Acton in ACTION

Acton in ACTION

February 2 and 3, 2019

On Saturday we left our beloved Maua and traveled to the town of Wamba in the Northern Frontier of Kenya.  To give you a sense of the Northern Frontier, we must tell you that it was like traveling back in the old west on unpaved roads that shook our vehicles as though we were in an earthquake.  The shaking was so bad that one vehicle broke down and we were wondering if it could be fixed in time to continue travel.  We decided to double up and travel in the other van only to have the second van breakdown as well.  We got out of the vehicle and looked out across the land when we saw a cross on the top of a hill. It wasn’t just a coincidence, we knew that it was God telling us he was with us and would make sure we arrived safely.  We then said a prayer, turned around, and the first van pulled up beside us.  The second van then started back up and we all continued our journey.

Our purpose was to dedicate a church made up of people from the community many of which are part of the Samburu Tribe.  Many of the tribal people who have come to know Christ, must walk miles to worship under a tree to give thanks and fellowship.  Now thru the giving and loving spirit of the people of Acton UMC, one such community now has a church building where they can come and worship.

To get to this point, one must first know the hard work of the Methodist people who travel around to the villages sharing the love of God to people who did not know who God was.  We learned that the Methodist is the only church Evangelizing.  The Samburu’s had only worshiped the ground, the trees and other objects as far back as history goes.  Their living is primitive along with their tribal customs.

To help us see how these people lived, we were taken to a couple of villages by Pastor Judy who is over several churches in the area, District Superintendent Rev. Gideon and the Kenya Conference Office Mission Coordinator who is over disaster relief.  The area covers, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo and Southern Sudan.  We were greeted with beautiful smiles and songs from the Samburu woman welcoming us into their community.  We all gathered, prayed and talked about their challenges in learning about God.  

The first village we stopped at had a newly built church that was sponsored by another Methodist Church in Texas.  This village now has a place for worship, in addition, they use the church for school Monday thru Saturday.  The church is also used as a community center.  In contrast the second village was still worshipping under a tree.  They are in need of a sponsor to build a church in that community.  They were so appreciative of our visit that they presented us with a container of goat milk, a goat and necklaces.

On Sunday morning we all gathered at the newly completed church for the dedication ceremony. The teenage girls who attended church sang glorious songs of praise.  Pastor Judy opened in prayer and Rev. Gideon gave the message.  He spoke of Jesus Christ teaching his disciples about bringing the light and how Acton UMC had brought the light to this community.  He commented that the signage read Action UMC rather than Acton UMC.  He viewed this as a sign that we were called to action to help the people in this community.  The church will be used as a central meeting location for the seven newly established Methodist Churches.  They will meet at a minimum on a quarterly basis.  It was as if God said, you now know why I brought you all this way over difficult travel so you could see my Glory in a place you never thought possible.

God unites us all!!