BE PATIENT LIKE THAT.

"Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master's arrival. You see farmer's do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do it's slow, but sure work. BE PATIENT LIKE THAT. Stay steady and strong. The master could arrive at any time."

James 5:8 (Msg)

The above picture is a view of Kenya from a road that overlooks this beautiful-God made land. It is hands-down the most lush, green, and mind-blowing scenary I have EVER seen in my entire life--and may ever see. Before my trip to Kenya this summer, I pictured Kenya to be this dry, over-sandy, deserted place filled with dying people living with in-humane conditions. God suprised me--and my wild running imagination was fortunately wrong (thank goodness for the above picture to remind me what it's really like!).

Instead, Kenya was filled with life, happiness, and a culture strongly rooted in richness and openness...not to mention beautiful scenery in most of the places we visited. More than the scenery though, I want to focus on the people there. They are people of patience and faith. They have nothing, yet they have everything, especially if they have God. Many know that God is Master, that He is a provider and protector, and that He is in all things. They stand firm in these promises knowing that the Lord's coming is near, despite their circumstances, living conditions, diseases, etc. Just like their richly developed crops and lush land they have waited so patiently for all year long, their faith also holds patience, trust, perseverance, and is deeply rooted in the one true God.

Before I wrap this up, let me give you a few real life examples of the Kenyan patience that I observed to see how we too can take our daily lives and fill it with a patience and firmness rooted in God.

1. A Kenyan boy I met wanted an education so bad, that at age 19 he started 1st grade (Not many Americans would do that)!
2. A young woman dying of AIDS, laid patiently in a hospital bed, (with another sick patient sharing the twin bed) telling me that she was a believer and that the Lord would either heal her soon or take her to heaven (I know what it's like to have a bad cold--and I don't even think that--I can't imagine having AIDS and having that great of faith)!
3. We built a goat pen for a large family who literally had nothing except for their faith and a small mud hut (see picture below). As we finished building the pen and put the goat inside the family gathered with us for prayer and thanksgiving. Telling us that the Lord had answered their prayers and that they were so thankful. They too, stood firm, trusting patiently in God and He came and answered them (at that moment, with Kenyans and Americans in tears, worship, and prayer in their native language, with Kenyans telling us that they would see our faces in heaven, I realized how BIG God is---wow)!

"Be patient and stand firm, for the Lord's coming is near." James 5:8