November, 2023
Greetings in the Name of Jesus!
(Scroll to bottom to see photos...)
We just returned from a wonderful outreach in Kenya, East Africa. This has been my first time to Kenya, although I had already visited the bordering countries of Uganda and Tanzania before. (When I was in my early 20’s, I traveled almost half way through Africa with my motorcycle, preaching the Gospel.)
I had a red Yamaha XT500. See my bags - one for clothes, one for spare parts, and a sleeping bag. I also wrapped a spare tire over my bags.
My plans in those days were to preach in Kenya too, but I ran out of gas and money. Now, about 30 years later, I finally visited Kenya by plane!
The capitol city, Nairobi, is quite an advanced city by African standards. It has high rise buildings, and boasts a massive 45-square-mile national park of wildlife right next to it.
I also think Kenya has been quite evangelized, especially Nairobi. Many evangelists have been there, and some big-name ministers have sacrificially sowed much money into reaching that city, and we are thankful for their impact.
The Hitchcocks however, went to one of the most undesirable places in the natural, but it was one of the most precious places for the winning of souls.
Our crusade was in the township of Dandora – a slum located
on the edge of Nairobi’s massive dump site. The dump site is 30 acres big, and
nearly 1 million people live around it. Not all, but many people scrape out a
living from the 4 million pounds of trash that is dumped there every single
day.
In these photos which I took you can see these huge, ugly undertaker-looking Marabou storks, which scavenge alongside pigs, goats, dogs, and sadly, people. You can also see our crusade advertising flyer on the pole.
On our first day of ministry there, we and about 10 local pastors literally went to the edge of the dump site, sang some songs, and then we preached to the curious – with no microphone or platform.
Heidi gave them a comforting message about God’s love.
On the fly, I made up a story of a Great King and his prospective Bride. But the Bride was enticed by a handsome, muscular man with the head of a snake. He spoke lies to her that She deserved more than the King offered her. So, she left her palace with its waterfalls, clean sparkling water, palm trees, and abundance of fruit, and followed the man.
But he took her to a dumpsite, where he forced her to work in the trash for several years. She was lost, and there was no way of escape!
But the King did not forget her. However, He was not going to force her to be His Wife. She had to accept His love. And at the right time, He laid down His crown and royal robes of gold in the palace, clothed Himself with a brown tunic over His white clothes, and headed out to that dumpsite far away from His palace.
There, He found the Girl, told her of His love, and though she felt guilty and unworthy, and though she was covered with dirt and flies, she wanted to be back with Him. She accepted His offer, He saved her. He redeemed Her with His Blood.
She became His beautiful Bride - washed and clean, and exceptionally beautiful, as her skin was renewed by a special ointment.
I told them that we are all the Bride, and that Jesus was the King, that He loved us, and that we must receive Him by faith.
The people listened intently, and amid distractions of dump trucks, and competing scavengers, they all prayed the prayer of salvation after me, accepting Jesus as their Savior. The local pastors who accompanied me invited them to the crusade, starting the next day.
We then held a pastors and leaders’ conference. In this conference, I spoke on “The Demonstration of the Spirit and Power,” and explained that we must always keep our Message on Jesus, as Paul said,
“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2.)
The Amplified Bible says, “For I made the decision to know nothing [that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while] among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified [and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection].”
I told them this is what I came to Dandora for, and that we must always keep this main thing the main thing in our ministries.
After the meeting, we all enjoyed a simple lunch together. I
tried to remember the names of those I met, and we had a wonderful time
together.
I wrote a little booklet (which I transcribed from my
preaching) about, “When the King saved His Bride.” It is in large print (16 point
font) for easy reading, and has many photos too. You can order it on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joel-Hitchcock/author/B06XQQFJNQ
where you can see many other books I wrote.
