June 19, 2013

It was a photo which was not well focused, but as I sought to ‘construct’ yesterday’s SSAP Nudge to Action (1), I kept returning to the above scene captured while driving in late May from Nairobi to Kenya’s coast.  My first response, it was Friday and a school day - Why were these boys not in school?  Travelling around Kenya, one often realizes that too many young kids are working or playing when they should be in school.  I considered if the need for all kids to receive adequate education in Sub-Saharan Africa should be the day’s nudge to prayer focus.  

Lots to view along African highways,
such as Baobab trees or the upside-down trees...

I then remembered my second response when the photo of the Maasai boys was shot – these young shepherds (one weakness of the photo, the goats and sheep are out of view) were standing beside a highway that could take a vehicle the 4056 miles from the Indian Ocean (Mombasa, Kenya) to the Atlantic Ocean (Lagos, Nigeria), on a road completed on either end, but lacking links in the DR Congo (another flaw – though hundreds of trucks passed each hour, none were included in the photo).

...and lots to keep you alert, such as people in the middle of the road...

I tried several times to write a nudge sharing how as their flocks grazed, the boys watched the huge trucks, many hauling two long trailers, ferrying items within Kenya and to land-locked African countries.  I considered sharing that the boys were likely Maasai, a being-reached Sub-Saharan African People, thus they may have already heard the eternal gospel.  But, if this photo had been taken in many areas where these trucks might pass, especially in countries such as the DR Congo, it was very unlikely that they had heard of our Father’s love and salvation – a fact that believers should find heart-breaking.

... selling locally grown fruits and vegetables to passing drivers. 

After many tries, I did use the photo in yesterday’s nudge with an emphasis based on the missing flock – “My sheep … were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them” (Ezekiel 34:6. Pray that God’s workers will respond to His call to search and look for Sub-Saharan African Peoples who have yet to hear a proclamation of the eternal Gospel.”

Trucks are not the only vehicles carrying loads along the highways!

Why am I sharing this with you today?  Because as I read Ezekiel 11:19, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them,” the verse God has led me to multiple times this week, I realized that yesterday’s struggle (which took hours, which is definitely not my norm) is very much related to this verse and why we and others accepted God’s call to serve in Africa.

Vehicles passing in all directions and animals
along the road also keep drivers alert...

Our heavenly Father wants his love and salvation to be proclaimed to all “who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people” (Revelation 14:6). If His desire for all nations to know that He is Lord (Ezekiel 36:23-26) is to become a reality, God’s children must have an undivided heart and a new and focused spirit.

.... and remembering that cows and other animals
will cross the road whenever they like!

Another reason that I’m sharing this with you is that I want to thank you again for the ways you support us and other workers in His harvest field, including the record gifts to last year’s 2012 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (2).  I also want to challenge you to continue praying, sending workers and giving your financial gifts because as PeopleGroups.org (3)reports, there are 11,296 known people groups in our world and our Father’s eternal gospel has not yet reached 6,930 of these groups!

Drivers must also remember that cows, goats and sheep
 are not the only animals one might pass! Jack once
spotted an elephant preparing to cross the road!

One way that you can join us in praying for the spread of the eternal gospel is by continuing to pray for the Kenya Baptist Theological College as decisions are made related to the college’s leadership and future. We remain confident that God has great plans for the college and we are eager to see how He fulfils his purpose as His children are trained and equipped to be a part of proclaiming his salvation, declaring “his glory among all nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples” (Psalm 96:2,3).

And then to be honest, one never knows
what will be spotted next on an African road!

Thank you for praying for last week’s very critical General Meeting of the Baptist Convention of Kenya.  It was a good meeting and Baptists of Kenya are seeking to be bolder and better equipped as they proclaim our Father’s Eternal Gospel – a true answer to prayers!  BERT YATES

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(1) Sub-Saharan African Peoples Nudges to Action – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sub-Saharan-African-Peoples/100173880060607?ref=hl and at http://easternafrica2012prayernudges.blogspot.com/

(2) The 2012 LMCO report is found at http://www.imb.org/main/news/details.asp?StoryID=11925&LanguageID=1709.)

(3) http://peoplegroups.org/

The sayings on the trucks also add a bit of  interest
to travelling on African roads.  This one says,
HUNGING AT YOUR OWN RISK.
YES, people do hitch a free ride by 'hunging' or rather
hanging on the back of moving vehicles in Africa!