Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2008

Burundi Opens its Doors to the Gospel

Under 100 degree heat, rising dust, and high precipitation from the nearby Lake Tanganyika, 4,500 Burundian believers from all walks of life and all ages crammed into the temporary tin-roofed structure set up in an open field in the city center. They sang, danced, listened to our message of hope through Jesus Christ and prayed fervently for the salvation of their nation. Faith-filled believers and the intense heat combined with the occasional cooling breeze blowing over the crowd reminded me of what the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 must have felt like. The Holy Spirit was unmistakably present among us. The service was meant to be a gathering of believers from Bujumbura churches to pray for the healing and salvation of Burundi during our upcoming Festival of Hope and Leadership and Governance Conference in the capital city. However, when I asked if there was anyone who needed to receive Jesus Christ into their life as Lord and Savior, fifty four people stepped forward. Following this, I...

The African Transformation

After reading this article by Matthew Paris, I was impressed by his honesty and frank observation of the African transformation. Mr. Paris, an atheist, is impressed by the apparent transformation that the Christian faith makes in the lives of the Africans that he encounters as he travels across the continent. Not only are these believers changed spiritually, they demonstrate a rare competence in their pursuit of societal change that is fueled by a new biblical world-view. He observes: "In the city we had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall." To the contrary, their non-Christian comrades luck this unique trait. Bound...

Jesus of the Palace...Jesus of the Manger

Last Sunday as I prepared to speak to some four thousand believers in Bujumbura, Burundi on the significance of Christmas, I was captivated by Luke's narration of the birth of Jesus Christ. In his narrative in the second chapter, he begins by laying out the historical context. Augustus was the Ceasar. Quirinius was the governor of Syria. What captivated me is the placing of these great historical figures and their assumed political power and wealth juxtaposition Joseph, a descentant of King David, by birthright a king, but dwelling in poverty and obscurity. Similarly Jesus, being divine royalty, is born in a manger. Why didn't God in His sovereignty orchestrate things so that Jesus is born in Ceasar's palace rather than in a manger? If not in Ceasar's palace, why not orchestrate things so that Jesus is born in Quirinius' palace in Syria? The location of the birth of Jesus Christ, in a manger rather than in a palace, is obviously consistent with His entire missio...

Touched by the Villagers' Generosity

Today, Sunday, was a fairly busy day for us. We woke up early and got ready to go to church. Our host friends Dr. Matasi and his wife Ziporah had invited us to minister at their church here in Kitale. The name of the church is called Kitale Victory Center. It was started five months ago and has about 500 members at the moment. Dr. Matasi, an OB-GYN, is a prominent member in the church as well as in the city. He operates a medical clinic called Rapha Medical center, with a vision to develop a full fledged Christian hospital in the town. Pray with him that this vision which he has held for over ten years will come to pass. Since our arrival here in Kenya, I have felt that the Lord would like for us to encourage the people with a message of hope and restoration. I have shared this message now in three cities (Nakuru - Nakuru Christian Center, Nairobi- Nairobi Pentecostal Church Valley Road, and Kitale- Kitale victory center) as well as in my village of Eluuya and also with the nations...

The African Village Dance

My wife Suzanne and I were treated to a very elaborate reception by my family and village when we arrived in the village yesterday. It was more or less a full wedding re-enactment including the cake-cutting ceremony. There were about 400 people at the service after my family worked so hard to limit the number. They sung, danced, and celebrated our arrival. My younger brother Victor led the crowd in a beautiful worship service. The gospel was fully proclaimed and nearly 50 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ following the altar call. My dad, Justus, also shared his testimony and how God has favored him all his life. The most touching moment was when he publicly repented for having "resisted God's will for his son's life (me)" 11 years ago when I had to leave for the United States. He admitted that for selfish reasons, he resisted and sent emisaries to desuade me from following the missionary call at the time. God bless him for his humility. The other ...

In Nairobi - Kenya

My wife Suzanne and I arrived here in Nairobi last week on Thursday night. It is great to be back to this city which holds lots of memories for me. I lived, worked, and exhibited my Christian faith here in the early nintees before moving to the United States. I have since been through the city at least once a year mostly on my way to the neighboring countries for mission work. With God's help, I have retained many friends and connections here inspite making my aboard in Minneapolis. I guess it is the normal life of a world evangelist to have friends from all-over the world. When we arrived at the Airport this time though, one friend who has always been there to receive me was ambiguiously missing: Josphat Mboko. Josphat, an old friend and mentour to me since my teenage years, went to be with the Lord this past summer. He and his wife Scolastica were in a road accident and both died, leaving their teenage kids orphaned. It was shocking when I heard about it in early August...

Advancing from Success to Significance

"I am requesting for your prayer,” he began as we sat down over a meal at the Forepaugh restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota four years ago. “I am currently designing a heart device that has capacity to stop itself should it sense that a heart patient is beyond recovery. My biggest concern is to know what our boundaries as human beings are and when we are crossing those boundaries in regards to medical innovation and treatment,” he continued as he sought God’s wisdom in the matter. Meet Robert Stadler as he lives out his faith in the market place of scientific ideas and technological cutting edge. He is the Senior Principal Scientist for Medtronic , the world’s largest medical technology company whose head-quarters is here in Minneapolis. A graduate of both Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University from where he holds a Master of Science in electrical engineering and PhD in Medical Engineering respectively, Rob advanced from searching for success in life to ...

How should we live in the face of economic anxiety?

The question we are all dealing with is how to live well in these economically anxious times. According to the latest statistics by psychologists, eighty percent of Americans are anxious about the economic outlook and worried about making ends meet. That is a staggering number of people. Unfortunately, the news is not any different for followers of Jesus Christ. Everyweek I pray with people who are on the brink of a nervous break-down due to economic pressures. Many among us are dealing with job losses, house-value depreciations, and diminished or vanished incomes. Those in their 50s and 60s are seeing their retirement savings disappear over-night. Just yesterday, a dear seminary professor shared with me his own anxiety... his 401 K is now far much less than it was 15 years ago even as he approaches retirement. I believe that Jesus gives us a clear blue-print on how to live anxiety-free. Here are five principles that we find in Matthew 6:19-34 that if we pay attention to, we can live...

Marriage: Investing the most and the best

I recently married my best friend and companion, the love of my life Suzanne. I am having the BEST time of my life EVER. So, I hope you understand why I haven't posted much lately. The ancients understood something about a newly married man and the necessity for him to take time to get to know His wife. For instance, Moses instructed Israel not to send a newly married man to war or lay any other heavy responsibilities on him for at least one year. He was to stay home and bring happiness to his wife (Deuteronomy 24:5). One thing is clear to me: marriage has plenty of rewards. We are blessed to be married, especially if we have our priorities right. By this I mean having God as the center of our marriage relationship and caring more about your spouse's wellbeing than your own. My experience so far is to be careful to seek God's wisdom when faced with potential crisis. I pray for Suzanne consistently and on a daily basis and serve her in light of our call as servant leader...

Where Humanity and Truth Meet

The issue with us believers who are engaged in political discussion here in America is that sometimes we are willing to bury the truth or simply glose over it in order to advance what we think is most important. We would do so in order to support our preferred candidate or political party or merely to win an argument. Truth-being and truth-telling at all times is a virtue we only espouse when it is convinient. The danger is that this lack of charater breeds nothing less than bondage. By not being honest and truthful with ourselves in accordance with God's Word, we handcuff ourselves and allow political peddlers and exploiters to lead us blindly to the dark dangeons of servitude. Hidden in the candy of political expedience is the deadly poison of devilish deception. I see this in our talk of "choosing the lesser of two evils" language. In other words, we would gladly paint over a lie thereby become liars for political expedience. The God that I know from Scripture...

What Do I Know About Obama's Faith? Part I

Lately I have had several people ask me what I know about Barack Obama and his faith. So, I will be responding to this request in my next few posts. If you have studied anything about the History of Christianity in North America, you know that the American public has always cared about the faith of their presidents and presidential candidates. We like it when our leaders express their dependence on God and can affirm their personal faith in Christ. That is not to say that everybody likes it that way. There are plenty of people who are so irked by this fact. They would rather have secularism dominate. The truth discernible from those of us who are 35 and under, however, is that faith requirement is a quality that is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Faith in the person of Jesus Christ and acknowledgement of the need for God in the public square of American politics and business enterprise is not going anywhere. This election cycle is no different. Americans are a rel...

Why JCfan-Khakava?

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 I recently graduated from Bethel Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. Following my graduation I promised my family and friends who follow my International ministry that I will start blogging on a regular basis. After experiencing several site difficulties at my previous blog address , I have decided to start a new one here. You might be wondering what JCfan stands for. It simply means "Jesus Christ fan." I am a big fan of Jesus Christ because of what He is doing in my life and in the lives of millions of people all around the world. I am His follower and live my life guided by His Word and philosophy. I came to know Him at an early age of four. So, we go way back in our friendship. "Khakava" simply means "All sufficient God" in the Luhya language spoken in parts of Western Kenya where I was born. This name of God is the equivalent of the Biblical Jehovah Jireh in the Old Testament. It speaks of God's love, care and gene...