Children’s Relief International

  Yesterday Dad and I took a trip into the "deep forest" with Isaiah, Ananth, a local village doctor (who we picked up along the way) and 6 of the older boys from the home.  It was a good trip.  Let me list out some of the highs and lows of the day.

(FYI: Isaiah and the local doctor go into the deep forest once every few months to preach the Word and help the sick. Evangelism is one of Isaiahs strengths and the natives of the deep forest are often over looked in this area. He has a big heart for these people and he wanted us to see first hand this aspect of his ministry.)

High Points

 The South Indian Forest is beautiful.  Huge trees, dense forest, larger hills (small mountains) covered with every shade of green you can think of.  The roads here are surprisingly good and we had paved roads all the way back into the hills.  (The trip was about 3 hours one way.)

The boys seemed to have had a really good time.  They sang about 5 of the 6 hours of the trip.  They sang in english and in their native tongue complete with a small drum set and shakers.  They LOVE singing.  How can you not enjoy hearing little kids sing praise songs (even if you can't understand the words)?  They had never seen mountains or the forest before so they were as wide eyed and I was!

Once we reached the deep forest we stopped at a couple of villages that were set up along the road.  The boys handed out christian tracts while Isaiah and the rest of us went into homes and prayed with new believers and the sick. 

Low Points

On the way to the forest we came across a traffic accident.  A head-on between a motorcycle and a truck. The poor guy on the motorcycle was laying in the ditch with about 20 onlookers.  He was already stiff when we drove by.   I was told that there are over 100 traffic related deaths a day here.  The reality of my mortality comes crashing down on me when I see things like this.  I'll never know when my time might be up so I'd better remember to live my faith the best I can today!

5 hours of singing.  Above I wrote "How can you not enjoy hearing little kids sing praise songs?"  I can honestly say I enjoyed hearing them sing for about the first hour but after that my ears started to hurt.  You have to understand that these little guys were singing at the top of the lungs the whole way.  The bus wasn't very big and the boys were spread out through the bus. It reminded me of the times I had to take my 5th graders to assemblies in the gym.  A couple hundred kids in one place all yelling at the same time.  It wears a fella out pretty quick! ")  Those assemblies only lasted 40 minutes at the most.  This lasted 5 hours.  Dad and I both chewed up some note book paper and used it as homemade ear plugs.  It helped ease the pain a little bit. (When it is all said and done it was worth the pain!  The kids enjoyed themselves and we got a nice taste of Indian culture.)

Terrorists. Once we reached the deep forest we were told that the police "don't come up here" because there are terrorists in the forests fighting the government. 

Oh really!  I asked Ananth how these terrorists felt about Americans visiting there lands?  He told me not to worry because we had the local doctor with us and he knew everyone in the area.  On our way up the hills two ladies got on the bus with us. No one introduced us and the singing got a little louder.  The ladies got off about 20 minutes up the road and we were told later that they had got on to "check things out".  They wanted to make sure we weren't the police.  

Humm.  White policemen in India?  I have only seen two white people since I've been here! I would guess that it has been a long time since a white person has set foot in those hills. I'm glad they didn't find anything wrong with us!

  Those are a few of the highs and lows of yesterday.  I should comment that there were temples and idols all along the highway into the forest and in the forest itself.  One of the stories we were told was that a local man has declared himself a god and has started digging wells in very poor communities around the area so people will believe in him (where he gets his money I don't know).  We saw one of these wells in the hills.  It was really nice and the people were very grateful for it.  In a country where everyone believes in all kinds of gods, including Jesus, why wouldn't you believe in one more? 

Our days here are filled with so much it is hard to know what to share with you. I'm going to pull out my journal and share the highs and lows of the past few days in a different post.

Thanks for taking the time to hear how things are going.  The trip has been great so far.  We have found a solid project that is certainly in the "spiritual hill country".  I have great respect for Isaiah and his efforts to reach young boy in desperate situations and to preach the truth in a place that is filled with so many lies. 

Hope all is well back home.  Thank you for your prayers.

Take care,

Jason

    Things have been going very well here.  Isaiah and Ananth have been doing a wonderful job hosting us and showing us the sights and sounds of Rajahmundry.  They have also done a great job sharing with us their vision for their community and boys home.

Boys Home.

The boys home currently has 20 boys between the ages of 5 and 12 living there.  They all come from small villages outside of Rajahmundry where their mothers are day laborers and their fathers, if they are still around, also work the fields.  A day laborer makes about a dollar a day or less.  Many of these boys were already working in the fields as laborers when Isaiah opened the boys home.

  The Home is giving these boys a chance to escape child labor and an opportunity to become something greater than a fieldworker when they grow up.  Most of the boys are Hindu and are now being taught about Jesus who is the one and only true God.  Many have already proclaimed to believe and are starting to tell their families about Jesus when they visit.  That is pretty awesome if you ask me!  (The first night we were here the boys put on a small play for us about Jesus.  They also sang a bunch of Christian hymns.  It was a good time.)

  The home is a three-room building with a small kitchen.  Two ladies who were abondoned by their husbands live with the boys and make sure they are fed, doing their home work, etc.  All twenty of the boys have been sleeping on mats in one of the rooms. One very small room.  I had a hard time picturing how they all fit in there but they assured us they are able to.  They don't have any sort of furniture other than the small desk and chair in Isaiah's office. 

  The idea of twenty boys sleeping on the floor every night was a bit much for dad and I so yesterday we went on a hunt to find out how much mattreesses, bunk beds and bookshelves cost. A bunk bed costs around $60, matteress cost $45-$50, and bookshelves cost around $40.  Our plan is to make this need a part of our Christmas Newsletter.  Anyone interested in buying a bed for some sweet but needy boys?!

  We did find some inexpensive, homemade matteresses (about $12 each) so we bought 16 of those plus two larger ones for the ladies (they have been sleeping on the floor too.)  I think they will be put to good use! 

Elephant god.

  One of the more shocking things I have witnessed here is all the idolatry.  Hindus believe in all kinds of gods and there are temples and huge idols all over the place.  One of their gods is Ganesh the "Elephant god".  There a temple or idol of this guy on just about every street corner.  Over the past two days large groups of men have been dancing down the streets with huge idols of this "thing" behind them.  We are talking about dozens and dozens of guys all coverd in red paint, shouting and screaming as they make their way to the river.  At the river they dunk it in some sort of holy ritual.  I've never been exposed to this sort of thing before.  It makes Pauls words about not worshiping false idols much more "real" to me. I'll be sure and post some pictures of this when I get home.

Deep Forest

Today we head to the "deep forest" where Isaiah goes every few months to preach.  It should be an interesting day.  I'm not sure what to expect but I do know it will be interesting, impacting and probably really really hot! ")  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers.  Please keep them coming.

I hope all is well with you and yours,

J

 Hello!  I've finally managed to get into an internet cafe. I have seen so much already it is hard to know where to begin.  I can say that India is unlike any place I have ever been. 

Allow me to give you a quick overview of how we reached Rajamundry... 

  The plane ride over wasn't bad.  I was stuck in the middle of a couple of men who didn't speak english but they were small guys so I felt like I had plenty of room.  American Airlines didn't have much for a movies so I read most of the way.  We arrived in Delhi at 8pm Monday night and didn't have any trouble getting through customes.  We took a shuttle to our hotel and went directly to sleep. 

  Tuesday morning started with a really nice breakfast.  Lots of fresh fruit and I tried a bunch of things I had never seen before.  Most of it had a hot, curry twang to it.  I'm not one who enjoys hot food in the AM so put that aside and had hashbrowns and eggs.  You can never go wrong with potatoes and eggs!

  After breakfast we caught our flight to Hyderadad.  It was a two hour flight but it went by fast.  We were fed Vegitarian something or other on the plane with icecream for desert. ( American Airlines needs to be taking notes for these guys!) We were greeted by two signs that read "Mr. Jason and Mr. Alan" as we walked out of the terminal.  I couldn't see who was holding them due to all the people crowding around the exit but soon saw the face of Isaiah and Ananth. ( Isaiah is the Director of th boys home in Rajamundry as well as a pastor and evangelist.  His bother Ananth has a degree in Computer Tech. but is currently helping his brother with the boys home.)  They hung two huge garlands of flowers around our necks (they smelled wonderful) and led us to a cab.  The cab weaved its way through people(I can't stress enough how many people there are here!! It is amazing!)  and found the small hotel they had reserved for us next to the railway station.  We were told that we would be spending the day in Hyderabad and then take an overnight train ride to Rajamundry. 

 Hyderabad was an interesting place.  There were Hindu temples all over the place. I mean everywhere.  (There is idolitry everywhere here. )  It is bizzar and a little spooky.  Definatly not something I am use to seeing. We had a nice lunch of rice and chicken.  The food was hot but good.  I started to feel the jetlag around 2 and couldn't keep my eyes open by 3pm.  We went back to the hotel and crashed for a few hours.  By the time we got up it was time to check in at the Railway Station.

  Th train left at 9:30pm.  We had reserved a 1st class car which meant we had our "own room".  Really we had our own beds but shared the room with two Indian guys.  They were very friendly and we all sat around trying to understand what each of us were saying. I would say I understood about 70% of what  they were telling me.  It is amazing what eye contact and a few nods can do to keep a conversation going.

  We arrived in Rajamudry at 7am and were greeted the 20 boys that live in the home and a few of the workers.  They also hung huge garlands around our neck. It was the best smelling thing I had been around in 24 hours! (The train was nice but I can't say it smelled very good.  Everything here is smelly, humid and damp!)

 So, that is a quick overview of our travles to Rajamundry.   I have a lot more to share but it is about time to meet up with Isaiah.  I'll try and come back to post more tonight.

Thank you for your prayers.  Things have been going very well.  Isaiah is doing some good work here.  It is excitiing to be apart of it.

Take care.

J

I am waiting to get on the plane to New Delhi at O'hare Airport in Chicago.   We are about an hour away from boarding time and this end of the terminal is full of people and little ones, lots and lots of little ones!  I am oh so thankful for the ear plugs the travel agent sent with the tickets.  I am sure they will be put to good use on the flight over! 

The flight is 16 hours, nonstop. I have been on longer flights and I have a couple of good books to read so I think it should go off with out a hitch.  Hope so!  

We arrive in New Delhi tomorrow evening at 9:00pm and then fly to Hyderabad Tuesday morning. here we will be met by Isaiah and his brother. Isaiah is a pastor who has contacted CRI to see if we can help him and his ministry.  He has taken in a number of orphaned boys and also preaches to people in what he calls the "deep forest".  I would call it "in the sticks"! We will be spending the day with them in Hyderabad and take a train from to Rajamundry, where Isaiah is from, on Wednesday. We aren't sure what the plans are going to be from there but I am sure we will see and hear a lot about the culture and what these men are trying to do for their community.  

It should be quite an adventure.   I'm not as nervous about going to India the first time as I was when I went to Mozambique my first time.  I guess I'm a little older and more seasoned in the thrills and spills of international travel.  I'm praying that I will be spared any "worm" situations or a bad stomach (which I have had every time I've gone to Africa) but no matter what happens I am sure I will weather the storm!  

 It is nice to have my dad along for this trip. I can learn a lot from him and we don't get to spend this kind of time together very often.  I think it will be good for both of us.

Ok, the kids are getting louder around here so that must mean folks are starting to make their way towards to plane.

Please pray for us as we come to mind. We protection, discernment and traveling mercies!  

I'll try and write as soon as we find an internet cafe (if we find one! :)

Take care.

J

This is our last full day in Mozambique.  Dru and I are going to head into Dondo and help hang some swings at one of the preschools.  I guess the kids wore out the old ones in the matter of a few months.  Playgrounds are pretty rare here and the little ones at the preschools had never seen swings before.  I wonder what they would do if they had a merry go round to play on or a jungle gym.  Building a big play ground at the new school is one of the long term goals.  We just need some nice folks back home to decide that they want to come to MOZ. and build one for them!  I'm sure it will happen some day.

San Antonio and India

 My mind has back home a lot these past couple days.  I miss Lindy and I have to start figuring out what I am going to do for money when I get home.  The last pay check for my teaching career has fallen and now I am on my own.  I hope to be able to substitue teach as much as I can and I am still teaching Online College classes.  I am also going to pursue starting a small business that resurfaces concrete floors.  It will be a slow start but if I can get this to "go" it would allow me to work for myself which in turn would allow me to take teams when I needed to.  I don't know what is going to happen in the area of my life yet but I know things are going to be ok.  I don't mind working hard and I know the Lord will provide for Lindy and I in this area. (Please keep me in you prayers about all this.)

I leave for India on Sept 2nd and will be there for a little over a week.  We are going to visit a man named Isaiah who has a huge heart for the children in his town.   He is a preacher and evanglist in a place where only 5% of the population is Christian.  It should be a very informative trip.  We hope to come home with some ideas on how CRI can help him and his vision for the children in his community.  

Lots going on here...

There is so much going on in Dondo and the Ray of Light Ministry it is hard to keep track of it all!  The Health Clinic is meeting a lot of need.  The two preschools are filled to the brim, the El Shaddai school (first building) is being built, Project Life is helping A LOT of dieing people and the Church has a number of mission churches they are supporting.  One top of all that the Youth program here has gotten so big they aren't sure where to put all the kids!  What a great problem!

With so much going on it can be difficult to know where you best fit in.  My time here has fortifiied what I feel God has asked me to do for Him and his children.  People in the US need to know about the great things that are going on here.  They need to be given the opportunity to come and see the smiles, hear the songs, witness the poverty and pray with a child.  I hope I can help provide these opportunites for anyone who want to come!

Ok, I am being told we have to head out to Dondo.  This will probably be my last post of the trip.  Thanks for you yoru prayer and support.  When I get home I will post pictures!

J

The team is getting ready to watch a movie so I thought I would slip away post a quick update.  

Things have been going well over the past few days.  Josh and Micha Cook arrived on Sunday as Ben,Gramps and Stephanie flew home. Josh and Micha have been a great addition to the team.  They both have a great sense of humor and good outlook on everything.  It is always nice to be around folks who are easy to communicate with when you are in a land where most of your day is spent wondering what is being said!  I've been amazed at how well they remember their portuguese from thier days in Brazil.  They have a strong hold on it....much better than mine.  It has been nice having help with translating what the nationals are saying.

MEETINGS

We have spent the last couple of days discussing micro loans and bakeries.  Noemia and the Ray of Light Project have ambitions to start a Bakery school, where they would train adults to be bakers and then possibily give them small loans to start their own.  It is a great idea that I think could really help a lot of people.  We are currently discussing the legistics of what it will take to get this program going.  If I had to guess I would say that this will be something that starts up fairly soon.  

Another ministry that is in the works is a micro loan/ministry program that will provide woman with HIV small loans.  They estimate that one out of every 5 adults has HIV and one out of every 4 children have HIV.   If you have HIV you are an outcast.  Chances are good you family and friends will kick you out, leave you alone and exclude you from most everything.  It is a great injustice to these woman who only have the diease because their husbands have cheated on them.  Messed up isn't it?  

This program is going to attempt to give these sick ladies an opportunity to exist dignity.  They deserve this opportunity and as Christians it seems only right to try and meet this great need. Josh, Micha, Dru, Rebecca, and Alan (dad) plus Noemia and Zita, the lady who will managed the program have done a good job of laying out the ground work,  I am encouraged and excited about this program and can't wait to hear how it goes.

HOSPITAL VISIT

  We visited the hospic care program (Project Life) today.  There is something surreal about walking through the halls of a building where the majority of people who go in never come out.  We saw and met a number of children and adults that had HIV, malaria or some other illness. Most won't be around for very long.  The smell of the rooms and the color tone of their eyes give testimony that death is close.  It was like meeting ghosts.  It feels weird to say it that way but that is kind of what it felt like.   I think only one of the handful of people we met knew the Lord.  She was 23 and emaciated(sp).  She was shy but had the most wonderful smile.  Her eyes were weak but her smile was something else, especially when we asked her about church and her children (She has two.)  I don't know if I would be able to smile that big if I was that sick!

I can't help but wonder why God choses to love in this way?  I know He loves that girl but why does she have to deal with this horrible diease?  Questions like this can't be answered so I rest of the fact that God is LOVE and He loves that girl more than I know.  He loves her more than I will ever know and that has to be enough.  He doesn't have to give me an answer (even though I would really like to know).  He asks me to be obedient and to remember his commandments, remember to love him and my neighbor.  That has to be enough (and it is!)

VISITING THE PARK

We are hoping to head up to recently opened game park a few hours west of here.  We have been trying to call all day but for what ever reason they can't seem to tell us if they have any vaccant rooms or not.  I think we are going to head up there either way.  When we get back we are going to start laying out the ground work for a play ground for one of the pre-schools.  That should be fun!

FIGHTING THE BUG

I have had the stomach flu for the past two weeks.  That is about two weeks to long!!  I finally got a dose of meds to handle the problem.  Hopefully this will help.  Please keep me in your prayers.  Health and patients.  Purpose and strength to finish this trip strong!

Thanks!

J

It has been a week since I last wrote and there is a lot to catch you up on.  Things have been going well here.  Dru and I started the week by trying to figure out how we could best be used.  This took about two days because of the way things "move" here.  I had forgotten how slow the Moz. culture approaches things.  You are always waiting around for something or someone.  If you ask three people the same question you will get three totally different answers.  Combine the Mozambique approach with the inability to understand what everyone is saying and you have a great opportunity to be frustrated!  I still understand enough Portuguese from my days in Brazil to get by but my buddie Dru doesn't understand a thing.   I'm really proud of Dru.  He is an engineer and is use to the American way of communicating and problems solving.  It would be very easy for him to complain and express his disapproval for the way things are here but he has stayed humble and positive.  

DUST

So what have we been up to?  One of the goals Noemia (the founder of Ray of Light) has for the school is to build a new CTE building.  CTE is similar the Youth programs you see in most churches in the US these days.  The kids get to play sports, watch movies, hear the Word, learn about health and social issues that impact their lives.  It is a great program and it has been growing leaps and bounds.  They need a larger building so Dru and I have been helping with the distruction of the old one.  There is somethings about whacking a building with a sledge hammar that makes you feel like you getting something done!  I think the building was home to about 1,000 cockroaches and lizzards.  There was enough dust and sand in the thatch roof to build a rather large sand box if you wanted to!  It was good work.  I'm gald we were able to help with that. 

SAND

 On Friday we decided to go check out a local beach resort (the only one in this area) to see if it would work as a "get away" spot for future teams (other teams have gone for the day but we have never had anyone stay the night.  I selflessly(wink-wink) volunteerd to see if an overnight stay would be something we would want to try in the future :) Rough job huh?!.   The place is called Rio Savane.  It is beautiful.  Very excluded and cheap.  An overnight stay with three meals and a number of cold drinks was under 50.00 US.  The meals consisted of fresh sea food that was caught earlier that day.  It doesn't get any fresher than that!   The water was warm and the waves were great (Ben and I did some body surfing like the old days in Brazil.  It was a great time.) 

WORMS

Earlier last week we found out that a couple team members had picked up some unexpected guests in Kenya.  Worms.  These little critters had managed to wiggle their way under the flesh of two team members.  From the outside it looked like a blister but once Noemia cook (yes, Noemias cook played doctor for us) started digging into the sore you could see that this was no ordinary blister.  Two worms the size of a couple of pieces of rice were pulled out of both parties.  Not a pretty sight.  I asked the girls how they knew there was a problem and they told me their foot hurt for a few days and then stopped but the sore remained.  This description make me think about my pinky toe. A few days earlier my pinky toe hurt enough that I had to wear sandles instead of shoes.  I even had Lindy check it out to see if I had cut it or something.  She couldn't find anything.  Now I know why.  One of those little monsters had crawled into my toe.  Not cool.  I had to drive back to Noemias house to get my little visitor removed.  I'm glad it is gone.  

I'm checking my feet every few days now! I'm sure I'm out of the blue but you can't be to careful!

ONE WEEK LEFT

We are a week away from heading home. I think Dru is ready to go.  I am too in some ways(I miss Lindy A LOT!).  We are going to spend the rest of our time here helping with the K-12th grade school plans.  Construction on the first building is on going so we are going to start mapping out where the next two buildings are going to be built.   Dru and his engineering and managing skills will be put to work and goals and guildlines for the schools construction are going to be set.

  We may be heading in country to a new National Park that has just opened.  One of the things CRI is trying to do is establish a variety of ways Teams can experience Africa, Moz. and the culture while they are here.  If we can offer a day for visitors to see Lions, elephants ect.  then I think we should.  (Someone has to go a check the place out to see if it is worth the long hours in the car to get there.)

I can't begin to tell you how much I have learned about leading teams over the past three weeks.  If someone had told me I was going to experience what has taken place so far I wouldn't have believed them.  It has been a good and challengeing time.  I expect that most trips will be challenging but that is ok.  A calling to serve involves being prepared for hard and challenging times! Doing my best to be obediant to what I have been asked to do has given me a strong sense of assurance.  That assurance gives me peace in this time of transition.  I'm grateful for that peace and for His love (and yours)!

I will try to post at least one more time before I head home.  Once I get back I will be posting a bunch of pictures of the trip. I have some great ones!

Untill then...

The team has just arrived at the Nairobi Airport after a long morning of wating around.  There is a resturant/cafe in town (Java House) that has free wireless but only during the week.  We found out this out the hard way this morning!

Our time here in Kenya has been a great success.  The team was able to pour 6 floors and do a full day of VBS with 90 plus kids.  Our orginal plan of three days of VBS and three days of concrete work was nixed on arrival because a couple of our bags didn't arrive on time.  One of the bags had all the VBS stuff.  The team did a great job of going with the flow. 

This past Saturday my grandpa, little brother and Aunt all joined the team.  Grandpa and my Aunt are long time supporters of CRI and my little brother is a talented photographer who has come to documents the projects.  It has been an extra special blessing to have them along.  Ben has taken some amazing shots.  I will share some of the pictures with you when I can blog from my own computer. 

I had to say goodbye to Lindy today.  It was harder than I thought it would be!  We haven\t been apart for over two weeks now!  Thats a lot of quality time!  I'm so proud of her and how well she has handled all this international travel.  She didn't complaine once and she did a wonderful job with the kids!  Not even when her luggage didn't show and she had to borrow cloths for three days. I have to say that the Lord has blessed me with a very special lady!

So, we're off to Mozambique for two weeks.  One of the things we will be doing while we are there is building a home for one of the Ray of Light community memeber.  It should be a great, impacting time for everyone. 

I think I may have more access to the internet in Moz. so I promise to try and blog more if that is the case.

I need to catch the plane.

Take care!

I finally have a chance to post a blog!  So far the trip has been a fun and busy adventure. One of the team goals when we came to Kenya was to put in concrete floors into the houses of some of the sponsored children.  We hoped to put in 5 floors from the funds we raised, but we set our goal at 3 because we didn't know how smoothly the process would go.  In the week and a half we've been here, we, along with a hard working team of Kenyans, have managed to pour 6 floors with the same money we had planned for 5!  There is also a possibility of pouring one more before we leave.  It feels a lot like a "loaves and fishes" situation to the team, and we feel good about what we have been able to do.  I have a feeling pouring concrete floors will be a ministry that can be continued for years to come.  George and Jane have already showed us what house would have the first priority for next summer if we continue with the floors!

On our first day of construction, we went to Mohammad's house  He is HIV positive and comes from a very poor Muslim family.  (I met Mohammad during my trip in December.)  When we arrived that morning, we found 6 Kenyan men at work.  They were hauling rock into the house for the concrete foundation.  Dru and I grabbed some shovels and started to do what we could to help.  The Kenyans were hard workers and didn't break until the floor was done.  While we were working, Mohammad's family was cooking us lunch (but we didn't know this at the time!).  They came out of the kitchen (a small shack with a fire in the corner separate from the house) with a huge bowl of what looked like mashed potatoes.  Ugali is corn starch mixed with water.  They also served us cooked cabbage....huge portions of both!!  The notion of germs, African water, and plates that weren't too clean ran through my head as I took the first bite.  I figured a few days with a bad stomach was not worth offending the family who had just cooked half a week's worth of food for us.  Cabbage and corn starch has been a regular meal for the construction crew since that first day.  So far, we have avoided the stomach aches!  There has only been one meal I just couldn't stomach - greens and beef.  The beef hangs in the window of the butcher shops here for all to see.  It was hard to swallow two week old, window hung beef!!!

Tomorrow is our last day with the Mayatima project when we will meet with the Board and say our goodbyes.  We're off for an overnight stay at a game park, and then we fly to Mozambique.  I hope to post more from there!

It is exciting to think the 2006 Summer Missions trip less than a week away!

Our trip starts at the Mayatima Project in Kenya and then goes on to the Ray of Light Project in Mozambique. We will be holding VBS for the kids in Kenya and pouring concrete floors in the homes of the some of the kids. This is the first time I have lead a construction team and I am prayerful that everything will go smoothly. One of my hopes is that the floors will go in smoothly and well and this might be a ministry that we can provide trip after trip. We’ll see how it goes!

I have to share a small miracle that impacted the TEAM a few weeks ago. Part of going on a mission trip is raising the money to pay for the projects you will be doing while you are there. In our case we needed to raise enough money to pay for the the concrete floors which run about 450.00 a floor. We wanted to raise enough for 5 floors (2250.00), which was an ambitious goal but doable. We brainstormed fundraising ideas and decided to start off our fund raising with a free BBQ for our Sunday School class. We thought it would be a good way to let our friends know what we are up to and pass around the hat for donations (plus it is just fun to BBQ!).

Around 30 of our friends and classmates showed up. It was a good showing and we had fun letting everyone know what we were up to. The donation buckets didn’t fill up but people were giving so it was a success in my book. To be honest with you my expectations for the fund raiser weren’t very high. I figured we would raise a few hundred dollars and then start planning the next event.

We took the donation buckets home and counted up all the checks and cash and the total came to an amazing $2,330 and change! Remember what our goal was…$2,250.00. Enough money came in to pay for the 5 floors and the food we had bought for the BBQ! After I subtracted the food the total came to $2,255.00 which is almost to the dollar what were hoping for. I was and still am floored by this.

If this provision isn’t a God provided miracle I’m not sure what is. How do you raise 2,250.00 at a small BBQ? No one knew that was the amount we needed. We didn’t share that with any one. Mircales like this happens through the generosity of great people and they happens dispite ourselves. If the success of that fund raiser had rested on my expectations we would have raised $200.00.

The experience was very encouraging for me. God provided in a big way through generous people and he showed me that I should never underestimate him and his kingdom.

Welcome! I'm excited about this new opportunity to keep everyone up to date with what is going on in the world of CRI and my new role in Missions. I especially look forward to sharing what is happening during the trips I will be taking over the next few months.

A team of 5 leaves from San Antonio in a few weeks and we will be staying in Kenya for 12 days and then going to Mozambique for an additional 15 or so. All in all I will be gone a month. It sounds like a long time when you say it but time has a way of flying by.

I will be posting pictures and notes during the trip so when you have time log in and check them out.I will also try and post a few pictures of where we are going in Kenya before we leave.

I have posted some pictures of my fiance and I for those of you who haven't met her yet. She is an amazing lady. Perfect for me (she have the patients of saint!) She was born and raised in TX, just out side of San Antonio and went to College at Texas AandM.She works at Ernst and Young as a CPA. We met at church about a year ago and have had a lot of fun ever since! She is a true blessing in my life.