Time is up.

Tonight is our last night at Eric's house here in Nakuru. Tomorrow we leave for Nairobi, Sunday we go to church with Shane and his family, and that night we get to have dinner at The Carnivore, which we have been looking forward to since the trip started. On Monday, we fly for almost a day, but arrive in Minnesota only a few hours later.
There is a lot going on in my head right now. I miss my family and friends, and I can't wait to see them! But I also love the time I've had here, and want to stay. When Bryan asked me if I thought the trip has felt long or short, I couldn't decide. I feel like I've been away from home so long that this is home just as much. And that's where I found something very cool...
In Africa, one of the major problems faith faces here is the strong presence of the prosperity gospel. You know, health and wealth preaching that has no real biblical truth in it, but uses verses out of context. Here is one that they often use:

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) [prosperity preachers like to ignore the persecution part] and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
-Mark 10:29-31

The prosperity preachers will tell people that God promises to give them nice houses, cars, money, and things like that, but their first mistake is assuming that their listeners have in fact met the requirement for the fulfillment of the promise stated in verse 29.
What we have found is that God has fulfilled that promise in our lives. I think about all the homes I have here; I know that if I ever needed to, Shane and Kara would be more than happy to open their home to me. I have a home with Eric here in Nakuru, a home at the hope center in Narok. I have a home in Wamba, and I have homes in the area around there. One women from Nkiseu wanted me to stay with her and live at her house. And I have friends in Sudan whom I could stay with in the strange and unusual case that I would find myself there needing a place to stay. The point is that we have seen that verse in the flesh. I left my home three months ago and have since then had many different homes and have met many new family members. I have even had the privilege to help some join the family. And to think: I haven't even known Eric for a year's time, and he has since become one of my best friends! I can't say that we faced many persecutions in light of what I know other Christians have had to go through, but we have had our share of rough times and undesirable circumstances during our trip. But it's easy to thank the Lord for these as well when I read that verse and realize that those too are promised.
So that's the verse that speaks to my heart and one that I feel represents what this trip has meant to me.

What I really want to see is for that verse to become the one that represents my life.


And so with that attitude and the launching pad of these amazing three months behind me, I'm springing forward into the next big adventure: college. I know that my time at Moody will be rich and I am anxious about starting there. I have every intention to peruse vocational ministry after Moody, most probably abroad, and with the contacts and friends that I now have here, Africa looks like a prime prospect for future, full-time ministry.

So I want to again say thank you for all of you who have supported me and who have shown consistent interest in what I am doing. It's been very encouraging (and humbling) knowing that so many people have been affected by what started with a simple e-mail less than a year ago. It's been one great year, and I'm grateful for your part in it. Keep in touch, and stay tuned; I'm sure there's more to come.

Let's not do that again. Ever.

Our time in Sudan is now over, and we have returned to Nakuru by bus. It was an extremely long trip, and we are sooooo grateful that God got us here. We were really wondering sometimes...
The bus from Yei has a report time of 3:00 a.m. and goes all the way to Kampala. So the trip started with nine hours worth of waiting at the bus stop, and a little sleeping on the bus before it left. Then we began a 15 hour ride to Kampala where we stayed the night (a very short night). On our way however, a tire popped while we were on a good road, moving pretty fast. It didn't just pop though, it exploded, and the whole bus filled with nasty back dust and debris. Thankfully, the driver was able to maintain control and we only had to wait a half hour or so to get the spare on. The next morning we woke up bright and early to be at the bus stop at 6:00 where we took another bus that brought us here to Nakuru in 17 hours. On our way we had a problem with the fuel line, and we were stuck on the side of the road for three hours! That bus ride was the worst thing we've had to endure so far on this trip. But again, we are thankful that God brought us back here, and we are happy to be back.
Our time in Yei was nice. Each afternoon we went out with the pastor there to do small group bible studies. Her name is Guna, and she's really cool. We hoped to do more, but the only translators we had to use were some of the older kids and the teachers, all who were in school till 3:00. Especially after lunch, we had little to do till 4:00 when we would go out, so we were pretty bored. We helped where we could with the work they needed done around the place, but there wasn't a whole lot of busy work, more work where you needed to know what you were doing. And if any of you guys know how good I am at building stuff, then you wouldn't want me working anyway. But we helped when we could, we hung out with the kids, and got to share the word. I finished a book called Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn, and really liked it. I think it's a book every Christian needs to read, so go read it. It is so challenging, and it is so cool.
And so far, no malaria! It can take time before it shows up, but we are hoping it won't. We had some other funky things going on though, but it seems like we are all back to normal again.
With less then a week to go, I have found myself thinking about home more and more. I so look froward to being back.

The End in Sight

Hello again!
Now let me take some more time to fill you in on what is happening out here.

We will be staying in Sudan for one more week, and during this week, we will be working with Harvesters here at the compound. During the day we'll be working and helping with some work projects that are going on, and in the afternoon we'll be doing evangelism and small group bible study. We've already had a good time with that and have had a chance to minister to some really cool people. Some of the homes we have gone to have just been built- the occupants have just returned to Sudan a couple weeks ago after 15 years (or more) of taking refuge in Congo (Zaire). They were just dumped here by the U.N. and left with three months rations. The people here are struggling to stay alive with the little food they can eat, the dirty water they can drink, and amongst the diseases around here, like cholera, meningitis, and malaria.
The compound is really nice- we have electricity 24/7, internet that comes on and off during the day (wireless though) and good food to eat that is prepared by a few of the women. It's strange going back to having three meals a day, but they are there and they are good. We're starting to wonder if the weight we lost in Samburu might be put back on here. We are enjoying ourselves and the company of fellow Americans.
There is a team of six guys here from Texas on a work project, but they leave tomorrow. We've had a really great time getting to know them and work with them a little. I wish they would be around the rest of the week, because it's nice having people to talk to, hang out with, and play games with.
One of them is staying behind, and there are two long-term guys here, so we will have them to work with and keep us company this next week. The kids here are great company also and always want to play with us.
The orphans here love us, and we love them. I feel so privileged and blessed to be able to love on them. It's such a sweet thing to sit one on my lap and just hold him. They are so beautiful and full of life.

This week is going to be a good one, I know it. And after that, we're pretty much done. We leave next Monday and have to spend three to four days traveling back to Nakuru, and then we go to Nairobi, and then we go home. I am so eager to return, and yet I know I'm going to hate to leave. These guys from Texas have been here a week, and tonight they had a closing prayer meeting. Seeing their mood as they considered the end of their trip reminded me that I'll be feeling and saying the same thing in just a couple of weeks. Please pray that we will be able to make the best of this last week of work. Thanks for your support.

Alive in Sudan

We made it, praise the Lord! We sure have some stories to tell, and the journey was very long (over 24 total hours of bus travel, and we have another 24 ahead...) but we were able to cross the border and are here at the Harvester's compound in Yei, Sudan. There is another team of about six guys here from Austin, Texas for a work project. In the morning we'll be working, and in the afternoons we'll be going out for evangelism and small group bible studies. It's very nice here, we are safe, no serious illness, and we are enjoying the company of other Americans! Thank you for praying; God heard you. Sorry, but I have to keep this short. Know that we are safe and happy to be here, with lots for us to do.
I'll update again soon.

Easter in Uganda

One of the things we have been wanting to do since before this trip began is go to Sudan. I remember Eric telling me he wanted to go when I was last here, and I told him I would go with him but I didn't think that would actually happen. Having a desire to go someplace is one thing- having a plan to get there is another.
We've been praying for God's guidance regarding this trip for the past two months, but it's been hard to find. It seems like a lot of the doors we think God had opened for us just ended up closing in our face. We thought we could drive there with the truck and see lots of Uganda along the way, but we didn't have the proper documents. Then we found that we could get the documents in time, so we could drive. Then the truck broke down. So we thought we could fly. It would save us a total of six days travel time (there and back) (as well as avoid possible dangers) so we looked into that. Flying from Nairobi was too expensive, so we thought we'd fly out from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. But all the outgoing flights were booked up till the seventeenth, which was later than we wanted to go. So here is our plan as of now: Tomorrow morning we will take a bus to Kampala (ten hours) and spend Easter weekend there. Eric usually takes his teams on a safari at the end of each trip, but Bryan and I aren't very interested in that. Instead, we will use the money that would have been spent on that to take some time in Uganda to see some sights, eat some food, check out a huge cathedral, and see a really cool tribal dance show that has international recognition and does tours around the world. It's called Ndere Troupe, and I can't wait to see it. I'm looking froward to hanging out for a few days in a new place with free time for some relaxation. Come Tuesday (tentative) we will continue our bus trip to a city in northern Uganda, close to the border, where we will stay the night. We've been told the border into Sudan can be hard to pass...sometimes the guys there won't let you in for no good reason or hassle you, or ask you for some money on the side. The other problem could be that there is some violence in the area, so the buses won't pass. If either of these things happen, then we can go back to Kampala and we'll have the late flight as a backup plan, but our hope is on the bus. If that works out, then we will begin our third and final leg of the trip, and arrive in Yei, Sudan early that afternoon.
Now the question is, "What are we going to to there?" The original plan was to spend a lot of time moving about and showing the Jesus film, but all of that equipment was left in Samburu along with the truck (generator, amplifier, speakers, screen...). It's hard to say just what we'll be doing there, but the couple that runs the orphanage there always has teams come out to help them, so I know we'll be able to find things to do to keep busy. We'll make some friends, survey the area, and do our best to help in any way we can. If we can get some translators then we'll do some evangelism and things of that nature, but in general, the whole trip feels like an open book. A book that has been thrust upon us, not one we flippantly picked off the shelf for leisure reading.
The compound at Yei (orphanage, school, church, clinic...) actually has wireless, high-speed internet. As I've said before, their organization, Harvesters, has grown huge in the short time they have been over there. They have a massive support base, and it was actually a non-Christian organization that pain to have the dish set up there for internet. So once we are there I should be able to get online now and then.
Until then, I wish you all a happy Easter, and to those of you in Minooka, I so wish I could be there to celebrate the completion of the new building with you.
Peace out!


Prayer Requests:
+ Safety as we travel through and stay in areas with rebel activity, known to be violent.
+ No hassle as we travel over borders that have been known to give people a hard time.
+ That we may be effectively used for whatever awaits us in Sudan, and that our time there will be well spent.
+ Good health as I have the early stages of a cold (which Eric has almost all the time) and as malaria is more dangerous and almost certainly contactable where we will be staying in Sudan. Eric and I haven't been taking malaria pills here, but we think we may have to start.

Mission: Samburu - Part 2

The second half of our time in Samburu was supposed to be split between two locatoins: Liangilani (not sure on the spelling for that one) and Nkisseu. The former trip never took place for bad reasons. A church in Wamba wanted to go on a mission out there, so we were going to take them and work with them. In Kenya, there are a lot of well-meaning people who will never find the means to do what they aspire to, so it wasn't a huge surprise when we found out that no one had raised any money for the trip, thus postponing it till August. This left us with extra time on our hands, and there was no desire amongst any of us to spend more time doing nothing in Wamba...so we lengthened our stay in Nkisseu- nine nights. If Samburu is Eric's main target here in Kenya, then I would say Nkisseu is his primary place to be doing ministry. The people there love him and all know him, and enjoy having him there. I was there last year for a week, and the time was good. We had church under a tree, and spent a lot of time with the kids in that area each morning. Since then, Eric and two other guys have put up a small structure and a roof over it- the first permanent building in that place. It's the makings of a church, and the people love it. Eric is challenging them to meet him halfway and help with the completion of the building by building walls, because Eric really wants it to be their thing too, or else they may neglect it. It's hard, because you want to help, but sometimes too much help just encourages laziness and won't really help the need.
The first day we were there was easily the hardest. We each carried two, ten foot long, 2x4's from our camp at the dry river up to the church. It's a forty minute walk up the lazy slope to the church, and that's without carrying heavy boards. My comment on our walk up there was "I hope this is the closest I ever come to carrying my own cross." With these boards, we built crude benches without backs for the building, which is miles past sitting on the church's dirt floor.
When I think of what Eric has done there, it blows me away. He has brought so much to that place, and the building is just the surface! If we could look into the hearts that have been changed by his efforts there, we would see a silver city. They made a cool hat for him that reads "Welkam Mista Arek", one women asked him to name her child, a child was named after him, and on Sunday, the day we left, a women stood and asked that we pray for her. She said that she wanted to become a better believer, and those few simple words touched my heart in a very special way. Sometimes when we're out here we wonder, "Are these people getting it? Is this working?" And at a time like that, you know something was done right. In a place where people can't read the bible for themselves, have no permanent pastor or guidance, and who have only heard about God for the first time about a year ago, it's amazing to think that someone could be so willing.
We saw the cancellation of the other trip as a disappointment until we realized how great our time at Nkisseu was, and we now know it was God's plan all along. That area has been so touched by God, and we have all left powerful marks there. In fact, the last day we were there a women was telling me that she wanted me to stick around and live there. Some of the other women promised us that the next two kids born would be named Tony, and Bryan respectively. I couldn't believe it, and I look froward to the day I might be able to visit little Tony and little Bryan.
When we drove back to Wamba at the end of our trip--ready everyone?-- the truck broke down. We were able to get to town, and there we assessed the situation: the transmission isn't shifting into second, or third (we were even more thankful that we didn't end up going to Liangilani after that happened, because it was a ten hour drive, and we would have broke down out there almost certainly). We were planning on leaving for Nakuru early the next morning, and now we didn't have a vehicle. We could have driven to Nakuru in first, but it would have taken three days. Bummer. There isn't really a good mechanic in Wamba, so repair wasn't an option. Instead, we decided just to get back to Nakuru by matatu (mini-bus) and then Eric would have to find a guy later that he could hire to go out there and fix it. So we took a grueling nine hour matatu ride to Nakuru. We have become very seasoned travelers, and are familiar with the local modes of transportation. It's good to be back...sometimes out there I couldn't wait to be back here, or back in America. But the night before we left Wamba, I thought something that came as a surprise. "You know, now that we're about to leave, I don't think I'd mind if we had to spend a few more days out here..."
And that's Samburu in a nutshell.

Now...off to Sudan.

Mission: Samburu - Part 1

Here is a more detailed report on how our trip to Samburu went.

Like I stated before, a very clear thought went through my head when we first reached Eric's small house in Wamba. "My standard of living just dropped through the floor," I thought as I surveyed my new surroundings. I pulled the cobwebs I had walked into off my face and gazed at the numerous insects that covered the white cement walls. Most of them were dead, which only made them a less comforting sight. When I was there last summer, we stayed in tents at the Life Ministry office so it felt like camping. We all knew it was only for a few days so you just live with it. This time however, I felt different. This wasn't camping, it was living. It was life in a small hot, tin roofed house, with a noisy, thin-mattresses bed to sleep in, and stiff, handmade furniture to sit in. Crying kids wake you up early in the morning if the roosters don't, cows wander into the compound and poop where you walk, and you never know when the tap for water located in the middle of the compound (which is supposed to run once a week) will begin to run. We rarely were able to shower without several witnesses to the activity- the cockroaches on the walls always kept us company. The bathroom was worse, and wasn't able to be used during the day because it was so filled with flies. We sprayed some raid into there once, and the sound of all the flies coming up from the whole in the floor was almost deafening. Luckily for us, we didn't have to use the bathroom too much. While out in the bush, a strange thing happens to us: we don't have to poop very often. That may sound weird, but it's true. It's not constipation, it's just simply not going. My record is seven and a half days. We call it bush mode, and it's not something we complained about.
That first night I laid in bed and thought through my new situation; life was going to be different there.
The days in Wamba were usually boring and we were left with nothing to do. In fact, one guide book to East Africa that Eric had said something like this about Wamba, "There really isn't any reason to go there." Of course, that person wasn't a Christian missionary. We would read, play a game with some dice, or just sit around and talk to pass the time. Bryan used a hammer and chisel to make a mancala board for us, and that got some use. We spent about fourteen nights total in Wamba in between the missions we took, and the rest of the time was divided between three different locations.
First we traveled to Ngali (pronounced Engali) for a three night stay. Engali is a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and hills. It was pretty green this time around, and the river at the base of the hill we camped upon was flowing. Each night I would walk down to the river and bath in it's warm, clear waters by the moonlight. By night, the air would get very cold and it was usually windy, but the water would retain some of it's warmth from the day and felt warm to the touch at night. That area has had missions work done there before, but all that's left from those old efforts is a house built by missionaries about twenty years ago, and a small church that had been abandoned for the last fifteen years. A local pastor, Steven, now occupies the house and is working to reach out, minister to, and disciple the people there. We did visitation during the day- that is, we would walk to the scattered, small housing compounds called manyattas. One manyatta consists of five to ten, four foot tall, mud huts. We would present the gospel at each of these, usually being able to visit up to 6 in a day, if we split our group up. Lot's of walking involved.
Our time there went well. The people are open to the gospel and Pastor Steven has made some headway since we had last been there. He's a good guy, and his dedication to that place is surprising. It can be hard to find dependable, hardworking people in Kenya sometimes, especially in ministry, but Steven is a good guy. His house "broke" (that's how he put it; it made me laugh) when a storm came through once- he lost his roof. But he told us the story with a smile on his face, and he isn't leaving.
The next place we hit up was called Swari. My running joke was, "What is that, like a fancy Christmas party or something?" Swari has a small Catholic church there, but like Ngali, it was abandoned. Eric says maybe some guys go out there to hold services on Easter and maybe Christmas. We went there with a pastor from Wamba by the name of Michael who had been there before and has a vision for a church there. We spent our time doing visitation and had a Sunday morning service open air style. While were there, the pastor met with the elders of that area to ask for land so he could have a place to build the church. It looks like things with be working out for him.

More tomorrow...

Back so soon?

Today, we returned to Nakuru from our one-month stay in Samburu District, and let me tell you: it's good to be back. I had over forty e-mails waiting for me, and it was nice to read them all and know that so many of you have been praying and have had us in your thoughts. While we've been back we've bought some coke, candy, and went out for French fries (here they're called 'chips') and chicken, and relaxed to a cold glass of mild and some chocolate cookies. When at one point Nakuru didn't seem to offer so many comforts, a month in the bush has changed my perspectives. In fact, one of the first things that went through my head when we reached Eric's house in Wamba last month went something like, "Wow...our standard of living just dropped through the floor..." It was a somewhat sobering realization, as well as an idea that brings about a certain element of adventure in each day.
So what a great time we had! I'll write more at another time, but today I just wanted to say that we're back, all is well, but we are tired from the journey today and want to rest. I have lots of pictures that I will be putting up, and a more detailed update tomorrow. The past month at times felt very long and slow, but now I don't know where the time went. We were able to get a lot done, and most of our plans went through, but like anything in Africa, you just can't count on things working out. It's been a neat experience and an enjoyable time.
As for now, we are working on deciding what to do with this last month. Sudan still looks like a possibility, although it's been quite an ordeal trying to work it all out. And with Sudan in the middle of this month, we will just have a few days in Nakuru before we go, and then a few days after. Then we're back in the states! I don't know if a month seems like a long time for you guys, but thinking that in less than a month I'll be back home makes me feel like our time remaining here is very short.
And as always, I so look forward to being back. Sometimes I just get to thinking about it, and can't stop. I try not to, because we need to be focused at the task at hand, but if we ever have a lot of downtime or something, I just start to miss home so much. I can't wait to be back with you guys.
More info soon.