Acts 1: 8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Most of our mission work in East Africa was in the bush country. Going from village to village, hut to hut, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ was a challenge and an adventure.
The villagers were very welcoming and cordial to the Americans coming from our homes across the sea to share with them “The Good News” as the gospel is called.
We were told before the first trip to be prepared for culture shock. I didn’t feel any shock. The cultures were indeed different but people are people wherever we go.
So many times we were invited to sit with the people, sometimes around a campfire; other times we sat on logs or the ground. At times we were offered a meal of ugali (ground corn mush) or githeri (corn and beans mix). Of course I never refused.
Utange was another environment. The trails we walked through the jungle were both beautiful and interesting. Hearing the sounds of numerous species of birds, the screams of monkeys and other sounds have lingered in my mind for many years.
The trails in places were covered with a canopy of trees and vines. It was actually dark but occasionally a few holes above allowed a ray of sunlight to creep through.
At one point we found coconut trees about forty feet high. One of the young men with us shimmied up one of them and threw down coconuts for each of us. Several of the trees had notches cut for foot placement to climb the trees. Someone had been there before.
Many of the Africans carried machetes, partly for personal protection but that turned out not to be entirely the case.
With his machete, he chopped the top off the coconuts, carved a spoon from the hull and handed everyone a coconut to drink the juice and eat out the meat with the spoon. It was delicious and a once- in-a-lifetime experience for me.
A narrow trail wound through to Utange church. That’s where I met the interpreter and a few church members that accompanied us.
One of our local transportation hires took me out in the mornings and returned in the evening to fetch me back to the camp at Nyali. The trail was not really a road but he managed. He drove a Datsun truck with the floor rusted out. I could watch the trail through the holes in the floor between my feet as we traveled.
There was a business by the trail across from the church. It was made of sticks with a grass roof.
The entrepreneur sold cookies and drinks and was always good for extended conversation.
One night he prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior and to share his experience of having God come into his life was a great blessing to me. We’ve seen so many big strong men pray to receive and realizing the love and sacrifice of Jesus for them, tears streamed down their faces. Jesus is the Savior of the world but also a personal Savior.
One night at Utange my driver did not return. There was a local gathering spot for the men of the neighborhood near the store. Several large logs surrounded a campfire in the center for light.
Rather than start walking the ten miles back to Nyali, I chose to sit with the men and see where things went. For a white man to join their assemblage took them by surprise but soon we were talking and laughing.
English was still being taught in schools in Kenya and most spoke English and they actually seemed pleased to have an opportunity to practice the language. I was amazed at how quickly they accepted me into their group; curiosity may have been a factor.
They were of religions other than mine. Some were of African traditional, some Muslims and one was Anglican. My ride returned a little before midnight. By then my new friends had gone home and I reconciled myself to the fact I’d be sleeping by one of those logs. The congregation at Utange was very receptive and welcoming. Hands were shaken and smiles exchanged. I often wish I could go back and see how things have developed over the years, Utange has changed.
I still can visualize an elderly lady that walked miles to be baptized in the Indian Ocean. She was bare- foot and the road was rocky. It had to be very uncomfortable but she wanted very much to be baptized.
We took her back home in the back of a truck. As we sat in the truck bed, her facial expression was pure satisfaction.
Going to such places have been the highlights of my life. I’ll always remember the people, the sounds (including the beautiful music in the churches) and the environment. God has blessed!
In the leading scripture, (Acts 1: 8), listed are what appears to be four geographic locations. One of those is the “uttermost parts of the earth.” For years I thought the uttermost was the other side of planet earth but since I’ve reasoned it may not be as far away as we may have thought.
The uttermost may be that difficult person that lives across the street or one we work with or even within our own home and family.
We must always teach that eternal salvation is attained by a faith based belief (Ephesians 2: 8) in Christ Jesus crucified (Matthew 27: 35) for the remission of sin (1 John 1: 9) and resurrected (Matthew 28: 6).