I was recently in one of the largest slums of Nairobi called Mathere.  Our team of doctors had been working miracles from dawn to dusk, every member giving it their all to touch these amazing children who are living in harm’s way with the love of Jesus.  But, we could never bless them more than these Children of God were blessing us.  It was so hot and dusty in the sewage strewn slum in which they are forced to live that teachers from the school kept bringing me bottles of water so that I would not become dehydrated as the children had.  Each time they handed me a bottle of water,  the Bible verse popped into my head:  When you give a cup of water to the least of these you are giving it to me.  The teachers would command me – “don’t give this to the kids.”  But each time, with the defiance of a grandfather, I would open the bottle and hand it to the children around me.  They would break into tears and take a deep drink and hand it to the child next to them who would drink as fast as they could before the child next to them would grab it out of their hands and begin their turn.  Each time after they drank they would look at me and call me ‘Babu’. 

After two hours of telling them stories and singing them songs, the children grew tired and four of them fell asleep in my arms.  Maybe 15 others came up and put their heads on my arms, some of them sucking their thumbs, and whispering, “Babu, Babu, Babu”.  It was an experience that I will never forget.  I saw Jesus in these children and received the vision for the rest of my life.  Highlight that experience with three days of high fevers and chills and every one of our team caught a virus in the rubble in which these children live.  While we feed and help 130 kids there through Washington Cathedral, there are 500,000 living in this slum, many who would call out to us as we walked, “How are you? How are you?” It was a set up for God to speak to me and a fresh work of His grace to begin in my life.

Empowering Encounters has been our theme this summer as we raise the bar on worship for Washington Cathedral.  This week I have returned from a life altering encounter with God in Africa.  I dare you to come to worship this week and to not be touched, lifted and inspired.  My message is entitled Soul Vision (How to Experience God’s Dream for Your Life) and my text is from the book of Acts.  But I am going to tell you a testimony of how Jesus used the children of Kenya to change my life.  See a video of dancing, singing, and miracles in Africa which left every one of us changed people.  God has given me a dream for the best of my life which will last the rest of my life.  I want to break down biblically how God can touch us anew with His dreams; not just our self-centered whims but the very vision of heaven on how life ought to be lived.  The key to worship is that we actually meet Jesus Christ. This cannot happen without being blown away by the presence of God and our willingness to respond to this reality as big as the universe itself.  If you only make it to one service this year, make sure you make it this weekend.  Don’t miss out on your chance to catch fire with faith and vision again for your life.

Join us Saturday at 5:30, Sunday at 9:30 and 11 as I share video and testimonies of how you too can experience a fresh vision with soul for your life.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim