Really? Does the Bible really want us to be thankful in ALL circumstances? That’s a pretty hefty request in a world of earthquakes, AIDS orphans, and so many other overwhelming situations. We’ll never understand the reason for hurt, yet so often we falsely convince ourselves the only way to heal our attitude is by putting God at fault for the pain we are experiencing. We question God why pain exists in our own life. We allow our attitude to be a reflection of our circumstances rather than the free gift of His grace.
This past week my attitude has been everything except zealous. I haven’t really been a downer, I’ve just sort of been floating there, moving but not fully alive. I thought that perhaps I had become overwhelmed by the circumstances of some of the children at the orphanage. This week one of my kids tried to give me 50 shillings. It’s the equivalent of about 4 cents, and I could tell it was all he had. At that moment I think my heart broke in yet another piece. Too bad my attitude was more self-absorbed than anything, otherwise I would likely be wearing the same joyful smile those kids bring to school with them each and every day.
This morning I examined myself internally in an effort to sort out my apathetic and bogus attitude. I woke up this morning with the bright idea to rate myself on the fruits of the spirit. Seriously, my idea was to bring each of the fruits of the spirit before Jesus in prayer and ask him to rate me from 1 to 10. So I got a cup of tea, turned on some music and took out my journal. Hah! How natural and ignorant is it to sit there and feel like God just wants to judge us. I closed my eyes and deeply asked “Jesus how am I doing?” I literally expected He would proceed to point out all of my character flaws. After a few minutes of getting nothing back, I finally saw His face kindly put it this way:
“Beloved you are perfect for God! I have made you perfect and set you free!”
WOW, had I really allowed my scorecard of life to take president over mercy and grace? Had I really set such an expectation of my behavior and allowed it to control my attitude? When we let ourselves live under the legalism of the Torah rather than the freedom of the Bible our attitudes are nothing but miserable!
I’m not saying God doesn’t want to strengthen and sanctify our character. But today I was reminded that it’s not about what we do or don’t do, it’s about living freely because Jesus’ deep desire for our life is to live freely with the SAME Holy Spirit that was within Him. As we do that our capacity to love others increases infinitely. In Brennan Manning’s book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, he explains that “the way we see other people is usually the way we see ourselves”. Meaning, if we are constantly judging ourselves and grading our own scorecards in life then we will inevitably judge and accuse others rather than acknowledge that they too are not under the law but offered grace.
We have so many scorecards the world tells us to add and compare with each other:
- Our Bank Accounts
- Our Health
- Our Looks
- Our Relationships with Family
- Our Relationships with Others
- Our Careers
- Our Intelligence
- Our Attitude
Luckily, we never have to add and compare them so long as we fully accept the grace of Jesus.
One of my favorite speakers, Graham Cooke, puts it this way:
“When your present, your future, your health, your destiny, and your life all depend totally on the God who works for weak, twisted, and deceitful people… then you simply have to be the happiest people on the face of the earth.”
Take some time today to identify which of your scorecards are taking president over the mercy and grace of our Heavenly Father. Remember that joy lies in trusting God, not in understanding Him.
My economics degree tells me the secret to happiness is when marginal cost equals marginal benefit. Let me save you the four years of theory and plainly say that gratitude is the secret to happiness. Once you burn those scorecards, then it becomes possible to truly give thanks in all circumstances and the gratitude in your attitude will surely set you free!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Feb. 12th Update!
So I know I haven't been as up to date on postings as I wish, a better effort coming next week! Here is a quicky to keep you posted on all that's going on.
This week we have spent a lot of time with the kids! We kicked off the week by driving around Africa in a jam packed car of us Muzungus and the other half Africans looking for land for the future school. The plots we saw were horribly expensive, and very very far away from where the kids are now. The four of us all agreed we didn't feel any sort of peace or possibility with any of the plots. However, we were thrilled for the unique experience to survey the land and were happy to get the ball rolling for the long term at Tuamken.
This coming Monday we will be exploring possibilities within the village where they are at now. We walked the kids home from school yesterday and all agreed there HAS to be something feasible within the community they are in now. We saw all kinds of open plots, as well as buildings that were half built but never finished. It seems much more feasible to acquire one of these half built buildings and develop it to the Tanzanian standards for a schoolhouse.
We are discussing the option of having a child sponsorship program with our kids. We met with the area director at Compassion International yesterday to at least get more ideas. We have also meet some friends through the church we are going to, that either run NGO's or are missionaries that focus on education. Still under the assumption that God will align the stars.
One of the highlights of the week was individually measuring the kids for their new uniforms. The old one's are SO tattered and worn. You could see in their eyes that the very rarely get that kind of individual attention. Jenna was there to give each student a sucker after being measured up. What a special moment.
We also put in the payment for the desks, and they are currently being constructed. Once we get those (about another week), we plan to turn some of the old wooden desks into bookshelves. We will build a mini library for the kids, as well as have a few bookshelves for the teachers to store their school supplies!
Aside from things with the project, I am reflecting a lot on have a like minded attitude of Christ. Frankly, I haven't been the best at that this week, and I'm trying to figure out why. Look for a post soon, maybe it will be great or maybe it will totally suck, but maybe together we can figure out how to have a Christ like attitude.
Love you and miss you all! Nakupenda Sana!
Andrew
This week we have spent a lot of time with the kids! We kicked off the week by driving around Africa in a jam packed car of us Muzungus and the other half Africans looking for land for the future school. The plots we saw were horribly expensive, and very very far away from where the kids are now. The four of us all agreed we didn't feel any sort of peace or possibility with any of the plots. However, we were thrilled for the unique experience to survey the land and were happy to get the ball rolling for the long term at Tuamken.
This coming Monday we will be exploring possibilities within the village where they are at now. We walked the kids home from school yesterday and all agreed there HAS to be something feasible within the community they are in now. We saw all kinds of open plots, as well as buildings that were half built but never finished. It seems much more feasible to acquire one of these half built buildings and develop it to the Tanzanian standards for a schoolhouse.
We are discussing the option of having a child sponsorship program with our kids. We met with the area director at Compassion International yesterday to at least get more ideas. We have also meet some friends through the church we are going to, that either run NGO's or are missionaries that focus on education. Still under the assumption that God will align the stars.
One of the highlights of the week was individually measuring the kids for their new uniforms. The old one's are SO tattered and worn. You could see in their eyes that the very rarely get that kind of individual attention. Jenna was there to give each student a sucker after being measured up. What a special moment.
We also put in the payment for the desks, and they are currently being constructed. Once we get those (about another week), we plan to turn some of the old wooden desks into bookshelves. We will build a mini library for the kids, as well as have a few bookshelves for the teachers to store their school supplies!
Aside from things with the project, I am reflecting a lot on have a like minded attitude of Christ. Frankly, I haven't been the best at that this week, and I'm trying to figure out why. Look for a post soon, maybe it will be great or maybe it will totally suck, but maybe together we can figure out how to have a Christ like attitude.
Love you and miss you all! Nakupenda Sana!
Andrew
Friday, February 5, 2010
Update Feb. 5
Just real quick before I forget, you can see team updates for the Tuamken Orphans Project here. I have decided to include in this blog quick notes about personal experiences, even if they are not my thoughts.
If you know me you know I am a pretty high-capacity person who likes to have multiple things going on at once (too bad I’m a pretty weak mult-tasker). I also have lofty expectations, which is definitely a double edged sword. What I mean to say is, despite a few moments when I don’t feel productive… when I reflect on the first couple of days I am blown away by the progress, connections, and guidance from God.
To sum things up, we have connected with the administration on so many levels. We have discovered there needs and desires for the future without swaying their thoughts. This is important because typically, Africans will say the answer they know you want to hear even if it isn’t what they truly think. So I feel we have a good understanding of their unbiased dreams and we will see how we can play into those.
The meals donated by Feed My Starving Children arrived safely! This was expressed as their most urgent and important need, that the kids would have a healthy meal each day. The cook and administrator were nearly in tears when we explained what it was.
We toured a nearby school yesterday to look at the desks they had, and get a quote on prices. Today we are going to meet the Fundi (boss) of a business that makes desks and see what can happen there. We are also in the process of measuring the kids for new uniforms. Today we are getting a sample uniform from a shop within the village, and a price quote. This is great because we can also support the community by buying them right within the village versus from within the city.
Next week we are scouting out plots of land. Without getting ahead of ourselves we want to know what’s out there and begin to determine the feasibility of the long term need. The community dreams of a school that would expand on what they have now, which is pre-primary and standard 1 and 2 (same as preschool through 2nd grade back home). They hope some day for it to be a full primary school through standard 7 (7th grade).
We had lengthy conversations with the orphanage about both sustainability and spirituality. We are on the same page for both. They are hoping for land in which they can farm on. This would allow them to raise their own crops to feed the children, and sell the extras to help support the school. We got as detailed as putting in a chicken coupe to harvest eggs, etc. According to what the administration says, land seems to be the absolute most urgent need. Apparently even more important than new desks. Allegedly this is because land near Arusha is scarce and hard to get, as time goes on there will only be less of it and the price will go up.
I will post price ranges as we learn next week, we are taking it one step at a time and understand that just because the administration thinks the land is the first step… we know we must still do our homework. Be assured we will do all we can to uncover the most God led step to take here.
I was much encouraged by the spiritual goals of the school. I trust it is authentic as I didn’t lead with my opinion but asked first to hear theirs. Their spiritual goals are for it to be a Christian, bible believing school. Mathew (the head of the school) invited me to freely pray with the children and even teach bible stories. I could tell he was genuine, and I don’t think he was just bluffing. They want to be a school that welcomes in muslim orphans, but accepts them with the anticipation that they will be born again. It sounds great to me, but again we are still early on and a lot is yet to be proven.
The last thing to mention is, that for the short term tangible needs (uniforms, desks, school supplies etc.) we are setting up a ‘match’ concept. We are asking the community to make crafts to help fundraise for the needs of the school. We will sell them to organizations that have expressed genuine interest, or else take them home and sell them to you! We plan to pay the fair market value for the crafts, then match that amount with a donation. We will take all that money and use it to fund the needs. The purpose of this is to create pride within the community, the whole point of this is to ‘assist them in supporting themselves’. This way we avoid it being a direct handout and avoid setting up a crutch that they get used to leaning on.
Well. I hope this doesn’t feel like rambling, just a lot going on at once. Please, I welcome your input and suggestions. Feel free to e-mail me thoughts or opinions at Andrew@lavego.org and I assure you my team and I will take them into consideration.
Enough for now, I hope all is well!
Love,
Andrew
If you know me you know I am a pretty high-capacity person who likes to have multiple things going on at once (too bad I’m a pretty weak mult-tasker). I also have lofty expectations, which is definitely a double edged sword. What I mean to say is, despite a few moments when I don’t feel productive… when I reflect on the first couple of days I am blown away by the progress, connections, and guidance from God.
To sum things up, we have connected with the administration on so many levels. We have discovered there needs and desires for the future without swaying their thoughts. This is important because typically, Africans will say the answer they know you want to hear even if it isn’t what they truly think. So I feel we have a good understanding of their unbiased dreams and we will see how we can play into those.
The meals donated by Feed My Starving Children arrived safely! This was expressed as their most urgent and important need, that the kids would have a healthy meal each day. The cook and administrator were nearly in tears when we explained what it was.
We toured a nearby school yesterday to look at the desks they had, and get a quote on prices. Today we are going to meet the Fundi (boss) of a business that makes desks and see what can happen there. We are also in the process of measuring the kids for new uniforms. Today we are getting a sample uniform from a shop within the village, and a price quote. This is great because we can also support the community by buying them right within the village versus from within the city.
Next week we are scouting out plots of land. Without getting ahead of ourselves we want to know what’s out there and begin to determine the feasibility of the long term need. The community dreams of a school that would expand on what they have now, which is pre-primary and standard 1 and 2 (same as preschool through 2nd grade back home). They hope some day for it to be a full primary school through standard 7 (7th grade).
We had lengthy conversations with the orphanage about both sustainability and spirituality. We are on the same page for both. They are hoping for land in which they can farm on. This would allow them to raise their own crops to feed the children, and sell the extras to help support the school. We got as detailed as putting in a chicken coupe to harvest eggs, etc. According to what the administration says, land seems to be the absolute most urgent need. Apparently even more important than new desks. Allegedly this is because land near Arusha is scarce and hard to get, as time goes on there will only be less of it and the price will go up.
I will post price ranges as we learn next week, we are taking it one step at a time and understand that just because the administration thinks the land is the first step… we know we must still do our homework. Be assured we will do all we can to uncover the most God led step to take here.
I was much encouraged by the spiritual goals of the school. I trust it is authentic as I didn’t lead with my opinion but asked first to hear theirs. Their spiritual goals are for it to be a Christian, bible believing school. Mathew (the head of the school) invited me to freely pray with the children and even teach bible stories. I could tell he was genuine, and I don’t think he was just bluffing. They want to be a school that welcomes in muslim orphans, but accepts them with the anticipation that they will be born again. It sounds great to me, but again we are still early on and a lot is yet to be proven.
The last thing to mention is, that for the short term tangible needs (uniforms, desks, school supplies etc.) we are setting up a ‘match’ concept. We are asking the community to make crafts to help fundraise for the needs of the school. We will sell them to organizations that have expressed genuine interest, or else take them home and sell them to you! We plan to pay the fair market value for the crafts, then match that amount with a donation. We will take all that money and use it to fund the needs. The purpose of this is to create pride within the community, the whole point of this is to ‘assist them in supporting themselves’. This way we avoid it being a direct handout and avoid setting up a crutch that they get used to leaning on.
Well. I hope this doesn’t feel like rambling, just a lot going on at once. Please, I welcome your input and suggestions. Feel free to e-mail me thoughts or opinions at Andrew@lavego.org and I assure you my team and I will take them into consideration.
Enough for now, I hope all is well!
Love,
Andrew
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Update Feb. 2nd
We arrived safely yesterday afternoon in Arusha! After a long (7 hours), bumpy and horrendously hot bus ride from Nairobi Mama Joe was waiting for us with open arms on Kaunda road. She screamed when she saw me and ran out yelling “It’s true, Andrew is here! It’s really you!!” She was especially happy to see us because she checked the paper for the weather in Minneapolis, and was afraid our plane would crash because there was ice and snow.
It’s a unique situation. A year ago I lived a life I thought no one would every share with me beyond hearing my stories. Now, I am reliving the memories with 3 wonderful friends.
Pole Sana (much sympathies) for the gap between posts. It was difficult to affix internet access with free time while we were in Kenya. I want to share a swift update on the trip before getting into an experience I had at a local vineyard church in Nairobi, where I encountered Jesus in a very tangible way and also learned more deeply about a characteristic of our Messiah. (see next post)
God is as alive as ever. It’s so clear He has marked the path ahead of us. To me our week in Nairobi served many purposes. We learned all about the life of missionaries. We visited many schools and got to comprehend the culture of education as Africa, which is highlighted by their hope for the future, belief in the present, and desire for an opportunity. The four of us got to flat out have fun with each other, and build a foundation for a journey together that is sure to have its ups and downs.
We are taking this morning to get accustomed and oriented to the city, and to game plan for the rest of the week. We are also having lunch with Marcel, the current volunteer at the Tuamken school. We are so thankful for how everything has gone so far, and can’t wait to get busy!
Look for another post but the end of the week at the latest! Miss you all!
It’s a unique situation. A year ago I lived a life I thought no one would every share with me beyond hearing my stories. Now, I am reliving the memories with 3 wonderful friends.
Pole Sana (much sympathies) for the gap between posts. It was difficult to affix internet access with free time while we were in Kenya. I want to share a swift update on the trip before getting into an experience I had at a local vineyard church in Nairobi, where I encountered Jesus in a very tangible way and also learned more deeply about a characteristic of our Messiah. (see next post)
God is as alive as ever. It’s so clear He has marked the path ahead of us. To me our week in Nairobi served many purposes. We learned all about the life of missionaries. We visited many schools and got to comprehend the culture of education as Africa, which is highlighted by their hope for the future, belief in the present, and desire for an opportunity. The four of us got to flat out have fun with each other, and build a foundation for a journey together that is sure to have its ups and downs.
We are taking this morning to get accustomed and oriented to the city, and to game plan for the rest of the week. We are also having lunch with Marcel, the current volunteer at the Tuamken school. We are so thankful for how everything has gone so far, and can’t wait to get busy!
Look for another post but the end of the week at the latest! Miss you all!
What if God put YOU in Charge?
God is so big and mysterious. I love how no matter how long you have been a child of God you will still continue to uncover aspects of His character and nature.
If you can agree with me that God is all-powerful, then you can agree that if God wanted to He could say “Mountain, go over there”, and it would go. Because by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command (Heb. 11:3). If God commanded it we know it was His will, and we have faith in what we do not see. So for the seemingly impossible to occur two things must be present. It must be God’s will AND we must have the faith that He can do it.
Both before and during the trip, the concept of healing continues to surface in my life. With most of the spiritual gifts; healing, miracles, prophesy etc. you are now talking about God choosing us to perform the supernatural. Again, the same two components must exist. It must be God’s will and we must have faith that only He can do it. Only now when He uses us we must discern if it’s God’s will, having the faithfulness that he can do it, and now ALSO have the humility that we are nothing and God is everything.
This weekend I began to get a glimpse of Jesus’ humility. He is the most selfless person I know! Philippians chapter 2 tells us that while being in the very nature of God He made himself nothing. Think about that, God endowed His omniscient; all powerful and all loving nature to Jesus, and Jesus emptied Himself and gave it right back. He chose humanity over divinity in an act of love for His heavenly Father and He humbled himself.
‘Whatever you did to the least of these you did unto me’ starts to shine in an even deeper place.
When I try to fathom this I can’t help but wonder what would happen if God put me in charge?
What if God allowed all His goodness to pass before you? How would you handle the call if God appointed you to leadership and said “OK then, you can do all things and I will give you every bit of strength.” Imagine that, God literally enables you to do ANYTHING through His strength. How would you lead if God put you in charge?
And he DOES. It brings Him joy that we would seek His will, have faith that only He can do it, and have the humility to empty ourselves and become servants like Christ Jesus. It’s why in James we are called to ‘humble ourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:10)’. It seems crazy that God would choose to use us, but there are examples of this throughout the Bible of God calling us to live in His faithfulness in order to carry out the supernatural.
He used Moses to part the Red Sea. He promised, and willed that He would protect Moses’ people, and He did. The staff Moses was carrying was not a magical wand; it was symbolic of the faith of Moses. After the sea devoured the Egyptians Moses and the Israelites sang songs to the Lord in the humility that it was not Moses but God that saved them (Exodus 15).
The best worldly example I can come up with is a boy being born into royalty. This soon to be King is guaranteed power over all the land and the riches that go along with being king. Instead of stepping into power and reign he humbly washes the feet of the court jester. Talk about a radical Jesus, and the purest most humble form of servant.
On Sunday we worshiped at a vineyard church in Nairobi. I have found that when I eliminate the clutter of my American lifestyle I tend to encounter the Holy Spirit in very tangible ways. I encountered the authentic, compassionate love of the Holy Spirit in this small Vineyard surrounded by a bunch of singing Africans! The sermon was on healing, and the pastor connected the story of Jesus healing a woman in Mark 5 to the humility of Jesus in Philippians 2.
I encourage you to read the story by clicking here. We see from the story that the supernatural healing of this woman was a function of the discernment, faithfulness, and humility of Jesus. All three must be present for God to use us as a means to work miracles. It first must be a miracle God wants to work, and then we must trust that only He can do it. As we tryst we must completely empty ourselves to true servants and humbly give God the glory.
I think that is why Jesus tells us we can do greater things than He did. But only when we fully surrender to God’s glory and become nothing.
So, What if God puts you in charge?
To Him be the glory!
If you can agree with me that God is all-powerful, then you can agree that if God wanted to He could say “Mountain, go over there”, and it would go. Because by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command (Heb. 11:3). If God commanded it we know it was His will, and we have faith in what we do not see. So for the seemingly impossible to occur two things must be present. It must be God’s will AND we must have the faith that He can do it.
Both before and during the trip, the concept of healing continues to surface in my life. With most of the spiritual gifts; healing, miracles, prophesy etc. you are now talking about God choosing us to perform the supernatural. Again, the same two components must exist. It must be God’s will and we must have faith that only He can do it. Only now when He uses us we must discern if it’s God’s will, having the faithfulness that he can do it, and now ALSO have the humility that we are nothing and God is everything.
This weekend I began to get a glimpse of Jesus’ humility. He is the most selfless person I know! Philippians chapter 2 tells us that while being in the very nature of God He made himself nothing. Think about that, God endowed His omniscient; all powerful and all loving nature to Jesus, and Jesus emptied Himself and gave it right back. He chose humanity over divinity in an act of love for His heavenly Father and He humbled himself.
‘Whatever you did to the least of these you did unto me’ starts to shine in an even deeper place.
When I try to fathom this I can’t help but wonder what would happen if God put me in charge?
What if God allowed all His goodness to pass before you? How would you handle the call if God appointed you to leadership and said “OK then, you can do all things and I will give you every bit of strength.” Imagine that, God literally enables you to do ANYTHING through His strength. How would you lead if God put you in charge?
And he DOES. It brings Him joy that we would seek His will, have faith that only He can do it, and have the humility to empty ourselves and become servants like Christ Jesus. It’s why in James we are called to ‘humble ourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:10)’. It seems crazy that God would choose to use us, but there are examples of this throughout the Bible of God calling us to live in His faithfulness in order to carry out the supernatural.
He used Moses to part the Red Sea. He promised, and willed that He would protect Moses’ people, and He did. The staff Moses was carrying was not a magical wand; it was symbolic of the faith of Moses. After the sea devoured the Egyptians Moses and the Israelites sang songs to the Lord in the humility that it was not Moses but God that saved them (Exodus 15).
The best worldly example I can come up with is a boy being born into royalty. This soon to be King is guaranteed power over all the land and the riches that go along with being king. Instead of stepping into power and reign he humbly washes the feet of the court jester. Talk about a radical Jesus, and the purest most humble form of servant.
On Sunday we worshiped at a vineyard church in Nairobi. I have found that when I eliminate the clutter of my American lifestyle I tend to encounter the Holy Spirit in very tangible ways. I encountered the authentic, compassionate love of the Holy Spirit in this small Vineyard surrounded by a bunch of singing Africans! The sermon was on healing, and the pastor connected the story of Jesus healing a woman in Mark 5 to the humility of Jesus in Philippians 2.
I encourage you to read the story by clicking here. We see from the story that the supernatural healing of this woman was a function of the discernment, faithfulness, and humility of Jesus. All three must be present for God to use us as a means to work miracles. It first must be a miracle God wants to work, and then we must trust that only He can do it. As we tryst we must completely empty ourselves to true servants and humbly give God the glory.
I think that is why Jesus tells us we can do greater things than He did. But only when we fully surrender to God’s glory and become nothing.
So, What if God puts you in charge?
To Him be the glory!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Arrival!
Hey Everyone!
So arrives our team in Nairobi and the first blog post!
We had a close call on our connection in Chicago. We sprinted through O'Hare airport, they held the plane for us and we BARELY made it on board. From there it was smooth sailing.
After getting our visas and getting through customs OK, Greg Snell was there meeting us at the exit. The Snells are the most wonderful people. They took us in, stored our bags that we only need for Tanzania, and had our whole week planned out for us.
We are staying our first night in a dorm style housing on the campus where the Snell's do leadership training. It's gorgeous, brand new and everything. In the morning we are going into town to run errands, and then we will be out to their ministry site in the morning. What a great way to kick off the trip!
God Moments so far:
- Jann at the Minneapolis airport. Our bags were well over the 50 pound limit, but she pushed them through for free.
- Catching our 2nd flight, literally as time ran out. Then getting warmly welcomed on the plane by each having four seats to ourselves to lay across.
- The girls had an awesome conversation on that flight with one of the flight attendants who did orphanage work in Kenya for 15 years. Great insight and advice, totally a divine appointment.
- The Snell's and this AWESOME place to stay our first night. We will be back here Saturday and Sunday night after spending the rest of the week in Navaisha.
I wanted to get this out so everyone knows we are alive and well. Once we get more settled this will become more of a site for my personal thoughts, experiences, and learning points. The team and I will direct our day to day interactions and plans on our Lavego site. Once that is up and running I will post directions to view that site on the blog here.
We're in Africa! Alive and well.
- Andrew
So arrives our team in Nairobi and the first blog post!
We had a close call on our connection in Chicago. We sprinted through O'Hare airport, they held the plane for us and we BARELY made it on board. From there it was smooth sailing.
After getting our visas and getting through customs OK, Greg Snell was there meeting us at the exit. The Snells are the most wonderful people. They took us in, stored our bags that we only need for Tanzania, and had our whole week planned out for us.
We are staying our first night in a dorm style housing on the campus where the Snell's do leadership training. It's gorgeous, brand new and everything. In the morning we are going into town to run errands, and then we will be out to their ministry site in the morning. What a great way to kick off the trip!
God Moments so far:
- Jann at the Minneapolis airport. Our bags were well over the 50 pound limit, but she pushed them through for free.
- Catching our 2nd flight, literally as time ran out. Then getting warmly welcomed on the plane by each having four seats to ourselves to lay across.
- The girls had an awesome conversation on that flight with one of the flight attendants who did orphanage work in Kenya for 15 years. Great insight and advice, totally a divine appointment.
- The Snell's and this AWESOME place to stay our first night. We will be back here Saturday and Sunday night after spending the rest of the week in Navaisha.
I wanted to get this out so everyone knows we are alive and well. Once we get more settled this will become more of a site for my personal thoughts, experiences, and learning points. The team and I will direct our day to day interactions and plans on our Lavego site. Once that is up and running I will post directions to view that site on the blog here.
We're in Africa! Alive and well.
- Andrew
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Coming Soon!
Check back for Blog Posts about what our wonderful maker is up to in Africa
On Monday, January 25th my team and I will be sent to Nairobi, Kenya for one week. We will be working alongside Missionaries Deb and Greg Snell, at their ministry center. It is anticipated to be an eye opening kickoff with building projects, volunteering at schools, and adapting to the beautiful African world.
At the beginning of February, we will make our way down to Arusha, Tanzania to reunite with the Tuamken Orphans. We began an ongoing relationship with Tuamken roughly one year ago, and hope to come alongside this village and quietly help them obtain their short term and long term needs.
At this time please pray for every aspect of the word 'Embarking'
Check back often! I hope to share with you closely God's provision as we spend time with some of God's most poor, but hopeful children.
On Monday, January 25th my team and I will be sent to Nairobi, Kenya for one week. We will be working alongside Missionaries Deb and Greg Snell, at their ministry center. It is anticipated to be an eye opening kickoff with building projects, volunteering at schools, and adapting to the beautiful African world.
At the beginning of February, we will make our way down to Arusha, Tanzania to reunite with the Tuamken Orphans. We began an ongoing relationship with Tuamken roughly one year ago, and hope to come alongside this village and quietly help them obtain their short term and long term needs.
At this time please pray for every aspect of the word 'Embarking'
Check back often! I hope to share with you closely God's provision as we spend time with some of God's most poor, but hopeful children.
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