identity

at church on sunday - we talked about identity - our identity in the workplace, with our family, with our friends, in Christ.  there are so many different identities in our lifestyle.  some are good, some are bad.  but if we are to have our identity in Christ, we need to loose all other identities.

these kids that i'll be ministering to in Mombasa, have their identities in the wrong place.  people tell them they're nothing.  people treat them subhumanely.  they are prone to sexual activities.  they have addiction to drugs.  they steal to survive.  these kids have so many different identities.  most of these identities have their hearts in the wrong place.  carly and valerie have realized this, and have housed these boys in hopes to dig down deep in their hearts to help uproot years of malicious identity to instill in them their true identity in Christ.  i will be doing the same, as i go to love on these boys, and show them what it's like for a young man to have his identity in Christ.

also my church commissioned me.  great to know that i have the support (both prayer and financial) from a church here in chicago, that i may never come back to (hopefully the Lord will allow me to at least visit chicago and New Life.).

kenya preparation

so my time in gaylord mi was spent in preparation for my upcoming trip.  although it wasn't exactly what i was expecting, it definitely was a great time for me.  i was able to minister and meet those who were going on the short terms missions trip.  i also got to know better Whitney Cerak and Sandra Sepulvada, who are going to be there for a more "medium-term" stint.

the preparation entailed for us was a little bit of cultural preparation and do's and don't's, but mostly it was spiritual and mental preparation.  we learned a lot about Islam, and their culture.  we also talked alot about getting our hearts inline with God, and allowing Him to work through us while we are there to minister to everyone we meet.

there's still a lot of processing that needs to be done on my side.  so hopefully it'll come out soon.

gaylord mi

sunday, i'm heading up to gaylord, mi to visit with carly and valerie. carly is from gaylord, and they are sending a team from her home church to kenya roughly the same time i'll be there. so all of next week, carly and valerie are doing a "training session" for the team, to prepare them for what they will be experiencing in kenya. they graciously are allowing me to participate in this training session although i'm not an official member of their team. i hope that during this time, i'll be able to have most, if not all of my questions answered about what's going to happen while i'm there, some more specifics about my role down there, how things operate on a day-to-day basis...etc. it will also be nice to have some face time and plenty of time to spend with carly and valerie, as opposed to our infrequent email conversations, and even more infrequent phone talks since they've been back in the US.

i pray that this training will go smoothly, and that the Lord start (if He hasn't already) preparing us physically, emotionally, and spiritually for our upcoming trip.

3 questions

this past weekend, i was up in grand rapids michigan for a wedding. sunday, austin bennett and i met up with an old taylor friend. he took us mars hill for church. ed dobson was speaking, and he had three questions for us:

do you know Jesus?
are you following Jesus?
do you live in a Jesus community?

very basic questions for those of us who are Christians. and as i spend my time in Kenya, I'll be using this "basic outline" of questions on how I'm going to deal w/ the people I encounter.

shots

i hate shots. but this morning, i've made an appointment to get a consult, and to get shots. man, the process to get my shot record has been long and annoying. i had to deal with my county health department back in NC. so after several weeks of faxing to the wrong number, sitting on the phone for minutes (just doesn't have the same effect as 'hours'), being transferred to multiple departments, voicemails...i finally got my shot records. and FYI - guildford county health department doesn't consolidate your shot records from the various locations unless you go in there for a visit.

hopefully i don't have to get too many holes in my arm, well not just for the physical side of it, but also for the financial side.

job or lack there of

so i've been a little worried about telling my company, The Revere Group that i'm planning on leaving my career (which in turn means leaving them) for my new endeavour. i wasn't too sure what to expect from them. i'm currently working on a project, so i thought they had to keep me around at least long enough to train the next guy on what i was doing.

i actually have two bosses - one for my department, one for my project. so last week, i talked to the head honcho of my deparment, and told him of my departure. to my amazement, he was very supportive my me leaving the company to "do something good for this world". what a blessing. now that was off my chest, but still left telling my project manager. i was a bit more afraid of how he would react. so this week, my head honcho boss and myself had a phone conference with my project manager. i was a bit nervous going into the meeting. at first, it seemed like he blew us off, seeing how he didn't answer his phone, nor call us back until 30 minutes after our scheduled meeting. nonetheless, we got a hold of him, and to my surprise, he was even more supportive of my department boss. he told me how he thinks this is a very noble thing for me to leave my job/career, to help those less fortunate.

and my company is going to keep me as an employee, but just as an "inactive" employee. therefore i could come back to Revere, without much hassle.

man, so God has blessed me once again. He has shown that there is nothing to worry because this He has all of this under control.

on a separate note - i emailed carly and valerie about a friend who was interested in coming down and working w/ us. and here's the email reply back from carly:

"And, about your friend, that is great! But right now we wont be opening up any more opportunites for other people to come. We have had a number of people ask to come, but have not felt the Lord say yes. We did feel that for you, and that was a stretch for us even because we are just still in baby state"

man, talk about confirmation. i just felt really affirmed about my decision of going to Africa. of all the other people that have inquired, some whom i'm sure are more qualified than i am, the Lord gave them a peace of mind about me and my situation, and has opened many doors for me to go down there. what a great feeling.