, I only slept a few hours. One of the difficulties with my job is when I need to leave the family if they are not doing well. For the past month, Holly’s health has taken a sharp decline so she has much difficulty even getting out of bed. Alyssa is still struggling with her health, and Andrew has been going through a very difficult time as well. Although they are all supportive of my work, to leave them in such a condition is disheartening. Communication was difficult in the village as my phone died during the training, and the times I was able to talk with my family were filled with concern and trying to help them “survive” till I got home.

Certainly not every training is like this, with such extreme highs and lows, but through it all God was glorified and we trust Him as we continue walking the road. Pressing on, Eric