the ETA for Christmas is 4 days and it's usually on time.

I leave for Maasai Mara tommorow morning. Timm and I will travel all day in a matatu (hoopty van,) and with any luck end-up back with the Russells. The ride should cost about 8$ and be as precarious as my brother Paul attempting ping-pong in the olympic sector. I am excited to get out of nairobi, back into the middle of nowhere.

Christmas will take place in the Mara for me. I am nervous, but looking on. It's like going skydiving for the first time, and I am dangling out the airplane door.

I will not have access to the internet until the 1st or 2nd of January so I wish you all the most beautiful Christmas of your life. May it be filled with whatever it is that makes your whole body smile.

Go big or go home.



Kelly: I am looking, and I plan on looking harder this Christmas.

Deja: Thank you for the prayers and words. Have a wonderful Christmas.

Kristy: I got word of the party's success from the fam. and I am overjoyed. I can't believe it actually worked. I mean, you have to admit, between your dad's unending detail questioning and grandma's natural disposition it's a miracle your parents never found out. I applaud you. It makes me smile huge when I think about the party and your parents reaction. I am so happy you/steve to the time to do that for them. I am proud of you. And...did I forget about your cards?!! They are the single most important piece of luggage I carry. They are invaluable.

Sakas: It is wonderful to hear from you mike, and to know that you are reading the blog. Your words are heared and taken to heart. I appreciate them deeply. I hope and pray too for the ability to help. I am grateful for this oppurtunity, though at times the weight seems too much. It is comforting and spurring (spurring-me-on...?) to hear your words; it makes the load seem lighter. I hope life is exactly what you want it to be now. Take care mike.

notes from Africa, chapter 6

Africa is difficult. The place is just difficult.
Wholeshot...I am doing well and I am healthy; however, working with the people of Kibera, listening to story after story of mistreatment, abuse, and life-circumstance is without question taking a heavy toll on me. I am now having trouble staying encouraged that thier are good people, and even a harder time believing that there are good people that are not constantly abused. I sit with and listen to mostly women and children. The fathers and husbands are...upcountry doing "something?", drunk always, taking care of themselves only, or just flat out gone. The women are left with a bunch of children, no money, and many times HIV positive.
The Women try and make a living any way they can. I sat with a woman yesterday who wanted to sell me something. I am not sure what exactly she wanted to sell me, as she had nothing with her, but she proceeded to tell me she was sick and show me some random ultrasound pictures with a doctor's note. I read the doctor's note to her, which stated that she was absolutely healthy and gave her a confused look.
It is an odd sensation spending my days in Kibera, where people have absolutely nothing and live in constant filth, and then walking home to a safe bed. I could not really sleep last night. I layed in bed listening to people scream at each other and fight just outside the wall to my building. It sounded like they were standing in the hallway outside my room. I listened to them hit each other and scream. I layed there thinking, "this is normal." And what can I do about it...?
I think/pray constantly these days. Thank God I have Timm to talk, play, and laugh. My mind shoots from water treatment ideas to education reforms to garbage collecting schemes. Sometimes I wish more than anything I was the city planner/coordinator/funds allicator for Kibera, and sometimes I am glad that I am nothing of the sort. Thinking through all the ways I can help these people I am constantly turned back to the Gospel as the only hope. And I do not mean telling someone that Jesus loves them. That is part of it, but the Gospel is so much more. People need the Gospel in its dramatic, revolutionary fullness. It is obvious that they do not need an empty message. Out of all the things I can think of to help these people it is all to no avail unless it is the Gopsel, period.
I guess the bottom-line with my current struggle is what is my place in sharing the Gospel with the people of Kibera. What is my place in it all?, and even more so what is my responsibility? What is my responsibility with what I see and experience here? It is so much easier to know that at home.

I am learning a lot now, and I am growing. I beggining that process of figuring out what my responsibility for showing the Gospel here is and is not. I came on this trip to learn and help, and I am on the midst of it now. I don't know if I could have picked two harder goals.
I preached at church this morning. I feel it is one of the better things I have done thus far. It was wonderful to feel like I connected with the people of the service. I struggled with the Sermon a lot. It is like to really believe what you are saying you cannot just study for the teaching you actually need to fight with it. I have to admit until some unknown time last night it was very hard for me to believe I could say what I said to the congregation. The main idea of the passage, illustrated in Phillipians 4 and supported in countless references, was the idea that "you have everything you need right now." I stood there on the concrete/dirt floor stairing at people that have nothing, and proceeded to tell them that everything they need they already have...At first I thought it wasn't doable but it came, and it came as huge encouragement to the people and to myself. I am grateful to God for teaching me today.

Please continue to pray for Timm's health as he is in and out of stomach problems. Also, please pray for language competency. We are learning and doing well, but I think a lot more doors would open with just a little more comprehension.

Keep rockin' the free world.



kristie Puls: I hope that you recieved my e mail and are able to hop on he blog and check it out in all its blog-glory. I would love to know more about what is going on in your life/how all the travelling is. How is/was living in (good ole') Thornton? For some reason I think that you are moving to Alaska at some point...? Hope all is well.

Step on me and Laurelb: BE ACKNOWLEDGED. If these were the days-of-old with kings and knights and princesses and dragons (or we were in England) I would dub thee with a sword: ACKNOWLEDGED. Thank you for taking the time out of your streneous schedules to blog-it-up. You are welcome on the blog and will, without question, recieve at least a 1 to 1 return on your bloggings.

Step on me and Laurelb: Because I would like to hold to my promise of the 1 to 1 ratio I am now giving you a shout out to catch up, and to thank you for your prayers and kind words as they are both needed and desired.

Dad: I could not agree with you more. The guy needs his C. We are in the process of getting him some emergen-C. Also, thanks for calling last night it was amazing to talk to you/mom/paul. I miss you guys a ton, but am very grateful to have the oppurtunity to be here and experience Africa in this way, at this time. Thanks again for your support. Much love.

J-Rod: SO! good to hear from you. I am glad to hear that you and Jake and Sara are doing well. I have been thinking about you guys a lot lately. It is great that you found the blog in all it's bloggyness. You are welcome here. I would love an e mail from you letting me know what is up lately. There is a lot I do not know. Also, I am still waiting on that picture of Jake in his halloween get-up, you may need to send/post two so as to enlighten me on Jake's new acquired size. I miss you guys and remember you in my prayers. Please give Sara a hug for me, and Jake a 'what-up from uncle phil'.

Scotland: My dear Mr. Smart I am saddened that there will be no adam/phil car skiing this Christmas, but am in a small way grateful. I am grateful b/c the opening up of time in your schedule allowed you to build a TEN FOOT SNOWMAN! Which brings me great, deep seeded joy. Oh, to build a snow man... go inside warm yourself by a crackling fire, and, perhaps, enjoy a small glass of chocolate milk (if ya know what i'm sayin). Thank you for your prayers my friend. Adam, you are a constant encouragement. Much love to you as always.

Aaron Mgraine: I agree, it is not wise to mess with doctor Bob when it comes to the C. He pretty much has a monopoly on the vitiman, the effects there of, and the letter itself.
It is really good to hear from you. It makes me glad to know that you are alongside Timm and I in this journey. Your words are encouraging, thank you. I have missed our time together on Sundays...everyone has. I stay (somewhat) updated on what you and katie are doing through Paul and wish you guys the best of times. Take care.

Deja: I am constantly baffled by your work schedule. I am glad that you love your work. Thank you for the encouraging words, and the update on things in your corner of the world. It is dope that you hooked up your bike with all the proper specs. Ride like the wind!

notes from Africa, chapter 5

Hello all. Greetings from Africa. I apologize for not posting a blog in so long. I have only recently began to have access to the internet (or anything resembling technology). I thank my bro for posting up that e mail I sent just to my family.

I am back from in Nairobi and doing well. Things were very much up in the air when we first arrived in Nairobi. We were hoping (as you all know) to make it to Sudan. It was kinda the main destination while in Africa... I recently recieved the final "no go" from our contact. This is very dissapointing, but I trust God is guiding my steps; closing doors and opening doors for travel. It turns out that there has been some serious security problems/stephan (our contact) said they have just been through "a terrible situation". Please pray for continued safety for the our connection (Stephan and his family) in Sudan as well as...innocent people.

To up-date you on what is going on with Timm and I now I will just tell you what we have been doing this week. Friday: Took Timm's bro John to the airport and then were homeless and directionless for the afternoon. As the day progressed we had a meeting with some SIM people and began to get caught up in a vision for coming alongside/encouraging a ministry in Kibera (a huge slum in Nairobi). Then...Timm got sick. I went out in Nairobi by myself for the first time and tried to find us somewhere to sleep for the night. I did. It turned out that SIM's guesthouse had one free room, so...We have been staying there since. Saturday: we went down back down into Kibera and taught VBS for the day. Man, I love African children. There were a ton of kids, I taught the story of Daneil and the lions Den, and Timm then took the kids and taught them to draw lions and what not. I love the idea of bringing art into a place like Kibera. Sunday: I preached at the church, and then after church we found out that they had a second service...they then asked Timm to preach. It was pretty funny. He did well for having not had a chance to prepare at all. Monday: this day was Kenya Indpependence day, so we did not go down into Kibera. Instead we met up with some guys that are about our age and went into downtown Nairobi and saw the actual downtown. We also had some sweet african food at a little hole-in-the-place. Timm got sick again... Please pray that Timm would stay healthy. Today/Tuesday: we went door to door in Kibera talking with the people learning about thier sitautions and praying with them. It was a very good/encouraging to them/informative for us - time.

So, we will be working in Kibera here for at least the rest of this week. Tommorow we are going door to door visiting all of the HIV positive people that are part of the ministry and learning from them, and hopefully encouraging them to have hope.
I am not yet sure what we will be doing for Christmas. We have been toying with the idea of going to Mombassa with the guys we went downtown with yesterday or going back down to Massai Mara and spending Christmas with the Russells. I think either way some serious public transit is involved, and it should be interesting to say the least.

There are many things I need prayer for now:

Kibera: it is truly desperate. Pray for hope and comfort for these people. Most of them have fled from upcountry somewhere and live thier b/c it is the cheapest place to live. Many/most of them have Aids or are sick in some way. Pray for Chonesus (that is the group through SIM that Timm and I are working with) - pray that they would grow. This group is truly sharing the Gospel with these people, may they continue.

Health: Please pray that Timm would stay healthy. He is off and on sick, and when he is sick he cannot function very well. Please continue to pray that I stay healthy and if I do get sick that it would not be concomitly with Timm's sickness.

Sudan: Pray for the Stephan and his family's safety. And...just pray that that innocent people would stay innocent and unabused. Pray for Justice to be served in Sudan.

Development: I have been learning at an extremely fast rate about mission work, relief work, God, and justice. Please pray that God would give me a sharp mind in conjunction with compassion for the poeple here. I am being expected to evaluate the ministry in Kibera and help them progress. Please pray for God to give me helpful and encouraging words for them.

Direction: Please continue to pray that Timm and I would be were he wants us to be, living with love, in our Time after Christmas.

Christmas: Also please pray that I would take advantage of this Christmas without my family. I've never missed one and I am will miss them tremendously. Please pray that I would face the expereince, grow from the experience, and be grateful it happened the way it happened.

I miss you all very much and thank you for your prayers.

'out from the 'frica.



Aunt Sharon and Uncle George: Thank you so much for your prayers it means alot to me that you guys are daily praying for me. I am very encouarged to hear from you. I am also glad you are making use of the blog, that is why it exists. I missed you guys on thanksgiving, I hope yours was good. I ended up having a very decent thanksgiving in the middle of nowhere. I am very excited to share pics/video with you guys about what it is like here when I return. Much love.

Scotland: Thank you for the words brother. And don't you worry Timm and I have been syf'ing teh shyt hardcore for some time now. I preached on Sunday about Paiema (greek word for workmanship), look it up. I hope that greek is really chaning your understanding of the scriptures. Also look up the occurences of "good works/deeds" in the new testament in greek compared with the hebrew word Mitzvot (commandment) its mind-blowing. I love ya man.

Deja: It is cool to hear your descriptions of what it is like at home. I miss the snow hardcore. Also, thank you for the encouraging words/verses/talk of thankgiving. It was great to read. I hope that you get to make the cake for dave's wedding, and you enjoy it (the wedding). It is a crazy idea for me that he would be getting married. I have known him for going on seven years and this is the first time I have ever seen him with even a girlfriend. If you would, please greet him/the church for Timm and I. We miss him/and church. take care.

kate: Thanksgiving turned out to be okay. I was literally in the middle of nowhere. I was surrounded by camels/foriegn stuff, but I happened to be staying with an american family and we had a kickass thanksgiving meal. It felt good. I hope that you are learning a lot these days about whatever you want. I hope you are still wearing your Sudan t-shirt and praying. I miss hangin' out with you and Jared. take care and tell your family "what up" for me.

Jared: I have not seen any aliens yet, but I will keep looking. I hope you are doing well and enjoying school/chic-fil-a/music/reading/whatever you want. I am well and doing stuff, you know. take care. you and kate keep rockin' the suburbs.

Notes From Africa, chapter 4

[A bit more news from Br. Sweetaction, brought to you by your friends at Didymus (der blinde)]

Hello guys! Things are well with me, no worries.

Welp. It has been a fun, interesting, and exciting past few weeks. I was up north visiting a number of missionaries in a number of places. I have now seen most of Kenya. I saw some incredible things and in each place I went I was able to work, which was great. I laid another concrete floor for a villager's house in Loyngaliani (on the southeast end of Lake Turkana), ran the piping for a water heater in Ngudenet (a villige in the middle of nowhere), etc. I also got to do some phenomenal hiking.

As far as plans for the future...It looks like we will not be going to Sudan. Our connection just kind of fell apart.

The Russells are taking John (timm's brother) to the Airport tommorow and then going back down to Massai Mara. Timm and I are going to stay here in Nairobi. We are now working with Send In Mission (SIM). We are working in a place called Kibera. It is kinda the slums region of Nairobi. We are doing a number of things down there with them. There are a lot of areas for us to plug into and as time passes I will be able to say exactly what I will be doing. It will be something along the lines of teaching (literacy, high school, little kids), helping in the church there, teaching about aids, building facilities, etc.

I am excited to start on this new project. Timm and I are not sure where we will be staying yet. As of right now we are staying at The Master's Mission base (with the Russells). We are going back to the SIM offices tommorow to find out a place for us to live.
 
All that stuff aside.
 
I am doing well and enjoying Africa. Things are really up in the air right now because it is a transition time, but my experience here so far has been phenomenal. I have been learning a lot about misssions and have gotten to see missions in action in tribes all over Kenya.

I am healthy as an Ox. I have not gotten sick at all since being in Africa. I am very grateful for that. Timm, however, got sick while we were camping in a laga (dried river bed) about a week and a half ago. Luckily, we were only about an hour from a good clinic (the only one in north kenya). The clinic said that he had Malaria; however, we found out that the clinic has a reputation for saying that it is malaria when they are not really sure what is wrong. Most of the missionaries that we have been with said that he was probably just dehydrated. He was better within two days, and is completely fine now. If it was malaria it was probably due to the fact that he did not begin taking his med's until a few days before we left; whereas, I began taking mine two weeks before leaving thus not contracting malaria.
 
I am grateful for all your prayers and comments on the blog. I will respond more as soon as I am able. 
 
On a complete side note:  I saw an old freind in Nairobi...yeah, can you believe it. It is a girl that helped in planting Jacob's Well. I just saw her on the street and recognized her. She is living here in Nairobi and is working in Kebera. So it turns out that I already have a friend here. Wow.

Peace like a river.

Sup-date

[Didymus here, word has come from the bush, as follows . . .]

1. Letter

Dear . . .,
I got an email from John this morning. No news, but apparently
everyone is safe in Nairobi.
Cordially,
Kevin P.

2. Pictures


The house slab is "mostly" poured and the supporting columns too. Even some of the walls are going up.




Lions enjoying a wildebeest for breakfast about five miles from our house. (Seen on recent game drive with visitors from Houston and Denver.)