So here's the scoop – I have some (or a lot of) support raising to do before I leave for my trip on the 1^st of June! I will be spending 2 weeks at home in Nova Scotia to help facilitate some of this raising of the funds!

Here's the break down of where I am at financially right now:

For the 2 month Real life trip in June I currently have $805 towards my goal of $2000. I still need $1195 by May 31^st.

For my yearly salary I have an estimated $3510 pledged towards my goal of $18,000. I still need partnerships to raise the remaining $14,490.

If you feel led to partner with me in my ministry t serve AIM, for any amount (every bit helps), below is the address for my home church in which you can mail in checks (and post-dated, if you want) and donations. Bonus – its tax deductible and my home church will issue you a receipt! Be sure to write a separate note indicating your intentions to support me!

C/O Real Life Community Church

114 Whitehead Rd. Halifax, Nova Scotia

B3V 1B4

Canada

If you would like to meet up for coffee while I am home, send me an email!

My heart is delighted. This morning I had a wonderful reminder of why I am where I am today, and why I do what I do...

A beautiful woman of God and WR staff, sent an encouraging and thankful email to the rest of the AIM staff this morning. She highlighted a blog by Courtney Folwick, a current World Racer. Courtney is experiencing freedom in Christ in a powerful way...

excerpt from email:

" I think sometimes we have become immune to these words. We hear them all the time, but have you let it sink in lately?

                                               her.life.is.changed.

                                                                 gone forever is insecurity, fear, rejection issues, and so much more.

                                                                                            changed. forever.

                                                                        because of Jesus and the World Race.

real, honest-to-goodness life change is happening out there.  real people with real problems are finding real freedom. 

It is not a marketing ploy, a catchy phrase we throw around as WR-language, or an exaggeration.  it is her real life."

I read Courtney's blog and was moved to tears. I remember being in that sweet spot of unleashed freedom. I remember seeing team mates on the World Race, and team mates on Real Life find that spot too. It is life altering. And it's not just a personal experience... people- friends, family and strangers around them- are affected by what God is doing in their hearts, its a ripple affect thing.

I have an incredible passion for ministry to the nations, but even more so, the impartation of God's heart to see my generation discover freedom in Christ, has conquered me. I help with program logistics because I believe in mobilizing my peers. I lead trips because I believe in serving through discipleship. I run after Christ with every part of my life because I believe that in doing so, lives will be changed and freedom will invade the hearts of men and women around the globe.

Psalm 24 "... This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your Face."

Most of you were aware that 4 weeks ago I made my way towards Michigan with the intentions of helping to plan some upcoming Real Life trips. As it turns out, big surprise to me, I could not get through the US border! Long story short, I was told that I could not be paroled in as a missionary (unlike what I was told prior to my departure, by the US border patrol) because my work did not directly benefit US communities. This was by far, the kind of surprise that makes me feel all love-y dove-y.

So, with my plans looking quite dissolved at that point, I had to turn to the Lord in a big way! I felt a strong urge in my spirit not to give up or give in to certain feelings. I was seeing a big test before me of how I was going to react to an uncertain situation and I had a fighting desire to pass this one with flying colors! I would seek the Lord, trust Him like never before, and step out in Faith. I picked up an attitude of submission to God that pierced the heart of my expectations and desires, but it launched a supernatural faith in God's sovereignty over my life.

I guess that I will continue to consider surprises as one of my favorite love languages, even between Jesus and I, because once the shock factor fades into the background... I am left with a gift. In this case, a new realm of Faith.

We're on the downward slope for our time here in Kenya. We officially met the half-way point last week with our mid-trip debrief!

So, let me catch you up on some things...

2 weeks ago we traveled north 8 hours to a place called Musul, which is where we stayed with the Masaai Tribe. WOW... wish we could have stayed longer, 6 days was not enough! Besides the regular wildlife encounters of Elephants, Giraffes and Zebras, our encounter with the people was most memorable! Sunday morning church was our first taste of the rich Masaai culture. We danced, sang, and danced some more to traditional songs and even attempted the traditional dance, which none of us north americans can rythmically get for the lack of coordination between neck and shoulders! But fun none the less! The church definitely rang out with the Joy of the Lord as we shared testimonies, worshiped, and heard the Word of God together. The week consisted of visiting Bomas (homes), teaching at schools, showing films, and ending with an open air evangelism crusade in the local market! The team learned a lot about the Masaai culture and the strongholds that keep people from accepting the Love of Christ. The Masaai men are polygamist and therefore have many wives and lots of children. The man of the family is the chief and whatever he says goes, even if a woman wanted to give her heart to Christ, she must first have the cheifs permission. The Masaai are nomadic and follow the herds, or the water. We arrived shortly after a lot of families had moved to the foothills of mount Kenya where there is more vegetation for their livestock. We met a woman who shared with us that she had gone to fetch water and when she returned her family had left without her, for what reason she was not sure, but she was left to care for some of the children and wait for their return in the next season. I don't know how she survives with hardly any resources and without the help of her family. A couple barriers that we came up against when sharing the gospel with the Masaai was that in their traditional beliefs there is no after life, when you die you're done. So to try and explain a spirit life/ afterlife with God it sounds ridiculous to them. The other barrier being that most of the adults believe they are too old to change their ways now, its better to leave those changes of lifestyle to those who are in their youth. These were only men and women of about 40 who said this. Another thing we learned that was a huge hurdle for the women is the circumcision that is mandatory in order for them to be considered a woman. It is a very unsanitary ceremony that leaves these young girls with the risk of infection, and HIV. More and more Masaai women are refusing the circumcision but they will also be shunned for refusing, and will not be married. The bottom line is that the women have no rights what so ever in this culture, some are finding the freedom to fight it while most are subject to it.

The team embraced the Masaai with the Love of Christ where ever they could. With encouraging words, prayers, or quality time spent together many of the locals felt befriended by the team.

Oh, and the open air evangelism in the market... yea, Jesus rocked it! We shared our life stories over the loud speaker, danced, sang, prayed and preached! It was a super fun day interacting with the locals at their bi-weekly market where families gather to buy/sell food, clothing, beads for fashion, cows, sheep and camel! Yup there were camels there for sale, wish I could've bought one! But I did get to ride on one!

There was also a point where we were charged at by wild elephants on our way to ministry! We had stopped to see a family of about 10 elephants on the side of the road when the big Grandpappy of them all, stormed out of the bushes towards our bus! This also just so happened to be at the same time that our driver put the bus in reverse to get a little closer! So very quickly we were face to face with a MAD elephant! It turned out that He was just making a statement as the rest of the elephants ran behind him to escape and He found his place at the back of the line heading into the bushes on the other side of the road. It was a close call, and I believe that Grandpappy elephant could have knocked our bus right on over if he so desired to!

We spent 4 days at FishEagle working through some of our differences among the team. It seems to be normal at this point of a mission trip to be so incredibly over the whole community living thing. And so we had to push through the hard times of character development to reach the point of finding fresh vision and energy for the ministry that God called us here to do!

Many times on this trip I have been so busy ministering to the team and our finance book, that I forget to sit and reflect on the things God has been teaching me through this leadership role. And so I have been trying to make time to process too. One thing I am continually gaining understanding in, is that I am not fully alive in the life of Christ until I am fully loving His people, whether teammates, our host, or the locals. Love has been the theme of this trip without a doubt, for us leaders and among the team. 1 Corinthians 13 is our lifeline. If I think about it, where would I be without the Love God first showed me in His Son, why would it be any different for this team and this mission. We love because He first loved us.

Another thing I am trying to wrap my mind, spirit and soul around is leading through serving. I'm not talking about the times that it comes naturally but the times when it doesn't and I have to choose to be on the side of a servants heart towards my team, ie, when I am worn out, longing for personal time, or straight up frustrated. It is in those moments that the Lord is teaching me about sacrifice that hurts and yet brings fruit in the end. My prayer is that I continually strive to be an example of God's Kingdom at work from within, expressing the character of Christ.

Our team has gone through a few changes since training camp. Almost 2 weeks ago we said good-bye to 3 teammates who made the choice to no longer be a part of the team. 1 went home and 2 pursued another ministry option in Uganda. Although it was a rough few days, I believe that we can all say the Lord was in it and the team has definitely grown through the ordeal. We have finally settled as a family, and that is a good feeling.

A week in the life of a Kenya Real Lifer looks like this... Mondays we walk to Regency Elementary and a nearby preschool to spend the day teaching and playing with the kids. The men usually jump in on the construction projects.

Tuesdays we visit the Turkana people in a nearby village down in the valley. Our focus during these visits is to build relationships by visiting homes. This is one of our favorite times of the week because it is usually filled with a lot of joy and laughter with new friends. One thing we have learned about Kenyan culture is that visitors are one of the greatest blessings to a family. We have seen many come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ and we have had ample opportunity to bless homes, families and crops through prayer and song.

Wednesdays are reserved for the Kijabe Hospital where we visit patients, build relationships with families and also some physical labor behind the scenes in the kitchen and with construction. Kijabe hospital is a hotspot for medical care throughout Kenya and nearby Somalia. Some of our participants have dedicated their time to building relationships with the Somali Muslims and have seen hearts begin to open up to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Thursday is the wonderful day of rest and relaxation aka find the most exciting thing to do in or around Nairobi/Kijabe! We have set out in search of Zebra, Baboons, Warthogs etc. and we have also found a sweet spot for a barbaric meal of lamb! Next week we will be climbing Mount Longonot which is a dormant volcano!

Fridays we take a 1.5 hr hike through the forest to reach the Old Town of Kijabe. Here we have taught at the local elementary/high school and have also made house visits to build relationship within the community. This is a super fun place to be, the locals love to interact with us, play with us and simply share life with us. Today my small team of evangelists and I helped dig a toilet, helped to dig a hole for an electrical pole, and celebrated Christ with many families along the way!

Saturday is still kind of up in the air, but no worries we are flexible! Either we purchase food and distribute it at a local IDP camp (Internally Displaced People) or we stay within Kijabe evangelizing and visiting friends.

Sunday – CHURCH AND NAPS!

So in a nut shell this is the ministry outline for our time here in Kenya. We have begun to feel comfortable with the routine and look forward to each place for special reasons.

Tomorrow we will be taking a bus 8 hours north where we will be camping out with a Masaai Tribe for a week. We are very excited for the challenge of traditional living and the relational evangelism of a new kind that we are about to walk into! Please pray for our safety in traveling and also that the Elephants don't trample our tents during the night!