The Vitz Strikes Again

      Have you ever found yourself praying or maybe just hoping for epic things to happen as you embark on your backpacking excursion across Europe, that all too long car ride, or a weekend camping trip? I'll be honest, I use to wish for such things but having lived in Nairobi for over 6 months...there is no need to pray and/or wish for such things. They just happen.
 
     What I'm about to tell you really does feel like a bad joke, in many ways. Nonetheless, we had a great time even if it didn't go quite according to "the plan."

     Jonathan and I haven't had the opportunity to get outside of Nairobi as much as we'd like since moving here in early February 2012. So, we regularly have conversations with friends scheming some epic adventurous weekends and it just so happened that it actually worked! No more were we just going to drive out to a national park simply to hike but this time it was going to be a hiking/camping weekend. Our plan: drive to Mount Longonot at 6am Saturday to meet up with a group training for Kilimanjaro, hike, drive to Hell's Gate National Park where we'd spend the night and explore/hike til mid-Sunday. Kelsi, Matt (interns at IJM), Jonathan and myself were psyched as we (I mean, me) had prepared delicious food and had borrowed enough of our friends' equipment to be legit as we camped in Kenya. Suffice it to say, we were finally getting our "outdoor-sy" fix since moving to Africa.

     None of us has realized that the Olympics opening ceremony was commencing at 11pm on Friday night. So, what did we as responsible adults do? We stayed up til 1am with a group of friends (we throw parties for everything) and then snagged 2hrs of sleep before we needed to get up and pack "the vitz" (think of a wind up toy car..that's what we drive). Let's just say that despite the awesomeness of the Olympics, morning came all too early for us. Somehow I managed to grab a shower before running out the door to pick up Matt and Kelsi. We were running a little behind schedule but overall it was a smooth process of stuffing everything in the car including ourselves. We had been driving for about half an hour when I began telling Kelsi how great the car has been running the last month, "yeah, we actually haven't had to fix anything this month...it should be good!" Just about that time Jonathan began to slow down as a semi stalled out, as we were slowing down, though, the vitz began to shake--"um, I don't think we're going anywhere." The vitz did a little wiggle and then stopped (I won't explain what was said by those of us in the car at this point in time). So, picture this: it's dark outside, we're on the side of a high way with all of our stuff, and Jonathan and Matt get out to "figure it out." Ridiculous. After some praying and beating the car, it started working and we set off again. By 645-7am we were approaching the Great Rift Valley overlook and as we were "woooing and ahhhing" the vitz did another little dance and then pooped out. Thankfully, we had pulled off due to some small bladders that were present in the car. In true Kenyan fashion, we had a few Kenyan men approach us, "what is wrong? your car no work?" Yup. Solution: phone a friend who happens to be a mechanic and have him come jiggle some wires and diagnose it as a "computer problem." After about 40mins of this crazy making, we were off again praying the Vitz would make it to Longonot, which was only about 35ishmins away...."Jesus.....I just want to climb a mountain..."
We made it and before the car could get funky on us we all bailed, paid our park fee's, and began running up the mountain to connect with our group (they were about an hour ahead of us in the hike). The hike was amazing, weather was great, and we finished 8miles of climbing in 5hrs (1.5hrs faster than our previous time) (oh, and it took us 30mins to catch the group...boom). By the time we finished, we looked like a group of grandma's and grandpa's as our legs were burning and we needed sugar (I'm convinced if I did that hike a few times a week I'd have a tooshie of steel)! After some delectable PB&J and coke, we piled into the car, said a quick prayer and were off to Hell's Gate for more adventures. We were about 200ish meters outside of the front gate on a dirt road when the Vitz did its signature dance move and completely died. I mean, there was no resurrecting that baby. I won't bore you with the details but here's the highlights of what occurred via visual aid...

 

While we waited for the mechanic to show up, we decided to add to our ridiculousness and cook some coffee on the side of the road. new experiences abound....

Our mechanic showed up! He diagnosed the problem as being a faulty fuel pump. Solution? Siphon gas out of it via HIS MOUTH. See that cup the Marshall is holding? That's the gas that was in our mechanic's mouth....SICK

In some ways, I wish the story ended after all of this crazy making but no....it gets better. Fast forward to when we were all bundled up in our 4 person tent (thanks Karis and Steve!), had been sleeping for about 3hrs when it began to pour (we went to bed at 830pm out of boredom and exhaustion). At this point, I had woken up with crazy pain in my back from the day's adventures compounded with the freakishly hard African soil. As I laid there, listening to the rain and praying that I wouldn't have to tell stories of the time our tent got flooded I heard something. Heavy breathing. Lots.of.breathing. Listen, it wasn't coming from Matt who was, indeed, snoring but I heard something breathing outside my tent (my head was in front of the tent door). It was inches away from my head when I heard something else breathing on the other side of Jonathan. My thought pattern: "I have a flashlight, some shoes, and wicked skills. I can take this....!!!!." (you really think I can re-tell verbatim what was going through my brain at 1130 at night? Seriously...) In all honestly, though, I began to sweat, heart was pounding, and I think I may have tinkled on myself a little. So, what did I do? "Jonathan, Jonathan...." "Oh, hey, baby." "Stop it, there's something outside. I can hear it..." He tried convincing me it was Matt's snoring and just about that time he stopped talking...I looked over to my right and I saw a big shadow of something move. "JONATHAN" "I know, i see it!" (this was all in whispers, of course). At this point Kelsi had woken up and then subsequently woke Matt up to "do something!" Matt peered out through the peep hole and a bunch of water came crashing down and Matt practically jumped out of his sleeping bag because he scared himself. Hilarious. Jonathan put on his shoes and ran outside in his underwear determined to "do something." Matt had scared whatever it was all away and we eventually got back to sleep. It was determined the next morning, via poop turds, that it was gazelle's and large antelope that were munching on our patch of grass. I don't care what it was. In my mind, there were huge zebra's who were mocking us. Either way, we live to tell the tale.

     Our tow guy eventually picked us up and hauled us and The Vitz back to Nairobi. We finished the weekend off with good friends, the Olympics, and delicious Ethiopian food. After everything ended and we smelt like something fierce, we walked into our apartment ready for a hot shower. Instead, we walked into an apartment that had no electricity and was one of 3 units that didn't have it while everyone else in the complex did. "What are you trying to teach us, God?" I heard Jonathan say. I don't know what was going on with the celestial orbit that weekend but we did get a hot shower in a unit that was being renovated. We did get to hike and we did get to camp. Just not in the way that any of us had hoped.

We're already scheming our next weekend away but this time...the Vitz is staying home.



Until the next adventure,
--the crazy white kenyan's

What Living in Kenya Today Looks Like

This last month I (Jonathan) have struggled a lot with "Living in Fear." The reason that I am telling you all of this is because I am tired of hearing how missionaries will admit that they will never share with supporters what they are struggling with. Africa has this picture in the missionary community that is supposed to be where the harvest is plentiful and yes its tiring work, but there is so much fulfillment and work being done that it's this rosy picture of a missionaries changing the continent and anything that talks of personal struggles and challenges needs to be put aside because we are doing "God's Work." I hope and pray that O and I never get to a place where the things that we are facing and dealing with are put into closets and kept from friends. But this is a personal blog that I hope somehow connects you to the things that I am struggling with as a result of living in Kenya and I hope it helps you to know where I am at, what I am facing, and how you can pray for me and this country.

So yesterday, O and I got an email from the U.S. Embassy that was a travel advisory warning for Kenya. If you haven't seen on the news lately, Kenya is at war with Somolia and we have been under attack since late last year. If you were to get this email this is what it would have said,

"In the past year, there have been at least 17 attacks involving grenades or explosive devices in Kenya.  At least 48 people died in these attacks, and around 200 people were injured.  There were no U.S. citizens among the casualties... The most recent attack involved two simultaneous assaults on churches in Garissa on July 1, 2012.  In this attack, 17 people were killed and about 50 people were injured."

That is the reality of where we are living. The country is at war and based on the last attack on the church and what we are hearing from friends in that area, the local church is being persecuted. Garissa is a Muslim community where the Christians are walking around with a number over their head and the terrorists can claim that these are attacks, but they are specifically targeting the church and Christians in that area.

These are definitely not fun facts to share with you, but it is the truth. So far we have not been near any of the attacks and our friends haven't been hurt, but it's a scary place to live right now. In some ways it doesn't feel real because wars never happened in the U.S. when I was growing up. Yes, we had the 9/11 attacks, but never have I encountered a time when almost every other week or once a month there was another bombing, a shooting up the road, or having to deal with the images of seeing a motorcyclist run over by a bus. Yes all of those have happened this month.

So knowing that Kenya is on high alert and there is always potential for the unknown to happen in regards to terrorists, there is also the issue of walking among the poor. This has definitely been a challenging time in life where I see the statistic every day of people living on less than a dollar a day and I am viewed as a "Bill Gates" who will give everyone who asks for money a handout that will change their lives. This is the way that we are seen, and to be honest, it sucks. There is no distinction between the tourist "whites"and the local "whites." We are all seen and viewed the same.

So why do I not walk around with a huge boost of confidence and think I can take on the world if I'm seen in this way? It's because I'm afraid of how desperate the next person is. This question of "how desperate is this person?" has become a constant nagging question that I am dealing with and I ask myself are these concerns even legitimate?

The other day I was walking to meet a friend at our local coffee shop and on my way there I walked past a maasaii warrior who stared me down for a good 50 meters and I can honestly tell you that it was one of the scariest moments that I have experienced since being here. Nothing happened, but it honestly felt like he was a "Dementor" from Harry Potter sucking every ounce of happiness out of me. These moments and the like are ones that missionaries think that supporters don't need to know about or even want to know, but they affect our work and lives and we shouldn't feel that we have to hide them from you. Yes, the truth is that missionaries have God on their side, but at the same time, there is that element of us not being in control of small situations such as walking down the road from our house and being mugged, being at the wrong place at the wrong time and feeling an explosion, or having friends witness a shooting. There is a lack of trust in God, at least in me, that I am being protected from these things happening.

Please do not read this as a message that O and I want out and are ready to throw in the flag and come home, but merely that we / I desperately need your prayers. Both mine and O's work have both come to a point where we are frustrated and its hard to keep going, but we know that we have been called to Kenya for a reason and we are going to remain faithful in knowing that He has a plan for all of this. This is a small / HUGE place that I have come to that I need His Word, His protection, His will to show me more that its not about me, that its about Him and His plan.

I want to close with a Psalm because when I read it yesterday, I realized that this is where I am at (the depths), what I am struggling with (waiting on the Lord), and what I have to look forward to (He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities).

Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you O Lord should mark iniquities, O Lord who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in his word I hope: my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Love you guys,
J

HEY!

Hey!!

If you're not following us on facebook or twitter then it probably feels like we've dropped off the face of the earth. In some respects, we have, but we're still here and enjoying Nairobi life! Speaking of that, I—Olivia--wanted to share with y'all a bit about what my job(s) and such look like. It is extremely different than what I was expecting when we first arrived in February but the Lord has been so SO faithful in providing for me, specifically. Hopefully this short clip will give you a better sense of what I'm doing and how to better pray for me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ie1r2tVZI&feature=relmfu

We're really going to work on blogging more and keeping in touch as we have so many crazy things that have happened over the last 5 months! Often, it is very overwhelming and I don't know how to quite articulate what I'm seeing and feeling thus my absence on the blog. However, I'm finding myself much more settled here and able to articulate things a bit better for those of y'all back home so we'll see how it goes. 

Until next time, enjoy the video and please don't hesitate to ask any questions! I'm a counselor so I like to talk...a lot :)

Thankful for y'all!

South Africa

As some of you know, last week and a little bit of this week I was in Johannesburg for a AIS Africa conference. It was the first time that I was given the opportunity to travel for AIS, my first time to SA, as well as the first significant period of time that I was away from Olivia. In the days leading up to leaving, I made sure that all of mine and Olivia's friends knew that I would be gone and that they would regularly check up on her. That took a lot of stress off my shoulders as I was being given a ton of information every day for six days straight as well as knowing that she could get in touch with me if anything happened. Thankfully, she had no problems with the car, nor getting around town. 

Just thought I would give that little bit of information before I shared my experience over the week. 

To be completely honest, I was not prepared nor ready for the things that I was about to learn in SA. Apart from the Hope Academy Training, which I'll get to in a sec, there was a leadership training that was taught by a pastor from the UK. He took us through a study of mentorship using the example of Paul to Timothy. Through this training I learned something about myself that completely caught me off guard. It was a hard lesson to learn because it was one that I had set out from the very beginning of my internship never to struggle with. The root of my sin that was being laid out before me was that I believed that I was culturally superior.

When I was preparing to come to Kenya in the fall/winter of 2010 I vowed that I would never look down on any individual and never think that I was superior to them. Well, here it was blowing up in my face. During the conference I found myself looking down on a lot of the African staff and not being able to show them any grace. What lead me to this was the fact that I could love, care, and work well with my Kenyan counterpart, Nicholas Macharia, but it was only because we had built a relationship on my grounds. You see, earlier this year, Nicholas shared his family story with, which is something that can and only should be shared with family. Close friends usually aren't even given this kind of information because in Africa information is valuable. 

So here I was, for one year being able to extend love and grace to Nicholas, building a relationship with him, then he being vulnerable with me about his life and then me expecting every African to follow suit otherwise I had trouble trusting them as well listening to them. As I started seeing this perception being played out in my mind and being placed on my friends, I realized how disgusting and just how despicable it was for me to look down on these people. There were a lot more examples of how I looked down on them, but the core of it all came down to my cultural superiority and imposing everyone who wanted me to be on their team to share their stories, give details of their life, otherwise, I wasn't going to give them any of me.

I was very grateful for Garreth to help walk me through this process of being able to see my sin and how I wasn't extending grace to others, but it was a hard week. I continually struggled with my thought process and had to constantly fight back thoughts to boost myself above another. Needless to say I was very humbled through it all.

So that was just the leadership training. The Hope Academy Training was fantastic! I cannot wait to get to work on the checklists, studies, and start developing the way forward as to how Hope Academy will develop in Kenya. Nicholas is still in South Africa and once he gets back, he and I will have to present to the head pastor of the church that AIS is partnered with as well as to the AIS-Kenya Board. It's a lot of work and there's not a lot of time that Nicholas and I have to prepare for these pivotal meetings, but it's an exciting time to be in. 

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to struggle with these things that I have shared as well as the wisdom and guidance to lead this office. Thanks you guys for your support. It really means a lot.

Cheers.

Karibu Kenya (Welcome to Kenya)

Well the jet lag is over, the nerves of walking out of the apartment will in some ways never leave, and Olivia and I are proud owners of a flat and a car. Yes, in many ways Olivia and I have never left our honeymoon, which I hear is the duration of your first year of marriage, but really. We had a pretty sweet gig and we still do in many respects. I mean how many couples, have the opportunity to live abroad, pursue your passion right out of college, and do it together. We are pretty blessed and continually feeling His presence on our lives.

So... Time for some stories. Well if you haven't heard, the trip over here was pretty crazy. Our first complication came in Newark and it was due to the bathroom in First Class not working properly. From that point on every airport had a delay with a different way of communicating. The US was quick to try to explain why we weren't being let on the plane and in their attempt, said a "mechanical malfunction" as opposed to a "convenience issue." And the two bring completely different responses. From yelling at the attendants, to people demanding their money back, it was crazy. There were about 8 of us who were going to miss our connecting flight and 5 of them were Kenyans, and it was funny to see their responses. They honestly had no idea how to respond or what to do, so they mimicked everyone else, which didn't help the situation at all. After that Zurich never gave us any points of communication as to why our flight was delayed and even when they were ready to board no one said anything. People just cued and got in line. Istanbul was a little different in that the people at the gate refused to give any reason as to why we were late or where the plane was.

On that last flight that was totally unexpected, I found myself in prayer, praying that Olivia's bags would make it and if anyone's were to be left behind that it would be mine. Well what do you know. Olivia's were left in Zurich and it wasn't until three days later that she was able to stop wearing my clothes. I got pretty rugged because my toiletry bag was in her bag, so after 2 full days of traveling and then three days of waiting for our bags, I looked like a cave man while Olivia remained as stunning as ever.

The only other adventure that's worth noting here is our first bribe. So yesterday was our first full day of driving our fun, little, purple, Toyota Vitz and what do you know, I got pulled over. I was pulling out of one of the larger Westernized malls and foolishly decided to pull a U-turn in the middle of a two lane highway. I had been gaining a ton of confidence since the last time that I was here, which I was extremely thankful for because I no longer sweat with uneasiness of what could happen when I leave my apartment or dwell on all the scenarios that could possibly go wrong. So I guess I needed this to bring me back to earth and humble me a bit, but as I do this I see out of the corner of my eye a policeman just watching me. In Kenya, the Police are not in cars to chase after you, rather they are standing on the side of the road with their AK 47's and wave you down. We will not repeat what I said as I'm pulling over, but the man begins by asking me if I knew why he pulled me over and I said yes, and so he then goes through the spiel that I have offended Kenya and that I will go to jail and wait for my court case. This is Saturday mind you so he goes on to explain that Olivia will not be able to get me out until Monday and that I will pay a Bail of 10,000 Kenyan Shillings which is around $121.95. He then goes on to explain that all of this depends of course on me. AKA "how much are you willing to give me?" I've encountered a few of these situations before and know roughly how much a bribe like this should be, so I try to get out with only giving him 400 Shillings, about $4.87 and he merely laughs at me and asks of 2,000 Shillings, $24.39. Regretfully I pull out the cash and are allowed to carry on, and all I can think is, TIA, This Is Africa.

Olivia is currently attempting to make our first chicken dinner, which she feels is way out of her comfort zone, but you should smell how good it smells in here. She is an amazing woman and I am so blessed to have her by my side, even when I do stupid and crazy things. Enjoy your Sabbath and until next time, "Live Like it Counts!" - Lifekraze.com

I'M MARRIED!

What a ride! Words cannot even begin to describe how just blown away I am right now at the fact of 1. Olivia and I actually made it! WHAT! 2. I can breathe a little bit now that the wedding is over and then 3. It was awesome! If you weren't able to make it to Dallas for the big day, which I totally understand, the only words or description that I can share with you about the wedding is that it was the most spirit filled, worshipful, party experience I have ever had!

The morning of the wedding, I had my grooms men, men in my family, and men from Olivia's family pray for me and that was such a humbling and glorious thing to do/be a part of. Lots of tears were shed, heartfelt prayers were being said every minute, and it was such a connecting moment for everyone involved. So cool. The wedding was a very similar experience as it connected all 330 people who were present to not only me and Olivia but also to their Maker. Lots of people have come back to us saying that it was the best wedding they had ever been too. When Olivia and I were on our honeymoon together, we just kept looking back and saying that that day couldn't have been any more perfect. Yes there were flaws and things happened, but everything about it had someone else's hand writing on our story and it was just a huge blessing to us.

After the wedding we did go on a SICK honeymoon to Cancun, Mexixo at the El Cid Resort and it was so spectacular. From the views, to the white sand, the 5 star meals, if you haven't seen pictures yet go to my albums on facebook and check them out.

Olivia and I are currently living in Highland Village, Texas in her parents home. We have a room upstairs which is like our own compound area of the house and it's really sweet. We will be here hopefully until the first week of February. Olivia has been diligently writing thank you notes, talking with AIS to see how much more support she needs, and we are halfway there! She still needs about 29 more supporters to either give a one time gift of $220 or a monthly donation of $20 for eleven months. We are praying that the Lord will provide those people in the next three weeks so we can get on the ground as soon as possible, but like we found out in our relationship, it's about His timing and not our own. We would greatly covet you're prayers in that area and if you know of any potential sponsors who you think we should connect with we would greatly appreciate it.

Well that's all I have for now. Today is Olivia's birthday so the parents and I are taking her out for dinner and dessert. Hopefully in the next few days, she will write her first post and share more stories from the wedding and how she's doing. We love you guys and are so thankful for your blessing and prayers as we begin this crazy adventure together.