RockTheDesert

Featured Video - Kenya/Rwanda - June '07

Enjoy this video which includes mostly our Kenya trip with a couple of clips of Rwanda mixed in!

The Africans dressed in mostly red are part of the Maasai tribe. They are the cattle owners/herders in Kenya. They are nomadic and still follow ancient tribal customs such as drinking cow's blood. Yuck. They also live in extremely short huts made from dried mud and manure. The Maasai women traditionally build the homes. They are not very tall so they only build the houses as tall as they can reach. Ironically, Maasai men are extremely tall, so they have to hunch way over in in order to move about in their homes. We were blessed to be able to meet with a group of Christian Maasai. We worshiped with them and they let us look inside their homes and allowed us to take pictures of them.

From 53 seconds to 57 seconds, you'll see the green hills of Rwanda. Then from 1:03 to 1:08 you'll catch just a 5 second glimpse of some children in Rwanda.

Leaving Sudan

I'm looking forward to seeing Dan and hearing all the details of the trip - I did receive a text message from him - 259 1st time professions of faith in Christ. He said it was the most difficult trip he's been on to date! Thank you to all who have been praying faithfully for him and the team!

This is another forwarded email - this time from Patricia - we met Patricia on our Rwanda trip - she is a CPC with e3partners.

_______________________

Flying home towards Nairobi in our 12 passenger plane. No weight problem on this leg. We have left all of our ministry materials in Sudan. We are all well and have seen the infathomable love of God at work in Sudan.

Yesterday God have me the desire of my heart. When I visited Kormachi in July I met a woman named Maria. She was in the compound of the chief and had more beads on than any of the other women. She had the look of being the Queen Bee. She had the appearance of being in another world very far away and unreachable. It was the face of Maria that motivated me to research, pray and prepare to take the gospel to the most primitive area I had ever traveled to. The Toposa. In Nairobi on our way to Sudan we spent the day with missionaries who had lived 6 years with a similar tribe. They opened their hearts to us and shared all the materials their 6 years of work produced. God supplied all we needed to begin to work with the Toposa of southern Sudan. Did you read about our 5 hours stuck in the mud on the way to Kormachi? Our 1st day we had to turn around. Courageous man of Faith David Kaya was willing to try yet again the following day. The road was such that I had to close my eyes and pray. If you are big on off road driving and mud slides. Sudan will be your cup of tea! Kormachi at last!

After picking up a translator at the school we went immediately to the hut of the chief (his compound of huts). The chief was not there but several women and children, Maria and her close friend were there smoking pipes. Such a hardness on her face. That same expression I had seen before that made me wonder if we would ever be able to bridge the gap. Not all the faces had this hard look. Mostly we found warm welcoming faces.

The afternoon and following trip allowed us the opportunity to visit other compounds but the door did not open again for üs to visit the chief's compound until our final day in Kormachi. We had the awesome opportunity to spend an ünrushed 1 hour with Maria and 5 other women, 2 men and a gaggle of kids. I had an EXCELLENT Toposa translator (huge answered prayer) and was able to tell the stories of God's creation that had been taught to me by the missionaries. FAR from perfect but I soooooo believe God used it for His Glory. I hope you too can take great Joy in this divine opportunity. Most of the adults in that circle prayed a prayer to receive Christ as their Savior. I trust in the Lord with all my heart that He heard those prayers and will continue to draw the people of Kormachi and Kapoeta to Himself with cords of human kindness (Hosea 11:4).

Thank you so much for your prayers. God's Grace has been abundant and overflowing!

God bless you

patricia

Another Sudan Update

Sounds like they wil be leaving for Sudan for Kenya in just a few hours. Received the following update just about an hour ago (4pm Phoenix).

Since it was raining in Sudan, the team had trouble getting through to my phone, but thankfully they were able to reach my friend, Cindy Sherman, when there was a break in the rain.  Thanks to Cindy for the report below. 

Michael Norris reported the following....

Prayer Requests for today:

Major Prayer Request - David Kaya (their leader in Sudan) is now leaving to go home to his family.  His wife, mother-in-law, and 2 of his 4 kids have pneumonia.  He is driving to Kanpala, Uganda and will be traveling with 7 other men (he will be dropping them off in Kajokeij).  The rainy season starts tonight and he will have to cross 58 water crossings to get home.  They expect the journey to take a couple days 

Answered prayers -
They have had no rain until tonight.
They had 6 translators today in Kormachi, which was the exact number they needed!

Prayer request - Moses and Meshach are the new leaders for Kormachi.  Pray for God to lead and direct them as to what their role will be.

The team will begin traveling home tomorrow, but will call from Kenya.

FYI:  Their devotional reading for today is from Acts 20:17-38.

Thanks for keeping these prayer requests and the team in your prayers!

World of Coca Cola

Michael loves Coca Cola. He loves to drink it. Loves to collect trivia and memorabilia. Painted his bedroom Coca Cola red. Dan and I visited the Coca Cola museum a couple of years ago when we were in Atlanta. It was very cool. Well, I just found out today that they have built a brand new World of Coca Cola in Atlanta down the street from the old one. It sounds like it is bigger and better than the old one. They've added a 4-D ride along with a lot more Coke artifacts. They still have the tasting room where you can sample Coca Cola products from around the world. It has one of the stickiest floors you'll ever walk on, but it's kinda fun to go from fountain to fountain and sip the different sodas.

While in Kenya, we took photos of various Coca Cola signs, thinking we'd print them and frame them for Michael. 1st photo = village of Ruai, Sarah (translator) and John (national). 2nd photo = The Great Rift Valley viewpoint. The GRV was absolutely beautiful. Very green and serene. 3rd photo = A cool mural Dan found while traveling through the Eldoret region of Kenya. 4th photo - we shopped at a mall in Nairobi that had a Coca Cola room - glass walls with stained glass Coke bottles, red furniture, and a TV which played non-stop Coca Cola commercials.

An Amazing Letter

This letter is from Kory Lewis, a fellow campaigner who went to Kenya with us. He's in high school and lives in Franklin, TN with his family. He joined the trip at the urging of my father-in-law (long story). I was so encouraged by his words and inspired by the depth of his commitment to Christ and to sharing the Gospel.

Kory is standing on the far right.

Dear Friends,

First, I would like to say how blessed I was to serve with each of you in Nairobi, Kenya. I hope you have fully recovered physically, but I hope you are forever changed spiritually. God was glorified through our work in Kenya. Chris, Julianne, Tina, Lisa, Lucas, Shelley, and Connor: I absolutely loved serving our Lord alongside you guys in Njuno. I love your servant hearts, warm smiles, and encouraging words. Thank you.

As you probably know, I did not fly out of the Nairobi airport with you on June 8th. Instead, I joined up with my Dad and another e3 team to work in Mwanza, Tanzania. Mwanza lies on the shores of Lake Victoria and is a beautiful city. There were large, Granite rock outcroppings scattered throughout the town and outlying areas. The driving was much more laid back in Tanzania, and the economy seemed to be a few decades behind that of Nairobi.

My dad and I worked with another man and his daughter, Steve and Jessica Coffman, in Mayolwa, a small village about 45 minutes outside of Mwanza. The village consisted of about 125 families (about 500 people). A church had been planted in this village back in the year 2000 but had dissolved in 2004 for no apparent reason. It started back up in 2006 but still was not very well established. The church currently meets in a school but has the land and most of the materials to build their own church building because the school is not cooperating very well. The church only had a few regular attenders and had never really reached out to the community, which was spiritually lost.

By the end of the week, we had at least 120 new brothers and sisters in Christ and a well established church. We had about 75 adults and a countless number of kids at the discipleship meeting on the last day. After the discipleship meeting, we played a soccer game next to the school. We bought a soccer ball in town to give to the church on this last day and had invited everyone we came into contact with to come play with us after attending the discipleship meeting. Many of them had never played with a real soccer ball before. We played soccer for about 45 minutes until we Americans had to go. By the time the game ended, there were 200 plus people at the field where we were playing soccer. Just before we left, my dad took the opportunity to speak to them for about 5 minutes. I was astonished to see 13 dollars bring so much joy to an entire village of people and provide such an amazing opportunity to encourage their faith and spread the Gospel.

Over the course of this week, I had the privilege of pointing an 86 year old man to the Lord and leading him in prayer to accept Christ. He had no shirt, only a tattered sport coat, and he said that he could not go to church without a shirt. It really touched me to see the respect he had for the church even though he had never heard the Gospel or even what the church was all about. I was able to give him a shirt the next day and see him raise both hands at the discipleship meeting that day when the pastor asked new believers to raise their hand.

The most exciting story of our week in Tanzania was the transformation of a witch doctor to a Christ follower. Steve and his daughter led a witch doctor to the Lord on the first day. The man said that God had been working on his heart for some time and that now he was ready to make a decision. He prayed to receive Christ with them. My dad and I met with him on the road the third and final day in the village. We started talking to him and discipling him. One of the questions he asked us was: "I have five wives and I know that, Biblically, I should only have one, what do I do?" He also asked, "I am known by all the villages around here as the witch doctor, how do I tell them what I have done?" We talked with him on the road for about an hour and fifteen minutes counseling him helping him see what the Bible says. Just before we left him he said that he was ready to go do the things that we told him to do and that he was ready to go tell everyone he saw about this new life he now has in Christ. He said that some day he wants to be a pastor. We gave him an evangecube and a Bible and encouraged him to share this good news with the world. He came to the discipleship meeting that afternoon and sat on the front row. He had his Bible open and was answering as many questions as he could. Praise the Lord!

God is good. Christianity is not a passive faith. God has called us to serve, to have principle, to build character, and to run toward the roar. So, find your calling and exercise your calling. That way you will have the greatest impact on advancing the Kindom of God and stimulating others to further love and good deeds. Furthermore, you will receive the blessings and heavenly rewards God has for you.

May God bless you for your service. Bwana Asifiwe! (Praise the Lord!)

Steadfast,

Kory Lewis

Africa Connections

I have some friends who left for Kenya today. Not on an evangelistic campaign, but on a fact-finding mission. They are visiting the Africa Hope Center which is an orphanage for kids whose parents died of hiv/aids and also for kids with hiv/aids. They are taking a team with them to assess the current needs and project future needs. The founder, Pastor Joseph, has been able to secure a plot of land on which they plan to build an orphanage which will house 100 children. They currently have 23 children living in three different apartments with full-time caregivers. Check out their website at www.africahopecenter.org.

I was talking to Patty today. She went on the Kenya trip with us. She and her family have decided to sponsor 2 children who live in the slum in Nairobi. They are sponsoring them through Compassion International.

I know from past experience that Food For The Hungry has an excellent outreach program to children with hiv/aids in all parts of the world, including Kenya.

Sponsoring a child would be a great Father's Day gift, don't you think? 

Michael's Kenya Photos

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Message from Mike: "I had a fun time there. I was sad that there were millions of people living in the slums. The kids were all really cute. I told my parents that we could adopt one. I liked that people would always smile and wave to us as we drove by. On Monday when we were sharing the Gospel with a woman in the village, she said that she wanted to receive Christ as her Savior. We prayed with her. Later in  the week she came to the victory celebration and gave her testimony. She said that she had been injured when she was younger and her parents took her to a witch doctor. The witch doctor gave her a turban to wear on her head at night. When she wore the turban she would be tormented by demons. The demons would try to molest her and tried to kill her. When she prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior, she felt completely free from the demons. She was really happy and joyful. Someday I hope that I can go back to Africa. I'm really glad that we got to be there as a family. "

A Quiet Day

Got a text message from Alyssa at 4:30am. "Are you awake? I miss dad. Josh is hungry." I wasn't really awake, but the fact that I even heard the single beep from the phone meant I wasn't really asleep. So I got up. Got dressed. Called Alyssa. We met at 5 & Diner for breakfast as soon as they opened at 6 am. Sat there for 2 hours. Pretty much had the place to ourselves. Dan called just as we were leaving the restaurant. He's still in Bujumbura, Burundi until tomorrow evening. Then he'll head back to Kenya where he'll rest & re-group until next week when the other Kenya team arrives.

Our day was purposely uneventful. Bought some groceries. Washed some clothes. Short nap. Made Steven his favorite pasta for dinner.

Watched TV with the boys. They went to bed at 8:30. I've been thinking a lot about the Kenya trip. There's so much to distill before I can adequately express my thoughts in writing.

This was an Epic trip, meaning it was targeted toward a teen/college age participant. All of the kids from Fellowship North had at least 1 parent with them. Nearly all of the kids from Chase Valley (Alabama church) had at least 1 parent with them. So the dynamic was totally different from any trip I've yet experienced. It was interesting to watch all the kids interact with each other and then form lifelong bonds of friendship by the end of the 2nd day. This trip brought many families closer together. Definitely brought each group closer together and the entire group was totally united in goal & purpose. Very cool to see it unfold.

The two travel days were pretty brutal. We had a 12-hr layover in London. We decided to leave the airport and see the city. This was not as easy as we thought it might be. Took us 2 hours to get out of the airport and onto the correct train. Then we had no plan or directions for seeing the city. We wandered from landmark to landmark, took pictures, ate lunch, then headed back to the train. If I ever go back to London, I plan to secure a comfy seat on the top level of a double-decker bus and have a narrated, touristy-as-can-be tour of the city. I don't know if I thought I'd run into Mary Poppins & Bert in the park, but I definitely thought I'd find at least 1 grimy street vendor selling fish & chips wrapped in newspaper. That never happened. My memory of that day is fading pretty fast. If I close my eyes, I recall lots of people. Lots of trees. Parks. Pigeons. Lots of buildings very close together. Buckingham Palace. Westminster Abbey. Big Ben. "Pay" public restrooms. Starbucks (of course).

When we arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, it was raining. Michael was really nauseous from the malaria medicine. Only Billy's bags didn't arrive with him. Other than that, we managed to find our way into the waiting vans. Went to the ACK Guest House which would be home base for the week. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life. Our rooms weren't ready yet because we arrived pretty early in the morning. So the kitchen staff pulled together a breakfast buffet for us to eat. When we finally got our room, we were pleasantly surprised at our accommodations. Our room was large - a double bed & a single bed, private bathroom, big closet & armoire. Mosquito netting over the beds. I was willing to pay any amount of money to be able to sleep the rest of the day, but we had a lot of things planned. And so the rest of the week went. Not enough sleep. Not enough time to do everything we wanted to do. But we tried to do it all. And God was glorified.

Perspective

It is so good to be home. We arrived at 10pm on June 9. Took an AirBus from Chicago O'Hare to Phoenix. First thing I noticed was the extravagant amount of legroom. I mean, really, our legs were stretched fully out in front of us. This, of course, was in contrast to our crowded international flights. Also, the plane was icy-cold. This, of course, was in contrast to our warm, stuffy, jam-packed international flights. Then we walked into Terminal 2. The grungiest/oldest terminal at Sky Harbor. And it was beautiful, almost luxurious. Clean carpet. Wide-open hallways. Cold A/C. We had quite a welcoming committee - the husbands & kids who came to pick up moms & siblings. They were a wonderful sight to see!

We got our baggage fairly quickly. Then Michael noticed a suitcase that looked a lot like Joshua & Alyssa's suitcase. Then another one. Then 2 more.  Their flight had arrived probably 3 hours earlier than ours but evidently their bags didn't arrive with them. So, we loaded up their bags along with ours and headed toward home. It's pretty nice to live 10 minutes from airport!

I fired up the computer and started scrolling through 120 emails. Not too bad for 10 days away. Steven & Michael both took showers immediately. Steven came out of the bathroom. Huge grin on his face. Now, this is the same child who, before we left, commented that our home reminded him of a home in a third world country. And I must say, there are some similarities since it was built in the 50's and has had very few updates until we moved in a few months ago. Anyways. Steven announced to me that he could probably live in that bathroom, peeling wallpaper and all. It was so clean and HUGE. I have a feeling he and Michael will sleep pretty soundly in their own beds tonight.

Our Africa team will lead the entire worship service tomorrow. We'll sing songs in Swahili. And we'll share testimonies & stories & the Gospel. It will be a great day!! Randy collected photos from everyone so I'll be adding those to the photo album sometime this week. Also, I've asked everyone on the team to participate in writing their stories on this blog, so stay tuned for that!

OK, I'm off to do laundry & then to bed. Praise God! Amen! Praise God again! Amen!

Beautiful Feet

Although our feet are aching & covered in mud, they are beautiful in God's sight because they are carrying the Gospel to villages where people are in need of salvation!

Due to our daily schedule, the internet cafe has been closed in the evenings when we return from the field and there is a daily team leader's meeting in the morning right when the cafe opens then we eat breakfast and proceed out to our sites!! So, I apologize for -0- posts this week. Right now, the vans are ready to pull out of the parking lot and I'm upstairs in the cafe, waiting for the internet to come to life. And of course, their "hi-speed connection" is about the speed of dial-up. So, no pictures until we are back home.

All that to say, WE ARE HAVING A FANTASTIC & VERY FRUITFUL time of ministry here in Kenya. The people are beautiful and friendly. In certain areas they are more responsive to the Gospel than in others.

I'm not sure of the final numbers of 1st time professions of faith, but it's in the 100's!! Praise God.

Randy's team was able to speak at 2 schools where over 40 kids prayed to receive Christ after Elizabeth shared the Gospel!

Dan is in Burundi now, meeting with top leaders in the country to discuss evangelizing that nation. Very exciting times.

OK, I've got to run.

More maybe tomorrow - we are heading off to the Masai Tribe for outreach.

Kenya - I Need More Time

Now that we're hours away (about 36) from leaving for Kenya, the panic is starting to set in. I remember this feeling from our last trip. I've got a lot to do to get ready for church on Sunday - rehearsal tomorrow night - charts for the band, worship orders, easy worship schedule, etc. The normal stuff that has to be done by Tuesday night instead of Saturday night!! So, hopefully sometime between 10pm tonight & 10pm tomorrow night, all will come together as it needs to. I know God is in control. And I'm being stretched to the max in all my organizational (or lack of) skills.

We spent the day running errands. Looking for power converters, passport holders, malaria medicine, toiletries, gifts for translators, a new stove, shirts for Steven, Clorox wipes, etc.

So now, the laundry is almost done, the boys are just waiting for clean undershirts & socks to pack. Dan is packed. My stuff is all gathered in a pile, ready to go in the suitcase among all the others stuff we're taking like gifts & Proclaimers & packs of tuna & mixed nuts & zone bars & whatever else we've hunted and gathered today.

I'm looking forward to seeing London during our 12-hour layover on our way to Kenya. And I'm really looking forward to seeing lives transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. Michael & Steven have no idea how much this will impact their lives forever. I'm praying that God will use them to show others His grace and gift of salvation. And I'm praying that they will be bold to share their faith. And I'm praying for their physical protection. And for their spiritual protection. And for God to renew their faith and make it very real to them. That they would live their lives differently once we get back home. That they would have a personal glimpse of eternity and that it would give them new eyes to see this life we live and help them prioritize their lives with God always, at any cost, at the center.

Kenya 2007 - Let The Packing Begin

I've been informed that there's at least one Kenya Team member who is 99% packed. WOW! That's amazing. We have been talking about packing for a long time. We've dragged all our suitcases into the living room. And we stare at them. And we discuss various packing configurations. And then we turn off the light and walk away. But today, Sunday, May 27, 2007, is Packing Day. We will be up 'til midnight most likely. Packing, and re-packing, and packing some more. But the deed will be done. We might have to make a couple of late-night WalMart runs tonight - it's a family tradition after all.

Dan is staying for nearly 1 month. He has some unique packing challenges. Not sure if he'll be able to wash clothes at any time. I don't remember seeing any laundromats while I was there. The hotel might possibly have laundry service. But I've heard that can be pretty iffy. So, we'll see what he ends up with in his suitases. 

Michael has been working on his 10-day devotional guide. He is very diligent to complete it before going to bed each night. I'm proud of him for being so conscientious. He told me he has a short sermon ready to go, too. It's on John 3:16. I think he'll do great!

Today at the close of the church service, Randy asked the entire Kenya Team to come to the front of the church. All 22 of us stood shoulder to shoulder. Then he asked the entire church to come forward and lay hands on us and pray over us. It was a wonderful time of prayer and commissioning. When Steve Russell prayed, he lifted up his wife & 2 daughters and gave them to God to be used by Him. That's when a lot of people started sniffling and I felt my eyes well up with tears. It was a great moment. I feel such peace about this trip. I can't even begin to imagine what God will do in us and through us during our Epic journey. I know that Fellowship North, as tiny as we are, has some pretty amazing, faithful servants who are giving freely of their time, talent, resources, & prayer in order to see the kindgdom of God advance and multiply.

I will be posting to this blogsite as often as possible while we're in Kenya. So, check back often. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload photos...I think that's a challenge in other countries, so no promises on that one.

I've added a new photo album - photos of our Epic Team from Fellowship North. I've also added a new Typelist - title is Kenya. Check out the documents posted here. In particular, download the prayer calendar and pray with & for us daily...we'd really appreciate it!!

Update from Joshua & Alyssa

Got a text message from Joshua & Alyssa at 9:19pm tonight: "We're in Nairobi (airport) waiting on our plane for Kigali (Rwanda). We're hot, tired, but in good spirits...Pray for us and enlist everyone else you can, too. We luv U." I know they would greatly appreciate any and all prayers offered up on their behalf. They are so excited about their back-to-back trips. I know that God will work mightily both in them and through them and all the others on these trips!!

The following is a devotional that Joshua posted on the Epic forum - I've also included my response...

Matthew 15:11 - "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Psalm 15:1-3 - LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman.

I'll keep this one simple, because the closer I get the proclaiming the Word the more I feel like a child with only simple things to say... The more I realize that I'm ill equipped to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that’s okay because salvation belongs to the Lord. Not one of us will save a soul or fail to do so... It is the Holy Spirit who saves souls. God does not need our help, we go only because He said go. We go to be obedient... And take courage and remember - The battle is already won.

Here is my simple devotional for the scripture above: Let every word be pleasing to the Lord... Let every movement be an offering pleasing to the Lord... Let every look be given to God... Let every breath be worship.... Let your life be the Gospel.... And when you fail to do this, confess and remember that He made you blameless... Preach the Gospel, Preach the Gospel, Preach the Gospel - if necessary, use words (St. Francis of Assisi).

MY RESPONSE Joshua, I love this devotional. It is so simple -- the life we are called to live is not meant to be as complicated as we allow it to become. If we live and move and breathe in the Spirit, then we will live lives that are an offering to God and which please Him immensely. If we look to God continuously, we see His holiness and perfection and we are reminded over and over again of our powerlessness to save souls...this actually takes such a huge burden off of me. Christ died. The price was paid. The gift is free and is offered to all. Those who receive this gift receive Christ not me. Those who reject this gift reject Christ not me. So simple. I pray that we would, as much as possible, be blameless in His sight, so that we can walk in His ways and that our offering of obedience would be pleasing to Him.

Back Where All The Insanity Began...

Tomorrow, Joshua & Alyssa leave for 2 back-to-back missions trips in Africa. First trip is to Rwanda. Back where all the insanity began 1 year ago. They will be in a different part of Rwanda - Kibuye is the name of the city. We've spied on it using Google Earth and it looks really beautiful. They will be part of a team of 27 North Americans. Joshua's cousin & his wife (from St. Louis) will also be on the trip. They have kept in contact with many Rwandans from their previous trip and are excited about reconnecting with them on this trip. At the end of their trip, they will board a plane and join the Fellowship North group in Nairobi, Kenya. It is going to be an amazing couple of weeks for them.

They finished packing over the weekend - - they are my inspiration to not pack all night the night before we leave - - and are trying to prepare themselves spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally for the task ahead. Pray that God gives them physical strength - 20 days is a long time in Africa. Pray that God gives them emotional & mental strength as they will interact with A LOT of people, including 2 different North American teams. Also, Joshua is a Team Leader on both of the trips. Pray most of all that God will continue to pour out his Spirit of conviction, healing, blessing, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and understanding over Africa and in particular the areas where they will be ministering for the next few weeks. Pray that people would have ears that really hear and minds that really understand and hearts that are really broken and in realization of their need for a Savior.

Team Berryman is Wired!

Check out this new magazine cover - we are wired and ready for our trip!! If you'd like to create your own magazine cover, click here! Steven's passport arrived on Saturday. Now all we need to do is get yellow fever shots for the boys. Such fun. I think I'll have Dan take them in. Last time Michael had a shot, now that was a terrible day. I wouldn't be surprised if the doctor retired after that day. I'm pretty sure his entire staff needed counseling. Our FNC Kenya team met on Sunday after church. We will meet weekly until we leave. We practiced sharing the Gospel using an evangecube. We had documents notarized by Debbie Lawson (thanks Debbie!). We prayed together. The trip is fast becoming a reality and it is really exciting to see so many teens "wired" and ready to go!

Kenya Prep

We are getting ready for Kenya 07!

Yesterday afternoon we met with Amber from e3 partners. She lives in Wyoming with her husband Joe and is a Church Planting Coordinator. That means she is a detail-person - exactly what we needed!! Amber works with Church Planters in planning a minimum of 4 trips per year. She also goes on these 4 trips. Her primary areas of ministry so far have been Africa, Costa Rica and Bolivia. Amber is part of the Epic team. David Kaufmann who heads up Epic at e3 is the Church Planter we'll be working with on this trip. Epic is targeted at getting students involved in short term missions trips with e3.

Our entire team from Fellowship North Church came together to start the "countdown" process for our trip. What to bring, what to wear, what not to wear, how to prepare ourselves spiritually and mentally. Vision, mission, overview of the trip. Training on sharing the Gospel. Amber is a rock star when it comes to all this stuff. This was exactly what our team needed at this time. Our fund-raising process is well underway and we're nearly 2/3 funded overall.

Kenya has a population of nearly 34 million people. A little more than 50% of these people are age 15 or younger. Life expectancy is 54 years old.

We've got a lot of cool things planned. Our primary focus will be to work in teams, going hut to hut sharing the Gospel with anyone and everyone who will listen. We will then provide discipleship opportunities for these new believers. We will have evening fellowship meetings at our new church sites. We will be planting 5 new churches in villages on the outskirts of Nairobi. Pastors and leaders have already been trained for these new churches and they are really excited about having us come to help them plant the churches and direct new believers towards them! One day we will have a youth event complete with hired Worship Band. This should be great! We're trying to reach youth unbelievers as well as mobilize youth believers. We'll be working with Pastor Joe Michael whom we met in Dallas at an e3 partners event. Click here to see a short video clip of Pastor Joe Michael! You'll have to scroll down to the bottom of the page then press play. We will be doing outreach 1 day among the Maasai Tribe.   

At the end of our trip, Dan will be staying over a few extra days in order to meet with key leaders in Burundi which is a small country south of Rwanda. This is very exciting because Burundi is open to having the Gospel proclaimed throughout the entire country. So these meetings are initial strategy meetings. A lot will be accomplished and hopefully an e3 presence will soon be established there.

Rwanda - Part 7

Tonight I finally finished a list of 70 potential prayer & financial partners for Michael & Steven. They are going to Kenya with Dan and I on an e3 Partners campaign in June. Actually, a group of 23 of us from Fellowship North Church are going together. We'll meet up with a similar group from Alabama. We'll help plant new churches within walking distance of several villages. Our youth will focus on the youth and children we encounter. We hopefully will have activities, games, sports, etc. that will draw a lot of children and teens.

Well, since I'm still up, I thought I'd try to upload more thoughts and memories of Rwanda.

To be brutally honest, after 2 wonderful days of working as a team and sharing the Gospel with so many people, Wednesday came in like a roaring lion, promising destruction, pain, and disruption. Let's talk about all the kids first. It seemed that the kids grew in numbers exponentially each day. By Wednesday, we had at least 150 kids at our site. We were definitely under-prepared with resources to deal with that many kids. Don't get me wrong, I loved the kids. Having worked with kids this year both at Ventana Academy and Rancho Solano, I've realized that I'm not as scared of kids as I used to be. I've actually started to enjoy the time I spend with the kids at school. So, I tried to take some of my real life experience into the situation. Tried to break up the kids into groups. Had one group listening to the Bible being read out loud on The Proclaimer. Tried to read a story out loud to a group of kids. Shared the gospel glove. Taught them how to sing Kum Ba Ya (who knew this song would be a big hit). Worked with them on memorizing John 14:6. And then 30 minutes later, we were out of patience and activities. I would have given just about anything for a big screen, a DVD player and a stack of movies to play for them. Dan was also extremely annoyed by the kids by this time. Although we both know the New Testament gives many examples of Jesus reaching out to children, Dan and I were perplexed and overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and as a result this was definitely interfering with our best laid plans to disciple new believers and continue our gospel presentation to the villagers. It was hot outside, my scalp got extremely sunburned so that I had little blisters on my head that itched and stung. The kids kept coming closer and closer to me, invading my personal space. Those of you who know me know that I've got a hula hoop sized personal space issue. But in Rwanda, I had kids almost nose to nose with me, sitting next to me, standing behind me, literally everywhere, sneezing in my face, touching my hands, holding my hands, pulling my hair, watching my every move, dying of curiosity to see what I'd pull out of my backpack next. I was pretty quiet on the van ride home. Back at the room I was in tears and frustrated. This ultimately led to a meltdown between Dan and I. Yes. You heard it here first. Our first cross words in 21 years (jk). I think that maybe, quite possibly, I overreacted and took out my anger and frustration on Dan. I quit his team. I quit the trip. It was all over. After we both calmed down, it appeared that there could be solutions to all issues. The storm was over. We regrouped. Apologized. Refocused on our purpose and mission. Ate dinner. Celebrated with the other teams. Slept soundly. Started again the next day. God is good. He sent us help in the form of some wonderful volunteers from YWAM. More on YWAM tomorrow.

Randy talked about Anger at God today at church. I could really relate. I think my main anger and frustration that day really was with God. Why so many kids? Why so little resources? What about the pre-teens and the teens? Where do they fit into everything? Why orphans? Why are there kids sleeping on the floor of the banana plantations at night? Where are the dads? Where are the moms who let their 6-7 year old daughters spend the entire day alone with a young baby strapped to their backs? Why are their little feet already callused and worn? Where are the sandals or shoes? What about affection? Who tucks them in at night? Why do they just get up and leave school when we walk by? Who cares about them? What do they drink? What do they eat? If their clothes turn to unwearable shreds, are there other clothes available for them to wear? Do they really realize what we're sharing with them? Is their faith real or are we just providing a forgettable distraction from their everyday lives? Does God really have a plan for their lives? (Jeremiah 29:11)