the last two weeks....

These past two weeks have been amazing! We spent the first week in the Western Kenya province, in a small village. Each person stayed with a different host family, Corey and I stayed with a young newly wed couple, Amos and Stella. However we were really only at home in the nights, and during the day we would go out and visit the local churches and encourage them. It is amazing to see the faith that these people have, they live in mud walled huts, and have no running water nor electricity (except for battery), yet they have such a vibrant and alive faith that I wished I could stay longer. I never cease to be amazed at how much these people are able to love life, and be happy amidst such difficult situations. It makes me wonder, in America we have everything, yet live so unappreciative and only have a drive to get more-we don’t take time to enjoy what we have. The roads from our house to the different churches were all dirt, and often very rough, so driving was a challenge. While I was in Western, God reminded me of what is really important in life, and how the past two years I had pushed those things off to the side. While I have been doing good things the past two years, they were not as good as they could have or should have been. God reminded me how to love people, even when they don’t love you back, and how to be intentionally and unconditionally loving to all. It is no easy task but it is the main purpose of my life. I am not saying that I will change everything when I get home, in fact I won’t change much as far as my actions go. It is a good thing to do well in school, and work hard, and stay in shape (all the things I have been doing). However I would get so focused on those things that I would forget how to interact with people in an uplifting and loving way. I have spent a lot of time these past two weeks, and two years trying to fulfill a hunger inside of me, and receiving nothing but frustration and jealousy. The reason is that I was trying to do it by myself. I still have great dreams and aspirations for my life, but while waiting for them to be fulfilled, I need to remember to live today, and enjoy where I am at now. It is hard to be single, and not see any girlfriends in the near future in fact my self confidence has been pretty shattered due to recent attempts and failures at dating. I plan to graduate college some day, and work as a nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant, to have a family, and be the father I never had. While in Western, God reminded me that today is still a good day, and worthy of being lived to the full. I don’t know what the future holds, and do need to take some action to plan for it. But in doing so, I cannot take advantage of the people that God has placed in my life today, or the opportunities that I have today. My biggest prayer right now is that I can curb my jealousy, and learn to be content with my life. It will take work, but I am willing to do it, for life is indeed a good thing, and God intended that we be happy, and not compare ourselves to others or waste our precious time here working for things that in the end will only fade away and be forgotten. In the end, all we have, and all we can take with us are the relationships that we have made in life.
So, after our time in Western Kenya, we came back to Brackenhurst for one night. We hadn’t planned to, but one of the vans we had died, and so it took a lot longer for us to meet the Over-lander truck that would take us to Tanzania. It was nice to be back and get a quick shower. Last Tuesday morning, one week ago, we got up early (3am) and headed out. We had 24 people in the Over-lander, and 7 in the Defender. It took us the entire day to drive to our destination in Tanzania. When we arrived, we all got our tents out, and pitched them inside of a school that we would stay the week in. I stayed with Gabe, but the entire group was together at the school, which was nice. Each morning we would wake and have breakfast, and then split up into separate cars and go out to visit churches, and encourage them. We worked with a missionary who has been there for several years, and followed her lead. There were five groups, and each group had about 6 of us, and one translator. At the churches, we would give a service, and then each day we would pass out dried corn to the most needy families in the church, and the communities. One day I got to preach, something I was not too excited about, but I did a good job, I told my testimony, and how it related to the parable of the lost/prodigal son. At the church my group went to, we passed out 22 bags of dried corn, and each bag had a weight of 220 pounds, so a lot of corn. It may not seem like we did a lot while at the churches, but you need to remember, that most of these people had rarely if ever seen a white person. So, to see us driving up, they would all be very excited, and encouraged by the fact that we would take time to leave America, and come visit them. It really gave me a taste of what missionary life is like. While in Tanzania, we would have some free time each night, so Gabe and I would go out and explore. Within about a 2 or 3 mile radius of where we stayed there were several big rocks, so we made a point to climb a new one each day. I got some amazing video footage, and pictures while in Tanzania, and Western Kenya. While in Tanzania, God continued to show me how to live in contentment, and how to love others. I also decided that I want to learn how to play the guitar, so when I get home, I am going to try and buy a guitar. Yesterday morning we left Tanzania, and drove for 18 hours straight, and then got in to Brackenhurst at 9 pm. The rest of this week will be spent taking day excursions from camp, to go visit different areas of Kenya, such as a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, which is one of the largest in the world.
Today is a day for us to relax, and celebrate in our own way the 4th of July; it will look a bit different than if I was at the lake at home, but still will be a great day.
So, my new plan for the next several years is this…..I will go home in August, and finish up school. I will go to nursing school, and then after receiving my BSN degree may work for a year at a hospital in Spokane, and then go back for my master’s degree. Then I hope to go and work on a Mercy Ship, either before or after my Master's degree, whenever I receive the opportunity to go. That is an awesome program that is designed for healthcare workers to spread the love of Christ to the world by getting on an ocean going ship, and spending time going to some of the poorest ports in the world and holding free clinics to help people who would never be able to afford the care they need medically. I looked it up earlier today, and still have a lot to learn about them, but I do have a good amount of time before I graduate college. These plans are not set in stone, just things I hope to do, and will work hard to do. May the peace and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all today. Bwana Asafiwe, and Mungu Acubu Riki (Praise God, and may God Bless You).