Contentment

Dear Blog Followers,
I want to start out by thanking you all for reading my posts; random, though they may be. I know my parents have received some great feedback from the church and I always enjoy reading the comments some of you leave. Additionally, my grandparents have been printing out each post and saving it in some sort of fancy binder… So, no pressure Andy. You may have noticed it’s been a few days since my last post. This is only because each day I seem to be waking up earlier and returning even more exhausted in the evenings. To say the least, I no longer have the will to type. Even the Stewarts, with whom I am staying, have already called it a night, a few hours ago. Though, this one’s for you mom. (:

Over the past half-year, Complacency is an area in which God has really been working in my life. From the loss of my father’s job, to the loss of a brother in Christ through a tragic car accident, to landing myself in the ER after a stupid dirt-bike accident, to the loss of my great grandmother and great aunt, to dad mistakenly cutting his thumb off with a power saw, to being the first responder at a car crash, trying to pull a young girl from her car as she bleeds to death… and through many other dire circumstances, I have been learning the true value of life. The lesson found in Luke chapter twelve, should remind us how short life truly is, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” The question, “What am I living for?” has seriously caused me to reconsider the way I spend my time. The things I’ve wasted my money on, the things I hold in high regard, the things I’ve measured as worthy of my attention, are all pointless for the sake of Christ.

Sad as this may sound, friends are temporary. However, that being said, God is forever. What then am I to do? Please man who is finite or glorify God who is eternal? Sadly the former tends to play default when I don’t take time to think about my daily actions. Though, I can now see that God has been using the past six months to prepare me for something bigger. We are all living for something, whether we care to admit it or not. I earnestly pray that I would live full out for Christ, prepared to leave the temporary things behind. Between Kenya and Summit Ministries, I am giving up a lot… and to be quite honest, it hurts. My flesh doesn’t want to miss most all of my friends’ graduation parties, a friend’s wedding, my senior prom, saying goodbye to high-school friends, or working at Hidden Acres (which I have considered to be my second home). Much less missing all that time with family. Yet, I am fully content… I need to become fully content to follow Christ wherever He may lead... to Africa, to Colorado, and beyond my imagination. To leave my comfort zone and pursue His glorification. Here am I, send me!

Then why is all of this so much easier to say then to do?

In America, being content with one’s present situation isn’t something we are usually taught. Television ads tell us we are incomplete, that we are less of a person without a certain product. It would seem that our apathetic lives can’t be lived to their full potential unless we become something we are not. That isn't what I’ve learned from the Kenyans. Now, maybe it’s just because we don’t have a TV, but I find the lifestyle here to be one that is more centered around religion. Kenya, while corrupt in government, is a very Christian country. Most people here know how to be truly thankful to God for the things that they have. This is partially due in part to the fact that a lot of them have nothing.

Yesterday I visited Kibera, the second largest slum in Africa. Kibera accounts for less than 1% of Nairobi's total area, but holds more than a quarter of its population... at an estimated density of 1250 persons per acre. (So, just imagine sending 825,000 campers to Hidden Acres at once.) The smells and sight of raw sewage running down the garbage littered streets, still rings fresh in my mind. Tiny tin houses, no electricity, no running water, hardly any food. These people truly have nothing. Yet, the one place that was beautiful, the only place people could all gather under one roof in unison, was the church. Community funded, it is obvious to see where the people’s passion truly rests. The music heard floating through the air, is a sweet reminder of God’s faithfulness amongst the poverty stricken. Sorry Joel Osteen, no prosperity gospel here.

The grass is always greener on the other side. Oh, if only we could all remember that true contentment is found in the pursuit of Christ!

After Kibera, we visited a nearby orphanage. At least half of the children there are tested as HIV/AIDS positive. Did that stop me from picking up every single one, not on your life! I spent the next hour giving piggyback rides, racing the little boys across the yard, swinging with the girls, and giving rides on an old scooter. They would come up to me, take me by the hand, and walk with me. And I couldn’t help but to tell them just how much God loves them. Leaving was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Of course before we could leave, they all broke out into song from the movie ‘Annie’. “Who cares what they're wearing, on Main street, or Saville Row. It's what you wear from ear to ear, and not from head to toe, that matters…” At the end of the day, “You're never fully dressed without a smile!” seemed to be the motto the kids stuck by. The memory of their unconditional love for each other and myself will stick with me for life.

On that note, I shall bid you all a wonderful evening. And to you, my faithful readers, I ask for prayer that my focus would remain on Christ and on the work that He accomplished in and around me. That I might forsake all earthly desires and become fully content to go where He sends me.

Forever His,
Andy