God is Real!

I woke up to the noise of cars outside my window. It was 5:55 A.M...

I rolled over and then remembered that there was a good reason to look at my computer just then...

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I lifted the mosquito net and woke my computer up from sleep...

I scanned the emails that had come in since I went to sleep the night before.

And as I finished reading the email, a solitary tear trickled down my face, followed quickly by more.

Speechless...

Amazed...

Thankful...

All I could do was whisper... "Thank you, Lord"

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Ever since I was little I can remember asking my parents questions like, "When are we leaving?" "What are we doing tomorrow?" "What's the plan?".

You see, I'm one of those people that like to have all my ducks in a perfect row and have everything planned out ahead of time.

Now having said that, I'm not too bad at doing things on the fly either, but I certainly prefer to have it all planned.

So in the last few weeks I've been wondering, praying, and asking God to show me whether I am to go on the trip to Asia with Daniel and Jon Wood and several others.

I just had this sense of not knowing, and that can get stressful for me... But I kept asking God for a sign.

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Early in this week, for no particular reason I decided to look at Craigslist near my home for a camera lens. (I need a new camera lens with Image Stabilization for taking video.)

I found a particular lens that was half of the new price but still in great condition. (Canon 24-105mm L IS, for you camera geeks)

But, I don't have any money...

I lamented that fact, because it was such a great deal! And it is a much better lens than what I was expecting I would be able to get.

To make a long story short, without boring you with details.

God worked a miracle! He provided money, and saved that lens for me! (with a price like that it could have been gone in a very short period of time)

I went to bed Wednesday night not knowing whether it was going to work out to get the lens. And when I woke up Thursday morning is when I got the email that my mother had been able to get the lens. (with the help of another friend as well.)

I asked God for a sign, and he has certainly given me one! And since then God has been providing money for the trip! We serve a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God!!

God is good, ALL the time! And ALL the time, God is good!

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In moving forward with the plans for the trip, today I went to the Indian Embassy here in Nairobi, and applied for the visa. I go to pick it up next week.

Right now I'm planning on leaving here on January 21. I'll fly to Bangkok to meet up with the team and then I'll travel with them in Thailand, Cambodia, and India. After that I'll be flying back home to the US. (thats the plan at this point, but that can change!)

I just want to thank all of you who are following my blog and keeping updated on what I'm doing. And also to every one of you that have helped me, either through prayer, or with expenses. God Bless each of you!

Getting ready for Asia! (they wear flip-flops a lot)

Baboons, Lions, and Asia!

Something about growing up in Washington state... Christmas will never feel like Christmas without snow.

And I can assure you there is no snow in Nairobi!

But despite that, Christmas day was amazing!

We went to Nairobi National Park. It has the distinction of being the closest game park to a city. Just 10 Kilometers away from downtown Nairobi.

We got to see 3 of the big 5, (Water Buffalo, Lions, and a Rhino) and many other well known African animals.

We stopped at a picnic area to eat lunch, and there were a bunch of Baboons hanging around! Frank and Valerie started to unpack the food on one of the tables there, and like a lightning flash one of the baboons streaked in and nimbly displayed its skills as a thief and ran off with our bread! Then the rascal sat like 20 feet away and started to eat the bread! Needless to say, they packed the food right back up and we ate lunch in the car!

This is one of the male lions that we saw. So majestic.

Caption, anyone?!

Its hard to believe that I've been here in Africa for nearly 3 months... Time has flown by quickly.

Its even harder to believe that I'll only be here another few weeks. (hopefully) I haven't really talked much about my future plans on my blog. So its about time!

I'm hoping to join a group of people going on a trip to Asia capturing video footage to show the needs of the unreached people there. The trip will include time in Thailand and India. The group from the US is planning on leaving Jan 22. And it will last somewhere around 2 months I think. I'll be headed back home then unless God sends me somewhere else.

Will you join me in praying that God will supply the resources needed if He wants me to go on this trip?

Living without...

You know how sometimes there's something you think you can't live without? Maybe a friend, a computer, phone, teddy bear, whatever. You just think you can't live without it...

That was me about 4 days ago... my iPhone had quit working. That was my source of internet, phone, texting, everything that I needed to stay connected to the "outside world". Something I didn't think I could live without.

Well after a couple days of frustration and trying to fix my iphone, it has officially died. (I got it used and the previous owner attempted to fix it and in the process only caused more problems.)

Now there's two ways I can look at this. I can see that Christmas is only 2 days away and lament that it happened during this season. I could be upset and depressed because it was so useful while it was alive.

Or...

I can move on and recognize the fact that God is teaching me something very important. Even though I may not understand it fully right now...

Which do you think is better?

Well I can tell you which one I've chosen... The second, because thats the only one that makes any sense at all.

I don't have time to waste being depressed about a little phone!

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  ~  1 Timothy 6:7-8

Thrown in.

There's plenty I could blog about, much has happened since my last post. Here's a little bit...

Sunday afternoon, (Dec 9) I moved in with Frank and Valerie. I wasn't able to get to bed early and Frank told me to sleep in monday morning. Which I did, at about 8:15 I walked into the living room. Where without much ado I was informed that we had been asked to record some ALIVE (Africans Living In View of Eternity) meetings for the week up at AUA (Adventist University of Africa).

I was awake then.

I hurriedly ate some breakfast and got over to the studio. Started the packing process, worked on uploading playlists so I could forget about that for the time being. Then went to the house, packed some clothes, went back to the studio and finished packing and left. We got up there and set up in the afternoon, and started recording that night.

That was one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I'd never been in charge of anything like that before.

To add to that, Frank and Valerie left on Wednesday (Dec 12) to go to Tanzania to be at two weddings. That meant that I was there by myself in charge of the whole operation, the likes of which I'd never done before.

Kind of like the indian chief that threw the young man into the lake so he would learn how to swim.

I was thrown into a deep lake alright! When Frank was leaving, he said there was fear in my eyes. First time he'd seen that in me.

But I learned to swim, at least I learned how to stay afloat. I came out of that experience a little bit older, a little bit wiser, and a whole lot more tired! But I learned a lot and I'm so very thankful for the opportunity.

On a side note, Daniel is back in the US and on his way home for Christmas. :-)

Take Action!

Data, in the form of sound, entered my brain... 

The words that were spoken, once my brain had processed them, caused me to cringe inwardly...

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Daniel had just gotten back from Tanzania. He went there for several days to get some rest. You see, he's been working nonstop, for 10 months. (He planned to be here for 2 months!) Living by himself, in a completely different culture, with multitude of challenges that most people can't comprehend. Doing the work of 5 people.

 FIVE PEOPLE! 

He burned out... 

And here's why:

Because some will not lift the burdens they could lift, or do the work they might do, the work is too great for the few who will engage in it. They see so much to do that they overtax their strength, and are fast wearing out. ~ Christian Service pg 45

That describes Daniel, perfectly...

When I got here to Nairobi, I knew my job was to get Daniel out of here. For his own safety and well-being. He was physically, and mentally exhausted. And quite honestly, it is only through God's sustaining power, that Daniel is alive today. 

They see so much to do that they overtax their strength, and are fast wearing out.

Dedicated... 

Committed... 

Faithful... 

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As the words sunk in, it hurt. 

The night Daniel got back from Tanzania, I asked him a very simple question. 

"Did you get lots of pictures?" 

The answer I got, made me realize how burned-out he was. 

"No, it's going to take awhile to learn to love my camera again." 

Ouch. 

You see, Daniel loves photography. Its one of his biggest hobbies. But he worked so hard, for so long, that he lost his passion and love for his camera. 

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Friends, there are people dying who have never heard the name of Jesus. 

Never...

What are you going to do about it? Will you continue to go about your daily life and try to forget? Or will you take action?

"The Christian is not obedient unless he is doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the heathen world." ~ A.B. Simpson

Get involved. Take action. 

Jesus gave His life for you, can't you give back?

Giraffe Centre!

Last Sunday, Pastor Frank and his wife took us to a wonderful Lebanese restaurant called "The Phoenician". Then we went to the Giraffe Centre! It wasn't very big, but it was good to get out and get some pictures.

 Valerie trying a brave way to feed the Giraffe.

Daniel left for Tanzania today to take a break. He's been working nonstop for 10 months and he definitely needs a break. He'll come back next Thursday (Nov 29), and he leaves for Cameroon the following Tuesday (Dec 4). I already miss him!

Life with pictures!

So many things have happened since my last update I don't even know where to start! I'll try to start at the beginning, since that's usually the best place to start.

Pastor Frank & Valerie Ricks have joined 2CBN! They retired and came to Africa a few years ago and most recently have been working with a radio station in Baraton at the University of Eastern Africa. But after seeing the need at 2CBN they felt impressed to come and help. Frank is going to be taking over as director! That will allow Daniel to leave and go to Cameroon (He was planning on going there in March!) and then back to the States. This is what we've been praying for and God answered the prayers, in His time.

In my last post I talked about doing playlists, and how Daniel asked me to perfect it and then pass it on to someone else. Well I think I perfected it as much as possible without changing the work flow. When I first started making playlists, it took me about 4-5 hours for each one. But now I can do a weekday playlist in less than 30 minutes. And my record is 21 minutes! (That was for a weekend one which is easier) If that's not improvement I don't know what is! God is good! So now I'm training a few other people to do the playlists, and moving on to bigger things! I'm doing more Content Management right now. That is basically taking programs that we have permission to air, making sure they are converted to the right format, and adding an intro if needed. Certainly much more what I like to do. But I'm happy to do playlists if we get in a pinch. After all, I can do a week of playlists in a day! :)

Now for the pictures. I haven't been able to take as many pictures as I'd like, because I have to be careful where I take my camera out. But this week we went to see some property that has been donated to build a studio on. So I was able to take some pictures. :)

Any volunteers? That's one guy pulling and one or 2 pushing from behind. 

This is a Matatu! Not the best picture but at least you know what it looks like. Its a 14 seater, that means 14 passengers plus driver and conductor!! 

Driving to see the property. This was my first time out of the city since I've been here.

Pastor Frank.

Valerie, Salome Lenana (she took us out there) Daniel, and Pastor Frank. 

An African Mahogany tree! 

A cow herder. 

I'm usually behind the camera, but here's a picture of me.