Twende chai!

Passing the fields of tea on our way to language school.

Twende chai!  Let’s go to tea time – not a literal translation, but the meaning is clear.  Chai (tea) is an important part of a Kenyan’s day.

Field after field of lush, vibrant, green; each day, traveling to language school we pass through the tea fields.   It is a beautiful sight.



According to the Maramba tea box, “The first tea (Callmellia sinensis) seeds were introduced to Kenya from India by Mr. G.W.L. Caine in 1903 and planted at Limuru, near Nairobi.  The commercial cultivation of tea in Kenya began in 1924.  Today Kenya is the world’s leading black tea producer.”

As with everything, there is good and bad in tea.

Waist-high in tea!

Tea must be hand-picked; it can’t be done with a machine. Tea pickers work very hard. They must pick the tea when the bush is ready whether that is in the hot sun or the cold, pouring rain. During picking times they begin picking at 7:00 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. with a break at mid-day.  They are paid by the kilogram for the weight of the tea they pick. The tender, top leaves are plucked from the tea bush and thrown behind to land in the basket which is strapped to the back of the picker.  This one said she will pick 40 kg. of tea leaves in the morning and another 40 kg. in the afternoon, if she is quick and works hard – over 88 pounds of tea in the morning and another 88 pounds in the afternoon.   That is a lot of tea!


The tea leaves are then dried and packaged.  There is much more to the process, but for right now let’s just concern ourselves with the tea pickers.

Housing for tea pickers --
Many families will live in one building 

Many times these hard workers are under educated and live close to poverty.  If this one doesn't pick she doesn't get paid; so if she falls sick or for some reason can’t perform at her peak, she loses wages. How many years do you think someone can bend over and pick leaves all day long carrying at least 40 pound on their back at a time?



When you drink your next glass of iced tea, pray for the tea picker who picked the tea leaves which went into the teabag that was used to produce that wonderfully cool refreshment.


Ask God to bestow His grace upon the one who picked your tea, that that one may know the God of all creation who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  That even though they live in physical poverty, they may prosper in spiritual wealth; understanding God’s abiding love and promises, His grace and forgiveness of sin, and His watch-care for each of His children.

Proverbs 19:20 People

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” Proverbs 19:20

We have been impressed by some young friends.  These apprentice missionaries, living in a local setting, learning a local language, heard the call to go out further.

The place where they will eventually live is deep in the bush of South Sudan.  With no cell phone signal, no internet, and no air field; they will be at least two hours out, by road, from neighboring bush missionaries.

The remote area is a 40 minute drive from the nearest small town where only the very basics can be purchased.  It is hot and dry in the hot season and hot and wet in the rainy season.
During the rains, the rivers will swell cutting them off, for days at a time, from their town and those friendly missionary neighbors – from medical help if needed – leaving them isolated.

However, they will make friends with those whom they live among, those to whom they minister, those to whom they tell the story of God’s grace.

Spending several hours together today, they asked for advice, trying to glean something from what we experienced and learned during our years on the mission field and our time in South Sudan.
They are Proverbs 19:20 young people, seeking advice and council to gain wisdom for the future. We pray we were helpful.
Willingly, they begin a difficult journey – yet, many times those are the most rewarding.

Ask for God’s blessing to fall upon this young couple; that they would continue the journey understanding that while God’s call isn't easy, He is with them.

Pray that we, and others living in easier situations, would find ways of ministering to those whom God has called to plant their lives in the hard places.

Pray that we all would be Proverbs 19:20 people.

Your Word, O LORD

Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.  Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.  Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve You.  Psalm 119:89-91

Words – Words – Words.  From a very young age we learn the importance of communication.  Crying gets attention, but it doesn't give us exactly what we want; Mom or Dad checks the diaper – but really, I’m hungry.  As time goes on we learn the word for drink, candy, banana, etc. so we can communicate what it is we want.

Meet Dada (sister) Stella, our
kiSwahili teacher.

This is day four of language school – we feel like babies, for that is what we are, communication babies – at least in kiSwahili.  Will I ever remember all of this?  Will I get beyond, “my name is – I come from”?  Is it worth the tremendous effort?  Yes – Yes – and YES!

“Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”  Impressive isn't it?  God’s word, which He has given to help us understand Him and live together in harmony, never changes; it is eternal -- it stands firm, unbreakable and infallible in the heavens.

The communication of that Word – God’s Word – is of the utmost importance.  If you hear me tell you about Jesus from His Word, but you don’t understand me – well, to quote another verse out of context, I am like a clanging cymbal!!   I continue to clang and you continue to nod, but you haven’t a clue what I have said; you will walk away without having heard the Word of God, even though I spoke it.

God’s Word serves Him – all things serve Him.  In order to serve Him and bring His eternal Word to those who don’t know Him, we must be willing to work hard, acquiring the communication skills needed to tell them about Jesus in a way they can understand, no matter what language we use – if we don’t, we are just clanging.

We don’t want to clang – Pray that God would increase our capacity to remember all the new words and phrases.

Pray that we would humbly stand back up and continue on when we trip over our tongues and make mistakes.

Pray that God would loosen our tongues and connect them tightly to our minds that we can think and speak His Word for His glory.