Car rides and Chipote

What an adventure the last few days have been! I write you now buying internet at a coffee shop in Kitale, Kenya. Yesterday, after one last UN related meeting, Danny and I hopped into a truck with Mike and Shawn (Two of Danny's old Missionary Colleauges) and drove accross the country to Kitale. It was quite the bumpy ride, but I've been told it's been much worse.

Mike and Shawn are great guys. They are kind and funny and quite knowledgable in the things of God. I am so excited to spend the next week learning from them. Mike works with Good News Productions International, which is actually based out of Joplin, MO right next to CIY! He has worked all over the globe and has spent his life in faithful service to Christ and His gospel. Shawn is an incredible missionary who now lives in Uganda. He and his wife linda have been in Africa for the past 28 years. They have done so much ministry, it's amazing!

It's really great to see the three old friends back together. It reminds me of times with my good friends. Things don't really change... even over 30 years. They have such a tight fellowship.

Driving across the country was about all I could handle yesterday. It was my first time seeing the bredth of Poverty that runs across this country. It was (and is) really hard for me to handle. I just don't understand how it could all be like this. It's so.... foreign... and different. I'm being hit by the culture like a bat over the head. I'm not sure if it's horrible or wonderful? Or is it both? Either way, God is good and He is teaching me so much.

My Swahili is being put to the test for sure. I can now hear about 80% of conversations. I still haven't spoken much, but I'm working toward it. Danny and I stopped in Nakuru yesterday to get some Chipote (kinda like Tortillas) from a stand on the side of the road. We went up to the lady at the stand and Danny started talking with her and the 8 people around her. While she was getting us Chipote, they were commenting on Danny's good Swahili. They then asked if the white guy next to him could speak. Danny said I couldn't very much, to which the started saying "jaribu!" (have him try). They didn't know that I could understand what they were saying and I started to laugh. They were quite persistant that they wanted the young white guy to try speaking. So I did. And I did it without any prompting from Danny, cause I could understand what they were saying. I told them "Sisema, lakini nasikia kidogo." Which means, I can't speak, but I can hear a little bit." They laughed and told me good job, then Danny told them I'd only been in the country two days... to which they were all way surprised. They were quite happy with my work. It will be great to continue learning.

I now want to ask a few prayer requests of you. Entering the country and culture has been harder on me than I thought. There is so much and it's hard for me not to get overwhelmed. Ask God to help me process and understand what I can so I'm not to overwhelmed. Also, Jet Lag has hit me a bit. The last three nights I have woken up between 3-4 am and can't get to sleep. It's been giving me headaches and a bit of a fever occasionally. Pray that Danny and I can get on a regular sleep schedule. The early mornings make for good conversations with Danny and I. We've had about 2-3 hours of conversation before the sunrises the last couple of mornings, so that's been nice. However, I'm ready to be rested again.

Thanks for your prayer. God's moving.

Beautiful Trees and Barbwire

I don't have much time, but I wanted to let everyone know that Danny and I made it safe to Nairobi, Kenya! The trip over here was crazy! We experienced a day without night, saw the sunset over Greenland, rise over England. I looked out from the plane and saw the mountains of Germany and the Saharah Desert. We've been in and out of UN offices all day and even know I can hear the Muslim call for prayer out the window. It's so beautiful. The sights and sounds and tastes and touches are so many and all at once. We were walking down a road for a while this morning and I saw some of the most beautiful trees, yet they were all in gated houses with barbwire on the walls. It's crazy! I've got to go, but I wanted to give a quick update. I'll write again soon.

Our God Saves

I find it funny how much God uses music to communicate to me in my life. Today was one of those days. But before I tell about this, I am excited to give an update on something we will be doing this summer.

Over the last week, Traci and Danny have discovered a way in which we might be able to fill a need of some very dear friends of Traci. I struggle to find the ability to describe this situation in brief. A woman Traci has been working with has gone through unimaginable hardship in the past few years due to the evils of ethnic discrimination. She is from a people group that is one of the most hated in Eastern Africa. After going through some awful things in war, this woman and her children were taken to the refugee camp where awful things happened to them and those around them. During all of these events her and her three children were separated from her husband. After they received care for gunshot and shrapnel wounds, her and her children were able to come to America as refugees. Unfortunately through this process, she was separated from her husband and her 14-year-old brother.

The husband has spent the last year getting his paperwork together to come over and join his family. According to international law, he has every right to be considered a refugee. However, due to the fact the he is part of this hated ethnic group, he is encountering great difficulty with some of the officials. On top of this, some recent political developments in the country he is in his very life is now in danger. He has been given two options, both of which are death sentences because of the harsh ethnic discrimination This is where we come in.

God has some amazing timing. Danny and I are going to be arriving in Nairobi, Kenya on the 27^th. The very next day, we are going to go into the Nairobi office of the United Nation High Commission for Refugees and plead this man’s case and try to get him transported over to Kenya so he can be taken out of the ethnically volatile area. We are going to try our hardest to push his situation and hopefully even get him sent over to be reunited with his family. We have the chance to be his voice and speak loudly on his behalf. This is an incredible opportunity to quite literally save this man’s life and reunite him with his family. What are the chances that we would get this connection the week before we leave to Africa? We serve a savior God.

This is where the music ties in. This morning at my church the worship team played a series of songs declaring how our God saves. The chorus of one of those songs was simply that: “Our God Saves.” As these words echoed in my head, and as I thought of the developments of the last week, I was struck by how true this statement is – and how true I need it to be this summer. We are getting ready to enter some situations that are really quite impossible. We are going to be trying to fight for our refugee friends in Lusaka and Nairobi. We are trying to make a difference in the lives of the poor and fatherless. We are trying to bring some light and love to some souls that may have not felt either for a long time. We are getting ready to enter some situations that could be potentially harmful to us. I am in such a need of a savior God. And there He is.

I ask now for your prayer. We are going up against some forces and quite frankly need a miracle for some of this to work out. I ask you to fight for us and on our behalf. Pray for us as we go to the UN. Pray for this man and his family as his life is at risk right now. Pray for us as we are starting to have our eyes opened to all that God wants to do this summer. It’s amazing to be a part of this man’s salvation. I look forward to learning about this core characteristic of our God as He works this summer. Blessings.

P.S. We will be hoping on a plane in about 12 hours.... I look forward to writing to y'all in Africa!

May in Missouri

Time is moving quickly. In less than a week, I will hop on a plane to travel to a countries I've never been to, cultures I've barely experienced, and peoples I have never met. These past few days, in the limbo between school ending and me leaving, have been filled with preparation. They have also been filled with a number of fears that Satan has been attacking me with.

I have been studying about the language and culture until my eyes grow weary and my head hurts, yet I still have no clue what I am getting into. I have been praying and reading and interacting with refugees in Boise, hearing their stories of hurt and pain, yet I have no clue of the gravity of suffering I am getting ready enter. God has been pulling together so many factors in my life, to the point of bringing almost $5,000 in from over 40 supporters, yet I still sometimes doubt that He is driving this whole summer. The physical, social, spiritual, and emotional problems we are going to be trying to help with this summer are insurmountable! Is what we are going to do even going to make a difference? I have no clue what I am getting into here.

I was reading a blog update that Traci Harrod made on the mission connections website (www.missionconnections.net) and was hit over the head with an illustration she used speaking of our summer. She quoted a song that we sang during mission emphasis week. The lyrics are as follows:

“If you say go, we will go.
If you say wait, we will wait.
If you say, ’step out on the water’
and they say it can’t be done…
We’ll fix our eyes on you
and we will come.”

Right now I am in the boat. A storm has started that makes May in Missouri look like childs play. And I hear a voice calling out over the roaring waves telling me to come. The voice is telling me to step out on the water. This picture has never made more sense to me than at this moment. There is so much inside of me telling me, "It's water stupid! You can't walk on water! You'll sink and drown!" I haven't a clue what I'm getting into... but He does. And so right now, and in every moment for the next 2 months, I am going to fix my eyes on Him and get out of the boat. Who knows, I may even walk on water.

Practice and Preparation

In two weeks from tomorrow I will be on a plane on my way to Kenya! Everyday, with every new detail, I get more and more excited for what is going to be a mind-blowing summer. My last month has been comprised of me asking Danny and Traci question after question after question in my pursuit to be as prepared as possible. I have been researching Kenyan, Tanzanian, and Zambian culture, customs, and geography with some ferocity. I've been cramming as much Swahili in my head as I can amidst the end of a school year. I am happy to say that I got to hear Danny and Traci carry on a conversation with one of their friends in Kenya via speaker phone and was able to understand about 50% of what they were saying. I'm still pretty slow, but I've been told that I am going to catch on pretty quickly in the first couple of weeks. I think after the first two week, when Justin and Jacob get there, I should be starting to get conversational and hopefully be able to translate for the other guys here and there. It's nice to be able to use my aptitude for languages to help our team out.

Mr. Harrod has been working hard to talk with missionaries for us to stay with in our journey throughout Tanzania and Zambia. Traci told me the other day that one of their friends from the international church in Boise has family in Tanzania that she really wants us to stay with. It would be such an amazing opportunity to be able to stay with native Tanzanians. It's also looking like our journey is going to take us through Dar es Salaam, which is the principle city of Tanzania and is predominately Muslim. It would be such an awesome experience to get to see the Muslim culture first hand!

Another exciting turn of events has been the addition of Jacob Vaden, one of my good friends from school, to our trip through Tanzania and Zambia. Originally Jake was only going to be able to join us at the end of June for our time in western Kenya, but do to his family's trip to Mexico being canceled because of the Swine Flu, he's going to join us! I am looking forward greatly to his companionship through that time.

Preparations are going along well. On Friday I finished up my Hep A and B shots. Today I started me malaria preventative medicine. As of today I'm only about $15o short of my needed funds! It's amazing to see how God has brought in $3900! That's so huge for me. He's trying to make sure I know that He's going to take care of me. Thank you to all of you who have helped make this happen! I can't thank you enough. Another more unusual provision was that of my friends Mike and Jen. Jen works at the North Face store here in Boise and they together took a chunk of their tax return and took me shopping at North Face. They bought me a good rain jacket (we are going during the raining season), a fleece, and a good sturdy pair of shoes! It was such a great gift and I am thankful to have such high quality gear to use while I'm there.

So much is unfolding. God is moving in some awesome ways. I'm being moved and taught so much even before I get there and I wish I could share it all. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment and I will get back to you! I'm going to post once more before I leave, and then I will post as regularly as I can get internet in Africa (which may be only once every 2 weeks or so). Please continue to pray as Danny, Jacob, Justin, and I enter our "summer of listening" in Eastern Africa! Mungu akubariki!