----------------~ooe~h~ ELDORET TEAM OF MISSIONARIES REUNITES TO "PAINT LIVES FOR HIS GLORY" "We are just common people who were allowed to do uncommon things," missionary-in-residence The plane touched down, and four couples saw their new home in Kenya for the first time. Although none of them could speak the language, the acquaintances knew they had to work together to thrive in a foreign culture and to minister to the people they would meet. The mission team lived in one house and grew close as the members worked with the Kalenjin tribe in Eldoret, though the adjustment entailed greater difficulties and joys than the couples could have imagined. It was a time of adventure and stepping out in faith for Dean of the College of Bible and Ministry Dr. Monte Cox and his wife Beth. Hardly knowing what they were doing, they set out in 1982 to the fields of Kenya to spread the word of God with missionaryin-residence O'Neal and Betsy Tankersley, Amos and Anne Allen and Steve and Donna Jo Meeks. The mission team grew when Steven and Claudia Greek and Assistant Professor of Bible Dr. Kevin Kehl and Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Susan Kehl later joined the original team in Eldoret. The team formed at Harding, and their formation and chosen location was greatly influenced in 1977-78 by a visiting professor Gailyn Van Rheenen who, according to O'Neal Tankersley said. Monte's description, only spoke of the Kipsigis tribe in East Africa, causing his wife, Beth, to swear to never go. "Beth said, 'If there is one place on Earth I will never go, it's to the Kipsigis,' and lo and behold, five years later we moved to the northern Kalenjin tribes, which speak a different dialect of the Kipsigis, and spent 10 years of our lives there," Monte said. Twenty years later, Monte, O'Neal and Kevin all worked together once again, this time as faculty at Harding. Some of the team members met at Global Missions Experience Sept. 27-30 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their initial departure to Kenya and to talk to students about their team's experiences. A new mission team, which left for lraqw, Tanzania, the previous January, interviewed the Eldoret team. The Coxes, Tankersleys, Meekses and the Greeks answered questions about the mission process and how it worked. The group's main goal was to give the students a realistic view of starting a team; the dynamics of working with a group; what it required of a person; and how God could use people to make the mission successful. According to Monte, they also addressed, "how this new Tanzania team may have different experiences in some ways 30 years after we moved to Kenya." Junior Abigail Partlow said the audience's response to the panel members' encouragement was one of "applause, admiration and a desire to follow in their footsteps." She said the panel members encouraged the audience through their genuine answers and their praise to God. "I was encouraged by how real they were," Partlow said. "These are real people who loved Jesus and who brought their gifts and their imperfections to the mission field and allowed God to use them to create something beautiful." The panel members echoed Partlow, saying that they were flawed humans whom God used to show the Kalenjin tribe his love. "We are just common people who were allowed to do uncommon things," O'Neal, director of HUT, said. "Our team relationship was beautiful. It was not perfect, of course, because we are people, but all in all it was one of the best team relationships that I know of." This team had inspired and helped many mission teams prepare for long-term international service. They started a tradition in East Africa with hope to continue the work they started through future generations. Chaney Mitchell Center for World Missions 1203
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