The church that Ben Buhati serves in is pastored by a man named Jacob. It’s called Global Field Evangelism Spiritual Life Center. They have four services starting at 6:00am, with their last service from 10:00am to 1:00pm. We were asked to speak at the 8:30 and 10:00 service, so Doug took the first and I took the second. The services were wonderful, and I spent the entire worship time in tears as we sang joyfully Refiner’s Fire, Holiness, I’m Forever Grateful, and Lord, I Lift Your Name on High. Then they broke into a Swahili rhythm song that was outstanding, followed by a rap group from the church led by Moses (The Professor), followed by the choir which is more like church aerobics. It was all so very heartfelt and sincere, and I was reflecting while praising God with thanksgiving that Ben told me 80% of these people were saved in the Kamkunji Slum.
Doug said that after going to church for 61 years, he said this was one of the best Sunday’s that he has experienced as a Christian – even down to the announcements. He said it was their content, like evangelistic meetings this week and discipleship training instead of macramé classes and ski trips.
When I was preparing to speak, I was asking the Lord, “What in the world am I going to teach these people? I could sit at their feet for weeks and not learn everything they have.” It was an interesting response from the Holy Spirit – he reminded me of John 13 where Jesus washed the disciple’s feet showing them the full extent of his love. His answer to me was, “Just wash their feet.”
It is really clear that there are ministry support opportunities that are not financially prohibitive but would have a huge spiritual payoff. There are orphans that need support, water wells that need to be drilled, food that could be provided, and a multitude of other things that we still have to process. We are all concerned about promoting a “welfare” mentality, but it seems that the need is so great.
We finished up about 12:30, went to lunch with Ben, Mary, their niece Serena, and daughters Abigail and Theresa. They are a beautiful family. Then off to see the orphanage on the outskirts of north Eldoret. The biggest problem is that area is a different tribe than Ben and most people in the church, so everything they do has to include the dynamics of tribal rivalry. They cross those boundaries by loving and serving the people.
The orphanage has 52 children with a capacity of 66 more. This is the same place Richard and John Baxter came to in August, and just like John said, the orphanage is like a little heaven on earth for them. It’s large enough to raise their own chickens and vegetables. All the kids were beautiful, but you could see the pain through their eyes.
On the way back to Eldoret we stopped where the church was doing a late afternoon street crusade. There were at between 500 and 600 people there, and the musicians did a fantastic job followed by a 10 minute message from Ben. He asked if anyone would like to receive Christ and there were about 350 responses, best I could tell. Recognizing not all are sincere, the gospel message will bear fruit in many of their lives. I’d say it was a good day.
Richard says Central needs more dance. I told him we need more cowbell. He says we need more happy feet. I didn't have an answer for him.
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