We had a house guest from Kenya a couple of years ago that stayed with us over the summer.  His name is Paul Omondi, and Compassion brought him over here to the US to speak to groups and events concerning what Compassion does (and did personally in his case).  He is back in Kenya now working for a Christian organization and is doing well.  He is another sucess story and we can certainly thank God for Compassion and the folks who are faithful to sponsor a child. 

     But that is not the reason for this post.  I have mentioned Paul before, but never really knew his story.  His story is being highlighted in the Compassion website, and I stumbled upon it today.  The thing that struck me was the fact of a friend of his who was murdered over the theft of a small item, and how Paul was so grieved over it and how he remembered not sharing his faith to him.  From then on, he got trained in evangelism and is now a “door to door” evangelist. 

     So what is our response?  We thank God for Compassion and what He is doing through that great organization.  If anyone of you is not sponsoring a child, please click on the link we have on this website and get started today.  We are advocates for Compassion because we have seen what Compassion is about from the inside and out, and have visited many Compassion projects.  And we can attest to the fact that Compassion does what it says, and more.  And also that the gospel is being communicated to EVERY child, and eventually to the family and communities.  And also, that we can remember that we all die sooner or later, and we need to share the gospel to “every creature”, as we are commanded to by our Lord.  No one is guaranteed another day….today is the day of salvation.

     This is the body of Paul’s post.  From “Chombo” to evangelist…God is good.

As a kid, I often played at the dumping site and scavenged for edibles that the various companies and airlines disposed of at the site. My friends and I named the dumping site “Chombo.” Chombo is a Swahili word meaning machine.We named the dump “Chombo” because we found biscuits disposed of by factories that the machine did not cut into the correct shape. Most boys ended up not going to school, but found a home in “Chombo.”

Not many kids made it to high school in my neighborhood, basically because of two reasons; one, to make it to high school, there is a national exam that one has to take. Passing this exam is not easy as such, and if one never makes it in the exam, then there is no place for him or her in high school.

Another reason is that, even if some make it in the exam, they fail to join high school because they cannot afford the school fees. I thank God for Compassion because it ensured that my school fees were paid for in high school. My sponsor family also encouraged and believed in me, hence I did so well in my exams and joined a government high school. Some of the kids I grew up with did not get the opportunity to join high school. Most boys went into drug addiction and to nurse their drug addiction, they turned to crime.  Ladies turned to prostitution, and most of them had babies as early as 14  years old.

I saw more than 15 boys I grew up with either being shot down by the police or being stoned to death by mob justice. The community was just fed up with crime and took the law into its own hands.  An event that turned my life is when I saw one of the young men I grew up with and even shared classes with being chased down the streets. Later, the crowd caught up with him, stoned him to death, and set his body ablaze.  I later learned that this young man had stolen an electronic gadget worth maybe less than $100. It saddened me seeing my friend die in the hands of an angry mob.

For a long time I blamed myself for not sharing my faith with him. I resolved to join an evangelism and discipleship class in church popularly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. Here I had opportunity to learn how to share my faith and I saw my friends come to Christ, though some rejected.

By the time I had completed high school, I did not know what the next step would be for me, because in Kenya at the age of 18 years I was due for graduation from the Compassion program and that was it.  For sure, high school education alone could not help me achieve my dreams. I became sad. I really had the desire to proceed with my education, but I knew without the help of Compassion I was not going to make it.  One thing surprised me, though; I did well again in my Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams. I became a role model in my community, and I often had parents send their kids to me to talk to them.

I had an interest in teaching kids in church; I found it fun singing with 8- and 9-year-olds and teaching them Bible stories. I also continued sharing my faith in the neighborhood through door-to-door evangelism.

     We went to Phoenix over the weekend and got to witness downtown with a group of other evangelists.  The hotel transport van dropped us off right next to a group of folks open air preaching on the streets.  We got to hand out tracts and share the gospel  with a few folks…… this is a picture of one of the guys preaching.

     I am currently preparing for a presentation on the Mormon faith and an appropriate apologetic Christian response to it.  One of the fascinating features of the Mormon faith is the idea that god(who was once human like us), is now living in heaven on the planet Kolob, which is millions of light years away from us.  He is a busy guy making spiritual babies with his many wives, and these spiritual babies are then ready to inhabit people born on earth.

     According to the Mormon faith, everyone will make it to heaven, except for a very few.  But the idea they have of heaven is in 3 parts, and almost everyone will certainly not be in the best and highest heaven, but some will.  Those who are good enough can attain the status of god and be like him with his many wives making spiritual babies for eternity.  They will then have their own planets and solar systems to inhabit and be busy populating with spiritual babies.

     As you can see, the fact that we can be gods is the Mormon goal.  The diagram does not show that Jesus and satan are the first-borns of Elohim(heavenly father).  More to come later.

A post from Connie

CALLED TO BE CLEAN

     If you don’t like to wash your hands, don’t ever become a doctor or a nurse. You have to wash your hands a lot! Scrubbing up is routine procedure for people in the medical profession. I don’t think any of us wants to be opened up by some doc who hasn’t washed his hands all day! Right? Actually, a  friend of mine had a major heart surgery a few years ago, which he made it through. What he didn’t make it through was the staph infection that he picked up in the hospital. It’s avoiding that kind of thing that is at the heart of a hospital’s insistence that healers and caregivers get really clean before they touch you. If they carry infection, they can do a lot of damage.

     It isn’t just doctors and nurses that have to be clean for what they do. It’s a requirement that God makes of anyone He’s going to use to do His work on earth, from teaching a class to working in ministry, to raising a family in His ways, to sharing His Gospel with the lost.

     Listen to His uncompromising words, for example, in Isaiah 52:11. “Depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord.” When you’re doing anything for God, you’re touching the holy, whether you realize it or not. And you’d better not be handling the holy with dirty hands, with a dirty mind, a dirty motive, or a dirty attitude. God says, “Get rid of that infectious junk! You’re carrying the ‘vessels’ of Almighty God!”

     No one serving the holy, holy, holy God should dare to do it without “scrubbing up” on a regular basis, knowing that we get polluted some each day. When you’re dealing with holy things day after day, frankly it’s easy but deadly to become casual about it; and about sin that you’re allowing to creep into your life. But the judgment is greater for those who know what you know. Who bring infection into the spiritual “hospital” where He is trying to heal lives.

     In 2 Timothy 2:20-21, Paul makes very clear what God is looking for when He decides who He’s going to use for great things. He describes a house with gold and silver vessels, which are used for special things, and with wood and clay vessels, which are used for dirty and gross things. He concludes, “If a man cleanses himself…he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master, and prepared to do any good work.”

     God is not impressed with your abilities, with your great résumé, with your connections, your education, or your credentials. He doesn’t care about your cash. He doesn’t care about your charisma. All He cares about is your character! He is looking for clean! Getting rid of the dirt, staying clean, that is how you qualify to be an instrument in the hands of Almighty God.

     Maybe you’ve got some habits or behaviors where you have let your hands, or your mind, or your spirit get dirty. You’ve gotten careless about the sin that killed your Savior. Don’t defile the work of a holy, holy, holy God. Bow before Him. Let Him forgive you, cleanse you, and purify you again. He has great work for you to do, many lives for you to touch with His Gospel. But only if you’re clean!

     Keith is going to witness at the Pridefest in Pueblo this Saturday.  Anyone interested, let me know and I will get you his phone # so you can join him there.

Pueblo Gay Pride
August 15, 2009
10:45-4:00pm
Pueblo Riverwalk

   We are going to miss Robert when he leaves today or tomorrow on his newest adventure.  After retiring from the Air Force, he is going to travel the United States in his new camper, and share the gospel with the lost.  Please pray for him as he travels and boldly proclaims the gospel.  When he gets his new blog set up, we will post it.

     This is us and Robert last night.     

     We had a great day of teaching evangelism yesterday.  Thanks for your prayers. 

     Afterwards, we had a group of seed sowers and students go out to Memorial Park to put what we have learned into action.  There was a Triathalon competition going on and a bunch of family reunions, so the fishing was great!  We spoke to many folks and shared the gospel with over 50 people.  Most of the unsaved folks were former church goers that got “tired of going” to their respective churches.  Most of them listened intently to the message of the gospel and had great questions. 

     Please pray for Antonio, Denny and Michelle.  They seemed very convicted and eager to follow up on what was shared.  The following is a picture of me sharing with Michelle and a friend of hers. 

     She was wearing a shirt and had a necklace with a “pentagram” or a word she said was similar to that.  She was a former catholic who was now just “spiritual”.  She was spiritual, alright, but what kind of “spirit” is the question.  She said that she was going to go home and read the gospel of John.  May God work in her heart through His Word(Isaiah 55:11).

     One of our local seed sowers just took a trip to Doha, Qatar. He had an some opportunities to share the gospel, and a bible with some locals. This is a copy of the email I received from him.

     I did get the opportunity to go overseas.  I could sense God was putting together some things.  On my way to Qatar from Amsterdam, I found myself in the waiting area with a bunch of Arabs.  It was a little unsettling.  Sitting next to me were four young Arabs about college age.  They each had a different digital camera.  I asked one if his camera had a zoom lense.  He indicated it did in broken English.  The four indicated they were students from Manchester, England.  We continued our conversation and even on the plane they were seated next to me.  The one nearest offered some peanut M&Ms.  I did not feel like eating and politely turned down the offer.  We continued our conversation, but I did not have any tracts with me to share with them.  They were kidding me about going to a place where the temperature was 50 degrees (Celsius, you do the arithmetic!).  The exchange also was very warm!  I don’t know if my company policy would  allow me to share tracts?
 
break break
 
     A few days later, on the way home, my flight was delayed out of Doha, Qatar.  I went to a nearby store in the airport to see what kind of snacks they had.  The only ones I found that I liked were M&Ms - so I bought a bag.  I went back to the gate where I sat back down with several younger Arabs - some on a soccer team and a youth about 16. I offered this youth some M&Ms which he accepted.  He was from Kuwait and spoke English well.  As time went along we began talking about the Bible.  The one thing I did bring with me was a New Testament - one of the ones we share with people.  He was trying to make the case that our religions - Islam and Christianity were basically the same.  He strongly made the case that all these suicide bombers were not anything near the mainstream in Islam.  I went to the New Testament and shared several passages with him.  I tried to show how the Bible is unique and doesn’t give much wiggle room outside of the gospel.  He was genuinely interested.  I left the Bible with him which he put  into his travel bag.  His name is Mohammed. There was genuine friendship!

     Way to go Tom!  May God work on the hearts of those kids through His Word, and through your brave proclamation of the gospel.