All Things Work Together For Good

Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

I was to be in Brazil from the 16^th to the 22^nd so I would be coming back to Kenya from tomorrow.  This was a missionary trip that coincided with the 2014 World Cup.

When volunteers for this trip were being looked for I had no idea I would sign up. In fact I was not interested because there was no way I could raise the air fare which at that time was $1570.  So I was content with watching and experiencing the world cup here at home in Kenya. Oh what a surprise when my parents asked for the flier and told me to pursue the idea. 

There were so many things going on in my mind

First of all I was not a missionary. Secondly where would the money come from? Thirdly I have never been on a plane before.  Fourthly where would I get pocket money. Fifthly when and how would I learn Portuguese? So I prayed about it and began the process of getting all the necessary information and document s to prepare for the trip including doing my own research on the place we were to go and how to evangelize. In less than 1 week all my fears were no more.

So I got everything including the air ticket paid in full. My work was now to wait for the visa board the plane and go spread the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.  With this knowledge that I was guaranteed  to go, I went and told the whole world “ninapanda ndege kuenda Brazil” ( I am going to board a plane to go to Brazil)Trust me I told the whole world.

 It started with my family, then the friends who would be praying for me as I was on the mission, then my team mates both current and former, then my coaches, then twitter and then Facebook. I even started a mini count down to the World Cup.

From this eventful adventure of telling everyone that I was going to Brazil everyone thought I am going to play football or to watch the world cup. You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them I am going as a missionary. Most were like how come your not going to Turkana or something? Why Brazil? My response was simple I do not know but all I know is that everyone needs Jesus even the Brazilians and everyone attending the world cup.

Then there were the crazy requests from some of my friends. 

“Eliud when you go please come back with Brazilian hair for me.”

“Eliud make sure you do not come back empty handed you guy, buy for me soccer boots and bring the brazuca with you too (World Cup ball) “

The Brazilian hair request made me laugh silly. How on earth I, a dude walk in a shop even here in Nairobi to go ask for hair….. Never .I do not think I will ever do it. So that ends there.

The one for shoes and the brazuca got me all excited because deep within I was imagining how I would use my juggling and football skills to get the attention of a scout and also to minister. So I went to OLX (an online shop like eBay) searching for the cost of  chutiera (shoes in Portuguese)  in Brazil.

The cost was the same no big difference. So I resolved to do all my shopping here and when  I would get to brazil it was strictly mission work.

Things in Brazil started becoming crazy, strikes and protests from teachers, bus drivers and even the police. So you can imagine what was happening here on my side. Serious prayer and fasting so that everything could be okay and we could get to travel. Things got worse and eventually our host sent a letter of cancellation.

It was unbelievable I was like :

“What! How?”

 “I have already paid…. God I have prayed and I have fasted… I have told everyone I am going… I have done my shopping already….  Lord I am ready”

There was depression, confusion and embarrassment all together at once.

 There was depression because I was really looking forward to the trip and boarding a plane for the first time and playing football with the Brazilians (inventors of the samba).  I was confused because I had planned how I would blog about it from there and now I did not know what was next.. Embarrassment because I had told the whole world I am going. So in short it was a big disaster.

But remember that verse I shared at the beginning:

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.

I ended up getting a blogging job for this world cup and I did not have to travel to Brazil I could just watch the games from home and blog about it. Here is the link to an article I have written : 

My pal came from the States and brought me new boots and an official world cup match ball. That was really awesome.  I got to meet his family too and talk about Christ and football .I need to check up on him. 

I bet your wondering what happened next our mission trip has been rerouted to the UK.

Right now all I can do is wait and see what’s next and prepare my mind and heart to serve.  God is good all the time and that is His nature and indeed His love endures forever.  No matter how hopeless the situation looks like God is in control. He loves us so much that He gave us his only begotten son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins so that we can gain salvation and live free.

My lost Phone

The lost and found phone.

The inspiration to write this has been fuelled by the past two weeks occurrences. A tournament I played at Sadili Sports Club,my journey home and the complete effects of this obsession I have with #DreamBigPlayHard but most of all the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20) I have to begin with a disclaimer though I am not a qualified Pastor or religious leader so feel free to correct me in the comment box below.

The tournament was great everyone was scared of us cause some of my team mates are well known and I think they have been reading my blog and tweets about training. Any way the first game we drew two all,the second game we drew again nil nil this time and the third game we won taking us to the second round. In the second round things got tough.

 I can not fail to emphasis the value of prayer in terms of countering anxiety and ultimately building you up as a Christian. More so your faith in God, because how else do you speak to God if you do not pray literally i.e. Black and White without hiding and without being ashamed of His power and completely having faith in God. My basis for this paragraph is :

Philippians 4:6-11

 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So we ended up being eliminated in the quarter finals through penalties. So the usual depression that occurs post game especially after a loss.(Arsenal fans know this too well and Manchester United fans together with Dortmund are the latest victims) It's a game it's that simple whether your earning millions or playing for free do not let evil overcome you but overcome evil with good. The cool thing about the loss is that even after it we still prayed and thanked God for the loss and reflected on our weaknesses too as individual players and as a team. 

Quickly fast forwarding to the phone: After we bid each other farewell, I went home with one of my team mate using a matatu where we were seated at the front next to the driver. Of all coincidences the driver was a former opponent who we played against some time back (like 2years ago). We shared with him how we were from a tournament.As any normal person who is not interested in a conversation I started texting my friends talking to some about the world cup and how it's like 40 something days to go and others how the game was. The texting continued for a while as I still talked with the driver and my team mate.Talk about being a super multitasker :-)  . ( Fact you can not serve two masters  plus it is well researched that men are poor at  multitasking)

I liked the two verses below they hit the nail on the head.Different writers same message.

Matthew 6:24

 (NIV)

 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Luke 16:13

(NIV)

¹³ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Talking and texting is not good one of the two suffers and ends up not being done well. I wish I knew and acted upon this then. 

As the journey continued I had to reach into that secret pocket in jeans where coins are stashed to pay for my fare. No sooner could I say Arsenal are winning the league than I dropped my phone (points) and had no idea it was dropped. Heck the conversation with my team mate and the bus driver just continued. I arrived home safe.

This has nothing to do with this story it's just to capture your attention

During supper time with the family I started checking for my phone wondering why my texts had not been replied (we all dislike slow texters) then that's when it hit me..... You do not have your phone.So I did the usual back tracking of my steps checking the clothes I had worn during the day and the bag used. My final conclusion was that the phone was probably where I had last used it, that is in the matatu front seat, next to the driver and my friend. Logical solution the phone had fallen. 


All this time as I think  my family is calling me to the table to sit down pray and eat supper because guys were really hungry and some wanted to sleep it was already past 9pm. So we seat down and bow down to pray and I blurt out "I don't have my phone please pray with me I get it back and find it"  Wait do not judge me I was judged enough on that table by the eyes I got just because I said that. 


I knew a phone was a "thing" but still I valued it a lot and trust me it's not an i-phone or Blackberry or anything expensive in fact the phone costed me less than Sh.3000.00 and it does not have Internet.


Why I valued the phone a lot: 

• That weekend I had just opened a new bank account and the passwords were to be sent to me via text they call it mobile banking.
• There were so many contacts I had.
• I just like my phone it's simple and does not have many issues.
• I find it cool texting in pink.
• I dislike touch screens. 
• People are more important than phones.

My brother offered to pray. Immediately after the prayer my mom suggested I should call it (thank God for mum) and see whether it had been turned off. It was the weekend the driver would be probably busy or some passenger would have seen it, slipped it in his pocket and gone with it,or some "entrepreneur" would want to take the spare parts and making something new. I mean so many theories were in my head but there was that verse in Philippians then another one from Ephesians 6 that I desperately clung to.

Ephesians 6:18 

(NIV)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

I hung on to the "all kinds of prayers and requests"  and went for it with all my heart and mind. I called my phone and lo and behold someone answered it. It was the driver I recognised his voice... Thank God! Prayer does work and more so Faith in God and what He has said in His Word.

Talked with him and he said "Ntakuwekea poa msee usijali" (I will keep it for you well do not worry) . 
My Brain took over again - what the heck does he mean by that,does he want some sort of reward or is will he actually put the phone well for me???

To cut the long story short it took four days to get the phone back and mental trauma with the bank stuff and all. I did not pay him a single cent. How was this possible??? Simple I serve a big God :-) who cares for me so much.

One last thing you should know I was going everyday to the stage to see if I would meet the driver but I never saw him not even once in those 4 days. A pal of mine criticised me telling me that was lack of faith because I had already prayed. People having faith does not mean being irresponsible or mystical.

James 2:14 - 26

(NIV)
 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  

 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
 
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.  You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?


Those verses capture the point quite well. In conclusion I got the phone back in one piece after four days and all the glory belongs to God. He is always on time. 





 

Der Kaiser

 

Der Kaiser is a German phrase meaning The Emperor and that was Franz Beckenbauer's nickname. He has been praised for great vision on the football pitch and an undying desire to win. Speaking of winning this past weekend I participated in a tournament where we got eliminated in the quarter finals it was quite painful because one of my team mates missed their penalty.
We were the better team and we deserved to win but that's football for you any one can be beaten even the one's who deserve to win ask Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester United fans.


 

Back to Der Kaiser he got this name from a journalist and soon after he became the captain of Bayern Munich in the 1968 -1969 season where he lead them to the Bundesliga title and became German footballer of the year. From the videos I have seen of him he is quite good at dribbling and he played as libero i.e a deep lying playmaker just like Pirlo. I play as an attacking midfielder more up front but the great similarity is the vision. You have to have the greatest eyes, control and passes to play in these positions.

Most of the time you find the players playing this position are the team captains e.g. Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Xavi just to mention a few.

Another thing I have learnt from Der Kaiser is tackling.... When you tackle you tackle hard and strong so that the opponent does not come and try anything again. It sounds a bit too much but it's the passion any slight mistake or missed tackle and boom your scored.

Der Kaiser represents domination at it's best which naturally became part of his team's culture (Bayern Munich) . He played for them for around 20 years. If you see Bayern's game most of the time when they win they win with more than 2 goals. Especially these last two seasons they have dominated World football like no one's business. Currently they have already won the Bundesliga and last week they eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League.

I am amazed at how Pep Guardiola has managed to maintain the winning culture at Bayern Munich. The interesting fact though is that during his time as a player he played in the same position as Der Kaiser. So it seems there is a big correlation towards that position and the ultimate performance of a team. Maybe I should switch roles and take on more responsibility not just in attacking but also in defending and mainting the whole balance of the team....

But I need to mature first, that role requires a lot of experience and composure. These are the next two things I need to work on. So the big question as to why Der Kaiser is among the best???? It is quite simple. He has won the World cup which is now around 1 month and a some days away. He has won the Champions League, German Bundesliga, German Pokal and the Ballon d'or. In short he has won almost everything here is a full list I got it from wikipedia Franz_Beckenbauer

Honours

Player

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga:
• DFB-Pokal: 
• European Cup: 
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 
• Intercontinental Cup: 

Hamburger SV

• Bundesliga:

New York Cosmos

• North American Soccer League
• Trans-Atlantic Cup

West Germany

• FIFA World Cup
• UEFA European Championship

Manager

Marseille

• Ligue 1

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga
• UEFA Cup

West Germany

• FIFA World Cup: 1990

Individual

• Ballon d'Or
• FIFA Presidential Award
• UEFA President's Award
• FIFA Order of Merit
• FIFA Centennial Player and Football Personality Award
• Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award
• Marca Leyenda
• World Cup Young Player of the Tournament
• World Cup Silver Ball
• FIFA World Cup All-Time Team
• FIFA 100
• World Cup Team of the Tournament
• Regionalliga Süd
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament
• German Footballer of the Year
• NASL Most Valuable Player Award
• World Soccer Magazine Player of the Year
• FIFA World Cup All-Time Team
• ‏World Team of the 20th Century
• FIFA World Cup Dream Team

Civil

• Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Bavarian Order of Merit
• Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Honorary Golden Coin of the City of Munich
• Honorary Doctor of the National Sports Academy
• Commanders' Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Lower Saxon Merit 1st Class
• Order of Merit of the State of North

When I said everything I meant everything from as a player to civil awards to even as a manager I just have to meet this guy one day Germany here I come. I wonder if this years National mannschaft will go far in the world cup and be inspired by his legacy