Trent's African Adventures: Missionaries. . . .

I've had the privilege and honor to spend some time over the past few weeks with missionaries to Tenwek. People come to Tenwek in all different capacities. Some are short term visitors like me, others are intermediate term (a few months to a year), some are here on 2 yr commitments, and others are here as career missionaries. There are countless people on this compound from doctors to teachers, pastors, spouses and otherwise who have committed at least some part of their life to obeying the Great Commission by coming to Tenwek. In fact, there are so many, that I haven't even met them all! But from those that I have, I have learned a lot about what it truly means to surrender your life, your possessions, your time, your career and much more for the cause of Christ. No matter what each of these peoples' call looks like as far as time and job, they all have a heart for the lost and have come here to an area of the world that desperately needs good medical care and the message of Jesus to provide just that. After interacting with them I've learned how tender and compassionate they are for God's people and how willing they are to selflessly serve Him. It's been amazing to work with and learn from these incredible people. Although my time here has been fun, life on the mission field is hard, and these families have had to sacrifice a lot to do what they're doing. But, they're being obedient to their calling, and I respect that tremendously. I know that God has called us all as believers to live out the Great Commission. He didn't say that you have to go to Africa to do that. There are needs all around us and as long as you're living a life that points to Him, you can't go wrong. I don't know what God has in store for our family, but I know that He's used this time to change me. I'm committed now more than ever to serving Him as a family, and I'm excited to see what His plans are for us. Medical missions will definitely be a part of our life in some way and I'm glad to say that it all started here at Tenwek.

Here are some pictures of just a sampling of the many missionaries here. These are the ones that I seemed to interact with the most, and I wanted you to "meet" them too.