Pure Christianity

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Sometimes it takes a child to help us realize how little we actually know. See, children think like children, and     grownups, well according to scripture, we should think like children, too.

Sometimes we think we have things all figured out. We have a PLAN. After all, if we fail to plan, we plan to fail,  right? At least that is what I was taught. Even children learn to plan.

Just yesterday, my five-year-old daughter Butterfly was telling me her plan for when she grows up:

1. She will never have babies so she won't have to become an old shosho (grandma) and then die. (In other words, if she doesn't actually give birth to a child , then she'll never enter the 'grownup' stage of life because giving birth to a child makes you a mother and then the cycle begins. Next you are a grandmother, and then you're really, old and then you die.)
2. She'll just have orphans in her home to be her kids so she can still indulge in the benefits of being a 'mommy' (i.e. the freedom to do whatever she wants and to boss people around without the growing old part.)
3. She will live with me, and she will drive Daddy's car.

As she told me her plan, I realized that since Butterfly is only five and has little experience 'growing up,' living on her own, falling in love, having babies, etc...she can't imagine ever doing it. I on the other hand have experiences that Butterfly does not. I CAN imagine it, but instead of correcting her, I allow her to continue with her 'plan' because I know that in time, she will grow and understand, and more importantly, come to a place where she will WANT to be a grown-up and live independently on her own.

The funny thing about our (we grown-ups) plans as children of a very wise, ancient, Father, is that we can't imagine the things God imagines. We are thinking too much like grown-ups; believing our life experiences are enough and therefore, we have all the information we need for putting together an accurate plan.

Butterfly's plan just made me realize that MY plans may not line up to my wise, Father's plans.

Our Father God, the Ancient of Days, has done far more planing than I've ever done. He planned a design for the universe and carried it out! It works.  I believe that Dad knows when we grown-ups have a plan that is not all that accurate, sometimes, he doesn't tell us we don't have it all 'just right' because our little plan is doing us little harm. But perhaps we should think like a child, and realize that God is Father, and therefore, we should rely on Him to make the plan!

 

 

~Kate Brooks (AKA Mamma Butterfly)

Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, Home for orphaned girls in Nakuru, Kenya, East Africa

The Wheat and the Weeds

     I was reading one of Jesus' parables about the wheat and the weeds.  A
farmer plants some wheat and then the enemy comes and plants some weeds
(tares) among them.  Eventually, the farmer's servants ask him if the farmer
wants them to pull up the tares out from growing amongst the wheat.  The
farmer says not to do so until harvest time because in pulling out the
tares, wheat would also be pulled out.  The farmer says they'll harvest
everything and then bundle up the tares to be burned after the harvest.

In reading some commentary, I discovered that the particular weed,
translated "tares" here, is a plant in that area that looks identical to
wheat until it reaches maturity and the head is produced.  The distinction
is in what is produced.  Here's some questions I've come up with.  What do
you think?

1.        Is this about believers in Christ surrounded by unbelievers in
this world?

2.       Is it about all those saying they believe in Christ as a whole, but
not all of them who say they believe really do?

3.       Does it mean that what identifies us as believers is the fruit we
produce?

4.       Maybe a believer sometimes looks like a tare but they are really
wheat that still needs to mature.  Fellow believers are quick to tear each
other out of the wheat field sometimes when they shouldn't.

5.       Whose the farmer here?  Are we to go around pulling weeds or is
someone else?

What do you see in this?

James

Control

Who knew I was such a control freak? Everyday as our community grows and we follow Jesus, I lose a bit of control. It drives me crazy.

Determining how my life and work was going gave me a sense of ownership, and I believe identity. Yet as that control is eroded I find that it was a false identity, and I really didn't own anything at all.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty, whoever controls our hearts is who we worship. Am I in control? Do I allow others to control me through fear, anger, love, or some other emotion?

Why is it that when we learn some life lesson from God it is so scary and difficult?

It is not easy to lose control over your life, over what you have worked for. Not easy, but very worthwhile.

So if you find yourself losing a bit of your iron grip today, no worries just go ahead and let go of the reigns. He really knows how to ride better than we do.

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Trying to Explain What We Do

I will be in the U.S.A. fundraising all next month and most of November, consequently I have been trying to think of ways to adequately explain what it is we are doing here in Kenya. Now if you have plenty of time I could sit down and talk and talk and talk and talk about what is going on here in Nakuru. Unfortunately most Americans I know barely have time for one talk let alone four. I have to be able to communicate our vision, work, and future in just a few minutes.

Jesus is my inspiration. He had to convey the Kingdom of God to his followers in a short amount of time and in a way that they could remember. So what did he do? He told stories. Parables is the word we are most familiar with, but essentially they were stories that his listeners could get involved with.

A good story can stick with you for life. I remember the first time I read the Lord of the Rings. In fact that book changed my life more than any other thing I have read. Tolkien showed me that truth can be relayed through a story, indeed it seems to be best communicated with prose.

Too bad for me that I am not as good as Tolkien in the story telling department, but I will do my best. So I will be telling stories whilst fund raising. It is my prayer that you will resonate with one or more of the stories, and decide to help us out.

What we are doing in Kenya is taking bad stories, hurting stories, horror stories, stories of oppression, and turning them into good stories. We take a twisted plot and untwist it. We find the Gollums in the story and turn them into Sams. (Reference to Lord of the Rings, and yes I know I am a nerd.)

I will be in the U.S. from October the 1st until November the 18th. If you would like to hear some of our stories drop me an email (back2kenya@yahoo.com) or comment. If you are not in the U.S. or we cannot work it out to visit you, then no worries we will share those stories right here on this blog.

With your help, his help, and her help we can create many "and they lived happily ever after's."

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Crowded

Let me apologize for not having more to say today, but the past few days have been busy for us. I have hardly had time to think, so please forgive my lack of content today.

Currently I am sitting at our office in the industrial area of Nakuru Town. We are out here because the office is cheap, so we suffer with the noise in order to save money. Anyway our office is packed with people coming to ask for help or check on the progress of their request.

It is amazing to me that they come here and wait, sometimes long periods of time, to ask us for an update on their case. We have limited resources, so we actually end up assisting very few people. I say few, but compared to even organizations with big budgets we tend to assist more.

So for the next two hours of so we will talk, talk, and talk some more.

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Ike

There are no hurricanes in Kenya. No storm surges. No spawned tornados. Simply put we should not have to worry about hurricanes. Yet for the second time in four years we find ourselves face to face with a hurricane.

The first time was Rita. She rolled into our lives and wreaked havoc. We were not even aware of her devastation until a month after her visit, as lines of communication were down. We felt her bite from the end of 2005 up to January of 2006.

You see, a big percentage of our donor base is located in south east Texas. I know we should have thought about hurricane season when planning our project, but it slipped our minds. We are thinking about it now. (Also would like to expand into non-hurricane territory.)

Rita took us to the lowest places we had ever been, in terms of financial security. We actually came to a day when we did not have anything to eat the next day. We already were behind two months in rent, were late with the electricity bill, the water bill, and work ground to a halt. Money is vital to live in this day and age, and I came face to face with the nightmare of empty cupboards and hungry children.

We eventually put it in God's hands and he worked a miracle. Money came in that propelled us to the new year, and we learned about truly trusting in the Lord. He taught us so many things in that season, perhaps more posts are in order?

Well now Ike has blown through, and the damage was not as catastrophic as the Weather Channel made it out to be, but the damage is still bad. Ike has the potential to disrupt a major percentage of our donor base. Homes will have been flooded, roofs damaged, people will be out of work, there will be hotel bills, eating out bills, and the expense of replacing what was lost.

That cuts into people's ability to give. Let me say this about our donors, they are great. I know that it will be in their hearts to not forget us. They will want to give even when they fill the pinch, and we appreciate that. Whatever can be given will be used to assist people who need help.

What I want to do is appeal to those of you not directly in the path of the waters to help us. We do not make it a habit of appealing for funds on our blog, but sometimes we just have to.

Could those of you not living in south east Texas give extra for a few months? Perhaps you have never given to our project, now would be a good time to consider. Even those readers outside of the U.S. we need your help.

The hurricane has stopped many people's lives for awhile, but ours are not stopped. We still have the orphans, and our own kids, to take care of. The work with the poor is going on. It is time for us to open a second home for orphaned girls, buy land to house our project, start income generating enterprises, and on and on.

We need your help more than ever now. Every gift is appreciated, and we pray for whomever gives. Gifts are also tax-deductible, at least for our American friends. All of your donation makes it to us here in the field. The home office does not take anything.

We use the money given to us to feed, clothe, care for the sick, house the homeless, and otherwise love the loveless. We are into practically meeting people's needs. That is how we share the love of Christ.

Paypal.com would be a great way to quickly get funds to us right now. (use back2kenya@yahoo.com) Checks should be made out to Kenya Fund and mailed to: 713 West First Street, Beaver Dam, KY. 42320

 

Please don't use the Groves address at this time.

I would like to say thank you in advance, and many blessings. If you cannot give now, please don't feel bad. Or maybe you are committed elsewhere, just remember us when you can. If you can give please consider us.

 

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Food for the Hungry

I know I have said it several times before, but I just love giving food to hungry people. When you are hungry it is all you can think about. Nothing else matters except finding food to eat, and when your children are hungry you will do just about anything to fill their stomachs. This particular photo shows a small group of kids we were feeding here in Nakuru. In fact we gave them chapatti, which is not typical food for someone who struggles to eat each day. It is more of a luxury food, as well as the meat that was in the stew.

We like feeding the hungry, but we also enjoy leveling the field. If I am going to eat a stew I enjoy chapatti with it, so I know others will as well. It is a way for us to transfer some dignity to these orphaned children.

It is important that they see themselves as valuable. After all God values them, so we should as well.

 

 

 

 

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Picture of the Week

This was at our office in Nakuru town. We gave clothes to around 15 kids and several adults last Saturday.

How Do We Eradicate Poverty?

I deal with poverty on a daily basis, and it makes me angry. I sleep in a bedroom that is bigger than many people's entire house (and my bedroom is not that big.) Today I ate a pork chop for lunch, actually two. Many will sleep today without having tasted any kind of meat. Right now I am typing this post on my laptop, while my Itunes is playing on another laptop sitting next to me, yet the majority of people living in the same town, Nakuru, have not even ever touched a computer.

How do we eradicate poverty? How can I get people into better homes? How can I spread the technology around? What about good food? How can I get pork chops on more people's plates?

I am no expert, yet I have observed a method that works wonderfully. I have found a way to eradicate poverty. We just have to change our perspective.

Take the orphans situation in Kenya, currently the official stats are one and a half million, 1,500,000 (just so you can see how big that number is.) By 2010 we will be dealing with two million (2,000,000.) Astronomical numbers. Certainly I can't rescue them all, yet I have rescued eight of them (and will open another home as soon as possible.)

So for those eight girls we eradicated poverty. They live in a good house, go to school, wear clothes that actually fit and are not torn, eat pork chops, and interact with technology.

We can eradicate poverty if we do it one person at time. I can take you to person after person that we have assisted, and show you people that are on the way to prospering if not already there.

Sure there are projects out there talking about hundreds of orphans or big community economic development programs, but I believe the individual is worth whatever it takes. Plus I have visited many such projects, and mostly they serve to enrich just a few people, and they were already o.k. to begin with.

I will continue to bring the love of God and a hope in the future to as many individuals as possible. I also pray that God will allow us to continue to eradicate poverty one person at a time.

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Value?

I know this is a theme I keep revisiting, but I just can't get the idea out of my head that we need to change how we value people. Something has to change. Stories from the Bible like the one Jesus tells in Luke 15 about the lost sheep present a radically different approach to someone's value then I have learned growing up in the evangelical world of America. Apparently the lost one was worth leaving the ninety-nine behind. The context is that the lost sheep did something to get lost, in other words it was his own fault.

Too often we blame the poor for their own poverty. Is it really all that important to assign blame? When Jesus was presented with a woman caught in the very act of adultery, he let her go without assigning blame. He asks her; "Where are your accusers?" Since they had all left and no one is around he proceeds to tell her that He also did not condemn her.

Now Jesus was for sure the one guy who could bring a charge against her, or me, or you, or the millions of poor in our world. Yet he does not do it. Why must we insist on playing the blame game?

How come we cannot help someone without first trying to shame them, or teach them the error of their ways? Trust me if you caused your own poverty, then you know it and constant reminders are not really all that helpful.

I know many of us are changing the way we approach the issue of poverty, and how we feel about people living in that state. I run into folks who really desire to reach out and love, and that makes me feel all warm and mushy inside.

When I say we need to change how we value people, meaning we need to assign worth and dignity to people, who according to the world's economic system have no value, it sounds easy. Yet in my heart I keep finding myself needing to work on this issue. I find myself avoiding those people who I feel deserve their poverty, yet Jesus when presented with people who deserved their separation from God, did not avoid them.

So how do you assign value to someone who earns less than two dollars a day? Do we need to give them money? Perhaps. Do we need to help them with interest free loans? Perhaps. Do we need to give them food, clothes, medicines. Perhaps. I think all these are great ways to transfer value to those without any, and we do them on a daily basis. Yet the best way to give value to someone without value, is to stand face to face with them.

We have to equalize ourselves. I'm not talking about wealth redistribution, I think that is just not practical. I mean come on what rich person is actually going to follow the words of Jesus and sell all he has and give it to the poor? Not a very big percentage I suspect. No I am talking about the way we speak with people, the way we think about them, the way we eat with them, the way we walk with them.

Too often even when we are trying to assist the poor we do it from a position above them. They come to us or we go to them with the air of one who has something to give. Sometimes you need to interact with the poor without giving them anything except a handshake, hug, kiss, or other human contact.

I believe we can transfer value to the valueless one person at a time by simply becoming equal, or realizing that as far as God is concerned we are equal.

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.