by: Bob Reccord
I was reminded this past week just how fortunate I am…and how much I take for granted. I found myself for the first time on the continent of Africa. Nairobi, Kenya to be exact. Approximately 5,000,000 people crammed into a developing city. Streets that make our pot-hole winter aftermaths look like luxury highways. Crowded conditions. And a slum area called the Marthare Valley that is home to some 550,000 people, many of whom are children.
I sat in a school, sponsored by Convoy of Hope, ministering to 1st through 8th graders. These kids had ONE decent pair of clothes ( a uniform provided by Convoy of Hope) and ONE pair of shoes (also provided by Convoy). There were 486 kids…all very poor…all very happy…all having been touched by the love of Christ…and all soooooo thankful. The school is the Mathare Children Development Center and, get this, the teachers mostly teach for food!! Are we spoiled in this country (USA), or what?!?!
I then went to the Kenya Kids Home that takes in homeless kids. I have never seen such neat quarters, orderly kids, polite manners, grateful hearts, and overflowing joy. These kids didn’t have a chance…but local Christian leaders in Nairobi and Convoy of Hope are changing their lives. You can imagine how that impacted my life since my biological mother died when I was 11 months old, my father was an alcoholic and threw me a my two brothers out. Had it not been for the couple who finally adopted me…I wouldn’t have had a chance. So, the kids in Kenya GRABBED my heart.
And, before I go, I’ll share Asa with you. He’s a young boy approximately 18 months old who was taken to a home for young aids victims. He is gaining strength and recovering against the odds. I was blessed to hold him, and hug on him…and get hugs from him. It was worth the trip!!
For the kids of the Mathare valley? For the abandoned kids now living at the Kenya Kids Home? And thank God for all you have.
Bob.
Outstanding! I so enjoyed your speaking the last two weeks in Ft. Lauderdale. You were so ” on” in your statement about how we are too ” white”. I have not yet joined Ft. Lcc. but am a long time member of FBC. Although have not been in many years. I understand we have a mutal friend, Woody Cumbie.
Again, I einjoyed your preaching.
Susan Kincaid
Dr. Reccord,
Great to hear about your mission time in Africa. I am praying that God will use you in a mighty way. He has already used you to impact my life. You just do not know it. Isn’t that the way God does it? :>)
Blessings,
Tim
Great words Dr. R,
Thanks for reminding me. Thanks for your help.
Bob it was such a joy to connect with you in Kenya! I too have been impacted. This thought came to me when I wondered why I have felt so compeled to visit Africa. ” If you give Africa what I have given you, I will give you what I am giving Africa” The Father is blessing the poor of this forgotten continent with un precedented sprititual hunger. I am enriched evey time I go. Terry
What an awesome experience! I can’t wait to one day start children’s hospital’s in Africa! Only a few more weeks Dr. Reccord and we will be in DC for SLU 201!
You are an encouragement to all who know you! May we never forget those in Africa. As the missionary shared to us on the trip, “Be prepared for God to break your heart, expand your heart and fill your heart.” May we all continue to find ways to use the resources and blessings that have been given to us to bless others and help those in need.
Hi Bob
This trip was a profound and strategic blessing to our family. I’ll never forget the wonder in the eyes of my children when they visited the Tegla Loroupe school for orphans in the Northwest hill country in Kenya. When Justin was handed the hand crafted bow and arrow and told he was now a Pokot warrior, we thought he just might burst with pride. Elie couldn’t stop grinning when they wrapped her in beads and scarves and danced and sang for her.
The next day, we visited Mathare with the Convoy of Hope The poverty of this place was overwhelming. The conditions so horrifying. We saw rivers of sewage used for drinking, bathing and laundering. We saw hopelessness in the faces of adults, the burden of poverty, violence and fear weighing them down as dramatically as if they were dragging around 100 pound weights.
But in spite of it all, the joyful spirits of the children there shone so incredibly brightly, whether they were running through the sewage filled streets alongside our bus, or at the school that Convoy has provided for them.
I’ll never forget the Kenya Kids Home, and the faces of the children — their smiles so bright, their eyes shining with hope and dreams for the future. Jesus has made His home in these children. As I pondered how young children who have experienced such hardship could evidence such joy, I realized that they have a wealth that far surpasses that of the western “wealthy.” Their wealth comes from Jesus. He is moving in this country, moving with signs and wonders, reviving the hearts and minds of the impoverished. He is transforming them before our very eyes. What a blessing it was to witness this! In ways of the Spirit, those children seemed to me to be the richest of the rich. So, as we walked around the room at the Kenya Kids Home, placing our hands on their small heads, praying for them and blessing them, I was absolutely certain that these children were blessing me far more than I was blessing them. For because of these children and the evidence of Christ in them, we are now far richer — in ways that matter.
After that experience, you and I talked for a long time. Bob, you are a very special leader. There are so few mature men of power who understand apostolic leadership and the balancing of the burdens and joys of the mantle. We are so very hopeful that Christ has marked more intersections of our lives with yours. We pray that Jesus will continue to richly bless you and grow you. We pray for you often and are honored to know you.
Sandi, Tom, Justin and Elie McCoy
Dr. Bob,
What a great word! When seeing sights and children such as these, I can’t help but take a part of them home with me. I am so thankful for all the blessings God has given me. Thanks for reminding me!
Jeff
Sandi
WOW Sandi, what a great summary of the journey to Africa. It was WONDERFUL to me to watch you kids, Justin and Elie, walk through that journey with “wonder” all over their face. To expose them to the reality of the world in which we live and God’s desire to transform it is so wise. They will never be the same again…and they will become wonderful On Mission adults.
Thank you for your wonderful encouragment. I can’t wait to see you and the family again! Blessings!!!
Terry and Susan, both of you are so gracious and thanks for your encouragment. It was a blast being in Ft. Lauderdale and seeing a church laying down its tracks in an area that is so ripe for the Gospel. And where there is much opportunity, there can also be great opposition. And in beach cultures (which I have lived in 3) there can be a subtle…and not so subtle…opposition to the Gospel. And to the church. I thank God for a church that is planting its roots and taking its stand in the city of Ft. Lauderdale.
And Terry, thanks for being such a strong biblical leader on the west coast where you have been such a strong voice and lead for the Kingdom. In the West Coast culture which distinctively impacts the mores’ and values of our society, you have stood tall and strong on the Word and the importance of transforming lives one person at a time.
You both remind me that the network of friendships is one of the greatest gifts of our life. Thanks for being a gift to mine.
Tim, you made my day…week…month…and year! Thank you my friend.