I Will Never Leave Thee

Pastor Alfred Lukwa translating for me at Leadership Conference

I traveled to Eldoret, Kenya in March of 2019 to be with my good friend, Pastor Alfred Lukwa, of the New Testament Baptist Church in Kapsaret. I was there two years previous, but had come this occasion to preach the commencement service of his newly founded Bible College. Pastor Lukwa is a fervent soulwinner and church planter. I was with him in Uganda as well in 2018 and had intentions this year of travelling to Tanzania and Zambia as well with him to preach the gospel.

I arrived into Kenya and was met by Pastor George Situma of the Heritage Baptist Church in Langata, Nairobi. He has been a blessing to me over the years and planned to travel with me to Eldoret this week and enjoy fellowship and our time of serving the Lord together. We made the six hour journey on a Tuesday morning and were met by Pastor Lukwa. He informed us that we had an appointment to preach at a Men's Addiction Home in a short while and there were plans of showing two gospel films this night in the slums of Langas. We took off with a bang and the week did not slow down.

By Wednesday and Thursday we were going from morning til evening preaching in elementary and high schools as well as showing two films nightly. As I had done for many years, when I conclude my presentation of the gospel and draw students to receive Christ as their Savior, I tried each time this week to leave them with assurance. One of the ways I have done this is to have them raise one hand into the air and teach them five simple words from Hebrews 13:5, "I will never leave thee". I do this to show the promise of Christ' presence both now and forever. After one has invited Him to be their Savior, He gives the assurance that He will always abide with them. I will have the child as he learns the statement to substitute the word "thee" with his name and use his thumb to point to his heart. Each child will repeat, "I will never leave (their name)". This has proven to be an effective way for me to help kids realize that salvation is an eternal gift. We had hundreds and even thousands saved in schools my first two days back in Kenya.

Preaching at a High School in Eldoret

By Friday, we not only preached in schools, but by the afternoon, I was teaching and preaching in a Leadership Conference in Eldoret that included many pastors as well as Christian leaders. There were at least 15 pastors present. I preached and taught about the "Both" of Acts 1:8, and how that every church and pastor ought to have equal passion to spread the gospel locally as well as as regionally and globally. It was a full day and I met so many great servants of God. The evening once again ended with people being saved while watching the Jesus Film in Swahili.

By Saturday morning, we were ready for the graduation service at New Testament Baptist College. There were seven graduates. The school had done well to train these men and women. They had completed three years of rigorous training and each was excited about this special day. I preached a message about the crippled man at Bethesda who was "Waiting for a Man". Again, there were many pastors present and I thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship. The program was well-planned. Following the service, we ate a nice meal, and then we broke into two separate groups of preachers and went to show our normal gospel films in two locations. I attended one with a fairly decent crowd and at the conclusion, 110 souls were saved. I had a been a tremendous 5 days with 5135 souls being saved from 20 schools and 9 gospel films. I was rejoicing as I returned back to my guest house in the evening.

Pastor Daglas Miheso preaching at a Gospel Film

Something was wrong. As Pastor Timothy Iganza was dropping me that Saturday night at my guest house where I was to stay one more evening, I noticed something was not right with me. I was slurring a few words and my lips were quivering. I spoke to my sweet  wife, Kim, and shared with her that I didn't feel just right. It had been a tiresome but very profitable 5 days. I had one more day in Kenya and by Monday morning, was to be off to Tanzania. I fell asleep early on Saturday night and woke up the next morning still a little tired. I went to the breakfast table and sat to eat some fruit and drink some juice by 7:30am. I quickly noticed that I was unable to chew and swallow my food and my drink properly. I seemed to have lost some of the control of the right side of my face and mouth.

Returning to my room, I thought  about what could be wrong. I was to preach in just a few hours and and felt I couldn't without knowing what was wrong. I also, knew that I was scheduled to depart for Nairobi that afternoon and was to head to Tanzania by plane in just 24 hours. What would I do? Finally, I made the decision to reach out to Pastor Lukwa and ask him to carry me to a nearby hospital to be examined. Within 45 minutes, he showed up along with three of my other Kenyan pastors. They carried me to a hospital not far away called "Mediheal". I made my way inside with their help and within a few short minutes was on the third floor having my blood pressure checked and seated in front of an Indian doctor named Dr. Vinay Karla. He did some preliminary exams on me check for symptoms of a stroke, etc. and then sent me downstairs to have an MRI of my brain.

I cannot lie. I was anxious about the time that the radiologist was sliding me inside the machine to have the procedure. It hit me that the results of this test could reveal a number of things that could alter the next several hours and even the next many years of my life. One concern that I had was that more than 20 years earlier, my mother had had an aneurysm that required emergency surgery. What if the doctors came and told me that I had to be rushed into surgery in order to save my life? No family would be here with me. I was in a part of the world, where serious medical operations were far more risky and less successful. What would it be like if the doctor informed me that I had had a stroke? Would my life ever return to normal? I mused on these type of questions for 5 or even 10 minutes while in the midst of the MRI. My anxiety continued to increase.

Then without announcement something happened to me that brought a calm to my heart that helped me even to this hour. The Lord in His mercy reminded me of all the times that I had stood before school kids in Kenya that very week and reminded them that Jesus said, "I will never leave thee". I was of course wanting them to realize the assurance they had in His eternal presence. God used this to say to me, "Hey, Big Dummy, Don't you realize that I am with you in this hospital?". "I haven't left you here alone". The sweet Spirit of God came into my MRI unit and snuggled up next to me reminding me that while my own wife, children, and parents may not be here to know where I am  at this very moment, however, though the great God of Heaven was not only beside me, but also within me. He would not sleep or slumber. His ways were perfect. He knew of my plight before I did, and He would "never leave me". I cannot say that I was no more troubled at what the outcome might be. What was different for me though was that I was willing to accept whatever God had for me because I knew He was with me. The Scripture that I had declared to the schoolkids of Kenya had become my promise while lying inside of an MRI tube in Eldoret, Kenya.

Elementary School in Langas Slum

Things are still a process. I came out of the exam. I was given every indication from the scan that I DID  NOT HAVE A STROKE. I praised the Lord for this. The doctor could not say with certainty what was happening with my slurred speech and drooping eye,. He gave me some prescriptions and insisted I return to the US, rather than continuing to Tanzania. By midnight the same day, I was on a plane and headed back to America and my family thanks to the goodness of my home church. I arrived into the loving care of my wife by Monday evening and was taken to a local Emergency Room. Again, the prognosis was that they could rule out a stroke, and were able to diagnose what they called Bell's Palsy. My wife had even suggested that as a possibility as I was making my 18 hour flight home. I was given medications and asked to follow up with my primary doctor in one week. I am in the process of doing that even as I write for this blog. My speech is stilled slurred and my eye still droops. I bandage my eye to close at night while I sleep. It is difficult to eat or drink anything on the right sight of my mouth as I have no or little movement there. Hopefully with time and the prayers of God's people these things will be corrected. However, I am okay with my circumstances. I am okay with the timing of God's purpose. I am happy to be back home with family and my church. I look forward to the future and even my next opportunity to go back to Africa and preach the gospel that saves. All is well since I was reminded by His Spirit, "I will never leave thee".