Life

11-1/2 days... That's how long I've been in Africa.

Perhaps because of jet lag, perhaps a short circuit between my ears, but it seems like I've been here a month, or two, or three... more on that later.

Before I left America, several people said something like this to me, "keep us updated." So after 10 days of keeping you in suspense, (or not) here is another post. 

I'm here to help at 2CBN. A TV station, so naturally I thought I would be doing stuff with media, video editing, camera work, etc...  Well, since I've been here I haven't touched a video camera, and I haven't done any video editing. But nonetheless I'm helping with the TV station. How? Making playlists... That's basically the schedule... what goes on the air, and when. Its pretty simple, but very important.

Tonight I asked Daniel what I would be doing long term. He said he wants me to perfect the process and work flow of making playlists, and pass that job on to someone else. That's exactly what I intend to do. How? I do not know. But I will do it. Because I don't believe that God had me travel 9126 miles just to make playlists.

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might..." (Eccl. 9:10) I think everyone has, at one time or another, wanted to do something great. But a baby doesn't start learning to walk by running a marathon. They learn by taking that one step, and then another, and another, until you can hardly keep track of them. I'm starting small, not necessarily by choice. But that's okay, God knows best...

On a side note, last week Daniel and I went to Mombasa, to take pictures at the wedding of one of his friends. We rode the overnight bus, which was interesting. Mombasa is on the coast, so I got to see the Indian ocean for the first time!

Back to what I started back at the beginning. It doesn't really matter how long it seems I've been here. I'll be here until God sees fit to put me elsewhere.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please keep praying for 2CBN and those involved with it.

Africa!

I'm here! The flights went very well, I was able to sleep some thankfully. Its not every day you have 2 nights in 24 hours!
I landed in Nairobi yesterday at about 12:35 local time. I met Titus(one of Daniels friends) and had no trouble getting my visa and luggage. And praise the Lord, customs went fine! I was through in less than a minute! (that doesn't happen very often so it was a real blessing!)
Traffic going home from the airport was quite the experience! I wouldn't survive if I had to drive here! Maybe sometime I will post some pictures of it.
I was very thankful when we got home to Daniels apartment! It was like Christmas for Daniel! Got his new computer and a bunch of other things for him and for the studio. I'm so glad I could bring so much stuff that is needed. (tripods, computers, hard drives etc.)

Thank you for the prayers for safe travel! I'm a little tired today but I don't seem to have too much jet lag. We'll see how the day goes.

Here are some pictures from the trip over.

I'm not sure how the pictures are going to work because this is the first time posting from my phone. The first picture is of the clouds coming into Nairobi, I love African clouds! Second picture is of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the airport. Third picture is from the flight to Nairobi from Addis.

On my way!

I still can't believe its happening! I'm currently in The Washington Dulles airport. My plane left portland 22 minutes late, but thanks to a healthy tailwind we weren't very late. I was a little worried because I only had 43 minutes in L.A. to get to my next flight. But Praise God, I walked off the plane, figured out where my next gate was, walked directly there and started boarding! (It was kind of a long walk, but I was really only in that airport for maybe 20 minutes.) I was able to sleep for 2-3 hours on that flight. I have 1-1/2 hour wait until the next flight starts boarding.

I'm very tired, but I've been enjoying myself so far. Thank you for the prayers!

Tickets!

I have plane tickets! I'm leaving Oct. 2 at 7:21PM from the Portland airport. And arriving in Nairobi at 12:45PM on Oct. 4. God is good! Please continue to pray for the preparations and details.

I'm incredibly busy, so this is only a short post to let you know I have the tickets. I'll post more later.

It's happening!

If you took the time to read the title, and you've read the previous post, you probably know what's happening. If you haven't read my first post, I'll tell you what's happening, in 4 words. I'm going to Africa!

My passport came last Thursday! After 10 weeks and 3 days, its finally here. I couldn't believe it for awhile. But its finally sinking in and the reality is that I need to get tickets. But before I get tickets there are some things that need to get worked out. I've decided not to go to AFCOE (Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism) in January. So that gives me flexibility on return dates, but please just pray that God would lead clearly so I can buy tickets soon. I'm tentatively planning on leaving on Oct. 1 or 2. 

Just on a side note. Daniel's computer got stolen last week, and the devil is working overtime to hinder the work going on. God provided the money to get him another computer, which we're praising Him for. But it's making me realize more and more that I'm not just going on a mission trip, I'm like a paratrooper jumping into the heat of battle. Please pray that I'll be prepared to serve God in the heat of the battle.

I'll tell a little bit about what I'll be doing there, in the next post. :)

Preparing for service,

Jonathan

Waiting

I was waiting. I’d been waiting all day. What was I waiting for? An email... And when it finally came my eyes tore through the words and when they reached the important part it felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I let out a long drawn out sigh and shook my head. The email was from my mother, and it was about my passport application, they needed more documentation to give me a passport. 

But before I continue, let me give you a little history. 

Growing up I’d always wanted to be a missionary. There were a number of things that influenced that desire. Young Disciple Camp, Faithcamp, and reading mission story books to name a few. I’ve watched numerous friends go to the mission field and come back inspired and changed. 

When I was about 10 I remember very clearly a missionary couple coming to do a presentation at our church. And when the day was almost over I remember them asking each member of our youth group what they wanted to do with their lives.  And the one thing I remember about that conversation is that I heard a lot of “I don’t know” answers. And I’m not the type of person who can just wander about without a purpose in mind. (Unless I have my camera in hand!) So by the time I was 16 I had a plan for my immediate future. If people asked me what I was going to do, I had an answer. That’s changed numerous times, and that's fine! I just needed to have a plan. I didn’t know about this quote at the time but it fits. “Success in any line demands a definite aim. He who would achieve true success in life must keep steadily in view the aim worthy of his endeavor. Such an aim is set before the youth of today.” Education pg. 262 

If you had asked me on June 29th what my plan for the future was, I would have told you I was going to YD camp, working the rest of the summer until January, going to AFCOE and then overseas for a year. If you had asked the same question on June 30th you would have gotten a very different response! You see the evening of June 29th my brother Daniel called. He’s been in Kenya setting up a TV station called Second Coming Broadcasting Network. ( www.2cbn.org ) 

Daniel had told my mom several months earlier that I should go to the mission field before going to AFCOE. I shrugged it off and almost forgot about it. But then when Daniel called I decided to ask him why he had said that. Long story short, the answer was that he thought I could probably gain a lot more from AFCOE if I had experienced being in a foreign country. And then he said something that shocked me. He asked me to go over there and help him from August until January. I started shaking with excitement almost immediately. We talked about it and I agreed to pray about it and move forward with getting my passport. 

That phone call resulted in my “plans” getting thrown in a blender on high! I was excited and went ahead with the passport process. I sent it in and went off to YD camp. Then on July 26th I got the first email from my mom. It simply said that there was a letter from the State Dept. addressed to me. And she asked if I wanted her to open it. I responded and asked her to open it. Then I waited, all through the next day I wondered what it was about. And then the email came. And that's where I started this post... 

We sent them more documents with the hope that they would grant me a passport. But this Monday I got another letter saying they needed still more documents! So we sent those off on Tuesday. And started waiting again. One thing that is a positive from them sending me a second letter requesting more documents, is that in the first letter they said that if the documents I sent weren’t sufficient then my application would be rejected. They weren’t enough. But they didn’t reject them they asked for more. Praise the Lord for that! 

One of the things that's so amazing to me about this whole passport situation is that I’m not overly worried about it. I know that God has it all under control and regardless of what happens with my passport, its still going to be okay! I don’t understand why God’s letting it be delayed, but that's okay, because God can see what I can’t. And He knows exactly if/when I am to go to Africa this fall. I’m so thankful to God for giving me peace about it all. Its so wonderful to not have to worry about it! 

So at this point I’m waiting for my passport. My plan at this point is to buy tickets for the soonest possible date after I get my passport back. And I’ll be coming back to the states in early January, and hopefully going through AFCOE. 

I know this has been a long post, and I’ll do my best to keep them shorter in the future. But I’d just like to ask that you pray for me in this situation, that God would make it clear whether I am to go to Africa and provide the resources needed. I also ask that you pray for His will do be done in my life. 

Waiting,

Jonathan