‘Ignore the inner unction of the Spirit at your peril’

Have you ever been leaving the house and ‘felt’ you should take an umbrella with you even though the sky is clear and the weather forecast has predicted a dry day, and then it starts raining in the afternoon and you say ‘thank God I took my umbrella with me?’
Or have you ever been getting ready for bed and heard someone/something prompting inside you saying, ‘go downstairs and check the kitchen light is off’ and you think, ‘I’m sure I turned it off’, but you go to make sure anyway and find that, indeed it is still on?
Or have you ever been driving to work and for seemingly no reason decided to take a different road from your daily route and then discovered later on the traffic news that there was a major accident and hold up on the road you avoided?
Or have thoughts of a friend ever randomly dropped into your mind making you feel uneasy and so you call them, only to find out that they are in trouble of some sort and in need of your help?

Well, whether you have experienced any of the above scenarios or not, you need to know that it is not a coincidence, not fate and not just your mind conjuring things up. It is the Spirit of God speaking to you in a still small voice that is barely recognisable – which is why we ignore it on more occasions than we pay attention to it. I want to share a small testimony with you that took place the other day, to demonstrate the deliverance and joy of obeying the inner unctions of the Holy Spirit, and the detriment of not doing so.

The incident occurred in one of the national hospitals where my husband and I had gone to pray for a friend’s mother who had been admitted with paralysis. It was lunch-time visiting hours and the hospital was crowded with friends and family coming to visit sick patients. Only one lift was working, so the lobby area was congested with people pressing in to get into the next lift. After about five minutes of being pushed around, my husband and I decided to take the stairs and walk up to the 8th floor where our friend’s mother was. On arrival at the ward I reached to the outer pocket of my bag to get my phone and check her bed number, when to my horror I saw that the pocket was already half open and that my wallet was missing. I immediately knew that it had been stolen during the commotion downstairs on the ground floor. Anger, frustration and then despair overcame me as I started to recall the four credit cards (2 Kenyan and 2 British) and driving license that were in my wallet. I felt stressed just thinking how I would manage to cancel the cards and then have to wait for new ones, especially the British ones and my driving license.

Thankfully my husband snapped me out of my worry and we made a short declaration that the convict would just discard the wallet somewhere where we could find it, with all the cards left intact. After about an hour of praying for our friend’s mother we went back downstairs and discussed how we would find the wallet. My husband ‘felt’ we should check in the dustbins and so although I thought it was a futile exercise, I agreed. Another question was where to start when there were so many bins around? We trusted God to guide us and started searching. We looked in one bin - no nothing, then another bin – again not there. We noticed people around us looking at us very strangely, but continued anyway. The third bin had a pizza box lying over the top of the rubbish so we moved it to one side, and there lying in the trash was my wallet. I couldn’t believe it. I checked inside, and in exact accord with what we had prayed for, the cash was gone, but all the cards were there. God had delivered me from a potentially stressful and incredibly inconveniencing situation, just by a little inner unction. In addition, there were many bins around, but by responding to God’s prompting, we went in the right direction

So, God does speak and He is speaking to us all the time every day. This is just one situation to prove that. Think how many times you have probably unnecessarily suffered from a bad incident, because you ignored the prompting of God’s Spirit telling you what to do, passing it off as ‘silly thoughts’ or a ‘ridiculous idea’. Don’t make that mistake again. Listen to and obey the promptings of God within you.

'Confusion'

‘Confusion’

There are many ways of viewing today’s society; one can say it is uncivilised, another can say it is immoral, while yet another can say it is plain evil. But I have come to regard society as simply confused. A short journey into the centre of Nairobi conspicuously confirms this judgment.

You are waiting at the bus stage for a matatu and one driving at break-neck pace comes to a hasty stop as it sees you. The driver honks his horn and the conductor jumps out beckoning you with fervent urgency to get in. You peer inside to see if there is space, but there are no free seats. Where does the conductor expect you to sit? He must be confused.

As you are waiting for another bus, you buy a newspaper from a street seller. With just one quick glance at the paper you already know what has been going on in the nation. Written in bold capital letters, the headline declares that another corruption scandal has been uncovered in the government. High-ranking officials have been accused of embezzling billions of shillings given by the World Bank and bilateral donors for free primary education in Kenya. Do the government ministers not understand that the money was given to educate the people, not for their own personal consumption? They must be confused.

While finally aboard a matatu going to town, you look out of the window to observe the environment and people flying past you. It is not a pleasant site. The street is lined with garbage; heaps of plastic bags, bottles and unrecognisable items of waste. Even as you are taking in the detestable scene, you observe a mother walking along with her child, who is drinking juice. The child finishes the drink and passes the carton to his mother, who promptly chucks it in the gutter. Does she realise that the ditch is not a dustbin? She must be confused.

A kilometre further down the road and another unpleasant sight confronts you. Two men are standing with their backs to the road facing a hedge. Before you can look away, you see a shot of yellow fluid gush into the undergrowth. Is there an invisible sign there saying ‘public toilet’? Not just one man, but two are disturbingly confused.

You are now approaching the city centre and eagerly anticipating your arrival, so that you can escape all this confusion, when a matatu blaring loud music with lights flashing comes into your spectrum of vision. Your life flashes before your eyes. The matatu driver has impatiently given up waiting in the traffic jam and has decided to drive down the wrong side of the road against the oncoming traffic. Does he have no sense? Does he not comprehend the danger of such a manoeuvre? No, he’s just confused.

Do you agree with me now? Society is simply confused.

OASIS KINDERGARTEN
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the living water and be satisfied”

Introduction -
Maisha Trust is in the process of fulfilling its first objective of building a centre in Kibera slum, Kenya from which activities in accord with achieving the Trust’s goals can operate. The first of these is the establishment and running of a pre-primary school, to provide the poorest of the poor with quality education.

Eradicating poverty -
Poverty is a daily reality for the inhabitants of Kibera that not only condemns them to a life of lack, hunger and despair, but also constrains them from breaking out of that environment and fulfilling their potential in life. One of the keys to breaking out of this hopeless situation is education, but unfortunately it is still not accessible to the poorest of the poor. Although primary school is now provided for free by the Government of Kenya, pre-primary school is still not. As a consequence, those unable to afford pre-primary school start primary education aged 6 or 7 years with no basic language, literacy or numerical skills, while their contemporaries have already acquired a sound foundation in these areas, putting them at a severe disadvantage. Maisha Trust is committed to eradicating this injustice, as we believe that all children are a precious gift from God regardless of where they were born or what community they are raised in.

Nurturing holistically –
Furthermore, the importance of investing in the life of a child can never be overstated, since the way a child is nurtured determines who they will grow up to be. The bible says, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it’ (Pro 22:6). In other words, the truths and values that a child is taught at an early age serve as a solid foundation for life, keeping them on the right path long past their days in school. Notwithstanding, for nurturing to be successful it must be holistic, addressing the entirety of a child’s being. Therefore, the pupils must be developed physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Only then will they be able to fulfil their potential and enjoy an abundant life. This is God’s will for every person on earth, as Jesus Christ died to save and restore our souls and bodies as well as our spirits; ‘I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it to the full’ (John 10:10).

Creating an Oasis –
In keeping with this vision of imparting life to the poor and oppressed, the new school is called “Oasis Kindergarten”. An oasis is an isolated pool of water supporting rich vegetation and providing a habitat for animals and human beings to survive in the middle of a desert environment. It is also typologically used to represent a place that gives relief from troubling or chaotic situations. Hence, in the context of Kibera; a slum of severe deprivation, hopelessness and misery, Oasis Kindergarten will be a source of life in the midst of a landscape of scarcity.

Producing Physical Life -
Firstly, physical life will be manifested in a myriad of ways. The school will be an unprecedented site of natural vegetation in the slum. Palm trees and fruit trees will line the perimeter of the compound, the open space will be carpeted with green grass and a water fountain flowing down a rock feature into a small fish pond will be exhibited at the front entrance. In addition, it will pioneer environmental sustainability through rainwater harvesting for collecting water, solar power to provide electricity, biogas for cooking, raising chickens and rabbits and growing a vegetable garden on the roof to provide fresh food. In this way, the school will be able to be relatively self-sufficient, more cost-effective and help conserve the environment.

The children themselves will be fed a balanced diet of sufficient quantity and nutritional quality of food every day; they will be given plenty of time to run around outside and play on the grass, in the sandpit or use the swings and slide, to exercise their bodies; and a nurse will carry out regular health check-ups on the students and treat any sickness or disease. Thus, the pupils will grow up healthy and strong physically.

Developing Soulical Life -
Secondly, soulical (intellectual and emotional) life will be cultivated through the provision of quality education by trained teachers and the use of a specialised curriculum of international standards. The staff will exhibit a motherly nature, demonstrating love, patience and gentleness with the children, so that a warm, homely environment is created that imparts joy and hope rather than suffering and despair. In this way it will be the exact opposite of what they might be experiencing in their home environment.

Imparting Spiritual Life -
As a result of all the above, the children will taste and see the Kingdom of God, which the bible describes as a Kingdom of ‘righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14:17). Hence, the good news of salvation through Christ Jesus will not only be taught to them, but also tangibly experienced by them. This means that even if they are too young to understand the gospel, they will know Jesus and desire to have Him in their lives. Since the bible says that ‘Whoever has the Son has life’ (1 John 5:11-12), the pupils will therefore receive spiritual life.

Instilling a sense of Purpose -
We believe that God not only created every person on the earth to enjoy a relationship with Him, but also to fulfil a specific purpose that He has designed for each individual. The younger one can discover their God-given assignment, the more focused and meaningful their life will be. Thus, Oasis Kindergarten will teach the children this truth and implement programmes to help them identify their gifts and talents, which are all given by God to enable them to accomplish their purpose. Since these gifts and talents are initially resident in potential form, the school will encourage and assist the students in developing them. This will give the pupils are head-start in life, propelling them forward to realise their potential and fulfil their God-given purpose.