Missions in Western Kenya and the Sovereignty of God

One of the realities of my life as a missionary living in a community with a high percentage of people living in extreme poverty, is frustration and sadness in seeing people die as a result of physical ailments and disease that they almost certainly would not die from had they been born in a wealthy country.

I met a young man last November named Alex. He was probably in his early 20’s; I would ask the family his age but they are probably like most around our village and don’t know exactly. Birth certificates haven’t quite caught on yet in our area. We live among the Bukusu, a Luhya Bantu sub-tribe. The Bukusu are well-known for being welcoming to visitors. It is considered very rude to turn visitors away. This makes for great opportunities of sharing the Gospel house to house. That is how I met Alex. We found him at home in November of 2019 in a rather feeble state. He had recently come home from the hospital. He had been the victim of a random act of violence (random to him…I’ll explain why I say that in a moment) While living and working in Nairobi, someone attacked him from behind, presumably to rob him, and stabbed him. He was taken to a hospital in Nairobi, then the family moved him to Bungoma. He was paralyzed from the waste down and the doctors told him there was nothing they could do for him. The team with me and I listened to his story, shared the Gospel with him, prayed with him, and left some Bible resources with him.

Fast-forward to last week. Pastor Leonard, a fellow elder of the church that meets at our Mercy Ministries campus, told me Alex’s condition had worsened. Like most of the world right now, we are also dealing with ramifications of coronavirus preventions which include churches being temporarily closed. In our church of 53 households, I am aware of only one member that has a smart-phone. So streaming services is out of the question. Not a single member owns a car. We love how some churches in the west have adapted to the situation and are holding drive-in services. However, things like that are just a dream here. Therefore, to encourage our church to continue growing spiritually during this season of uncertainty, we have assigned church leaders to call every household weekly, and for those who do not have a phone, they are visited weekly, practicing social distancing of course. On Sundays, we deliver a sermon along with a passage from Scripture, the words to two hymns, a prayer, and two catechism questions and answers, all in Swahili. Then on Mondays, I meet with Leonard and one other church leader to get the report of how all the sheep are doing. It was during last Monday’s meeting that I was told Alex was not doing well and could use some encouragement. I went to visit him and was reminded once again of one of the many differences between the American mindset and the Kenyan mindset when it comes to health, disease, sickness, and death. To say that Alex was not well is an extreme understatement. Alex was in dire condition and clearly on his death bed. I won’t go into graphic details, but I have such limited medical knowledge and yet it was obvious to me that Alex would not live much longer. He was not only bed-ridden with severe and infected bed sores, but he was also severely malnourished.

But the thing that really struck me was, in spite of his condition, Alex was in such good spirits. He was smiling and animated and when I asked him about his relationship with God, he spoke as if he really believed that God was the only thing that mattered. Here was this young man in terrible shape, a result of an act of violence committed against him. One would expect Alex to be angry and bitter and wondering why such a thing would happen to him. One might expect him to wonder, if God is real and God is good, how could this happen to him? And Alex doesn’t even know what I know, which is if he lived in America, he would have received much better care and would never have gotten as bad off as he was. So how can someone like Alex, a young man with his whole life ahead of him, and yet a victim of a random act of violence that caused him so much pain, misery, and grief, be in such good spirits and talk as if God is all that matters? I think that can only come from a knowledge within, knowing that compared to everything else, God IS all that matters. God IS real, and NOTHING happens outside the sovereign control of God.

 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

Jesus explains that not a single sparrow dies without God doing it. Jesus tells us that not only does God know how many hairs each of us have on our heads, but God has ordained from all eternity past how many hairs each of us would surely have. God is sovereign over every minute detail in all of His creation, and Jesus concludes that that fact should cause us not to fear.

If we need more evidence from Scripture, we have the Word of God through His prophet Isaiah:

I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)

And if we are still not convinced, let us consider the life of Joseph. Remember what happened to him? Joseph was the favorite son of his father Jacob, and out of jealousy, his brothers sold him into slavery. While a slave in Potiphar’s house, his master’s wife falsely accused him and Joseph was thrown into prison. Later Pharaoh realized Joseph’s usefulness and made him second in charge of all of Egypt. During a great famine, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt looking for food. When Joseph finally reveals to them who he is, let us learn from his response:

“And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” (Genesis 45:5-7)

We know the story; the brothers committed evil against Joseph, they sold him into slavery. But what does Joseph tell them years later? “God sent me before you to preserve life.” Then he says:

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20)

It’s incredible if you think about it. That one act, selling Joseph into slavery, involved not only the sin of Joseph’s brothers, but also the sovereign, holy, creating God of the universe. God was sovereign over the free choices to sin of the brothers. God had a plan, and the sin of the brothers was part of that plan. In fact, the Bible teaches that God has a plan for everything that happens.

“declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’” (Isaiah 46:10)

God is in control of all things. Nothing happens apart from God’s great purpose. You may ask, “What about really terrible things, like rape and murder?” We must not appeal to emotions or human reasoning in dealing with such things, but must be willing for God to teach us through His Word. Let us consider the most heinous act ever committed. If we had to name the absolute worst act of evil ever committed in the history of creation, what would it be? Wouldn’t it have to be the murder of the only begotten Son of the Most High God? Wouldn’t it have to be the beating and callous murder of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only truly innocent person to have ever been sinned against? And what does God tell us about the betrayal and murder of Jesus?

“this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Acts 2:23)

The crucifixion of Jesus happened in time according to the “definite plan and foreknowledge of God”. In fact, the book of Revelation calls Jesus the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before God even created the world, it was so sure according to the plan of God that Jesus would be slain in time that it was already as if He had been slain. And so it is with God. God does not learn, God does not change, from His perspective all things have occurred whether past, present or future because He has decreed all things. And He is working those things out in time effectually. Nothing catches God by surprise, nothing happens outside the will of God. Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world because God sovereignly decreed that it would be so, according to His perfect free will. And that means He sovereignly decreed the millions of free choices that all those involved made, no matter how remotely involved they may have been. Even the choices of Pontius Pilate’s ancestors that would ensure at that particular point in time, Pilate would be born. Even all the free choices of Pilate throughout his life that would bring him to be Governor over Judea at the time Jesus walked the earth. Even the free choices of the emperor Tiberias who Pilate served under. Not a single action happens outside the sovereignty of God. To deny this is to deny God’s omnipotence. And what does God say about the people involved in the worse sin in the history of creation, which happened according to God’s definite plan?

“for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:27-28)

Whether we like it or not; whether it goes against our “sensibilities”, the worse sin ever committed in the history of the world was done so according to God’s definite plan and foreknowledge. God is sovereign over all things, even sinful acts of men. To say that He is not is to say that He is not sovereign. To say God is not sovereign is to say that He is not God. And if God is sovereign over the sinful acts of the men who crucified Jesus, He is also sovereign over all other sinful acts. As terrible and heinous rape, and molestation, and murder are, they are not as heinous as the murder of Jesus Christ.

So what does all this have to do with Alex? I believe it has everything to do with Alex. You see, I believe when it comes to things we consider to be terrible, we have two choices. We can believe that these things happen as a matter of mere chance. We can think they are random and totally out of anyone’s control, even God’s. We can think that God really hates that these things happen, and wishes He could do something about them, but just can’t. These things just happen. God is love and God is good and so that must mean that God would never plan for anything bad to happen to us. When bad things happen, it must be that God is caught off guard, He must be surprised. He must wish that it didn’t happen but He couldn’t stop it. But maybe now He will react and do something about it, if we just have enough faith. When I see people who believe such things faced with tragedy or injustice in their lives, they get overtaken by fear. There is no hope, no power. But then there is the other choice. There are people like Alex, who have a firm foundation. There is faith and knowledge that God is almighty and can actually do all He promises to do. That it is He that is in control of all things. Nothing happens by chance. All things that happen are part of God’s sovereign plan. And God can actually fulfill every promise, every prophecy because this is true. That is hope, that is faith, that is power. And I can see it in people like Alex. People like Alex truly believe that:

 “…for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

The God who is sovereign over all things, the God who has decreed from all eternity past all things which ever come to pass; the perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, perfectly good God who is love; He works all things together for good for those who love Him. ALL things. Even the most terrible, heinous things that the sinful acts of others may bring upon us, God Almighty even works those things together for good for those who love Him. Now I don’t know about you, but I take great comfort in that fact. God is in control of anything that may happen to me and I can trust that no matter how it feels, it is for my ultimate good. That is what I saw in Alex when I visited him this past Friday and how I hoped and prayed that night that it is true that Alex really did love and trust in Jesus Christ and that his name has been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life for all eternity. The next day, we made arrangements for Alex to be driven by a car to a local hospital to try and at least make him a bit more comfortable in his final days. He was taken outside and bathed, then as he was being carried to the car, he passed away. It frustrates me to know that if Alex were in America, he would not have had to die like that. But I also know that God is sovereign over where Alex was born, the day Alex would die, and everything in between. I also know that Alex was given truth. Alex was given power. Because Alex was given the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

“…for it [The Gospel] is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16)

Best I could tell, Alex believed the Gospel. He certainly appeared to have hope in his final day that Jesus has saved him from the power and penalty of sin. May we all face our final days, however many they may be, serving God with power, knowing that not only is He working all things together for our good, but that He is able to.