Kristin

Friends,

So far I have spent just over a week in Mathare Valley. One of the things I do is visit homes in order to offer encouragement in Jesus and pray for the home. Last week I had the opportunity to visit the home of a women named Kristin. Kristin lives in a pretty hopeless situation when viewed through American eyes. She is undergoing her second bout with tuberculosis. Her husband left her because of the disease. She cannot afford to send her three children to school and lives with her brother in Mathare Valley. When we first met her, she was not a believer. As I sat in the home, wondering what in the world I possibly had to offer this woman, I took time to simply sit quietly before the Lord. Readers, let me tell you, the Gospel and truth found in Jesus Christ is made powerful in circumstances such as these. After Nathan and I prayed for her, she made the decision to accept Jesus as her savior. After leading her in a prayer of salvation, we all left the house. As I was leaving Mathare Valley for the day, I remember looking back and catching her eyes. Eyes that were joyless and lifeless now had a glimmer of hope. She managed to crack a smile. A few days later I ran into her again. She was walking around and told us she was feeling much better. I cannot but think that one day this American here and this Kenyan will be praising the Lord together. The power of the Gospel is something to be experienced my friends. It all starts with a quiet submission to his will.

Mathare Valley

Friends,

Tomorrow I am departing on my 3 week ministry assignment to Mathare Valley in Nairobi Kenya. There I will be teaching in a school, working at a daycare, ministering to women who are HIV positive and doing street evangelism in the slums. I will also probably be preaching at a local church. Mathare Valley is the oldest slum in Kenya and possibly all of Africa. It was the place we visited a few days ago. It was the place I met Desi. I will be staying at the home of a Kenyan pastor and he will direct some of our ministry. Apparently, there are sometimes where me and my ministry partner will be dropped off in the slum and told to evangelize. So street preaching is a real possibility. I am excited that the Lord has called me to be good news to the people in the slum of Mathare Valley. I am excited to have an opportunity to be a bold ambassador for Jesus. I am bracing my heart to be ripped open during my 3 weeks in the slum. The spirit of the Lord is present in Kenya. Peace is upon me. I will proclaim the good news of the gospel wherever I go.

Desi

Kenya is a beautiful place my friends. I arrived here safely and can say that these two days have been packed full of awesome times and new experiences in the Lord. One of the opportunities I had was to visit the second largest slum in Kenya, Mathare Valley, yesterday. Words cannot describe what I experienced there however I am going to try to paint a picture of an interaction I had that changed my life. Amongst the abject poverty, there is a daycare where children can be dropped off if a parent wishes to leave the slum to go into the city and look for a job. The kids in this daycare and malnourished, abused, and most likely live in a single mother home. When I walked in there for the second time that day, a girl walked up to me, arms extended, just wanting to be picked up and held. Desi was her name. She was cross-eyed, couldn't really speak, and to the best of my knowledge had some sort of mental handicap. The only thing I had to offer her was a simple touch of love, a time to hold her and hug her. Walking around the daycare, Desi in my arms, I prayed blessings over her. Her hugs went straight to the soul. She wrapped herself so tight around my arms indicating she never wanted to let go. After 30 minutes I had to leave and when I put her down she reached back up, wanted to be hugged for just a while longer. Instead she had to return to a world where the hug of an American stranger is the only comfort she ever finds. My body and my spirit have cried many times for Desi as I try to understand her plight. I will always remember her smile and laughter that day that I held her. I will always pray and remember this beautiful child the Lord used to change my life. Sometimes 30 minutes in Africa is all it takes.

I will likely only be able to have internet access about 4 more times so updates may be few and far between. There is much more to write about. I love this place and love you all. See you soon!

Waiting

12 hours from now I will be waking up to fly to New York and begin what I hope is a summer of experience. If you are anything like me, life as I know it can be a real snooze fest sometimes. Sure, I have lots of things that I enjoy, but at the end of the day am I truly happy? To be honest, usually the answer is no. Instead, life sometimes feels like these fleeting moments of purpose during which you align with the Father's will for your life for just a momentary spot in time. The rest of the time is just kinda blah. This could just be me. Someone once told me "normal life doesn't work to well for you." Don't get me wrong, college has been fun. It just seems like my heart is in waiting mode. Because this "normal life" doesn't seem to motivate me, I find myself waiting on a life that is far from normal. I want to experience the wildness and purpose that comes from walking in a spirit of oneness with Jesus Christ. I am ready for a calling and a purpose.

And now I get to go to Kenya. I get to be around the poor, the needy. I will interact with those who should have no hope, no reason for living. Peoples whose needs are so drastic it will be unlike anything I have ever experienced. However, in the Lord there is beauty in everything and I so look forward to witnessing beauty in these places. Mostly I desire a new heart. I have this idea or image of myself and who I want to be, however the harder I try to get there, the harder being that man becomes. I hope to experience new and exciting things as the Lord moves in my heart and molds me into the man he has designed me to be.

This is my journey friends. It should be a fun one this summer.

Welcome

I have never given much thought to blogging. It's not that I don't consider my thoughts valuable to those around me, I do. It's just that it has always seemed so...trivial. So if you are reading this I do thank you in advance. To be honest I don't really have a direction I will take this blog, we'll just kinda see what comes of it. Here you will encounter the thoughts, hopes, victories, struggles, questions, and answers I have. Most, if not all, of my posts will revolve around my walk with Jesus Christ, which has been the biggest adventure of my life and my very reason for life. Please feel free to comment on my posts, I actually encourage and welcome it. With that being said, welcome to my heart.