February 3, 2009
The believer’s heart
I wanted to write an upbeat letter from Kenya, to tell you wonderful stories that would lift your spirits and make your heart sing. But how can I sing when the poor around us are experiencing such utter despair.
Neighborhood children in Kikuyu.
Today I learned that hospitals have run out of the tuberculosis vaccine for children. We have a Kenyan friend who has tuberculosis, so we know how desperately she needs her medicine. We eagerly await the next shipment to aid in the fight against tuberculosis.
Our little school for orphaned and vulnerable children, which was developed by Christians in our Kikuyu community, is now taking in children from some of the IDP camps (internally displaced camps). Unfortunately, one year after the tribal clashes, there are still many families languishing in camps.
The rains did not come this year. Three million people face starvation as the drought holds on. The scorched Kenyan soil gives up very little sustenance to families who herd their cattle, scavenging for food and water.
Our neighbors have cut back on food for their children. As crops have failed, food prices have soared. Families are making do the best they can.
Nothing, we believe, can separate us from God’s love. So how do Kenyans cope? How do they see God in their midst? One answer is, they consider the history of God’s sustaining love and activity in their lives, and they lean on God’s grace.
Life has no simple answers. The faith response to God’s grace is trust, with a certainty that God cares, and that God will provide. Christian maturity comes through our circumstances, and the circumstances here in Kenya are real and painful.
I can’t say it is easy—it is miserable feeling helpless—helpless to change things, helpless to usher in a better world. Yet, we share what we have, and we do what we can to help.
Jesus Christ came into this very same kind of world, and said, “Fear not, for I have overcome the world.” “My peace I give to you.” The Holy Spirit, The Comforter is here, for God’s love will never let us go.
Pray for Kenyans and all people who suffer, that they may be sustained by God’s love and grace. For, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
Blessings and peace,
Rev. Dr. Lyle Dykstra and Terry Dykstra
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