Growing in Grace

Easter and livin' the life

2009-04-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone's Easter went well. I was privileged enough to give a message at out bi-monthly Saturday night service, on Holy Saturday leading up to Easter Sunday. While I went in quite nervous about delivering one of the bigger sermons of the year, I believe the message I gave went very well. I received a lot of positive feedback and really believed that God lead me in what to say. Up until the morning of that Saturday, I was still wrestling with what to say and how to say it. After reading one of my friends' blog posts that same morning I was inspired by some of his stories and was able to proceed with a new sense of clarity on the meaning of the Resurrection. I took this picture that same day around 4 PM. I did so to document a strange phenomena that I've never been a apart of. It rained (although only a small amount) and was still 100 degrees outside! That's crazy.
The second picture is from taking some of the youth leaders to a local hotel for a day or relaxing at a pool on one of their days off. If you can't beat the heat, I figure you might as well swim and try to enjoy it. As I being to get prepared to leave I have tons of work left to do with the youth group, as far as end of the year retreats, banquets, and more. And Thursday night, I'll be DJ'ing the high school Prom. So I'm already excited about playing some Tom Jones and Airsuply for that. Not really, but I would like to play Tom Jones, but I don't think that's what the kids are dancing to these days. What a shame.

Ben leads a Seder?

2009-04-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night I had the privilege of leading a group of the youth group students in a Seder. I would not consider myself trained in doing so, but I was able to use a program one of my professors from college has used before. It was designed as a follow up to the mission trip we took in October. This is because our Bible teaching focused around the exodus from Egypt. So these students were able to get a better understanding of how the Jewish festival of Passover works. The program I used has been modified in a Christian sense though, so several of the aspects of the seder dinner, which allude to the coming Messiah were actually explained through the coming of Jesus. It was a great night overall. The kids learned some new aspects to the Passover story and had some good fellowship. Meanwhile it was fun for me to lead something like this and stumble through my rusty Hebrew pronunciation.

30 hr. Famine

2009-03-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

So I decided to do a running diary for the 30 hr. famine that our youth group did.

Thursday
3:00 PM: I ate a whole pizza, the fast starts at 4:00 PM, so I gotta get my fill in.

4:35 PM: I'm taking an unusually late nap.

6:45 PM: Just woke up, it's dark out, I think I overslept.

7:30 PM: Missing dinner, I'm getting a little hungry.

10:15 PM: Working on youth group talk.

12:35 AM: Going to bed.

1:27 AM: Regretting that late nap. Lying in bed trying to fall asleep.

2:32 AM: REALLY regretting that late nap. I'm an idiot. I'm in bed, sweating, and a little hungry.

Friday
8:07 AM: Woke up because it got too hot to sleep anymore.

11:50 AM: Time to get over to the youth event.

12::32 PM: We have been fasting for about 20 hrs. now, I'm having the kids journal and pray.

12:35 PM: I go into the back room to change into my painting clothes, and a gecko falls from the ceiling into my shirt. I kind of freaked out and almost yelled from surprise but since all the kids were in such contemplative states, I refrained. I pulled my shirt off real quick and danced around like an idiot though.

2:00 PM: We head out to the ministry site "Pam-Bila" to paint some school rooms.

Sidenote: Pam-Bila is a ministry site that we are partnering with for our food distribution this year. The money our students raise will be going to help feed the students of that ministry and their families.

3:30 PM: The kids are hanging strong although the 100+ heat is starting to get to a lot of the students who are on empty stomachs.

5:00 PM: We are finished with the painting, now it's off to the school pool to relax a little and get refreshed.

7:00 PM: Off to the youth group house to start youth group.

9:30 PM: We're heading into the home stretch the 30 hrs. ends at 10:00 PM and now we are getting into some good worship, despite being tired and hungry.

10:24 PM: Finished worshiping, now it's time to eat! NOT! As the leadership we decided to put a few pieces of bread out on the table and let the kids figure out what to do. Our hope was to stretch the kids and have them think more about the desperation that the people here face on a regular basis.

10:44 PM: The kids are meeting, talking, and praying. We regroup, Leanna talks some more, the kids share their hearts. They start to get it and I hear a lot of wise words from the kids.

11:10 PM: We really break out fast, the kids eat, talk and continue to process everything.

12:00 AM We're done! Time to go home everyone.

An long day, a tiring day, a rewarding day.

You Know you live in West Africa When...

2009-03-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

You know you live in West Africa when you look at the thermostat and it says 95 degrees and you think, "Wow, it's cool enough for me to go for a long run outside today!"

Fund Raising and more

2009-03-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been helping the students at the International school raise money for their prom. Earlier in the week the Jr's. were auctioned off by yours truly in a servant auction. Last night my friend Leanna and I hosted a casino night again to raise money. There was blackjack, poker and more. Here we are with the one of the students who won the most chips for the night and earned this t-shirt.
And for those of you who might not receive my quarterly report, I want to let you all know that I have chosen to extend my time here in Burkina for a few months. My original term was to end in April, but because of the nature of my work with the students I believe that it would be best for me to stay until the end of the school year. So I will finishing in the middle of June now. It has taken me a while to come to this decision but I believe it is where God is leading me and I am excited for the work I will be able to continue on doing until June.

Finally, if you would like to watch a video a couple friends and I made you can click on this link and enjoy me getting punched slapped and more!
http://www.vimeo.com/3147840

medical outreach pics

2009-03-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from the outreaches. The bottom one is of the students testing urine samples (obviously the best job) the second is of some of the kids in line with me, and the top one is one of the doctors doing a check up on one of the students.

Medical Outreaches and more...

2009-03-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have had the great opportunity last week to help out with an ongoing medical ministry that is happening on the outskirts of Ouaga. A Belgian doctor here goes to schools on the outer parts of town and gives the students medical check ups. He also partners with the school where I do a great deal of my ministry so my students have over the past few months been able to help out with this. I finally had some time to get to one of these and I have to say I was very excited about what I saw. Now mind you that elementary age students who don't even speak french are not my cup o' tea per se nevertheless it was fun for me to measure height, weight, and administer vision tests to the students. After they have those checked out a series of doctors give them a more thorough examination and the kids are able to get basic antibiotics, ointments, and eye glasses for next to nothing if needed. In one week this doctoer will see up to 400 kids. Helping these kids with medical issues is a huge step towards them being able to become better students. If they can't read the chalk board many (as you can imagine) stop paying attention to class and become bored. Not only that, but these outreaches are meeting basic needs of the community and are doing so in the name of Christ. One of the school that we went to last week was an Arabic Islamic school where kids go specifically to learn and read the Koran. I believe wholly that these types of outreaches take large steps to peoples of other faiths in showing them the love of Christ.

As for the more part. For the past 3 years the youth group has raised funds for a food distribution here in Ouaga. Well, we are gearing up for another year hopefully that will challenge the youth group to give and ask others to partner with them and also meet a need here in the community. We will be partnering with friends of ours who do a ministry that puts kids in school teaches them vocational skills and gives food to their families. They also do work with justice issues where parents are physically abusing the students and property issues with women (a major issue throughout Africa). I am excited to see what our students will do with the challenge given them and I pray that as a leader I can help inspire them and show them what it means to be a generous giver to those less fortunate.

My internet is being slow so I'll try to post pictures from the medical outreach tomorrow, until then enjoy your Sunday rest.

As Time Goes By

2009-02-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

It is February now and it seems that the days continue to fly by. Part of that is because I have stayed fairly busy doing several different jobs and tasks lately. The bulk of my time right now is being spent on preparing lessons for the Thursday night youth group though. We have started a series that deals somewhat with apologetics and how to share our faith with friends. This has proved to be a gi-normous task on my part. I am spending a good deal of time reading and formulating my lessons, but thus far I have been very happy with the way it is going. My end goal is to teach them how to think about their faith in a more mature way and give them more confidence in sharing that faith. Some of the topics are quite deep and I do at times find it challenging to make these ideas accessible to both Jr. High and Sr. students, but I am learning from this process as well.
Earlier in January I also got to give a talk for a bi-monthly Saturday service we do. We are doing the 7 deadly sins so I got to talk about lust. Trust me, this is no easy topic to discuss in a relevant and truthful manner in a group that consists of students and parents and men and women. That was another challenging message but I got positive feedback and I think I handled it as well as I could.
Life here seems to be going along just as normal in a lot of ways. I have a weekly routine that includes teaching a few students weightlifting, weekly Bible studies, and some softball on the weekends. We actually have a tournament coming up just like the one that I traveled to back in October. I am looking forward to that again and having fun competing in a tournament.
Finally, a brief weather report. My outside thermostat states right now that it is about 100 degrees in the shade. The nights are not as cool as they were a few weeks ago, and so I pretty sure that our "cool season" is officially ending. That means I can only look forward to much much more sweating!
Until next time keep on truckin'.

Some Christmas pictures and stories

2009-01-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

So my brother Adam actually came out to visit me here in Burkina for Christmas and New Years. It was kind of weird having someone from the "back home" world come into my "Africa" world, but to quote the great George Costanza from Seinfeld, "WORLD'S are COLLIDING!!!" It was fun to have him there and with the limited time he had I felt like I was able to show him a fair bit of life here in Africa. No elephants or village trips per se, but we did sit on crocodiles and for part of my Santa candy give-a-way he and I and my other friend Joel went to the local kids hospital on the night of Christmas. Me as Santa we gave out candy to probably about 30-40 patients a few of the doctors and many of the parents staying with the kids. To be honest it was very hard for me to see so many of the kids with malaria or severe burns or even AIDS. I did my best to smile and try to give them a little joy and hope. Whether or not I was successful, I'm not sure but I pray that God's love was shown if only through a few pieces of unexpected candy and a smile from a crazy white guy in a red suit.

If you'd like to check out a few videos look here

2008-12-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

So the same missionary friend of mine who I did the Give-a-Kid-a-Christmas has posted some of the videos on a site called "vimeo". This is a link to one video that he and I did for the youth group, and you can also find other videos there about the outreach.

http://www.vimeo.com/2537648

Merry Christmas

Picture from Give a Kid a Christmas and more

2008-12-21T10:59:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of my new roommate Tyler and I at a local Christmas party. We keep it real.
This is a picture from my perspective as we got the truck towed back to the local town during the give a kid a Christmas. My other passengers road in the back of the other truck while I steered mine.
This is a photo of my old roommate Reid and I at the airport. He unfortunately had to leave unexpectedly for family issues. He was a good friend to me here in Burkina.
This is a photo of some kids at one of the outreaches opening up their Christmas gift. I did my best to capture some of their joy as they opened their backpacks.
This is a photo of some of the kids watching the drama's we put on during the children's outreach at a local school in Ouaga.

Give-a-Kid-a-Christmas!

2008-12-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Time! First let me say merry Christmas to all of you. For those of you who received my quarterly update you might remember that I mentioned a few short stories about Give-a-Kid-a-Christmas. Well I am here to elaborate on that project a little more and share some of the craziness that was my life for 3 weeks or so.

It began in the middle of November with an overnight trip to a town called Dori. That was where we were originally going to do this outreach. Before I go further let me explain the background. A missionary here in Burkina with another organization does a kids outreach each Christmas year which joins together the gospel with a social aspect to development. A team of Burkinabe do skit about brushing your teeth, washing, not eating old food ect. This is done at the schools. Then a gift of a backpack with pens paper, a few pieces of candy and the like are given. After that or maybe the next day we do a gospel skit. Showing and acting the story of creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

So back to the story at hand, we went to Dori but it turned out Samaritan's Purse is going there in April so we didn't want to do it there. So after some prayer and consideration we chose Piela. Now I'd been to Piela a few times before but none of my trips were like this. First off we went to Piela just to meet with the pastors to see if it was o.k. to do it there. We got the go ahead and began making plans and packing 3,000 gifts! The next week we did the same program at schools here in Ouaga. Then the first week of December it was the big show, Piela. 1,800 kids 6 or 7 school's 4 days ya. Well it started Tuesday but I got the pleasure of Driving 600 gifts in a truck on Monday and then turning around and coming back the same day. It's about 4 hours each way.
Tuesday comes I get up bright and early at like 5:30 or some unhuman hour of the morning, get ready and head over to HQ. Well due to complications and set backs (not unfamiliar to Burkina) we left at about noon. So I'm lead truck heading the 2 truck and 1 mini van convoy to Piela. But when my truck reached the half way point I realized I'd lost the convoy and they were seriously slow. Then I found that my phone had rang several times. I called back only to find out the mini van went down for the count about an hour earlier. A piece inside the back right wheel broke, the wheel smoked up and caught fire! So about 8 or 9 of our team was stuck. I waited in a town about at the half way point for the other truck. We waited, the truck came and off we went to drop the gifts and equipment off at which point we'd come back for the van.

The other truck took lead and we headed out, about 10 miles outside of this town guess what? Yup, my truck went M.I.A. on me! Not only did it die but it wouldn't even turn over at all, we tried push starting it several times... nothing. I thought at this point I was going to have to jog the 10 miles back to town to get help to tow it. We couldn't stay there in the middle of nowhere that night, because that area is known as bandit country plus there were 2 girls with us and I didn't feel comfortable with having them be stranded. Well, a blue truck did pull up to help us. At first we thought it was the other team members, but nope, it was 4 rather dirty somewhat shady characters getting out of their truck. At which point I went on high alert. They did end up helping us and towed us back to town, but at one point one of the guys was taking a real long look at what was in out truck and I thought we were going to get robbed. So, 2 out of 3 are now down and out. We can't get a hold of the driver of the blue truck so the passengers in my car and I sat in front of a shop next to the mechanics shop for 5 hours with nothing to do.

The blue truck came back went and picked up the van people and came back to where we were around 11:30 PM or so. At that point we decided the girls and some of the needed equipment would head up that night, I and about 5 guys would sleep in the town on the street next to the truck that night because of the valuable equipment in it. So I have now experienced homelessness and sleeping on the streets. After a great night of sleep we got up the next day. The blue truck picked us up at about 12 to head up. We left the truck and arranged for a mechanic from Ouaga to drive up and tow it back to Ouaga to work on it. So we get up to Piela and do a couple of the social dramas. They actually go over pretty well and after an exhausting day we get to go to bed. However at this point I start feeling downright awful. I've got some kind of headache and I woke up in the middle of the night so thirsty I was about to drink my own sweat. I found some water but didn't sleep well. I didn't get tested but I'm pretty sure I had malaria at that point (I took some medicine when I got back to Ouaga). So after another sleepless night we had about 5 schools to do the social dramas at. That night we set up and did the gospel dramas. Wouldn't you know it, just as we got the crowds attention, did a few minor skits we got everything ready for the actual drama and... boom! The speakers blew out because the generator surged! Now the actors act and one of our other team members have to yell out to explain what's going on.

Despite all that almost 200 kids came forward to find out more about Jesus afterwards. Which was great. We got back to basecamp I ate some food and tried to go to bed early. I slept slightly better that night, and got up by 6 or so to catch the bus back to Ouaga at 7. Most of us caught the bus and a few stayed behind in the blue truck to do one more outreach. On bus ride back I got a text saying... the blue truck was broken! 3 for 3 we batted that trip. Eventually the blue truck got back the next day. Nevertheless I can honestly say I've never had a trip go that way with that many things go awry. It was an adventure to say the least. Discussing with a few of the guys afterwards we all agreed that some spiritual warfare had to have been present in a situation like that.

I know this post was pretty long, thanks for sticking around to the end. I'll get some pictures up in the next couple of days so stay tuned.

Random thoughts

2008-11-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

So I don't have major story to write about, just several things that have been happening lately or will be happening shortly. I hope you enjoy.

First off, I have a youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49lSO6OPJ0Y which you can see about a 4-5 minute video put together from the Southern Exposure trip. I recommend using the link rather than searching for "Southern Exposure" I'm thinking you might come across some links that you wouldn't be looking for. On that note, I have to say the trip was a month ago or so now, but I can still see the students growing from the trip. As a group this years youth group is gelling well, becoming more transparent with one another and I believe that we are better imitating the body of Christ now than before. This is very exciting for me as a leader to see this perspective going on and to see the students begin to question and challenge their existing worldviews. My hope is that I can continue to guide them as they work through these lifelong issues.

In other news another one of my good friends has left for good. A Peace Corps friend of mine (it was here village that we went to for the Southern Exposure trip) finished her service earlier this month. The only good thing about her leaving is that we went several times to get a nice meal or ice cream and stuff like that. But it is a bummer to have her gone and just another reminder that all things are temporal, especially here. That is one thing I struggle and wrestle with. Truth be told, I don't think there should be this kind of turn around in the communities here. Especially for building solid, honest, open Christian community to which I am striving for, this constant coming and going of people (and eventually myself as well) really hinders. I have experienced and seen other missionaries and aid workers here just not get close to new comers because they know soon enough one of them is going to leave. This is frustrating to say the least.

Finally, I have been busy this week and will be busy the next 2 weeks with "Give a Kid a Christmas". This is a major project that I am helping a few other missionaries here with. They have put together 3,000 backpacks with pens, paper, and other school supplies to give away at different elementary schools in a village called Piella. 2 of the guys and I went last week to check it out and talk to the local pastors about it. It's quite an operation but a great way to both bless those kids, teach them about social things (brush your teeth, don't eat dirty food etc) and present the gospel as well. I'm very excited to be on board with this project this year. That's all for now. Next time I'll let you know how the Give a Kid a Christmas goes, and how Turkeyday here in Burkina went!

Southern Exposure Pic's

2008-11-04T07:30:00.001-08:00

These photos are of myself and one of the students Robbie after our last night of outreach. After we were done with our program a large dance party started up and Robbie and I were right in the middle of it!

The next picture is of several kids going for a football. We brought a football and some frisbees to play with the kids and I taught them how to throw a football for the first time.

Finally there is a picture of our gospel presentation. You might be familiar with the "color scheme" in the gospel presentation using several colors to describe our relationship with God and each other. In order that the kids could see the color and image well we had capes made of the different colors to show how, goodness, sin, and forgiveness actually cover us to some degree.

Southern Exposure

2008-11-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

I got back from our children outreach a few days ago, and after some much needed downtime and processing I figured I'd let all you know how it went. I'll start off by saying it was amazing! The other youth leaders and I have been planning this trip for quite some time now, really since the end of August and for the past month and a half we'd been meeting every Saturday morning for prep meetings with the team of students. It was a lot of work, a lot of time, but it was all worth it. The kids did a great job with the program we put together both a morning and evening program for the African kids. Besides sharing the gospel and doing a great skit about the Exodus I think as a group we broke down a lot of preconceived notions the Burkinabe had about Americans/Westerners. They were amazed that we were willing to get on the ground, to get dirty, to be real I guess. And for the village we were in, talking with one of the Burkinabe down there, he said he'd never seen that many white people before! There were 20 of us.

Along with our time sharing about God with the Africans, I believe God moved mightily in the lives of our youth group students. I saw many students experience, feel, and rejoice in God's presence. I was blessed to see them moved by the Lord so powerfully. As a group they became closer, I became closer to many of them, and they had a powerful encounter with God. All the people involved I believe were blessed and had encounters with the living God. And another special treat for me was that Sunday morning I gave a short message in the local church. It is quite often typical for a guest pastor/missionary to give a message, and that fell to me. Actually I didn't know I was doing it until Saturday night, so I scrambled to prepare something that night and early Sunday morning. Obviously more prep time would have been great, but given the time I had to work with I think it went very well. I even got a few comments from some of the church leaders after the service saying that my message was practical and something the congregation needed to hear. So I was glad that God guided me in that. Overall, the students came back excited and worn out which usually means they had a great time and the trip was well worth it.
Thank you to those who were praying for this trip, it was much needed and appreciated.
I will be uploading pictures in the days to come so stay tuned!

More Pics

2008-10-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

So the picture of me with my helmet on was taken by my roommate Reid, as we had to haul a 5 gallon cooler across town on his dirt bike. So We did what any normal person would do. Strapped it to my back so that I look like "Rocketman" I thought it looked kind of funny.

The picture to the right is another picture from youth group. These are two of the high school students Dave and DJ. You've got to admit, we look pretty cool don't we?

It's Been A Year!!!

2008-10-17T02:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, as of October 11th I believe, I have been in Burkina Faso for one year. I can remember when I first arrived one year seemed like a daunting time period, nevertheless I have made it thus far. Actually during my one year anniversary I was in Niger for a softball tournament. Unfortuanately we did not take home the championship, but it was pretty fun nonetheless.
And if you are wondering how everything with the moto and paperwork worked out, well it did. Finally, it actaully took most of the day to find the police station take care of the paperwork and all and get my moto back, but I did and I'm back blasting off all over the galaxy again.
I am now looking forward to the mission trip or "Southern Exposure" trip we'll back taking with the youth group towards the end of the month. I think the kids are getting pretty excited for it and it should come together nicely. We'll see though.
In the mean time here are a few photos I said I'd put up of the youth group.

The Empire Strikes Back

2008-10-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

When we last left our hero he was exhausted after battling the forces of futility in the Faso. His hope was that with the sunrise a new day would dawn and the momentum would shift in his favor. That however was not to be.
It is true that my Saturday wasn't too bad considering I had to walk everywhere, but the Saturday morning meeting went well and I had lunch with one of the young jedi in training. However, it did not help that when Sunday rolled around I had the excruciating task of listening to the Seahawks get beat like an African drum on a shoddy radio connection that broke in and out. And with that set up, Monday morning happened.
I woke up to my alarm and was excited to get going because I knew I had so much to accomplish before picking the guys up for after school boys Bible study. I traversed the mile or more to the Rebel headquaters (SIM) and then began looking for a way to both get my moto back and get down and straighten out my visa fiasco. Well, it turned out no one was really around to help me out and no one had a spare moto I could use. So I borrowed one of the youth group students bicycle, went back to my house to change knowing that going warp speed on a bike in Burkina is going to cause a lot of sweat. So I loaded up some water and my papers and headed down to the Niger embassy. After the 8 mile bike ride down which I hustled (because I had other things to do) I got to the office only to find the man I needed to see was not in his office. So, I waited patiently for about 10 minutes for the man to come back. Finally he did and then I entered and began to ask him what I needed to fill out. Well, he gave our hero an inquisitive look and replied, "There's nothing wrong with your application." To which our hero looked at him and said "you called me Friday afternoon saying I had not done my application correctly". To which he said, "Oh, well I straightened it out". At which point our hero was so glad he borrowed a bike to ride 8 miles down there just to find that out. Great.
So after coming to grips with the fact that I not only wasted time, but also a lot of energy and sweat I picked up a few items at a store and began to head home. After crossing the galaxy and safely returning, (however at one point I raced a burkinabe kid on a bike, I came out on top of that little contest but it was funny nonetheless) I dropped the bike back off and went to HQ to get some cold water. I entered the guest house and got a glass only to realize the cooler where the cold clean water is kept, was empty... I began to realize that the dark side of the force was targeting me, so I shrugged that off, and left the building to go get the truck, so I could pick the guys up. Well, and this is my fault, but since I was a little agitated and tired from the ride I actually got lost for a little while, completely missing the turn I was to take to get to the house where the truck was being stored. So I walked an extra 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. At this point I began to feel like Han Solo in the Empire Strikes Back. It just seemed nothing was going my way.
Well, I finally got to the house and tried to start up the truck. And just like Han had trouble with the Millennium Falcon, I too had trouble with my Millennium Falcon. It would not turn over. So I asked a couple guys to help me push it out of the yard so I could jump start it. Well, as they were pushing, (I was out of the drivers seat pushing as well) I realised that at the current trajectory we were going to smack right into the gate/wall. So I yelled STOP (in French) and jumped in the car to slam on the brake. We narrowly avoided that train wreck, and after straightening out got it out. I'd never pop started a clutch before, but to my amazement and little help of the force I got that sucker running. Once started though I looked down at the fuel gage, only to realize that I was on E. This thing was so low it would have put Kramer's adventure in the test car in Seinfeld to shame. Well, I headed back to Rebel HQ to get some money to fill it up. Well, just my luck, neither accountant was there, so I was forced to drive it home, hoping it would make it so I could get some money and go fill it up. Right now, I'd like you, based on my day thus far, to take a guess if our hero actually made it home? Go ahead, take a guess...
Ya, I'm sure you got it correct. Of course I didn't make it home!!! Actually I made it to within about 100 to 200 ft. or so. So, I got to push it up to my house, at which point I went inside and found my faithful companion and roommate Chewy (Reid), sitting in the dark, because the power was out. He and I hopped on his moto, and went to get gas. Oh and by gas I mean Diesel, and for those of you who know about how Diesel manual trucks work, running out of gas isn't exactly great for them. So after 2 trips to the local power-up station Chewy and I took turns pumping the fuel filter pump for 15 minutes or so.
I got the Millennium Falcon back on line and headed over to pick up the guys for Bible study. Well, since my morning was shot, I didn't have much of a chance to prepare a lesson for the guys, and I was exhausted anyway, so we did about 15% spiritual talk and 85% talking about who knows what. I took the guys back dropped the car off, actually got to borrow another moto from a friend and rode it back. Since then I haven't had too many complications however I know the day is not over and there are things I still must accomplish. So for tomorrow, Tuesday, I have to go pay my fine at the Death Star so I can go get my moto back which is at the Stormtrooper station, as well as pick up the T-shirts for the youth mission trip I'm leading. Eventually I'll have to go back down to the Niger embassy to get my passport back. This "to do" list sounds vaguely familiar. Hmmm. Oh ya, that's because I was supposed to do all that stuff Friday and TODAY!!! I don't know if I'm in Burkina Faso or on the cloud city Bespin, either way it's been another one of "those" days!
Hopefully I'll be writing a "Return of the Jedi" post soon...

A Day in the Life...

2008-10-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

I know some if not all of you who read this blog or know me may have at some point asked, "Ben what do you do on a daily basis?" This is a good question and so I'll just tell you what I did today, not to show how everyday goes, but how some days can go. But I must back up first, before I talk about what I did today, I have to back it up and set the scene for today with yesterday.
Yesterday was overall a pretty good day. I was able to finish my lesson for youth group that night. I finished a four part series on The Prodigal Son, and took some pictures of the youth group (I'll post those in the coming days). The plot thickens however when our hero (that's me) hops on his moto to go home after youth group. I left the house we have it at around 10 or 10:30 PM I think and as I took a left to take the main street that leads to the area I live I was met with resistance from the empire! Actually, as happens every so often, the national police do a dragnet of sorts and pretty much just pull people over at will looking for things that are wrong just to write people up. Well, my back light was apparently out, so they sucked me in like a tractor beam. I was caught although at first I had no idea what was going on because to my knowledge I was doing everything by the book. So after he explained it to me and I tried to argue it, but apparently my jedi mind tricks don't translate into other languages. Dang! Unlike on my home planet of America, when the police here pull you over on a bicycle or moto, they don't give you a ticket, they impound your vehicle! So I ask for a paper saying what infraction I'd made, how much it was and where to go to straighten this whole thing out. Nothing, I got nothing, which is even strange by Burkina police standards. Which made the situation all the more suspect and shaddy to say the least. So my Thursday night ended with my moto being taken by the galactic empire, and the lonely hero walking home.
Our Friday morning thus begins where Thursday night left off. Instead of getting a bunch of errands done and preparing for a youth group meeting I had Saturday morning, I had to get up extra early, get a ride from my roommate over to SIM and begin the journey of reclaiming what is rightfully mine. So I got to SIM and waited for a Burkinabe gentleman who works for SIM and helps missionaries out with things of this nature or paper work and what not. Well, he was somewhat swamped so after about an hour and a half of waiting at SIM, he and I jumped into a car and were off. We went downtown to the police station there, but found out we had gone to the wrong one, and because I didn't have any papers about the infraction this made our wild goose chase all the easier. Well we finally figure out which station the hero's moto is being help captive so we go there and find out that guess what I get to stand in line! So my companion for the journey at this point had to depart to take care of other business at hand. I got there shortly before 10 AM and waited and waited and waited in line until... 12 PM! Mind you Burkina is getting hot again so I stood there in the 90+ degrees for two hours. Awesome. So once I made it to the front of the line, and by line I mean nebulous blob (from what I have seen Africans don't hold straight lines as a virture to be pursed). So as I finally push my way to the front of the "line" I talk with the officer only to find out that he would be giving me a piece of paper which basically restated my official ownership papers. At this point the hero was instructed to take that piece of paper to the otherside of the galaxy (Ouagadougou) to another empiral station to pay the fine! It's a great system they have set up here in case that was unclear to you, let me just clear that up right now. And once I paid my fine at that station, I was to come back to the station I was currently at to prove that I'd paid the fine and my moto would be relinquished back into my possession. Like I said, great system.
Well, at this point it's noon, which means that everything is shutting down for the next 3 hours, however, I don't have a space shuttle back to my house, so after getting my paper I walked the next 3 miles or so (over an hour time wise) back to my house in the 90+ heat. I got home, had lunch with my roommate and being as tired as I was laid down for a nap. I had to be woken up by my roommate though because I had set my alarm for 2:55 AM not PM, so I was a little late waking up, but now had other fish to fry. My roommate gave me a ride down to the Niger embassy because I had to apply for a visa for Niger, because I'd be leaving soon for an intergaltica softball tournament there. So I get down there, take care of business, get back to the house just before 4 at which point I was to be at the school for Friday dodgeball. However, I got a call from the embassy saying I'd miss read some of the form and incorrectly filled it out. Sweet. So now I still have to do dodgeball but now I have to go back down to the embassy on Monday morning. I did dodgeball, ran home, showered, changed and went to a youth leaders house to work out details for our Saturday meeting, then walked home from that meeting, at which point you are now caught up in the hero's struggle against the galactic empire.
It looks like at this point I don't have transportation for the weekend and now my Monday will mostly be taken up with paying a fine, getting my moto back, and going back to the embassy. All things that were supposed to accomplished today. So, that may answer some of your questions as to how does Ben Steel fill up 24 hours in Burkina Faso. I hope you enjoyed reading about my day far more than I did actually living it.
Until next time...

Back to School

2008-09-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure all of you are aware back to school is the in thing at the moment. And while I'm not technically in class, I am excited for the start of another school year. With the beginning of the school year comes the kickoff for my increased involvement with the youth group and other school activities with many of the international students. We have already had our first youth group with some new faces which is exciting to see. I'll be starting up a 3 week series on the Prodigal Son for the students. I'm basing much of my material off of Henri Nouwen's brilliant book in which he talks about the prodigal son and Rembrandt's depiction of this radical parable told by Jesus. I highly recommend reading the book if you have a chance. It's simply titled "The Return of the Prodigal Son".
Backtracking for a moment, during the summer (shortly after my return from Benin) I was able along with the help of 5 capable young women from Canada to plant Moranga trees out at Sekoula, a village near my house that I've helped in the past. These trees are great because of the amount of different vitiamins and nutriants that are within the leaves. The other great thing about the plant is that it grows well here in Burkina so that tending these trees won't be a large hassle. The hope is, that as the trees grow the community will use the leaves in their suaces for their meals in order to get some more and much needed nutrition. So, while the trees are still seedlings at this point I do feel good about that project.
The above pictures are me on a donkey at the village site, because I thought it'd be cool to get a picture on the donkey. And then me on the outside of the fence that we built to hopefully protect the trees from goats and other animals.
I am also looking forward to the upcoming softball tournament in Niamey, Niger. Last Feb. missionaries and students came down here to Ouaga, and now it's our turn to head up there and defend our tournament championship crown. That will be happening at the beginning of next month.
Until next time... Same Burkina Time... Same Burkina Channel!

Back From Benin

2008-08-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

I just recently was able to travel outside of Burkina Faso to a country that is just southeast of Burkina, Benin. I did so because a good friend of mine was on a school trip there for nursing students and engineers. So I hopped on a bus at 6:30 AM and 20 hours later I made it into Porto Novo Benin. Wow, I'll be honest in saying it was a long long bus ride. But I knocked out some reading and did some thinking. I was along so I didn't have a partner for any of those fun or pseudo-fun road trip games. Plus I guess there aren't tons different state license plates here to spot, so like I said, I had a good thinking session. And on top of that, it was a bit stressful because the bus dropped me off in Cotonou, which was about 40 Km from Porto Novo, and I had no idea how I was going to get there. I'd never been to Benin before and didn't really know my way around Cotonou or Porto Novo. But I made it after negotiating my way on a moto taxi and then another taxi. But I could tell that my French was on the decline after way too many hours on a bus and not nearly enough sleep.
But nevertheless, I made, and for the next few days I got a chance to hang out with 15 college students and had a blast. Plus because they did a few touristy type things, I tagged along for that seeing a museum and going through the market. It was fun for me since I have never really did tons of the typical tourist type things that many people do over here. So it was great to see another country in Africa, see a different climate and meet some pretty cool students from Washington.
After Benin my friend and I took another 20 hour, actually with a few extra stops was really more like 22 hour bus ride back to Ouaga. The next few days we just spent some good time in my neck of the woods and had a lot of fun. And really it was special for me to have someone from back home see my life here, someone who knows me from high school as "Washington Ben" not "Missionary Ben". So all in all the last few weeks have been unique and different and a nice change of pace. And now as I'm sure most of you are aware, school will be starting sooner rather than later and with that my work with the youth group will start picking up again which I'm really looking forward to. Until next time, stay classy friends.
Oh and that is a cool church down in Benin, which from now on will only be known as "The Candy Cane Church".

Good Times with Old Friends

2008-07-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

The top picture is of my old Youth Pastor and a really good friend from church growing up, but we also went to colleges not too far from each other and stayed in close contact. I can't think of boating or inner tubing without thinking about the epic battles we have had on Lake Washington over the years.

The Middle picture was taken the night before my buddy Ryan's big day. And yes before you ask, I do have my shirt off. What can I say I get around some friends we start goofing around, and bam shirtless. It's pretty natural for me. But we spent the night just having some good guy time in a barn. A great night all around until I went to bed at 4 AM on an air mattress that deflated on me. It wasn't the mattress' fault though when I opened on the hole to pump it up more I didn't realize that I knocked out the plug and so I put the cap back on without the plug. By the morning about 7:30 I woke up completely on the floor. What a great night of sleep that was.

Finally, the old house back together. The U.N. the night before Sean's big day. I have to say seeing those guys again and watching them take the plunge was awesome and surreal for me. But those 4 guys made my last year at North Park fantastic. They are all good guys and helped keep me in check when I needed it.

Back at it

2008-07-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since my last post and I appologize for the length of time between posts. It's hard to believe I was at my friends' wedding a month ago and living it up back home. My time at home gave me a great chance to reconnect with some old friends, meet some new ones and eat a lot of good food. A good portion of my family came up from California, and Arizona during my time home, I spent some time with my brother, and of course saw my parents. In a way it was helpful just in the fact that it gave me a chance to get out of the African paradigm and in a sense refocus my energies. Also, it was a good chance to speak personally with my friends to see what they've been doing, how they have matured and grown since I saw them last. 3 of my old roommates are married or will be married by the end of August. That is an amazing thing that I'm glad I was able to participate and celebrate with them. At the same time it is really crazy when some of your good friends start getting married. But good for them and all blessings as they start new lives with amazing wives.
Now that I'm back in Burkina things are falling back into place. I wouldn't be truthful if I didn't say I was a little bummed to be leaving home again after having such a good time. But I am back at it, and working on cleaning up the material I have been recording for the past several months. Also I am working on some lessons for the youth group. That part of my ministry is kind of slow right now, most of the kids have left for the summer, so I'm doing a lot of reading and prep type work. Figuring out themes and lessons for the upcoming school year. I am actually quite excited to get those kids back and get back into the groove of things with youth group and all.
Here is a smattering of pictures from my trip back to America.

The pictures are of me eating my first bite of cereal and "real" milk which I have missed quite a bit while in Africa, and my buddy Mook and I at the rehearsal for the wedding in Michigan. More pictures to come.

The Odyssey sans a Giant Ogre

2008-06-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

So I’m writing this from 30,000 ft. in the air somewhere over north east America. My travels getting home are almost over, but it has been quite a journey thus far. I left Burkina at 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning local time and flew to Casablanca. Because of the time of the flight I didn’t get more than an hour or so of sleep that night. I came into Casablanca at about 7 AM if I remember correctly and my next flight wasn’t until 4 PM. So I sat around watched a movie, read, and got a 15 minute power nap in. It could have been a longer one but a pesky fly decided to keep landing on me and waking me up. So after waiting for several hours I got out to the plane in Casablanca, and.... had to wait some more. Our plane was about an hour leaving but we did eventually take off.
I came into New York City at about 8 PM local time, which is Midnight back in Burkina. At this point I had had minimal food throughout day and about 1 ½ hours of sleep for the day. Needless to say my body cloak was somewhat askew. The funny thing is I can kind of prepare my body for periods of time as such where I don’t eat much or sleep much and can just keep going. So by the time I got through customs and figured out how to get over to Manhattan I was a little out of it. I was quite excited to see my friend Rachael who lives in New York. So she gave me directions and I hopped on the New York subway for the first time ever with all my luggage and hoofed it uptown. My stop actually got me off in Harlem, which I was somewhat conscious of. Here I am, a white guy with a bunch of luggage at 10:30 at night walking through Harlem, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the best chameleon then. I got to Rachael’s though, and I dropped my stuff off and we went out to hit the town. We walked most of the night and she took me to a little Pizza joint that is pretty famous. I think it was on Regis and Kelly, not that I watch that show, I just saw an article inside the restaurant. I don’t want you getting the wrong impression of me about the Regis and Kelly thing though. After pizza and a Root beer! (My first one in 9 months, oh it tasted good) we walked around. Rachael pointed out a lot of things and famous areas of NYC in the Manhattan area, most of which I forgot because it was midnight and I was on basically no sleep for the past day and a half or so. Plus in the amount of 24 hours I went from the second least developed country in the world to Time Square! Most of the night as we walked I just gawked and had my jaw drop. I really blew it though and didn’t bring my camera along, so really I could be making this all up because I have no evidence. The whole experience was surreal to say the least, trying to soak it all in, being exhausted, and enjoying my time with Rachael. We got back to her apartment at about 4 AM local time, (my body had no clue what time it was other than I was exhausted). So, here’s the catch I had to catch my New York to Seattle connection at 8:20 AM, which meant I should be there by 7, and with an 1 or so on the subway, it wasn’t looking like I was getting much sleep. In fact I set my alarm for 5:30. So for the second night/day in a row saying I got insufficient sleep would be an understatement. I hop on the subway head back to the airport, miss my transfer and have to double back!! At this point I’m freaking out but I know there’s nothing I can do to speed the train up. So I get to the airport 40 minutes before my flight. I try to check in at the electronic desk... no dice! AHHH! The truth was I too tired to lose my cool, I just didn’t have the energy. So the 40 minutes come and go, and I realize, for the first time in my life I’m missing my flight. So I go up and ask a lady to help me, and she starts looking through her files, and comes up with nothing. And she was quick too, I think everyone has experienced the flight check in lady who is just pounding on that key board a mile a minute. What the heck is she looking at anyway? I’ve always been curious how many levels or codes they have to put in. Amazing, however I digress. So she says that Delta has my flight booked not for the morning of the 25th, the 26th, the next day. This is not good. So from about 7:50 AM till I think maybe 10:45 I’m scrambling around trying to work on other flights. Air Morac, who I came from Africa with was no help because they don’t show up to work until like 3 PM! Eventually the lady gets me on the afternoon flight, and I just about jumped over the desk to hug her, but I felt like that might be against some policy, so I held back. Also, I’ve been traveling for over 48 hours and haven’t showered so I didn’t know if she’d appreciate that either. Going through security I got several “you look kind of tired” comments from people working. So here I am, 30,000 ft in the air, I just drank my first glass of “real milk” in almost 9 months. Boy did it go down well. If you didn’t know I love milk, real milk that is. Always have, always will. So that’s my tale. At least I hope that’s my tale. There’s always a chance my luggage won’t come in or will have to make a stop over in Idaho or something, but for now, that’s my tale of getting home. And through all the hassle and lack of food/sleep I won’t complain, because I’m back home, and it feels really good.

More Pictures

2008-06-21T09:03:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more food distribution pics. A group working hard (above) The whole group (Middle) and a few Africans waiting (below).

Finally Pictures from the Food Distribution and others

2008-06-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time coming, but I finally got the pictures my friend Sara took at the food distribution. So here are some.

More Pictures

2008-06-16T15:20:00.001-07:00

The above picture is one of the grad's, Rachel and I just after graduation. The below picture is the group of kids I took out for bowling afterwards. Good times were had.

June: Djibo, Grad's and Goodbyes

2008-06-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write about several of these things for a while, but I waited so I could get all my thoughts straight and because I've been busy. So I appologize for the wait since my last update, but here we go.
First I want to let all you know, I was able to work out a new ticket with my travel agent. I never did find my ticket so I'm thinking it got mixed with something else and thrown away. But God did provide for me nonetheless, so I will be heading home for some vacation and weddings very soon!
Second on the list is my recent trip back to Djibo. This is the town up north that I went to when I first came here in October. I was excited to see how my reaction would differ from my initial reaction when I had just come. So Galen and I headed up there and to my surprise I hardly recognized the village Senno Bonni where we stayed. That was because most of the village when I was there last time was hard to see due to the amount of millet stalks that were standing. October was end the of the harvest so there were a lot of stalks standing everywhere. Now, nothing. It is the very beginning of the raining season and most people have just or will plant soon, so the ground is pretty bare. A lot of the cows seemed pretty skinny too. But I think I enjoyed my time there more than I thought I would partly because I wasn't in a state of semi-shock for the trip like I was the first go around. Galen and I slept outside to the tunes of donkeys and cows, sheep and chickens. Actually when I woke in the morning the first thing I saw was a donkey about 15 ft. from me chewing on some grain stalks. I have to say that's the first time I've woken up to see a donkey eating.
Third, grad's. We all know it's the time for graduation, and while I started thinking about my college grad a year ago I also got to celebrate the high school graduation of some wonderful kids that I've been able to get to know over the coarse of this year. In some ways it makes me feel kind of old to see kids going through this occasion and thinking how long ago it was for me. But I'm very proud of all of them. Afterwards I was the official party chauffeur. I took the truck loaded about 13 kids (the 5 grad girls and some other youth group friends) plus me in and took them to dinner and then to a bowling alley here in Ouaga. Yes, they do have bowling here and I have to say it was quite a fun time. And I got all the kids back safe and sound by 3 AM. Pfffew that was a late night, but I remember being able to have a grad all nighter after high school grad and thought I should help them have something similar. I do have a warning though. Each frame we bowled a different way. One was with the eyes closed which I got a little confident and launched a ball halfway down the lane next to me. Whoops. But that's o.k. I recovered o.k. after that little slip.
And finally the goodbyes part. This actually falls into both the previous categories. Galen left 2 days ago for home. He'll be home for 6 or 7 weeks and come back in late July. There is a team coming out in August that he'll be here for. Then he'll be around until late August or so to wrap things up and then he's gone. Actually that's not even true because he'll be back in Feb. for another team which will be his last trip. But after the August departure that is really going kind of the end of my time under Galen's watch. So that's a big deal for me, but I'm going to transition helping another missionary here who I like and respect. So I'm looking forward to the new work and transition. Galen's leaving was the reason we went up to Djibo it was to say good bye to that village that he's been visiting for almost his entire time of working here in Burkina. The other goodbye goes to the Grad's who are leaving and heading off to college in different parts of the America. I don't know if I'll see them again but they were really fun to work with, teach, and hang out with over this past year. I know the other kids will miss them because they were good role models.
So that has been my life recently. Here are some different pics from Djibo, and graduation. Enjoy.

Why Do I Forget?

2008-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

I know I promised some pic's from the food distribution, and I'll get those up, but I haven't had a chance to get them from my friends yet. Anyway, on to my most recent thought.
So this morning I went to go look for my airplane tickets for my trip back home at the end of June until mid July. I went into my room and looked only discover, they weren't there! Not good. And these aren't the "E-tickets" that you can just reprint yourself, these are the "old school you better not lose these things" tickets. So obviously I started just searching like mad and starting to freak out a bit. I wrote a couple people to just slow down for a second and tried not to panic. Anyway, I've spent a good majority of today searching every inch of my room to no avail. I've also checked the living room, not quite as thoroughly, but there aren't as many nooks and crannies to hide in. All this to say, I can't find my plane tickets and I'm scheduled to leave in less than a month. Again, this is not good.
But then I started remembering an incident that happened to me in high school. Where I lost a gold ring that was very important to me, something my dad made for me when I turned 16. I lost it and couldn't find it for 2 months or something. I looked everywhere for this thing. Then the night before I was going to tell my dad I'd lost the ring he gave me I said a prayer, (one of many during that time) just saying to God that I knew He knew where it was and I asked if He would give me the courage I would need to tell my dad how I'd failed. The next morning I woke up to find that ring sitting on my floor. It wasn't there the night before, and no body put it there. It just "showed up". I don't know how or where God had it, only to say that I know that God was taking care of me. Since then I've told that story many times, and vowed not to forget how God took care of me then and will continue to do so.
So do you think that when I first realized I couldn't find my airline tickets that I calmed down and talked to God? Did I say, "God I know you know where these tickets are, and one way or another it'll be alright because you're in control"? No! I'm not saying this is the exact same situation, I'm not saying the morning of my flight my tickets are going to be sitting on the ground next to my bed. But how could I forget that I had such an impacting and amazing story in my life and how God looked after me, and then here now completely forget about that for several hours?
I heard someone say that 90% of preaching is simply reminding the congregation of what God has already done. That seems about right, because even though I've had my own personal awesome experience, I can still forget in the midst of a hectic and crazy situation that God is God and one way or another I'm going to be alright.

And if you want to pray on my behalf to God about this ticket situation, I'd appreciate it.

The Africaness of it all!

2008-05-17T16:11:00.001-07:00

So I have to say today was quite an African day for me. It started out at 6:30 AM when I crawled out of bed, because the Youth Group was meeting at 7:00 AM for the food distribution (more on that in a minute). So I get on my moto only to realize, yup, flat tire. So I run it to the tire place (there's tons around town). I told the guy I'm in a big hurry if he could go quickly. Well, here's the thing about that. "Somebody in a hurry" doesn't really sink into many Burkinabe's concept. They aren't super lax on time, but then again, there are few things one would rush to do for the sake of saving time. Well, my plight wasn't one of them, so as I was already late, I said, see ya, I'll be back at noon. I just took off running in my street clothes for about a 1 1/2 miles to the house we were meeting at. I get there out of breath and sweaty, although I'm thankful I run as much as I do because I couldn't have done it as fast as I did otherwise. Anyway, so we get there I go get a truck from Galen's, yes, I'm driving on the streets of Ouaga, in a stick shift. That's a big deal! So we take off, no problems off to this food distribution, we get to a light and stop. And then the light turns green and I kill it. Then I quickly start it again... and kill it. Galen is behind me with kids I've got students with me trying to hold my tongue, not panic and do this, but to no avail. Third time was the charm although by that time I was looking at another red light! Ahhh!
So we got lost from the rest of the cars in front as there were five in our "caravan". So far I've had a flat tire, ran a mile and a half and got lost going out to a village where I had no clue was. And it was only 7:40 in the morning!
After some searching and cell phones calls, (thank you for cell phones) and help from my co-pilot Rachel (I'm a big believer in a good co-pilot. Shout out to Dan Barnes) we got back on track. We got to the village and the church and watched a ceremony regarding the food distribution and a new building being opened. Now was the work part. About 45 Jr. and High school kids here raise almost $10,000 worth of money for grain for a extremely poor part of town! Big ups to God on that one for sure.
So distributed over 10 metric tons of grain to 600 families. They estimate about 9 to 10 people per family. Which means that we served out food for 5000 people! Where have I heard that before?.... I can't remember.
Anyway as we were finishing up it got kind of rough. People started showing up who weren't on the list to get grain and people started pushing and shoving pretty violently to get the last few buckets full. It was not a pleasent sight, but went to show just how desperate these people were. It was really sad, and pretty traumatic for some of the kids. Sometimes it seems no matter how much you give it's never enough. But I won't let that discourage me from knowing that these kids raised money to feed 5,000 people! That flippin amazing! Straight up no if's and's or but's about it!
Then in the evening I went to a service with my new roommate, but we only made it about halfway on my moto, no flat tire. This time when I'd put it in gear it'd just flat out die. So we walked it the rest of the way, and then had to get his truck to go pick it up afterwards. Who knows what's wrong with it now? Anyway, quite the African day indeed. Pictures will be following from the food distribution in the next week or so. So hang tight. Until then, keep rolling with the waves.

Will and I at the Airport

2008-05-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Times They are a Changing

2008-05-16T05:43:00.001-07:00

Since I last wrote many things have happened. So let me fill you in. About 10 days ago my work associates' daughter began having vision problems. Well, actually they started before a few weeks ago, but they began to increase as of late. So, she was checked out, but by both doctors here and in America it was recommended that she come home to get it checked out. So two nights ago, Galen's wife and daughter headed back home. The thing is, because his daughter is a diabetic it looks like the vision issues are liked to the diabetes. If this is the case, it doesn't look like they'll be back. In fact, I said goodbye to them as if they weren't coming back. Galen will be heading out a little later, but it looks like by the Fall, the guy I came out here to work with will be back in the States indefinitely. I'll continue to work with the youth group and I'll probably shift into some other work, my plan is to finish up my term here, until April 09'. However, this certainly changes things for me out here.
Change number 2. My roommate Will has departed to go back home to Toronto. He came last August, so he was here when I got here, and really helped me get used to Ouaga. Especially when I didn't have any French skills, he helped me out there too. I actually already have a new roommate who moved in yesterday. So I'm not alone, but I do miss my friend Will. Seeing him go reminded me of when I first got here, how new everything was. Now, I feel like a veteran somewhat. I also look back at the fun times I've had here. I've been here 7 months and sometimes it feels like it is going quite quickly. One day it's Christmas the next it's Easter!
I'm not a big fan of change usually, which actually is the only constant here in Burkina, change. So I'm rolling with the punches and trying to see what new things I can learn and be challenged by. The one thing I've learned is nothing is set in stone.

Who needs the lesson?

2008-04-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

Recently I have had the opportunity to give several lessons and/or sermons. Because I am working with a youth group I have recently started a series on Atonement for the High School students, and I was asked to speak at a Saturday night service that happens every other week. That service is put on by missionaries here in Ouaga and is generally geared towards us.
In any event, I have noticed a pattern in my own life of how my messages come about. Sometimes I am given the topic as I was for the night service, grace, but the rest of the times I get to choose. Either way, you really have the freedom to make it your own, and as I go about preparing for these talks the same thing always happens. I evaluate my life and figure out what I need to hear. Or somehow I stumble across what I need to hear. Take the grace talk for instance, I was actually assigned a chapter from a book on grace, but that didn't apply directly to our situation, so I took the concept and reformed it. But what my end product came out to be, was a talk on freely receiving grace, and freely giving it away. Adding onto that, the idea that Paul has in Corinthians when Christ says, "My grace is sufficient for you". I ended by giving the charge to those there to lean on God's grace in all things, and to willing to seek out and dispense where where it is needed the most. Essentially, that sermon ended up being for at least one person, me. Ya, I realized I needed to hear that possibly more than anyone else there. I don't know if God worked in my life in such a way that I was ministering to myself, I don't know if that's possible, but in any case it really hit me. As someone who struggles with grace it was my own 25 minute long reminder that I'm a sheep in the midst of wolves, and J.C. my shepherd has my back.
So I don't know if that happens to a lot of pastors as they prepare their lessons, or teachers as they get ready to teach, but it happened to me. And so even if nobody else in that room needed to hear what God put on my heart, I know one person did. Me.

6 months and counting!!!

2008-04-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, I have officially passed the half year mark! Not only that but that also means that I am 1/3 of the way through my time here. It really is amazing to think that I've made it this far. It is a testament to God's faithfulness to as He continues to give me grace for each day. As I look back I can't help but think about the good times, and the hard times. It really seems like an up and down roller coaster in a lot of ways. Still this 6 month stint have obviously been different from any other time in my life. I know that I am growing and maturing in ways that are fresh and new to me. Still, I am constantly wrestling with my own finitude and inability to be all things to all people here. The children who run to greet me daily don't speak French, and I don't know Morre (that could be spelled wrong). It's just one of many frustrating examples that are apart of my life, yet I have just been wrestling recently with grace as I am supposed to speak on it on Saturday night. I still don't understand grace, I don't know how/when/or why God dishes it out to us, but I'm trying my best to look daily as to how I can continue to doll out grace to others through the Spirit. It's not easy, and I forget often what I'm trying to accomplish, but it is a new outlook for me here that I hope will begin to influence my daily actions.
Here's another beautiful image from Cameroon. Enjoy!

Cameroon

2008-04-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

The amazing top picture is over looking the Atlantic Ocean on a beautiful sunset evening in Cameroon. I was there for 2 weeks for a conference and some vacation time. The conference was good because it gave me a chance to meet some other African missionaries doing work in other countries. It was inspiring for me to hear about their work and where God is moving in those countries and cultures. Also, to meet missionaries who've been out on the field for 20, 25, or even 30 years has impressed me. Especially with the missionaries I got to know, and see that they maybe older than I am but they can still be goofy and fun and really passionate about their work. The old, super pious, stiff no fun image of a missionary that I think a lot of people have clearly did not fit this group.
The lower image is a picture of me in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivore. You might not be able to tell from the picture, but I'm in a "mall". Yes, an African mall, with a food area, a couple clothing stores, a sporting goods store and more. I actually went into mini culture shock, and I should have had a more surprised look on my face, because I was really blown away.
The trip to Cameroon was a nice break from Ouaga and gave me chance to see another side of Africa. Now that I'm back, it's back to work recording and Bible Study which I'm excited about.

Recording

2008-03-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Within the last few weeks the audio Bible recording has been able to get underway! It is very exciting for me to begin putting flesh on bone to the idea my supervisor, Galen, has had for some time now. The idea is to use different people to speak the character and narrative parts of the gospels and other books of the Bible. Just a week or so ago, 2 Fulani pastors were in Ouaga and we were able to record the narrative parts for both Luke and John. This is supposed to make for a more dynamic and hopefully captivating recording for the Fulani listening. Here are 2 pictures of Pastor Eli (pronounced Eh-lee) and myself working in the studio area Galen has created at his house.

In other news it actually.... rained today! Ya I know, and for those of you back in the Pac-Northwest or other places where you are getting plenty of rain, I know no big deal. But since I haven't seen or felt rain in 5 months, ya it's kind of a big deal for the boy who grew up in rainy Seattle. So, an odd humid but not too hot day here in Burkina with some rain. It didn't storm or down pour or anything, just a little drizzle here and there throughout the day. It was a welcome change none the less though.

Finally, I will be heading out of the country for a little while. There is a conference in another country that I will be attending. I'm looking forward to the fellowship and a change of scenery! So, I will wish you all a very happy Easter, may you personally encounter the cross, and the empty tomb!

A night out

2008-03-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

This picture is of a large group of missionaries from all over Burkina Faso as we went out for a good Friday night meal. It is always fun to fellowship with missionaries doing work in different areas of Burkina. There are missionaries in this picture from the far north, the northeast, east, and right here in Ouaga. Also, there are several nationalities represented in this picture. English, German, Swiss, Australian, Canadian, and American are all represented in this one photo. I don't know if everyone got into the picture, but since I had to set it on a table, push the timer, and run back to my seat, all the way at the other end I think it turned out pretty well. Anyway, it was a fun time trading stories and learning about what God is doing elsewhere in Burkina.

Pictures

2008-02-21T14:07:00.000-08:00

The top picture is of my Kiwi friend Georgie and I at my 22nd birthday dinner.
The bottom picture is just a random little boy 2 houses down from me.

Lent and other things

2008-02-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

It is the season of Lent! A time of preparation, self denial, and anticipation for the Resurrection or our Lord Jesus Christ. I am excited that it has come already and am interested to see how Easter will be celebrated here in Africa.
In other events, Galen and I have already taught one of our two night classes to a group of Burkinabe adults here. We are co-teaching because I don't have the language skills to teach a 2 hour course on my own, while he doesn't have enough time to prepare everything for the class. So it works out well. Last class we went over the beginnings of how the church expressed the idea of the Holy Trinity in the early centuries. Although we didn't get through all the material, what we did get through I think was necessary to understand what we believe about God today. I look forward to next class, on Valentines Day, as we progress along in this important conversation. I have Dr. Nassif to thank for his thorough teaching on the trinitarian debate. Thank you Dr. Nassif. Hopefully I will be able to use the teaching I received from Dr. Snell in this next class as we dive deeper into trinitarian logic and theology.
The lesson here is, pay attention in class, you might actually use the stuff you learn.
We are drawing nearer to the softball tournament and although we had a scrimmage last Saturday that didn't go as well as one could hope, I'm excited to get back out and compete in something again. I've been competing in events for as long as I can remember, and now that I'm here it is sometimes difficult for me not to have that competitive outlet. It's that old saying, "you don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore". Well, I found that to be true of competition.
It is only early February and I hoped the cool season would last a little longer, but just in the last week I have noticed a rise in temperature. Oh well, you can't stop the seasons, you can only transition with them.
I'll be sending out my quarter prayer letter soon as well with some more updates so you can be on the look out for that as well.
I hope you all are doing well and seek the LORD during this season of Lent.

A few pictures

2008-01-19T05:20:00.001-08:00

The New Year

2008-01-19T04:39:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize it has been quite some time since my last update. So much has been happening lately and I have not been diligent. With that being said lets begin. Where to begin? New Year's Eve was spend with the youth group I help with out at "Monkey Mt." It's not a real mountain, but it was still fun. There are monkeys out there, usually only in the wee hours of the morning. And since I didn't bring any blankets with me because "it's Africa, why would you need blanket?" I froze and didn't really sleep much. Bummer, who knew you could actually get cold in Africa? Not this guy. Anyway, after that I had two other out of town trips as well.
Piella first for the Fulani conference with Galen. I am interested in the Fulani dynamics, but because of the language barrier it is difficult. There are only a few Fulani men or women that have enough French to understand my French, which is coming along, but still not great. After that conference I'd had enough rice and Nyree (millet based oatmeal type stuff) for quite some time. I came home for that, had my 22nd B-day and the next day was off to Fada for the SIM Spiritual Life Conference. For my birthday I five of my friends and I went to Gandwana's. It's this fairly nice African style restaurant. But it's done in a very nice way with good food. Then we went to another friends house for Cake. It was a good time.
The 3rd Weekend in Feb. is a softball tournament. I'm getting pretty excited for that. Galen and I are coaching a couple of the kids teams. He's taking on the social team, I get the competitive kids. But I'm also playing on a team as well. I don't think those kids know what they're in for. If the screw around they are going to be taking so many laps their heads are going to be spin! Just kidding, but seriously, don't cross "Coach Steel". I am looking forward to that though. I have some more things, but I will wait a week or so and write another post. Until then, stay classy.

It's a Wonderful Life...

2007-12-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

Behold, for I bring you tidings of good news and great joy from Africa. The Christmas season is upon us, and in the midst of the hustle and bustle I hope that you all have had a chance to reflect upon the amazing wonderment that is the birth of Christ the Lord. Christmas for me will take place up in a remote town called Sebba, where we will be doing some evangelistic outreach as well as encouraging the few believers that are there. What better time than Christmas to proclaim the coming of our Lord than at Christmas time?

I can honestly say that my time here has been going by rather quickly and if I’m counting correctly, I have been here 73 days. Looking back over that time I am amazed at how much I have seen and lived with in that time. A few end of the year highlights for me from 5 to 1:

5. My roommate and two other guys and I went to a crocodile farm outside of Ouaga and got to not only feed the croc’s live chickens, but I got to sit on one as well. It was a fun trip.

4. Myself and eight other 20 something year olds went south for a weekend trip to an animal game park! We saw warthogs, bush bucks, monkeys, and many large elephants. While I did not get to have a picture taken with me on an elephants back like with the croc’s it was fun to get fairly close to them in a basically unrestricted area.

3. My progress in French studies. While I have a lot of work still to do, and my sentence structure needs a great deal of work, I am amazed at my ability to be where I am with the language. I still get frustrated at times with the language, but I can now have basic conversations with most people.

2. The friends I have made here. My roommate as well as some of the other short term missionaries have been a real blessing in my life. Being able to have good conversations is something I always cherish, and it has helped me open up and be honest with others here as well as continue to learn about Christian community.

1. The chance to be Santa Claus (I love Christmas and this was an absolute blast for me). In my last update I mentioned the fact that I had a Santa suit made, and that I planned to go out to give candy to kids. Well, I can say that I went to the store, and bought about $80 worth of candy. From there, I visited a kids program at a local church. There were probably over 100 kids there who were all very excited to see the man in red. I also visited a school where a friend of mine helps in. There were probably 60 kids or so there, and they too were happy to see little St. Nic. They even sang a song for me. And then with the rest of the candy, one afternoon, a friend and I just walked around the neighborhood until I ran out. I was originally giving the candy just to kids, but parents and other adults looked quite eager to get a little treat so I gave some out to them as well. It must have been quite a funny scene having grown men working on the streets as mechanics chase down a white guy in a red suit for a sucker, or piece of chocolate. That also gave me the chance to use my French as I wished them a Merry Christmas and asked them a few questions. I even had a few people pull over who were driving cars, just so their kids could get a piece of candy from Santa. Overall I would say that well over 200 kids got some kind of candy from Santa Claus here in Ouaga.

I can’t say how that candy will bring those kids closer to Christ, but I know that even though no one gave their life to Christ from candy, those kids received a gift not just of candy, but of joy, and I pray hope. And during this time isn’t that what we are all called to do? Shouldn’t we be bringing joy, peace, and hope on this earth just as Christ did 2000 years ago. I really enjoyed it and even though I’m out of candy this year, Santa will certainly be making more rounds next year as well. Hopefully he will be able to visit even more kids next year.
Merry Christmas to all, enjoy celebrating the hope found in an infant in a manger with family or friends and Happy New Years.

Don't pass over Africa Santa!

2007-12-09T07:26:00.000-08:00

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and the "Official" Christmas season is well under way I can and have been listening to Christmas music (I actually am right now as I write this). I have decorated a small Christmas tree and done all that I can to help bring the Christmas spirit here. It's still interesting that there's a 0% chance of having a White Christmas, despite that though I've really been enjoying Advent thus far. I made an advent wreath out of the bottom halves of coke bottles. Each week I am focusing on different aspect of Advent, last week was the week of Hope, this is the week of Peace. I had this Santa Claus or in French Pere Noel (Father Christmas) made by a tailor I know. He said this is the first Pere Noel suit he's ever made, maybe it will catch on here. Here is my roommate Will and I in the typical "family" or in this case "roommate" Christmas card photo. A few presents under the tree and stringed popcorn to give it some extra color. The plan is later this week to go buy candy and go around to some different neighborhoods and pass it out to the kids for Christmas. I'm pretty excited for that and I'm really hoping that the Santa spirit will bring some joy to these kids lives'. I actually got the idea from the original St. Nicolas who was known for giving treats to kids. I said, hey why can't I do that here? So there you have it. I'll let you all know how it goes for the new and thinner Pere Noel, until then joyeux Noel!

Progress

2007-11-21T11:03:00.000-08:00

I have been quite busy as of late. The regional coordinators for Africa came in to visit last week and we went up to a town called Piela and stayed there for a few days. It was interesting to see the medical center up there and the work with malnourished babies. Also, we ate with a Fulani pastor and met his family. That was fun, and in the evening he and his kids sang some worship songs in Fufoldi. My French is continuing to get better. I actually ordered some cinnamon rolls from a woman today for Thanksgiving morning over the phone by myself in French. That's right, I'm getting cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving (yessss) and I ordered them by myself, another plus. I have encounters like that which are very encouraging, but I have other ones, like trying to get a flat tire on my bike fixed by a local guy which are not as encouraging. All I wanted him to do was pump it up, but then he started fixing it, I couldn't tell him to stop, because I didn't have very much money on me, plus I didn't have a lot of time. It was stressful, but I got through it. Even though I won't be home for Turkey Day tomorrow I'm still really excited for celebrating it over here. Cinnamon rolls and a movie marathon I think are in order. I'm have a dinner with Galen's family too, after that, you guessed it the movie Miracle on 34th St. I'm excited about that one, because it's always the first Christmas movie my family always watches after dinner. I brought it with me, and then it's time to break out the Christmas music. The next 6 to 7 weeks are going to be filled with the album A Charlie Brown Christmas. One of my favorite albums of all time! That's it for now, everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends

Croc'c, French, and life

2007-11-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

When I first came to Burkina, Galen told me about a crocodile farm outside of Ouaga where people could get a close up view of crocodiles and even sit on them. Since I heard that, I knew I had to go. So a few days ago, my roommate Will, another guy Robin, and another guy Dave, took the trek to see the Croc's. I have to tell you it is quite an experience. There was something amazing to sit on a crocodile. Something about coming up close and personal with such a revered and feared force in nature. We all had a great time getting a chance to watch the croc's in action. It's one thing to watch it on t.v. and another thing to watch wild animals like that up close and be in their presence. For as much fun and goofing around as we did, we all had a certain level of respect for these creatures and wanted to respect their space as to not get too close to the really wild ones.

In other news, I've started French class. Right now that is the main focus of my day, I go Lundi through Vendredi (Monday to Friday). I still have a lot to learn, but it is exciting to put together small phrases to say, as well as understand bits and pieces of conversations. Right now, besides learning vocabulary, my pronunciation is all that great either. There are some phrases in French that are like tongue twisters to me or I can't get just the sound. I know it's still early in my schooling so I'm trying not to get discouraged. Besides that a few other ministry opportunities have opened up for me. I am helping at a youth group for students at the international school which is nice, because they speak English. And it seems that the audio recording project should be getting under way sooner than I'd expected, so I am excited about that. Despite my lack of language skills I'm am beginning to feel more and more comfortable here, while there are things I miss about home, Burkina is becoming more familiar to me.

2007-10-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

My Hostess and one of her children (left) A couple of kids in the market (right).

Back to School

2007-10-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Now that I've been here for 2 full weeks and working on my 3rd it's time to start learning how to communicate with people here. So I began going to French school on Thursday. It's actually more like a personal tutor, because I'm the only one in the class. I guy named Elvis is my teacher (no not that Elvis). He's from the Ivory Coast, and came to Burkina to study law. Anyway, I'm enjoying the class but I'm going to need a lot work and patience to get this thing down well enough. Right now, I'm trying out the few phrases I know on people in the community or my roommate, it's pretty apparent my pronounciation isn't great. The hardest part I think right now is that so many words sound alike, and the words have sounds in them I'm not used to making. But, that is part of the experience and I knew that when I signed up. I had a pretty good day today, I went to class (9-11 everyday) came home, went for a run around the neighborhood, took a nap and read. I can't really argue with that I'm trying to put a few more pic's up but it won't let me right now, so stay tuned!

Ouaga/Djibo

2007-10-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

After only a few days in Ouaga the North Park Sem team and I headed up north to Djibo, where our ministry with the Fulani is mainly held. It is about 120 miles north of Ouaga and took us by bus about 5 1/2 hours. None of the roads here are in that great of shape so we could not go very fast on the way up. It was hot up there with temps around 110 F. These people to not live with electricity, running water, or most other things people in the States take for granted. I found my time up there to be both exciting and difficult as I got a chance to live with the Fulani and see what their culture is really like. I know it will take several more visits to get a bigger fuller picture of what the Fulani life is like, but from what I saw it was simple. The father and sons work the fields because it is almost harvest time, and the mother cooks, cleans, and looks after the kids. They are up at the crack of dawn, usually by 5:15 or so and in bed around 9 or 10 at night. I have much work to do in order to be able to communicate with them and in order to see where God exists in their culture. The Fulani take leasure time in the afternoon, but don't play many games. According to a man who was up who is working on a Fulani tranlsation of the Bible, he said there in no real Fulani word for fun. Kids have fun, but that should tell you something. I look forward to my language education and the ability to go back to Djibo to communicate more and learn from them.

Breaking the Rules

2007-10-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

For those who know me well, you will know that I have certain rules, a code that I live by. My people find these rules to be asinine, that’s o.k. they aren’t rules for others, they’re rules for me. For example, I know it has become more popular to play Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Heck, Costco has Christmas decorations up right now! Well, one of my rules is no Christmas music before Thanksgiving dinner. It’s just good time people. Another one is, I don’t eat salads. It’s true, I don’t mean to be picky, I eat other vegetables, its just salads, not so appealing to me. Well, as I was staying in a hotel in Morocco I went to the restaurant for a late lunch. I already felt bad because almost no one speaks English, although one waiter did, so he served me. What’s the first thing he brings out? Cabbage, carrots, and beets, in shoe strings with dressing on them. Yup, a salad. I knew I couldn’t not eat some, I didn’t want to be that guy in a foreign country. I’d be lying if I said I finished it, I didn’t. But I put a dent in it. That’s huge for me, all the while washing it down with as much Coke as I could. While in the dinning hall, what do you think they were playing? If you guessed anything but Christmas music, you’d be wrong. It was smooth jazz Christmas. Which is actually kind of funny because it’s Ramadan right now, the Muslim holy month. Nevertheless music of Christ’s birth was being played in the hotel. There’s nothing I could do about that either, oh well, but towards the end of my meal, "I’ll be home for Christmas" came on. Now, I didn’t cry or anything like that, but I sat there and thought about how for the next two Christmas’s I won’t be home. I always liked that song, especially in college, when I was stressed with finals, and excited to get home and see all my family, sleep in my bed, be in Washington. I have a feeling these aren’t the only two of Ben Steel’s rules that might get broken at some point over the next 18 months if 2 have been broken in just over a day

My Last Days at Home

2007-10-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have about 3 days left here in the States. I can't believe my time home went as fast as it did. Last week was pretty full as I had to get numerous documents, last minute items for the trip, and see a few more people. This morning at church, which is world communion Sunday, they had a consecration prayer over me. It touched me deeply, as I saw the amount of hands go up saying that I would be in their prayers. I can't say how lucky and blessed I've been being able to grow up in a church that has been able to support me like this. I have a mix of emotions right now. I am certainly becoming more excited, but I am very nervous as well, and a little hesistant to leave my home, family and friends. Nevertheless, Wednesday will come, I will get on that plane, and I will go forth to fulfill this chapter in my life, which God has called me to.

Props to God

2007-09-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

God is amazing, flat out! I just got back from a trip out of town to find out that all of my support has been raised plus some!!! I can honestly say it wasn't me who made this happen. I sent out letters had a few face to face meetings, but God came through in such a way that is incredible. I wasn't sure if I would have all the money pledged by the time I was supposed to leave on Oct. 11th, but that is no longer an issue. Now all that is left is one shot, packing and saying good-bye. Wow, this is coming up so soon.

Who's on our team?

2007-09-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

My encounter with the man at Bumbershoot has continued to be on my mind. When I talked to him I felt like he was using an improper method for going about interpreting scripture. From what I could tell he was not being honest to the texts he was using to support his argument. At the same time I am challenged by the story of the man he was teaching and healing in Jesus' name. However, when the disciples came across the man, the told him to stop doing so. This was reported back to Jesus. Jesus did not approve of the disciples attempt to limit those who could or could not spread the gospel. The man they encountered wasn't one of the twelve, we never really hear about him again. So, my frustration with this man in Seattle, was I trying to preserve Orthodox faith, and halt negative stereotypes of the Church, or was I being like one of the disciples in that story? Was I trying to keep Christianity and evangelism to people who talked and taught like I do?

The People You Meet

2007-09-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine from college recently moved out to Washington from the Mid-West, so he came down to see me and another college friend last weekend. The three of us went around to different spots in Seattle, showing him around. Monday we ended up at Bumbershoot, a four day music festival with several different stages, some comedy acts, and other arts. Well, the concert was o.k. but as my friend and I were standing around, we saw a man with a large sign that had different writing on it, front and back. On one part of the sign, read the words, Jesus can save you from HELL. Behind the print were flames and red and the whole bit. On another part of the sign was a list from one of Paul's letters of all the different types of people who are going to hell. Liars, idolaters, drunkards, the who list. Elsewhere it had a reference to John 3:18 which refers to not being condemned and being condemned because of the Son of God. So, my friend and I decided we'd go see what this guy was all about and what he was telling people.
I came up to the man and said, in a calm non-threatening voice, "Sir, do you believe this is the most effective way to spread the gospel of Christ's love?" He whole heartedly did, because he believe by convicting people of their sins, they would repent and turn back to the LORD. Something about him, told me he wasn't a modern day Jeremiah, or Isaiah. My friend and I continued to ask him questions trying to figure out why he thought the way he did. I challenged him on several points, but he just had automated responses or quick biblical references for his rebuttal. He would then generally start talking about things that really had nothing to do with the conversation at hand. It was frustrating to say the least that this man was the one representing Christ to a portion of Seattle, which seems to me at least to already be somewhat skeptical of Christianity as a whole. No where on this man's signs was the word "Love" used once, not once. That astonished a great. There were other things I took issue with what he said to me, but overall, I find these encounters frustrating. I feel it is hard enough for me to accurately represent the gospel at all times in my life in order to gain credibility with others, but it becomes all the more difficult when "Super-apostles" like this guy give a truncated view of the gospel. I know all I can do is pray for that man, and the people he has talked to in hopes that God will continue to work and move in peoples' lives despite human fallibility on his part as well as my own.

Back Home

2007-08-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a week and a half since camp has been over, but it feels like quite a bit longer since seeing many of the people I grew close to over this summer. My trip home was quite eventful and took several hours longer than I anticipated and my father and I got in at 4:30 in the morning. Four hours later I was speaking at Mercer Island Covenant, it was difficult in some ways it reminded me of several late nights in college writing and reading all night long and then presenting whatever I'd written in class. It has been nice to be home and relax but now I have a lot of footwork to do before Africa. I got four shots on Monday, and may have to get a few more. My letters have gone out, and I will begin with some personal meetings in the next week or so.
I've also had a chance to catch up with one of my roommates from the past year since I've been back. He lives not too far from me so it has been nice seeing him and finding out what he's been up to this summer. Most of my friends have gone back to school already and it is kind of weird for me to think that classes are going on at North Park and I'm not in there. Anyway, my trip seems like it is becoming more and more of a reality which is both exciting and scary. Until then I'm just trying to balance enjoying life seeing people, and finish raising support for my trip. This trip is coming sooner than I can imagine.

The Beginning of the End

2007-07-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

There are only three weeks of camp left and it seems that this summer has gone by quite quickly. My time spent here has been good even though there are many things that I have not wanted to do. This week especially has been tough because so many kids are getting sick. My patience is certainly being put to the test as I clean up after sick campers who keep throwing up. Also, after 7 weeks of campers I'm beginning to get tired faster than I would at the start of the summer. Nevertheless, this has opportunity has been beneficial to my spiritual walk. There are many things this summer that have been newer experiences and I do believe God put me here to help prepare me further for my mission. It will be difficult leaving some of the people here who have been a part of my life for the last two and a half months. There are some amazing counselors here at camp that I've grown closer to and been blessed by the way they follow God. As I look ahead I know there is still a lot to get done before October, which doesn't seem too far off now. I believe this period will be another time of my life of testing and refining as I need to rely on God to be faithful in preparing a way for me to get to my destination. Lord be near.

Back in Chicago

2007-06-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Chicago for missionary training. The training was alright, but seeing Chad, Laura, Casey, Christy, and everyone else was really nice. Chad was a great host and dancing with Laura was amazing. Coming back to Chicago I realized how special North Park was, and how good my friendships were. These people have been really influential in my life. I hope to stay in contact, but I know it won't be the same. I thank God for the opportunity to see them and say good-bye one last time though. Now I'm back at camp and the kids have come. I know God will prepare me here, I just hope to find enough time to get everything done that needs to be done.

Transition Time

2007-05-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

My time at North Park University is over and a new day is dawning in my life. My time at school was both demanding and rewarding for many reasons. Getting to know new people, making new friends, and participating in challenging classes. Nevertheless, times they are a changin' and I will be in California soon and then Burking Faso, Africa. There are a lot of things going on in my life right now between seeing old friends again and trying to get my fund raising underway. I have 4 and a half months left to raise just over $40,000. It seems like a long road ahead and not much time to do it. My life has only become busier after graduation, and from what others have told me my life will continue to become more full as time goes on. So for now I am trying to get through, one day at a time. I am trying to enjoy my time at home, focus on the here and now while properly preparing for the future. To all my college friends, the U.N., and others, this last year of college has been great and thank you for encouraging me, and having fun with me. It's been real