The Kenyan Election

On Dec 28 Kenya had a general election. There was two primary canadiates for president and during the polls prior to the election the opposition canidate was ahead. The results were delayed and accusations that rigging had occured was voiced. Since the political canadates were tribally aligned the tribes supported each side started rioting and fighting with each other. Last night the results were announced and the president was re-elected. The supporters in the opposition have become extremely violent in their protests. Pretty much everyplace in Kenya as been affected in someway. Nairobi is quite bad as is Kisumu (which is the a couple of hours west of us), Nakuru (our main shopping town about 1 hr 15 mins east of us), Kericho (about 1 hour from us going towards Kisumu) and most other major towns. One of the areas with major rigging concerns is only about 30 minutes from us. Even here in Londiani there has been violence although thankfully none has gotten very close to the mission. We can't leave the mission though because there is road blocks on all the roads leading away from the mission. Since all of this started i have not been outside the mission at all. We are still having our youth camp and we had a wonderful service last night. God was definately there as we prayed for peace on behalf of this nation, He also gave some words of prophesy and encouragement through some of us gathered there. It is difficult at times to not fear when the news around the country and around us is so bad and many of my friends are worried about their families and friends. I do trust God to keep us safe and I'm glad that I'm here at the mission with others who trust God and don't involved themselves in the tribalism and political stuff going on. Please keep us in prayer that God will protect us and also our friends who are not here with us but are in areas where the violence is much worse. Pray also for the nation of Kenya, for the leadership and a peaceful resolution to this situation.

The End of A YEAR

Christmas 2007 is a thing of the past and 2008 is a few days in the future. It has always amazed me how fast a year can go. Has it really been almost a year since I began a year of pursuing God together with some of friends in a discipleship group called “The Remnant”? Has it been a year since I walked nervously into a classroom on my first day as a teacher? Has almost a year past since I took the first step down the path to my dream of becoming a journalist?

This past year was full. Surprises, frustrations, discouragements, amazing experiences, walking closer to God – this year has seen them all. It has been a year of extremes – extreme joy, extreme difficulties, extremely different experiences, and extreme changes in my personal life. The highs have been amazing and the lows horrific. But the best part is that looking back I can say that God has done more in my life in the past year than in any other year of my life. I can only hope that at the end of next year I can say the same thing.

When I started this letter, I had no intension of reminiscing over the past year. Rather I have some specific prayer requests for the last few days of this year. However since I’ve started let me just mention a few highlights of the year.

During the months of January through March, I pursued a short-lived career as a teacher. I taught 9th grade English, 10th grade Geography and tutored 10 and 11th graders in Math, Chemistry and Biology. The school where I taught was the same school I attended in 2005 and 2006. It was a wonderfully interesting experience. From it, I gained so much confidence in my speaking and teaching ability (those who know me well know that speaking in front of groups was a huge problem for me). I also understand the huge job that teachers have and now have a much greater respect for those people who have made teaching their career. However, probably the most important thing for me was the realization that teaching simply is not the life for me.

Instead of returning to teaching in May, I started working for my dad. My role is extremely difficult to explain as it varies from day to day. I helped my dad create a packet to give the Remnant when they leave to try their wings in the wide world. I also wrote updates, character portraits of people around the mission and compiled support information for my parents’ supporters. In the midst of all these jobs, my focus remained on improving my writing and journalism skills.

In August, the Remnant had the wonderful opportunity to go on a mission trip. For the rest of the members of the Remnant it was their first mission trip. We spend two days in Kenya’s largest slum – Kibera. The first day we visited a number of people in their homes. The second day we spent with a group of almost 50 children from Kibera. Even though our time there was short, it made a great impact of each one of us including me. I hope that I will have many more opportunities to minister in Kibera in the future.

In September my family, including Jed and Mercy – my Kenyan siblings, traveled to America. We spend three hectic months visiting as many friends and family as we could. It was so wonderful to reconnect with my family and old friends and to make many new friends. It was also amazing to see God’s hand in my life as He opened up opportunities for me to continuing pursuing journalism. One of these opportunities was a meeting with the founder of WORLD magazine. He gave me a great deal of advice from his wealth of knowledge of the world of journalism. It also opened up the possibility of working with WORLD as I develop as a journalist.
December has been a difficult month for me. We said goodbye to my stateside family on the 11th. This was harder than before because I had developed deep bonds with each of them during our time there. I can now communicate and relate to my siblings as an adult and what a difference that made in our friendships. Although our flights went smoothly, I had a severe case of jet lag – unlike anything I have dealt with before. It took almost a week for me to adjust. Since we have returned to Londiani and Scriptural Holiness Mission things have been especially difficult. The week before we left to go to America God did an amazing thing here with the main members of the church confessing their sins and repenting before God. Because of this, our expectations were high as we returned. With such high expectations, it has been so easy to become discouraged when we hear about some the things that happened during our absence. There were also high expectations for this year’s youth camp that starts today. We had hoped that a number of youth from the church we went with to Kibera and from the Kibera church itself would be able to attend youth camp. Sadly, we found out yesterday that only one young man from the Nairobi church would be coming and no one from Kibera. We can only believe that God knows what He is doing. The past week has also been difficult for me as I caught a cold almost as soon as we returned to Londiani. Aside from a severely stuffed nose, I have dealt with a migraine headache, lack of appetite and general achiness.

So as this year ends please lift up my family in our prayers. We are all wondering exactly what God is doing and how we are supposed to respond. God is truly the only hope for this country. The role we are to take in spreading this hope is at times unclear. Please also pray for me that I will know exactly how God is leading me to pursue journalism. I have a number of opportunities in front of me but I’m not sure which road to take.

The Trip

The Amazing London Eye
(I believe that it is the largest farris wheel in the world)

I'm home - at least in one of my homes. We are staying at the Hampton House guest house in Nairobi. Our travels were relatively uneventful. We had a 12 hour layover in London and made good use of it. A four hour rest at the nearby Renaissance Heathrow Hotel and a two hour driving tour of Central London. It was a whirlwind but very fun. I got some very interesting blurry pictures of London as we wizzed by it. It was fun to see all the Christmas lights in the twilight around 4:30pm.

Tea in Our Hotel Room


Christmas Lights at Harrod's


Big Ben

Our only glitch in the trip came back at Terminal Three of the London Airport - they ad some difficulty getting our boarding passes. It was kinda crazy for few minutes as we cleared security and dashed towards are gates - but we made it in time to settle down for the 8 hour flight. We landed yesterday morning around 7:30 AM local time - aournd 11:30 PM for all to back in the Eastern Time Zone. I slept about 5 hours during the afternoon and sadly only around 5 hours during the night. I'll try to stay awake longer today. On Tuesday we return to "real" life in Londiani where I'll start fitting my lifestyle around the many new opportunities that I have now that I'm back - including taking lots of videos with my new video camera - a gift from a friend and supporter of our work. So be on the look out for some videos in the near future - I might even load them on You-Tube one of these days.

Traveling

Tomorrow I get on an airplane and head back to Kenya. I'm really excited and really sad at the same time. I'm excited to get back and see all my friends in Kenya and get to work on all the project ahead of me. I'm sad to leave because I've reconnected with alot of friends and family. All in all its been a wonderful trip and very fulfilling. I'll be keeping everyone posted from Kenya and soon our mission will have its very own website. More soon - from Kenya.

A "Wedding"

Today my parents celebrated their anniversary today with a beautiful, intimate ceremony at a tiny chapel near our hometown in NC. Only family were present as they renewed their vows which they originally said 39 years ago. After the ceremony the whole family returned to our "home" for a small reception with a few of my parents closest friends. It was so beautiful to witness the celebration of 39 years of commitment. Here are a few beautiful pictures.

Arriving at the Chapel

The Vows

The Kiss

The Family

My Parents

Gary and Cathy

David and Gracie and Ronald

The Girls :)

A New Look

I got a new haircut. I'm still deciding if I like it :)

In Front of the Christmas Tree

A side view

Opps...red eyes

And finally the back

An Interesting Experience

I had a interesting and wonderful experience on Monday. Readers of "World Magazine" will be familar with Joel Belz who writes the editor's column each week. For those of you not familar with WORLD - it is a news magazine with the fourth-largest circulation in America. It is the Christian counterpart to TIME and NEWSWEEK. I have read it in the past and since I have started pursuing journalism I have often thought that I would be interested in writing for WORLD in the future. While I was still in Kenya I discovered that the WORLD offices are in Asheville, NC. This was great news for me since we are spending four weeks in Highlands, NC, a hour drive from Asheville. In response to an email I wrote asking if I could visit, Mr. Belz offered to give a bit of his time to meet with me and advise me concerning a future career in journalism. After wondering if our schedule would make space for this meeting, it finally worked out on Monday.
The forty-five minutes I spent with Mr. Belz taught me more than the two books I've read on journalism and the two lessons I've read from London School of Journalism. After showing genuine interest in my life and future, he imparted many small tidbits of practical wisdom. Everything from what to major in at college, things to continally learn about, what types of articles to present to a future employer and what kinda of journalist he would hire on the spot. And these were just a few of the things we talked about.
I will greatly value the advice I received and put it into practice as soon as I can.

The Story of My Life (Currently)

Today a million tears will be shed but no one will stop to listen to the suppressed sobs of broken children. No one will see the tears dripping from the chins of hurting youth. No one will know the truth hidden behind a mother's veiled eyes.

Tonight a precious child will have her innocence violently stolen by a rapist. Knowing the shame attached to rape, she will remain a silent victim and hide her tears behind schoolbooks and games.

A young man watches his father beat his wife in a fit of drunken rage. Taught by his culture that men don't cry he hides his pain behind a mask of distain.

Looking at her children in despair, a young mother knows there is no food for supper. Strong tea, made with tea leaves begged from a neighbor, will be their only breakfast. Knowing she must be strong for her children, she hides her fear behind half-heart smiles and empty promises of a better tomorrow.

In Kenya, and all around our planet, each of these stories is repeated daily. Yet few people take the time to stop and dig deeper. We see the hungry, the sick and the brokenhearted but do we stop to listen to their story? Do we help them overcome and help stop their story from being rewritten in someone else’s life?

In my heart, there is a dream. I want to share their stories - the unheard cries of the hopeless and helpless. But how can I tell their stories unless I meet them and listen to their hearts? Living and ministering in Kenya gives me many opportunities to listen to the hearts of broken people. Working alongside my parents, I have a chance to help them overcome and find hope in Jesus.

During the next year, I will once again join my parents in their ministry in Kenya. This time however I will no longer be living there just as their daughter but also as an individual with a passion, dream and ministry of my own.

Kenya is a land with great need - spiritually, emotionally, and financially. It is sometimes difficult to discern God’s leading in the sea of need. Following are some of the God-given opportunities I see before me.

Assisting my parents in their ministry though PR work, writing updates for our sponsors, helping my dad in his office, fundraising, and assisting with the Remnant discipleship group.

Coordinating visiting teams as the main contact person for the Kenyan side.

Continuing to pursue my dream to become a journalist. I recently had a couple of articles published at http://www.wreckedfortheordinary.com/ l am also taking a correspondence course in freelance journalism though the London School of Journalism. I will continue my writing throughout the next year and hopefully have more articles published.

Ministering in Kibera - Kenya’s largest slum. I am not entirely sure what this ministry will be but I know God has put a special place in my heart for Kibera.

There are many other possibilities for ministry including starting a support group for young single mother, teaching First Aid, discipling high school students, and starting a writing club.

Moving in a New Direction

Yesterday I took more steps toward pursuing my dream of Journalism. I enrolled in a correspondence course through the London School of Journalism. It will take me anywhere from 6 months to 15 months to complete. I will be doing alot of writing for my assignments and hopefully some of it I will be able to get published. I'm really looking forward to learning more and moving more in the direction that God is directing me.

I'm enjoying being in one place for an extended period of time. I've unpacked and have clothes I haven't seen for two months (some for 2 years :) which I can wear now. I've been watching movies I've borrowed and writing some. We are visiting with family and lots of friends. Its been very enjoyable.

Well I'm writing this at my brother's house with alot of people around so I'll sign off now.

Slideshow

Checkout the slideshow at the bottom of this page for some pictures (only 500 :) from my trip to America. More coming soon!!

Life

We reached Highlands last night. Its so wonderful be back in the house were we lived for the last 6 months before we moved to Kenya. It is kinda like home for me. It is also wonderful to be back in one place for the last 21 days of our time here in America. I unpacked everything last night and this morning. I get to wear clothes that I brought with me but tha have been buried in the deep recesses of the suitcase for two months. I have many things going on. Including setting up blogs for Scriptural Holiness Mission and The Remnant, tagging one more years worth of pictures, creating slideshows, writing family profiles, setting things up for the correspondence course I'll be taking, researching options for my return to Kenya, writing more articles, meeting with the founder of World Magazine and many more things. I'm looking forward to the little time that I do have and I'm especially looking forward to getting on an airplane on Dec 11th and flying off to a whole "new" life. I believe that God has some amazing things in store for me as I return to Kenya. Please pray for me as I am considering how I can raise some of my own support. I don't feel that it is correct for me to be dependent on the support that my parents raise for their own ministry. Yes in some ways I support and help them in their ministry but I strongly believe that over the course of the next year my ministry will take some different directions from theirs and I would like to have support for that separate from theirs. I'm still promising pictures but not until I finish tagging the picture I have from 2006 - which will mean that all 8,000 pictures I have will be tagged. Then you can expect lots of pictures. :)

Music Video

I just saw this music video. If you haven't seen the music video by Sarah McLachlan for the song "World on Fire" then check it out. Its quite impressive - but nothing like any music video I've ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzoNInZ2ClQ

A Decision!

A decision has been reached. After some days of great confusion, frustration and the like I gave up and gave my dad his say. Since I respect his wisdom more than anyone elses on the planet I listened. (My brother also had alot of good wisdom to offer which actually affected my decision to alllow my dad to make the decision). Anyways based on my dad's decision, my lack of peace and direction from God in relation to the World Race and some other factors I have decided... Drum Roll please .... NOT to apply for a postion on the July World Race squad. I will be using my ticket to return to Kenya on Dec 11th. As for the future I have not entirely ruled the World Race out but the timing right now is not God's. Please pray because I know there will be times when I will struggle with this decision - the death of a dream is never easy. Thankfully I know that there are many opportunities for me still in Kenya and I looked forward to watching God at work there. I do intend to continue writing and hopefully more of my articles will be published in the near future. And this blog will definately continue.

More Pictures coming soon :)

While Traveling

I'm still traveling. But that will be over soon enough. We are currently in Dallas Tx. Honestly its uneventful...but I just felt like posting something. I've been tired alot lately and not really thinking well enough to write something interesting or thoughtful. I've been learning all about my new Canon camera and tagging pictures. With almost 8,000 pictures tagging them all is an

extremely extensive process. I've also been trying to update my contacts -another extremely boring and extensive process. I'm really looking forward to getting to Alabama soon and being with my brothers and family again. I'm also looking forward to making a definate decision about the World Race.

I just realized I've never explained what The World Race is. So here goes. The World Race a year long mission trip. It is also a trip around the world. It involves ministering in 11 countries in 11 months. It also includes a great deal of documenting and sharing of experiences through blogging. It is an amazing opportunity that I'm thinking of taking starting July 2008 (the support raising and training process will start much sooner).

The difficult thing about going on the World Race is that I will not be able to return to Kenya with my parents, Mercy and Jed in December. Honestly the hardest part is Jed - he struggles with alot of insecurity anyways and I dread the separation at the airport. He has already made comments about not leaving anybody behind when returning and stuff like that ;(. It will definately be hard.

Dreams

This past year I was a part of a discipleship group called the Remnant. My parents were the leaders and 6 Kenyan youth made of the rest of the group.

Four where my classmates in secondary school in Kenya. Mom and Dad had gotten sponsors for them and paid their way through school. The other two were my Kenyan sister, Mercy, who is a nurse and Judith, a primary school teacher.

We all lived at Scriptural Holiness Mission. We all also had jobs to do to make money to live on. But the most important part of the Remnant - discipleship. We studied alot of things using discipleship courses, books and sometimes just the Bible and our thoughts.

Of Chirstmas last year my dad got a present from my oldest brother. It was the book the Dream Giver. After Dad read it, he decided it would be something good for the Remnant to learn about.


Each night for fourteen nights, the Remnant gathered in Mom and Dad's house after supper. Dad would have The Dream Giver laying on the table or by the chair. After everyone had settled down we would all look at Dad expectantly. Sometimes he would still be eating or maybe instructing Jed about something, but most of the time he had the book already in his hand, just waiting on us. He would open it up and we would all wait to see what would happen to Ordinary. Dad read the story, using just the right voices and tones to make it interesting. Since each chapter in The Dream Giver is short, all too soon he would read Ordinary's journal entry for his most recent experience. Then he would close the book. We would all sit there thinking about what we had just heard and wondering what would happen next. Sometimes you could hear an audible sign of regret for one of the group as Dad closed the book. After the book closed we knew that we were dismissed and all filed to the door. The next night we would be there promtly to hear the next chapter.

I tell you this story because reading The Dream Giver has more of an impact on my life than anything else from the 9 months the Remnant spent together. The Dream Giver has changed the way I see life and the way I live it.

I have always been a dreamer. I have an active imagination and since my brothers were already in high school when I was little, I needed it to keep myself entertained. The problem was that none of my dreams really had any meaning on my life. The dream that I had that I really stuck to and did something with was going on a mission trip with Teen Mission International. I dreamed about that trip for seven years and achieved it in 2001. Other than that I kinda floated between different thoughts and ideas and dreams for my life. For example I have dreamed of going into many different professions including: medicine, nursing, accounting, business management, education, missionary, youth ministry, counseling, education, and medicine. But none of them were a passion for me.

The funny thing is that after reading The Dream Giver I have discovered that the Big Dream that God (the ultimate Dream Giver) has given me is none of the ones listed above. As a profession in the only way I can discribe my Big Dream is by saying that I want to be a journalist. But my Big Dream goes so far and beyond just that. My dream encompasses telling the stories of the worlds hopeless and helpless. And yet it is still so much bigger even than that.

As I travel around America I see so many young people and even old people who are living life without a passion. People who think life is just about what you can get out of it and how much fun you can have. But it is so much more than that. It is about having a Big Dream that fills you with passion. Its about wanting to get up early in the morning and not waste a second of the precious time God has given us during this thing we can out life. Its about going to bed at night and thinking I did something worthwhile today. For me I found that passion in writing. In looking at the world around me and seeing it the way God sees it(actually thats a story for another day). In recognizing that the people around me each have stories that should be told and digging deeper to find those stories. I may not be a good writter and I may not yet see the things I need to in order to find the real story. I may not be well-known but... I have a passion. And I believe that is all that matters.

A Friend's Stuggle

I want to mention a friend. She and her husband live in New Zealand where they are missionaries and have beautiful little girl. She is pregnant with their second child. They found out that he has a rare problem where part of his brain is developing in a sac outside his skull (similar to spina bifida but different). Please pray for them as she will have a c-section around Christmas and they are unsure what they will be facing after that. Her blog site is www.mnssams.blogspot.com. God does work maricles. He can work a miracle in Matt, Susie, Oceana and Joshua's lives!

Opps

Today I sent an email saying I was getting published at http://www.wreckedfortheordinary.com/. Its true but what I forgot to say was that it will be posted on Wednesday. Opps. I'm sorry for people who have checked out the site and what... ummm?? I hope you liked what you saw on the website but check it out again on Wednesday. :)

YEA!!

I just had some really exciting news. As an aspiring journalist I just want to get published. Yet as a Christian and because I have a very focused dream for where I want my journalism it can't be just anywhere. Since I've been thinking about going on the World Race I've been spending alot of time reading blogs from the Racers and exploring the website. In the process I ran across a webzine called Wrecked for the Ordinary that is an offspring of Adventures in Missions vision. I submited a couple of articles from some experiences. A couple of days ago I got a response that I needed to change a few things before they could be used. Today though I had an interesting email. Jeff Goins let me know that he would be using one of my pieces for next week's 6 article webzine. So I'm getting something published (someplace besides my own blog).




Check it out next week at www.wreckedfortheordinary.com

Its got some other amazing thought provoking articles. Please check it out especially next week when my article will be on there.

This is new

This is my first post at blogspot. And since it is 11:00pm Central time this will be short. I'm on the road. And have been for 1 month and 8 days. Its long journey. The trip started in southwestern North Carolina. There was a night at friends of my parents in Greensburo, NC. A interesting day in suburban DC followed. We slept at my aunt's house - but she wasn't home. I did get to spend sometime making my 88 year old grandmother happy by simply listening to her tell some stories. On our way to northern NY we spent a night on the road somewhere in Pennsylvania. Then can two wonderful weeks in my hometown in northern NY. Lots of friends and even better - my two brothers with all their family were there. We made some wonderful memories. Since leaving Malone 15 days ago we have spent nights in 8 different places. First stop: Syracuse NY - my Dad's aunt and uncle - 1 night. Stop #2: Rochester, NY - old family friends including the doctor who delivered me, my friends from college, and a little shopping, a fancy dinner and some traveling blues - 4 nights. Location 3: someplace in Pennsylvania - plus a stop at Niagra falls...Finally - 1 night. Round 4: Youngstown, OH - my mom's stepmother's place - 1 night. Fifth: Springfield, OH - guess what we actually forgot our Canon Rebel digital camera in the hotel room, but hey I got to go swimming and work out... and I got a shock... I've already gained 10 lbs!! - 1 night. Location # 6: Indianapolis, IN - my uncle's house. Its on a lake and we went on his boat and we tour downtown Indianapolis and the canal which is beautiful - 4 nights. Bed # 7: Brookfield, MO - where my mom graduated from High School. The lady we stayed with is a wonderful cook and I think I've added another 5 pounds from her biscuits and gravy. - 3 nights. Finally Round 8 - Comfort Inn in Kansas. At least I have wireless internet! - 1 night.

In all this travel though I'm actually learning alot. God has been teaching me alot of about love, compassion and kindness lately and I'm getting to practice it. First of all I spend hours each day in the same car with 4 other people - one of whom is 4 years old.

That means - LOTS of PATIENCE :). Secondly I am exposed to alot of people in alot of different situations. One of the honestly most exciting things for me so far on this trip was at Walmart. I actually stopped focusing on myself for a moment and engaged the cashier in a conversation about herself. And it was exciting to see her respond to just that tiny but of interest I showed. I can't wait to more opportunities.

Another exciting thing - I might get to write a story or two for a webzine called Wrecked for the Ordinary. Its awesome stuff - check it out at http://www.wreckedfortheordinary.com/

Good night