I remember two moments of true, desperate thirst. Not the yard‑work kind, but the “I cannot get water into my body fast enough” kind. Once, as a young child at Indian Springs Holiness Camp, I neglected water for days and ended up gulping chlorinated pool water. Years later at Olderkesi, warned not to drink the water, I avoided even bottled water until I was swallowing shower streams just to steady myself. The first swallow in each case felt like life itself—and both choices made me ill.
I was drinking from the wrong wells.
Another memory comes from Israel, where we visited the hillside traditionally associated with the Sermon on the Mount. Sitting under date palms, our guide explained the Aramaic nuance of ashrei—the word behind “blessed.” Not surface happiness, but being extremely blessed—a settled flourishing that comes from alignment with God. That understanding brought Matthew 5:6 into sharp relief. It is this kind of extreme thirst for righteousness that the OMTI students exhibit—and the ashrei blessing they share.
Drinking from the wrong wells
In both moments of extreme thirst, I sought relief in the wrong places. At Indian Springs, I ignored clean water and gulped chlorinated pool water. At Olderkesi, I avoided bottled water only to drink shower runoff. Both times I was desperate, both times I drank deeply—and both times what I consumed made me ill. I was drinking from the wrong wells.
The Hebrew/Aramaic term ashrei—rendered “blessed” in Matthew 5:6—carries the force of “extremely blessed” or “supremely happy.” It appears throughout the Psalms to describe the state of those who find their satisfaction in God alone. “Ashrei are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” This is not mild approval but a declaration of profound flourishing for those who seek the right source.
Hunger and thirst for righteousness is not generic spiritual longing. It is directed desire—a pursuit of God’s character, God’s Word, God’s will. It means refusing the broken cisterns of self‑reliance, cultural religion, and shallow teaching. It means coming to Scripture as living water, to Christ as the bread of life. And it means drinking deeply—not once, but continually.
The students at OMTI are ashrei‑thirsty. They have left their communities, traveled long distances, and committed months to rigorous study because they recognize their need. They are not looking for credentials or status—they are looking for truth. They are drinking from the right wells. And as they do, the promise of Matthew 5:6 is unfolding before my eyes: they are being satisfied.
That sensation has been on my mind this week at Olderkesi Missionary Training Institute. My students are thirsty—urgently, unabashedly—for the truth of God’s Word. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6, ESV). The promise is not a polite commendation but a guarantee of satisfaction—ashrei, extremely blessed—given by the One who fills empty vessels.
In this cohort sits Peter Lekombe, whose presence ties present work to seeds planted years ago in his village of L’Moti, and more recently in our shared work on the shores of Lake Turkana. His journey from remote villages to OMTI embodies this place’s purpose: to form indigenous leaders who will bring the Gospel to unreached peoples across East Africa.
This week, 39 students sat in our classes—representing Rendille and Maasai from northern Kenya, local Maasai from Olderkesi, and students from Tanzania.
The El Molo expedition first exposed us to intense spiritual hunger where trained leadership was scarce. That discovery became conviction: sustainable Gospel advance requires local pastors and teachers formed by Scripture and equipped for their contexts. Seeing Peter in class is one concrete fulfillment of that conviction.
Their questions are precise. Their note‑taking is relentless. Their practice sermons grow clearer each day. This is not academic curiosity—it is the urgency of villages in northern and southern Kenya and in Tanzania where syncretism, traditional religion, and false teaching fill vacuums of leadership. Their thirst is moving them toward righteousness, toward deeper knowledge of Scripture, toward faithful proclamation.
As Peter completes training, he will return not merely informed but tooled for exposition, pastoral care, and discernment. He will join a growing network of OMTI graduates serving among the El Molo, Turkana, Samburu, Rendille, and beyond—regions where the harvest is plentiful and laborers remain few.
Christ’s promise—“they shall be satisfied”—is already visible here. Students immersed in Scripture are being formed. Satisfaction overflows: as they are filled, communities receive shepherds who have drunk deeply from living water.
If you want to take a next step with OMTI—pray, share, or help underwrite student training—I would be grateful. We will send one concise email with details when this post goes live.
From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:26-27