by Lynne Faris Blessing
It started with a big disappointment. Last summer I was supposed to travel with Bethany’s team to Kenya, but at the last minute circumstances prevented me from going. I had done all I could to “make it happen,” but God still said “no.” You can imagine my frustration and confusion after so much preparation and anticipation.

Little did I know how God would redeem this disappointment through a series of divine appointments.

The first arose when I heard of another opportunity to go to Kenya – this time with a team from University Presbyterian Church (UPC) in late November. Their leaders would allow me to be part of the team and yet have the freedom to visit Bethany-related ministries. Even better, it turned out that Ann Kelley was also able to travel with me.

Before going, Ann and I listened to the summer team’s reflections—the questions they came home with regarding how to allocate the rest of our Kenya mission funds and how to start planning for the 2006 mission trip—and I realized just how advantageous it would be for us to be able to ask our mission partners these questions in person. The timing of the UPC trip was amazingly helpful for Bethany’s process of taking next steps in Kenya.

When Ann and I arrived there we had a rough outline of a schedule—we had planned time with the World Vision Kenya staff in Soweto Area Development Project (ADP), where we sponsor 175+ children, and a trip to Mbita to visit Kenya Islands Mission and Christ’s Gift Academy. We had let our Kenyan friends who worshiped at Bethany know we’d be coming. That’s about all we knew going into the trip.

Day after day God surprised and delighted us with rich encounters with ministry partners and friends. One Sunday we went to the Nairobi Pentecostal Church in Karen where a number of our Kenyan friends worship.

I was really hoping to be able to grab a minute with Pastor Kivanguli (who worshiped at Bethany last January) about setting up a time to discuss our churches serving together in the Soweto slum.

When we arrived at church, Esther Kitui met us at the door and whisked us up to the front where we sat right behind Pastor Kivanguli. Not only did we have the chance to talk to him, but he invited us to his office for tea. There we met the church’s Pastor for Outreach with whom we had a great conversation about our two churches serving together. Couldn’t have planned it better myself!

We hadn’t made any plans for our evenings, but most of the dinners and lunches we ate while in Nairobi ended up being with the families of our dear Kenyan friends who have worshiped at Bethany over the years – the Kituis, Dalton, Peter, Rose, Phelgona, Irene, Ann…

One day we were waiting at the guesthouse for Dalton to pick us up for lunch, and I noticed a muzungu (white man) pull up. I thought looked a lot like Scott Anderson.

It was Scott! He and Connie are Bethany missionaries who serve with Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) in Boulder, CO. They were in Nairobi to finalize the adoption of their precious baby daughter, Analinda, whom we had the great pleasure of meeting. Had Dalton not been a few minutes late, we might not have ever seen the Andersons. That night just happened to be our only free evening, and we were able to spend it with the Andersons and hear the amazing ways God led them through the adoption process.

Things like this happened just about every day. We definitely had the sense that people were praying for us and that we were part of something much bigger than ourselves.

And we were so blessed by the World Vision and Mayatima staff who took us to visit people they are ministering to who are suffering from the affects of AIDS. We met a dear 14-year-old boy whose parents died of AIDS and now finds himself as head of the household. We listened to and prayed with a man who is rail thin from AIDS and for his young wife, baby and toddler daughter. (After writing the first draft of this article I received an email saying he had recently died.)

We met a number of courageous people who are devoted to serving in the Soweto slum in clinics, vocational training schools, elementary schools…

Our plan for the second week was to travel to Mbita, a rural town on the far west side of Kenya. Once again God arranged the trip, and we were able to catch a ride with Joe, a staff member of Christ’s Gift Academy, a wonderful school for orphans and vulnerable children.

Each night Judi and Steve and Lillian (CGA staff) surprised us with delicious meals with their families and friends. We had wonderful visits with the staff of Kenya Islands Mission and with Pastor Joshua who leads the Suba Lake Victoria Bible School on Mfangano Island. We had fun visiting Mama Reagan, whose home our Bethany team helped build last summer.

Ann and I returned with a deeper understanding of how God is leading our congregation to respond to HIV and AIDS with our ministry partners. Even more than that I returned with deeper gratitude for how God has been so kind to me personally. And I’m grateful that these graces I experienced happened within the context of the larger work that Bethany is part of…God’s work of taking the congregation towards future divine appointments.

Maybe you’d like to travel to Kenya and experience a few divine appointments of your own. If so… pray about joining Bethany’s next mission team to Kenya. Dates are tentatively set for Aug 11-26. Contact Lynne Faris Blessing for more information, lynnefaris@msn.com.