reactkenya.com Blog

Primary and Secondary Vision

We are all made to carry both primary and secondary visions for our lives. For each of us the combination of these is as diverse as each snowflake. We are, as Eugene Peterson says, to “live creatively” with what God has given us and blend both our primary and our secondary visions the way a blender mixes ingredients for something more tastey than any single ingredient.

While primary vision always looks different for each of us depending on the creativity of our Creator, there is one trait that is consistant. It is always larger than the pursuit of self.

Secondary visions are the time, talent and treasure we’ve each been given. On their own, they are only self-serving and self-preserving. Its the career, the job, the possessions and gifting we’ve developed and have been created with. With this time, talent and treasure, we are constantly given the choice to use it for our own self preservation or for a greater vision. Will these secondary things serve a higher vision?

Without a primary vision, the secondary always wins by default. This is evident when, say, our career dominates everything or our dream house is all we think about. Perhaps that training as a teacher is seen only as a means to an end instead of a means to bring life change to children. It may be the accumulation of wealth “for retirement” before any thought is given for the needs around us. Either way, our culture is dominated by the pursuit of secondary visions all too often lacking a primary vision to lead the way.

What if we took the time to really imagine what we could do with what is in our hands? What if we did as the Message says in Galatians and “lived creatively” with our time, talent and treasure? What if we were determined to use these things for higher pursuits instead of the illusion of self-preservation?

I am amazed to witness so many selfless people coming to Kenya from the US to blend their secondary and primary visions for the children of JoHaBeTo. For all of July and August, upwards of close to 100 people are both raising funds and travelling to Kenya to labour and give of what they have to provide a new home for the children of Soy. You can keep track of their adventures at www.johabeto.blogspot.com.

What role does your secondary vision have in serving the primary, higher calling God is painting for you?

City of Blinding Lights

“A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

We are all a part of a city whether we know it or not. We are all building something whether we are conscious of it or not. Its not that what we are building should be visible, but that it cannot be helped but be visible. What comes to mind when someone mentions “Las Vegas” or “Rome”? Perhaps you have never visited, but you know of these places and their reputations. Africa is known as “the Dark Continent”. A place of poverty, corruption and suffering. It is here that we pray that the Light of another City shines brightly, making a noticable difference. A difference that is visible on an personal level but perhaps not globally for generations to come. But always visible. Never hidden.

Like a city on a hill, our first-ever blog is posted for all to see. We are pleased that you are taking the time to pay a visit to our updated website. Our hope in revising this site is that we can better keep our friends and sponsors updated on progress and change by giving updates and news as it happens.

Many of us have seen the daily struggles of third-world orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) as we casually flick through the TV channels, but too few have realised the hidden riches that these children also possess. Kid sisters like Faith and Eunice are healing wonderfully (as seen above) in the Juma home after their parents were violently killed in the clashes of 2008. Deaf twins like Allan and Brian whose contageous smile and sheer delight at the prospect of an education, despite their dark history, would make all of us feel blessed. We want these lives to be like well-lit cities instead of the dark shanties they once were. These stories should be told with lots of noise and neon lights.

And so we welcome you to pay us a visit. Come into this place and explore it’s streets. Find a corner that you can call home either here with us or with another community and become a part of the larger city even as we too are finding our place as a part of the larger city. In 2009, our partners rose to the occasion and sponsored 102 children through our various projects and as we look already to 2010, the needs are overwhelming. Already we have had 134 potential new physically and mentally-challenged students come knocking as they look for a place to settle in this corner of town for the next school year. There is room for growth. There is still much to be done.

Join us in our journey as we all look and march to a much larger, brighter City.