Preparing for Battle

 

Last week, Ken and I attended the Welcome Banquet for our new cadets.  Despite the fact that they have not yet received their tunics, the group looked very smart.  And even though the banquet itself (like most classes) was held in the main hall of Territorial Headquarters, they warmly welcomed us to their "Training School."  We all enjoyed a delicious feast prepared personally by the Training Principal's wife, and then the cadets sang, danced, and spoke as if they had reached the Promised Land.  I could not have been more proud. 

 

I simply love our cadets.  Every morning Ken and I arrive at Headquarters around 6:45am, and every morning we find them hard at work.  There are two beautiful young women who are responsible for sweeping the parking lot, and I can often hear them singing as they do so.  It always brings a smile to my face, and that's when I'm once again overwhelmed by God's goodness.

Cadets joyfully cleaning the old quarters that serves as
 staff offices.  One office is in a dark, tiny kitchen!
 

 

 

I must admit, though, that there are five cadets who are particularly precious to me.  After we had accepted twenty-six young people into the Training College (out of more than 100 applications), we received letters from five young officers who are engaged to be married to ladies who, although already accepted for a future session, could not be accommodated this year in the old bakery that serves as our cadet dormitory.  This is a common situation since officers can only marry other officers.  But it also means that engagements can sometimes last as long as five years!  The urgent pleas from these young men touched our hearts, and with the support of our colleagues, Ken and I decided to do something about it.

Ken went to the old bakery and found a small room that, until now, had been used for the storage of garden equipment.  Ken gave instructions for the equipment to be moved out and a plywood wall constructed, thereby converting that little area into living quarters.  The work cost $600, which was generously funded by friends, and three days later, the five additional cadets moved in.  It was far from an ideal situation, but as you can imagine, they (not to mention their future husbands) were overjoyed.

So Joel 3:10 has taken on new meaning for us in the Kenya West Territory.  The prophet wrote,

 

Beat your plows into swords, and your vine hooks into spears.

Let the weak say, “I am a powerful soldier.”

Joel 3:10 (NLV)

 

 

Turning a garden shed into a place to prepare a warrior for the Lord.  What a great idea.