The month of April (and some of May) was a month of celebration for us here at Feed.Teach.Hope. Our Pastor in Kenya, Linus Kirimi, and his wife, Liz, were able to travel to the United States and spend a few weeks before heading to Missouri for Linus to graduate with his Master's Degree.
While they were here with us, they were able to have several meetings with churches interested in helping to support the mission of Feed.Teach.Hope. in Kenya. More importantly, though, they were able to rest.
We treated them to a restful stay nearby, taking care of their food and travel and also including them in dinners with various families from Christ Community Church of Magnolia. We were also able to enjoy having them with us on Easter. While there was some work done while they were here, there was also plenty of time for rest. They admitted this was the first "vacation" they had ever had.
Rest is becoming an increasingly elusive thing, not just for our friends in Kenya, but also for us in Western society. We are constantly busy with any number of things, always trying to find time to squeeze this thing in here and that thing in there. This is especially true for those of us involved in some type of ministry. We often hear, see, and feel the stories of burnout and exhaustion which sometimes lead to sin or some walking away from ministry altogether.
Christ calls us to something different.
Christ demands we rest.
Believe it or not, some of our busyness actually reveals a lack of faith. When we are determined to fill our every minute with tasks and work related to some goal we are shooting for or responsibility we maintain, and we don't work in a regular rhythm of rest, we are essentially saying "I am so important that this will not get completed unless I am doing all the work for it, at all times".
One of the purposes of rest is to remind ourselves God is in control, not us. When we remind ourselves of this in our everyday lives, it becomes a stabilizer of the foundational truth in our salvation - that Christ has done it all. Too often we begin to cross Western values of hard work and reward with how Jesus rescues us; we can be tempted to think "If I work really hard, Jesus loves me more."
The truth is that Christ has already done the work, and according to John 19:30, that work is finished.
What we fail to remember is that Christ is actually the one making all things possible. All things are held together by Him and put into action by Him. This is not to say we should neglect hard work and keep ourselves from difficult tasks, as Christians we should be the hardest workers. However, if we never rest we are never acknowledging that ultimately our work is out of our hands and in the hands of Jesus.
Our times of rest allow us to enjoy the other things that God has graciously given us; food, drink, family, friends, community, and nature. All of these things are enjoyed during our times of rest and should be a reminder to us of the God who created them how they all ultimately to point to Him.
By working in regular times of rest with our schedules of hard work, we are all the more easily reminded of a God who calls us to find all of our joy in Him, and we are all the more reassured that it's in His hands, and not ours.
It is for that truth that we should be especially thankful.
We are excited to announce CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS for those of you who would like to support the work of Feed.Teach.Hope. through your business.
Our friends at Lucid Books have asked to help further our work in Kenya as a Corporate Partner and we are thankful for our relationship with them.
Lucid Books is a Partnership Publisher with a desire for gospel advancement through the publishing of excellent books. Lucid works with their authors to make the publishing process as simple as possible and they support their authors through the entire process from start to finish.
We are proud to call them a partner as they support our work in Kenya and as we come alongside them in their hope to further the gospel through print.
If you would like to know more, visit their website at www.lucidbooks.net.
If you would like more information about a CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP, please email: info@feedteachhope.org.