Sometimes God's providence is astonishing!
And the way the Lord answers prayers can be unexpected to say the least! We have had an example in the last year which took our breath away.
The Africa Inland Church in western Kenya invited us to take a two-week conference over this last summer. So my wife, Ann, and I and two elders and their wives from our congregation (Marcus and Jennifer Watkins, and Pablo and Penny Fernandez), along with our youngest son, Owen, duly sped off on the BA Jumbo on the last day of July. But behind the journey lay a wonderful story.
Last year, when we first started planning for the conference at a little place called Nyakach, up in the hills above Lake Victoria, south of the city of Kisumu, we knew how to get a plane from Gatwick to Nairobi, but how would we proceed from there? Where would we stay when we first arrived? I had been into Western Kenya before and knew that many of the roads in the more remote regions were either bad or non-existent. We enquired about hiring a four-wheel drive vehicle from Hertz for two weeks. The price was astronomical. The Luo people we were going to are poor, we could not ask them for help. There are, of course, good missionary folk based in Kenya, but the last thing many of them need is to be burdened with a request for accommodation and transport for seven! What were we to do?
Serious prayer
So this became a serious matter from prayer. How did the Lord answer?
It began with Pablo losing his job! He is a doctor who works in the field of medical research. Last year, you may remember, there was a big take-over among the drug companies and it resulted in no place for Pablo. Redundancy is difficult to handle even at the best of times. Pablo was brilliant in his quiet trust in the Lord through it all. But what were we now meant to do about the trip? The Lord seemed to have compounded our problems rather than heard our prayers. Most frustrating was the fact that on several occasions Pablo almost secured a job, only to have hopes dashed at the last moment. What was the Lord doing?
Then, after three months Pablo was head-hunted. He was given a position as a research head for a well-known German company. Great joy all round! But greater joy was to follow. On entering his new office, Pablo found that his new secretary was a lovely African woman, Lynette. 'Where are you from?' asked our friend. He was amazed by the reply: 'I'm from Kisumu in Kenya'. You can imagine that it did not take long for the conversation to turn towards the AIC conference and the problems facing us with our impending trip. 'That is no problem', said Lynette. 'My brother runs a travel business, providing people with cars and aircraft trips throughout Kenya. He is a Christian and will be happy to arrange everything at a discount.'
Of all the jobs, of all the companies, of all the secretaries, the Lord had chosen this one! Hakuna matata! (If you've seen Disney's 'The Lion King', you'll know that means 'No problem!')
Astonishment all round
To say the least, a few of our jaws dropped wide open as Pablo related all this to us. And it all worked out fine. In August, the first week of the conference at Nyakach Girls' High School was attended by around 100 pastors and their wives. We studied 2 Timothy, basic doctrines and personal conduct for church leaders. During the second week, the numbers rose to around 400 people and we looked at Jude, Christian discipleship and family life.
Not only did Captain Elly Aluvale, Lynette's brother, lay on all our travel needs and provide a four-wheel-drive for us, he also organised a momentous couple of days after the conference, for all our party to visit the Masai Mara game reserve, seeing the big cats, crocodiles, hippos, elephants, vultures, impala, wildebeeste and everything in between.
It all seems so good and so astonishing. It may appear just a trifle self-indulgent, but this was no coincidence. This was the hand of the living God to whom be all the glory.
JEB
Dr John Benton
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