Chelsea Bentley: Joy, Love, and Peace

I usually write my blog entries on Fridays, but I just didn't know what to write about when it came to that time this past Friday. I had a wonderful week last week, but there was simply nothing stirring in my heart to write about. Now that a few more days have passed, I feel like I can write something meaningful.

Last week was full of all kinds of joys, and if I wasn't already in love with this place and these children, then last week certainly did it for me. The children and all of the people here are so loving and welcoming and such a joy to be around. I love working alongside them and even just being handed work to do for them, because I can see on their faces how grateful they are and how much God is using me to bless them.

I spent a good part of my time last week in the office organizing shelves and taking inventory of all the supplies. I also used some of the supplies that the APU team brought and some of the things that others had donated to make school kits for each of the children. I never dreamed I would sit on the floor of an office in Kenya surrounded by 1,000 crayons for 3 hours, but I did. And it was wonderful! The joy and awe on those children's faces when they opened up those bags and started pulling things out were worth every moment of the work that went into putting them together.

We said goodbye to the APU team on Friday morning and celebrated their time here with a big supper on Thursday night. It was wonderful to hear about all the work they had done and the little ways that they had blessed everyone. Personally, I was blessed by the simple fact of their presence, their smiles, and their constant encouragement. Thank you Zack, Diana, and the team for everything that you did. The kids are still talking about you guys and praying for you just like they said they would.

I got to work on some more dances with some of my kids on Saturday. I am teaching them some of our old ministry team mimes and dramas, and they really enjoy learning and laughing at me as I am teaching them. They love to dance, but their style of dancing is so much different from mine that everything I teach them strikes them as quite comical when they first see it. They seem to be having a lot of fun with all of it, and I am hoping that we will be able to take it "on the road" somehow before I leave here.

Sunday was an interesting day. I was feeling really homesick and discouraged after church for some reason, and I ended up just sitting in my room sobbing and telling God that I was ready to quit and go home. I don't really know what brought it all on, but Satan was really trying to keep me down. I slept for a few hours that afternoon and didn't return to the kids until devotion time. That was when God decided to remind me why I am here and why I can't go home yet. The kids were just singing and praising God, and since the parents weren't around, I was in charge. I let them sing for a while and watched them, and I saw them through my Jesus-eyes and loved them so much for the way they were freely praising God. Later that night, all the kids were singing together to welcome a visitor, and I was so blessed again by their joy and their unashamed, undeniable love for God. I have felt his presence by my side in such a real way since Sunday evening, and I know that he is guiding my every step and using my time here in a mighty way to bless the Kenyans and to teach me more than I could ever have learned at home.

Last night when I received word from my mother about a death in our family back home, I was sad, but God was with me. He was holding me up with his victorious hand, and he has continued to do so throughout my day today. I have so much peace in spite of the fact that Satan is using every trick in the book to try to distract and discourage me. This is such a peaceful place, even in the midst of raging thunderstorms, and God is using his people and his Spirit to teach me about that peace. I am not afraid, and I am not letting Satan's lies interfere with God's voice of truth. I have a peace that surpasses understanding, and I am resting in the knowledge that God, who has already won the war, is fighting every battle on my behalf.