What a special last day together as a team! We drove approximately 90 minutes this morning to visit a school’s athletic day. It was like any other school track and field day, except this track was just black lines painted on rough grass, the starting gun was a block of wood, and the runners wore no shoes. It was great fun to watch; however, it wasn’t the school’s athletic day that we really went to see, it was the ministry of Tarah and Wesley Korir. Wesley is from this area of Kenya and another famous runner (winner of the 2012 Boston Marathon, 2016 Olympic team captain). His wife, Tarah, is from Canada and is also an elite long distance runner. They met at the University of Louisville.
Now, they run an organization,Kenyan Kids Foundation, that houses, schools, and trains 40 promising high school runners. They also run a milk processing plant that helps local dairy farmers and a garment factory that makes school uniforms. They are a perfect example of using God’s blessings to further God’s kingdom.
Our team was warmly greeted by each class and was put to work on the sidelines treating injured athletes and even prescribing antibiotics for dysentery. It occurred to me that you can use the gifts God has given you to serve people anywhere. And you can and should use every gift He has given you for Him and His glory. Whether a conversation with a lonely person, a prayer for the hurting heart, two soccer balls given to a school along the walk home, a lecture to medical interns, or a treatment plan for an injured athlete, God can be glorified.
The team starts to head home today – Tracy tonight, most tomorrow night, and then Jeremy and I on Monday. Pray for our journeys home and our transitions back into life there. Pray for the seeds that were planted here and pray that God may give us all eyes to see and ears to hear the ways we can serve Him everyday.
PS – fun fact – it cost $1.00 to see the doctor, but $1.50 to buy a watermelon…and Shane got 2 sets of x-rays for $8.
PPS – warning for those of you at home – I look like I have the measles, I have so many mosquito bites on my face
