The past week and a half, Rebecca and I've been "going to the shags," or if you're not familiar with Kenyan slang, "visiting the villages." Last update we mentioned a trip to Massai land with our friends Karis and Abby. This was an absolutely incredible experience for us to visit one of the most traditional tribes in the country, and also to seem some of the great kingdom work God is doing through our friends and their mission organization, World Harvest Mission.Sunday we arrived at a little church in the middle of several traditional Massai villages that marked the real destination for our trip. George has been doing an evan
gelism/discipleship technique known as "storying the gospel" for quite a while, using stories and pictures from the Bible told in chronological order to try to help preliterate, animistic societies to really grasp the "big picture" of the gospel. George has helped this little Massai church tremendously, and many of the believers there first came to know Jesus after listening to George tell stories under a tree behind their village.
gelism/discipleship technique known as "storying the gospel" for quite a while, using stories and pictures from the Bible told in chronological order to try to help preliterate, animistic societies to really grasp the "big picture" of the gospel. George has helped this little Massai church tremendously, and many of the believers there first came to know Jesus after listening to George tell stories under a tree behind their village.On this particular day we got the chance to help out with the storying, and for a full day we told 42 stories covering the Bible from Genesis to the Ascension. In the in between times, we sang 
songs, danced, and worshiped together. It was really beautiful to see how God is moving among one of the most traditional groups of people remaining in Kenya. Furthermore, this really resonates with Rebecca and I, who have come to believe that the "systematic theology" approach that we often bring to the Bible can actually manipulate the text, taking away the beauty and full truth of God's big story. The Bible is not predominately a set of theological statements or even discussions, but stories, and when we ignore this, we take God's big world-saving, kingdom making, metanarrative, and turn it into a "manual" on how to gain an individual salvation. We're missing half the point. Storying the gospel helps missionaries bring the full gospel to another culture, without baptizing them into our own sinful misconceptions of God's word.
songs, danced, and worshiped together. It was really beautiful to see how God is moving among one of the most traditional groups of people remaining in Kenya. Furthermore, this really resonates with Rebecca and I, who have come to believe that the "systematic theology" approach that we often bring to the Bible can actually manipulate the text, taking away the beauty and full truth of God's big story. The Bible is not predominately a set of theological statements or even discussions, but stories, and when we ignore this, we take God's big world-saving, kingdom making, metanarrative, and turn it into a "manual" on how to gain an individual salvation. We're missing half the point. Storying the gospel helps missionaries bring the full gospel to another culture, without baptizing them into our own sinful misconceptions of God's word.Afterwards, we spent the night in one of the Massai villages. When many of you heard we were going to Kenya, you probably envisioned us sleeping in a little mud hut in the middle o
f nowhere. That's a far cry from our Nairobi apartment, but that's what we got out in Massai (check out the picture). The Massai are primarly goat and cattle herdsman, and the goats actually sleep in the house with you. Drinking chai, visiting with these people who still live in a world of polygamy, female circumcision, semi-nomadic lifestyles, mudhuts, and the rest . . . really a potentially once in a lifetime experience. And then, sitting in dark, hot, smoky huts, to listen to members of that community tell their stories of how they met 
Jesus . . . surely this is the kingdom coming!
f nowhere. That's a far cry from our Nairobi apartment, but that's what we got out in Massai (check out the picture). The Massai are primarly goat and cattle herdsman, and the goats actually sleep in the house with you. Drinking chai, visiting with these people who still live in a world of polygamy, female circumcision, semi-nomadic lifestyles, mudhuts, and the rest . . . really a potentially once in a lifetime experience. And then, sitting in dark, hot, smoky huts, to listen to members of that community tell their stories of how they met 
Jesus . . . surely this is the kingdom coming!After this trip, Bec and I had planned to head out to Ngare Ndari to visit the group where we are researching butternuts to spend the weekend with Jedidah and John, two of the farmers there. God had other plans, however. Thursday morning we got the call that Rebecca's grandfather, Jim Hart, was likely going to pass away in the next day from his battle with lung cancer. Bec got on a plane to Atlanta that same day, and made it in time for the funeral this week. She has truly felt God's blessing on her time with her family so far. We obviously appreciate your prayers for her and her family during this time.
So that left me to head out to do the work with our Meru group on Friday, and then to head to Ngare Ndari for Saturday and Sunday night. While not nearly as rural as Massai land, 
this was another great opportunity to stay in a village with a family, to get to know the groups better, and to build relationships with new friends with whom we are now working. Jedidah and John (see picture) were incredible hosts, and I really loved practicing my KiSwahili with everybody. Sunday, as is the custom, they asked me to preach, and so I preached on Luke 4, where Jesus quotes from Isaiah and declares his kingdom purpose and mission. Again, we feel so blessed to have been welcomed into communities and invited into homes, to share hospitality with brothers and sisters here. This alone is a sign to me that God is working through our time here in Planting Faith.
this was another great opportunity to stay in a village with a family, to get to know the groups better, and to build relationships with new friends with whom we are now working. Jedidah and John (see picture) were incredible hosts, and I really loved practicing my KiSwahili with everybody. Sunday, as is the custom, they asked me to preach, and so I preached on Luke 4, where Jesus quotes from Isaiah and declares his kingdom purpose and mission. Again, we feel so blessed to have been welcomed into communities and invited into homes, to share hospitality with brothers and sisters here. This alone is a sign to me that God is working through our time here in Planting Faith.This week I'm meeting with the entire farmers group from Mang'u, and continuing to work on a pilot project proposal for our local partner here. As we explained previously, we want to test some of our ideas and lessons learned from our current work, and that's requiring a good bit of research, discussion, and study on my part. And then the week after we're heading to the Coast for the Easter holidays (Easter and Christmas are the big holidays here).
Thanks for your prayers and kind notes. Please keep praying for us as we seek to learn the language, build relationships, and generally immerse ourselves in this culture. Pray for our farmers as they wait for rains (if the rains fail, it could be a real disaster here), and that we would be wise in designing and implementing programs for them. Pray for Rebecca and I in our relationship together, and stay in touch! We our now anticipating Easter: Christ is risen, and coming again! Behold, the kingdom is coming.
Peace,
Michael
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