Real Life Kenya: 9/8/08 -12/8/08 - Making Disciples: Reaching Our World

HOME

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I just wanted to let everyone know that the team made it back to atlanta and is doing well.

they ate a good lunch and the guys immediately turned on the football game. It is fun to catch up with them and I look forward to hearing some of their stories as I am sure you all are as well.

They are excited to get home and see family and friends!

Life in Kenya

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi everyone! I wanted to write and tell you what God has been doing in Kibera. Every day the team splits up into 2 groups, 1 group goes to the adventures school to tutor, while another group (my group) goes to Monica's school to help teach. Monica Cross is a passionate woman of GOD. He testimony amazes me. She lives in Kibera and has 5 children. Her job is not like most jobs however. God told her to start a feeding program for children in Kibera. Every saturday she prepares lunch for them, free of charge. NOt only that she also started a school and feeds the children breakfast and lunch, free of charge. And how does she make money? She sells mandazis every morning to fund her feeding programs. When mandazis are not sold however, the children go without. But the Lord is faithful and he provides.So we have seen God work and provide for Monica's children (all 50 of them Mon-Fri. And 200 of them on saturdays). I love helping at the school, the kids are such a blessing! The ages are from 3 years old to around 7 years old. After Monica's the team meets back up at the AIM house for lunch. Then, we split up into more groups and go to different ministry sites. These ministries conisist of Door to Door, Detention Center, Kibera Youth Program and The Therapy Center. We work at these places until 4,30 then we head home. We have made many friendships with people in Kibera, it will be sad to leave them. But we know that God has a plan for their lives and he will take care of them. Next tuesday we will be leaving to go to Nivasha. (hour and half from here). Then we will head to Eburu to do ministry there. We are all excited to go and we have been doing ministry prep for the past 2 days. And then we head home! Time flies so fast! But God has been doing some amazing things here. He has provided us with translators that are so helpful, and people that are a pleasure to work with. We have done some open air ministries which have been very effective and many people have come to Christ! Please be praying for us as we travel. Much love!-TINA

We Are Hungry

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The team is doing great and have been processing through a lot about themselves the last week. It started with an amazing prayer session that we had thursday morning because of the rain. It was the time that every one of us needed with the Lord and to be able to speek truth and life into eachother. It was a time of processing, time of crying, time of happiness, and most of all it was a time of love for each person. I can tell you personaly it was a great time for me to help me process through some things and to show me how blessed i really am.

Then on monday night we had a student led night where the students plan out a evening devotion or teaching time for the whole team. Is what we are doing right now enough? Are we looking to Jesus for wisdom and strength? Are we giving everything that we are given by Christ and pouring it out on the people in Kenya? This team is hungry!! They are hungry for Christ and serving him with everything they have and want to show the people of Kibera that they no longer have to live in darkness. They can live in the marvelous light of Jesus. The love that the team is showing to everyone is unlike anything i have seen before. When they are sick they are mad because they can't be out serving the Lord. They even made me question myself and analyze if I'm giving everything i have, or if I'm longing to have a even stronger realationship with Jesus. We get comfortable with where we are at sometimes because we get into a routine but we don't want that. I read a great quote that says, "If life was a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream." We can get comfortable while swimming upstream. The one thing we have to take hold of is the fact that the speed of the current in the river will change and we will have to swim stronger. When we are tired we have to swim stronger. When we are sick we have to swim stronger. We are swimming upstream with everything we have and are prepared for the current to change!!!!

God Called You To What?

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

For the past three weeks or so a group of us have been going to the New Adventures school to tutor some students struggling with their studies. We spend about thirty minutes to an hour working on math, science and English with them. We are working with grades 6 and 7. We are there Monday through Thursday in the mornings. I personally have been tutoring two students named Brenda and Sharon. I love getting to spend time with them every day, they are sweet girls. Let me; first off, say that tutoring was not what I thought God would have me be doing while I was here. I was taking a year off of school to kinda figure out what God wanted me to be doing because school was not my thing, and he is having me help others with school. Heads up, huh! The awesome part is I love it!! School has always been an area I never felt, as far as worldly standards go, "successful" in. However, God has allowed me to help others struggling, and needless to say I have seen some awesome progress in the girls. They are excited to work on stuff that they are having a hard time with, and what is even more exciting is seeing them get something I attempt to explain! I have definitely taken school for granted; in kibera education is often the only way to a "better" life. These kids have to do well to better their situation. God has used me in an area I felt like abandoning myself which is awesome. I have certainly been more aware about what a blessing education is. I still don't feel called to teaching of any kind, but God has made me painfully aware, in a good way, about how much I have taken school for granted.

The New Adventures School has about 300 kids. Many of the children have to share text books and are packed into a classroom. They seem so happy to be there and the teachers are amazing. They have such a joy for the children and the Lord! It is so cool to see the Lord in these kids' lives too. Many of them are saved and have a desire to know the lord more. Several of the kids from New Adventures orphanage also go to the school, so we get to see them every day as well. I have been so blessed by these children, just seeing the joy they have, living in the conditions they do. It has given me a new perspective that is for sure. God is good all the time, all the time God is good!

Fractions and Faith

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This trip has been absolutely life changing. I feel like God has completely transformed my heart for Him since I have been in Kenya. I want to share with you all an amazing way that I have seen God work. Every morning, Monday through Thursday, I go to Adventures School and tutor three sixth grade students in English, Science and Math. Wednesday and Thursdays are our Math days and Math is by far the subject that they struggle the most in. With Science and English, the schools are able to adapt them to their culture and every day life, but with Math, you know it or you don't. It has proved to be a challenge with one student especially. When I first met with him last week, I was so discouraged. He didn't seem to grasp any of the concepts I was teaching him. I was really dreading having to do Math this week and I have to admit, my attitude was not optimistic. Wednesday morning, I just laid it all at Christ's feet. I poured my heart out to Him and asked Him for patience and guidance. That day, the lesson was about cubes and the different properties of them. God totally gave me an amazing illustration using a brick and I saw my students grasp onto it. My heart was soaring!I was so excited to see that I had gotten through and that they were learning. I know to some this may seem like a small thing, but when you see how these people live, you understand that education is their hope for making a decent life for themselves. It is the difference between clean water and contaminated, going hungry or having food on the table, a one room shack or a small home. This is their reality and it was an honor for me to help someone take one step closer to that. We are seeing improvement every day, but please remember the students in your prayers. We want to see them not just succeed, but excel.

What God's been doing in Brad!!!!

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Over the past month a lot has happened. I have joined a different kind of family that is strong and loving, not that mine wasn't. We have grown together into one entity that serves God with one purpose.

I am just going to jump into the major events so far for me because are days are so packed and my time is so limited to tell you about everything. The first major event for me was in Georgia before I ever left for Kenya. We were doing a prayer walk type thing in which you pray for God to guide your footsteps to someone, so I prayed. This may sound kind of weird, but I felt God calling me to talk to the fifth person that I saw as I walked into a mall in Georgia. I was like, "okay God I'll do this even though I think I might be going crazy." It was an older lady that was the fifth person and she was looking through the ladies shoe section. The first thing that came to my mind was thinking that it was going to suck because I could strike up a conversation with anyone any other place, but I tried it any way. I pretended to be looking at the shoes like a dork and then asked for her name and she gave it to me and then I gave her mine. Over the next few minutes I told her what I was doing there and that I felt called to come talk to her and pray for her. I started praying for her and as I prayed I felt called to pray for something bad going on in her family that was bugging her. When I was done praying she told me that it was weird that I prayed for such a thing because her sister had been terminally diagnosed and found out the next morning how long she had to live. She told me this and I just broke down and found my way over to one of my buddies Clay and cried on his shoulder for a little bit. It was just remarkable to me the way God made sure that the little faith I showed mirror the love he has for this women through me.

Later when we were in Webuye, Kenya God once again broke me. We were doing a youth and pastors conference that had a few hundred people at both events when, Pastor Bruce, our lead speaker who we had joined together with to do this conference, gave a sermon. It really just convicted me and made me feel God tugging at me, and he was telling me that I was called to be a pastor and that it fits the skill set that he has given me and if you know me that is all I have to say and you can see I'm right. The sermon that Pastor Brace was giving was on a mix of topics that included faith and not being hypocrites. Since then I have been praying day in and day out and the more I do the more sure I am that I am suppose to be a pastor. Then I wrote my best friend Nick Sackett and told him and he just further comforted me that I would be a good pastor and told me how much he looked up to me and that just has meant more to me than he could ever know. I need to keep moving so that I can fit in the other amazing thing that God did in me.

The last huge thing was when I was at the Pastors Conference in Webuye the kids were everywhere outside and the Pastors didn't really like this. Well the day before the kids and I had played a game in which they all chased me down and tackled me. On this particular day it had poured rain and it was extremely muddy but the one hundred some odd kids still wanted to play this game, so I changed into my drama clothes, and played it with them. Something that I failed to mention is that in this field that we played in was a mixture of livestock and human excrament and when it rained it mixed well. Well we played and by the end I was completely covered in mud and other stuff but the kids stayed pretty clean. The thing that really blessed me though was how many hundred pastors came up to me and told me that they were blessed by what I did, because in Kenya kids are treated as pests and I just showed them a new way to minister by loving others. It broke my heart that something so simple as loving kids can go overlooked.

Overall God has shown me a lot about myself and what I am capable of doing through him. He has been showing me the path that he has created just for me and leading me through it. He is giving me the words and the ability to love others more that I have ever had the capability to do and he is also keeping me together, rested, and ready for the next day because without him there is no way I would have the energy to keep this up. I can just feel myself growing closer to him each and everyday and I don't want it to stop!!

Bio

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hey everybody, my name is Shaun Hoskins and I'm 22 years old. I was born in Dayton, OH on December 7, 1985. I did not grow up in a Christian family, and I'm also an only child. I lived a pretty normal childhood, and didn't come to know the Lord until June of 2001. I have taken two short term missions trips to Mexico, one in the summer of 02, and the next in the summer of 03. After these trips I kind of went into a slump in my walk with Christ. I stopped seeking Him and had no intention of going back. Then in the summer of 2005 I was invited to take a short term trip to the Dominican Republic, and can say, I had no idea what was in store for me. I ended up having to be a leader and was called into missions but I slammed the door in the Lords face and said no! I was not ready to give my life and everything in It to Christ. It wasn't until November of 2007 that I started questioning how I was living my life. I was not living it for Christ and was not looking at him for wisdom and strength. Then a couple weeks later I was asked to lead a trip to the Amazon Jungle of Peru. This ended up being the best trip I have ever been on. I was stretched far beyond the point that I thought I would be, and once again was called into fulltime missions. All I can say is I'm here now. I have traded my past life of living for myself and now I'm trying to live it for the Lord. For now, I'm here in Kenya until December, and hope to come back in January but I will have to wait to see if that is what the Lord has planned for me. Thank you to all my friends and family for encouraging and supporting me. Without your help I would not have been able to follow the call the Lord has placed on my life. Love you all!!

How Great Is Our God

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

How great is our God?! A month ago today I was embarking on an unknown adventure, God has most definitely done immeasurably more than I could have asked or imagined. I want to explain our Webuye adventure the last 10 days.

First, however, I want to intervene this blog entry for a moment and tell you a parable of sorts. One night while a young girl was sleeping peacefully in her bed, small, demon like creatures invaded. The next morning when the girl woke from her deep sleep she discovered that her body had been eaten and tormented. These small creatures that normally reside upon dog, cats, and other various creatures with four legs now felt the need to reside upon the girl. The small demons called fleas, in most cultures, had deformed the arms and legs of said girl. Now, feel no pity for the girl for there was a valuable spiritual analogy that came out of this parable. When life throws you fleas; spray them with deadly anti-flea spray and there will be peace once again! Ok seriously though, when things attack you in life, causing distraction, torment, harm, fear, and possible skin irritation, use Jesus Christ as your armor. He is dying (literally) for you to allow him to fight for you. Pray against the evil ones schemes.

Onto bigger and better things, the first two days in Webuye we held a youth conference. The first day we had about 80 ish kids and some adults. The second day we had 200 or more. We had sessions where we told them about Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and other branches of Christianity. One of the days we asked those in the crowed if any of them wanted to be saved and probably 30 or more came up and accepted Jesus as their savior! Needless to say God had exceeded my expectations. The third day we took an adventure to Webuye Falls, God gifted us with a beautiful day to rest and spend time in his creation. My heart was blessed!

The next day we went to have a work day...and God decided to have a church service instead! It was a good reminder that our plans are not always Gods plans! That night God gave us a sunset that his hands only could have created. Off in the distance there was lightning and the clouds were breathtaking! It really gave me a chance to hear Gods voice and listen to what he wanted to tell me! In the stillness and silence that is where you will find Him. Praise the Lord!

The next three days we held a pastors conference. Satan, to say the least, tried to foil Gods plans, But HAHA little did he know God wins every time!! Mmmhmm! Many on our team were heavy hearted. I had never felt so spiritually attacked before, my heart was very dark and I could audible hear woman screaming when there were none. However, this team God has placed me with helped fight off Satan's evil schemes. You know when satan tries that hard to get to Gods Children, God has a bigger and better plan that satan doesn't want fruit to come out of.

I am pleased to say that many seeds were planted at that pastors conference and fruit was produced! What a great God we serve, that he will fight on our behalf. I can't even comprehend how much he loves us. Be encouraged, God is fighting for his children. One huge thing that God taught me in Webuye was that people are starving for something other than this life and Jesus is more than enough to satisfy that hunger. When physical resources are not available you can do nothing but rely on Gods provision to meet those needs. And in his will and timing he does! Praise be to God!

Webuye off to a good start!

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A few minutes we just had a call from Connie (one of the Real Life Team Leaders) and she gave us a great update on what the team is doing in Webuye! For the past two days the team has helped lead a youth conference for over 200 youths. Last night the team performed their drime called "Everything" and it was received quite well! They even had an altar call after the drime and approx. 50 people came forward - about half of them were kids!

The team said they are having a great time with the youth that attended the conference as well as the Kenyan youth leaders that partner with Alpha. Another good note - last night there was a revival service and Brad (one of our team members) shared his testimony in front of the entire crowd - what an awesome opportunity to share what God has done in his life.

Tomorrow (Sunday) the team is headed to a local prison in Webuye. Please pray for not only their safety as they enter, but also that the hearts of the people there would be open to hearing about God. On Monday they are visiting a local school.

The team is doing great, they are excited to be a part of this awesome ministry. Please continue to pray for the team - that they would have crazy strength to keep up with everything this week, and that the ministry they are doing would continue to flourish!

Great things are happening in Kenya and it is really exciting to watch God working in the lives of not only the Real Life Team, but in the lives of the Kenyans as well.

To God be all the glory for the great things He is doing!!

More later in the week!

Trip to Webuye

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The team has officially left on their first outreach. This morning they caught a bus at 7 am to take an 8 hour ride to a town called Webuye on the border of Uganda. We have partnered with a program called Alpha and will be helping with a youth conference tomorrow and Saturday. The team will be teaching, leading small groups, performing drimes and helping in any other way they can! They are very excited about this adventure and would appreciate your prayers! The rest of the week will be spent ministering in various ways to the people of Webuye. Please pray that God would use them in mighty ways and that He will stretch them in their faith! The team will be traveling from September 25th and will return to Nairobi on October 4th.

The Blue House

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Today the team went to Blue House church in Kibera. It was amazing! God is AWESOME! It is such a blessing to be able to go to Kibera and minister with the people there. God opened the eyes of my heart to the poor and the orphaned.

The house we are staying at is great! It is in walking distance from Kibera and town. Our team is becoming stronger in Christ. God is preparing us for the ministry we will be doing. This week we will be going to Webuye to work with children at a church. The bus ride to Webuye is 8 hours! Please pray for us J. God is going to do some amazing things and we want to give Him all the glory. Thanks to everyone for all their support.

-Tina

Listening to God

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

How does God speak? Growing up, the topic wasn't really ever discussed in my church. Does He actually talk with a physical voice? Does He put images in your head while you pray? Or does He just tug at your heart? And through out all this, how do you tell if it's God's voice or if it's the enemy's or your own?

AIM stresses listening prayer and ATLs (Ask the Lord) a lot more than I am used to and theologically speaking I have some holdups about it that I am trying to work through. I don't want to put God in a box, because I know that He can do so much more than I could dream. But it's all so hard. I have also been hearing stories of healings which I want to believe, but there's so much of my theology that says it doesn't happen anymore.

As I think about these things I'm always reminded of the story in Mark 9 in which a man asks Jesus "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Jesus replies "If you can! All things are possible for one who believes." The man immediately replies, "I believe! Help my unbelief!"

I find myself praying that constantly. "Help my unbelief!" I hope that by the end of this trip I have the faith to hear God and believe in His absolute sovereignty in this world.

The first few days!

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Today was a bit on the crazy side as we went on a LONG tour of Kibera, the largest slum in all of Africa! We had 1 main guide, who works with the school AIM is affiliated with, and 4 others who walked alongside of us. The students were able to ask many questions and see life as it is lived out in this poor area.

As we walked through it was as if we were celebrities. Everywhere that we stepped the children would come flying around corners to come and greet us. They would ask, "howaroo?" and hold out their hands for a shake. Many of the team members have learned the term 'sasa' which is how we greet little children here in Kenya. The children would run away squealing with delight.

The students were able to visit both New Adventure School and AIM House Orphanage where many of them will be working and doing ministry over the next couple of weeks. You could see the obvious delight on both the faces of the Americans and the Kenyan children as they quickly made friends and began conversing as much as they possible could with the language barrier.

Tomorrow we are all headed up to Kijabe to see the Rift Valley and visit with some missionary friends up in that area. It should be a fun, relaxing day just before heading into intense training for Alpha Ministries and the youth conference that the team will helping with later in the week.

Training Camp Highlight Video

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A long time AIM leader and the worship leader for the FYM Awakening in South Africa, Kristen McMullen, put together a great highlight video. We'd like to share the video with you so you can have a picture of the events of the last week. Thank you for all of your continued prayers and support.

Be Blessed,

The Admissions Department

Training Camp Highlight Video

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Be Blessed,

The Admissions Department

arrived in Kenya

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The team just called to inform us that they have arrived safely in Kenya. They're now settling in to their house and will soon welcome a great night's sleep. The leaders that went over ahead of time were there to welcome the team and other leaders. They are thrilled that the team has finally arrived and ready to see what God has in store.

They're off!

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Training camp has come to an end and the teams are off on their journey to Kenya. They packed in the bus this morning and were soon off on their way. God is at work in mighty ways in this team and we can't wait to see what He continues to do this fall. The team leaders will call us as soon as they land in Kenya and right after that, we'll post that here. Thanks for your prayers and support for this team.

Parent's Reception

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Many of you parents have been asking about our Parent's Reception we had on Monday when all of the participants arrived. A few of the wonderful folks who organized this event have graciously put together some information here for those of you who may have missed it. Enjoy!

A Peek at the Parents' Reception

The parents who drove their son or daughter to AIM were able to enjoy some refreshments, have a tour of our training campus and meet some of the AIM staff. For those parents who were unable to make it and are curious, here's a peek at what we covered.

We shared a bit about our history and how in 1989 Seth Barnes established Adventures In Missions in Florida out of his garage. In 1996, the headquarters relocated to Gainesville, Georgia on the north end of Lake Sidney Lanier. Seth started this ministry with week long, youth group mission trips. After a few years, he realized the need to go deeper with the participants over a longer period of time in order to disciple them and achieve more significant growth. That's how the Real Life projects and the First Year Missionary program got started.

We briefly described the three major divisions of our projects: Short Term Missions, the Next Step, and The World Race. Short Term Missions are for youth groups or groups of adults or families and last 7-10 days. Next Step is for upper High School and College age individuals and lasts one month to one year. (Ambassador, Real Life and First Year Missionary programs fall into this area.) And, The World Race for people who are twenty-something and travel the globe to minister in 11 countries in 11 months. Overseeing and supporting the ministry is Seth Barnes, the executive director, and the Finance and Operations staff. (The gathered parents had an opportunity to meet Seth after the question and answer period.)

Next, we ventured outside for a tour of our training campus. We use primitive living conditions in bunkhouses and tents to help prepare the teams for how they'll live on the field, whether they will be in rural huts, tents, or just simple accommodations.

Our obstacle course helps each team to work together to build unity. Here they begin the process of working together to overcome personal and group problems. This physical exercise will translate into communication skills and an understanding of each other that will aid them as they address social, emotional and spiritual issues that arise as they live in community.

Many of our daily camp activities take place under the big tent with open sides. The teams meet here for corporate prayer time, teaching on topics such as spiritual warfare and cultural sensitivity, and for enjoying meals together. (Sometimes heavy rain or severe heat or cold can hinder our outdoor activities, so we are in the process of renovating our old 50 x 100 foot office space into an open space meeting room. Although the work is in progress, we are still able to utilize the space for this camp in a limited way. We are still raising funds. Our goal is to be able to train teams year round.)

Our outside kitchen is a small, one room building with refrigerators, ovens, and sinks with a covered porch for the grill and serving area. We cook for hundreds of people in this tiny kitchen. As we outgrow this area, we are including a full indoor kitchen in our renovation plans.

After this tour of the grounds, we re-entered our office building, a two story 50 x 100 foot metal building with stucco siding that houses the operations staff of our international headquarters. There are offices around the sides and cubicles in the middle. (The old building which we are renovating into a training center is attached at its end to one side.) About 45 of our 130 plus staff work out of this office. We have the finance department, the admissions staff, the leadership of the set-up team, the project leadership development team, and the fund-raising staff.

We took a quick peek upstairs where we are finishing out additional office space. (This week they were putting up the sheet rock.) This was a look into our future and imagining what the new accommodations will enable us to accomplish. We definitely need the space as we continue to grow and expand our programs and bring on additional staff. Right now, all the cubicles full and we have two people in each office, sometimes taking turns working from home. Our local staff is waiting with expectation and excitement for the work space upstairs to be completed.

Outside the back door we have a brick patio with a waterfall feature, several caf tables and couple of dining tables. In this informal setting we can have lunches and special events, as well as meetings or commissioning services. It's also a great place to have counseling or prayer time.

We concluded our tour in the newly renovated meeting hall of the old building where we had our orientation and worship time later that evening. It has been gutted, but not refinished yet. We described how this represents our past and our future: this is where we started (our initial building), and now we've outgrown it. Now our need is for an indoor training center with a kitchen and a meeting/dining hall for large groups. This renovated building will meet some of these new needs.

In conclusion, a good deal of time was spent in answering questions. The parents were able to ask any question they had pertaining to their son or daughter's trip. The FAQ's were: How do I contact my child? What ministries are they going to be doing? What are the living arrangements going to be? How safe is it there? (Since these questions are location specific, they are answered elsewhere.) After 45 minutes of questions and answers, the parents had a visit from Seth Barnes, the Founder and CEO of AIM.

Seth shared, as a parent, about how his own five children have each participated in our Real Life and First Year Missionary programs.

"Sound of Hope" t-shirts, and "Timbali" bags were for sale to support our orphan ministry.

Our new family

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The first few days of training camp have been very exciting but it definitely hasn't been all easy. The Real-Life Kenya team is continuing to build their relationships based on unity, honesty and trust. They are thoroughly being fed by others, seminars on everything from children's ministry to spiritual warfare, planning for overseas ministries, eating some more, seeing God show up in amazing ways through worship and just laughing together.

Some of our team builders are designed for the sole purpose of pushing teams to unite, physically, emotionally and spiritually. They are faced with (sometimes) seemingly impossible tasks but each time manage to pull through as one body and overcome fear and challenges together. We want to be a team that prays together and encourages each other... so far this team IS that and so much more. Every member is important and no one is replaceable.

Our first team builder was the obstacle course and one of the obstacles was the tire.

The object of the challenge was to get the entire team through the tire without touching it. The Real-Life Kenya team obliterated that obstacle, and as I'm sure you can see... had a good time doing it.

The team is also working on drimes (dramas set to music) right now and they are definitely a dramatic bunch!! We hope to post a video of them performing in the next few weeks.

For now we are pushing on and with our departure date approaching in 4 days we are all anxious to get going.

Please continue to pray for the team and their leaders:

for unity, trust and to be a team that is always focused on prayer.

Commissioning Service

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Commissioning Service

September 14 at 8PM

This is a sweet time as the teams will be prayed over and get ready to GO!

Parents may attend, and are welcome to attend, but please remember that this is a team time and your child may not have much time to spend with you. Some teams take over two hours to be prayed over. This is not a time for you to reconnect but a time for them to be sent with blessings and affirmation.

We look forward to sending another group of participants out and watching God work in their lives and the lives of the people they will be ministering too.

What a great week we have had so far with your son and daughters. The teams are bonding and getting excited to go.

Thanks for the honor to be a part of your family's life.

Alive and well!

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Training camp is in full swing here in Gainesville and we're loving life! Team Kenya has had a fun-filled day of seminars and team building. The team is bonding and this group of strangers is quickly becoming family. Thank you for covering us in prayer as we dive into what the Lord has for us this week at training camp.

Guitars

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Is anyone bringing a guitar?

Why Serve at All?

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

And now these things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Cor 13:13

I believe in serving, but I can't really just write a 500 word essay about me serving. That would be like a humble man telling people he's extremely humble. So instead of talking about me serving I'm going to talk about WHY I serve. Now, I've thought about this a lot. And before I figured out the right answer I came up with a couple of not so right possibilities. I could serve because it's the right thing to do, I could serve because maybe someone will see it, or I could serve because it makes me feel good inside. Two of the three things I just listed are selfish but not entirely bad, because there's still some serving being done.

I'm somewhat of a pushover, and whenever someone asks me to do something I usually say yes. I find "no" to be a very awkward thing to say to someone asking for a favor, even a really big one. For a while, I convinced myself I serve because being selfless is a virtue and I'm practicing it. But over time I have come to find that practicing selflessness makes me very selfish. By making serving about practicing selflessness I had removed the other person from the equation. Serving wasn't about the other people anymore. Serving was about being more selfless, not about caring for the other person.

After a while of being selfish I got burnt out on it and really didn't like people very much anymore. Oh, I still served. But it was grudgingly and with a lot of huffawing and sighing so that the other people knew that I was going through a lot of trouble to serve them. Which made me more selfless. Serving to be more selfless had taken out the soul of serving. It made serving hollow and selfish. It was only after I had hurt one of my best friends that I learned why I should be serving.

My friend and I were helping out at our campus fellowship's Senior Farewell, which is a graduation party for the seniors in our fellowship. Through some unfortunate events I got a parking ticket while setting up for the party. Returning from my car after seeing the ticket, my friend had come over to ask me to help with something. I snapped at her and blamed her unfairly for my ticket. I mean seriously, I had just gotten a ticket because I was serving. (Actually I got the ticket for parking illegally and being too lazy to move my car.) Who was she to keep asking me to help? Coudln't she see how selfless I was already being?! Well, this attitude didn't fly very well, and my friend was really hurt by it.

It was here, looking back at why I was doing the things that I was doing that I realized that all the serving I had done had been for nothing, because it had been about me. It had been about being selfless, not about being loving. Not that being selfless is a bad thing, but being loving is so much greater.

1 Corinthians 13: 4

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Final Paperwork Past Due 1 Week

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Your final paperwork is past due!
This was expected to be in the office. If you Account Page does not show that all is in; you need to get that done today, NO EXCEPTIONS!

You need to mail ALL the documents to:

Adventures In Missions
Admissions Department

6000 Wellspring Trl

Gainesville, GA 30506

Highlands, Wanjiru, and Ugali

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi, everyone! Here are some interesting facts I found about Kenya; hope you enjoy!

- Water! Water! Water! (I feel like I keep reading about water everywhere!) A few key environmental issues for the country of Kenya are water pollution from wastes (urban and industrial) as well as a decreasing level of the quality of water because of increased use in pesticides and fertilizers.

- The Kenyan highlands are a geographical gem...they are one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa, even a glacier on Mt. Kenya!

- Kenya has 7 provinces and 1 "area": Central, Coast, Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western, and Nairobi Area.

- In 2006, a 12-minute movie was produced by Hot Sun Films titled, Kibera Kid. The cast is composed of many local people and is entirely shot in Kibera. Hot Sun Films and its coordinator, Nathan Collett, created the film to help give the residents of Kibera an opportunity to "tell their stories to the world"-though local knowledge, resources and even volunteers in the production of this low-budget film.

- Traditional African religions included the concept of a supreme being who is know by various names.

- Syncretic faiths have arisen in the country as well and often borrow from Christian traditions and African religious practices.

- There are numerous independent churches

- Kenyan cooking has been influenced by British, Arab, and Indian influences: Common food is ugali a mush of maize that is served with spinach and kale.

- Traditionally, meat is not eaten everyday.

- Kenya's premier venue for drama is The Kenya National Theatre and its affiliated National Theatre School (1968). NTS is home to the professional training of playwrights and performers of traditional music and dance.

- The people of Kenya place great importance on family: families are large and often included the extended family with group responsibilities and traditional values.

- Most popular sport: soccer (running, a close second it seems!); Common athlete legends, Kipchoge Keino, Henry Rono, Catherine Ndereba, and now, Sammy Wanjiru.

Ugali, kale, ... There are so many different ways of preparing and eating food around the world!

(This is me pretending to eat the meat directly off a sheep head; A Navajo Indian woman had prepared it for a group of students from my University. To the Navajo, a sheep is a prized and coveted dinner entree.)

Ministry Supply List

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Here is your long awaited ministry supply list!

Everyon needs to please bring the following:

1-2 packs of construction paper
1 bag of balloons (any size, any kind, anything goes)
1-2 packs of markers
1-2 packs of crayons
1-2 packs of pens
1-2 packs of pencils
1-2 packs of plain white paper

On top of the above list I am splitting you up into groups of two's and you will each bring some additional supplies.

Lindsey and Megan:

each bring 4-5 packs of glue sticks

Lauren and Katie:

each bring one pack of sharpies (multicolored)

Clay and Seralin:

each bring 5 rolls of scotch tape
each bring 1 roll of masking tape
each bring 5 rolls of duct tape

Amanda and Nicole:

each bring about 8 packs of stickers and craft foam/craft stickers (anything will work for this)

Joel and Bradley:

each bring 4 frisbees

James and Christina:

each bring 4 jumping ropes

I know that some of you have already bought ministry supplies, that is fine. You are still able to bring anything else that you have but we want to make sure that we also have the ministry supplies that are going to be needed. So if each of you take part in getting these supplies you guys will be all set to go!

Looking forward to seeing each of you at training camp!

Reimbursements General Facts

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Once your entire trip and airfare is paid for, you may submit your additional trip
expenses to us for reimbursement from your account. The allowable reimbursements
are those expenses which you incur as a direct result of your participation on this trip.
The IRS limits us on what can be reimbursed - things they consider direct expenses for
this trip.

The items you can submit for reimbursement are:
Airfare tickets
Medical insurance
Shots needed only for this trip
Passport and Visa expenses for this trip only

To be reimbursed for these expenses, you MUST submit your receipts to us prior to
training camp. The original receipt is the only form we can accept. WE CANNOT
ACCEPT CHARGE CARD STATEMENTS OR A COPY OF A CHECK.

We will process those receipts and reimburse you only if you have the amount to cover
the cost in your support account. We will provide a partial reimbursement if the funds
left in your support account do not cover the entire receipt after your trip is complete. We process reimbursements:
After you leave on your trip
Mid-Way through the trip
Upon completion of the trip

Sometimes in the summer months it is difficult to keep up with the demand of
reimbursements. Plan on your reimbursement check taking about a month to process
from leaving on your trip to a month after the completion of your trip.

Any additional money which comes in after your trip is complete will go toward covering
any trip deficit you may have, but cannot be used for reimbursement of expenses.

When submitting receipts to us, please fill out the reimbursement form that you can find
from your Account page.

Again, ALL REIMBURSEMENT REQUESTS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO US PRIOR TO YOU GOING OUT.

Directions to Airport and Gainesville

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

If driving to the Atlanta airport you should arrive between 11AM and 3PM, if driving to Gainesville you are to arrive between 4-5PM.

Directions to the Atlanta Airport :
MEETING AT THE AIRPORT: When you fly into the airport you are to meet in the Atrium, located right outside security. It is a huge gathering room with lots of sofas, food court etc. We will be there to meet you . Look for us in our Aim t-shirts and big smiles :) .

Directions to Adventures In Missions
Gainesville, Georgia

From Atlanta, Hartsfield Atlanta Airport and the South:

Take the Connector (I-75/I-85) northbound until the two interstates split just north of Midtown. Though I-85 heads northeast and would appear to split off to the right, be cautioned: I-85 is a left exit and only the left three lanes will take you there safely! Stay northbound on I-85. You willl pass under the Perimeter (I-285) at Spaghetti Junction. Continue northward on I-85 until you reach exit 113, which is the beginning of I-985. Take I-985 (also a left exit) northbound for 24 miles until you reach exit 24. Exit there. Take a left at the end of the exit ramp, towards downtown Gainesville. You are on U.S. Hwy 129. It takes just under an hour from downtown to get to this point.

Continue north on Hwy 129 (you will turn right about a mile from the interstate and another right at a T in the road). You will cross over Lake Lanier at two points: the Chattahoochee River fork and the Little River fork. A few miles beyond the second bridge you will come to a traffic light. You will take a right at the light onto Nopone Road . Follow Nopone for 1 mile to Bogus Road ; turn left onto Bogus. You will see our sign about a mile in on the left hand side (but you won't see a building). Turn left into our driveway and you will come to our building.

From Greenville/Charlotte and the Eastern Seaboard:

Take I-85 southbound from Greenville/Spartanburg until you cross the Georgia state line at Hartwell Lake. Continue southward until you reach exit 137 ( Gainesville/ Jefferson). Exit there, turning right at the end of the ramp, towards Gainesville. You are on U.S. Hwy 129. Travel for about 17 miles until you cross over I-985, then follow the instructions in the second paragraph above.

From Chattanooga/Nashville and the Midwest or Appalachia:

Take I-75 (or I-24) southbound from Chattanooga until you cross the Georgia state line. Continue southward on I-75 until you reach exit 312, which is State Hwy 53. Go east on 53, being careful to stay on 53 as it goes through some small towns and makes a few turns. After going through the town of Dawsonville you will come to a major intersection with GA 400. Go north (left) on 400 to the very next traffic light and turn right on Harmony Church Rd. You will come to a stop sign a the jct. of 136 ( Price Rd. ). Turn right on 136. Travel on 136 for about 10 miles and it will end at Rt. 60. Make a right on 60 ( Thompson Br. Rd. ) and then a left at the very next light which is 283 ( Mt. Vernon Rd. ). Take 283 to the first stop sign and turn right on Jim Hood Rd. After a few miles you will come to a light - US 129. Go straight and the road becomes Nopone Rd. Go about a mile and turn left at the top of a hill on Bogus Rd. Go a mile on Bogus and you will see the sign for Adventures in Missions on the left. Turn there and follow the road to the end and you have arrived. Note: This is a 2 lane, windy road and is about 80 miles across, taking about 2 hours from the I-75 exit.

Alternate Route via interstate. Take I-75 south to I-285 and go east on I-285 to I-85. Go north on I-85 to exit 113, I-985. Take I-985 north to exit 24, US 129. You can then follow the directions above in coming from Atlanta. Note: This way is much longer mileage wise and sometimes much longer time wise, depending on the time of day and the Atlanta area traffic. But it's all interstate until you get to 129 (the last 10 miles).

TGYT - Meet Cartoon Character

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Would you rather...

meet Fred Flinstone or Yogi Bear?

I believe

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

There was a time just a couple weeks ago that really defined my faith and really showed God's plan for me here on earth. I work at a golf corse with a bunch of people and because of that I have made a couple friends while working there. Last summer I met this kid named Jeff and he seemed like he had it all together. He was a validictorian, college football quarterback, and one of the top few best golfers in Idaho. I became good friends with Jeff and worked with him last summer and again this summer. This year he came to me and told me he was going to commit suicide and had a number of plans of how to do it and told me not to get involved. I had to ignore him and tell his parents but I knew this was why God had put Jeff in my life. I have been hanging around him a lot lately and things seem to be getting better, but I just loved the reason why he said he told me that he was going to commit suicide. He said he told me because, "I was the nicest person he had ever met and because I had something he didn't.

I had talked to Jeff alot about God before this moment and he always said he was a christian and a regular church attendee but I knew something wasn't right. Since he confessed to me his plan he has told me that he no longer believes there is a God and has been leading me on. It is a work in progress right now but the fact that God's light shinning through me showed to Jeff and yet I was still approachable to him just really hit me hard. I thank God for blessing me with this task and I feel like this is also preparing me for Kenya and what he wants me to do for the rest of my life.