PASTOR’S NOTE

Our Volunteer in Mission Team has been back just one week at the time of this writing. Ed Burton, Laury Hartman, Marty Schwab and myself returned on Ash Wednesday from our ten day visit to Meru, Kenya East Africa.

I am still adjusting to the changes of time and temperature—nine time zones and one hundred degrees. In Meru near the Equator, the temperature was 85 degrees under bright sunny skies. On our first Sunday back in Naperville, the chill-factor registered minus twenty degrees. This is just one of the many differences we experienced.

While I am still sorting through my notes and pictures, I would offer these first impressions of our mission trip:

Our gifts make a difference. We delivered nearly $15,000 from our Christmas Offering and other contributions. This gift is designated for the expansion of the clinic at Kenya Methodist University that Yema Luhahi helped to establish. We met the nurses that Yema has trained. We heard about the HIV/AIDS counseling and treatment programs that Yema has helped to develop. We saw the statistics that show the decline in HIV infection in the Meru area served by the University Clinic. We stood on the spot where the new facilities will be added.

Our missionaries make a difference. It was enlightening and inspiring to be with Lahi and Yema in their Kenyan context. As Ed Burton described, they are “pioneers”. Lahi is one of the founders and builders of Kenya Methodist University. He now serves as Deputy Chancellor of the institution. Yema is a “warrior” in the battle against HIV/AIDS--the pandemic that has caused such suffering across Africa. Through Yema’s training of nurses, public health education and nutrition counseling the dream of an AIDS-free Africa is beginning to come true—village by village. For years we have been covenant partners supporting the Luhahi’s who are missionaries through the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. Through this partnership we have received blessings here in Community Church, and we have shared in the blessings they bring to so many in Kenya.

Disciples of Jesus make a difference. We met many positive people—HIV Positive. We met many “positive” Christians. Some stood before us introducing themselves and then adding, “I am HIV positive, and I love Christ!” Then with a smile and courage, they told their stories. Often about the death of their husbands from AIDS and the responsibility of caring for their families as a single parent. These strong women are literally “coming out”—confronting the stigma and offering support for others who bear the illness while leading in the campaign to eliminate the disease. They are joyful and generous and free in Christ. In communion with these followers of Jesus, I am thinking again about what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ who, in the power of the Holy Spirit, make a difference in the world—to begin with the witness, “I love Christ,” then to tell stories of the places were we hope to make a difference with the help of the Holy Spirit.