Jeremy's African Adventure

Without further ado...

2010-01-30T23:43:00.000-08:00

As usual, I've been crazy busy here. There's always something that needs to be done and never enough time to do it. I didn't realize how much work this gig was gonna be when I decided to take it on. Not complaining, just stating :) I've been blessed with many talents and I been able to develop many more here. I'm pretty freakin amazing :D I'm excited because, finally...tomorrow...Feb 1st...the Rescue Center is officially beginning operations. We will have a week of training for our staff and begin receiving children the next week.

Praises:

I tend to stress a lot over all the things I have to do here. I've had some breakthrough in this area recently. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and stressed when I think about everything that needs to be done I've been feeling a joy bubble up inside. Now that's Heaven for sure.

Prayer Requests:

Continued breakthrough in learning to live and work from Heaven's perspective.

Revelation and clarity for my staff as we train this week and that it continues as they learn new things here every day.

I still have so much to do...no end in sight...

That the money keeps rolling in. We're just in the beginning stages here and there's still a ton of development to be done.

That any spirits assign to disrupt, block or confuse communication and information of all forms will be stopped and sent where they belong.

Back...and better than ever!

2009-11-16T11:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-09-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-12T00:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-08T02:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-08T02:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-19T12:17:00.001-07:00

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

2009-02-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-01-28T00:54:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-01-20T03:52:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-01-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-01-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

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 :)

Back to reality...

2008-12-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

Not that my reality is a bad thing. Just difficult. Before I came here I pictured it being like a working vacation. Not even close...this is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Nothing is easy here.
Having the team here and hanging out with my brother really reminded me of all the comforts and conveniences I had begun to forget about. It's a good thing though. I realized how numb I had become to so many things. Things that I wanted to change for the better but instead they've just become an accepted part of my surroundings over the past 7 months.

Well, my brother is on a plane headed home, so I'm back to work. It was so great getting to hang out with him, especially this last week in Kitale. For the first time since I've been here I was able to forget about my work for a little while. Now I'm back home and remembering everything I still have to do. I just have to remember, one thing at a time...

I'm planning to move into a bedroom in one of the houses either today or tomorrow. My own space...finally...No working plumbing yet but I've got electricity, peace and quiet. I can hardly wait! By the way, Kenyan television programs and gospel music really suck. Oh, sorry...no offense to you Kenyans...it just isn't my cup of chai.

First thing on the "To Do" list:
Pictures! It has taken me most of the day to get these things uploaded. Like I said, nothing is easy here. Enjoy!

This past week...

2008-12-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

has been AMAZING! Nairobi was a lot of fun. I usually can't stand Nairobi but it was nice to be in the "modern" civilization for a little while. The accommodations at the Hampton house were amazing. I got to eat tons of American style food...amazing. Hanging out with the team was...amazing. Everything was...okay, all together now...AMAZING!

The team went to a little revival meeting at a church in Nairobi. I had a messed up ankle so I spent most of the meeting at the hospital. When I did finally make it I could barely walk into the building with my cane. I felt the healing anointing as I entered the church. One of the ladies from our team grabbed me and started praying for my ankle. Right away I felt the swelling go down and I ditched the cane because I could now walk just fine. We had shoulder, back and hip pains and many other conditions healed. There was even a lady that had tumors in her abdomen disappear.

TheCall had some discouraging parts and some really incredible parts. The kids that Joylyn brought were by far the best part for me. To watch these kids pray is just, well, I only have tears to describe it. The kids went into the crowd to pray for people. I saw the Spirit begin moving in an area of the crowd so I had one of the leaders bring the children over. As the kids walked through the crowd people just started falling over. One lady almost took out a couple of the girls. I could go on and on about theses kids but I'm gonna stop here. I've got like over a hundred pictures of little kids praying for people.

We've got a lot going on in the next week. We're working on the houses, drilling our well,attending a huge children's event and all the other little things that seem to pop up every day.

Sometimes creative titles are just hard to think of

2008-12-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

Dang! A month since my last post? That baby coffin thing was way to heavy to leave up there for a month.

I've just been stupid busy trying to get one of these houses to the point where it can be lived in. I feel like it's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" and we've come down the the final moments before the the family arrives. Except I don't have a bus so I think I'll have to park a cow in front of the house. "Farm hand! Move that cow!" OK, so I thought I was funny. Unfortunately, I'm the only one that gets my jokes here. I'm close but still not where I was hoping to be. I got power but no plumbing yet. At least the team will get the "true African experience" by pooping in a hole and bathing from a bucket. I've actually come quite fond of the "squatty potty". I think we need some in the States.

Heading to Nairobi tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to catch a capoeira class in the eventin. Can't wait to see the team. The Expression 58 team arrives tomorrow and the Dinuba crew on Thursday. TheCall is on Saturday so we'll have a couple days to experience the madness that is Nairobi.

I need to sort through some pics so I can get some more up. If you're like me, the pictures are my favorite part of a blog.C

It shouldn't be

2008-11-03T23:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was at the lumber yard waiting for some materials. In a corner of the yard there was a man building a small wooden box. I tried to imagined what this little box was going to be used for. When he was halfway finshed with the lid I realized what he was making...

...A coffin...

A little coffin. It broke my heart. No coffin should be that small.

...No coffin should be that small...

So many pictures

2008-10-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

I've taken a ton of pictures the past couple of months. More than the previous months. Problem is, most of them are just boring. Building pictures. OK, so I know a few of you would be very interested in what goes into a building here, but most of you don't really care. So I'll save the building pics for another time. Here's a handful of the less boring pics. Enjoy!

There is no back pain in heaven

2008-10-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to speak at church again on Sunday. I shared four truths about God, and who I am in God, that have really moulded my veiws. The Spirit gave me a word about low back pain before I started speaking. After I spoke I called up everyone with low back pain so we could pray for them. Five ladies came to the front and the rest of the church pulled heaven down. One lady fell under the power (next time I better have catchers) and another shrieked and jumped as a spirit left her back. When it was over two ladies reported complete healing, two had vast improvement and one usually has pain in the evening so I'll get her report later. "On earth as it is in heaven"(Matthew 6:10).

2008-10-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Finally...I'm back online. The connection is pretty fast too, for Africa.

Friday, Noah and I took a trip to Eldoret which is the biggest city near us. We have to go there for certain things that aren't available in our small town. We came back with a car load of door hardware, plumbing, and electrical fixtures. It's was a fun little shopping spree.

We also dropped by the car dealer's place. It's not looking good (in the natural anyway). It's sounds as if we weren't the only people this guy screwed over. From what we heard he's taken a bunch of money from other people and went into hiding. It's really unfortunate because he was running the business out of a church that his dad was the pastor of. Now this guy's mom has to go reresent her son's business in court. I'm not sure what's going to happen with this mess. Hopefully, at worst, I will only lose $1,000 on the deal. I'm just standing on the truth that, "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28).

It's about time I got some more pictures up too. I'll work on that next.

The condensed version

2008-10-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'm at a cyber in Kitale with Joylyn right now. Still haven't been able to get my computer back on the net and the connection in Bungoma has been terrible. A ton has happened in the last month. How bout I just give a quick run down.
I had my phone, knife and passport picked from my pockets when I got in the middle of a crowd. Thankfully some "good christian" boy found my passport and sold it back to me. Losing my phon is what has caused me the internet problems.
I bought a car. Toyota Touring (station wagon) 4-wheel drive. The problem is the dealer that I bought it from has disappeared and he is my link to getting the log book for the car (the Kenyan equivalent of a pink slip). Please pray on that for me.
We've completed the walls for one house and are about 1/3 of the way done with the second. The building is going fast and has kept me very busy.
An irate neighbor (clearly under the influence of the enemy) had Noah taken the police department for something he didn't do. No worries though. Long story short it all worked out in our favor and now we have some high ranking freinds down a the station.
Well, there's the major stuff. Later.

2008-09-21T04:18:00.000-07:00

I've had some internet issues for the past few weeks so I'm making this post from my phone. I hope to be back online by the end of the month...I hope.

Photoministry

2008-08-24T11:49:00.001-07:00

I've been blessed with a wonderful camera and I love taking pictures with it. I've decided that I want to begin a picture ministry. So many of these people may never have the chance to own a picture of themselves or their children. I plan on blessing everyone with a foto that would like one (which is everyone). The pictures cost me about 25 cents to print a 3x5. Small price to pay for something that's pricless. If this goes the way I think it will, I should probably look into printing my own cuz it will work out cheaper in the long run. What's 25 cents times 100,000 pictures?

Ahhhhhhmazing

2008-08-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, just after 4am, Anisia gave birth to a 3 1/2 kg (close to 8 lbs) healthy baby boy. His name is Joshua. He was born with a small nub on each hand like an the beginning of an extra finger. 12 fingers...Joshua...Phophetic I'd say. I'm seeing a future government leader here.

Cassandra came to pick up her things that she left here and talked me into going back to Kitale with her. I'm glad she did because I needed to get away more than realized. We all went out to eat at a favorite spot. I had a pizza (not like home but it was good) and a cold Guinness (just like home). It was wonderful. It was great hanging out with my wazungu (white people) friends and watching a movie. We really treasure the little things that remind us of home.

I accompanied Cassandra to the Uganda border today. We hired a taxi because we were tight on time. The corruption with the police here is horrible. There are a lot of police checkpoints but if...no, when they find something wrong with your vehicle it only takes a small bribe to get through. Well, we got stopped and our taxi driver "forgot" his license. He wanted us to pay for the bribe but we said, "no". We don't want to feed coruption, that and the Spirit said "no". It was a little tense because we were very tight on time and I wasn't sure if they were going to detain our driver or not. He eventually paid the "fine" out of his own pocket and we were back on our way. All these events really opened up the oportunity for some good "God talk", so it was "pretty cool" (yeah, ok, so now I'm just "abusing" my "quotation privalages").

I've been having trouble uploading pictures but I hope to have some up very soon.
G'nite!

Events of the day

2008-08-05T01:49:00.000-07:00

Today Noah, Anisia and I headed off in the morning to run some errands in town. On the way we passed a semi truck that had a tire blowout and flipped on its side. This is a common scene along the highway where we live. It’s the main road between the port at Mombasa and our neighboring country, Uganda. On a warm day we hear a number of blowouts just near our compound. Kenya doesn’t have the standards for their trucks that we have in the States (or if they do they aren’t enforced which seems to be the case in many areas here). The tires that these trucks run on are usually old worn retreads. Not only that, but they drive way too fast. The speed limit for trucks here is 80kph (55mph) and 40kph through town. Many of the trucks blow by our place at 120kph even though they should be slowing to 40kph. The drivers just honk to let you know they’re coming and you better get out of their way.

When we got back home we found surveyors from a gasoline company that is running a pipeline from Mombasa, Kenya to Kampala, Uganda. One good thing about this line is it will reduce the number trucks hauling gas passed our place but the down side is the pipe is going right through our property. There is a 25 meter no build easement that we will have to maintain. This causes a problem because we will have to move the guest house that we’ve already began building. There should be an assessor here within the week that will evaluate the damages we will incur so we can be reimbursed. Please pray that this works out in our favor since it is causing some problems with the layout of the buildings on our site.

When Heaven Invades Africa

2008-07-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Almost every time I go to town I get to bless someone in need. Usually it’s in the form of food for the street kids. The other day I had a little old lady ask me for a soda. It’s fun blessing those little old mamas because they’re so sweet and appreciative. Although they can be quite forceful too! I don’t hand out money very often but sometimes I feel led.

I’ve had the opportunity to pray for people on the street quite often. No screwing around with those piddley little prayers either (I know, I’m just kidding there’s no prayer to small). I’ve prayed for limbs to grow back, twisted hands and feet to straighten and most recently elephantitis. Haven’t had any breakthroughs yet, that I know of, but any day now! The Lord said I’d see fingers and arms grow back so that’s what I’m expecting.

I’ve heard some crazy amazing stories from pastors about healing and deliverances that have been taking place. Not just one or two but hundreds and even THOUSANDS in a day. I can wait to be in the middle of one of those meetings. So many diseases and illnesses here are the result of witchcraft and demon possession. There’s a couple of TV evangelists that have the gift of deliverance. They’ll get people on stage (sometimes by force) and start preaching in Jesus name and these demons start to manifest. Shrieking, flopping around and trying to run from the stage (which is usually followed by a guard knocking them back off their feet). You don’t see this kind of stuff on American television.

Pictures!

2008-07-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

Wrapped around a dream

2008-07-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday a few of our GCM team members, Jona, Cassandra and Joylyn came through Bungoma on their way to Sudan. It was really great to see them. Jona brought me some things from home I was really blessed by. The team was here for less than 48 hours which was kind of a bummer but it was god to have them.

Since I got here I’ve really been wanting transportation. First I was thinking about getting a motorcycle since they’re cheaper and better on gas. The problem is I want a Japanese bike which are hard to find and cost as much as a small car. I’ve just been seeking the Lord on the situation. A friend of ours has been on the lookout for a small car that will fit our needs. Last Thursday we went to Eldoret with him to look at a few cars. I ended up putting a deposit on a 2003 Toyota Corolla. It was still difficult to make a decision like this even though I really feel like it’s been directed by the Lord. What made it difficult was the price of the car. Vehicles here cost double what they do in the states.

I’ve been working on preparing some beds for a garden. I’ve never really done any gardening before but it’s always something I’ve wanted to try my hand at. It’s been crazy hard work because of type of bed I’m preparing. They’re double-dug raised beds for biointensive growing. It’s something I’ve learned about from my organic farmer friend Ryan in Kitale. I just finished two beds 5’ wide and about 20’ long and I have two more to go. I’ve got two hands full of blisters and I tried to take my toe off with jembe (large hoe) yesterday. I’ve been working barefoot which may not be the best idea but I enjoy it.

God’s just really been giving life to all theses dreams I’m finally pursuing. I’ll tell you more about all that later. I think I’ll leave you with a quote I just heard from Lou Engle that Bill Johnson recited in one of his sermons. It went something like this:

“God doesn’t take a man and put a dream in him. He’s starts with a dream and wraps a man around that dream”

Oh, Jesus

2008-07-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

A Canadian couple living in Kitale were badly beaten and robbed on Thrusday. They've been in Kenya for about 4 months working with orphans and widows. I haven't met the couple but have ties with much of their team living in Kitale. I've felt very safe here so far but when something like this happens it really makes me wonder how safe I really am. Although I'm broken hearted ove the matter I won't let this discourage me because MY GOD IS BIGGER! Please keep the John and Eloise Bergen in your prayes.

Here's a link to one of the more complete articles I found.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=43583b69-3794-42c4-b0ec-72b90f91bdf2

Long overdue

2008-07-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

So, it’s been way too long since I’ve made a post. Soooo much has happed in the last few weeks. I’ll try to keep it short and too the point for all you fellow ADD people...um...now what was I saying?...oh yeah keeping it short.

The first month here was really tough for me. The culture, food, people, environment, basically everything was difficult for me to adjust to. I was also starting to feel a little trapped here at the compound and I think I was starting to get depressed. I spent a night in Kitale and it was just what I needed. I got to see familiar faces which helped a lot. But the big thing for me was I remembered all the dreams that really came alive for me the first time I was there. I’m really excited about what the Lord has for me to do here in Bungoma.

I got to speak at our church two weeks ago. God gave me a word I was supposed to give the church and just a couple of hours later I was told they wanted me to speak the next Sunday. The word was on prosperity. It has to do with giving and receiving. It was very difficult for me to deliver this word for more that one reason. But at the end the Holy Spirit showed up and gave everybody gold coins (in the spirit) which symbolized a blessing of prosperity. I found out later that the Lord had given Noah a similar word for the church just a few weeks before. Some pretty awesome stuff is coming to our little church.

OK. I think I’m going to break this up into a couple of posts because it’s already getting long.

We’ve finished the roofs for four houses and we’ll be starting the foundations for two houses very soon. I’m anxious to get started.

Noah bought a new cow just a couple of weeks ago that was just about to calf. Well on Saturday morning just before 6am she gave birth. I was hoping to be around to see the birth but at least I got to see the little one’s first steps. It was pretty cool.

I still haven’t milked a cow yet but I did slaughter my first chicken the other day. It didn’t freak me out like I thought it would. It really wasn’t much worse than gutting a fish. I guess there’s a few ways to kill the chickens but here they prefer to cut the head off so it doesn’t suffer as much.

Well, I think I’ll leave you with that. I’ve still got a bunch of stuff to say but I’m just tired of typing.

By His Stripes

2008-06-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

For some reason I haven’t been able to wear my contacts since I’ve been here. The right one irritates my eye. It seems to be some sort of allergic reaction or something.

Well, on Sunday I tried to wear them again and wore them too long. On Monday I woke up with a very irritated eye. I tried to go outside and work but the sunlight was just too much for it. It progressively got worse through the day and by the afternoon I was in horrible discomfort. A bump had formed on the inside of my eyelid and it was swollen halfway shut. It felt like there was something in my but was unable to find anything. All I could do was cry out to the Lord a this point. By the time I felt I couldn’t take it anymore it seemed to get a little better but I was still in a lot of discomfort so I decided to try and go to sleep early.

Almost every night I pray with Noah and Anisia before bed. Noah prayed for my eye to be healed. Almost instantly my eye was about 95% better. It was wonderful to experience relief after the day I had. God rocks.

Today it’s at about 99% and I’m expecting complete healing.

Living, Working, Learning

2008-06-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

We’ve had a crew here for two weeks now digging and mixing mud. Today they started forming bricks. We’re going to bake them right here on site. The metal roof system should also be arriving any minute. I just hope the truck can make it to the back of the property without sinking in the mud. It’s been raining like crazy until the last couple of days.

We had to fire our architect because he wasn’t doing his job. We hired another architect yesterday and he seems to be on top of things. He’s much more experienced and he’s helping to “Africanize” our plans. We plan on meeting up with him this afternoon.

Well I just got a call that the truck is just up the road so I will have to resume this later…

…Ok it’s later.

We have our steel, we have our plans and we have two fundi (the guys helping us erect the buildings) that will be staying with us for the next couple of weeks. This house is getting pretty packed full of people.

So my main job here to help with this building project. Problem is I really feel like I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Sometimes I really don’t know what the heck I’m doing here. I’m learning a lot, but I still feel completely under equipped. Please keep me in your prayers. I’ve spent a lot of time crying out to the Lord for guidance lately. He always comes through, just not always when I want.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. I don’t do much manual labor anymore which is what I’ll be doing.

I give up...

2008-06-11T01:33:00.000-07:00

on this stupid internet today. The main reason I came to town today was to use the internet and it's completely packed with people so the connection is horrible. I sure do complain about the internet a lot. It's wonderful when it's working well but very frustrating when it's not.

OK, so just getting to town today took about two hours. The cops were doing checks on the road just up from the house so the matatus weren't packing people in like they normally would. When we did finally have a person offer to give us a ride the cops saw us get in his car so they decided to pull him over and harass him just because he picked us up. So Noah and I got out of the car to search for other means of transportation. We ended up getting a ride on a couple of piki piki (motorbike) down a muddy back road to avoid the cops.

All that and now I can't even really get anywhere with this slow connection. I only hope this is able to post. Other than than everything is great. Thank's for your prayers and encouraging words. I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

I'll try to get to the cafe early on Friday and beat the crowd.

New pics

2008-06-09T02:04:00.000-07:00

Gotta make this fast since my battery is about to die. Been on the net for two hours now try to get a bunch of stuff accomplished and due to the poor connection today I was only able to finish half of what I wanted to do. O well, another day. I've just sent out my first update email. Had some errors on some addresses so I'll see if I mistyped some things. If you would like to receive emails from me or if you're expecting an email an haven't received one let me know. Email me at jijeremy at gmail dot com. OK gotta go!

Yay!

2008-06-04T01:20:00.000-07:00

I got my phone hooked up with a new sim for the Safari Com network a few days ago. I've been try to get connected to the net through my phone now for a couple days and I now up and running. The connection isn't too fast but I can access from the comfort of home, or anywhere I have service. It seems to be somewhat affordable too. 12.6 KES/mb which is about 20 cents/mb.

Well, its taken a few days to adjust but I'm doing well. I'm eating very well and have all the chai (tea with milk fresh from the cow) I can drink. Although many people speak English here it is still difficult to communicate at times because of the thick accent and cultural differences. I've picked up a few new words in Swahili but I have a way to go. The weather has been beautiful. It's been raining in the evenings but sunny and 80ish during the day.

That's it for now. Tune in at a later date for more of my adventure!

In Bungoma

2008-05-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking, "Man, the internet has been a lot faster than it was when I was here last," when a handful of people walk into the internet cafe and muscle in on my bandwidth. O well, it's still not too bad.

Just had my first ride in a matatu. For those of you that don't know, a matatu is a minivan taxi that packs people in like sardines. It's cheap, but not very comfortable. The lord told me to ask him for a car while I was still in the states a week ago. "God, I'd like that car now."

Everything has been great so far. Noah and his family have been wonderful. They've welcomed me like family. Life here is going to take some getting used to, but I'll adjust quickly.

I'm planing on getting a phone while in town today and pick up a few other little things. So I'll try to give you a call tonight (or morning for you) mom.

Bye!

YMCA

2008-05-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Back at the YMCA hostel in Nairobi. Feels like I was just here. Well, I guess it was only a few months ago. I do miss having Jason and Nathan around. It can get a little lonely traveling alone. I can't wait to get out of Nairobi. I've never been fond of any big cities, and this one is no exception.

Well I just popped in to make this quick post cuz I can. I may end up in a cyber cafe before I know it so it may not be too long before my next post. Don't expect me to write on this thing all the time though because the novelty will probably wear off soon.

So far everything's going great. I can feel the favor of the Lord. I'm getting up around 4am so I give myself plenty of time to make my flight in the morning. I'm getting kinda sleepy so I'm going to head off to my room.

Nite

Well...here we go!

2008-05-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

OK. So I'm at Heathrow in London. Have a couple of hours before I board.

Life has been pretty crazylately. Trying to get ready for a trip like this. It was quite difficult to say, "goodbye" to everyone. Yes, I know it's just, "see you later," but that doesn't make it any easier. Once I walked through the security checkpoint in LAX all the madness came to a screeching halt. All I could do was wait then.

The plane ride was as good as it gets, in economy anyway. There was an open seat next to me so I could stretch out. Every on this Virgin flight was just a little better than my British Airways flight last trip. So there's my plug for Virgin Atlantic.

I am currently typing this entry on the laptop my wonderful boss Jerry gave me. Thanks Jerry! Thank you so much to everyone that has blessed me in any way for this journey. I couldn't do it without you. Please remember to keep me in your prayers everyday. They are so important.

I love you all. I will try to get some emails out as soon as I get some stuff situated.

See you later!
Jeremy

Pictures

2008-02-12T17:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a handful of pics for ya.

Home...

2008-02-10T13:17:00.000-08:00

...is where the heart is...my heart is in Africa...

Coming home

2008-02-08T23:49:00.000-08:00

Well, we're in London now. Four more hours and it's off to LAX. I don't even miss home yet, but it'll be nice to be back. See y'all soon.

There's no internet like high speed...

2008-02-07T06:09:00.000-08:00

There's no internet like high speed...There's no internet like high speed (eyes closed, clicking heels)...O well this is the fastest I've been on in Africa yet. It's a lazy rainy afternoon here in Nairobi so I thought I'd kill some more time on the net. It took me like 30 minutes to get this thing posted so this is all your gonna get. (L to R) Jason, Ryan, me and Nathan.

Untitled Album

YYYYYY-M-C-A!

2008-02-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

We're now in Niarobi. Staying at the YMCA. Unfortunately they've fallen a few stars short of their 4 star goal. O well. It's cheap. Thanks for the pic how-to Chad. I left my stuff up in the room, but maybe I give it one more try later. We have a couple of days here and then we fly out at around midnight on Friday. Jason tried to bump our flight up a day but it cost too much. He and Nathan are anxious to get back to their wives. I wish I could stay longer. Don't worry GMA I'll be back on Monday.
The day at the river was great. The 3 hour drive one way on Kenyan roads I could have done without though. In case you didn't know the roads here are horrible. In downtown they're OK but once you head into the residential areas or out of town it's a dirty bumpy ride. We took some tubes with us to the river and shot the rapids. There were quite a few local kids hanging aroud so I showed one of them some capoeira. Then we did some flips in the water. No crocs in this river...just naked old ladies.
I left my heart in Kitale, so I'm going to have to go back and get it some day...soon I hope. Everywhere you turn in Africa there is a need. It can be a very difficult place to be. Everybody wants something from the mzungu (white man) cause the mzungu has money. Pray for Kenya. Pray for Africa. I've never had my heart broken so many times in such a short while. I didn't even see the worst of what is happening on this continent.
We'll bum aroud Nairobi today. Do some shopping and hang out. Then home. I think we'll be flying into LAX Saturday afternoon. Bye.

Kickin' it in Kitale

2008-02-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

Still hangin round Kitale. We went to Bungoma to check out the GCM property and hang out with the family that lives there. We been doing a lot of talking and planning. We've got a good plan for how we'll develop the property and hope to start building in June. There's a couple more people Jason needs to connect with and some errands to run but other than that it seems we'll have some leisure time. Tomorrow we're planning on going to some river to hang out. We've met so many wonderful people here. God has just totally hooked us up. I've got a lot of pics but haven't been able to get any of them to post so y'all will just have to wait. We've been quite safe here. We just have to check on conditions before we travel anywhere to make sure we steer clear of any danger. Thanks again for your prayers.

Here in Kitale...

2008-01-31T03:16:00.000-08:00

Many exciting things have been happening the last couple of days. Moday night things got real bad in Kisumu, the city we were going to fly into in Kenya, so we had to change some plans. Thankfully we've got some awesome folks here in Africa helping us out. We ended up taking a little 4 seater from Nairobi to Kitale cause it is much safer here. We've hooked up with this really cool guy Ryan who's with Love Mercy. He's been here for about a year. He's got some big dreams and they're coming along nicely. So far here in Kitale we've had the chance to check out Ryan's organic fertilizer company down in the slums. Hang out with some street kids. We even got to be a part of taking a couple of kids off the street today. Ryan has 7 acres that he's been developing into a little sustainable community. So many of the things that Ryan has been working on are dreams that I've had. There's just so many people from all over with there own gifts working together with one goal. Thank you sooooo much for your prayers. It seems that we've been running into opposition everywhere we turn but God always makes a way. Your prayers are making a way for us. I think we're going to go check out a boys home right now, head to Bungoma tomorrow, and possibly to the Tricana after that. I'm not sure exactly where or when, but I'm coming back, to stay. I love you all. Blessings

2008-01-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

This internet connection is frustratingly slow. I've only got a couple minutes so...Yesterday was amazing. We got to visit a couple of chidren's homes. We also go to meet up with Pastor Mbasa who took out the Masai land where he has a church. We even got to take a tour of some Masai houses. It was incredible. We fly out tomorrow and I'm a little bummed about that but our aventure is just begining.

2008-01-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm sitting at Melissa and Jolyn's house in Moshi, Tanzania right now. Two girls from Cali that are living here working with GCM. Moshi is at the base of Kilamanjaro and the view of the mountain is amazing today. It's still all like a dream. I thought once I got here it would all kinda hit me...but its still sureal. It took a looooong time to get here. With the traveling, layovers and delays it took about 48 hours. While we were waiting in for our plane to Tanzania I got to know this lady from Tokyo that works with World Vision. Her name is Mami. She had a pretty bad cold so I prayed for her and God totally healed her. It was awesome. We're running on very little sleep but we're all feelin great. We're staying at a nice little hostel next to the compound we came to check out. We had a great breakfast at a Lutheran hostal accross the street from where we're staying. The weather is beautiful. It's like low to mid 80's and sunny. The wildlife is amazing. The people are very nice. We'll be here for about 3 days while we handle our business. What we are going to encounter in Bungoma sounds like it won't be quite as nice as things are here. I'll see if I can track down a phone somewhere so I can give you a call Mom and Dad. I love you all. My sinus infection is better but I think my allergies are acting up which isn't helping things much. Thank you all for your prayers. God bless.

Greetings from Kenya...

2008-01-27T01:42:00.000-08:00

We landed in Nairobi about 9am Sun, which would be 10pm Sat at home. We went to pick up our tickets to Tanzania and the guy said they are no good. Said we have to have a printed ticket or something. Jason was handling the mess while Nathan and I were getting to know some of the locals. Anyway we ended up having to pay for 3 more tickets which was a real bummer. Hopefully we'll be able to get a refund on the others. We're just killing some more time here in the Airport till out flight at 5pm. I've developed a horrible sinus infection during the trip so pray for that please. It's left my head spinnin a little. Forgot my usb in my bag so no pictures yet. Hopefully when we get to our next destination I can get a couple pics up.

Waiting...

2008-01-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hey. So we've made it to London so far. Jason's got Wi-Fi here. I think its like 5pm. Nothing exciting happening so far. The plane ride was about 10 hours and wasn't too horrible. My back was killin me though. Well that's it. I could try and stretch this out with some embelished stories and witty banter but I'm gonna go walk around instead. Here's a couple of pics. Nevermind...I tried to upload something and I guess it didn't work. I not sure what the problem is because it's all in Dutch or something. Maybe next time.

Wednesday, Jan. 23rd

2008-01-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm gonna give this a shot. I've never blogged before, so we'll see how this works out. I'll try to update this as much as possible, if at all possible. I don't know what's going to happen once we get there but it sounds like there will be internet cafes in the city (Nairobi I guess). There's only a trio of us going on this trip. One of the main purposes of the adventure is to lay some groundwork for a rescue center in Bungoma, Kenya that Global Children's Movement (http://globalchildrensmovement.org/) is going to build. As many of you know I've been waiting for this trip for a long time now. The Lord told me 2 1/2 years ago that I would be going Africa. Since then I've recieved so many words about what I'll be doing, where I'd be going and so much more. It's almost a little surreal now that its finally here. Lemme see...God said I'd be going to Kenya...(check)...and Tanzania...(check). He said that I would be building an orphanage and working with kids...(check and check). I'm going to have to review all the prophesy so I remember them all and recognize things when they come to pass. Please keep Jason, Nathan and I in your prayers. It sounds like Kenya isn't the safest place to be these days, unless God's got your back that is. Just ask the Lord, he tell you what to pray. Well, I've still got some stuff to do so I'll pop back in later...I hope.