Day 11: Commissioning

Even before Dylan and I found out we were going to be partners for our 3-week ministry assignment, I already considered him one of my best friends on the team. We just got along really well and we identified with each other because we both come from fellowships that are predominantly Asian. Both of us were also the only people from our schools (Dylan goes to Vanderbilt) and so we had that small but significant connection as well. So while I didn't really express this to anyone, I felt really blessed to have Dylan as my partner and I was pretty stoked to see what God had in store for our friendship.

So our ministry assignment was in Meru, but in actuality, the two of us would be in Weru which is a rural area right by Mt. Kenya (Meru is just the largest city around). One of the first things we found out about our assignment was that we wouldn't have electricity or potable water for We weren't sure what our assignment specifically entailed but we were told that we would be teaching, making house visits, and preaching. Dylan and I would also be partnering with Pastor Mwiti, who had actually arrived at Watakatifu Wote Senta with a bunch of other Kenyan pastors the night before to meet us. Our initial impression of Pastor Mwiti was that he was a quiet but sincere man, but we were going to share lives with him for 3 weeks and so we knew we would have plenty of time to get to know him better.

Today, we had a commissioning service during which each of the ministry pairs were commissioned to go out and be ambassadors for the Gospel. When each ministry pairing went up, they would kneel on the floor as a staff anointed their foreheads with oil and commissioned them. Then the entire GP team would gather around the partners, lay hands on them, and listen as the staff prayed over the ministry partners. I'll always remember kneeling with Dylan as Ryan Davenport put oil on our foreheads, commissioned us, and finally prayed over us as our teammates gathered around us. It was a powerful moment-one that I will not forget.

Later that night, we had our last time of worship together as a team for at least 3 weeks. It was pretty awesome as directors, staff, students both American and Kenya, and Kenyan pastors all sang to our God together. This is the power of God: that He can unite so many different people from all over the world and that we all a singular purpose, which was to let Him transform our hearts and to serve Him as best as we could.

Weru, here we come.