By Narayan Mitra

GEORDIE MILNE looked tired and slimmer towards the end of August when he returned to Kamloops from Kisumu, Kenya, following his five-month assignment.

‘Assignment’ is not really an accurate term for Milne’s five-month trip to Kenya. No individual or agency paid him to go. “I was there for the love of God and to see lives changed,” said Milne. Having already been in Kenya in 2007, Milne, 22, said the country was not unfamiliar to him.

Yet, this year’s trip cost him time off from his university education and a large chunk of his earnings from the part-time work he did last year while going to school.

Milne, a member of  The Feast Community Church in Kamloops, spent five months in Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya.

Much of the time was spent doing street ministry, teaching Sunday school at a slum church and “basically hanging around with young people.”

Like any other port city, Kisumu has its share of orphaned and runaway kids who congregate on street corners, in bus terminals and in other downtown locales. Sniffing glue, sipping intoxicants, and doing petty crimes are routine for these kids, aged seven to 17. Some very young ones even attend weekly Alcoholic Anonymous group meetings.

Milne’s heart ached for the young people as he ministered to them outside the “church box.” His love and concern found acceptance many times.

His ‘amateur’ work, with no strings attached, was welcomed by the Spring of Life Ministries Association (SOLMA). Milne had a loose association with SOLMA through a Kamloops missionary couple who live and work in Kisumu.

Continue article >>

“The youngsters’ lifestyle of hardship and struggles moved me,” Milne said. “A few attend church, but most of them are not saved. God gave me the privilege of leading some to Christ.”

Milne also worked at two youth camps outside Kisumu, to which kids came from all over Kenya.

“The spartan facilities opened my eyes to our comfortable camping experience in Canada,” Milne noted. “The lack of running water and the hard beds were, however, no deterrent to getting closer and touching them with God’s love.”

Milne saw quite a few of the teenagers give their hearts to Jesus.

Though not as famous a tourist destination as Mombasa, Kisumu does get its share of tourists. With nearby Lake Victoria bordering Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, it is a busy city with many churches, mosques and temples.

Milne and other foreigners spent some anxious days in August, when Kenya went through a national referendum to introduce a new national constitution.

Being close to Eldoret, where many lives were lost in bloody violence, Kisumu was on edge. On the whole, though, the nation remained peaceful.

Milne’s reading of the nation’s spiritual state is quite positive.

“People are hungry for God,” he stated. “They don’t have the same distractions as we in the West, and they are way more open to the gospel and spiritual things.”

Milne’s pastor, Nolan Clark, has only words of praise for Milne. “Geordie has shown such a heart of compassion and humility. He is dedicated to the church, has shown consistency in outreach, is active in our home groups and is basically a great young man. We are super proud to have him with us in our flock.”

Milne is working again, planning to head back to school next year. But he is already dreaming of returning to Kenya again to expand God’s kingdom among young people.

October 2010