Treasures

Every one of us has treasures deposited in us that we need to discover. We have to allow ourselves to have the treasures exploited for the kingdom of God. And all it takes is our initiative to discover what there is in our inside and use it for God's glory as we serve others amongst us.
Over the weekend i went out to Nakuru to meet one Police Superintendent who has discovered what has been deposited in him. He is going out of his way to use it. Superintendent Gitahi Kanyeki is in charge of Molo District Administration Police unit, a district that suffered greatly from the post election violence that gripped Kenya two years ago. And with the government's initiation of operation 'rudi nyumbani,' which was a process that was meant to resettle the displaced, Superintendent Kanyeki initiated his peace building exercise to get the warring groups to live with each other without any more trouble. He took it upon himself to drive the peace and reconciliation initiative in his region of service. He has been going around in public meetings, especially youth meetings to preach peace and reconciliation. Being a police officer, he was privileged to get some of the gross pictures of victims of the violence, and has been using them in PowerPoint presentations to get the message across right and clear.

After viewing some of those pictures on his computer, i still cant get the images of the poor young people i saw lying lifeless with their throats slit. That was gross!
He says after having his audience view the images, he then possess the question; would you like us to go back there? Do you think what we did was worth the while? Do you now understand why its important to live in peace with everyone? And he says the answer is always a quiet no, no yes and so on. He says even though the perpetrators of the violence have not been confident enough to confess their crime for fear of being prosecuted, he has seen a great improvement and and slowly starting to reap fruits of his efforts. Officer Kanyeki has also incorporated members of his stuff in the initiative, who he says have responded well. They are all running across the district and neighbouring districts to preach peace, reconciliation and integrity in society.
While listening to him at one of the youth workshops, i got thinking, what if all of us gave ourselves to this course! What if we all became agents of change and took the bulls by its horns! Would there be anyone our evil leaders would find to manipulate to reach their selfish ends?! Wouldn't our leaders, who have always been the preachers of hate and division also fall suit of this?! I have always believed in the cliche' - if you cant beat them join them. They would not be able to beat us to this game, and so they would be forced to join the common citizen and preach peace with us. Kenya would indeed be the ONE Kenya that we all pray, fast and long for. Using our national flag, Kanyeki brings his message of peace so easily yet deeply to us. As he digs back into our history and the events that led Kenya into becoming a republic, the various people from various tribes who put their lives on line for the freedom of this country. Even to the point of putting our flag together in such a way that would always remind us of our past, present and where we want to be in future. I was left with this one expression - Wow!!!
And you know he does all this in his full uniform! He is proud to be where he is and to do what he is doing for his homeland Kenya. he concludes his message with this words, " let us gang together to guard our homeland Kenya. Repent and seek cleansing! Let us all head together to heaven. And if you are there and you don't want to join us, then we are sorry but we have to tell you that you are headed for hell and all by yourself."
This are the heroes we should be preaching about. People who are causing positive change in our society. Not troublemakers in the name of political leaders who break us in pieces by inciting us against each other.
Superintendent Kanyeki made my weekend!
Bravo superintendent! I salute you! Your labour is not in vain!

The Little things

Christine my friend gets released from prison this Thursday after serving 9 years for drug trafficking and impersonation. Initially, she had been convicted to 12 years for drug trafficking and another two for impersonation, but the sentence was reduced after a successful appeal.

When i first met Christine during one of our outreaches to the prison, i was so moved by her testimony. How the Lord had fished her from freedom to prison to get her into His will. That was one of the most powerful testimonies i had ever heard. But there was a sad side to it too - loneliness, neglect and anxiety. Being a Ugandan single mother in a Kenyan prison meant she had no one to visit with her, her children had no guardian and all that comes with such situations.

I felt the Lord leading me to minister to her. And i have done that for the last two years. Whenever i am able i will buy personal effects, sometimes just walk in to find out how she is doing.

One of my most trying moments with her was when she received the news of the passing on of her firstborn daughter. First, i wondered how i was going to break the news to her, and how she would receive it. Then there was the question of whether the prison authority would allow me to give her such news! As i grappled with the question, i received a call from the prison that i was required urgently. The caller did not divulge any further information. Of course as any normal person questions started filling my mind. I wondered what she had done since she was the only person that connected me to that prison. Accompanied by two of my friends, i took myself to my supposed slaughter. When we got there, i was quickly informed that Christine had a problem, and given that i was the only contact they could find in their records, that was why they had called me.

Now hell seemed closer than i had imagined. All the same, the chaplain was called to receive us in her office as Christine was called in. When i saw her, i knew there was something terribly wrong. She was looking haggard, unkempt and so withdrawn. She tried to smile but nothing worked. Her usual beautiful smile had disappeared in this new look i had never known before. I hugged her,which we rarely did because lots of times we would just see each other through the wire-mesh place, or occasionally shook hands as i handed stuff over to her at the tight watch of the officers. She held so tightly onto me, while i tried to search her silent hug to get the answers to my very many questions.

As we took our seats with my eyes tightly fixed on her and occasionally shifting to the chaplain, she broke out in tears. At this point, the chaplain was explaining why i had been called. Apparently, Christine had gotten to know of her daughter's passing on and was bitter with God for the lose of her second child while in custody. She said amidst weeping that "if God has decided to kill all of my children i want him to take me too." For two weeks, Christine had not eaten, taken a bath, changed her clothes, combed her hair, done her manual duties or even spoken to anyone. She had been crying and giving trouble to anyone who tried to help.

Since i was the only one who had been visiting her, it seemed i would be the only one to help her get out of her sorrow.

What would i do or say that would take away her pain?! I wondered to myself.

Though at this time i was so relieved that it wasn't anything bad as i had feared earlier, her response to the news of her lose however was quite out of hand from what anyone would have expected. In silence i just sat there and cried with her. Once in a while she would keep quiet and try to calm down, and that would be the opportunity for me to throw in a word of encouragement or affirmation from God. Then came the worst moment when i was forced to tell her that even though she had repented and been received by God, she still had to suffer the consequences of her sin. I didn't mean that the death of her children were God's punishment to her, but the fact that they both died from inadequate medical attention and care could be a consequence of her misconduct that led to her being imprisoned. I am glad she took it calmly and did not blow up on my face.

After crying and talking and crying some more, she calmed down and was now able to listen to us in a more composed way. She repented to God for all the unpleasant things she had said to Him, asked the chaplain to forgive her for having been so ruthless with her and promised to apologise to her fellow inmates and the officers as well. As we left, i was glad that the Lord had allowed me to minister to her. And that i can be sought after for her sake. It gave me real joy that i had touched one soul for the kingdom.

As i visited with her this last Sunday which incidentally is her last Sunday in there, i could not help but just praise God for the joy and peace i saw on her face even as she faces the uncertainty of what the outside world has in store. Her hope and enthusiasm really amazed me. And the way she thanked me...no words can explain!

Why am i telling us this, you may wonder! Its just to let us know how God can use us to touch people in our small ways. Its not by power or by might, but by His spirit says the Lord. All we need to do is avail ourselves and He will direct us in ways we may never have imagined.

That very same day, i took my new American friends through a mandazi making class!

I must say this was fun. And you can never imagine how the little things we do to others can change their lives. You should have seen the excitement in their eyes at the fact that they had made their very own first mandazis, and that they don't have to always keep waiting for people to bring them but now they can have them whenever they please. This really pleased me as much as it excited them.

One thing i have learned through these two stories is that its not always about what people can do for us, but what we can do for others. Mother Teresa said, "I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one. . . The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But, if I didn't put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. "

DOES GOD TRUST YOU?!

Oh, i must say this seems a season of challenges for me. I have kept receiving new challenges in the faith that have kept my mind thinking and cracking hard.
After Sunday's worship, a friend made me understand so loud and clear that God can never give you your whole portion!
It hit me like a thunderbolt. I wondered how true that can be, but again it become so true in my mind as i started thinking, yah, how many times have i prayed for stuff and indeed i have received a lot of it but always with new challenges. But then she helped me understand that the gap God leaves is for His glory. I think God got to learn through experience that human beings can never be trusted. If He gave us the whole portion then truly speaking we would have no reason to go back to Him even with gratitude. Remember the story of the ten lepers! Only one went back to return thanks. So the only way for Him to keep us close to Him is by keeping us on our heels.
Then yesterday came the big one- does God trust you?! Matthew 6:33 exhorts us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to us as well. And this is what brings the question, can God trust you enough to give you 'all these things?!' And what are 'all these things' in the first place? A lot of times we associate this verse with worldly pleasures. We think of seeking God and having wealth, high positions, financial overflows, material blessings and all that. Have we ever stopped to think that worldly pleasures are not all that matters to our being?
Spiritual gifts are another very important part of 'all these things.' This should be the priority of our lives. To seek God's kingdom and His righteousness and receive all of His blessings - Holy Spirit, joy, goodness, forgiveness, wisdom, knowledge, prophecy and the like. What great life would a Christian have other than being endoured by all these things! What other things would one seek from God other than having Him put a stamp of approval that He trusts you and can entrust His gifts in you?! Does He trust you with His forgiveness when a friend wrongs you, or a word of knowledge to brethren, or a revelation to His church?!
Can God come out loud and clear like He did at the baptism and transfiguration of Christ and declare that "this is my child in whom i am well pleased!"

Humility

Anyone who does not know the story of Paul the apostle and how he became a Christian?! Reading about his ministry, i am humbled by his acts. As a new believer, Paul and Barnabas are enthusiastically ministering in Lystra and Derbe (Acts 14:8-20). After Paul prays for the healing of a man who had never walked, the ignorant people of this region decide these must be some kind of gods. So they decide to offer sacrifices to them. This really incenses Paul and Barnabas who tear there clothes in anger and move in fast to stop the blasphemy - save them from their detriment. This is what i call humility!
How many of us would jump at such an opportunity and want to show even more miraculous works...!!! How many of us will do everything to cause a stir and receive such an honour! We will want people to get to hear of 'our' mighty deeds and how we are so 'great.' Forgetting that its not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is what ails our society - taking credit even when we dont deserve it. We do anything to have people revere us. This is what has gotten us into this corners we are trying to pull ourselves out of. We grab public land to give to our fanatics, and now we have no more spaces for public developments. We curve off forest land to create farmland for our allies and tribesmen, now we suffer serious drought and consequently serious famine. We allow theft in public coffers and now we suffer poor infrastructure - in medical services, transport, resources leading to this big economic collapse/issues we are crumbling with, and in turn get ourselves in big debts that will take forever to clear. We give our illiterate relatives high calibre jobs and now we suffer poor services because of the poor foundations we laid. The list is endless.
Alright, a few of us have woken up from our slumber, and are now raising voices to try and correct the situation before it gets wa...y out of hand, and what are we doing?! picking up daggers and running after them for their heads.
I dont want to sound like a pessimist. i strongly believe that humility is what will take us back to the place where we should be. The place where we belong.
Are we willing to get down to our knees and surrender?! Are we willing to admit that we have been too wrong and are ready and willing to seek direction?! Are some of us willing to say i have been here too long yet nothing has ever gone right and step aside for fresh blood?! Is the young blood willing to take a self-examination to rid their minds of the old rhetoric and get their fresh and greater ideas to work with?! Is someone willing to voluntarily vacate the illegal forest lands they are occupying to have forest cover reinstated for the good of our land?! Is someone ready to accept that they have been wrong, that they have stolen from the public and like short Zaccheus return what they stole plus the profits it has accrued thereof to the public?!
Oh, God, take us back to the place of prayer!!!

Thought for the Day

Today in my devotion i read Acts 12. I would like to share with us a verse that has never hit me this much before. Verse 23 speaks of how King Herod was struck down and eaten by worms and died. That was scary yet so clear. Indede our God is a jealousy God. He cannot share His glory with anyone else. Do you know its wasnt much for Herod to just say 'it is all about God' and mean it in his heart?! His self-centeredness, pride and stupidy led him to keeping quiet and now we read about him in such away.
Take a moment and ask yourself what would be said or read about you when you are no more in this life! Will people sit back and say, wow! what a great wise person that was or will they say, oh, poor guy, did he/she have to go through that! May God help us to humble ourselves even before Him. And may His grace abound even in our weaknesses.

New Culture

Last week i got introduced to a new culture - America's St. Patrick's day. My two new colleagues and friends who have just arrived from the US did the honours of ushering me into this new culture. They were so excited that their parents had sent them stuff on the St. Patrick's day - candy, green hats, shades, and lots of other funny things. The Kenyans around will agree with me that this is an unheard of holiday here in Kenya, yet it seemed so big a deal to my friends. There i was, being dragged into something i had no clue what it was. I enjoyed the fun of it though. The taking of crazy pictures in all of the crazy paraphernalia. I must admit i was successfully initiated into the St. Patrick's day thing.

Then there was this piece on news about who will save Kenyans from themselves!' At first i was like why do we need someone to save us from ourselves?! But as i listened, i got to understand and totally agree that we need to be saved from ourselves. For instance, when a passenger throws out trash from their windows in the middle of the road, really, they need someone to save them from self destruction. Otherwise before we know it our whole country will be trash. When someone sets a whole forest on fire in this dry weather so as to shelf off farming land, when we harvest trees in our farms to produce timber and in turn sell it off for cash leaving our lands bare, when saloonists empty their dirty water with all the chemicals on the streets, when we have all of our shopping in many little plastic bags that end up in drainages or on dumping sites - the examples are endless. Kenyans need a saviour. Someone who will take to the hell of a destroyed environment and bring us back with a testimony of what the destruction can do. I once thought when Wangari Maathai said we had grieved mother nature and she was surely going to pay us back, we would step back and do self-analysis/evaluation. Think of what we have done wrong, what we can correct and start acting in that direction to apeace mother nature to have mercy on us in her wrath. What have we done instead, we have shaken the statement and seeming realities off and are walking on with much more destruction every other day. Can we arise and salvage what we have left?! Can we retrace our steps and try to make right our wrongs?! Is it possible for us to start somewhere as we wait for our real saviour?! Otherwise it might just be too late for us. Ever read of the Bible story about Lazarus and the rich man?! The rich man wished he would have an opportunity to come back and give testimony of what real hell was but had no opportunity. Lets preserve our environment, lets save our land, lets save our lives!!! It calls for a concerted effort.

Just Starting

Welcome to my blog. I am glad you choose to come to this page. My name is Marion Ndeta, highly favoured and honoured to be called a friend of God, the Most High. I love Jesus for He loved me first, and has assured me of life eternal if only i trust and obey Him. Isnt that so easy to do! Just trusting and obeying all that He tells me. And i mean, whenever i fal short of this, He always avails a second chance - repenting and turning to Him. Oh, what a friend.
Anyway, all said and done I am glad to have all of you in my life. I welcome and appreciate your comments, insights and knowledge into making this page better as we share together what the Lord has blessed me with.
In this blog, i will be sharing stuff about my work, calling, experiences and observations. These would be about journalism - environmental issues, my calling as a Christians, more so a missioner - devotions and my love - music. There may be other things i may highlight here that are not so closely related to those i have mentioned before, but as long as they will bless a soul somewhere, i dont mind sharing.