Where the Asphalt Ends

first let me say there may be several mistakes in this blog because I am using a keyboard that is set up a little different.  I am currently sitting in the Niarobi airport, waiting on a flight to Ethipia to continue this great adventure.  The story I am abut to tell you is true and one of the most impacting of the time we have been here. 

The team in uganda really had one objective when they came here, and that was to build an educational faciltiy for watoto and to connect with the kids, and we did that every day.  At night after the work day was over, we would walk into the community and mingle with the people, talk to them, give them gifts, and just get to this neibhborhood.  This district had a huge nighlife, and we got right down in the middlle of it. 

Tyson had met a young man whos name is Alex, alex is about 24 and a year and a half ago he gave his life to Jesus.  He has a little sidewalk shop where he sales shoes, im sure you will see pictures of it later.  He is doing his best to make a living for he and his family.  He is responsible for his mother, his sister and his baby.  He had a wife and she ran away, she had the baby, left her with the family and ran away.  She is a precious littl baby girl named praise.

Alex, is not only a shoe salesmen but also a preacher, he goes up and down those streets, and preaches to the pimps and prostitutes and addicts and impoverished and everyone he can talk to about Jesus.

Before i arrived from Rwanda the team had gone out ministering and i hadn’t gone yet, it was evening and dark so Tyson, John and I went to the slums.  This is what they call it.  Its off the beaten path.  The main road is one club after another, one pool hall after another, one shop after another, but when you go up this road, where the asphalt ends and you are walking on mud and dirt, the further you go the worse it seems to get.

We took Alex so he could interprate and we went up into the slums.  There were people everywhere, kids roaming the streets, there parents not having any idea where they are, if they have parents. There are men and women out and the smell of marijauna is pungent in the air, and merchants selling their wares, and prostitutes doing the same.  It was shocking how many kids are out and roaming.  We had made a friend, his name was mike he was nine years old, his mom died, his dad moved away and he lives with his older brother, who i don’t get the feeling ever knows where he is at.  It is a sign of friendship for friends to hold hands, so Tyson and John are carrying bags with bibles and goodies in them and michael and i were walking along and michael was holding my hand, and alex was telling me of the great things God is doing in his life.

We started handing out bibles, you would have thought we were giving out free food, we gave out 100 i believe and we could have easily given out 1000, Tyson was brilliant though, he would tell them, “i am giving you this, share it with all your friends, bring them over and you all read it together.” 

So we would give out bibles talk to different ones abuot Jesus, and tell the Jesu akwagala, Jesus loves you.  They would grab those bibles and say thanks.  It was really amazing.  We continued to walk up the street and we came to a church, I’m sure it is nothing like what you may picturing right now in your mind.  It was a one room building, beat down and run down, but they were keeping it the best they could and were very proud of it, it was called ”Christ in you the hope of glory church. We walked in and there were several women and a few children, worshipping God, they were praying, we asked if we could join them, it was one of the neatest moments, i wish i had pictures of tyson, worshipping with them, but i didnt have my camera and the moment was not appropriate for a picture, it was one of those times that is so surreal you have to remind yourself its actually happening. 

After we prayed we begin to sing songs with them, they danced, and we loved on them, and we felt like giving the church an offering, i think what we gave was about 100 dollars, which would probably far surpass the budget for a year, you would not believe the response, they shot off like a rocket, and begin to dance and shout, and we were overjoyed by there gratefulness and simple thanksgiving.  So alex said, pastor you should share with them, and so i preached a short sermon to which the responded with great joy.  We prayed with each of them, and hugged them and the crowd grew by double by the time we were finished with kids and women who heard the commotion. 

As we walked back down, we gave away neclaces, candy, treats and bibles, and we shared our faith with them.  We had told Alex earlier that we were interested in ministering to the pimps and prostitutes, and wanted to give them a bible, so we were walking down the street he had us by the hand, and all of a sudden we ducked into this dark ally, very narrow place, and as soon as we did there were men who grabbed our hands and begin to offer women to us.  It was a disgustingly filthy place and very dark, there were men standing, and many women setting on a bench waiting to be sold.  These were not women being forced at least it didn’t appear that way and alex said these were women who didn’t want to do anytihng else, so they did this, he said he frequantly tells them they need Jesus and they need to Him to change their lives.

It became very uncomfortable very quickly, so I leaned in to Tyson and I said they are obviously misunderstanding our purpose here.  Which is fairly naive of us, white men from america, handing out gifts and walking straight in to prostitute central, what were they going to think.  I said, “lets back out and try this another way.”  We backed out and sense they know Alex and that he preaches Jesus to them and does not approve of their lifestyle we sent him in with a bible.  Then we walked off, knowing we did the right thing, we stopped and had a coke, and when we did the most miraculous thing happened. 

We turned around, and there was one of the prostitutes she had followed us out, she said, “I want to know Jesus.”  We were a bit shocked, but right there on the street, we prayed with her and she gave her life to the Lord.  When she asked, another young teenage boy who was standing there said, i want to know Jesus too, so he prayed with us and received Jesus.  While we were basking in the glory of this moment, another prostittute came, she was probably 17 and she said i want what they have, so we prayed with her too, about that time, the pimp sent one of the girls down to tell the two who had given their lives to Jesus not to ever come back, and we said praise the Lord!  We used wisdom and left at that point, but left knowing that we had shared the love of Jesus with people who were hurt and bound by sin, and just let Jesus does, He set them free.

Sometimes we need to leave the asphalt of our lives, we need to say goodbye to the good road and go ahead and trek up that muddy dirt road of the world, and well find that there are people shining a light there, and we will find there are hungry hearts there, we will find people who need Jesus there, and if we take the love of Jesus where the asphalt ends, it will change us as it changes them.

What is the asphalt in your life?  Your comfort?  Your status?  Your pride?  Your fear?  Step onto the dirt, and get your feet dirty, it will be the greatest experience of your life.

My next blog I will tell the rest of the story, we went to alexes house, to reach his mother, it will break your heart for those who need love and help, and inspire you to do what you can to reach another’s world.

Please excues type o’s and blunders i am using a keyboard that is not like what we are used to and can cause more mistakes than normal, which i’m famous for anyway.

David

Building and Blessing

Wonderful, beautiful, excited, intelligent, brilliant, purposeful, loving people are what we found at Watoto. This place is one of the best thought out, powerful, life changing ministries I have ever seen. It would be fruitless for me to explain how they do things because I only know a portion; it’s enough to say life changing could not begin to describe how this place affects you.

We have been able to build and educational building, working alongside African workers; this was a great learning experience. We were able to play with the kids and just have fun with them. They are so much fun, and appreciate everything.

When you hear their stories it’s unbelievable. You have to shake yourself, and say, “Could this be true?” The fact they are still alive, or doing well, is a miracle in itself. We’ve met some of the leaders for Watoto and they are hard working people and many of them were Watoto children themselves, have grown up and become independent. One young man is called Walter, he is like a Forman, he is 24 years old and he oversees the building projects in the village we were building in. He was a watoto child himself, and he is grown up with a desire to help the elderly women of Uganda, so he and his friend James have bought a plot of land and are planning on building a widows ministry. They are currently taking supplies and ministry to many widows in the community. He is attending university and studying project management.

We’ve seen the kids that came to our church last year at momentum. They remembered us, and were very happy to see us. We had lunch with them in their homes. Side note my stomach is presently suffering the effects of the multiplicity of ways to eat the banana.

Last night we went to a very nice restaurant, an Italian restaurant in the heart of Uganda, yes seriously, the owner is from Italy, great guy, and to our surprise Marylyn Skinner showed up to eat with us. We ate with her and she shared her story with us, which was gut wrenching and inspiring, I can say without equivocation I have never met any person like her. She is the personification of faith, and Courage. She is fun and friendly but when she starts sharing what they have gone through to do what they do, you immediately realize this is a formidable person. She is a definite hero. Gary and Marylyn are truly influencing and bringing change to Uganda. I won’t tell any of the stories because she will be at our girlfriend’s conference in June and she may communicate some of these things. If you are a woman and you are reading this you have to be there, you will truly miss a moment from God if you are not there.

I have been so blessed by our team. These young men and women have worked tirelessly every day. Getting up early, working hard in the hot son with brief intervals of rain and wind, the weather here is beautiful, but that son will get you if you aren’t careful, don’t ask me how I know. They have loved on these kids, and played with them for hours at a time after working hard all day, or in a lunch break. We have a great people in our church and this team of Misty, Emily, John, Tyson, Nicole, Maggie, and Gretchen are superstars. They are caring, loving, compassionate people. I am sure they have been impacted to a greater degree than the impact they have made.

Our clinics in Rwanda are doing great as well. They are seeing hundreds of medical cases, and getting the opportunity to treat them, to pray with them and win many of them to the lord. I’m so excited that Church of the Harvest is following the will of God and doing something to change the world, bringing the Gospel to people who so desperately need it, in word and in deed.

Again let me say thank you to all those who have helped us to be able to fund these projects, and send us to Africa, it has made a mark and that is to your account.

David

A world Class Team…

a world class team…. What a great two days we have had in the pastors conference, it has been a great experience. These pastors really want to make change, they really want to do great things, and they are so teachable, they are soaking it up. Tomorrow is my last day here in rwanda, then I go uganda to join the other team.

Can I just say, thank you pastor Kirk and Nancy. Thanks for being great leaders and teaching our people so well. This Rwanda Team is just incredible, harvest has the greatest people. Chad, Angeliegh, Roberta, Christa, Cameron, Chrystal, Stephanie, Cindy, Susie, and of course Bryson and Siearra. They have worked so hard they relate so well with the people here and they have spoken and they have been so great. We have such depth and true leadership in culture in our people. They are heros. Doing something to change the world.

We had right at 100 different pastors there today, all representing different churches. They were like sponges. It was emotionally overwhelming because the just draw it out of you.

Tomorrow we will be training childrens leaders, and pastors again, then having services for everyone. Sunday the team will be in churches as I travel to Uganda.
Monday we will start the medical clinics, and conduct those through the end of the week. God is so good, and we are priveledged to work for Him. If you are family of this team know that they are thinking of you, and you should be so proud of the work they are doing.

Chad spoke about connecting generationally
Angeliegh about reaching outside rwanda
Cameron about no limit living, no excuses, taking responsability
Roberta spoke on the value and importance of the local church, that girl can preach
Chrystal spoke on doing reaching out against injustice
Christa spoke on the importance of Childrens ministry in the church

Tomorrow
Cindy, Stephanie and suzie will be speaking. This has been so good for them and for the people receiving.

I look forward to meeting up with the uganda team and work with them for a few days. I heard from misty that it is goig well. They have truly been impacted already.

Continue praying for us, believe God to use us to do more than we thought possible.

Africa is an absolutely beautful place and the people are some of the most endearing in the world.

God is good….I’m not doing many pictures because the internet here is very slow, We will put them up when we get home and you can see it all.

-David

“Times they are a changing”

“Things, they are a Changing”

I have seen the effect of genocide twice up close, once in Cambodia, and now here in Rwanda. It is an unbelievable event. It is something that you cannot rationalize or really comprehend. My new friend Mike is a pastor here in Kigali who is doing a great work with young people. He was about 10 or 12 when the genocide occurred and was spared. He said, “it was like the devil came to Rwanda personally In 1994 and just possessed people, when you ask people who were involved (many of whom are still being tried) they can’t tell you why they did it.”

At the Museum I watched some video of these men being tried, and they can tell you what they did, but they don’t really know why. The motivation here was hate. A feeling of superiority and long standing contention between the tribes, that boiled over into full on move of one tribe to wipe out the other. It was organized to the point that once the first blow was struck they had lists of people who were to die. Outside forces, religious, political, and governmental contributed to wrong thinking, and the ability to take it to this level. I wish people could only see what present decisions can do to future circumstances.

The Bottom line is, over a million people slaughtered, innocent people. Men, women, boys and girls, families torn apart, women raped, people cut, beat, and mutilated with a violence that is incomprehensible.

One issue in all of this thats different than other genocides is it happened a mere fourteen years ago. This nation is very much still getting over it. They still mourn, they still carry out weekly trials, and they are trying to educate their people to what racism, ethnic conflict and hate can do. Their goal is to never let this happen again.

The worst thing about this for me is the world turned their back on this war torn nation while for 100 days it tore itself a part. Someone, several someone’s could have done something. We did not do enough, period. If we look around we can see that it has happened again in Darfur and there is much more awareness about it, but still more can and could be done.

The shining star in all this are many of the people we are meeting with while we are here and many more are living their lives with hope. They are pushing into the future with a passion and purpose. This is the hope of the future of Rwanda. Rwanda’s own people are helping one another, ministering the gospel, building and running orphanages, bridging the gap between the different ethnicities, and peoples. There is hope in Rwanda, and, “Things, they are a changing.”

This is the genocide museum, this flame burns for 100 days to memorialize the 100 days of devastation. They built this here, because this is where the majority of the bodies were found in Kigali. There are over 285,000 people buried in the mass graves you will see.These slabs are mass graves.There are 2000 names listed so far on this wall, there are 285,000 buried here, this gives some perspective.

They wouldn’t allow us to take pictures inside the museum, but we saw actual footage of these atrocities, I won’t attempt to describe it to you, because really there are no words. There is true evil in the world without a doubt, but that is why we are to be the light in the darkness. It is our role as Christians to love each other, and everyone, to reach out with compassion and grace and mercy to all those in need. God wants us to shine the light of his word into this dark world and see change. I love the quote by St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use your words.” We are to do as much as we are to say.

One whole room in this museum is devoted to atrocities perpetrated against children.

Children are precious in the sight of God, and He has called us to bring hope to the forgotten children. I believe by the grace of God, and by the light that is shining in this place Rwanda has great hope for its future.

-David

On our way to africa…

Well, we have made the transition from United States to United Kingdom and are currently awaiting a flight to the great continent of Africa. Our team is a great group of people, who absolutely love what we are doing. I met several people on the way over and am arriving at the conclusion that people want to change the world, or they want somebody to change the world. I guess the question is what does change look like to each person. One thing we can settle on is most people want injustices in the world made right. Everyone I’ve talked to so far, get really excited about what we are going to do.

Everything went great on our flights out of OKC, with the exception of the united express flight which was a tiny plain that made me feel like a giant, and I’m not very tall, and “hey no comments about my weight thank you,” can you say, discomfort.

We arrived in Chicago right on time and only waited a little over an hour before boarding, and flew a little over 7 hours to arrive here in London. I wish we had time to see the sights but the team will see that on their way back. This is a great place, and the people are awesome! Met some really nice guys from England that live a little north of Bradford. I’ve heard people say that the English do not appear friendly, which is not the case in my experience. They were computer software guys but were really intrigued about what we are going to do. They kept saying how great it was.

We tried to sleep on the plane but you know how that is, especially in coach, on and off. When we got to london we checked in and crashed in the floor and slept for a while. We are all up now doing different things and prepering for a nine hour flight to Nairobi, Kenya, where our team will split up. Several going to Uganda, and several to Rwanda.

We are all very excited to be here, but are ready to get there and get to work. Thanks to everyone who gave, or bought stuff, or told others about it so they would help. We really are grateful to all who made the investment to impact the world. We will give it our all, and make the strongest effort possible to Teach, train, work, give medical attention, and bring awareness to the issues of the day in Africa.

David

ps….look at the pics

My hero part two…

Hero’s are truly all around us.  In my mind a hero is a person who is actively involved in making a positive difference in the lives of others, by sacrificing themselves.  I know numbers of people like this.  People who have been blessed and see life as an opportunity to be a blessing to others.

Hero’s see need and say, something has to be done.  To them this is not a suggestion, rather a statement of fact.  Hero’s never point at others and say you should do something, they take the responsibility themselves and do what they can.

Hero’s realize they don’t have all the answers, and they can’t fix all the problems, but the difference between a normal Joe and a hero, is action. Normal Joe says, “someone should do something,” hero says, “I will do something.”  We can’t do everything, but we can do something, and what we must never do, is nothing!

Whether you are a teacher in the classroom, a professional in business, a mechanic in a shop, a worker in a plant, a doctor in a hospital, a pastor in a church, we can all do something.  Will it take us beyond our level of comfort?  Yes.  Will it require sacrifice?  Yes.  Will it feel like its more than we can do?  Yes.

I think we should all go that extra mile, stretch beyond our boundaries, lead beyond our level, and achieve change.

Pat Bradly, of International Crisis Aid, is one of my hero’s.  Pat is a man who is truly doing things to change the world.  A few years ago he was in a crisis moment of his life, and he asked God to help.  God helped him make a major life change, which saved his marriage and his life.  He has an advertising business and is a blessed man, and is a blessing of a man.  Pat with his non-profit organization International Crisis aid, goes into “no go” zones.  He feeds the hungry, brings medical care to the malnourished, and is helping to rescue young women out of the sex trade, which is modern day slavery that is effecting the entire globe.

Here is a man, who is as down to earth as it gets.  Hes normal, fun, excited about life, has a great family, and is making a difference.  The way you know a person is really making a difference is they will always say, we need to do more, which I hear Pat say frequently.

So Hats off to my hero, Pat Bradly.

-David

And the journey Begins…

Last Sunday night we had our last real meeting in preparation for our trip to Africa. Everyone is excited, but a little nervous. Its a big deal to arrange your schedule, get your family settled, make sure everything is taken care of while you are gone. Just packing and making sure you are taking everything you need is very tedious.

The Greatest challenge is to prepare yourself for cultural differences. Things are very different there than here, and it takes some adjusting. Thats why we train our people to have an attitude of learning, and not go in with all the answers but with some questions.

We are keeping our eye on the goal….”bringing hope to the forgotten children.” Whether it is the orphans in Uganda, or the children whose families were ravaged by genocide in Rwanda, it is our goal to bring hope to them.  In Rwanda we are bringing hope through medical clinics for rural area communities, and teaching and training spiritual leaders.  In Uganda we will be building an educational facility for the Watoto village.  In Ethiopia we will be rescuing girls from human trafficking and placing them with a ministry that can provide so much for them.

Most importantly we are taking the love of Jesus to people who so desperately need it.  Love in word, and action.  It is our goal to address injustice and make changes.  We will do what we can, and i believe if everyone would do that consistantly we will have real change in our world.

I am looking forward to connecting with the families and friends that we have and the ones we are going to meet.  Be watching this blog for day to day information and pictures as we go through this journey.

David

My Hero…

I love the show hero’s,  I haven’t watched it in a while, but the reason I love it, is it allows you to imagine what if i had this super power or that one, what would it be like.  I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid I was just like my six year old, She would love to be able to fly, I used to have dreams about flying.

Hero’s are great, they are bigger than life, and stronger than steal.  More courageous than a lion.  Real life hero’s although they don’t have supernatural powers, still seem bigger than us, more alive, more bright, and sharp.  It gives us this feeling that hero’s are people born to be hero’s.

lets think about it though when we think of a hero its about what they do. Usually what they do, anyone could do if they just made the choice to do it.  My hero for today, is my daughter Taylor.  She is 13 and an inspiring young lady.  She is right now in Mexico, working at orphanages, going to the dumps where people live, speaking to crowds of people about hope and faith.  She is inspiring, what makes her my hero, is something she said to me early this morning.  She said, “Dad i will never resist helping other people, I will never resist doing what God wants me to, even if it stretches me, because I know that what I do matters, and If I don’t do it, it keep others from the help they need.”

Yep, my hero, man I love that kid.  You should listen to your kids now and then, they might teach you something.

David-