Back...and better than ever!

Well…Here I go again! Back in Kenya for an undetermined amount of time. I was able to spend seven weeks at home and it was very refreshing. The first month at home was still difficult because of the "stuff" I carried back from Congo. I knew I needed a SOZO but I put it off until the last minute because I was afraid of what was going to come out. I let the enemy get me all worked up over nothing. My SOZO was totally amazing. The depression is gone and I'm feeling whole and equipped. I learned a lot through the process about my gift of intercession and how to walk in it…no…run with it :)

I'm excited about this season in Africa and I'm expecting huge things. Wow…as I start thinking of the words I received lately and how they've expanded on so many words from years past. I'm just putting some of the pieces together as I type this and it's blowing my mind…it brings me to tears. I feel so humbled to be used by God in this way.

Rwahhhhnda

In Rwanda enjoying good food and great coffee. I head to Uganda tomorrow for some more rest and relaxation before getting back to work in Kenya. I still have a lot to process from Congo but I'll have to deal with that later. I want to write more about Congo but I'm afraid to open that box right now so it'll have to wait.

Pressing on

Last Friday I went back to the IDP camp at Magunga with my team where we collected stories and pictures from some of the families living in the camp. Every story was painful and difficult to get through. I wanted to cry the whole time but had to keep my composure to accomplish the task we had. Sunday night I decided I needed to try and process all the stuff that I had to lock away but it didn't go so well. I ended up a complete mess. Totally depressed and useless. Finally, on Monday God walked me through the pain and I was finally able to process the horrors that are the lives of the people in the Magunga IDP camp.

This week we've been teaching and training a group of about 30 church youth leaders. We've been teaching them techniques on how to work with and empower the children they teach. It's quite difficult due to the cultural differences and mindsets these people all stuck in but it's been going quite well. Not only are these leaders going to walk away with new ways to help their kids but the leaders themselves are learning so much about who they are as children of the King.

We have less than a week left in Congo and there is still a lot we would like to accomplish. Today we are going to try and get an audience with the UN and possibly UNICEF to find out more about what they are doing and areas that we may be able to help. So pray that these meetings go well.

Our time here so far has been difficult but very good. We've accomplished a lot and have blazed a good trail for future work here. The pastor that we've been working with is a special guy with an amazing family and it's been a pleasure to work with him. He's known and respected around the city and has been able to get us into many doors.

Congo needs peace. The rebels need Jesus. That's why we're here. Pray for Congo.

God is moving in Goma!

Our youth conference was a great success! We empowered a group of about 30 youth over a period of three days. God is so good and he loves his kids sooooo much! The last day we sent out five teams on a treasure hunt and every team found their treasures! We even have a testimony of a creative miracle from one team.

The clues this team received led them to a mama that was blind. One of the guys on the team saw her in a vision before they went out. I'm not sure of the level of blindness but she couldn't see and she had terrible pain in her eyes. They prayed for her and the pain went away immediately and she could see! So exciting! We are so excited about what God is going to continue doing in and through these youth.

Please continue keeping my team in your prayers. We seen God moving in amazing ways and we've just scratched the surface. Today we will be visiting a child soldier rehabilitation ceter. Can't wait to love on those guys.

Goma Youth Conference

We are starting a 3 day youth conference today! We're all really excited about what God's gonna do at the conference, in and through these youth. Please take a moment right now to lift us and the youth up in prayer.

A bit of randomness

So, I don't know how to wrap up the last few days in a paragraph so...well...here...

Injustice! Grrrrrrrrrrr!

My team is amazing!

Yay for lovely widows! We saw some healings!

Opportunity to take over feeding program for 26,000 people at an IDP camp! Holla!

Hillary Clinton visited the IDP camp with the Congo president. We were asked to leave. Booooo! Although, I do feel honored in a way...a crowd of throusands and we were the ones told to leave.

Give me this. Give me that. Give me cookies. Give me food. Give me money...Arrrrgh! Enough already!

Goma, Congo...Living. Learning. Networking. Teaching. Sharing. Giving. Fighting. Praying. Seeking. Dreaming. Loving.

The Congolese here don't like white people and talk about it freely. We are stuck riding on their laps in the public transportation. All the other white people ride in white Landcruisers.

The Congolese do however like to use the whites and get whatever they can from them.

Discouragment.

Hope.

Jesus!

Love!

Jesus!

Favor!

Jesus!

Gettin Better

Thursday was kinda tough. We we to visit a malnutrition center. Seeing that kind of stuff is always difficult and draining. All day I still felt like I was waiting for the hat to drop. I was told they've been at peace here for over four months now which is the longest time they've seen in many years. Although, it's still very dangerous to leave the city and if someone like me should decide to make that kind of journey it would be like saying "I'm ready to die." So with all things considered it's no wonder there would be a fair amount of edginess amongst the people here.

Our team had some worship time together on Thursday night and I really feel like we got some break through. Yesterday was a great day. We had the opportunity to visit a group of widows that were just amazing. We could feel Daddy's love in that place. After a wonderful lunch at the pastor's house we visited a group of young people that are chasing after God together. We played games, sang songs, prayed together, and I was given the opportunity to speak. We were then provided with another wonderful meal before heading home to a movie and chai.

Goma, Congo

Here's what I tried to post Thursday morning but was unable to...

So I’ve been in Congo now for 3 days…and it’s tough. It’s difficult to get things done in Kenya but it’s proven to be even tougher here. I’ve always been against bribes because I feel that they just feed the corruption and I was always able to avoid them in Kenya. So far we’ve had to pay way too many “government fees” that are pretty much seem to be a bunch of BS. The government workers here get paid next to nothing so they get as much as they can out of us when they have the chance.

Goma seems to be a relatively safe city but I’ve kinda felt on edge here. I’m trying to figure out if all the stories I’ve heard of bad things happening are looming in the back of my mind. Or if I’m picking up on what the people here are feeling. There is a huge spirit of fear over this city and I’m not surprised by that at all. Rebel soldiers in the bush all around the city. A towering volcano that destroyed part of the city in 2002 still sits smoking letting us know it’s not finished yet. Rwanda’s border is on one side and a lake on another. One could easily begin to feel trapped here.

My team and I have spent the week trying to get settled and figure out the city and how things work (or don’t work) here. Today we plan to go visit some IDP camps. We also have plans of visiting a child soldier rehabilitation center, malnutrition center, hospitals, etc. The girls are going to work with a couple of small groups of women that they can disciple and train in leadership. We have our photography project that we may start next week as well. There’s also the possibility of a leaders conference and children’s conference. The opportunities for ministry here seem to be endless at this point so it just depends on where we’re feeling lead, how much money we have and how much we can squeeze into 3 weeks.

Thanks for continuing to keep my team and I in your prayers. Specifically, I really hope to see some mind blowing miracles while I’m here. I’m also feeling like we’ve been trying to run upstream with all we’ve be doing here so you can pray that we come against less resistance.

I'm back!

Hey all y'all amazing people out there. Yes, finally another update. Just arrived back in Kenya a couple of days ago and will start the loooooong journey to D R Congo tomorrow evening. Was having mixed feelings about being back here in Kenya. A lot of the stuff I already dealt with last time was affecting me again. A little prayer covering from Matt and Brandi mixed with and afternoon of praying for and blessing people on the street fixed me up right good.

I'm so happy to be back and am super excited about Congo. I don't know how much I'll be able to communicate from there but I hope to give a couple updates during the month I'm there. For you that don't know, Congo is one of the darkest places on the planet at this time. Millions of people have be killed in the wars that are going on. Google it if you'd like to know more. That said, my team and I could really use your prayers. Not only for physical protection but also that we don't get our photography equipment confiscated or locked in jail or kidnapped etc., etc. Part of our focus on this trip is going to be about a photography project. Traveling with that kind of equipment and taking pictures can raise the risk factor significantly.

I will be with an amazing team and we have an awesome dad so we really have nothing to worry about. Thanks for the prayers. I love you all.

A couple weeks ago a 5 year old little girl named Brenda was brought to a Love Mercy (my friend's organization) meeting. People are always coming to ask for a job or aid of some sort. The Brenda had a very badly infected ankle. She, like so many children was being cared for by her grandmother. In this case mom abandoned the girl and her four siblings after dad was killed in an accident. Grandma had already spent every last shilling she had on the girl's wounded ankle.

The terrible infection was the fault of negligence on behalf of the doctors at the District Hospital (underfunded government hospital). They thought the ankle was fractured so they put a cast over the open wound. As it turns out the ankle wasn't even broken. Now, I'm not a doctor and I could see from the same x-ray that the ankle wasn't fractured. I also know that you can't put a cast over a bad wound without leaving a window to care for it.

By the time Brenda was brought to me the infection was very bad. I got her to the hospital where a doctor checked the wound. I could tell by the look on his face that it was pretty bad. We were referred to a surgeon to get a second opinion. The surgeon put Brenda on IV antibiotics for four days.

I'm happy to say that Brenda is up and walking, smiling and laughing. She still has a couple weeks of recovery at home but she'll be just fine.

For every little Brenda, there are a hundred more that can't get help. Many of those children probably won't make it. But, we do what we can and leave the rest in Daddy's care. Pray for those little ones, okay?

Italia

Here's a handful of the 700+ that I took. There trip was really great. I've always had a desire to go check out the ancient architecture there. There definitely wasn't enough time though. I'd like to go back a see a few more cities and a few more sites.

The weather was quite cold and raining most of the time I was there. This wasn't exactly the best season for visiting but it did help with the crowds and the prices. I walked more than I have ever walked in my life. I mostly just wandered through the streets with a vague idea of direction to the different sites. I loved it. I could definitely live in the city center of Rome. It's a big city but the city center feels small and so alive. Florence was beautiful and the architecture was amazing but it had a very different feel than Rome. Even though Florence was a very busy place with lots of people it just didn't feel as alive as Rome.

Spirit of stupid?

So, I'm back in Kenya now. Flew in at 4:30am and I'm at the airport in Nairobi waiting for my flight to Kitale at 4:00pm. 7 1/2 hours down...4 to go.

Italy was great. I spent 4 days in Rome and 4 days in Florence. It definitely wasn't long enough either. I'm totally beat from walking like 6 hours a day and Capoeira classes at night. I've got to go through the pictures still so I'll talk a little more about the trip when I get the photos up.

I'd like to share what's really been on my mind since I landed in Kenya. Everything I do here is more difficult than it should be. Communication with people is probably the worst of them all. It's not just when I try to communicate with people. Every missionary I talk to says the same thing. And it not just us white folk that experience it. Noah, being Kenyan himself also has trouble communicating with many other Kenyans. Common sense, rational thinking and good judgment all seem to be clouded. There's so much fear of everything here. The people are very religious. The corruption is very bad and poverty runs rampant. There's drought and famine. I hear many stories of brutal killings and tribal wars. Witchcraft and other demonic African religions are still practiced here and I know contribute to the problems. I won't even get into all the crazy stories about witchcraft that I've heard.

I'm convinced there is a spirit, or spirits, that have a tight grip on this country. I want to find out what they and how they came to have this grip on the land so I know how to fight them affectively. I guess I need to start by talking to people and learning the history of the area. When the strongholds are discovered we'll cut off the head. You can fight with me. Please do.

I met an Angel on the streets of Rome...

It was almost midnight and I was walking back to my B&B after an awesome capoeira class. I passed a man on the street and when we greeted he relized I speak English. His name is Angel and he left Bulgaria to try and find work elswhere. While trying to get to his friends in Italy ran out of money. He was just wandering the streets. I was able to bless him with engough money for a place to stay and his train fare. I asked Angel if he knew Jesus and he said that he does. I prayed for him, told him how much his Heavenly father loves him, and blessed him as we parted ways.

I was quite overwhelmed and slightly agoraphobic when I arrived here yesterday. So far things have been great and I'm really loving it. I found a great capoeira class that I really enjoyed. Well, I'm of to see the sight's now. Bye!

Well it's 3:30am and I'm sitting in the airport sipping on a cup of Java House coffee while waiting for my flight at 4:50. I'm pretty stoked about going to Italy but it's kind of a bummer I'm traveling alone. Hopefully I can hook up with some capoeiraistas while I'm there.
I've always wanted to check out Italy. I'm stoked I get my chance. The art and architecture there is incredible. I don't know what all the Lord has in store for me but he's the one that's leading me to Italy so I know it's gonna be good. Globe hoppin with the Holy Ghost. Should be fun!
I'll be spending 3 days in Rome and 4 in Florence. I thought about going to Venice but it sounds like it's just a fancy sewer. Have any suggestions? Let me know.

2009 so far so...fine...

Well I've got to leave the country. January 23rd my visa expires so I'm gonna get out of Africa for about a week. It's looking like I'll be headed to Europe. Actually my visa expired November 28 but I couldn't leave then cuz I had a team coming in from the States. I was illegal for a week, got a week extension, illegal for another week, then got a month extension. I gotta get out 'fore they kick me out. I'm thinkin' Rome...

The houses are looking great. We need to fab and install our cabinets, finish the counter tops, paint and install our fixtures. Tedious stuff.

Ryan got robbed in Nairobi a couple of days ago. It's a long story but I'll give you the gist. He's alone at night and three guys jump out of a car and stick guns to his head. They took 2 Iphones, his laptop, documents, basically everything he had. He flagged down some college kids in a car and they took him to the police station. Apparently these guys would hijack a car and at gunpoint make the person drive around while they would jump out and rob people. They hijacked a few different cars and robed over a dozen people that night. There was also a report of someone being shot.

On a lighter note...I got a new German Shepherd puppy yesterday. She's going to be a guard dog at our compound. I've forgotten how much work these little things are. Since I started typing this blog she peed in one room and pooped in another. Yes...Bud and Kim...in your house...but don't worry it wasn't on any of the carpets :)