Before I went on my last trip, Matthew had a dilemma:

Matthew: I really want to ask JoAnna to movie night.
Me: That sounds great.
Matthew: I just don’t know WHEN to ask.
Me: Why don’t you ask her during play rehearsal?
Matthew: I CAN’T ask her during rehearsals.
Me: Why?
Matthew: She plays my MOTHER in the play.

Another time opened up, she accepted, and a fine time was had by all. And I thought it showed unusual brilliance in my son to realize that there are ways and there are ways to start a relationship.

I had the opportunity to go to the States, and spoke at Warner Pacific College and Corban College in Portland, Oregon. It is amazing that anyone would want me to speak at a chapel, and both schools were very kind and supportive.

But what I want to talk to you about is that someone I didn’t know until a few months ago, and who I met over the internet, picked me up at the airport, fed me and housed me, and drove me around Portland so I could see some RVA kids.

I promise you, when we get to the other side, no one will remember a word of what I said, but the self-effacing attitude of two retired doctors humbles me every time I think of it. In fact, if you need a speaker, I assure you that I would much rather hear the Thompson’s than me, and I’m me.

I marvel at the body of Christ.

From Portland I flew to Seattle, where my conference was taking place. It was also the scene of the greatest concert of all recorded history. I’m happy, for any who request it, a song by song analysis of the concert. It should only take 40 minutes to read.  It really was great, and the 18,000 people there with me had a blast. The gentlemen in front of me told me to congratulate him, and when I did, he told me that he had just turned 84. I was tempted to say that was the median age of concert goers, but actually there was a wide variety of people there. And Neil Diamond is still hungry; after all these years, he went out there like he still had something to prove.

But what I want to talk to you about is that Neil Diamond’s guitar player provided tickets, back stage passes, a tour book signed by the entire band, and an autographed picture of the man himself inscribed to Steve and Nancy. I had never met Doug before, but he had done all these kind things to a stranger.

I marvel at the body of Christ.

I was in Seattle to attend a conference of colleges, and the highlight is when they have a college fair, and they had over six hundred colleges present. It is a chance to go booth to booth and meet reps from schools. We had some local women make tiny baskets that had RVA on the outside of them, and they could fit one package of tea that said Out of Africa on the cover. I hired Loren, a former RVA grad and a handsome young man, to go booth to booth while I focused on colleges where I knew where our students would be applying.

So I’m in the middle of this huge convention center, and I’m speaking with a famous college on the east coast not known for its conservative Christian thought. I tell them about a student who is applying, and I read one paragraph of her very touching essay. The vice president of this college breaks into tears, and tells me, “Oh my God, we need kids like that at our school.”

Twelve-day trips are so exhausting, but suddenly I felt very alive.

After getting to speak at a church and seeing some friends, I got to speak at Darlington School in Georgia, which is a fantastically amazing high school. I spoke in the morning, afternoon and evening, and they were kinder than kind. The students have decided to eat beans and rice once a week and donate the proceeds to the food program.

Something else happened that looks almost too amazing to be true, and I can’t quite talk about it yet, but it was another sign that God was still opening doors.

The highlight was getting to see JT and my sister and brother in law. I actually got to spend a night in JT’s dorm, and as I watched my son sleep on the floor so I could sleep in his bed, I marveled at how well his mother raised him. They keep interesting hours in college dorms, so I don’t remember much, but I was so grateful for the time with him.

A headmaster called me last week and told me that the food program was saving lives right now, and he wanted to thank me. I told him I wasn’t the guy to thank, and so he said, “So whoever they are; thank them and tell them they are saving lives.”

But I want to balance that by saying I know very well what has happened to the U.S. in the last few weeks. We wanted to tell you that if this is a difficult time for you, please don’t feel obligated to continue to support us or these projects. We trust the Lord, and we know He is the provider. 

Nancy had an amazing experience that I asked her to share:

Recently I took a group of high school girls to an orphanage one Saturday.  We took some maize and beans and the girls spent the morning playing with the 15 girls ages 5-16. I haven’t been able to get those 15 girls or Ruth, who runs the orphanage, out of my mind even though life here at RVA has been crazy busy. So finally, last Friday some time opened up for me and I called Ruth and arranged to go and  visit.  I had cleaned out Ben and Katie’s closet of  outgrown clothes and we also have some solar flashlights that were given to us that I wanted to take along. 

I arrived and gave her the clothes and showed her one of the flashlights. (I had brought 20 to give her, but had left most in the car for the second load.) She told me that when she told her husband I was coming, he said, “Maybe she will bring us a torch (flashlight).”  I thought that an interesting thing to specifically want when there were so many things they could use.  

What was more interesting was when I brought out the other 19 solar flashlights.  I was helping her install the batteries and she just started smiling and said, “You have heard God. On Monday, Kenya Power and Light came and cut our stima (electricity) because we could not pay the bill.  We have been using a few candles at night and we didn’t know what to do. You are such a blessing to us.”

I said, “But the real blessing is that about 6 months ago — before you ever had trouble paying for the stima — God put it on the heart of a man in America to send us many of these torches so that now, when you need them, they are here. Our God knows what we need before we ever know we will have the need. That is what is so wonderful about this.”

I marvel at the body of Christ.

This has gone long, and I’m sorry, but there is one more story that can’t wait. One of my best friends in Kijabe is Dr. Rich, the dentist. He is the nicest human on the planet, and is beloved by all. There was a abandoned baby at the hospital, and his wife started to go down to hold her every day, because newborns need to be held.

The hospital was overcrowded, and so they asked them if they could take the baby home until some room opened up. What happened next surprised them all. Dr. Rich is in his early 50’s, with a son in dental school, a daughter at Chapel Hill, a senior, a sophomore and a sixth grader at RVA. They weren’t looking, but the entire family started falling in love with this baby, and they are now wrestling with the thought of adoption.

Right now, my favorite scripture is when Jesus tells some of the disciples to go to the fish’s mouth and get coins. I’ve puzzled over that for years; why would He tell them to do that? I think part of it was Jesus was fun, and that was a cool way to give them money. The other reason is this:  Jesus wanted them to know that He was in charge, and His ways are not our ways. 

These are perilous times, but I believe in the God who puts coins in the fish’s mouths. 

And I bet the baby does, too. Her name indicates she might understand a lot. 

Her name is Hope.

Your pal,
Steve