Back in the USA

Yes, its true. Somehow, in what seems like the span of a few hours, my travels internationally for this summer have come to a close. What a whirlwind these last three months have been and I couldn’t be more blessed! The purpose of this post is to give a summary to you, the reader, of what you were a part of this summer as a supporter, whether that was in prayer or through finances. To those who supported me, I can’t express my gratitude sufficiently for your faithfulness and obedience to the call of God to sacrifice your time/money to be a part of what He is doing. It doesn’t quite seem right that the power of so many people’s sacrifices is only funneled through one set of eyes in this life. No matter the amount of thanks-giving words or genuine handshakes and smiles, I will never be able to communicate my gratitude to all of the people who made it possible for me to go on this journey this summer. One thing that I can say very confidently is that you have a lot to be excited about when you get to heaven; I cannot wait for you to meet all of your new brothers and sisters!

So what happened over the last few months? What is God doing in Uganda and Haiti? I am glad you asked!

Uganda:
What a beautiful place! The Gospel of power and discipleship, aka a relationship with Jesus, has begun to explode in Gulu, Uganda! The possibility of having a relationship with Jesus was introduced to East
Africa about 50 years ago but little has been taught about how to actually make that a sustainable reality of life. The introduction of genuine and loving discipleship has already changed the face of Gulu and is rapidly on it’s way out of the city gates (metaphorically speaking of course). As the Acholi people began to see the fruit of not just sharing the Gospel with large groups of people but also investing in individuals to train them up as leaders equipped to train others, they quickly decided that discipling their nation is a mission worth living for. Our translators, who developed into our long-term team, were mostly from Gulu University which means that we are automatically reaching areas outside of Gulu right away as people head back their villages. Even after leaving Gulu I continued to receive reports of the city developing as a sending out place for the rest of Northern Uganda. With the way that the people are responding and how God is so extravagantly pouring out His Spirit on the people there it obvious that the work is not meant to be confined to Gulu. As the Lord continues to draw people to Himself in that city, it is becoming clear that what has begun is purposed to reach not just the single nation of Uganda but all of East Africa. The east of Africa has seen more than its fair share of civil and tribal war, famine, poverty, corruption, and other terrible forms of injustice. It is just like our God to pour out his power and love on a place like that with plans bigger than anyone’s dreams.
All in all both healings and salvations numbered conservatively around the century mark and several church groups have developed in community hot spots, including the market and trade school. Jesus’ love and freedom was preached to 600+ people at the city’s center of drugs, alcohol, and prostitution which resulted in many salvations and baptisms, including prostitutes and music performers, as well as miraculous healings. We saw the Lord open deaf ears, repair failing eyes, and release the crippled to dance. What an amazing outpouring is happening in Gulu!

Haiti:
It is hard to say if the poverty was more extreme in Uganda or Haiti but one thing that is certain is the absolute devastation that has happened in this nation. Piles of rubble line the streets as you drive past fallen palaces and toppled buildings. Tent cities have sprung up on the medians of the highway and in most open fields where space is available. Living conditions are bare and provide little shelter from the elements. In the midst of the destruction and heartache, God has invaded a people to provide joy and hope. As a people, the Haitians use little expression as they go through their lives. Some of the greatest transformations were those of Jesus turning hopeless frowns into joyous laughter. Leaders have emerged in at least 5 tent cities to begin church gatherings to worship the Lord and dive into His word. As of now there have been 25 families put into 100mph wind resistant homes with plans to house 75 more. Healing and salvations were an everyday part of life that included voodoo priests turing to Jesus and breast cancer dissolving in an instant. God is bringing His restoring love to a nation that has been held captive by voodoo for so long. Haiti’s foundations have been shaken but it is being rebuilt on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His redeeming grace!

A summary such as this could never do justice to all that God did over the last three months but I pray that you get a taste for what He is up to and what you have an inheritance in. He opened my heart to so many new lessons this summer that would take hours to communicate. One thing that I have learned is the foundation for all the lessons and all of my life, and it is simply this: His grace is enough. He promises that as we seek His Kingdom first, our other needs will be provided for us. I was able to see first hand, in the most dire circumstances, that though I cannot feed or shelter everyone, I can guide people on their first step to fulfilling those needs. This life’s physical and present problems are not to be ignored but the real answer is found in falling in love with One who is Master of it all.

Thank you thank you thank you.

God, who has called us into fellowship with His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, is faithful (1 Cor 1:9). God. Is. Faithful.

Refresh

So the updates haven’t been nearly as consistent as I was thinking they might be.  Something like 10 days has past since the college team left and things have been pretty busy.  I spent most of the week following up with a lot of the church plants to start the process of raising up leaders and trying to find out who are reproducers, those who will not simply meet but train others.  Most of the meetings were very encouraging with a few discouragements worked in the mix. Over the week we were able to start empowering and equipping many local leaders to start leading their own church groups.  One man we met already has a discipleship minisry and leads 6 groups a week throughout Leogane!  I am working with him to start raising up leaders in each of his groups so that he can focus on 6-12 people instead of 300.  If we can help him do this his ministry will be more sustainable and will be able to grow without being restricted by the capacity of one man.  At one tent city we have found a man that has emerged as a local pastor and has an incredible passion for his people to know Jesus and an amazing hunger to know more about the Lord.  i have begun discipling him to help him lead his church more effectively and also to learn from him.  When I met him the other day he said that he had read Job, Matthew, and some of John that morning and had a sheet of questions that covered the front and back of the paper.  He’s the man!

With all of the great things going on there have been a few bumps in the road.  We had a prophetic word coming into this final stage that the enemy was ready to attack us with a new force of his army and he sure has.  That could sound scary but it really isn’t.  We have seen God be unceasingly faithful and loving as He has guided us through the few troubles.  He is teaching all of us so much about Himself and ourselves and we couldn’t be enjoying that more.  Being a part of this team and this organization has blessed me so much and I’ve been able to see God in all of it.  The four of us here on the ground are having way to much fun with each other and working with the people running the show in Waco is a constant blessing.  I’m so grateful that I seem to run into world-class men and women of God at every turn! 

Right now we are at Thirst No More Guesthouse in Port Au Prince.  One of our drivers, Nixon, got married yesterday and we were his honored guests.  After the wedding and a few minutes at the reception we made the drive up to this guesthouse in the mountains.  We were welcomed by chicken wings with real bbq sauce, cuucumbers and rice that wasn’t fried!!  Simply being here in this place with consistent power and clean floors has been like pushing our own personal “refresh” button.  We are so blessed and the people are incredible.  This morning we had pancakes and syrup, wow!  Things in Leogane are great and nothing too dificult, but being in conditions like this every once in a while sure feels nice. 

12 more days and this summer will come to and end.  Unbelievable.  What a trip its been and what a last 12 days its shaping up to be.  I can’t believe how long its been, I feel like its been 3 weeks since I left.  God is good.  Thanks for the lessons Jesus

Finally an Update!

Hey there! Thanks for all of your prayers! Everything is going really well. My section left early yesterday morning and I spend the day in Port au Prince with Liz following up with a few church plants and dealing with some construction stuff. Today we were supposed to head out to meet a church plant but there is a country wide strike going on today to protest the governmental corruption or something. We’re just hanging out at our place and I’m taking care of getting things in order so that I can be productive my last 3 weeks. Now that my section is gone I’ll be able to email more often and maybe even do a blog post or two! I spoke with Erika Kraus this morning about what my role looks like these last few weeks and I’m so excited! Erika is in Waco but is basically in charge of all things Haiti for AMI so she is kinda the boss. I’ll basically be living the dream everyday following up with community leaders and empowering them to start running their own groups and that sort of thing. I arrived 22 days ago and have 21 left. If the last 21 days go as fast of the first 22 I’ll feel like I was never here. So many amazing things happened with the team here it was so refreshing to be with so many friends for a little while. There were miracles and salvations every day and about 8 little church plants got poured into and empowered. It has been so cool to enter into communities with such selfless leaders and offer them something that their people need more than anything else. The next 21 days are going to a lot of fun with increased freedom and responsibility! I’ll try to keep you posted as best I can.

Over the next three weeks I will stay pretty focused on a few main groups where we have been able to begin investing in community leaders. I will have some opportunities to continue to visit other church plants where we are still searching for leaders.  Your prayers are awesome!

Haiti

Ever since my dad and older sister went to Haiti in Lauren’s high school days I’ve not wanted to come here.  They spoke of oppresive heat and heart breaking poverty that you couldn’t get away from.  I was all about mission trips, just not the uncomfortable ones.  Well, here I am.  And I love it.p>

The journey to Haiti was very long but included a beautiful stay in NYC with pizza, Five Guys, swimming, and a great night sleep. Thank you Lord!

Today is day three in Haiti and things have been wonderful here so far. I was met at the airport by Justin who is the senior pastor at Antioch’s Portland church plant and three others from that church. They had spent a week in Port Au Prince and were on their way to Leogane for a few days. Meeting them was such a blessing and I’m so grateful for the few days we had together. Seeing them off this morning was a little bit of a bummer but that also means that my section ges here today! I’ll be heading to the airport in a few hours to pick them up so we can party (tell people about Jesus and plant churches)here for the next 18 days together. Seeing this wonderful group of people is going to be so refreshing and I’m so glad that God worked things out so I could be here with them!

After my section leaves on the 21st I’ll be here until August 12th as a project coordinator. At that point the team on the ground here will be me, Brian, Anna, and Liz. Of the four of us, I’m the only one who didn’t just finish the night training school Antioch so I’m kind of the oddball. These three people are incredible! Liz arrived yesterday after a few weeks in Indonesia and Anna and Brian have been here in Haiti for about 3 weeks. We have already become close and it is obvious that my time with them is going to be an amazing growing and learning experience. Brian is the team leader and also heads up all the construction stuff that Acts of Mercy (Antioch’s NGO) is working on. Anna takes care of all of the admin stuff to make sure that everything runs well and smoothly. Liz is in charge of hospitality stuff so that we all have a place to live and food to eat. When my section leaves I will be in charge of most of the disciplship and follow up with the church plants here. Until my team leaves, I get to run with them and be a part of what God does with us as a group.

God is already doing amazing things in this nation and it is so obvious that He is wanting to do so much more in the weeks until we leave and new people come to take over. Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We are so ready and excited to see what He does the next 18 days with the college telam, and the next 6 weeks until we all leave.

Infamous African Boda-Boda

Common Boda Stage

A boda-boda is a motorcycle taxi.  Bodas are everywhere here in Africa and they are brilliant!  Why the US doesn’t have them, I don’t know, but we should.  Some of these guys are crazy drivers but for the most part it really is a great, safe way of transportation.  Its also quick.  The bodas really don’t follow any rules of the road and everyone is okay with it, they just get you where you need to go.

Over the last 5 weeks there have been some interesting sights and experiences pertaining to boda-bodas.  I once saw a family of 4 on the same boda.  I saw another boda with about 15 mattresses stacked up on it.  These guys get the job done.  I love it.  The many crazy things I’ve seen bodas do and the races that I’ve lost to Jay have been great.  As great as my time has been with the bodas here, the last two days have been pretty interesting because of this wonderful piece of African society.

Yesterday, Jay and I were walking around Gulu taking pictures and buying souvenirs, looking as touristy as I’d ever like to look.  While passing an alley, I spotted a group of kids playing soccer with some type of ball and decided I had to play.  We all had a great time taking pretend corner kicks and juggling together.  Inevitably the ball found its way to the middle of the street and, inevitable, I ran after it.  Yes, I checked both ways before I ran to the middle of the street, made a beautiful turn, kicked the ball to the kids, and dashed back towards the alley.  When I checked the street on the way to the ball, I say one boda coming from each direction but was totally confident that I could make it to the ball and back before they got to me.  I was wrong.  As I made the turn, one boda passed in front of me before I started for the alley.  I was almost to the safety of the alley when I saw the other boda out of the corner of my eye coming up on me very quickly.  He tried swerving but was headed right at me.  I jumped in the air and tucked a little bit and found myself on his handlebars.  I rolled off the driver onto my feet while he ended up straddling his tipped bike and the passenger (yeah, there was a passenger) ended up somewhere else.  Needless to say, they were NOT happy with me.  Everyone was totally fine and after a small payout everyone went on their way.  I’ve always wondered what getting hit by a vehicle would be like.  It was pretty sweet. Oops.

Getting hit was a nice little adventure but wasn’t nearly as crazy as today.  Jay and I were in Kampala to relax a little bit before I fly out tomorrow night for Haiti.  Entebbe, where the airport is, is about 40 km outside of Kampala.  We went to the movie theatre to catch a flick and then started our search for a taxi to Entebbe.  Jay is carrying his backpack and pillow (?) while I have my backpacking pack stuffed full on my back.  After deciding to just take the public taxi we learned that we had to take bodas to the taxi station.  While weaving through the traffic Jay and I were able to communicate enough to decide to just take the bodas all the way to Entebbe.  So we did!  And it was crazy!  These dudes were FLYING!  We were passing between cars going in opposite directions, driving on the shoulder, and giving high fives to other boda passengers and car drivers as we passed them.  I probably wouldn’t do it again, but dang it was fun!  Sorry Mom…

The boda-boda is one of my favorite part of the culture here and I will miss it.  Thanks for the good times, buddy.

That was cool.

Peter strutting down the street carrying his cane

Friday and Saturday marked another first for what is going on here in Gulu, whatever you might call what is happening here.  We took a team retreat with 9 locals who started out as translators and have clearly emerged as the long-term team for the movement here in Uganda/East Africa.  Our journey found us at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary at the end of a 2 hour drive.  Ziwa has 6 white rhinos, including some babies, as well as 15 leopards and lots of little deer and other wildlife.  The grounds are patrolled by small deer species that have been rehabilitated and enjoy being pet.  Angie runs the place with several other really great South African family members.  I really liked Ziwa.  I’d be totally fine with God telling me to work there for a few months.  We’ll see…

The fun started before we even got out of Gulu.  Running behind schedule, as is the African norm, left Lawrence and me running to get some batteries at one of the few Gulu shops that carries them.  As we waited for Kent and the rest of the crew to pick us up, a man walked in front of us with a cane.  I figured that should change.

I asked Lawrence to come with me to ask the guy if we could pray for him but the request was met with some resistence from Lawrence.  He knows the man and Peter (the guy) has refused prayer before.  After deciding it was worth a try, we asked him what had happened and why he needed a cane.  Peter was in a car accident in 2007 that left him unconscious for 6 months, in the hospital for 2 years, and his left side was rendered paralyzed.  I’m not sure what paralyzed means because he could still sort of walk.  We’ll just call his left side very sub par.  We prayed that Jesus would restore his body to how it was pre-accident and then asked Peter to try to do something he hadn’t done since the crash.  He lifted his left arm above his head, fully outstretched, with a grin on his face as he told us he hadn’t done that in 3 years.  Wow!  I saw that his left hand looked like, though it held a few small books, it was shriveled shut.  He confirmed my assumption and as I took hold of his hand to explain that I wanted to pray for it, the hand, from forearm to fingers, started twitching like crazy.  At this point Kent had pulled up so we had a prayer party over Peter.  We spent about 10 minutes praying for his hand and asking him to test the new progress.  His hand didn’t stop twitching the whole time and he even opened and closed a few times by himself.  The effort to use the hand was still strenuous and not totally free, but it was serious improvement to say the least.  We then moved to his legs.  After praying for his knee, he had new strength and walked rather well without his cane but was still pretty weak.  His limp made me think that his left leg was shorter than his right as a result of the accident.  He said that was not the case but after sitting him down and holding the legs out straight it was obvious that the left was about 1 inch shorter than the right.  As we were praying for his leg to grow out, I told his back to straighten out and be realigned.  Immediately after the words came out, he completely sat up with a surprised look on his face.  We are pretty confident that his leg grew a little bit but it wasn’t totally even.  Peter told us that he had to be on his way because of a meeting so we couldn’t keep praying.  After explaining that God doesn’t need us to sit there and pray over him to continue what He had started, I showed him how to walk with his cane over his shoulder.  He took his cane over his shoulder with his right hand and his books in his improving left hand and started off on his way.  We stood in amazement as we watched him strut down the street with a new confidence and dignity although he still had a bit of a limp.  It was so cool!  I totally believe that God started something that He totally intends on finishing in Peter’s body.  How exciting?!

Then we left.  Then we got to Ziwa, ate a bunch of good food, had some awesome sessions, and I got to camp out!  Sleeping outside was so refreshing and such a blessing.  There was even a fire.  Thank you, Jesus!  And I fed a baby deer his breakfast from a beer bottle.  That was cool, too.

We had a session after dinner that went a little bit late but was around a fire, so it was awesome.  The campfire was in the middle of two long buildings that were made up of about 6 small double rooms.  A few of the rooms are taken by the family that runs Ziwa, they’re South African and that’s awesome.  About the time we were finishing up and doing a brief teaching on spending time with Jesus in the morning, I noticed that one of the women had come out and sat on her little porch.  She remained there until we finished and she encouraged us that breakfast would be yummy (it was.  I like how South Africans cook).  As we cleaned up, I decided I’d start some conversation with her to hear why she had come out and what she thought.  Tami explained that that time sitting on her porch was the most peaceful time she had had in a long time, especially that night.  She explained that her boyfriend, the son of the owner, had gotten really drunk and was throwing up.  Things were a little on the rocks with them as it was and his drinking wasn’t helping.  She had listened to our whole session as she had been in her room before she decided to come out because it brought her peace.  Religion has never been a part of Tami’s life or her family’s, she has never been to church, but by her own proclimation she always resorts to prayer when she is sad or hurt.  We had a really great conversation about what she believes and knows and I was able to share the Gospel with her and let her know how much Jesus loves her and sees her and that He didn’t come so we could do religion.  Really, it was one of my favorite conversations here in Uganda.  We parted ways and I encouraged her to feel free to ask any more questions the next day.  As I was spending time with Jesus around the fire the next morning, she and Chief (a 6 week old German Shepherd puppy!) came out and we talked for a little bit.  She didn’t give her life to Jesus, but I think she met Him for the first time. I have a lot of faith that God is after her and is going to really get a hold of Tami and, hopefully, the rest of the awesome South Africans.

The retreat was really my last hoorah here in Gulu.  I leave early in the morning for Kampala and Entebbe to spend a little bit of time resting, reflecting, and praying before Haiti.  Thank you God for this amazing time in Gulu!  I always dreamed that someday I would be blessed enough to be in the middle of some sort of movement someday.  I never dreamed that He would put me in the middle of the beginning of His work to transform East Africa.  Leaving is/is going to be hard but at the same time I’m very excited.  If God is calling me away from here than He must have something up His sleeve for where He is taking me.  Its Haiti’s turn.  Not because I’m going there, awesome stuff is already happening, it just is.

This is going to be cool.

A Few Reflections

Tomorrow is Thursday.  The Night Elevate team leaves Gulu early in the morning which officially completes my role as a short-term team leader here.  Monday morning I will board the Post bus that will take me to Kampala where I’ll find a taxi to Entebbe and finally the Green Valley Guesthouse, where I’ll stay Monday night through the day Tuesday until I fly out of Uganda Tuesday night.  And that’s it, I’ll leave Uganda.  Maybe one day I’ll come back, maybe not, I have no idea.  I feel like I’ve been here forever but the time has FLOWN by.  What happened?  Seriously, what the heck happened here?  My prayer is that I’ll never fully know what happened here until I’m in heaven praising Jesus in the throne room as people from East Africa pour in because of the movement God has started here.

One free day, a 36-hour long-term team retreat with the locals, and a Sunday gathering are all that is between me and a bus out of Gulu, Uganda.  According to my expectations, when the day came for me to bus out of Gulu, I would board that bus a new person.  I expected that many changes would happen in me in my time here and then I’d go to Haiti where the same thing would happen.  I’ve begun to see that although many things have changed since I’ve arrived here, I’m not going to board that bus a whole person that is ready to for a new challenge and ready to be opened anew in Haiti.  Two destinations do not mean a segmented summer.  The Post bus will be transporting a freshly opened heart not nearly wholly changed or put together.  Haiti will receive me with a harder environment, longer stay, and different culture much more vulnerable and broken than Uganda did.  That is intimidating, uncomfortable, and uncharted for me.  Those variables in life that I am confident in my ability to control are quickly diminishing.  I need Jesus.  All of Him.

I’ve got no clue what I’m doing or what’s going on.

But it doesn’t matter.

Cus my Daddy is really REALLY big.

And He loves me.

And He loves you, too.

Wow.  The world needs to know that.