Take a Hike (August 25-27)

Megan with our door-to-door evangelism team in Wema.

During the course of your life, you may have found yourself in a conversation similar to the following:

“How did you sleep last night in the tent?”

“Just fine, my sleeping bag kept me warm. Thanks for starting the campfire.”

“No problem. Let’s go take a hike.”

Here the phrase “take a hike” probably means something along the lines of going on a leisurely stroll, along a naturalist-made path, through the woods in a state park. Or perhaps you can search your memory and recall yourself in another conversation similar to:

“Wow I thought they’d never leave.”

“Yeah, getting your carpets cleaned for free is great, but I felt so pressured to buy their product.”

“Oh I know. I’m glad you finally told them to take a hike.”

Here the phrase “take a hike” most likely refers to sending an annoying and overly invasive salesperson on their way without purchasing anything. And for the first part of the mission outreach here in southern coastal Kenya, we were doubly asked to “take a hike.”

Our team outside Farja Children's Home

We have been privileged to work with a mission team from St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, MO. They have partnered with a couple local Kenyan congregations to host a vacation Bible school. After meeting with the team from St. Andrew, local church leaders, and the Kenyan branch of Lutheran Hour Ministries at the Faraja Children’s Home in Wema, we split up in to evangelism teams to make door-to-door house calls, sharing the Gospel and inviting children to attend VBS the next day. And while we have not been sleeping in a tent, we did stroll several kilometers, leisurely making our way to homesteads tucked away in the lush and tropical coastal hills of Kenya’s south coast. Often times our path was less than one foot wide, but easy to follow, as repeated foot traffic had worn away any vegetation and exposed the red dirt of Africa. Passing orange trees, community water holes, random goats and vistas covered in coconut palms, our hike took us to several households in what we were told is a 99% Muslim population.

Being good Kenyans, our team called out “hodi” as we neared each new dwelling, and at each home we were welcomed. No one locked their door and ignored us silently in a back bedroom until we finally took the hint and left. In fact, one lady graciously offered us some boiled cassava, sharing the meager food she had available. Many homes communicated intent to send the kids to the VBS the next day, and some even allowed us to pray. While we certainly were not invasive, nor were we selling anything, some homes listened to our sharing, but because we were Christians and they were Muslims, would not allow us to pray.  Therefore within the parameters of Kenya’s polite and social culture, we were tactfully asked to take a hike.

Tim and Yohann from the children's home

Despite these set backs which other groups met as well, God’s hand was at work. Over 160 children attended the VBS the next day, the majority of which were Muslims. God used this opportunity for the good news of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ to be proclaimed to these children, perhaps for the first time. Please pray for these children and all the people in the Wema area, that the Holy Spirit may continue to work in the hearts of these people, that they may know the comfort found in their and our savior, Jesus Christ. Pray also that while we all continue on our own hikes through our time on earth, we may one day rejoice together in heaven, where God our Father will never ask us to leave, but keep us in His presence for eternity.