After months of preparation, thousands of dollars raised, a couple days of training, much prayer and many meetings we are finally about to leave for Kenya. I find myself thinking of what brought me to this point.

Back in September I went to a meeting for those interested in missions at Tyndale. I was nervous, excited and had no idea what that meeting would lead to. We were all handed a sheet of paper with a list of destinations. Each destination was attached to the names of the missionaries that we would be working with. I remember reading over each of the mission descriptions. I found each of them to be interesting and exciting but none of them seemed to speak to me personally. I felt like I could have contributed to each of the teams but I also felt that I was not specifically called to any of them. I wondered if it was God’s will for me to not be a part of a mission trip at that time. However, when I read the description under the Kenya trip I immediately felt drawn to it.

The description said that we would be going to the northeast province of Kenya, that we would be in the desert, it would be hot (obviously), we would be sleeping on the floor, we would be doing physical labour as well as interacting with the locals. The description of the trip basically warned everyone away. It said that the trip would be physically and emotionally challenging. We would be going far from the well-known tourist destinations of Northeastern Kenya; well off the beaten-path. I knew right away that this trip was the one for me. This trip sounded like the real deal.

Immediately, I thought of my experience—tree planting, living rough in a tent, living in southeast Asia, travelling to foreign countries, participating in a couple of short term mission trips—and I thought that I would be prepared for this trip. I knew that it would be tough but I thought that I was already experienced enough to handle a mission trip like this. However, through the training we have received and on reflecting on past mission trips I realize just how dangerous that kind of thinking is.

My experience is valid and useful, God can use it as a tool in his Kingdom. However, it is only by going to God first that my experience can be used; it is only through his will that it can be directed. Ultimately, my experience means nothing if I am not first relying on God, trusting him to be my strength and my light.

The fact is that even then, even when I go to God first, my experience will probably be useless. Kenya is just so different from anywhere that I have been. Yet God uses us in our weakness. I need to realize that I have no experience when it comes to Kenya. The first kind of wisdom is to admit that you are not wise. So, as I prepare to go, I pray that God will meet me in my weakness, my lack of experience, my unpreparedness and guide me in His strength. For all I am and all I have done up until this point is meaningless if God is not with me.

So please pray for us (Andrew, Ben and Mark). Pray that God is the foundation of all that we do in Kenya, ask God for his strength and wisdom to protect and guide us, ask God to work in us and through us, ask God to make us a blessing to our missionary hosts and any other Christians we meet in Kenya, ask God to make us a blessing to the people, ask God to continue the work he has already begun in Kenya through us. For God comes first in all things and without him nothing good comes. He shall be the experience and the preparation I rely on, as it is he who has brought me to this point.

To God be the glory and thank you for reading,

- Mark

Next Blog: A little pre-Kenya silliness and meet this year's Kenya team!