Preached at Markham Baptist Church, January 28, 2001

Good morning, I want to tell you what a pleasure it is for Sarah and I to be here with you this morning. Sarah and I have enjoyed sharing the story of our lives in Kenya with you over the last 10 years. We came back to Canada late last month and are now setting up house in Toronto.

Every year the students would plant seeds in the hope that they would grow. In a land void of water, trees, no clouds in the sky, yet they would plant the seeds. The seeds could feed the family, but no, they chose to put them in the dry ground in the hope that they would grow.

"Practicing hope" is what I call this planting of the seeds: it requires a lot more than saying you believe the rains will come, rather it is faith that they will come.

"Hope" -- in Biblical terms -- is not a superficial optimism that somehow things will get better. I hope I win the lottery or I hope it doesn't snow today.

On the contrary "Hope" is confidence in a God who can bring life out of death. To "practice hope" means making decisions about your life in confidence that God can and will work for good in any situation, no matter how dark, no matter how difficult.

Sarah and I practiced hope when we left for Kenya ten years ago. We put our lives on the line in the hope that God would mold us, teach us, and use us.

Let me tell you three stories of hope, two old ones and one recent one, to suggest what I think it means to practice hope.

The first story is about a Canaanite woman who came to Jesus pleading with him to save her daughter who was possessed by a demon. "Canaanites" were not Jewish people. They were people whose history in the land preceded the arrival of the people of Israel.

The Canaanites were a highly civilized people in many ways when Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River to conquer the people and settle the land. Canaanite history ended with the Israelite conquest. But certain segments of Canaanite culture remained to make both positive and negative impacts on the life of God's Covenant People.

But many ways, Canaanites and Hebrews were poles apart. The religion of these pagan people was basically a fertility cult. At temples scattered throughout their land, Canaanite worshipers actually participated in lewd, immoral acts with "sacred" prostitutes. Theirs was a depraved form of worship that appealed to the base instincts of man's animal nature. In contrast, the Hebrews worshiped a holy God who insisted on purity and righteousness among His people.

Apparently, the disciples tried to get her to go away, but she refused. They said to Jesus, "send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." Jesus appeared to ignore her. The disciples pled with him to send her away. She wasn't Jewish and thus had no claim on Jesus, reasoned the disciples. Then, when Jesus did speak to her, he reminded her that his plate was full with his mission to the lost sheep of Israel. She would not be dissuaded. Then, in words that seem excessively harsh, and certainly politically incorrect, Jesus says that it would not be right for him to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. Even in the face of this insult, she would not go away. "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table," she replies. Then, Jesus responded, "Woman, your faith is something else! You will get what you so much want." And, at that moment, her daughter was made well.

It appears that Jesus' abrupt response to the woman was a setup to demonstrate the great faith of this Canaanite woman to the disciples and the Jewish crowd, and that God did in fact care as much about "outsiders" as "insiders".

However, this demonstration could not have happened without this woman's choosing to practice hope. For her, to "practice hope" was not to give up, even though the disciples tried to get her to go away, even though Jesus himself showed that he did not have time for her.

Her daughter was sick and she refused to give up. That is practicing hope.

The third story is of our students and friends in Kenya.

Sarah and I have been working in Kenya since 1990, it is hard to believe that it has been ten years now. I have had the opportunity to teach and mentor hundreds of students from diverse Kenyan tribes. Over the years we have enjoyed preparing men and women to be better servants in their homes, villages and churches.

Our job has included learning the languages that the students speak, so we have had to learn three Kenyan languages - Swahili, Kikuyu, and Kikamba.

I have had the chance to mentor and work with hundreds of students, this has meant traveling thousands of kilometers in Kenya from Coast to Coast. From the cold highlands of the Aberdare Mountains in central Kenya, to the hot humid coastal city of Mombassa located on the Indian Ocean.

I have been the director of a program called the certificate in Ministry program and it was an experimental program designed to teach Kenyans in Kenya - rather than bringing them to Canada. With your support and prayers the program has been and continues to be a real success

Each day, and over every kilometer, and in every visit Sarah and I made to our Kenyan friends, your prayers, support and training went with us. Markham Baptist had a key role to play in this program, purchasing student books, supporting student gatherings, helping needy students and supporting the females students in particular, helping to purchase the first computer for our Kenyan denomination, buying medication for those in need, helping to pay school fees for needy children - and so much more. We didn't have a lot of money to spend, but we tried to use that which we did have wisely.

Every one of the students comes from poor families. Each has their own story to tell. Although they come from poverty they do not see themselves as poor. In fact they see themselves as having everything they need except for one thing. A greater understanding of God's word and the skills to serve in his church.

When our Kenyan friends heard about the opportunity to study God's word and learn how to teach, counsel, mentor, preach and support the family of God better they jumped at the chance. They have hope, hope that they can be better tomorrow than they are today. Hope that God can work in them and through them. Their prayers for training have been answered by both Carey Theological College and our Canadian partners like Markham Baptist Church. And for this I say thank you on behalf of our Kenyan students. (www.geocities.com/rsp712)

For ten years Sarah and I have practiced Hope in Kenya. Hope that our lives and our energies could make a difference in the lives of Kenyans. Our prayer has been for God to share the miracle of his love through us. And it has been a thrill, and something that has changed our lives forever

Story of Francis Mwololo

Mwololo leads his church in Ivuvuani. He is the father of five children and the school district superintendent. He has a small farm in some of the driest land you will ever see in Kenya.

His shamba (farm) is 7 kilometers from the nearest road, and to be honest the nearest road is not really a road, but an impassable stretch of mud puddles in the rainy season and a dusty endlessly bumpy trail in the dry season.

When I go to his house I have to ask Mwololo's son, Budget to meet me at the nearest village center and take me through the savannah towards the house. The path to his house is surrounded by thorn trees, and dry grass for as far as the eye can see. Budget was born on a particular day on the Kenyan calendar, the day the national budget is announced.

Mwololo lives in hope, hope that he can grow enough food to feed the children, hope that his family will flourish on the little dry piece of ground that they call home. Hope that the three churches he has planted will grow.

He has been a dedicated student for the last 3 years. He would travel over these horrific roads and bounce for hours on local busses called Matatus to get to his classes. He graduated on December 15th with his Certificate, and his whole family and dozens of friends took the long journey to Nairobi. They came to see the fruit of Mwololo's hope, and courage. He will continue to work as a school inspector and he will continue to plant churches and make them grow in the dry lands of Kenya - in Ukambani.

John Maina is an assistant professor with a very sick wife. He has been mentoring for 6 years now. He lives in a little paper house, serving the police force as a finger print expert.

His salary is around $60 a month - barely enough to food, shelter and clothing.

He would travel with me to visit students, asking his superior for time off, which was granted upon each request. He began ministering to his fellow officers in the fingerprint head office. He started teaching these men the word of God and each week he continues to gather over 250 together for study.

You helped to buy study books for Maina, you helped to cover some of his travel costs. Sometimes a journey to meet a student would cost him 7 dollars, but not once did he ask for money. I had to force him to take the little money I could. He was a man full of hope, full of life, and a great example to Sarah and I. John knows you, and knows that you have supported him and on his behalf I would like to say thankyou.

Practicing hope does not mean that things will always turn out well. Practicing hope means that even when the worst comes being confident that God will be able to work for good.

By supporting the work of God here in Markham and through mission work around the world we are putting our money where our mouth is.

Sarah and I promise to continue to practice hope. We continue to practice hope, even against overwhelming odds.

I hope to go back to school in the fall at U of T and seek to complete a second doctorate, and Sarah hopes to study at Ryerson. I have committed myself to continue returning to Kenya three times a year to continue training young men and woman. Our Kenyan co-workers have asked for the C.Min. program to continue running and we have agreed to do what we can to facilitate running the program.

We are committed to raising funds for school supplies, texts, and food for the students. As we have in the past years. We will continue to support women's programs, and health centers.

Thank you,

Rob Patterson

HOPE

As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest.

There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.