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I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back here to do any further updates on Kenya. We have been overwhelmed with the work here and over the weekend was beyond Internet and electricity. We have just made a brief stop at an Internet connection. Your prayers have been most welcome. We’ve witnessed some extraordinary things, and when I get a chance I’ll post another blog with some photos. Tomorrow we begin our long journey home, with a flight to Nairobi, a brief meeting in the afternoon with some in this network, and then a late flight to Amsterdam and then home. We are exhausted here, but excited about our return home.f

Kenya is still going wonderfully well. We’ve been very busy the last couple of days getting started in Butere and I’ll try to write more in the next coupe of days.

But I wanted you to know we’ve released a new edition of BodyLife, our periodic newsletter to encourage people in the simply of living loved. The lead article of this issue is titled “How Do I… ?” and helps people think differently about trying to find a strategy for spiritual growth, fellowship, or finding their ministry outside the conventional ways we’ve been taught to think of those things. Whenever we are frustrated that God is not opening doors for us it might be a sign that we’re focused on the wrong doors. The kingdom grows in our heart through the organic reality of living loved and following him, not by finding the right strategy. You’ll also find the incredible letters we get from many of our readers who are also on some amazing journeys, as well as some new announcements of things going on around Lifestream.

Also I want to let you know that we have a new email notification service at Lifestream. If you want to be notified of new editions of BodyLife, receive other special news about what’s going on at Lifestream, including new publications and audio or video additions to the website, or if you want to be notified when I’m planning a trip to your area, you can sign up now for notifications. Please find out more at our sign-up page. If you’re signed up under our old system, we will be migrating you in, but if you want to sign up for additional features, please check it out.

All for now. I’ve got to get back to work here in Kenya!

What an amazing trip this has turned out to me! Each day in our conversations I’ve continued to invite people into a real love relationship with the Father and unraveling the knot of religious performance and ritual that robs us of that relationship. Father has simply invited us to live in the increasing revelation of his love and in so doing we find ourselves growing in a relationship with him that spills over in our loving him as well as loving others, both believers and unbelievers alike. That is all Jesus needs to spread his life in the world.

The real gospel of the kingdom is not best unveiled in the religious straightjackets that we’ve inherited over the last 2000 years. We continue to trade the joy and beauty of a relationship with the Father for a religion we called Christianity, tricked into thinking they are the same thing. As with most countries, religion is rampant in Kenya, but here it is more formally organized in hierarchies of apostles, archbishops, pastors, and elders who compete for influence and control. Unwittingly they subvert the headship of Jesus by taking his place in the lives of believers, rather than seeing their gifts merely as functions to help others learn to follow Jesus.

What has surprised me is that the people here have been so overwhelmingly enthusiastic in embracing this truth with a willingness to separate themselves from their religious practices. They are so hungry for a real relationship that they are willing to risk and repent of the status quo. I’m honestly shocked watching that process unfold. As I’m speaking I see looks of concern when I’m plowing new ground, and then watch the light bulbs come on as as they realize this really is what Jesus talked about We’ve plowed deeper here in the first week than I thought I would through the whole trip. God has touched so many with a passion to know him and let Jesus be the head of his church, instead of relying on human effort and authority.

What a really freak day today was! Kent wasn’t feeling well, so I went alone to a gathering of Christians in a slum. This was the poor of the poor, people whom God loves deeply. Also many of the people who had been to the conference came as well. The room was a crumbling brick structures with no doors or windows, just openings in the brick. It had a dirt floor and no electricity. Even driving in was a bit freaky because as the only white guy in that area the people were pointing at me and the children were screaming at each other to look. They wanted me to speak to them and God just opened up the heavens and poured out his love on them. I can’t even begin to explain what happened. It was Acts-like. As I spoke God’s glory fell in that makeshift meeting place. People began to weep as their hearts surged with the recognition that they had lost their sense of who he was in all their religious practices. Some of their sharings after were so rich with a change of heart and mind.

I said things I’ve never said before as God just opened up fresh insights into his grace. Writing about it now brings tears to my eyes. As I spoke, I found myself moving through the room and touching people and blessing them in the name of the Lord and speaking words of life and grace and love into their hearts. Little kids and old men responded with passion and joy. It was the most strangely, glorious meeting I’ve ever been involved in. God seem to put some very difficult things before them and they grasped them with joy. I know they don’t have a clue what the implications are of what God has begun, but I was wonderfully touched by these people and their raw openness to something so new to their thinking. It was awesome. And while I was sharing, a sheep appeared at the doorway next to me, peeking in to see what we were doing. Hilarious!

We have finished now in this section of Kenya and are moving further out into a more primitive environment with an even larger group of people. We’ll see what God does there. I am having a hard time, however, convincing them that what is happening is not the work of Wayne or his teachings; it is God pouring out himself on them. They continue to thank me and are begging me to come back for a longer time and do stadium events because so many people in Kenya have no idea about the Father’s love. I keep telling them that their hope is not in a man nor in a teaching, but in them letting Jesus teach them how loved they are by the Father and letting him come out of them.

Our exuberant welcome at the airport in Eldoret

Navigating the streets of Kitale.

Speaking in the Kitale meetings to people from all over this region and Uganda

Talking to some of the women about the violence they suffered during the tribal conflicts.

People fellowshipping during a break time outside the Kitale meetings

Who are those white boys in the center? A group shot of the Kitale meetings

The people gathered for our Sunday morning gathering

Children singing with joy, with the brothers from Uganda in the background

We finished the conference in Kitale this morning, and had excellent interactions with nearly 300 church leaders about living loved and loving others. By their questions and comments it was clear that God was giving them insight into these things even as many of them realized that this is a major shift in how their world understands God and that most people might prefer the illusion of safety religion gives, to the wild danger of living in the love of the Father. Man, I so remember being there.

But coming alive in these things is not a quick process. Remember, Paul spent 17 years out learning from God before he started teaching others how to live this journey. It must be something we live first before we can ever help others see it. But I greatly admire the faith and resolve with which these people live. They are not like many of our congregations at home that live for their own amusement. In the overwhelming need of the people, they give themselves away to care for the poor, the widows and the orphans. I am amazed at their heart for God, even if they have only known religious ways of applying it. Perhaps God will open a door.

Last night we met some brothers who drove up 9 hours to visit with Kent and I. Johnny and Kate Brooks from Texas are living full-time in Kenya running some orphanages and caring for the poor just as God’s people in the earth. They are not part of any mission and are not planting a church in the traditional sense. They are living out missions from a relational context, simply loving people freely, meeting whatever needs they can, and for those who want to know the God they love, they help equip them. Kent and I have corresponded with them through email, but this was the first chance we had to cross paths. Johnny came up with two of the brothers he works with and will be here the next couple of days. We love what they are doing and how the grace of God is touching Kenya through their lives. If you’re looking for something on the mission field to bless check out their website.

I love that so many of you are praying for us. Much appreciated. Thanks for the encouraging notes. If I don’t answer them at all, nor not real quickly, please know that our time here with email and with the Internet is very limited. Please be patient and if you can hold emails that need a response until I get home on March 4. Thanks….

Touring Nairobi on Day 1

Kent and I arrived Monday night and are settling in to our two-week visit to Kenya. We spent the first day getting to know some of the people that planned for our coming and mapping out what was ahead. Then they gave us a tour of Nairobi. That’s them above hanging out with me in the city center. Unfortunately Kent took the photo so he’s not in it.

Then we took a flight north to Eldoret, and then a three-hour, sixty-mile drive, that would be impossible to describe here) up to Kitale. Let’s just say it had its scary and risky moments with the traffic, a very rough road, the pedestrians and some malfunctioning equipment on the vehicle. Needless to say Kent and I had some great laughs.

Now we are in the middle of our first conference here in Kitale, and hundreds of their church leaders have come from all over Kenya and some from Uganda to hear about living loved. I am working through an interpreter, which is always a bit more difficult, but I think the message is getting through. Let’s say I’m seeing just about the right amount of people really excited to hear it and some who look like they are deeply concerned that I might be a heretic. The grace and freedom of love sure runs counter to our religious sensibilities and things we think we’re supposed to do for God. But the questions they are asking tell me they are sorting through it. I’m grateful for that.

Unfortunately we’re not having a lot of personal contact with the participants due to language barriers and the way this was set up to deal with some harsh realities of Kenyan life. But I think God is having his way in spite of the limitations. One highlight was hearing from a group of ladies who lost husbands in the tribal violence two years ago. They saw their husbands beheaded and then were forced to carry their husband’s head on a stick through the village. Unbelievable! They sang with passion and joy about the Lord Jesus and the power of forgiveness. The people those areas that were affected by violence are working to bring together people from both sides of the conflict and build relationships they hope will prevent this from happening again should the political coalition collapse. It is still a great concern in this region.

Internet availability is very difficult here. I’m not sure we’ll be able to post very often, so this may be it for awhile, and I don’t even know when I’m going to be near enough an Internet connection to post this. Pray for us if God brings us to mind. We know many of you already are, and we’re incredibly grateful. There is much that makes this trip extremely difficult and I think the enemy has had no small hand in some of what we’re dealing with in the details of this trip and some of the realities of this culture.

We were finally able to secure the audio from the marriage seminar that Sara and I conducted a few weeks ago in Pennsylvania, and have added it to the website for free download. The audio quality was not sufficient for us to print out CDs of this presentation, and we apologize for that. But for those who want to listen, they can find that sharing in our Audio Library.

Living Loved In Marriage

Wayne and Sara share from their 35 years of marriage and how they’ve found a way to grow closer together through the twists and turns of life and each other’s journey. I think many women (and men) will deeply benefit from the story behind Sara’s transition 15 years ago and how it has shaped our life since.

(Recorded at the Christian Life Center in New London, PA. The audio has some flaws in it, which are in the original master. We apologize for the problems, but knew many people wanted to hear us share this part of our journey. You can listen on-line by clicking the link below. Once there, you can also download the audio to your computer for listening later, if you so wish.)

Session #1: Only And Always: The Growing Endearment of a Life Live Loved
Session #2: Finding Our Way to Us: Unity Where We Don’t Agree

Listen to these sessions now

The brothers and sisters who have been praying for our upcoming trip.

On Sunday I head for Kenya to gather with group of brothers and sisters I’ve written a lot about over the last two years. Kent Burgess, a good friend from the St. Louis area will be going with me. We have no idea what will unfold in these days together, but I did get my schedule today, so if you want to keep us in your prayers while we’re there, here’s what we’ll be doing. Kenya is 11 hours ahead of the Pacific time zone, and 8 hours ahead of the east coast of the U.S.

MONDAY 2/15/2010 – Arrive in Nairobi

TUESDAY 2/16/2010 – Nairobi during the day and flight to Kitale in the evening

WEDNESDAY 2/17/2010 – KITALE CONFERENCE BEGINS
11:00 – 1:00pm – Start of the 1st section of the conference.
1:00pm – 2:30pm – Lunch break
2:30pm – 5:00pm – Second section
5:00pm – Break for supper – End of day 1

THURSDAY 2/18/2010
9:30am – 11:30am Start of 1st Section
11:30am to 11:40am – Break
11:40am – 1:00pm and 2nd Section
1:00pm – 2:30pm – Lunch break
2:30pm – 3:30pm – 3rd Section
3:40pm – 3:40 – Break
3:40pm – 5:00pm – 4th Section
5:00pm – Break for supper . End of day 2

FRIDAY 2/19/2010
9:30am – 11:00am – 1st Section
11:30am – 11:40am – Break
11:40am – 1:00pm – 2nd Section
1:00pm – 2:30pm – lunch break
2:30pm – 3:30pm – 3rd Section
3:30pm – 3:40 Break
3:40pm – 5:00pm – 4th Section

SATURDAY 2/20/2010
9:00am – 11:00am – 1st Section
11:00am – 11:10 am – Break
11:10 am – 12:00 pm – 2nd Section
12:10pm –n 12:20pm – Entertainment
12:20pm – 1:30pm – Introduction of IGEM representatives giving of votes of thanks.
1:30pm – Lunch.
End of Kitale Conference
4:00 – 5:30pm – Visiting one of the slums called Bosnia Community

SUNDAY 2/21/2010
You will be having a fellowship in different places.

MONDAY 2/22/2010
9:00am – 12:00 pm – Free time and lunch
2:00pm – Departure form Kitale to Western which is a 3hrs drive.
7:00pm – 8:00pm – Supper time

TUESDAY 2/23/2010 – 27/2/2010 Noon – WESTERN REGION CONFERENCE BEGINS
We shall be following the last time table.
DAILY: 9:30am – 11:00am – 1st Section
11:30am – 11:40am – Break
11:40am – 1:00pm – 2nd Section
1:00pm – 2:30pm – lunch break
2:30pm – 3:30pm – 3rd Section
3:30pm – 3:40 Break
3:40pm – 5:00pm – 4th Section

SUNDAY 28TH/2/2010
The whole team will be in Southern region for Sunday gathering fellowship at one place called Chwele.
You will spend you night at Bro. Michael’s home at Mukuyuni where there is a branch of children home called Christ Hope Children Care Center.

MONDAY 3/1/2010
9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Meeting the IGEM leaders which includes IGEM leaders from Uganda.
1:00pm departure to Eldoret where you will spend your night.
4:00pm – 4:30pm Eldoret IGEM members team
4:30pm – 5:30pm – Hills School Slum where you will meet orphans, widows who are infected.

TUESDAY 3/02/2010
9:00am – Departure to the airport

You can tell you’ve stopped cherishing your spouse when the little quirks that endeared you to him or her in the first place become annoying. The problem lies not within the spouse.

Just in case you haven’t already become sick of hearing my voice, I thought I’d list a couple of new recordings that were put on the web this week.

For those who want to hear the presentation I did for the Sunday morning services last week of a Presbyterian congregation in New London, PA, you can listen to it here. This was a conversation that I did with their pastor sitting at a table in front of the congregation. He’d never done anything like that and yet we both really enjoyed it.

For those who want to hear a recent podcast I did with the brothers at Family Room Media in Sacramento, you can listen to it here.

And, of course, as with most Fridays there’s a new podcast over at The God Journey. This one is about continuing to live in our first love.

Sara and I are back from Pennsylvania, and a weekend with a bunch of Presbyterians. We had an amazing time with some amazing conversations about living loved and how all the religious noise can get in the way of that. We were there for a marriage retreat, with Sara and I sharing a couple of sessions. Being up front is not Sara’s comfort zone, but her story had a profound impact on a number of folks there, especially some of the women.

It was a pretty honest time about our own journey and our hopes in marriage. It was taped and I’m hoping to put that in the audio library when we get some copies or a link to their site. They also asked me to stay over for three Sunday morning services. Did that bring back some memories! But instead of teaching their pastor and I sat at a table and talked about the challenge to live inside a relationship with Jesus and how some of the religious elements of Christianity do more to undermine that reality than support it. That was pretty cool and the people seemed to eat it up. That was so much more fun than giving a lecture, and I think had much more impact as well. The pastor told me later that CDs ordered after the service was off the charts.

I also want to share some quotes with you. Chalk this up to finding truth in the strangest of places. And I mean really strange.

A few months ago I read a book called Beautiful Lies. It caught my eye in a bookstore and I thought it might be an interesting mystery to read when I needed an escapist novel, like when I’m pounding that exercise bike. I can’t tell you that I love the book. Parts of it were interesting, other parts were more graphic than I enjoy, and a lot of it is more girlie than I want in a mystery, but I paid for it so I was determined to read it. But there were some magnificent observations in there that transcended the plot line of this book and have come to mind often sense. I thought I’d share them here:

When you love someone, it doesn’t really matter if they love you back or not. Having love in your heart for someone is its own reward. Or punishment, depending on the circumstances. (p.51)

Nobody likes people who speak a truth you’re not prepared to hear. (p. 132)

Isn’t it just like a man to pretend that trying to control you is the same as trying to protect you? (p. 134) (I don’t know that women get a pass on this experience either!)