As part of this trip to Kenya, Running the Race members were invited speakers at the 2nd International Sports Medicine Conference put on by the Kenya Society for Sports Medicine held at Gertrude Children’s Hospital. Our team gave 8 lectures over the past 2 days focused on the care of the elite athlete. We also led break out sessions on sports ultrasonography and physical exam techniques. One of us was also the invited guest at a monthly CME event for the Kenya Orthopedic Surgery Society last evening. It has been an honor, and we have made many new friends who are working hard to increase the presence of Sports Medicine in Kenya. God has sustained us through our jet lag and our overall lack of sleep – certainly the frequent tea breaks have helped as well.
The best part of the conference was when Jeremy ended the program by bravely and beautifully challenging the attendants to compete for the real crown. He spoke the gospel clearly and then called us as clinicians to care for our patients not just physically, but also spiritually.
There were two specific additional blessings during these 2 days. Jeremy and I snuck out during one lecture to speak with Arnold who drove to Gertrude just to meet us. Arnold is the National Team Leader for The Life Ministry Kenya which is a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. One of their focus pillars is sports, and we began to explore how Running the Race and The Life Ministry might come along side each other to fulfill God’s calling through sports and sports medicine. Arnold also gave us 2 more contacts of people in the Eldoret/Iten area who are involved in sports ministries and we hope to connect with them next week.
The second surprise blessing was a lunch meeting with Gertrude Hospital administration. Gertrude has a vision for developing sports medicine for the children of Kenya through training of clinicians, and through clinics and/or camps at various locations across the country.
Again, God seemed to be making connections for His people to come together. God uses the church (His body of believers) and our God-given passions to build His kingdom. It is a reminder that God is the head of the church and without our head, we can do nothing…and we are each only one body part not capable of the work of the Lord alone, but only in connection with the other members of the body.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
“…the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” Colossians 2:19
Pray for us as we try to get some rest tonight and then travel by plane tomorrow to Eldoret and then by van to Iten.
On a personal note, I, Christine, got to spend some sweet time with my Kenyan friend, Matilda. Matilda is the finest clinician I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I met her when she was an internal medicine physician at Tenwek hosptial. She is now a hematologist working at a national hospital in Nairobi. A hard place. What was so amazing is that although our worlds are so different, they are also so similar. Specifically, our current struggles are the same. We shared together our struggles. We spoke of our struggle for joy and contentment in our current positions. We wrestled with how one knows if an unsettled feeling is God calling you to a new work, or God calling you to a deeper contentment and joy in Him alone. We encouraged each other through conversation, the Word and prayer to keep our eyes on Jesus. We vowed to be His light and to trust HIs love. God can move us…but He won’t do so unless it is best for us and His use of us in HIs kingdom. God’s children are the same everywhere. Our struggle with sin is the same in every country. Thankfully, God’s sufficiency is also the same everywhere.