God's Perfect Timing

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

    whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

    that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

    its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

    and never fails to bear fruit.” 
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (New International Version)

A year ago this week, I got to meet this beautiful little girl. In remembrance of my visit, we planted this tree, which in just three or four years will be large enough to produce fruit. In the last letter I received from my girl, she shared with me that the tree was still alive and growing. Only a few more years and the little tree will be fruitful.

In my impatience, I wish the tree could have started being productive right away. Supply this poor family with that little bit of fruit in their diets. Why wait so many years?

So many years? Three or four? That is not really a lifetime. In God’s time, that isn’t even a millisecond. In God’s time all things will bear fruit.

In God’s time, the dream job will materialize. In God’s time, the lonely family of two will become a family of three. In God’s time, sickness and sadness will be eradicated.

And in our time, we need to keep the faith and trust in God alone.

Lord, God, Heavenly Father, thank you for your perfect timing, for knowing when to answer our prayers and how to answer our prayers in the way that is best for all. Amen.

If the time is right in your life, please consider sponsoring a boy or girl through Compassion International and change the life of a child like my Mueni. 

When God closes a door . . .

They do not fear bad news; 

they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

Psalm 112:7 New Living Translation

The Compassion center at Ewauso Kdong.

As you may know, for the past eight years, I have sponsored a little lady from India through the organization Compassion, International. Neela has grown from that little girl into a beautiful young woman. And because life goes on and sometimes it gets away from us, my little lady in India is no longer in the program. (This link might answer some of your questions regarding this.) 

I got a call Friday night from Compassion explaining the situation and was asked if I wanted to sponsor a different child in India. “Well,” I said to the woman on the other end of the phone, “Can I tell you my story?”

After I rambled for a bit, the woman asked, “So would you like to sponsor a child in Kenya?”

Ya think?

I knew that this would happen one day, that I would be asked if I wanted to continue sponsorship and where would I like this new child to be from? I go on the Compassion website all the time trying to find kids who might be living in the places I visited in Africa. How cool would it be for them to walk the same land that I walked? How cool if Val could find this new child while she is still in Kenya?

God guide me, send me to the child who needs me the most.

“Um,” I said to the Compassion woman still holding on the other end, “Give me a girl in Kenya who has been waiting the longest for a sponsor.”

“I have a little girl – I can’t pronounce her name, but she is nine years old. Oh, her birthday is July 11. What a wonderful birthday present for her.”

“That’s perfect,” was all I could answer because by this time I was crying.

“We will send her profile within a week. Otherwise if you go to our website, she should be on your account within 24 hours.”

This was eight o’clock Friday night. When I checked my Compassion account at six am Saturday morning, there was my new little girl. Mueni. No, she is not from any place that I have visited or that Val has visited. According to Google Maps she is a good two and a half hour drive from Nairobi, which on Kenyan roads is more like five hours.

But that is ok. Just like Neela from India, Mueni is the child God chose for me. And I will accept His will.  

The Lord will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. 

Don’t abandon me, for you made me. 

Psalm 138:8 New Living Translation

And Lord, don’t abandon Neela or Mueni. Amen

The Compassion center in Nairobi. 

Coincidence? I think not?

Yesterday, my friend Phyllis took me to Joyful Noise Christian music fest in Blaine, Minnesota. If you have been following the tales of my trip to Kenya last month, you may be thinking, “so what? We want to hear about Africa”. But hold on to your seats, God is bigger than that.

This festival, like Lifest, is sponsored by Compassion, International. Between two of the performers, someone got up and gave their plug for Compassion and then introduced a young man who had been a sponsored child with Compassion. Owen was from Kenya and he shared a little bit about his life.  

When he had finished speaking, the woman who introduced him said that he would be down at the Compassion tent if anyone wanted to talk to him. Phyllis poked me. “Let’s go, you have to meet him.”

We wound our way through the throng of people, blankets and camp chairs. I was immediately greeted by Owen’s warm smile when I got to his tent.

“Hi, I’m Chris,” I opened with, extending my hand. “I just got back from Kenya.”

“Where were you?” he asked, shaking my hand firmly.

“Mostly in Nairobi. We were working with a group called Marafiki.”

“Marafiki? In Dagoretti?”

“Yes…” It wasn’t possible that he knew of Izzo’s organization.

“I’m from Dagoretti. Did you work with Izzo?”

We talked for a bit, but other people wanted to meet him, so I had to move on. I texted Val in Kenya right away and she was as surprised as I was. Izzo and Gee, who also works with Marafiki, know Owen, and Gee was a Compassion child too.

 It seems like it is such a small world. And maybe it is. But I think what is more likely is that it is God’s world and He loves nothing more than bringing His children together. 

Knowing now that Gee was a Compassion child, it's easy for me to understand why he wants to pay it forward. I'll be writing more about him in the coming week.

I don't miss mosquitoes

Hey, all you warm-blooded humans living in northern Wisconsin, you aren't the only ones sick and tired of winter. I know, we have been hearing it for months now - snow in the forecast. Again! And it's April! But like I said, you are not the only ones who are complaining. How do you think we mosquitoes feel? We just want to get out there and start stealing your blood. The great thing about that is not only do we steal, we share too. I know, I know, you people in middle America don't have much to worry about. Maybe a West Nile infection once in a while. My relatives living in third world countries are the ones you need to really watch out for. They get to spread lots of diseases, the most notorious being malaria. That's the big claim to fame us mosquitos have. Nothing like spreading that disease amongst children and the elderly in those countries that don't have any way to treat this disease. Yep, those mosquitoes in places like Kenya have got it made. They are famous!

Hold it, hold it, you nasty little mosquito! I am going to Kenya in just over a week and I don’t need you threatening all of those innocent people I am going there to help. So just give it a rest.

Don’t we wish that mosquitoes would give it a rest, and stop spreading diseases like malaria. But they won’t. The best thing we can do is support an organization like Compassion International in their efforts to prevent the spread of this disease which claims the lives of thousands of children each year. To learn more about what you can do, click here. 

And as I head off to Kenya the fifth of May, I will be loaded up with my anti-malaria pills. I just wish I had enough pills to share with the whole country.