The Lord has kept me through...

Opio, the man who normally takes care of our compound, is out of town for a few days, so Kevin's cousin Edwin has come to take his place. This morning, I walked downstairs and asked Edwin how he was doing (in Swahili - yes!). He looked at me with a big smile and replied, "Very fine - the Lord has kept me through!"

The Lord has kept me through. This simple phrase, coming from a joyful Kenyan face, has stuck in my mind all day. Edwin barely knows me, but the first thing that comes to his mind in the morning, and the first thing that he wishes to share with me, is the fact that God has brought him through the night and given him a new day. The faith of Kenyans like Edwin is extraordinarily powerful. He, along with all of the other Kenyans I know, has experienced more hardship in his life than the vast majority of people in the States. Hunger, violence, abandonment, homelessness, loss of loved ones - it is uncommon NOT to find these things in the stories of each and every Kenyan, and yet their faith is not only unshakable, but full of "the inexpressible and glorious joy" that Peter talks about.

I am learning that the faith of a Kenyan Christian rests on a very different foundation that that of many western Christians. This faith isn't based on how comfortable one is, what they have, or what they hope to receive from God. Instead, it is based on a belief IN God, a hope and trust in His sovereignty, and a simple conviction that a person's life is not worth living if not for the presence of God in it. Yes, their stories are full of pain and suffering, and some would ask a person, with so much hardship looking them in the face, "how could you believe in an all-powerful, wise, loving God, who is bigger than this world, and stake your joy and hope on Him?" My question is, though, when you look at the scope of eternity, how could you not?