Update - Sept 10

We splurged. Hello comfortable missionary life! Hahaha. Man, I’ve been waking up every night to kill the annoying mosquitoes that buzz around our ears. It’s impossible to sleep. So we bought a mosquito net! Also, the bed sheets we have are about 30 years old and have never seen detergent, so we bought new sheets! Woo-hoo! Now we don’t dread going to bed and we sleep like babies. We also bought a nice set of cutlery to enhance our eating experience. We hung a picture on the wall as well. We are out of control!!! It’s interesting that these trivial things mean so much to us now. I’ve considered buying a water cooler and filling it with Coke.

The priest here in Nairobi is called Father Moses, I’ve written about him before. He has been here for about 10 years. 3 weeks ago, we were informed that God has called him to revive a Church in Long Island, New York. This has been really difficult for the Kenyans because he really is a father to them. At one of the good-bye dinners, each one of the youth stood up and told the story about how Father Moses found them in a hopeless state years ago, took them under his wing, taught them about our Father, and helped them to go to school and clean up their lives. Each one of them cried during their story telling. It will also be hard on Abouna’s family, who will remain here until the kids are finished the school year. God is really blessing the Church in New York by sending them Father Moses. Christine and I promised to visit him.

As a temporary measure, we have been sent a modern day Saint called Father Tadros Malaty. This man is a legend in the Church and has written many beautiful books. He has been here for a week and it has been such a pleasure and honour to listen to his teachings. He is the most loving man. He makes me think of St. Paul – all of his teachings and answers are centered around love. We are studying the book of Romans with him. Last Saturday, all the servants had a retreat, where he said something really sweet. He said that one day, he looked up at God and asked, ‘Why did you make all of this? Why did you create the world? Why did you create me? Weren’t you happy with the multitude of Angels and Archangels and the Cherubim and the Seraphim and the Incorporeal Creatures and all the other Heavenly Creatures?’ He asked us to imagine, from the point of view of the Heavenly Creatures, the day God began creating the world. How intrigued must they have been to see God creating this whole new world? They witnessed Him creating soil and birds and animals and trees and water and sky and stars. Surely they must have thought, ‘What is He doing? Are we going to go live there?’ And after watching Him create all these things, they saw Him create Adam. Father Tadros said that all of the Heavenly Creatures must have thought Adam was the MOST IMPORTANT AND HONORABLE AND SPECIAL creature ever because God had created the world and everything in it JUST FOR HIM. Take a minute to think about that.

Father Tadros wants us all to know that we are deeply loved by God. He warns against belittling ourselves. He asked us ‘Who is the happiest man on earth?’ He said that WE should be that man. We know our Father and we know that He loves us and that He is waiting for us to join Him and that He has a place prepared for us in His own house! Father Tadros speaks of the ‘end of days’ as if it were tomorrow and he looks forward to it with such sweet confidence, as if he knows he has fought the good fight. Wow! It is a blessing to know this man.

A girl named Jenny has joined us here in the mission (for approx. 1 year). She is from Chicago and is a spiritual giant. We are all having prayer meetings every night with the Bishop. It is obvious from his prayers that he believes that something major is coming. Never before has such an army of servants assembled in Nairobi. Usually, servants go straight to Maseno. He feels that God is building a great army here for a great purpose. We are constantly praying for God to reveal His plan to us. I can’t help but feel that I am a part of something special. Please pray for our mission, right now. Don’t wait to pray for us.

A special message to my little brother and big sister:
I miss you guys.
I love you guys so much.
I think about you every single day.
You are constantly in my prayers.
Please open you hearts to the sweetness of Christ.
He loves you guys so much more than you could ever imagine.
He is knocking at your door.
Let Him in.

God Bless,
Juan