Field of Dreams

If we build it, they will come.

You have probably noticed my movie theme this week. I'm not sure why but it seems to fit.

Field of Dreams rolled out in theaters in 1989. It is the story of a farmer who sees a vision of a baseball field and hears a voice whisper, "If you build it, they will come." The character Ray plows his corn and builds the field. A year passes and nothing happens. Then Ray begins to "see" baseball players from the past. This fantasy/drams ends with Ray being reconnected with his father.

In 1989, Samuel Kibiku and his wife wanted to memorialize their 50 years of marriage. So they dontated 2.5 acres of land to the Bahati Martyrs church in Nairobi where Samuel had been a member and elder. (I liked Samuel immediately when I met him - he attended the University of Missouri in 1963!)

Samuel and his wife probably thought "give it, and they will build." But the church has been sitting on the land for two decades, not sure what to build or how to do it. Until now.

Yesterday we broke ground on what will be an orphan village for 240 children. It will provide a warm house, food, clothing, education, spiritual guidance and a loving "momma" for each child.

As in Field of Dreams, we hope the children will "see" life in new ways, including a relationship with their loving, heavenly Father. Unlike the movie, however, this is not a fantasy that fades or disappears in the cornfield.

It is an eternal reality that will last forever.