Jesus Worldwide: India

From Katie: If you know someone who would be interested in being interviewed or guest posting for Jesus Worldwide, I would love the chance to chat with them. I have no problem visiting the same country more than once. After all, we all see the Lord work in different ways.

This week I got to chat with my friend Kevin, also sometimes called Jesus Shoes, and his chance to be the Lord’s feet in India. It is hard to whittle six months down to a single blog post, so check out more stories here (including the play-by-play of the war against the rats).

Katie: How long were you in India, and what were you doing there?

Kevin: For six months I lived in north India with several other Americans as part of a discipleship program to help continue the work the Lord had already been doing through the local church as well as two American missionaries living there.

The town has a mission hospital and school, so all of our different roles were centered around those places. One person in pursuit of a nursing degree worked at the hospital. I was exploring the possibility of becoming a teacher, so I taught and assisted in music classes, taught math to several sixth grade students, as well as history.

We were also involved in the local church. For me that meant writing the Bible study for the church youth group, discipling the guys of the youth group, teaching guitar lessons as a way to build relationships, and modeling mature Christian behavior.

I feel like that’s one of the biggest needs there. The church is there and it has some numbers but within the church there is a lack of discipleship. The older believers do not put much effort into training new believers, and the younger believers do not have much in the way of adult role models as far as how to walk with Christ and how to grow their faith.  

Not that I have arrived as a believer (nor will I ever), but I have been walking with the Lord and there are a lot of practical things I could share as well as life experiences to pour out into them. 

Katie: What is the relationship between the Christian hospital and school and the rest of the community? 

Kevin: The area I was in is definitely hostile towards any kind of evangelism, as is most of the country of India. Normally one might think going to an area like that might not be the best of ideas but in this case the church is welcome and respected. It’s almost like the church has earned the right for its voice to be heard. 

The Gospel initially came to this area with healthcare. It’s a very rural area in India that’s difficult to travel to. It’s not as difficult now as it was 30, 40, and 50 years ago. The Christian hospital was the first healthcare in the town and because they were providing healthcare to the people there, the locals welcomed and responded to the Gospel. 

After some time the people working at the hospital began noticing a lot of preventable diseases and began to realize that if these people had education, they would not be seeing those patients. So they started a school, and it was the first school in the area. It started off teaching basics but also things that allowed students to go on to universities.  

There are now multiple hospitals and multiple schools in town; however, the best healthcare comes from the Christian hospital and the best education comes from the Christian school. 

Not all of the students are Christians. Some of them are sent there by their parents who want them in the best school and are able to afford it. It was interesting because they are in a situation where they hear the Gospel on a daily and their teachers are believers.

It was also interesting because the school has the learning center, the ability, and the space to help special needs students which is not common in India. It’s not a large program at a tradition school but they have the space to offer to students who are struggling which is unusual. 

Katie: How did you see the Lord work while you were in India? 

Kevin: I saw Him work in lots of ways. 

While we were there we made a point to let students know we were available and if they wanted to talk about things or study the Bible together, we would do that. There was a teenage girl who was on the very edge. Her family situation wasn’t great but through the work of one of the other Americans and their building a relationship, this girl came to faith in the Lord. Her life has really changed, and we’ve been able to watch her grow through email updates from the missionaries who are still there. The Gospel is bearing fruit in her life, and she is being changed. It’s really amazing. 

Another way was through the relationships with several students. Many of them are young and as they’re growing into adults they need to know that they’re loved. Just like here in the States, I saw a lot of bad parenting. Parents weren’t being parents, and their kids wanted attention and deserved it.  I could never fill that role, but I could at least give the kids some attention. They weren’t just seeing me but they were, hopefully, seeing Christ in the ways that I treated them and the ways I treated the people in my house. 

Typically in the local culture, the women do everything in the house and the men do not help. It was funny for them to come into our home and be seated, and then for me to make them chai that would actually be good. It’s not that difficult to make good chai; I enjoyed turning that cultural norm on its head.  

Most of the time you try and respect their culture. Guys and girls don’t really spend a lot of time together in public. Even if they’re married, they don’t show any affection in public. Coming from a small, private college in the rural South, you get used to there being affection all of the time. It was a big adjustment but it’s something you do because you have to. 

Another way I saw the Lord work was in my own life. You don’t go to a place like that for yourself, at least you shouldn’t. There are a lot of needs for the people there, but ultimately I think the biggest mark left from a trip like that is on you as the person who went rather than the people who are there. I would definitely say that was true for me. 

Katie: What are some challenges you faced? 

Kevin: We faced all sorts of challenges; you’re always going to have them. 

For example, our plane ride was followed by a fifteen hour bus ride from Delhi. It started snowing while we were on our way. About three miles from our destination, the snow was a foot deep, and the bus finally stopped. We had to wait for a four-wheel-drive vehicle to take us the rest of the way. We were without power for our first two weeks. Our tap water went out, and our main water source in town went out. 

The house we stayed in was old and not very well sealed, so there were rats that lived in there. We declared war against them and won! Not without losing some sleep first. It was kind of scary at times. 

The church was also challenging in that there was a lot of immaturity among believers. In the New Testament we read Paul’s letters to various churches, specifically the letters to the people of Corinth, and he’s pretty angry. You read it, and you’re like, “Why were they doing that? They were crazy!” 

I saw a lot of those kinds of things happening in the church. We would see things, and you want to react in ten different ways, but you can’t. It was a challenge to know how to love the church because for those problems to go away it isn’t going to be something an American outsider does to change it. It’s going to be the Holy Spirit changing peoples’ hearts. I can tell someone that he’s sinning but until he breaks down and says, “Yes, I’m a sinner. I’ve been doing this, and it’s not right,” no words I say will make a difference. 

Katie: What can we learn from Christians in India? 

Kevin: Well, we definitely won’t learn punctuality. 

One thing I found that was essential was the church’s commitment to study and meditation. The maturing believers there study the Bible, not just the Gospels or the New Testament but the all of the Bible, and know and understand the details and to meditate on them. The spiritual discipline of meditation is huge. It’s something that’s being ignored and that’s not ok. 

The focus they have on study is something noteworthy and worth doing ourselves. If we’re not really studying the Word and knowing the God we follow, then what? 

Katie: How can we best pray for our brothers and sisters in India? 

Kevin: It’s hard to speak for the entire country with a population of a billion because my experiences are limited to one small town. 

For the country as a whole, that the Gospel would pour out because it’s what’s needed. 

In the small town where I spent my time there are a lot of cultures and religions mixed together. Tibetan Buddhists, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, and people that mix them all together. My greatest prayer would be for them to know Christ.

Also for the church to be unified and truly be the body of Christ, to be unified and love each other. And that true discipleship would happen because that’s what we are commanded to do: make disciples. I would definitely pray for that.

Jesus Worldwide: Kenya

From Katie: Know people who have stories to tell about how they saw the Lord work through short-term or long-term mission work? Have them send me an email at KatieAxelson[at]gmail[dot]com; I’d love to talk with them.

I am grateful that this week I got to chat with Chris and Lindy Thompson (and Ezra, too) who have been serving the Lord in Kenya for almost four years. You can find more about their ministry at OnlyServants.blogspot.com. <>< Katie

Katie: As full-time missionaries in Kenya, what kind of work do you do?

We do a variety of projects including:

• A guest house for missionaries, mission teams, families, individuals, and church group.
• Empowerment projects such as chicken farms. These are business opportunities for Kenyans where we help start them, raise the capital for the projects, train the Kenyans how to conduct the business, and then walk with them for a few months to a year before turning the businesses over completely. All of the proceeds are theirs.
• Helping to start a Bible college that brings specific and ongoing funding, grants, guest lecturers, and sorts. Our second class with graduate in June.
• Working with the church in Kenya by building a network of support for other ministries, NGOs, and organizations based out of Nairobi. We try to advocate for them because we believe in them.
• Food distribution through a partner in ministry called Feed the Hunger. Every Tuesday we distribute food to about a thousand students in slum schools.
• The Street Boys Project. We have identified eight to ten young boys who live on the streets because they have been abandoned, orphaned, run away due to abuse, and other horrific circumstances. We build relationships with them, help to bring them off of the streets and away from additions. Besides the guesthouse, this is where we spend most of our time, energy, and resources.

Katie: What is the Lord doing in Kenya?

God has blessed Kenya in a mighty way. To its north are three of the most vocal Muslim countries: Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan. To its south is Tanzania, one of the most classically Muslim countries in how it organizes and conducts itself in government and structure. Between these powerful Muslim influences sits Kenya which is still called a Christian nation.

Kenya posses a significant amount of businesses, hubs, and foundational name offices for groups and organizations because it is stable, there are good roads, good networks, internet, relatively safe places for families, and more developed in terms of technology, business, and economics. Nairobi has a very robust economy but it doesn’t look like it due to the turmoil going on underneath.

God has allowed Kenya to be in this position and the world needs to know that if we don’t back it up and aren’t supportive, encouraging, and prayerful for Kenya, it will get gobbled up by the Muslim influences.

Just in the four years that we’ve been there, we have seen an influx of the Muslim ideology in new mosques being build and it’s starting to influence legislation. More politicians are being supported by Muslim groups or are Muslims. If Kenya doesn’t take seriously the statement that they consider themselves a Christian nation, then like America and a lot of other nations, Kenya will lose its Christian identity. We hope it uses its position for His cause rather than for selfish ambition.

Eighty to eighty-five percent of the population would consider themselves Christians. However less than ten percent of the population are genuine Christians. 

There’s a cliché that says the Christian church in Kenya is a mile wide and an inch deep. Even though it’s a stereotype, it holds some truth. There are Christian churches and ministries all over Kenya but most of them do not go very deep. There is an over-emphasis on evangelism and an under-emphasis on discipleship. It would be a blessing to see them become discipled and grow deeper in their walk, to trade what is fleeting for what is eternal.

Our western culture owes them a deep apology for introducing to them things that are a lie—pursuit of money, wealth, fame, and notoriety. Things like the prosperity gospel that look like the Gospel but aren’t are putting a bacteria in Kenya and it’s rotting the opportunities to share the Truth.

If you have an unhealthy shepherd, you will not have healthy sheep. This is why we believe so strongly in discipleship the Bible college. We have seen seven boys that were addicts living on the street whose lives have been radically changed by the Holy Spirit. They have left that life, are now in formal schooling and doing well, and most of them have given their lives to Christ. The graduating class from the Bible college are lay people, pastors, aspiring ministers who had no means to get an education because they lived in the slums but they have now graduated and are capable, trained pastors who are raising healthy sheep.

Katie: What are some of your favorite parts?

Definitely the relationships both with Kenyans and non-Kenyans. We’ve been able to learn so many other cultures through international contacts. We are blessed with relationships.

Specifically, our gardener whose nickname is Thomas who was uneducated beyond high school. He’s quiet, meek, and unbelievably giving. He gives the thing that he has the most of and that is himself.  God took this man named Thomas and has made him my (Chris's) most trusted person that I work with. I could give him any amount of money and know that he would do exactly what I’ve asked him. That’s hard to find. He has now graduated Bible college, has his own chicken farm business, is an elder of his church, and is probably my number two person. And he started out as a gardener. Thomas understands that being a Christian isn’t a name you were but rather a life you live. He is evidence that discipleship can help. He is the most giving Kenyan that you will ever meet.

The food is great, too: stew, ugali (grits with a little less water and salt, left in the bowl until it can be broken off like bread and dunked in soup), and sukuma (finely-shredded keels).

Katie: What are some challenges you’ve faced?

Being away from family, of course. Seeing so much need, even in other countries, and not really being able to do anything about it. We’ve got such full plates already and doing anything for another country, takes away from someone you’ve already committed to in that they’re getting less of your time, resources, and funds. Balance is always a struggle. Sometimes we feel like walking ATMs.

Where there is poverty, there is also great envy, strife, and  violence. We have to be very careful in the manner in which we conduct ourselves and the locations we go. We have seen and heard of harsh things happening to believers from other parts of the world. Thugs, gangs, and criminals target non-Kenyans due to the misconception of wealth. 

We’re also westerners. We could live there for 30 years and still aren’t Kenyan. There are some legacies, traditions, and histories that we are not able to understand.

Katie: How have you seen the Lord work in ways you weren’t expecting?

Our son Ezra. We tried for six years to have children and were not able to due to inconclusive medical tests and two failed adoptions that nearly bankrupted us emotionally and spiritually. At the eleventh hour God opened Lindy’s womb and blessed us with Ezra.

In the first two years we were in Kenya, we saw over 2,200 professions of faith. Countless people have been disciple and grown in their walks. There have also been business opportunities that have empowered and given different financial opportunities to Kenyans such as the chicken farms.

Katie: How can we best pray for Kenya?

• To stand strong against Muslim influences.
• For genuine depth among believers.
• Kenya is to have an election this year. The last election in 2007-2008 ended in horrible violence where 1,100-1,300 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced. It put a black eye on the country yet now they have an opportunity to do it right and make a statement to the rest of Africa that they don’t have to operate this way anymore. The African Big Man Syndrome is a common problem where the mindset of one being the biggest, wealthiest, most influential man in the village is on top and everyone else, the common-men, are beneath him. The Big Man seeks to make himself look better and it has little to do with the community. If they can move beyond that to see that helping everyone does better than just helping myself, it could make a some huge statements to the rest of the African nations who struggle with the same thing.

Spring Break-ing

You know you're an out-of-state college student when you're hardly off the plane before being handed a list of appointments and interviews that fill your spring break. That's ok because once you wrestle with your two sisters for the one car you know these roads and can get to your destination without the GPS (named Goopus... it's "GPS" and "Doofus" combined). In fact, you know where the lanes end, the speed limit changes, and where the police officers hide.

One thing my family does together is watch House, MD. Dad and I started it, but my sisters have jumped on the bandwagon. I don't have time to watch during the semester, so I hadn't seen any episodes since I was home at Christmastime. One of the episodes we watched this week involved a woman who blogged literally everything. Even I'm not that bad! See, look. This is me sparing you every intricate detail of my spring break and summarizing it in ten highlights. (I'd also like to note that I don't actually post my blogs at 6:48am or whatever. I schedule their publication, so don't tell me my sleeping habits have changed so I can blog at 6am or something crazy like that...)

1. First and foremost, the term "spring break" is not at all what I have experienced. It's not a "break" when the first day you get to sleep in is the day before you go back.  It's not "spring" when you wake up that day to find three inches of snow on the ground. Don't get me wrong, we had some nice warm days, but silly me, I thought in spring the warm days were supposed to follow the snow not precede it.

2. Seeing my sister's college and eating the only pancakes and pasta for four days. The only person brave enough to venture from this strict diet found herself at urgent care with food poisoning. Oops.

3. Drinking ancient champagne with Christian in the church copy room. Don't worry, April was there, too.*

4. Some of our windows need to be replaced, so we're restaining the hardwood floor first... "if you give a mouse a cookie" style.

5. My first trip to the dentist in five years. It's really not that I have dentist-phobia but rather my mother has phone-call-making-phobia. I think it's a genetic condition.

6.Driving through the morning rush hour traffic for an internship interview at a downtown coffee shop.  However, it was an incredibly interesting, informative interview. The first of three that day.

7.My first pedicure ever. Enough said.

8. Translating at the food pantry and soup kitchen. A hard of hearing Hispanic woman told me (in English) that the first time she heard her family speaking Spanish she told them they sounded like a bunch of chickens. Love it!

9. Remembering that I live in a house where refrigerated black olives are guarded by rotten tomatoes and sometimes the toilet paper pukes cat food. Don't ask unless you really want to know!

10. Last but definitely not least was having the opportunity to read for fun! Gasp! What's that? Book review coming soon.

How was your break?
<>< Katie

* Christian's the pastor of an ancient inner-city church; April is his wife. No one knows where this champagne came from nor how old it is, so, no, we didn't actually drink it.