Emerging Missions

I just found out about this a few weeks ago.

If you don't know, it is the combined efforts among non-Western missionaries to evangelize the world. This is probably one of the coolest things I've ever heard. The Christians in China have started a movement called Back to Jerusalem. In this they plan to send out 100,000 missionaries over the next 10 years to evangelize the areas between China and Jerusalem. It isn't going to be rushed or anything, but will be done with a patient yet driven passion. The Church in South Korea caught wind of this and decided that they would aid China as much as possible in their efforts. On practically the other side of the world, some other Christians were catching the vision. Ethiopian and Nigerian Church leaders felt God's call to the nations through this, and now both have committed to sending 50,000 each over the same time frame. The goal of all of this is to evangelize the majority of 1040 Window and join together in Jerusalem to watch the Savior come back in 2020, as efforts in other areas by people not of this movement will be continued. This is very possible because if it's God's plan it won't be messed up (Job 42:2). I beg and plead that the American Church gets involved with these efforts as best we can. With God you either get on board, or get out of the way.

Back at IWU

I'm back at Indiana Wesleyan about to start my Junior year... I'm pumped to see what God has in store.

1 Week Left

Well, we´re in Ica now hanging out with Wilfredo and his family again. It´s alot of fun! Yesterday, we had our last soccer game. We won, which was nice. And I also am now 1-0 in international tennis play. This guy asked me if I wanted to play tennis, so I did and won. It was pretty sweet. I´m not sure how long we´ll be here, but I know that when we leave we´re headed back to Lima and then La Finca... One week left! :)

The 2nd Half and TRUTH

Sorry, I have been pretty busy/lazy lately with updating this. Since Nazca... We´ve been to Laramate, took a 17 hr. bus ride to Cusco, hung out there for a few days, went to 3 villages (Oruruillo, Ayaviri, & Chupa) in the freezing state of Puno, and now we´re in Arequipa (2nd largest city in Peru). In those places we played soccer, had Bible studies, fellowshipped, and just relaxed some. It´s been great! I´m still getting to spend a lot of time with God and wouldn´t trade it for anything. I can´t really begin to describe how much more I´ve learned in God this summer. Right now, we have less than 2 weeks left in Peru. We should be traveling to Caraveli, Ica, and then back to Lima. Caraveli is our only technical village left. The place we´re in now has KFC, Pizza Hut, and Burger King. So it´s obviously pretty nice. It also has a volcano on one edge of the city and a glacier covered mountain on another. Nice, but expensive.

I know everyone won´t necessarily agree with my decision to get a tattoo, but I prayed about it and I believe whole-heartedly that it does and will glorify God. I also looked in the Bible and the Scripture in Deut. that says don´t get tattoos is lumped in with commandments about not wearing cloth of two types of fiber and not planting two types of seed in the same field. Both of these seem very Jewish and Old Covenant to me. I believe that everything we do should glorify God, and again I know that this will. The belief and statement that there is absolute TRUTH is a message that needs to be sent to this postmodern world. Truth is not relevant. There is absolute TRUTH, and that TRUTH is Jesus Christ.

Great Pitch and Good Times

A pìtch is a soccer field, just so you know ;)

We never actually made it to Quitoarma as originally planned. Instead, we went to play close to there in Huaytara. It was a great and really fun game. The first time we had grass and a team to play. God blessed us greatly buy allowing us to play an awesome team. They were nice and good, which is a rare combo here. ha We of course shared the Gospel after, and then left the next day. If you haven´t noticed by now, we as the soccer team don´t get to see much if any fruit from our efforts. Just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8, ¨I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.¨ We know that our purpose is to plant and the village team is to water and plant in many cases.

After Huaytara, we headed back to Ica to stay with Pastor Wilfredo again. He and his family have been a huge blessing to us. He runs the Baptist seminary in Ica and pastors a nearby church. We´ve stayed with them three times, and this past time they made us pancakes one day and eggs with ham the next. While we were in Ica on this occasion, we finally went sandboarding. It was awesome! The dunes were huge and the dune buggy drivers were crazy. Best of all, we got to do it for 2 hrs and it only cost us like $11.50. I also made a funny, but rather rash decision while in Ica. I wanted a haircut and didn´t really care what it looked like since that´s kinda how I am, for the most part. So anyways, I got a mohawk/mullet and shaved lines in my eyebrows. It was hysterical. Well, I wasn´t sure how culturally appropriate the lines were so now I have no eyebrows and just a small fohawk type thing. I look kinda like a mouse and/or Norwegian. It´s pretty great. I´ll put up pics of that and sandboarding when I can. I don´t regret anything except shaving them this short. They did need a little thinning out anyways though ;)

In conclusion, we´re in Nazca now with our whole REAP South Peru team (all 120) for mid-summer debriefing. It´s nice here, but food and everything is really expensive. I´m currently reading In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado and hope to start something else soon since I´ll be done with that and already finished Driscoll´s book. We leave here Monday for Laramate... DON´T FORGET TO PRAY FOR THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE HERE AND WATCH THE USA/BRAZIL SOCCER GAME TOMORROW!!! :)

Disabled, Defeated, but Still Sharing

Honestly, the last few days have been kinda rough. We´re in Santiago de Chocorvos, and I have a pulled quad and bruised calf from the game(s) yesterday, I only played in the first one. We lost both games and more than a couple of us got hurt. The reason was we were playing on a field made of gravel that also had some huge rocks in it, also the referees didn´t help ;) It was really difficult to play because of my leg and the ¨field.¨ ha The best part of the day and only thing that mattered was definitely sharing the Gospel after. Today was mainly a day of relaxation, and tomorrow we head back down to Ica for the weekend. It´ll be good to get some food other than rice ;) Please continue praying for the furthering of God´s Kingdom and now for my wounds. I´m pretty sure I´m going to have to sit out the next game and maybe more, but who knows God might completely heal me or I might just take a couple ibuprofen before. ha Thanks and God bless :)

Cordova and Back

We´re back in Ica now for the night. It was decided that it would be best for us to stay at the Baptist seminary here for the night and head to Santiago tomorrow, so we are :) Cordova was great! We played 2 games and shared the Gospel with all who watched and played after the 2nd one. The high school team tied us 3-3, and we beat the town team 1-0. It doesn´t really matter as far as ministry goes, but I figured my dad and cousin Mason might want to know ;) I also pulled my right quad in the second game, but I´ll be ok. Being in Cordova gave me a ton of time to just chill with God. I´m currently reading through all the Epistles (just finished Phillipians) and a book called Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll. The book´s been great so far. You should check it or anything else you can find at the library or from Pastor Tim Mom :) I actually think you´ll like and agree with this guy. He´s got quotes about his book from at least 3 or 4 Southern Baptist staff members from various seminaries on the cover and beginning pages. ha So anyways, I´m learning a lot and believe that God is doing great things here. Please continue in prayer.

Matucana... Lima (Lunch)... Alis... Ica

Well, I spent the next 2 days sick in Matucana and didn´t really do much. The team we were scheduled to play there also didn´t show. We then headed for Alis, which is roughly 10 hrs from Matucana. On our way to Alis we stopped and ate Papa John´s again in Miraflores. It was great ;) Once in Alis, our ministry actually went how it was supposed to. We chilled and played sports with kids for a couple days then had our game. We won the game 2-1, but the important part was when we got to share the story of Nicodemus with the village after. We told them the story and then just hung out and spent time building relationships. It was really fun. O yea, and we also got beat in volleyball by some tiny high school girls. lol They were seriously amazing. We usually have a lot of free time, so I´m getting to read my Bible a ton. This is great because during school I never have enough time to focus just on God´s Word.

Our purpose in a village is basically to use our soccer abilities to play a game and then share the gospel through a story. And also through this to introduce the village missionaries that are already there on a larger scale than they might have previously been. All the missionaries have been really cool thus far. Alis was overall just awesome, except for the part where Matt and I lost a soccer ball down the river and chased it for over an hour. ha

Right now we´re in a place called Ica waiting to board a bus to head to Cordova, Santiago de (something), and then Quitoarma. I´m not sure when I can update this again, but I´ll try :)

God bless and please continue praying.

San Pedro... Miraflores (Lima)... Matucana

Hola! Well, we spent from last Saturday til this Wednesday in San Pedro de Casta. The bus ride there was 3 hrs long. It´s a mountain village with an altitude of about 11,000 ft. We trained up there, and almost everyone got sick except myself and a couple others. The first night was definitely the most difficult because there was some sort of 24 hr Catholic fiesta. It was great though because my friends Matt, Cal, and myself stayed up while talking about God and praying.
Catholicism has a strong hold on many of the people in Peru and Latin America. Our job as Evangelical Christians is to unteach much of the unbiblical and crappy traditions they have learned and to reveal Christ´s truth in places where none have even heard of Jesus Christo. Catholicism is a relgion, Christianity is a relationship.

Wednesday afternoon, we headed for Miraflores, Lima. We needed a little rest and recuperation before beginning out actual soccer tour of Southern Peru. In Miraflores, we stayed at a sweet hostel for backpackers with another IMB team that ministeres through creative ministry. They were great. During our two days, we ate at McDonald´s, Papa John´s, and T.G.I. Friday´s. It was amazing. You´ll never know how hard it is to eat rice at every meal until you´re in a fairly remote village and must do so. I actually missed our fatty greasy food a little. By the time we left though, I was glad to be done with the American stuff.
Lima had a black market that we had to go to because my backpack busted, as anticipated. I spent about $30 and the bag would´ve cost at least $70 back home, so good deal :) I also bought some alpaca sweaters for Shemiah. Honestly, she´s the one I miss the most. I could spend every centimo or penny I have on her. When it comes to her, there´s no limit of what I´d spend or give-up for her. Still tryin to figure out what to get my awesome parents who never gave-up on me when I have been an idiot so many times. I really couldn´t ask for better parents or family. Love and miss you all :)

Today, we arrived in Matucana. It´s about 3 hrs from Lima also. Most of us really like it here. Tomorrow is our first soccer game and first specific ministry opportunity. The game´s at 3, and we get to play in a pretty sweet little stadium. We´re all pumped and ready to be used by God on this pilot soccer evangelism trip with REAP South under the IMB. Please continue to pray for the people´s hearts here and that God will allow us to minister to them. We´re empty gloves waiting for God to fill us and put us to work through soccer ;)

In Lima

Hey, I´m in Lima right now with some friends at an internet cafe. We´ve had 2 days of orientation so far. It´s been a ton of talking, but all great info. Of course, in between sessions we just play soccer. It´s soo much fun! We´ll be here til Saturday and then we´re heading to San Pedra de la Casta (I think. ha). The altitude is 11,000 feet. It´s our high altitude training camp since we´ll be playing most matches in the Andes mountains.´

So far I´ve already made some really good friends and had a blast fellowshipping with them. God´s great!

I don´t know how much access I´ll have to the internet in the future, but I´ll update when I can :)

Thanks for praying and please continue. We have no idea what God has in store for us, but we´re ready to serve. Que Dios les bendiga (means ¨God bless¨).

Entertainment in THIS Economy

If entertainment is meant to entertain us, but our economy has fallen significantly then shouldn't the entertainment prices come down with us?

Why are ticket prices still outrageous and why are actors still making the same amount as before? What about professional athletes? Shouldn't we all be in this together?

I don't know if we should boycott the entertainment industry until some of this starts happening, but maybe we should definitely reevaluate what's important to us. Helping other or entertaining ourselves?

Also, why are there so many filthy movies coming out of Hollywood when the majority of Americans say they would like to see more family friendly things come out? Kids movies or at least child friendly movies usually seem to make more movie than all other types. Why? Because when a child goes to a movie they are usually accompanied by an adult this doesn't work vice versa for other types of movies. Stand up for what you believe in and tell the entertainers what you want. There's strength in numbers and unified the American people can have the America we want.

Trip to PERU

Andes Mountains of Peru

Well, I'm heading overseas again. I will be traveling with the International Mission Board to Peru for 2 months (May 25-Aug 2). Our group consists of about 12 students from various universities all over the U.S., and we will doing soccer evangelism. We will play in soccer tournaments and various pick-up games to share Christ's love with the people of Peru. I'm sure we will improve our soccer skills greatly through this because we all know that Americans have quite a bit to learn from the rest of the world concerning football/futbol/soccer. I'm really pumped about this opportunity to be used by God to let His light shine.

We are but humble servants begging God to use us in whatever way He would.

I will update this as much as I can from Peru so please follow and partner with me in prayer. Pray that we will be used to bring the Truth about the "eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecc. 3:11a NIV), for the people of Peru in general, the Peruvian Christians as they work to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19a NIV), and protection as we travel by plane, automobile, and foot through mountains and rivers.

"Not my will, but yours"

School's Out

School's out, and I'm heading home :)

10th to V-Day

Well... We've been doing quite a bit as usual, but this week was slightly slower than usual.

Tuesday we worked in the Mochipapa garden for like an hour or so.

Wednesday we had class, and hung out with this girl named Q (Brathcer and I). She's 29, from Bama, and in the Peace Corps.

Thursday we went back to the Wesleyan Bible College in Pemba. We helped out this lady named Jeanie in the library who is actually from Marion and works on the ground crew for IWU. She's just doing a short-term trip here.

Friday was a blast!!! It was class, and basically just a great day of bonding for most of the team who hadn't really bonded much before.

Today, Nick and I got up and made pancakes for everyone. The girls got the strawberry heart-shaped ones of course. ha It's Valentine's Day, and we decided to just treat the girls a little extra special :) I also attempted to do something nice for some of my very dearly missed girls at IWU, but it didn't quite work out too well. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to spend the rest of my day. I can't decide if today will be the day of rest and then homework tomorrow or vice versa.

I love ya mom :)

Up to Now

Well, I've been lazy as far as updating this goes, but not at all in other stuff. Homework's taken up a lot of time. Otherwise, I've been...
-riding dirtbikes in the bush to visit schools and present the AB program (program for basic schools that promotes Abstinence and Being faithful/Behavior change)
-cruising in the back of a truck singing and doing the same AB thing with Paul and Clesha (2 really good friends here that work for WHIZ)
-to church and was asked to say the offering prayer, which was kinda cool :)
-to an African History seminar from a professor at the University of Zambia
-chillin with Paul and Clesha watching soccer and playing their PS2

That was basically the highlights of last week, and so far this week we've just done homework and hung out.

*Clesha, Banda, Me, and Paul

Day 22-25

Day 22 (Thursday, Jan. 29)
-Today Melinda and I worked with Reach4Life again (New Testament with teen life lessons in it). We learned most of the ins and outs of it. They've had 22,000 students go through there program since just last year, and this year they should have roughly 42,000. We went to a Reach4Life Ambassador meeting, which is students who went through the program and still want to be mentors.

Day 23 (Friday, Jan. 30)
-Class, homework, soccer, construction, and just chillin. That was basically our day.

Day 24 (Saturday, Jan. 31)
-A man spent 3 hrs. educating us on the Impact of Colonialism today. It was really cool and interesting. His name was Dr. Yizenge Chondoka from the University of Zambia in Lusaka. I also got to talk to Troy Lewis today. He said that we would meet soon when he either comes here or we go to Lusaka in a few weeks (Zambia Director for the International Mission Board). Also, we sent out all our e-mails about the Bibles.

I got to talk to my family too, well sorta ;) I was on webcam, and they watched and listened since they were experiencing some technical difficulties. Now I think they see that it's hard to do computer stuff without me, specifically in our family. ha

Day 25 (Sunday, Feb. 1)
-We went to church. It was great, as always. I took a nap and read today. Then another lady came up and asked me for a Bible today. We really need those Bibles soon. I'll probably go do some homework now, and then hopefully I'll get to Skype with my girls later :)

Day 18-21

*This is me and my first African shirt.

Day 18 (Sunday, Jan 25)
-I went to church at Shampande, and then walked to there again for an Evangelism class in the afternoon. Next was homework.

Day 19 (Monday, Jan 26)
-Today, I mostly just did coursework except the morning when I walked to town. I bought a pretty sweet Zambia chitenge.

Day 20 (Tuesday, Jan 27)
-I loved this day! Melinda and I went with the Reach4Life team to Livingstone. We got to talk to 4 high schools that had the program going, and then we went to Victoria Falls. It was amazing!

Day 21 (Wednesday, Jan 28)
-We had devos today, class, and now I'm gonna do homework.

Day 10- 17

Ok, so we've obviously done a ton in the past week, but I'll try and sum it up to the best of my ability :)

Day 10 (Saturday Jan 17)
-We listened to a presentation from a man named Dr. Sibalwa from the University of Zambia in Lusaka on Community Development. It was REALLY interesting. After that, I think I just did reading and classwork the rest of the day until we said goodbye to Papa J that night (Jeff Johnson).

Day 11 (Sunday Jan 18)
-Today I went to church at my new church home Shampande for the first time. It was awesome, just like Mochipapa. The worship and prayer here is so passionate. I love it! I'm not sure what happened today, but I probably did coursework and relaxed most of the time.

Day 12 (Monday Jan 19)
-This day was tough, but wonderful (which is most days honestly). We went to visit people who have HIV/AIDS. My group went to see Joyce and Edgar. Joyce was very quite and shy, but had a very beautiful smile. We believe she is suffering from depression because she lost a baby a few years ago and her family lives close to her, but not with her. Also her husband never comes to see her. Basically, he just takes care of the two children. Next was Edgar. Edgar has a faith that can move mountains and in my mind has. He has AIDS, lost his child, and his wife left him because he got sick. Many times one spouse when runaway when they find out the other is sick and/or has HIV/AIDS. Despite all his pain, suffering, and loss Edgar still loves God with all his heart. And when he was asked if there was anything we could do for him, he just said he wanted a Bible so that he could read God's Word. We didn't have any, but trust me it works out :) After all this, I think we had debriefing and then did more schoolwork.

Day 13 (Tuesday Jan 20)
-This is another Trust Assessment day. We travelled to the Pemba zone to do them. My group (Bratch, Leah, Melinda, Margie, and myself) went to Jembo. They were an older Trust that is doing well, but need some revitalization. Next we had lunch at the Pemba Wesleyan Bible College, where Mike and Cindy Helvie will be serving. It was a great and humbling place. The students bring their whole families to live on the campus while they learn, and they plant maize (what's used to make nshima) to help support themselves. After this, we headed back towards Choma, but stopped at another trust that I can't remember the name of. They were doing very well raising layers (chickens that lay eggs :). This day was even better than usual because there was a TON of flooding, and we got to ride in the land cruisers that have the air intake up high towards the roof so basically we could go through almost anything we came across. The water at times was almost up to the windows! I'll try to get a pic of it up soon.

Day 14 (Wednesday Jan 21)
-Today we just had class and I think we did coursework after that. O yea, but to start of the day we had devotion with the WHIZ staff.

On the way back from class though, I saw Edgar from Monday. He asked me if I remembered him, and I said yes. Then I asked him if he still needed a Bible, he said yes. So I went into our house and Audrey gave me her extra to give him :) As I was giving him the Bible, three guys walking by stopped and said they needed Bibles. So Brittany and I walked with one of them down to WHIZ to see if we could get them some. Moreen gave us three of the few they have, and we gave them to the man. He was very happy. Bibles here are a tremendous need!

Day 15 (Thursday Jan 22)
-Another amazing day... We all went to visit the village of Nakabanga. It was a rough ride, but fun ride as always. Today was different than most though because when we got to the village we were greated and had a ceremony/introduction type thing. Then we helped construct a piggery, and I played soccer with Ethan and the kids. Next we ate lunch. It consisted of NSHIMA, chicken, this cabbage and onion stuff, and goat. Of course, it was all great!

Now comes the hard part. We went to see a 7 yr old girl named Miriam who has tuberculosis and might have AIDS. She was so beautiful, but looked so sad. It broke my heart. I felt so helpless. We did give her and her mother supplies to make enough nshima for about a month or so :) After this, we said goodbye to Nakabanga and took off to see another family. This lady was named Win. She lost a baby, her husband died, and she was now struggling to support her two children. When asked if there was anything we could do, she said she needed food. And it just so happened we had brought a bunch of supplies to make nshima as a gift. So she was happy and we were too! Finally, we headed back to Choma. On the way, I talked to our bus drivers Kaumba and Kaunda. They're awesome! The assistant pastor of Shampande that works for WHIZ and just so happened to be with us today. His name's Francois, and he needed a Bible with a concordance to teach and preach from. So I gave him mine :) I'm still amazed at how thankful he was.

Day 16 (Friday Jan 23)
-Today we had class, worked over at the construction site for a few hours and then fellowshipped with the WHIZ staff. We played volleyball and soccer. Next we did coursework. Also today was sort of the birth of our concrete idea about Bibles, and we spent most of the day talking about it.

*Basically, the people here need Bibles!
So, we (the Team Leader group- Brandon, Nick, Audrey, Charlotte, and myself) are planning to have a Bible offering at IWU and College Wesleyan (maybe College Wes could incorporate this into their Mission week in early Feb). There are tons of Bibles in America that we have, but don't use. So why not send them where they're needed and will be used? We need a few dollars with each Bible so that we can buy Tonga Bibles once the English ones get here (they speak English and Tonga here). Our plan on how to get them shipped is ask each person who is coming here for a trip from the church or school to donate one of there two allowed 50 lb bags of luggage. They can fill one bag with Bibles and bring them over. The short term teams coming between now and December are... professors from school in February (Bill Millard, Steve Conrad, Karen Hoffman, Rob Dawson), May-Term medical student group, World Impact team, College Wesleyan group, and next Fall's semester abroad here. That's a lot of Bibles that people could bring here!

Day 17 (Saturday Jan 24)
-Today so far, I've been to town and typed this. In town I bought a chitenge to have my lil sis Shemiah a dress made for her birthday :) I miss her soooo much! I think the rest of today will be spent doing classwork and maybe a little relaxing.

Missing Days

There's been a ton going on and the internet's been down, so I promise to have this updated soon :) Please pray for Africa.

Day 9

-January 16, 2009
We met for class today and discussed the syllabus. During the afternoon, I went with The Deal and we help at the new WHIZ building site. David Watters ("The Manzi" which means water in Tonga) put me to work with two Zambians named Richard and Simon. They taught me some Tonga as we worked.
Mubuka Buti?= How are you?
Dakatal= I'm tired.
Mutolo Mukua= lazy white person
Ndele Kabotu= I'm ok.
Twalumba= Thank you
Then some of us guys played soccer with the kids for at least an hour, had dinner, and finally debriefed for the day.

Day 8

Today we went to the Zimba province to carry out the Trust Assessments. My group went to Dunka with Kaseba. He's really cool! The Dunka people were very accepting and helpful with our assessment. We could tell they're extremely thankful to World Hope for helping them develop their trust and program. They work very hard and are really proud of the piggery they have and are growing through reproduction that we unfortunately got to see. ha We also got to sing and dance with the people as we were waiting on our bus to pick us up from our location that was very deep in the bush. After that wonderful experience, we went back to the main town of Zimba itself and prayed with the awesome American single missionary there named Joan Wallace who runs the Zimba Wesleyan Mission station and works at the hospital there.

Day 7

-January 14, 2009
This morning I decided to climb to mango trees on our compound and pick fresh mangos for our breakfast. I didn’t know that unripe mango sap will leave itchy blisters on your skin. Needless to say, I currently have one on my arm and two on my side. Ha, what an idiot (as Josh would say). After my glorious display of cultural “competence,” we went to have devotions with the WHIZ Staff in the new WHIZ building that’s still being constructed. It was really cool and educational. I discovered that we Christians in America have a lot yet to learn about prayer from our African brothers and sisters. Zambians sing to God, then lift specific praises to God, then sing again, and finally pray (ask for requests from God). And when they pray, they really pray! Most pray aloud for every personal requests mentioned.

Next I sent some e-mails, had some lunch, and we all went to town. Town was great, and I was many chitenge materials I would like to have shirts made out of, but I also saw a great deal of poverty. These people are all so beautiful and happy despite their bleak situations. After town, we went back home. I wasn’t here a half hour before my soccer buddies climbed up in the trees outside the wall and were waving for me come to play soccer with them. Of course, I did and it was a blast. I feel so much love for them already, but I don’t really know how I can help them while being sensitive to the culture and possible consequences of doing so. Please pray for them, Zambia, the WHIZ Staff, our team, and just Africa in general.

Day 6

-January 13, 2009
Today we had training with Chimuka about the Community Orphan Trust Assessment we’ll be conducting. Basically, we’ll go into the villages where WHIZ works and evaluate how the programs are running. WHIZ wants us to do this so that there is no bias in the assessment.

After that, we had a session on poverty with Jeff Johnson and then came one of the best, but hardest things thus far… playing soccer with the kids. It was great and really fun, but I feel a strong connection with them now. After the game was over, a few of them walked me home: Hastin, Shepherd, Kushoma, & Ernest. They’re very poor kids who live in Mwapona compound which is supported by the Mochipapa Community Orphan Trust. Jeff told me a Trust only reduces the need of a village by 30%, but that’s definitely better than nothing and is many times the difference between life and death for a lot of people.

Honestly, I couldn’t help, but cry before I went to sleep. When we asked Jeff what we could do about all the issues in Africa, He said pray and tell The Church to finish the work they started concerning AIDS. We believe that this coming generation of African children will be the defining point in dealing with this pandemic. They will either gain control over AIDS or it will slowly wipe out most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Only The Church can decide whether it will be our greatest triumph in loving people or our most dismal failure.

Day 5

-January 12, 2009
Well, I’m technically writing this on the morning of the 13th, but it’s cool because it’s concerning the 12th :)

So “today,” we went to Mochipapa Church for an orientation and to meet the World Hope International Zambia (WHIZ) staff. It was really fun and interesting. The people I remember are Elvin, Richman, Clayson, Raphael, Clesha, Henry, and Chimuka. After the first part of the orientation, we ALL ate lunch together and then some of our team played with the kids around the Wesleyan Mission where WHIZ is based and Mochipapa Church is. Once lunch was over, we had the second half of the orientation for the day and took a tour of the WHIZ campus. Next we walked home, had some good conversation about various topics, ate dinner, had devotionals, and went to bed.

Everything’s been wonderful so far! God is definitely in this place because the true LOVE here for God and each other is spectacular!

Day 4

-January 11, 2009
We’re now in Choma! We arrived last night around 7:30 or so. Dinner consisted of rice, green beans, bread, bean sauce, and NSHIMA! It was great, especially with some honey which Bratch and I also ate for breakfast.

I can’t even begin to describe church this morning, but I’ll try. So basically, we to a Wesleyan church of about 300 called Mochipapa. It’s just right down the road. Our time there was so moving. The people “cheered” for us when we were introduced. We sang in Tonga, clapped, danced, listened about Faith in Sunday School, and then heard a wonderful message on forgiveness no matter what your past. After, we shook EVERYONE’S hand and some of us played with the kids. Next we had lunch, met the day watchman named Gordon, and took naps. Then it was basically orientation the rest of the day.

The people here are all so beautiful and accepting. I’m already starting to fall in love with them. We also me our friend and cook Mrs. Bota and leader Moreen today. They’re both amazing people!

Day 3

We haven't had the internet til now. Blogs will usually come a few days at a time :)

-January 10, 2009
The trip has been AWESOME so far! I think we're officially on day 3 now. Flying here was long, but amazing. We're in Johannesburg, South Africa now staying at a hotel that overlooks the city. It’s not even possible to describe the beauty of God’s creation that I’ve now seen and will see. Yesterday while flying over the breathtaking Alps of Italy, I got a real sense of the might and majesty of our LORD. I could just picture Him forming the snow covered towers of rock and earth with his powerful yet tender fingertips. God is good!

So far, I’ve met a girl named Alexandria from Virginia who’s going to the Sudan with an environmentalist organization, guy travelling with and from Calvin College to Nairobi, Kenya, and lady from Denmark who grew up in Africa and actually taught Kenneth Kuanda’s son. He was the man who led Zambia to gain its independence and then was their first President, I think. Concerning just our IWU group, it’s great! I already love everyone. We have an amazing team! Already we’ve seen or heard about some of our different individual gifts and passions. God definitely hand chose this group.

We should arrive in Choma this evening. I can’t wait!!!

Day 1-2

*This is of us in Amsterdam.

Alright, so here's the thing... We're here like oober early at the Ft. Wayne International Airport, and they've got wifi so I figured I'd blog it up for a lil bit w/Bratch and The Deal (Brandon Clark). We leave in like an hour for Detroit then off to Amsterdam during the night. We'll leave for Johannesburg, South Africa tomorrow morning. Next it's an over night there and off to Livingstone, Zambia the next morning. Then an awesome bus or van ride to Choma!... Basically, we're hoping to be there by Saturday night.

Zambia

I'm leaving for Zambia tomorrow morning. I'll be taking classes and doing Missions work there with World Hope International... I haven't decided if I will update this daily or not, but it should be fairly current the whole time I'm there... I can't wait to be with my Zambian brothers and sisters and share Christ's LOVE!!!