The folks at Eastside Christian Church really know how to communicate! This past week-end was the second Sunday in their “Beyond Series,” moving the church from beyond where it is now to where God really wants it to be. “Beyond works” — the Gospel consists of not only doing good deeds but also sharing the faith so that people become committed followers of Jesus Christ. The second message was “Beyond the Walls” — the church needs to get out into the community to effect change in their community, in the nation, and around the world. We are blessed to be able to bless others, not to keep our blessings to ourselves.
In this second week, pastor Gene Appel had a great message from Luke 7, showing three vignettes of how Jesus cared for people. He then brought Kenyan Mary Kamau and I to the platform for an interview about the ministry in Mathare Valley of Kenya, which included a great video that you can see (along with another couple about the series and Kenya — see the previous entry in the blog to catch the videos). This week’s video (produced by my good friend John Schmidt), was a grand mixture of humor and heart.
One of the greatest features of this week-end was to be able to tour Mathare Valley right there in Fullerton, California. The missions team had worked hundreds of hours (and at least fifty volunteers) in constructing a very real-to-life replica of Mathare Valley. They outside of the display included “walls” with original sayings from the real walls of the homes and businesses from the valley, taken from photos. Then when you entered the display you were met with the dirt on the floor, the drab setting, darkness, filty running water. What a treat for the senses. But the best were the people who had been with Eastside to Mathare Valley who told stories of real people who have been touched by the Hope Partnership. One lady told us about her microbusiness in making fried potatoes. Then came a man who told us the story of the girl who was abused, but got into the Hope school and just graduated from the 8th grade and was headed to high school — almost unheard of for the Mathare Valley kids. We rounded the corner and saw a shanty which had had a hole cut into the roof in the fantastic “Bring the Light” campaign — literally bringing light to the dark electricity-less shanties so that people can now see inside of their homes. We then got to go into a shanty, being careful not to walk or knock over the meager possessions of the people. I’ve been in the Valley many times, yet I found myself experiencing some of the same emotions and physical sensations I have in Kenya. It was a wonderful experience, and people were able to see first-hand something as close as possible to really being in Mathare Valley.
Two weeks ago (April 11) the church family at Eastside began sponsoring some 300 more children. I do not know how many were sponsored on the week-end of the 18th, and how many will be sponsored by the conclusion of the series (Apr. 25). The goal Gene put in front of the people was the sponsorship of an additional 900 to 1000 children. What a joy to be able to be there and experience what happens when God’s people reach beyond themselves to bless others.
