Table for One + The Holy Spirit: 9-26

I didn’t sleep very well last night. This morning we walked to the neighborhood church with Elizabeth and David. It was really big with vaulted ceilings, but still concrete and metal. The service reminded me of a Lutheran style service back home. We had bulletins, which I liked because I could follow along and see where we were in the service. We totally rolled in late and definitely stuck out.

During the sermon (in Swahili) I read 8 chapters of 1 Samuel. It was really cool. I think I will do some more OT reading while I’m here. We got to chill this afternoon and it was really pleasant. We helped Elizabeth prepare some food for the short term team coming over for dinner.

While reflecting on yesterday’s cleanup project I experienced a variety of emotions. I am excited about the fact that a group living in the area decided to do something about the clogged ditches. I know God is moving in that area. But at the same time I feel overwhelmed with hopelessness. I unclogged one ditch in one village in one slum in one city with many slums. And Nairobi is just one city in Kenya with many cities. And Kenya is just one country in the world with many slums. I am just one person.

But then I remember that I have the Holy Spirit in me. One person can help change things. If I impact just one life, that life can impact other lives. Let’s say I share the gospel with one lady. That lady can share Jesus with her neighbors. She can raise her children up in Christ. She can have hope and share that hope with everyone around her. So Jesus is worth spending a morning scraping trash out of a sewer. In fact, he would be right there alongside us working and loving.