The Narok Chronicles: Day 2

After a swell night’s sleep, we all awoke to find that we were amidst a very beautiful land. The black of the night cloaked the landscape as we arrived and we were unable to see that we were amidst some of the greenest and finest land of all Kenya. We also discovered that the town we arrived in was called Tendwet. I had never heard the name before, but was glad to be there.

Breakfast was served: all the tea you could drink and some buttered bread. The day’s plans had been set in motion as we were to split into two groups and go door to door to evangelize. However, prior to going, my group was required to pick up a generator for the open air meeting later that day. The village had no running water or electricity; ergo, we were required to find an alternate source of power. The one group headed down the mountain and I drove the other to the unknown location of said generator.

On the way to the generator rendezvous, we stopped at the house of one of the church members. They welcomed us warmly and I recognized that they spoke no English and very little Swahili. We were glad to have a translator who spoke their mother tongue, Kalenjin. While there the man of the house went to fetch his father that he may greet us. His father, in Kalenjin, seemed to be saying something conveying his vast excitement. It was only later that I learned he was thrilled to see a white person. He was seventy-eight years old and had never seen a white man before him. Later that day we came to learn that no one had seen a white person as none had ever been to that village. Through such a truth I have learned that the life of a celebrity is a demanding one. Prior to leaving the house, one of the sons confessed his need for Jesus Christ and we prayed with him there. This began the day of many mighty works from the King.

About halfway to our destination, I recognized that the road was getting awfully narrow. On one side was a perilous cliff while the other side went nearly straight up. Eventually the road ended with no apparent method of turning around and backing up was not an option. At that moment I was thinking in my mind, ‘I signed up to preach the gospel to the world, not drive around the bush in horrific conditions.’ Well, whether I signed up for it or not didn’t change the fact that we were in a terrible fix. The Kenyans saw no issue however as enough nationals can push, or lift, a vehicle anywhere.

We eventually got turned around and decided to leave the van to begin door to door evangelism. The first man we met was a fellow by the name of Mosoli. He was a true Kalenjin, understanding no English. On his head he wore a cap that said ‘Jesus loves you’ and over his shoulders was draped a blanket, their traditional covering. I haven’t a doubt that he found us white people rather novel and am sure in his eighty years of life he had never planned on seeing a white man.

Due to tremendous lingual issues, I had to speak to him through two translators: one from English to Swahili, the other from Swahili to Kalenjin. Yet in speaking to him although he was not saved, I learned that he had a strong grasp on his need for Jesus. The whole time he had been wearing a hat, proclaiming the love of Christ yet never knew it for himself. Ergo, there in the steady rain of Tendwet we dropped to our knees and he asked Jesus Christ to create him anew. What a blessing to see someone so old accept the Gospel! From there we visited several more homes with every inhabitant getting saved. It was a high day in Tendwet this Saturday as so many came into the kingdom.

Later in the day, after our lunch of rice and some sort of soup, we held an open air service in the main square of the village. No less than two hundred people were there, gathered to hear what manner of word was to be shared. The presentation of the Gospel came and several came forward to be saved, one being another old man from the village. Truly it was unusual to see so many older people coming to the faith; these things just don’t happen on a regular basis in Africa. Clearly the Lord was moving powerfully among the inhabitants of Tendwet!

We went to bed that night, after a meal of ugali and some collection of bitter greens. It was rather easy to fall sleep after having walked the hills of the area carrying the Gospel. Praise the Lord for his work, for He has done tremendous things in our midst!