Faithfulness

There are many good members here. Last week an old mama (well, about my age) came to church from a good distance. She pointed to the mud on her cuffs and dress. It was so rainy the matatu got stuck and all the passengers had to get out and push. She called about 6pm that night to let us know she'd just arrived home. The matatu had broken down along the road. They would not refund the fare, so the passengers had to sit and wait-- no food, no water, a bush for a latrine-- until it was finally fixed. Then they continued on their way.

One brother comes from Maseno area-- about 23 km away. When he greeted me he said, "I have been very blessed! It rained a lot in my home and it's very muddy." He pointed to his shoes and cuffs that were brown with dirt. "But some places are not getting the rain they need, so we are very blessed!"

Alex, a 30 year old man who also lives about 25km away called Saturday night to say he was coming to church. He said he didn't have the fare, so he was getting up at 4:30 to walk. Apparently he did get a lift part of the way. I wonder if it was in one of the open bed trucks we sometimes see filled with people. But what dedication! How can someone say, I can't get out of bed on time to get to church?

And we have a young 16 year old named Pascal who lives about 12km away.

He has been coming on his own to church for months and finally was baptized. When he has fare, he rides. When he doesn't, he walks. You have to love the testimony that this is really the Lord's Church that makes the sacrifice worth the effort.

Members struggle with typhoid, Malaria, TB, and AID's but when you ask them how they are doing they say, "I'm just okay" which is the equivalent of "fine." Sometimes they say, "I'm alive, so I am blessed."

Tonight I called a sister who is disabled and we visited. At the end of the call she said how blessed she was for the call and for friends and for the church family and called down blessings on me. With the purity and sincerity of her faith, I tell you I felt blessed!

One wonders why people with little can find reasons to rejoice, and people with plenty often think they don't have enough.