Hello friends!


It's been a while since my last update. Actually, this is the longest break I've taken from the blog since I started it. It's been great to be back home and it's going to be even better to settle down this week.


For those of you who are new readers OR just need a refresher:

Mark Dawson and I arrived back home this month from being in Kenya visiting Ah-gah-pay Mercy Children's Center. He was there for the first three months and I have been there for a little over 5 months. We went to develop a relationship with John and Nancy, two Kenyans who are running the orphanage. During our time spent there, they gained our trust and respect.



Bloom Church and Ancient Paths in Denver along with Grace World Outreach Church in Enid Oklahoma sent Mark and I. We had a major support group from various friends. Through these connections we raised enough money to start an income-generating project of mango harvesting. I left them almost a month ago with John overseeing the mango business.



NEWS
There's big news at AMCC, and unfortunately it's not all good. A few weeks ago the mango truck was in a serious wreck on it's way to deliver the load. The driver was drunk and hit a cemi-truck parked on the side of the road. The truck was laid over on its side. Because of the current situation of drought and poverty in Kenya, people didn't hesitate to take the mangoes which were spilled all over the road. The driver died shortley after the accident.



The loss of mangoes eliminated AMCCs only way of making income to pay for food. Fortunately a certain family donated $600 after hearing about the accident. This donation allowed AMCC to pay off their debts and buy food up to the 9th of September. John, Nancy and the kids were extremely thankful for the donation and it proved to be very encouraging to all of those at AMCC despite the recent tragedy.


In the meantime, here in the states, I have presented at Grace World Outreach and at Bloom Church about AMCC and my time there. I also got to meet back up with Mark Dawson, whom I hadn't seen in over 2 months! We talked about a gameplan and what the next phase will look like. Our major priority is to raise $25,000 dollars to establish a chicken house for AMCC. With this chicken house, AMCC will be able to pay for food, rent, school fees, medical bills, their own salaries and for much needed hired help.

Some of the other things we are involved in currently are:

1. Renewing and updating the official AMCC website
2. Setting up a bank account for donations
3. Establishing a safe and secure way to transfer funds when neccessary
4. Social networking and fundraising for AMCC
5. Presenting to groups of people that are interested in partnering with AMCC

As soon as we have the $25,000, one or both of us will go back to AMCC to ensure the building and implementation of the chicken project. Grace World Outreach has decided to set up it's own account specifically for the chicken project! Praise God for that!

Our friends at AMCC are all doing well and in good health (relatively). I'll be talking with John in the next few days and will be updating the blog again as soon as anything happens.

That's about all the new stuff at this point.

God is GOOD!

I'M BACK HOME!!! I know it's a bit of a surprise but there's good reason for me not announcing my leaving on the internet. Let me give you a brief rundown of how the last few days went at AMCC.

A week from yesterday, I invited people over who have been instrumental in sustaining AMCC for fellowship to show my appreciation before I left Kenya. John's parents came along with the Mutwangu's and Daniel and his wife, Virginia, the shop-owners and even the Asst. Chief. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel couldn't make it on Sunday but came the following day. Njau (pronuounced "jow"), the butcher, couldn't make it either but sent us some me at with his brother. In the picture above John's dad is sharing some words of encouragement and wisdom to me and the children, which each person had an opportunity to do. It was one of the most encouraging times in my life and nearly the entire time I was fightin back tears. All the kids ate a hearty meal with us in the courtyard. It was an awesome day. In this picture the kids are raising their hands in response to John's question of who wants to grow up to be a doctor and help people.

The next day when Mr. and Mrs. Daniel came over, the Mutwangu's came back as well. We had a great time together eating and enjoying fellowship. I was happy to see them all hanging out together. They spoke in their vernacular because the Daniels and Mrs. Mutwangu don't speak English. Even though I couldn't understand a word, I felt at home amongst family. I enjoyed just being there and knowing that these people saw me their son and brother. They spoke more words of encouragement and thanks to me and then prayed over me. They also gave me a bunch of pure Kenyan coffee and tea to take home with me!

I was to leave on Wednesday so I made sure I got up early to see the kids off to school. This is a picture of them holding my bags and saying good-bye. Before we let them go to school I told them i wanted one more hug and for me to pray for them. The next picture is of me praying a blessing over them and asking God to continue to provide for them as He has for the past two and a half years! He is so good and faithful!

We stopped back by John's parents house, whom I now consider my parents in Kenya, to say goodbye to 'mom' and to pick up 'dad' so he could escort me to the airport along with John and Nancy. Here we are in the bus from Nairobi to the airport.

It was two and a half looonnnggg days of travel with a night in the Dubai airport, getting about 4 hours of sleep and none on the 10 hour plane ride the next day to D.C. After another four hour flight to Denver and feeling the tiredness set in, I was pleasantly surprised by my wonderfully amazing and beautiful girlfriend who flew into Denver two hours before I got there! What a welcome home! To add to the excitement of seeing the people I love and miss so much, I got to go to Bloom Church last night and see those who laid hands on me and sent me out about six months ago. Tomorrow I'm leaving for Oklahoma where I'll get to see my precious family along with so many loved ones from Grace World Outreach.

I have to admit that it feels so good to finally be home! As far as "the mission" with AMCC goes; It's really just getting started! Don't think this will be the last blog by any means. There's still a lot to be done from here so stay tuned! And THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for reading this and for caring and praying with us as the Lord continues to bring the Kingdom!