Heart Condition

Over the past few months, I have been remaining in the words that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I believe that His message was not simply a memorized sermon; but rather, He was speaking the very heart of God. He was teaching about a Kingdom that belongs to the poor in spirit, to those who know they need Him. He was telling us to seek this Kingdom and His righteousness first and revealing to His friends that all of the law could be summed up in this: love God and love your neighbors. He did not want us to worry about our lives; but rather, he desired for us to grow in trust of our Father who gives good gifts to His children.
I do not pretend to understand all that Jesus was trying to say, but I have come to realize and truly believe that the condition of our heart is what matters to God. Our words and actions, no matter how good, are only of value if they are said and done with love. As man, we see the outward appearance of things, but God sees the heart. Amazingly, the blessing promised to those with a pure heart is to see God. What a promise.
I am often reminded that God is seen in unlikely places. Recently, I was stopped along the side of the road, and a young boy who was selling peanuts came to the car window. In Kenya, when people are not interested in buying what is being sold, we say: “Si leo, labda kesho,” which means “not today, maybe tomorrow.” I was not prepared for the wisdom that proceeded from the child’s mouth when he said, “tomorrow is just a dream. Today is life.” This child understood something that Jesus once taught when he said, “do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles.” God used that small boy to allow me to see His Kingdom more clearly as he reminded me- today is life. Needless to say, I bought the peanuts.
Lost Boys of Sudan…
Over the past year, the people of Southern Sudan have landed within my mind and grabbed my heart in a powerful way. As I’ve listened to their stories and read about their experience of survival through twenty plus years of civil war; my mind has been filled with many unanswered questions, my heart has been moved with compassion and broken over injustice, and I have learned to pray for peace in a way that I had neglected before.
One of the tragedies and remarkable aspects of the war lies within the telling stories of a group who have come to be known as the Lost Boys of Sudan. Between 1987 and 1989, it is estimated that 20,000 little boys from across Southern Sudan, after watching their villages being burned and their families being massacred, began a fierce journey of survival. Alephonosion Deng, one of the Lost Boys, explains: “The name Lost Boys came to be when our village was attacked by fierce Arab horsemen. We, little boys, spewed out of the blazing village like a colony of ants disturbed in their nest. We ran in different directions not knowing where we are going. We gathered some fruits for our breakfast and lunch. We, little boys, were so messy, all chaos and cries filling the dark, fiercely lightless night.”
Barefoot, they walked a thousand miles through the hot deserts often defending themselves from wild animals such as lions and crocodiles. Without food and water, they ate mud and leaves to avoid starvation. Often, they grew gravely sick but would keep going in order to survive. In the nearly impossible walk, half of the boys died along the way before the others were able to find shelter in refugee camps in Uganda and Kenya.
In They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, Benson Deng writes of his experiences as a Lost Boy. In one account, he tells of the day he was reunited with his brother after five years of separation:
Then my heart began pounding deeply and I knew at once this was my younger brother, Alepho, whom I’d left back home five years earlier. He was ten years old now and nearly as tall as me. He knew me too. We hugged each other in tears. Seeing my own brother again was the greatest moment of joy in my life… After wandering for so long, I finally had a home and family. The war that had flung us to the wind had set us back down together.
In 1987, Abraham, one of my dear friends who works with Empowering Lives Sudan, was nine years old when he was forced to leave Sudan. In his story, Abraham was separated from his mother and watched his father die as they journeyed across Sudan. After walking for three months through the Sudanese bush and desert, he arrived at a refugee camp on the border of Ethiopia; but in 1991, guerrillas destroyed the camp. Once again, he was faced with the treacherous journey across volatile Sudan. In the return, the group he was travelling with were attacked by Arabs from the north, and Abraham watched many of his friends being killed. Abraham continued walking until he reached a refugee camp in Northern Uganda. Eventually, he was relocated to another refugee camp in Kenya.
When I asked Abraham about his experience as a Lost Boy, without bitterness, he humbly replied: “As a refugee, I was faced with a question. I left my family in Sudan, but who is my guide? When I was travelling all of those months, I was sick. I did not have medicine. I asked myself: who is my healer?” These questions eventually led Abraham to know his God in a deep and personal way.
In August of 2005, 8 months after the peace treaty was signed between Northern & Southern Sudan and 18 years after a nine year old boy fled from his homeland, Abraham returned to his village of Kolmarek. He returned as a 26 year old man with a vision to rebuild what war had destroyed: his home. Please join me in praying for Abraham and the other Lost Boys who are now young men. Pray that they will find peace and their home. Pray for the rebuilding of Sudan.
A Season to Celebrate…
If there were a theme for this past month of life in Kipkaren, it would best be described as a season of remembering and celebrating God’s faithfulness.
- 10.28.06. Thousands came to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ELI Kenya as well as the grand opening of the ELI Children’s Home in Kipkaren & Brook of Faith Academy (the elementary school for the children in our children’s home & community). It was wonderful to hear members of the community share their stories of how the various ministries of ELI have transformed their lives and this community.
- 11.4.06. The village of Kipkaren as well as friends from throughout Kenya joined together for the purpose of raising funds for ELI’s UPEC Chebaiywa Clinic. As the health ministry continues to expand, ongoing development at the clinic is needed. We thank God for his provision as we were able to raise $5900.
- 11.17.06. An HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign was held within the village of Sambut. Nearly a thousand people attended the activity and 455 people were tested and counseled regarding their HIV status