Building Up Others

It was a bit surreal to be propositioned by a prostitute as the sound of a Vineyard worship song floated out of the bar behind us. The pastor’s seminar last month met in the red-light district in a Mombasa suburb. We meet on the top floor of a hotel that competed with the vibrations emanating from two or three surrounding bars and their drunken patrons. We don’t know if the owner of the bar had any idea what he was playing, but it was the one and only worship song we heard from the tavern. During a break between sessions, Doug was standing outside the hotel when the woman struck up a conversation with him. It is a pity he didn’t immediately recall Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well.

We were spending time with the Vineyard leaders along the coast in an effort to build relationships and encourage them. Over the past year, their APC (Area Pastoral Coordinator) has committed a number of significant transgressions and has had to be removed from leadership. The resulting discouragement and disillusionment of the other leaders was to be expected. The focus of the seminar was on Creating Healthy Leaders. Since it is the Holy Spirit that creates healthy leaders we enjoyed significant ministry time praying for each other and bringing a measure of healing. Several leaders needed a reminder of their call to ministry and the strength to face the future.

It is not uncommon for us to be reminded of the diversity in the body of Christ while working here. The majority of leaders were black Kenyans, but we also had two white South Africans and a former Anglican priest from Britain. When the Holy Spirit shows up, none of our differences matter, we were one. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he has been commissioned to the work of “building you up rather than pulling you down”. We had a sense of building leaders up on this weekend and it was wonderfully satisfying.

This season we celebrate the “enfleshment of God”. The message that “God so loved the world” resonates in our hearts and causes us to look with compassion on the parts of the “world” surrounding us today while we also remember the other parts of the “world”, namely you, our friends and family, whom we especially miss this time of year. May your Christmas season be rich in Christ Jesus!

As the year draws to a close we want to thank you for your on-going prayers and continued support. It is great to have you participate in God’s kingdom building work here in Kenya.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8.9