God is filling the earth with the knowledge of His glory – are you part of His divine filling? Are you sharing the love of Christ – filling the earth with His glory?
Inching our way through crowds of people, around motorcycles and other vehicles, down paths crowded and dusty, it feels like we are driving through a maze. Never having been in this area of Nairobi before I am lost after the second turn – good thing we have a guide.
It is Sunday morning and we are headed to church.
Asked to preach at Kabiria Baptist Church in the Kabiria section of Nairobi, this is Jerry's first time to preach an entire sermon in KiSwahili without an interpreter.
Pastor Nzoika (N-zoe-ee-kah), our guide, instructs us to pull into a small fenced off area and park beside the fence near the metal structure that is the church building. There is only room for our car.Greeted by a few early arrivers as we enter the church, we are grateful for the cool breeze; this all-metal structure would be unbearable if not for the cool morning temperatures.
Assured Bible study will begin soon, we sit in the plastic chairs set in rows that comprise the pews.
As the church fills up we begin to realize that not all of these folks are from Kenya, many are from the D.R. Congo, having fled from there during the years of conflict.
The choir is very good and we have the opportunity of hearing three different songs from them as well as their leading out in the congregational singing, accompanied by a guitar, drums and box-like metal shakers.
Nothing compares with African music – it is amazing!
God blesses Jerry’s hard work as the congregation interacts with him during the sermon; questions asked and answered during his preaching indicate that the congregation understands what is being said as God’s vision of filling the earth with the knowledge of His glory is imparted.
As the service ends and we are greeted by the enthusiastic members we are in awe at God’s marvelous grace -- grace that was poured out on us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The opportunity was given to us to hear and understand the gospel message. Now it is our responsibility to share that same message so that others may hear and believe.
Pray for the church at Kibiria. These folks have very little, but they love God and want to serve Him. Pray that they will obey His voice in their lives and reach the whole area of Kibiria with the gospel message.