Pastor Steve's RELIEF Journey

Not much is good when you have TB

2010-06-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

Meet Alice...she is 7 yrs old, and lives on the streets of Kitale Kenya.

She comes to Oasis of Hope drop-in-center each day for the free breakfast and lunch.

Normally she would also love attending classes and singing and playing with the 150+ kids Oasis serves every day.

But tuberculosis has robbed Alice of her ability to enjoy group activities for the time being...

She sits and watches the kids play and hears the songs and then the staff bring her meals to her...TB is common among street kids in Kitale and is sadly very contagious...

So Alice sits...and watches...and listens...and WISHES...that life could be different...somehow...

FIRE at PURPOSE DRIVEN ACADEMY

2010-04-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Everyone is asking...what is going on at Purpose Driven Academy?

I wanted to get through Easter at Saddleback and not detract from the incredible weekend...but now here is a brief summary of the fire as I know it...an update on the wellbeing of the kids...and a word about how we can help Margaret and the kids at Purpose Driven Academy...

A BRIEF HISTORY...

Purpose Driven Academy is a Christian School of 525 students pre-K through High School.

It was founded by Mrs. Margaret Wanyonyi, wife of Pastor Moses Wanyonyi, and is an education outreach of DELIVERANCE CHURCH, in Kitale Kenya.

Although the school is only 8 years old, it has grown rapidly on the 1 acre church campus and with Impact Bible College, runs year round in 3 terms..

About the Fire...

Late on the evening of March 18th, 2010, a fire broke out at PDA, completely destroying the boys high school and jr high dormatories. Over 100 resident students were left with NOTHING but the clothing they were wearing ...AND THEIR LIVES.

Praise God that because of the timing of the day all students were in CLASSROOMS doing last minute 'preps' for the next day's National Exams... a Kenya-wide testing that determines your position for university and other school placement...THINK SAT's...nobody died ...and if you stood in those dorms you would say as I did, 'this is a miracle that no one perished'.

The fire's origin is still being sought by the Kitale fire investigators, but because of the fierceness of the fire and the lack of fire response and the complete destruction, that may never be settled.

Every child at PDA keeps their belongings in a small tin lockbox...For the orphans and streetkids at PDA, that small blue box contains EVERYTHING in their world...not much to us but all the world to them...maybe a note from a friend from Saddleback...maybe a picture of a mom long since gone from their lives...maybe a diary... maybe a book or a second shirt or pair of socks...to you and me, Random Items...to them, connection to life and history and memories...

I watched the next morning after the fire, as boy after boy found his box and hoping against hope broke open the charred tin...only to find the same results...NOTHING but coal-black ashes and burnt memories.

As I walked through the dorm I could hear the sounds of the night before.

Margaret called me in tears and explained the crisis and I told her to gather the boys and send them over to our compound... not really understanding what lay ahead but know we needed to do something...

About midnight the kids started arriving in trucks...in shock and wondering what just happened and how it would affect their lives. REMEMBER, THESE ARE KIDS WHO COME FROM A LIFE OF LOSS AND ABANDONMENT.

For the next hour, Ayub, our caretaker, and Cleophus, our nite guard, the Rwandans, Emanuel, his sister Hannah, and Juliette, and Laila from Oasis jumped into action to find 100 freaked out boys a mattress and a blanket and a place to sleep for the night.

We prayed...we sang a song...and gave them some food...and we sent them to bed.

Then we started preparing some food and tea for the morning.

About 3 am I went by what had previously been my room and usually sleeps me and Connie...and looked in on the 18 boys huddled in there...

I wasn't prepared for what I heard...boys softly crying...not little boys...teenagers...boys who in the light of day would never be caught crying...

I was crushed...

In the morning I discovered many of the boys had wet their beds...another evidence of the trauma of that night...and another loss of control in their lives...
Then, thankfully it was morning...The Rwandans and Laila never slept...they just worked on turning 'fishes and loaves' from our pantry into enough to feed a crowd of boys...and they were EVERYWHERE...
They boys returned to campus and it was a media and political circus...jounalists, district child welfare officials, even the Member of Parliament from that region, all coming to see what the results of the raging flames had been...this poor kid found what all the others found...dashed hopes.
I've been to a lot of refugee camps, but never dreamed we'd HOST an IDP camp at our compound.

These 6 boys are kids that OASIS of HOPE has rescued from street life and glue and has sponsored and placed in school at PDA...all their very few posessions gone

These are the remains of the mattresses and blankets and sheets on the dorm beds.
The kids heading to school the next day looked to me to still be in shock and disbelief from the events of the previous night.
And this is what they saw when they returned...

OK STEVE ...enough already...the place burned down...WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

#1 realize that we are not the 'fixers' of every hurt and the 'healers' of every wound...but everyone can do SOMETHING...according to their own journey and situation. GOD is the GOD over every loss just as He is the Lord of every good gift.

The model we are going to use at Saddleback Church is the crisis on Mt Elgon a few years ago...We were so saddened by the deaths and destruction in the wake of the tribal clashes...

We didn't do bake sales and jog-a thons for Mt Elgon...( not ripping those methods...we just don't do that at SVCC)... we just put the word out in the community of folks who know and love Kenya, and a wonderful response came in...to help over 100 pastors rebuild their homes, their lives, and their churches...

THREE MENTAL IMAGES that may guide you in giving to the rebuilding of PDA...

ONE SMALL...picture emptying your pockets at the end of your day...loose coins from a cup of coffee...2 quarters from the tollroad... a buck change from a big mac...picture collecting that in your drawer and sending it to encourage a kid back to school and some sense of normalcy. I don't care if you are 17 or 70...ANYONE can gather their loose change.

A bit Bigger...picture one of the kids that goes to PDA...it costs 46 dollars a month to school and feed and house a student through the year...thats $550.. what 400,000 people in the US just spent on I-PADS...that's uniform and books and every expense for that child...PDA needs help right now with supporting these kids...it's not a life commitment...it's a 'DO SOMETHING' moment...

A bit bigger still...despite the last year's financial roller coaster...besides the drop in stocks and equity...some of us have been blessed and have an ability to give a more sizable gift to PDA...PICTURE as Margaret does every day...picture the school moving off that tiny 1 acre church campus, which was never intended to be it's home and moving to a 5 acre plot off the church property...that kind of dream obviously takes larger gifts..

So let's wrap this up...

I am not telling you that you should give to the PDA fire response...that's not my job or inclination...it's between you and God
I'm not suggesting for those who give...WHAT to give...again, God can speak much more clearly than I can to you...
What I AM saying is...for those who want to give to help PDA during this rebuilding and stabilizing period...
You can give dollars..they are needed for blankets and mattresses and beds and clothing.
You can give hundreds of dollars...they are needed for supporting the kids and keeping the doors open...
You can give thousands of dollars and help PDA move off the overcrowded site and have a place to grow and play and learn...
Pray about this, please. and let God speak to you about if or what to give...

IF YOU WANT TO GIVE TO THIS CAUSE...

Send a Check to

PEACE RELIEF

Saddleback Church

1 Saddleback Parkway

Lake Forest, CA 92630

ATTN: DON THOMPSON

for tax and accounting purposes, please make your check out to:

Saddleback Church

and on the memo line please write:

PDA FIRE RELIEF

questions?

email me at stever@saddleback.com

I'm Behind on my BLOG...SO SHOOT ME !!!

2009-11-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

yes I know...

i stopped blogging for a while...

no excuses...didn't stop living...just stopped blogging about living...and they are distinctly DIFFERENT things...

but I am going to try and get some writing momentum again...we'll see...

I'm heading back to Africa 2 days after Thanksgiving and can hardly stop thinking about it...please pray for me and Don on the way...

WHAT A DIFFERENCE ONE YEAR MAKES

2009-07-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

One year ago Kenya was ablaze...

The hope of a peaceful transfer of leadership, following the presidential elections, collapsed as tribal rivalries and feelings of powerlessness turned into mayhem and mob violence.
In El Doret, 36 people were chased into an Assembly of God Church, where they chose to burn to death rather than face the murderous crowd outside. Stonic and I knelt at the ashes and shards of a woman who died in her wheelchair...in the church.
No community was immune...it was tribe against tribe, Kenyans in the worst divide anyone could imagine.
First Kikuyu slaughter...then Kikuyu retaliation...the cycle seemed endless...
The streets of Nairobi, El Doret, Naivasha, Nakuru and Kisumu were absolute war zones...

If you were out in public you faced the brutal consequences of the street...
Hospitals were filled with the beaten, the burned, the machete-stricken, and the shot...

But God intervened...God heard the cries of Kenyan people...God brought back a sense of sanity and public shame...God replaced chaos with order...through the network of local churches and the voice of the spiritual leaders of Kenya...people rose up and declared 'ENOUGH !'

WHAT A DIFFERENCE a YEAR MAKES...for sure...

Please pray for PEACE in Kenya.

FIELD(s) of DREAMS

2009-07-12T02:43:00.000-07:00

Want to know the recipe for a successful summer leadership institute?

Start with a big helping of Torie Fields.

This little dynamo from BIOLA UNIVERSITY is a minister's dream, because she is always seeing things from a shepherd's perspective.

It doesn't hurt to have Cathy and Doug Fields as your mom and dad...and Cassie and Cody as your sibs...but I've seen lots of kids from GREAT families who just don't ever move from the 'Christian life of my family' to 'my own journey with the Lord'.
Torie is helping me and Chris Wohlers this summer with our PEACE RELIEF Summer Leadership Intitute...that's alot of words to say...'go to Kitale Kenya and do what God tells you to do'.
Torie's summer has been a mix of teaching and encouraging, fingernail polish and wool blankets, 2 hour conversations with street girls and hugs to homeless moms.
You can ask her how she perfected the tribal soccer dance called the 'Twanga-Twanga' but I'm sure Delia, Casey, Lyndsey and Caroline have something to do with it.
And in West Pokot she is known as the muzungu who CAN count to 10.
Torrie and Delia have been mentoring and teaching a group of former streetkids, known as the 'Mercy Girls', at Purpose Driven Academy...a Christian primary and secondary school for 450 kids at Deliverance Church. PDA is run by our dear friend Margaret Wanyonyi and is an extension of the ministries of Pastor Moses Wanyonyi and the Deliverance Church team. His church has been one of the great spiritual harbors for our Kenya teams over the past 12 years serving in the Rift Valley. When Torie and Delia and Sammy walk on the campus...pandemonium breaks out.

It was on a long-ago AWAKENING trip that God began stirring in Torie's heart about becoming an advocate for:

reaching out to the lost
encouraging and modeling servant leadership
creatively and effectivelyhelping folks rise from poverty
caring for the suffering sick
and helping folks find a path to educate themselves

that's PEACE...no matter what anyone tells you...

A Widow...11 Kids...and a HOLY COW

2009-07-09T14:15:00.001-07:00

During the Sabaot Tribal Land Clashes of 2007 and 2008, 9500 ft. up Mt. Elgon, Kenya, and a few meters from the Uganda border, Pastor Benson, his wife Alice, and their 10 children faced a terrible dilemma... to stay in their warring mountain community or flee to lower ground and the security of police and government forces.

Then all hell broke loose between the Soys and the Nurobos...

With gunfire and terror surrounding them, Pastor Benson, a graduate of Africa Theological Seminary's first Mt. Elgon Pastor's Institute, decided to gather his family and try to flee through the bush to the Kopsiro Police Station, where they could be escorted by army troops to an IDP camp.

This tree is Pastor Benson's final resting place...just 20 meters from the protection of the reinforced police station, Alice and Benson and their children were fired upon by opposition rebels forces.

As bullets rained down around them, Alice's son cried softly, "Are we dead?" and she pulled the 4 year old to her chest and whispered, 'God will deliver us'.

The family ran into the darkness of this dung hut, and trembled as they tried to plan how to get the last few feet to security. But then bullets began piercing the hut, and Benson told Alice, "I am shot". Alice, this mother of 10, and expecting another child in a month, would never see her husband alive again.

And so, she and her 11 children live in that hut...smaller than your work space...and try their best to work out what Alice, in faith, declared, "God will deliver us."
A group from our summer PEACE Relief team traveled for the day, up Mt. Elgon, to visit Alice today with some hugs and some enouragement. The items we brought: maize, rice, wheat, blankets, lesos, cooking pots, flip flops, water jugs and washing basins...will all, wear out or run out, but we are not her family's Saviour...God is...and only God.

We can't deliver Alice, but we CAN love her as Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor and to care for the widow and the fatherless. We can do that...we can love...

We also had a chance to deliver 2 sheep and a HOLY COW to Alice from the Thorsen small group at Saddleback church. This milk cow is 'in-calf' which means that in a few months there will be a baby cow, to also bless the family. This cow produces 300 liters of milk a month, which provides nutrition for the kids and income for mom to keep her 11 in school.
Alice and her kids live in the ironic shadow of the Kopsiro Police Station, where they had hoped to find refuge.

Proverbs 3:5 & 6 is either TRUTH and Comfort, or a convenient cliche we spout when we cannot understand the plight of people like Alice.

I choose to believe that it is the truth...'TRUST in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understandings; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."

RELIEF in Kapsiro Kenya

2009-07-06T19:48:00.001-07:00

The people of Kapsiro Kenya, atop Mount Elgon, are a proud and beautiful people. They are part of the SABAOT people group and are made up of dozens of clans and sub-clans. Two of these clans have been warring over disputed land rights for years now...the Soys and the Nurobo people, despite their common heritage have been caught up in disastrous fighting, leading to:

thousands of deaths
loss of home and security
loss of farms and income
mass fleeing into the forest

Our PEACE RELIEF team partnered with a network of pastors and the local DISTRICT OFFICER...the highest local Kenyan authority....and distributed tons of maize, rice, sugar,wool blankets, feminine products, flip flop shoes, wash basins and BIBLES.
Nearly eight hundred 'heads of family' showed up, representing 5,000 greatly suffering people.
Nick, a BIOLA student from our summer leadership institute, got to deliver a personal word of encouragement, along with this warm blanket, to an elderly Sabaot gentleman. Because these clans live at such a high altitude, nights during this rainy season are miserably cold under their temporary thatched roofs.Alyssa, who will be attending Azusa Pacific University this fall, dove right into the maize distribution team.
Paige and Anne, our Texan teachers delivered plastic wash basins to moms who were trying to do wash out of muddy potholes.
I had a chance to deliver a message of encouragement from Luke 5 on

unselfish love
persistence
unity and teamwork
and faith

There were many times during the day when we had to abandon our vans and walk or push our vehicles to get out of the mud or up an incline...those stops often led to moments where our team got to give out swahili Bibles and share God's love with folks along the way.

It was one cool and exhausting day.

Kylee Dobbs and CLINIC WORK

2009-07-01T05:26:00.000-07:00

Kylee Dobbs is a pre-med student in her junior year at Cal Baptist University.

She is a team member of our Summer Leadership Institute in Kitale, Kenya and working in community health care and mobile clinics through Sister Freda's Cottage Hospital. Christian university students in our summer servant institute, are wrestling with the challenge Jesus Christ gave us 2000 years ago:

'Love God with all your heart' and
'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'

While friends of hers are working at Nordstrom and Old Navy and Taco Bell this summer...she's working at answering the question...'Who exactly IS my neighbor and how do I love them as Jesus said?'

One of the ways Kylee is working out her answer to that challenge is by using her God-given talents and gifts to serve in community and rural clinics. Some day, she dreams of being a doctor and using those healing gifts and compassion skills to work with folks whose health and income preclude them from traditional hospital-based care. She likes 'taking it on the road."
Kylee and her CBU roommate, Ashley Campos, are able to see hundreds of moms and kids a day and are learning skills of triage, assessment, initial care and comfort. I am so proud of their work at the clinics and their interaction with the folks they see and the colleagues they work alongside.
Kylee first came to Kitale on an AWAKENING trip through our church PEACE plan in 2006. The purpose of these initial teams is to expose our church members to the devastating consequences of poverty, disease, inequitable education, lack of servant-leadership, and broken relations between God and men. Kylee's experiences on that trip led her to begin simple steps toward ADVOCACY in the area of health care for the least served in society.
They work under the care and instruction of Sister Freda Robinson and her staff of nurses, doctors, and pharmacists. A simple and inexpensive medicine like mebednazol can keep kids worm-free for months...
A word from Kylee...

"This little girl that I am holding is named Anna. She is 7-9 months old, despite her tiny size. She was suffering from tuberculosis and severe malnutrition when Sister Freda brought her to the hospital. I am so delighted at the great progress that Anna has made in gaining weight, being more alert, and getting rid of her TB. She is such a happy baby and I love spending time with her. She has the biggest smile, even though it's is all gums! I can't wait to see the progress that she makes in the next couple of months. Please pray for Anna."

The IDP CAMPS of Mt ELGON

2009-06-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

The politically correct name is IDP CAMP...internally displaced people... what used to be called REFUGEE CAMPS.

Whether or not the word refugee is the best term, the fact is that on Mt. Elgon, in West Kenya...people are seeking REFUGE.

refuge from starvation
refuge from rebel terror
refuge from the elements, because of their homes being destroyed
refuge from utter hopelessness

Our PEACE RELIEF team of summer interns has been able to partner with Pastor Crispen and the Mt. Elgon Pastors Network to distribute much needed aid and hope in Christ to these folks. In one village, 22 children have starved in the past month.

People were so 'over the top' happy and celebrated the 2 relief days in typical Sabaot style...with songs and dance and prayers and hugs.

People who have been run off and burned off and shot off their ancestral land, have gathered and huddled together in these IDP camps for security and survival.
They have no more than a tarp given by the United Nations...and each other...

There are 5 women for every man because so many men have been killed...leaving kids and women to fend for themselves...

Our PEACE RELIEF team has been able to deliver:

40 220 lb. bags of maize...a Sabaot staple
hundreds of pairs of sandals to protect from worm and jigger infestation
hundreds of warm wool relief blankets...the folks here live 7000 ft above sea level
hundreds of 'lesos' or traditional fabric wraps...for dividing up tents or carrying children
hundreds of Swahili New Testaments and Bibles
thousands of women's sanitary products (the biggest cheer you can believe)
sugar, wheat flour, and cooking oil

4 to 6 families live in each of these tiny dwellings.
Everything we do in PEACE RELIEF is done through the local pastor...as wonderful as all the great help agencies and ngo's are... they pack up and go away... but the CHURCH REMAINS.
Sammy from Cal State Fullerton delivers a blanket to an appreciative mom.
Torie from BIOLA University has made a lifelong friend by delivering... of all things...'Stay Free with Wings' (many asked why do they have 'wings'?...I hope to never know the answer)
Anne, a 4th grade teacher from Providence Christian School, in Dallas, delivered Swahili Bibles to hundreds who have never had their own copy of God's Word.

We are going back next week and spending the night in one of the camps...something NO white person has ever done in Mt. Elgon...to demonstrate our solidarity and care for these hurting people... please pray...it works

Hannah from Rwanda...big changes...little steps

2009-06-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you go back to one of my blogs from the end of March...of '08...I was buying blankets and rice and relief supplies with Floyd Mohr and Ron Neufeld in Kigale, Rwanda, to take to an IDP camp in Kibuye.

That day we came upon this little Islamic girl named Ameni sitting on a bag of sugar...

Ameni had a difficult past...

Her mom was brutally cut to pieces during the genocide
Her dad died of AIDS
She was orphaned at 4 with NO ONE who had the ability or inclination to care for her
She and her brother carved out an existence on the streets of Kigale, 'hawking' or selling tiny things...candies, soaps, anything... to buy some food.
Not a day of school in her entire life
Could not spell her name

She and her friends, Janet and Juliette, followed our Rwanda outreach team from schools to orphan care centers...from youth groups to churches...all the time listening to the Gospel presentation of Christ's Love...everywhere we went in town...they would show up...a stadium, a restaurant, a gathering...just soaking up the message...

One Sunday morning, as our group was sharing their about their own journeys with Jesus, at Deliverance Church...Ameni had heard enough...

She quietly removed her Muslim headdress, layed down her Islamic prayer beads...walked to the front of the church and knelt with our team.

She asked Jesus to forgive her sins, she said she wanted to accept Him as her Lord...to begin a new life...

Ameni's decision that day has changed alot of things...first she led her brother to Christ...he was baptized in the Kigale Assembly of God Church and Changed his Islamic name to Emannuel.

Emannuel and Ameni have worked with Juliette and Janet in their faith journey.

In Feb of '09 I invited Ameni and Emannuel to come by bus to join our Kenya outreach...On that trip, Ameni changed her name to Hannah and I had the privilege of baptizing her in the Kitale Club pool.
Since then it has been quite a wild ride...here is Hannah after she told the men at ANNEX PRISON about how they could find a new path through the Lord.
Here's Hannah talking with women inmates at Kitale prison about how change is possible.

You just never know who that little girl...sitting on the bag of sugar... is or will turn out to be.

more on Hanna later...please pray for her...Torie Fields, one of the leaders of our Kitale PEACE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE, is co-ordinating daily English classes for her.

SIGNS and wonders...part 3

2009-06-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

OK... I'm getting into this 'signs thing...

but they are roadmarks for me...of where I've been and with whom...

like these kids outside a Congo IDP camp...

...like this billboard inside Kakuma Refugee Camp along the border of Sudan...
Is it just me or does a sign for 'deformed animals' just grab your attention?

All those other things...camping and butterflys and picnics and nature trails...nice...

but DEFORMED ANIMALS...woah...how can you walk away from that???
This may be one of my favs...the memorial plaque at the Dorothy Beck Bridge we built with Harmon Parker in West Pokot to honor a true PEACE HERO...
BIG MESSAGES sometimes come on little pieces of paper...

Sometimes along the way, the sign and what's going on around it are in PERFECT sync...

Street kid day at PD Academy...
When you pass the 4th banana tree on the left...just past the cow, but before the mango grove...

you are at Sister Freda's !!!

More SIGNS along the JOURNEY...

2009-06-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Some days the signs we pass along the way are just a BLURR of messages that we don't even see or have time to absorb. I love looking at Kenyan signs...they say so much... and sometimes they just crack me up or baffle me.

Here are some more signs along the road...inside schools or on the pathway...

The size of this church is only slightly bigger than the sign...but what a worship service we had..
I've stayed at a lot of hotels in Texas...but never at the Texas Hotel...it does appear to have wi-fi though...that's a plus
I'm not sure what these guys definition of 'modern' is ...but as a general rule...if I can't spell 'modern'...I'm probably not modern...
Psalm 133:1 ...a sweet sign of harmony in the dining room of Africa Theological Seminary in Kitale...

Signs...Signs...everywhere Signs...

2009-05-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

As you walk through Kitale... you happen upon the most fascinating signage...many of my favorite are 'Butchery' shops with the coolest names...actually ANY word, along with the word 'butchery' becomes strangely cool..

GET READY KITALE !!!!! CHRIS is BACK !!!

2009-05-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

My first introduction to CHRIS WOHLERS was through Allison Hibbard...she invited him in '08 to work in Kenya with Oasis of Hope and Sister Freda and Discover to Recover and Purpose Driven Academy.

It now seems like I've known Chris most of my life...

He's on Jake's top 10 list of servant-hearted leaders...

Kyle, DIGS Chris' energy and humor...and

Caroline has now beaten Chris in 34,257 consecutive games of ping pong...

In our family...that's the TRIPLE CROWN.

Chris is the head of our SUMMER LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE in Kitale for the next 3 months...22 university-age Christians, living and serving Christ in the RIFT VALLEY of western Kenya.

drop-in centers...hospitals...schools...group homes...feeding centers...churches...prisons...
Chris has demonstrated the heart, the capacity, and the character to 'serve by example' this summer. It will be a challenge, for sure...these folks arrive from extremely different backgrounds and life goals...a sheriff, a nurse, a teacher, students from BIOLA and WESTMONT and CAL BAPTIST and CSUF...
Chris just arrived on the Kitale campus...so glad to be through this semester...and so glad to see his Kenya colleagues.

PLEASE PRAY FOR CHRIS WOHLERS as he learns leadership while he practices it...it's a grand experiment and I can't wait to see the results.

follow Chris' team this summer at kitaleleadershipinstitute.blogspot.com

SCOUTS at OASIS of HOPE

2009-05-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting are ALIVE and THRIVING in OASIS OF HOPE...a program for the street kids of Kitale, Kenya.

These street kids are run-aways, stay-aways, and throw-aways from across the RIFT VALLEY ...from age 4 to 14... who live in a desperate world of hunger, glue fumes, illness and homelessness.

But programs like Oasis Scouting bring a deep sense of pride...of teamwork...of discipline...of accomplishment...to a big group of children who could really use an encouraging influence in their lives.

Under the watchful eyes of Joseph and Geoffrey...these kids are gaining social and interactive skills that are in sharp contrast to the skillset that comes from life on the streets of Kenya.

They also learn to work TOGETHER through projects, games, outings and exercises.
The contrast between their street attire...years old and never washed...and their crispy clean and ironed scouting outfits is a symbol of their contrasting worlds...

But that is what OASIS of HOPE is all about...bringing Christian LOVE and action together ...rather than just grieve for the plight of Kitale's 'glue boys' ....they actually reach out EVERY DAY with food and education and mentoring and HOPE... Jesus didn't say 'feel bad for your neighbor' ...he didn't say 'open your eyes' about your neighbors...He said LOVE your neighbors.
When the life skills and values that are taught in SCOUTING catch hold in the life of an orphan from the mean-streets...the results are life changing...

doubt that?

Look at the pride in the face of this young scout ...
Susie Kissling, a friend of mine, made the simple CHOICE to become an ADVOCATE for homeless street kids by investing her heart in scouting at OASIS...she's a real life hero.

REACHING BEYOND OURSELVES WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD's LOVE.

Want to know more?

E-mail Oasis founder Lydia Monroe at oasisofhope@mac.com

CANNONBALL !!!!!!

2009-05-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Among the rites of passage in American life...learning the 'cannonball' is as important as it gets...

Skip this key step of life development and you risk huge consequences that may play out in bizarre adult behavior...

The essence of the cannonball is the 'splash'...guys like John Candy, Will Farrell, and Chris Farley...all mastered the technique...you double up in a tuck and get as many people wet as you possibly can...

Some can do a cannonball...some simply can't...

Twiggy can't...

Mick Jagger never could...

Hilary Clinton...sorry...no way

Now some folks go through life with alternatives to the cannonball...

there's the 'swan dive' or the 'jack-knife'...I'm sure Adam from American Idol does a lovely swan dive...

and then there is the 'belly flop', which is a desperate attempt to cover the fact that a person just never learned to do the cannonball...

But today, Luke Rutenbar (3 and a half) learned to do the cannonball in the Dove Canyon community pool...

Note the quality and symmetry of the splash...

Other things we are working on in swim lessons with grandpa are jumping and trust issues...
floating on our back...
Enjoying the water rather than fearing it...
and swimming to the side of the pool...climbing out and going again...and again...and again.
Of the things I've done in the spring of '09...many will never amount to anything...

But teaching Luke to do a proper cannonball...that is something to hold on to.

SEWING 101

2009-05-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

I've been in a lot of classes in my 56 years...

from Sunday School to Traffic School...

but never in a SEWING CLASS.

So my friends from African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM) took me to a sewing class to meet some new friends in Goma, Congo...

And you just never know who you are going to meet along the journey...

At the ALARM women's training center, young moms who have suffered through terror and personal abuse I cannot describe here, are being trained to sew and market dresses so they can feed and support their families. It is a way for these ladies to gain back some sense of control and dignity, that has been so savagely taken from them.
These are women who do NOT want to fall into a 'refugee' mindset...they want to take care of their babies...to see them thrive and someday go to school...and see those children break this generational curse of tribal clashes and so...here they are in class...babies in tow...learning to sew.
The head instructor is all of 4'8'' and trying her her very best to keep me from distracting her students and disrupting the lesson...this has been a lifelong struggle of mine...but this is a photo BEGGING to be taken.
If you'd like to know about the wonderful work ALARM is doing, inside Congo, go to their website...

visit http://alarm-inc.org/

good Christian folks giving encouraging tools to local pastors and their church members...

You don't have to sell your house and move to Congo to be an advocate for these ladies...you can pray...you can encourage...you can write...you can donate so they can buy some fabric...you can buy a sewing machine...you can be a voice in a thousand ways...

then again...if God is telling you to go...better do what He says...

A 4 YEAR OLD PRISONER...FREED !!

2009-05-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Meet Augustine...

He's 4 years old.

His mom is in a Kenyan prison for life.

She is a murderess.

Augustine was born in jail and has lived every day of his life in prison.

By Kenya law, a child of a female inmate may stay with his mother until age 4.

So Augustine has lived his entire life inside the walls of Kitale Prison.

Until a few weeks ago...when Augustine turned 4...everything in his world was women and prison.

It's all he has ever known...

The inmates...all women...

The guards...all women...

The staff...all women...

It's all he's ever known

Enter Jana O'Guin, a woman who has served faithfully in Kenya and Ukraine for many years, on many teams.

One day, as she was teaching a step group of Celebrate Recovery in the Kitale Prison, one of the inmates walked up to Jana and handed her child, baby Augustine, to her...

She wasn't saying, 'please hold my child' or 'please comfort my crying child', she was saying 'TAKE MY CHILD'
Through the last months, with alot of time and effort and concern, Jana has arranged for baby Augustine to live and be cared for and educated at Purpose Driven Academy...a ministry of Deliverance Church, in Kitale, Kenya...a school of 500+ kids run by Margaret Wanyonyi.

I had the wonderful opportunity to be at PD Academy with Margaret, the day that baby Augustine went from living behind bars and barbed-wire and brick walls...to living with nurturing and caring teachers and 500 new siblings...

As the transition was taking place, Augustine's lips were quivering...he was looking around the room for ONE familiar face...but there wasn't one...tears were welling up in his chocolate eyes.

But by the end of that day, Augustine was already settling into a new world...laughing and running and loving his new school uniform.

Please pray for Augustine as he begins this new chapter in his life
Please pray for his pre kindergarden teacher
Please pray for the foster parents...Pastor Joel and his family...who have lovingly taken baby Augustine into their home
Pray for more advocates like Jana O'Guin
And please...please pray for a young mom, sitting in a prison cell in Kenya, who is feeling very much alone tonight.

ODE TO ALLIE's RINGWORM

2009-04-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

When our recent Kenya missions team arrived in Kitale, we were greeted by our friend and my hero...Allison Hibbard.

Allie had been serving orphans and run-aways and throw-aways for 7 months in Kenya and just days before we arrived, this sweet case of ringworm joined her facial family...to her complete dismay, since so many friends would soon be seeing her and greeting her with...'What's that about?' looks, and various unspoken messages of disgust.

I wrote this poem to dear Allison and consider it some of my better work... I am so proud of her and her choice to come to Kitale.

There are signs that mark our journey,

As we move from land to land

Some are told and some are written

Some in ink, on back or hand

One such marking I will carry,

Of Kitale- home with me

It's a circle--it's a virus

On my cheek, for all to see

I won't cover or deny

This tiny 'O' upon my face

It will be a sweet reminder

Of these people...of this place

I will never forget this journey

Or the changes that I see

Tho' this mark will some day fade, I pray

I KNOW, that these children stay with me.

The ringworm has now, in fact, faded....but Allison wears her red badge of courage elsewhere, in her heart.

POINTERS

2009-04-29T00:16:00.001-07:00

There are some photos that just don't need any explanation or commentary...I simply call them 'POINTERS'.

Join us in UKRAINE this summer...

2009-04-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

Last summer a team from Saddleback took 100 kids off the streets of Mariupol, Ukraine, where you can buy the strongest of painkillers for less than a penny...and took them to CRIMEA for a summer camp.

What an unbelievably fun and inspiring time it was ...living and laughing and singing and praying with these kids who live in dark alleys, and under buildings, in a world you and I will never know...seeing them come out from behind their walls of defense...

Pastor Ghenady from The Church of Good Changes (awesome name) invited us to join them and serve alongside his church staff and the Pilgrim Orphan Care Ministry.

We're going back to UKRAINE this July 16th -30 and taking kids to the CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS this year...kind of like a soviet version of Big Bear...100 'run-away' and 'throw-away' kids...enjoying a Christian camp setting...it's the best...

Just being with these kids, breaks your heart and also fills you with hope and respect for the work Pastor Ghenady and his staff are doing in their 27 group homes...Every night they go out on the streets and rescue drug addicted little kids who are just trying to survive.

Kids who shoot street drugs EVERY DAY...ALL DAY...just to deal with the abuse and the homelessness and the abandonment...
Camp is a contrast for sure...darkness to light...just ask Ashley and Nadya.
If you're interested in joining our team...13 days that will change your life... e-mail Carolyn Betts, our team co-ordinator at carecgb@yahoo.com or leave a comment and a contact at the bottom.
When you reach beyond yourself to the least of these people, you are following Christ's command...'love your neighbor as much as you love yourself' and making some lifelong friends in the most unexpected places.

After AIDS...DISCOVER to RECOVER

2009-04-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Meet Patricia Sawa, from Kitale, Kenya. A mom and wife, a ministry leader, a counselor and an encouraging friend.

A few years ago Patricia and her husband, Francis, were about as down and out as two people can be.

They discovered they were HIV positive
Their employers fired them out of fear of having infected workers
Their friends began to stigmatize them
Their neighbors treated them like lepers
Rumors, like moving shadows, haunted their family
There was no income
There was no food

Patricia could have just curled up...quit living...and leave behind a family of orphaned and homeless children.

But that is not her nature, and that is not what she chose to do.

She decided to go public...to fight this illness and to help others affected and infected with HIV.

Patricia began a simple ministry outreach in Kitale called DISCOVER to RECOVER...a great name...first of all DISCOVER your HIV status by being tested...Until you know for sure what that status is, many live in a world of denial and fear and danger to themselves and others.

And then comes the RECOVER part...Patricia teaches families that HIV is NOT a death sentence and there are pro-active things that can be done to build up your immune system...like anti-retrovirals...ARVs...and healthy and Godly living.

Patricia spends her days helping men and women, boys and girls get to VTCs (Voluntary Testing and Counseling Centers)...where a quick and painless test can let a person know if they are, in-fact, HIV positive.

Patricia has also opened a wonderful center for the care of children who have been devastated by the AIDS epidemic.

Some of these kids have HIV
Some have been orphaned by parents who died of AIDS
Some are at-risk kids because of the lives they lead or are born into...
All of them need her help... Today Patricia Sawa lectures all over the world about the battle against AIDS...how we have to behave in ways that do not put us at risk, how to treat folks who have AIDS lovingly , as Christ would..

Years ago, Patricia was the first recipient of one of our HOLY COWs...milk cows we give to folks who are in need of the income and nutrition that milk brings them...

She has also guided us to needy families and folks through DISCOVER TO RECOVER who have been blessed.

This was another HOLY COW that Caroline, Allison, Megan, Andrea and Chris got to deliver to Patricia...Rather than renting a pick-up truck and transporting it...we walked it across town...what a crazy day...I think the cow thought we were taking her to the butchery shop.

I'd love to give 10 Holy Cows to families in Patricia's ministry this year...it takes a family or small group saying, 'We want to buy a cow and help an AIDS affected family, through Patricia's ministry.

Maybe that's you...give me a call or e-mail me at stever@saddleback.com or leave a comment to this message. Simple things sometimes reap huge results...it did in Patricia's life.

A Little Girl Named Regina...

2009-04-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

We were in our van, leaving the city of Narok, Kenya after 2 days of clinics and schools and orphanages...

I was busy talking with Stonic about the details of the next few days...

We pulled into a gas station and things changed forever for me...

It didn't come in the form of a cloud of fire...or trumpets blaring...or angels sitting on the van.

There was this little girl...selling bananas...and things couldn't be clearer to me if the Lord had tapped me on the shoulder and said, "do something'.

Her name is Regina...and she was standing at my window with this bunch of bananas...

And all I could think was 'What is this cute little girl doing here at this gas staion when little girls should be in school?'

I asked Stonic to find out why she wasn't in school and she began her story...

'My mother and father live in the Mara...we are Masai...but with the drought, there is no food for my 9 brothers and sisters.'

I started leaning in...like I do when I'm about to hear something that is going to break my heart...

Regina went on, 'My parents sold our last cow and we fled here to Narok to try to save our lives. Each of us do what we have to do to live. I sell bananas.'

Stonic asked Regina if she had ever been to school...she said NO ONE in her family, except one sister had been to a day of school...but she got pregnant and had to quit...

'Would you like to go to school, Regina?...'yes, but who will sell the bananas?'

I asked her to have her parents meet us right there the next day.

And sure enough...the next day...there were Regina's folks at the gas station ...wondering what these Mazungus wanted with their daughter...

the most interesting answer to all this came after we explained that we would like to send their daughter to school and Regina's mother asked, 'who will sell the bananas?'

WOW...

After about an hour of discussion, Regina's parents saw that us sending their daughter would be a help in the long term...to their whole family.

Fast forward 2 weeks...
With the incredible background work of Stonic, and Allen and Charles...we got 9 year old Regina into the NAROK TEACHERS TRAINING SCHOOL !!!

Just look at her in her uniform !!!!!!

Who knows just where God will take this little girl on her journey through life...but one thing is for sure...
She knows that there are some people that are pulling and praying for her to succeed.

Please pray for Regina...

IDP CAMP in Goma, Congo

2009-04-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

I traveled by plane and LandCruiser with Dr. David and Cherry Haymes, from Dallas, Texas and my protector/friend Stonic Koipah through Rwanda to Goma, Congo to visit some of the many refugee camps stretched along the Congo/Rwanda border. From this hill, you can look out 360 degrees and see nothing but humanity. This IDP camp (Internally Displaced People) has around 29000 people who fled the clashes between the Laurent Nakunda-led rebel forces and the Congo government armies.

There is just no way to describe the indignities that the women and children of Congo have suffered at the hands of rebels and government troops and even peacekeeping troops from the UN. It is way too impolite to discuss in this blog, but we spent hours with ladies in Goma hospitals, listening to them painfully recount the terror inspired accounts of their attacks and their attackers. These poor ladies are damaged physically beyond repair and will never know normal body functions again.

When everyday people get drawn into evil terror and clashes, the consequences are so terribly sad and unexplainable. These ladies and little kids need loving counsel, and medical care, and whatever help we, in PEACE RELIEF can supply.

We give blankets and food and clothing and cooking pots...they need and deserve SO much more...

'Catch the Muzungu"

2009-04-11T04:57:00.000-07:00

OK...my favorite game in Kenya...CATCH THE MUZUNGU...

It has all the elements of great drama...

A field full of very fast future Olympic marathoners...

and across the field...a group of very white, very slow Americans...running from the kids.

As the saying goes, "you can run, but you cannot hide...' there have been some muzungu that did better than others at holding off the oncoming horde...Taylor Ishii comes to mind as one of the best, but I think his retreat included climbing a tree...or was that Chris Wohlers...

Anyway...a special treat awaits the individual who first tracks down and 'tags' the fleeing American...like a soccer ball or a frisbee...so the smile that comes across the faces of the kids waiting to pounce and the laughter that comes from watching the awkward and inevitable capture of the tortoise-like muzungus is .... hilarious.

Simple pleasures...

One Swahili Bible....

2009-04-11T04:19:00.000-07:00

Beatrice has never owned her own Bible.

She has heard her pastor read from it.

She has listened to traveling evangelists quote from it.

But she has never had her own copy of God's Word...

Until today.

The Bible was a gift from our church RECYCLING MINISTRY that turns 'bottles into Bibles and sodas into scriptures'.

It is so simple...folks bring their cans and bottles to the RECYCLING kiosk at church.

We buy Bibles and give them to folks like Beatrice...

Two hours later...after most of the folks from the mobile medical clinic were treated...there was Beatrice, standing in the thin light of the window...with her new reading glasses and her Swahili New Testament...

She had some catching up to do...

Choosing Service over Comfort

2009-04-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you why Dr. David Haymes and his wife Cherry are HEROES to me...

At a time in this Dallas doctor's life, when he has every well-deserved right to be kicking back and 'enjoying the good life', he and his wife are spending weeks on dusty African roads, going to serve dying and desperate people, in conditions that would discourage even the rosiest of outlooks.

Dr. David and Cherry Haymes are advocates for folks who suffer health indignities that most westerners will never see...much less understand.

The Haymes have every right to be sitting on the back of a yacht somewhere in the Bahamas, but instead they are:

visiting refugee camps in terror-stricken Congo
carrying help and supplies to orphans of the genecide in Rwanda
treating Kenyan patients in remote mobile clinics
bringing life-saving meds to Sr.Freda's Cottage Hospital that would simply not be there if not for the Haymes efforts.

David should be on the back nine at Las Colinas Country Club, and Cherry should be on aisle 12 at Neiman's, but they are in West Pokot and the Massai Mara and Mt. Elgon.
And why do they do this???

Jesus Christ said, "All the commandments can be summed up in two...love the Lord with all our heart, and love your neighbor as yourself."

In doing what David and Cherry do...helping the helpless...they are following the teachings of the GREATEST TEACHER who ever lived.

Nothing Cooler Than a 'SLIP n SLIDE'

2009-04-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

There isn't anything out there that is cooler than a good old session of 'slip n slide'...especially when you are doing it on the last day of camp in Kitale, Kenya with 100 of your favorite glue- sniffing street kids. It should be an event in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Katie and Allie and Jana and Jaime and Zack rolled out the 30 yard poly wall and then lubed it down and added water and...instant INSANITY !!!!
Just like dancing in Kenya, no two street boys 'slide and glide' with the same flair, but everyone cracks me up and everybody has a good time...watching or slip sliding away. Remember that there are no SIX FLAGS in Kitale, no water themed parks...Wild Rivers REALLY IS WILD RIVERS !!!

Hippos eat people here, they don't dance in cartoon tutus.

And the point of this camp...
Even when life has you turned a bit sideways...there is love and hope and real change out there...John 10:10

DR.ROB's POKOT EYE CLINIC

2009-04-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Dr. Rob Henslick is an eye doctor from Saddleback that has been bringing equipment and supplies and meds to Kenya for a few years now.

He and his wife, Michelle, and their cool kids, Nolan, Grant, and Josh, are all-out advocates for the sick and hurting and the dying in the Rift Valley of Kenya.

From the moment the Henslick family first touched down in Kenyatta Airport, they have been great examples of folks who use their voice to speak up for those who no one is listening to.

Rob and Michelle have taken a very simple but consistent approach to getting eye care resources to Sister Freda's Clinic.

He has trained dozens of non professionals to work alongside him and Michelle in testing and assessing and caring for the blind and the near blind.

The men and women... the boys and girls he treated on a recent mobile medical clinic to Pokot were typical of what he sees across the Rift...from Massai land to Mt Elgon to the desert of Kachleba.
Folks who lack the simplest eye care...

Eyes that have gone dark from very PREVENTABLE diseases...but there is no Dr. Rob to be found.
Men and women who live in a very different world than those of us who take sight and light and health for granted.

Inauguration Days

2009-01-28T22:23:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON DC!!!

Friends asked me why I was going to DC for the inauguration...I said, 'its WOODSTOCK, MARDI GRAS, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR on the Lincoln Memorial steps, and Pastor Rick leading in the Lord's Prayer !!!!' HOW CAN YOU MISS THAT???

I thought Promise Keepers was a huge crowd on the Mall, but this was over the top. Solid pack of people from the Vietnam Memorial to the Senate steps...some say 2 million ...

Can you see Rick Warren, up on the stage, waving to me?...
During the James Taylor, Bono, Garth Brooks fest...I made my way around the city...the Vietnam Memorial will always be the one that grabs me most...thought of Danny Daniels and Rocky McElveen fighting as kids and coming back as men.

The crowd was SO:

Filled with a Spirit of Celebration
Filled with Pride for our FIRST African American President
COLD !!!!!
Kind and patient and downright happy

My close personal friend, Bono, took a brief moment to send me a personal shout-out from the stage. He likes to embarrass me in crowds.

The highlight of my trip was PRAYING the LORD's PRAYER on the national mall with 2 million people...TV coverage didn't show the folks throwing their arms around the people next to them or holding hands and audibly saying together...

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name...thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtor. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil...for thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever...AMEN !!!!!!

If You've Given Up Hope...Read this

2009-01-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

If you've grown cynical in 2008...

If you are still sick that your 401-K is now half what it was in 2007...

If you're upside down on your mortgage...

If the human resources person at your work keeps staring strangely at you...

THERE IS A REAL-LIFE GOOD NEWS STORY GOING ON IN KITALE, KENYA.

Meet Emmanuel...no last name...babies who get abandoned at Sister FREDA'S COTTAGE HOSPITAL don't really have luxuries like clothes or last names or birth certificates or moms or dads or a family...one day, you just notice there's an extra baby in the nursery and he's very sick...

As you can tell, Emmanuel was SO sick that his ribs showed through his tiny chest. His body had sores all over...he couldn't hold down the smallest amounts of fluids...death was as present as a circling buzzard.

But there is this sweet Ukrainian missionary named Tanya.

She came from Ternopil, Ukraine, to teach Kenyan children about Jesus Christ.

She and 4 other Ukrainians who come and volunteer at Sister Freda's couldn't get Emmanuel out of their minds...so they started doing what they COULD do...praying for him...and rubbing his little body which was smaller than their hand...and trying to feed him with a dropper and a mini spoon.

Well guess what...prayer and love conquered cynism and death...

Sick baby Emmanuel has become THRIVING, and GIGGLING baby Emmanuel.
Tanya's unending prayers and love and care for this one child are a perfect example of the power of one person refusing to focus on what she couldn't do, but concentrating on what she COULD. Tanya became a living ADVOCATE for a child that couldn't speak up for himself.

You don't have to sell your house in Orange County and move to Congo or Ukraine or Oaxaca or Kitale to be an ADVOCATE for the hurting of this world.
Just decide to do SOMETHING for someone...

2009...it just could be a good year to reach beyond ourselves...

If you want some ideas on where to start...look over some of the past year's blog and ask yourself (or the Lord) where you could begin in a tiny way.

Plant the seed...

water it...

watch it grow...

Saying Goodbye to Congo

2008-12-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

Having seen what I've seen here in Congo...having met so many people whose lives are in complete chaos...having my heart ripped out by kids living without any parent or family member...having seen the selfless work of pastors and church leaders, trying to show Christ-like compassion without the simplest of resources...having spoken with moms who cannot find their babies...having heard from relief workers who are simply overwhelmed with the numbers of displaced people...

It's almost impossible for me to walk away...to get in a plane and fly home.

Temporary shelters of tarps and twigs holding hungry, confused and terrified people.

People trying their best to disassociate themselves from the fresh memories of civil war and abuse by rebels, government forces, and even peacekeepers.
Silas, poking his head through the only window in a 140 person tent.

He has no idea where his mom or dad or brothers or sisters are.

Neither does anyone at the camp.

When the rebels came to his village, Silas just ran to the forest and hid.
Driving back to the Rwanda border we met these kids who won't go to an IDP camp.

They feel they are better off on their own.

THE IDP CAMPS outside GOMA, CONGO

2008-12-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest reasons I went to DR Congo was to see and hear, first-hand, if what I have been reading about in the western press matched with reality...

terrified families
brutalized women
murdered men
abused and abandoned children

The stories I have been told, by mothers and fathers and kids I've spoken with, and the pastors who are trying to comfort and assist them...

they are ugly, and vile, and nasty stories of man's inhumanity to man, of unceasing tribal conflict, of the basest of human treatment by fellow human beings.

If you look and listen inside every tent, every shelter, every tarp lean-to...you hear the most sad and sickening stories of a nation torn apart by war...war that is so complex and yet so basically simple that it is staggeringly difficult to wrap my mind around...so I just listen...and pray for the kind of discernment offered by the Lord in James chapter 1.
And look at the thousands of displaced families...

And the little children who should be singing... and playing... and going to school, but instead they are stuck in this hell of a survival existence.

This is their home...this is their village...this is their marketplace...this is their school...this is their church...this is their clinic...this is their security...this is their existence...for how long?

Only God knows.

LIFE IN THE CAMPS

2008-12-23T04:25:00.000-08:00

Life in the Refugee Camps outside Goma, Congo seems, to me, to be a blur of endless need, coupled with a certain resignation that this is the way it is going to be, while the various political factions work out their differences and deeds.

I changed this picture from its grim black and white and tried adding some color...as if that might change the subject or tone...but dressing up a bad situation doesn't change a thing...the eyes speak louder than the background colors...

This little guy was cold and hungry and alone outside his tent. The tent he is assigned to has 140 people living in it and I feel like he just came out here to get away from the set of problems inside the tent.

When I left the camp he was huddled in the exact same place...in the exact same squatting stupor.

Looking out, but at what? I don't know...

In this tent...where you sit...is where you eat...is where you sleep...is where you live...is where you play...is where you dream, if you can, in all the commotion.
At this camp, OXFAM(www.oxfam.org) supplies the water and gathering the daily water is a task of the children.

IT'S ALWAYS THE KIDS THAT CATCH YOUR HEART

2008-12-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Just walking across this IDP camp is an overwhelming exercise...My mind struggles with trying to envision 'solutions' to the simplest of the problems these kids face...lost or dead parents...disruption of all schooling...fear and insecurity...constant hunger...sickness and disease...

Blankets and water and toilets certainly help, but the kind of emotional garbage that begins to collect when you have this many thousands of kids just living in survival mode...what about their dreams?...what about their nurturing?...what about their health, inside and out?

I just look at a 2 year old sitting in the mud outside a tattered tarp and grass dwelling and wonder...'who deserves that?'

Not that all these kids came from the most wonderful settings BEFORE all of this chaos, but at least some of them were with their mom, some of them slept in safety and security, and some of them had enough food to fight a fair fight against hunger and disease...

Some things just shouldn't be.

But if I stay in that place...of 'this isn't fair'...'this isn't right'...then I get close to SHUT DOWN MODE.

We can't solve this mess, but we CAN serve and bring some measure of comfort to these kids.

'Even a cold cup of water in My Name'

ARMS DON'T EQUAL SECURITY

2008-12-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

If guns and tanks and soldiers equaled security and safety, Goma might be one of the safest places on the planet right now.

Every other vehicle you pass on the roads into the IDP camps seems to be an armoured vehicle of UN peacekeepers...mostly Indian...or a lorrie transporting government forces or police forces of various loyalties...I feel like I need a program to keep up with who exactly the forces at work here are.

Taking pictures of peacekeeper vehicles was probably not one of the smartest moves I made, (I remember yelling at Jeff Frumm when he was shooting photos of rioters outside of ElDoret during the Kenya chaos earlier this year.)

For all the military presence, people are still terrified...One woman in the Norwegian IDP camp told of being raped by soldiers in her village, then when she was 'rescued' by rebels, she was further abused throughout the night by her rescuers.

While the cease-fire talks continue in Nairobi between Congo military and the Laurent Nkunda led CNDP, the rebel armies are just 3 kilometers from our IDP camp...just over the ridgeline.

Our Friends from ALARM CONGO

2008-12-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

Our friends from AFRICA LEADERSHIP and RECONCILIATION MINISTRIES (learn about them at ALARM-INC.org ) escorted Stonic and me into a few IDP camps, run by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees.

I was attempting to see what the response of the church was inside these Congo refugee camps...how Christians were encouraging these terrified displaced victims of the ongoing Congo Civil wars.

What we saw and heard first hand over the next days was disturbing.

There are an estimated 300,000 internally displaced people in the Goma corridor who lack security, basic health care, adequate food and reasonable shelter.

The brutal clashes between the government forces, the rebel forces, and other well-armed militia from neighboring nations has created a nightmare of murder, rape, child abuse, and absolute terror among these eastern Congolese.

Saddleback Church's PEACE RELIEF program has worked with local indigenous church pastors and church leaders in bringing Christian comfort and relief assistance to victims of natural and man-made disasters in Peru, Myanmar, Indonesia, China, Kenya, and in stateside crisis situations from 9/11 to Katrina...from the LA RIOTS to Galveston ...from the Laguna and Crestline fires to this year's Santiago firestorms.

I have, however, not seen or heard anything as complex and brutal as the chaos being visited upon the residents of eastern Congo.

My permission to pass from Rwanda to Congo.

One tiny slice of the people we will be meeting.

IF YOU'RE GOING TO CONGO...TAKE STONIC!

2008-12-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

4 excellent reasons you should take Stonic Koipah with you to Congo.

#1 Any guy who has killed a lion is the guy I want to be with when trouble strikes.

#2 He's Masai...enough said.

#3 I've never seen him flinch under pressure...even once.

#4 The best campfire stories you will ever hear.

Stonic met this young boy on our first day at the Goma IDP camps.

He told Stonic about the horror of being forcibly enlisted as a child soldier, and the terrible things he was made to do to people. It broke Stonic's heart and he never stopped talking and thinking about that kid.

SISTER FREDA IS COMING TO TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA !!!!

2008-12-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Sister Freda Robinson, the founder and director of a cottage hospital in Kitale, Kenya, is coming to Texas and California in January of 2009 (next month!) to speak with folks about the school for nursing that will be completed during this next year.

The school for nurses has long been a dream of Freda's as her way to continue the work of caring for the sick and suffering in this region of the Rift Valley. But that dream didn't take flight until a gentleman named John West began praying and talking with Sister Freda and her husband, Richard Robinson about a legacy training site for young nurses in the Tranzoia area of Kenya.

Slowly ('poli-poli' in Swahili) the idea began to take shape and many others began to rally around the concept of Sister Freda 'duplicating' and 'multiplying' her work through training a new generation of nurses at her cottage hospital outside Kitale, Kenya.

DARLENE SALA has written the most wonderful account of Sister Freda's journey called 'HEART of COMPASSION, HANDS OF CARE, which you can find on Harold and Darlene Sala's ministry website...www.GUIDELINES.org or call 1 (949) 582-5001 and ask how you can get a copy.

It is a wonderfully written book about a wonderful woman of God who does what she can with what she has.

Freda arrives in California around the 10th of January and will be in Texas around the 20th.

Get a few copies and give them to your friends....

To get details about where to meet and greet Freda, email Linda at calllinda2@aol.com

HOLY COW !!!!!

2008-12-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

I'm only going to be in Kitale for 3 days ...on my way to Congo...more on THAT later...

I just have to drop in on one of my favorite cows...donated by Sandy Green's small group for the children at Patricia Sowa's HIV Home, Discover to Recover.

HERE'S HOW 'HOLY COW' WORKS !!!!

A person or small group donates $450. to SADDLEBACK CHURCH's HOLY COW designated acct.
The Holy Cow training team from Deliverance Church, Kitale Kenya, selects a needy family from the community.
The family builds a simple 'zero-grazing' shed to house and shelter the gift cow.
The recipient family completes a course, taught by team members from the Department of Agriculture, in raising and caring for this gifted asset.
The milk cow is awarded, delivered and dedicated.
The milk from the morning is SOLD and used for income for school fees and materials.
The milk from the evening milking is fed to the children for calcium, vitamins, protein , and fat.
After a year the HOLY COW is artificially inseminated by the Agriculture team.
The first offspring calf goes BACK into the HOLY COW Program and is donated to another family.
The second and third calf belong to the recipient family, so now they own 3 HOLY COWS.

IN 2004, we started HOLY COW with just one cow donated to Patricia and Frances Sowa, who had been fired from their jobs when it was discovered they were both HIV positive.

Today there are over 150 cows and calves in the program and it continues to grow from the inside out.

Ukraine PEACE Trip May 09

2008-10-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

CAROLINE LOSES AN APPENDIX !!!

2008-09-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

This tiny red body part sure changed Caroline's weekend plans.

FRIDAY PM...Caroline tells Connie her tummy hurts...things start happening...Saturday tests at Saddleback Memorial...inconclusive...Saturday PM...a CT SCAN confirms...APPENDICITIS...

SUDOKU on PAINKILLERS...better wear a seatbelt

Flowers from the Hamers

PLEASE !!! No Papparazzi in the ER !!!

Connie and I are grateful that Caroline was back from Africa before this happened

Sunday Morning...APPENDIX GONE and things are starting to get better.

YAHTZEE !!!!!!

WHEN YOU SEE THOSE FACES...

2008-09-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

When I walk into a church in the Kipsongo slums and see 200 little faces looking back...

When I realize that they will struggle their whole lives with illness we'll never know...

When I see there is NO ONE to take them to the district hospital...

When I see that even if they found a doctor, they have no way to pay for the meds they need...

When I see the effects of malaria and cholera and worms and parasites and HIV...

When a meal of rice and beans and ugali does so much to cancel malnutrition...

When I see the huge results of a mobile medical clinic...

I am forced to ask myself...

How can I just walk away and not do something?

For me that SOMETHING is helping with Sister Freda's Mobile Medical Clinics.

We just purchased a used Land Cruiser from simple gifts.

We just bought life-saving meds with simple gifts.

We just de-wormed over 2,000 kids with simple gifts.

We just bought hundreds of blankets and cooking pots and cups with simple gifts.

Simple gifts go a long way...don't get me wrong...if you want to give some huge gift, I think that's ok, but most of the folks I know are simple gifts kind of folks...not 'what am I gonna do with this extra $200,000.?' kind of folks.

Actually a few folks giving a simple gift works out just fine.

Two ways to give to a Mobile Medical Clinic for Sister Freda...

#1 If you go to Saddleback Church... write an offering to 'SVCC' and designate that you want it to go Sister Freda Fund. Send it Saddleback Church, 1 Saddleback Parkway, Lake Forest CA 92630

#2 If you don't give through Saddleback...give through:

'Reaching Beyond Ourselves'

21961 Calatrava Dr.

Mission Viejo, CA 92692

It's an all volunteer group and it ALL goes to the work.

There's no gift too simple or too small.

Sugar Rae...made my day!!!

2008-09-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Some Random thoughts on the birth of Raegan Lynn Rutenbar

The amazing team of cousins and grandkids, Harper and Lukey, has added a new fantasy draft pick to it's DREAM TEAM.
This picture of Courtney and Kyle and Rae Rae makes my jaws sore from smiling so big. (go to www.maryrosenbaum.com/raegan to see more and a video that will make your bitterest, angry uncle cry ...it'll make your dog cry !!)
Kaiser Hospital Irvine is a sweet hospital...but they need a larger waiting room for these Woodstock-like events.
After months of speculation over what this baby would look like...the results are IN...the DORMAN genetic pool overwhelmed the Rutenbar DNA and this little RAEGAN is a beautifully complete copy of baby Courtney 22 years ago.
They should bottle and market the smell of newborn baby...
Seeing Connie hold and kiss Reagan reminds me why I love her.
Courtney was so calm and collected...which shouldn't surprise me, but amazes me.
Seeing all of Kyle and Court's friends gather to celebrate Raegan's birth makes me so happy for them all...there's alot of community and shared joy in all our lives and that's the way God planned it.
Playing cards with Bumper in the waiting room takes me back to distant Ukraine bus and train rides with the Dormans.
If baby's could pick parents...Rae Rae couldn't pick any better and loving and fun parents than Kyle and Court.
Lord Jesus...Bless this little gift and help all of us encourage her along the Path.

I John 1:7 'If we walk in the LIGHT... we have fellowship...'

4 GIRLS...and ONE AWESOME GUY

2008-08-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

There are five terrific kids from Saddleback who are living in Kitale, Kenya today.

Teaching and encouraging and ministering at:

OASIS of HOPE Street Kid Outreach
Gilgal Secondary School
Deliverance Church
Sister Freda's Cottage Hospital
Purpose Driven Academy
and Discover to Recover HIV/AIDS Center

Allison is one of the very best examples of a Christian who has moved from an 'awakening' PEACE experience to becoming a true 'advocate' for the sick, the poor, and the hurting.

Daina's heart for people is so evident...from the moment she walks into an orphanage or a church or a hospital...she goes right after relationship.

Is Megan a journalist because she asks GREAT QUESTIONS? Or does she ask great questions because she has the heart and skills of a journalist? She dives into ministry by seeking out the truth and the facts and the background.

Caroline could care less if she EVER is on stage or up front or in the limelight...in fact, she prefers to lead quietly from the middle of the pack...by example, not word.

Chris will do ANYTHING, ANY TIME, ANYWHERE...to help share the GOOD NEWS of GOD'S LOVE. I admire his humor and his energy for ministry.

We're not here to SOLVE! We're here to SERVE !

2008-08-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

As Don Thompson spoke to a church in a Bukusu slum during a community assessment day...his t-shirt gave me reason to flash back to Hurricane Katrina and the hundreds of servant-hearted Saddleback folks who spread out along the Gulf Coast during the past 3 years. Our teams have blessed over 150 churches and pastors through PEACE RELIEF. And in the process hundreds of abiding friendships have emerged.

The problems at hand were absolutely overwhelming, but because we reminded ourselves daily that our role was to serve not solve...it relieved the anxiety that comes from trying to 'fix the unfixable'.

Don, a retired fire chief, and his family, are shining examples to our church and our worldwide friends that by showing up...in Mt. Elgon, in Slidell, Louisiana, or in Burma...the most wonderful things happen in the most devastated places.

Matthew 16:24

FEEDING PROGRAM at KIPSONGO

2008-08-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

When you enter the broken backdoor at Pastor John’s Caanon Church in Kipsongo Slums, you immediately are greeted by 200 + tiny chocolate faces.

The number of kids is deceiving because, frankly, they are so very little and only take up a few rows in the wood and mud building. Then you start counting...

The daily feeding program supplies 2 meals for kids between 1 and 3 years of age and in most cases it is the ONLY food they will ever see.

Their moms are nowhere to be found…maybe scavenging for something of some worth in the dump…maybe drinking ‘changa’, the local brew…maybe worse…much worse.

Their dads, if they were EVER around, are long gone…off to Lodwar…off to town…just off…permanently off.

We brought two 90 kilo bags of maize and beans…a good mix of carbs and protein…along with cooking oil and ugali, a Kenya staple, sugar and rice for future days.

Allison, Caroline, Chris, Daina, and Megan jumped right in and began serving…and cuddling…and hanging with these very sweet kids.

Not one bean or kernel of maize remained an hour later…

No ‘finnecky’ eaters in this group.

I like feeding kids…they are so dang happy to be with you and so grateful for whatever comes their way.

“For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water…”

Matthew 25:35

Mobile Medical Clinic at Kipsongo

2008-08-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

It’s 1pm on Monday afternoon…

Rain pours down on an already-soaked slum…

Hundreds of hurting folks wait, patiently…sorry for that pun, but it was begging to be thrown in…

Up rolls the medical team…

Sister Freda’s Mobile Medical Team…with a few borrowed hands from abroad…

* Umida from Uzbekistan

* Julia from Ukraine

* Graciella and Ron from the OC

The medical needs are overwhelming to a rookie, but the team just wades in and starts assessments…

cholera
tb
malaria
typhoid
std's
worms
jiggers
fever
diarrhea.

Freda’s treatment team systematically and lovingly cares for and prays for EVERY person there.

She doesn’t rush or linger…

She doesn’t fall into pity or self doubt…

She just does what God designed her to do.

Comfort the Afflicted

When Folks Have Dirty Water

2008-08-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Bad Things Happen…

• Clothes never really get clean
• Bathing and washing are ineffective
• Even a sip becomes a nightmare
• Parasites enter the system
• A dozen different diseases attack
• Diarrhea becomes a constant enemy
• De-hydration sets in
• The body’s natural immune system is depleted
• People die…especially kids

When Folks Have Clean Water

2008-08-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Good things happen…

• Clothes can be cleaned
• Hands and bodies can be washed
• Drinking becomes safe again
• Water-borne diseases stop
• The kidneys start to cleanse the system
• Parasites stop entering the body
• Diarrhea and cholera lose their stranglehold
• Little bodies get re-hydrated
• People live healthier lives…especially kids

I RE-DISCOVERED SOME THINGS ON THIS COLLEGE UKRAINE TEAM

2008-08-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

#1 I’M NOT 23 YEARS OLD...I’M 55.

#2 I USED TO THINK OF MYSELF AS HIP....NOW I WONDER HOW LONG BEFORE HIP RELACEMENT SURGERY.

#3 RIDING THE KIEV-TO-MARIOPOL TRAIN WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS IS HILARIOUS.

#4 OUR UKRAINIAN PARTNERS FROM ‘NEW LIFE CHURCH’ AND ‘CHURCH OF GOOD CHANGES’ ARE THE MOST THOUGHTFUL AND SERVANT-HEARTED PEOPLE.

#5 INDIGENOUS, CHURCH-BASED PARTNERSHIP IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO IN LONG RUN MISSIONS.

#6 UKRAINE IS A POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FORCE TO BE RECONNED WITH.

#7 THE BLACK SEA, IN JULY, IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES ON EARTH.

#8 I AM 10 YEARS BEHIND IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC AND THOUGHT.

#9 I WILL NEVER CATCH UP...AND THAT’S OK WITH ME.

#10 I’VE ALREADY GOT NEXT SUMMER IN CRIMEA CIRCLED ON MY CALENDER...CAMP FOR 100 DRUG ADDICTED STREET KIDS ANYONE???

The CRAVE TEAM in Ukraine

2008-08-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

I’ve been at Saddleback for 27 years and I’m embarrassed to say I have NO IDEA what ‘CRAVE’ stands for...
The fact that the name is capitalized MUST mean that in true Warrenesque fashion... it stands for something...but I can’t tell you what.
Rick’s love for acrostics has spawned a whole Saddleback world of words like SHAPE and PEACE and CRAVE

But in old school language...it’s the ‘college group’...
An awesome college group.

What a blast it was ministering with them in Kiev and Mariopol and Crimea.
Addressing the issues of poverty and homelessness and drug abuse.
And seeing, first hand, the biggest challenge of the Worldwide Church....men and women, boys and girls , facing eternity WITHOUT knowing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

With our friend, Vlad, with us...our Crave team shared their stories of their own faith journeys and their loving concern at orphanages...drop-in centers...group homes and rehab centers.

SO EVEN THOUGH I MAY NEVER KNOW WHAT ‘CRAVE’ STANDS FOR ...I KNOW WHAT THESE KIDS COLLEGE KIDS STAND FOR...CHANGED LIVES.

Me and TENTS

2008-08-11T05:28:00.005-07:00

OK .... Camping is cool....fresh air...the sounds of birds and the wind and rain...
But at 55 years old I think I may need to get a little bigger tent...
One night in Crimea there was more rain and water INSIDE this tent than outside it.
I spent most of the long downpour night wondering what exactly getting struck by lightning actually does to you.

Baptism in Crimea

2008-08-08T06:28:00.001-07:00

In a crisp mountain spring...
In a forest right out of LORD OF THE RINGS...
With a waterfall as the backdrop...
By a clear blue pool where people jump from the rocks above...

With a hundred Ukrainian hikers looking in...

We had the most wonderful BAPTISM service. Breanna, Lauren, and Natalie shared in the 2000-year-old symbol of being buried with Christ and rising to walk a New Life in Him.

As I explained the meaning of baptism to our CRAVE team, the coolest thing happened. As we talked about following Christ's EXAMPLE and His COMMANDMENT, folks began to crowd in close to the water...people were just out hiking and stayed through the whole baptism and prayed with us and cheered and celebrated the girls' step of faith.

What began in the Jordan River so many years ago with Jesus and John the Baptist...is still very much alive today.

RETURN TO UKRAINE...RETURN TO FRIENDS

2008-07-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

(Vlad and Bill Dorman pray with a crippled man at the Donyetsk train station.)

One of the delights of returning to an area around the world is seeing long time friends and co-laborers. I have had the opportunity; the blessing; to work alongside these guys in Ukraine and learn what it means to serve the Lord with JOY.Uri is from THE CHURCH of GOOD CHANGES in Mariopol...a city on the Sea of Azov in southeast Ukraine. Uri and his wife, Tanya, were alcoholics and drug addicts, when they gave their lives over to the Lord Jesus. Now Uri is the MOST ENCOURAGING Christian you’ll ever meet, because of the CHANGE God brought about in hs family...Once they were hopeless drunks, looking for their next fix...now witnesses of the POWER of Jesus to restore life and hope.

I don’t think I will EVER meet a man who has taught me more than Vlad about keeping the message of Christ SIMPLE and PURE. Vlad is from NEW LIFE CHURCH in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. He was also held down for years by hard living and bad choices...the same old tools of our enemy...drugs...vodka...partying. Then one day he had his ‘Damascus Road’ experience and things have never been the same. I’ve traveled around the world with Vlad...in prisons, on trains and bizarre busses. I’ve been in freezing markets in Moscow and with glue sniffing street kids in Africa. I’ve seen him lead migrant workers, on Orange County busses, to the Lord.

Today I get to see Uri and Vlad...now that’s a reunion to look forward to.

2008-06-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Disturbing Reality

2008-06-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

WARNING!
The photo that follows this blog post is troubling.
If your kids are reading this with you DO NOT proceed.
I am not posting it to mess with you or for make you sick, although both may happen.
You may be angry that I would even post it, but ...the TRUTH is ...this is what's happening.
If you are troubled by the truth of what is happening in Myanmar and don't want to see it for what it is...go to the Myanmar government posts, where they'll tell you everything is just fine.

------------------------------------------------------

While children cry out for food...
the military sits and waits.

While families try desperately to find their lost relatives...
the military sits and waits.

While people are developing waterborne diseases...
the government sits and waits.

While farmers see their livelihood, their fields, soaked in salty floods of ocean water...
the military sits and waits.

While people are dying of starvation...
the military sits and waits.

While families beg for a cup of fresh water...
the military sits and waits.

While bodies wait to be properly buried and laid to rest...
the military sits and waits.

Having heard what we've heard...having seen what we've seen...been where we've been...
It would be a SIN for me to sit and wait.

We can't fix this mess... by any means...
but we can raise awareness.
We can pray.
We can read and study and learn.
We can work through networks to get help to helpless families.
And believe me...a little bit goes a long way.

Put a check in the offering plate at your church...at Saddleback Church designate it to PEACE RELIEF.
Or go to the online giving at Saddlebackfamily.com and give something for PEACE RELIEF.

The military won't change...but we can.

A HUGE OPPORTUNITY RIGHT IN FRONT OF US !!

2008-06-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest 'ah-ha' moments of this assessment trip to Myanmar was that a huge opening for understanding God's love exists within the Buddhist monks of Myanmar.

Pastors and church leaders told us many times that even though they cannot give a BIBLE to a Buddhist monk, we CAN give them the PurposeDriven Life book ...and they read it...and they are finding Christ. Monks are engaged in a journey to find TRUTH and when the light shines in the darkness, there is such a clear distinction that the Holy Spirit begins to stir...and lives are changed.

Our new friends are telling us that hundreds of monks have given their lives to Jesus Christ...have confessed their sins...and have asked the Lord to save them....

That's a bit of a mind bender for me, because I have put these guys in a box titled 'LOST' and some are turning up in the 'FOUND' file...Does this blow up some of your pre-conceived notions about how God works?

Please take a moment and pray for everyone who is seeking to know God...and the power of His Son's death and resurrection, and His Sprit's indwelling comfort, in a time of great loss.

The Church is the only answer.

2008-05-17T15:19:00.001-07:00

Not governments...
Not relief organizations...
Not NGO's...
Not Business...
Not Unions...
Not social ACTION GROUPS...
Not the RED CROSS...
Not food banks or World Banks...can do for suffering folks what the church can do.

Don't get me wrong...all these organizations can do GOOD things to relieve suffering.

But after all the relief organizations have packed their tents and moved on to the next crisis..THE CHURCH REMAINS.

That's why we partner with the local pastor in relief...the church, the Bride of Christ, can bring hope and change to broken lives by introducing them to the good news of God's love and Christ's offer of forgiveness and new life.

Only the church...only the Lord.

BIG GAP BETWEEN PROPAGANDA AND REALITY

2008-05-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

The government of Myanmar is saying...this is our problem...we will handle things.
The reality is...the military junta is dragging it's feet while the people are suffering and starving on a massive scale.

The government of Myanmar says...only a few thousand have died and are missing.
The reality of eyewitnesses is...over 100,000 are dead and laying in flooded fields and delta areas.

The government of Myanmar says...outside relief help is not needed.
The reality is...the government here doesn't want the world to see the horrible state of things in this mess of a country.

The military is saying...give the food and medicine to us and we will make sure the right people get it.
The reality is that top to bottom corruption and paranoid thinking have placed this nation alongside North Korea and Zimbabwe.

Do I sound like a fanatic? Sorry, but every private conversation with citizens leads to the same conclusions..."The military regime in our country cares nothing for the people of Myanmar and this cyclone is just the latest evidence that the generals only care about the generals and the military rule."

Please pray that the church in Myanmar...will be a beacon that people can turn to...for comfort and refuge and hope. The Lord is the only way back to the light.

Finally!!!

2008-05-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

I was really starting to seriously doubt if our team would ever actually set foot in Burma.
Well, we left at 5am today after getting the final okay at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand to travel to Rangoon, the capital.
Driving out of the airport sent me immediately back to New Orleans and the Mississippi coast. Huge trees weighing tons, thrown about like straw in a windstorm. Buildings crushed flat...roofs everywhere, but where they should be...on the buildings...crews of workers in military uniforms, hacking away with hatchets on gigantic fallen oaks.
There is that same LOOK in the face of the locals that we saw at Katrina...disbelief...almost a disengaged , far off stare of watching this drama play out but not really being there in person.
Meeting lots of folks who are very helpful in our assessment...can't go there right now..
Have lot's of stories when we get home, but can't rely on the internet or phones.
I'll fill you in when we get back, but you read the papers, so you know the background here.

OPEN DOORS everywhere for comfort from our father... monks who are seeking...conversations that are amazing...

Greetings from THAILAND

2008-05-12T22:23:00.001-07:00

Spent the day Monday at the Myanmar Embassy working on our visa approvals.

That is one WILD compound.
There were hundreds of relief organizations in line there, trying every possible method to get into Myanmar through International Relief documents ...camera crews...journalists...people with every kind of organization you can imagine...with shirts...all screaming, "International AID."
And the answer for all these folks was a resounding, 'NO!'
From the looks on the faces of the relief workers... these folks are not used to being told 'NO!'
They just stand there in disbelief...they've come all this way to help...Lord knows the people NEED the help desperately, and yet the officials are saying that they do not need or want their help...that this is an internal issue to be worked out by the Burmese.

Please continue to pray for us.
They accepted our applications...
They took our money ...
They didn't say NO...actually they said come back tomorrow afternoon!!!
So we are hopeful and blessed.

Can't say any names, but we've been meeting with Burmese people and displaced ex-pats and NGO folks and even MUZUNGUS who are stuck here in Thailand and we have gotten a University education on the history and culture of Myanmar.

JUST HEARD ABOUT THE CHINA EARTHQUAKES...7.8 on the Richter scale.

Pray for the folks there.

Things are getting drastic in Rangoon...with the flow of help equivalent to a trickle...people are dying of preventable causes, and that's just not right.

However, this is a historic opportunity for the church to show unity and model love and concern.
REACHING BEYOND OURSELVES WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S LOVE

PS Chris Sharon has been a HUGE help to the team and I.

Myanmar Cries Out

2008-05-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well...just when I had settled back into life in the OC...a round of golf with Kyle...a trip to Disneyland with Connie and our grandson, Luke, hanging out with Caroline and her BIOLA buds, and celebrating the birth of Erin and Jake's newest baby girl, Harper Lane Rutenbar...up comes this crisis...here's what we know:

*feared dead in Cyclone Nargis...100,000
*feared homeless...1 million and growing
*utter crop devastation
*virtually no clean water
*severely delayed response to attempts by the international relief community to help The Myanmar (formerly Burma) government is extremmely hostile to ANYTHING that looks American or Christian ...including relief supplies.

Here please read this appeal for prayer from a Myanmar pastor we are meeting with tonight in Thailand. We do not use his name because it would endanger his work and the life of his family.

Our team of Don Thompson, Don Herr, Chris Sharon, and me is in Taipei, headed for Tailand and praying that tomorrow we will be able to get into Myanmar...not as relief workers or missionaries, but as 'eco-tourists'..I've been called alot of things, but never 'eco'-anything.

Dear brothers and sisters,
A week has already passed. Tens of thousands are still helpless in a hopeless situation. Time is running out. People are dying of diseases and starvation. It seems our prayers are unanswered. Those who pray and those who help are frustrated. But as I watch the news, read the news and listen to the news I thank God for the answers He has given although everything does not happen according to our wish and our timing. Let us praise the Lord who is sovereign, who has all the power to do everything he wants to do, who is merciful and compassionate,….
Let us confess our own sins and the sin of our authorities and our people as our own(Dan 9:4-19)
Let us thank God the Lord that
* Our authorities accept the international aid although it seems very slow.
* Burmese people all over the world are considering coming back to Myanmar to assist the relief work which no foreign aid workers are allowed to come into to do. Some are already back with the resources, skills and headed to the affected area.(I feel like many Nehemiahs coming back)
* Myanmar Christians and churches are doing the relief work with the limited resources they have. I am sure the believers of other faith are doing the same.
* The NGOs and UN organizations are doing their very best to help the victims.

Let us keep on praying to the God of mercy on this Global day of Prayer on Pentecostal Sunday when hundreds of millions of Christians lift up their prayers to
* break the power of Satan on Myanmar and the authorities who are very superstitious and make every single decision for the affair of our country from the advice of astrologers and fortune tellers. Let us resist the power of Satan, break the strongholds he has been taking in the lives of the authorities and the people. Let us deliver them from all evil in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
* to soften the hearts of authorities to fasten the relief, inviting and allowing the citizens to assist the overwhelming task and allow the international aid workers to involve in the relief work, to help and open the ways for those who provide resources and aid from outside Myanmar
*to comfort those who lost everything may be reached by the aid He has already provided.
* to strengthen and protect those who are helping the victims. The relief work may not be hindered by any resistance of the authorities and the weather (UN Weather Agency forecasts heavy rain in Burma next week)
*to send back thousands of Myanmar people who have heart and skills to join in the relief work when international workers are prohibited to enter into the country.
* to empower and give wisdom to the Christian leaders in Myanmar in one accord to cooperate strongly and humbly as they come together to give servant leadership to assist the needy.
*help us to pray according to His will that His Kingdom may come and His Will be Done through this tragedy.

When we work we work,when we pray God works(Hudson Taylor)

Myanmar Cyclone Relief

2008-05-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

Dear PEACE RELIEF and missions team members,

I'm hopping on a plane in a few hours with Don Herr, Don Thompson, and Chris Sharon to assess the scope of the Burmese cyclone crisis.

What we know so far...100,000 feared dead...1 million homeless...widespread waterborn disease outbreaks from rotting corpses being disposed of in local rivers...Myanmar is a very closed...very hostile military regime that hates all-things-Christian and all-things western, so we are going into Myanmar under cover...not as pastors or relief workers. We'll be reporting back in 9 days about what God shows us and what we believe our church response can and should be.

Please pray for our team, that the Lord gives us favor and insight and discernment. A number of you have asked if Saddleback folks can go and give...the answer is yes and yes. We'll return with partner churches (embedded and underground churches) we can work with, and a gameplan for the days ahead, just like the tsunami, Katrina and the recent Kenyan crisis.

You can give to RELIEF through the on-line giving site at Saddlebackfamily.com This is a gigantic OPEN DOOR for the Good News of God's Love to penetrate a closed culture with the Gospel.

PLEASE PRAY ...expectantly...for victory in the midst of chaos.

Pastor Steve Rutenbar

Ameni and Juliette Make a Big Decision

2008-04-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

They are just 17 and 16 years old...
They are both orphans...
One is Muslim, the other has never believed in God
Their names are Ameni and Juliette...
Juliette has been to 4th grade...
Ameni has never been to any school...
They sell stuff in the back alleys of Kigale to get some food...
They sit in shopkeepers stores, while the owner runs errands or goes to the mosque
They are 2 of my favorite new friends...
like Jambi, and Andrew, and James Juma, and Nadia, and Sasha

I met Ameni and Juliette and her sister, Janet, while looking for wool blankets the other day, and I haven't been able to get them out of my mind since.

Something just connected, especially with this little Islamic girl, Ameni, who from behind her veil and prayer garb, kept asking who we were, and where we were from, and why we were in her country, and in her store, and why we wanted $1000 of blankets and cups and basins and fabric, and who was it for?
why, why, why...

Even though I invited them to come to the Samaritan's Purse Shoebox day...I never really believed they'd find out where it was and actually show up.

At a church clear across town...down a long dirt road...up a hill...behind an iron gate...
We had drivers and cell phones and we could barely find this place...but there they were...
Ameni, in her prayer veil, Juliette, and Janet.

Then all of a sudden, I started to get it...
God was moving in these girl's hearts...
They were leaning into everything we'd say...

Sunday morning, at church...Deliverance Church, with Pastors Joseph and Rose... I was walking up onto the stage to preach at the first of 2 services.
And there they were...
Julliette and Ameni, still in her Muslim garb.
Janet was caught up in feeding her other sister and ran late for the church service.

After the message, I turned the service over to Pastor Rose, to close in prayer.
We offered that if anyone wanted to begin walking a new journey wth Christ to come forward and pray. My heart almost jumped through my chest when I saw these girls, these new friends, get up out of their seats and walk to the front.

Marilyn Mohr and others greeted them as they approached the front of the church and they began to pray.

I watched as Ameni lowered her veil, wrapped it around her shoulder and began praying to Jesus Christ for the first time in her life. Juliette and others joined her in that prayer to confess their sins and failures and to place their faith in the Lord Jesus.

We have been around Ameni now about 5 more times...at the stadium...at the town center...at a coffee shop...and I have never since seen the Islamic veil...

Pastor Rose took me aside Sunday afternoon and said, "These girls really want to change their lives, Steve. They are sincere." She told me that she would do everything in her power to make sure the girls got in with good Christian girlfriends at their church. Rose said, "Orphans need love, I can assure you they will get that at our church."

Thank you to everyone who paused to pray for these girls to come to the Lord. I believe Janet will soon trust too, but it has to be her decision...not her sister's or friend's choice.

PRAYER WORKS

Pastor Rick Kicks off 40 Days of Purpose in Rwanda

2008-03-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

OK...they are calling this the kickoff event for 40 Days of Purpose for Rwanda.
...if that's the case, Rick Warren just kicked a 70 yard field goal right through the uprights.

I was at the Anaheim Stadium 25th Anniversary event and it was cool, but this was a pretty awesome day.

Let me go back a day, first...

On Saturday, we discovered that the whole country of Rwanda has these periodic National Cleanup Days, where NO ONE can travel on the roads...everyone has to be busy beautifying the country and involved in cleanup activities

Really a great idea...like a big secular sabbath, but rather than rest, you scrub your community.

I just wish someone would clue me in on these awesome ideas..I'd have brought a brillo pad and some ajax...

But this really threw a wrench in our plans...going to meet more churches, schools and children's centers.

What we ended up doing was FAR better than anything I could have planned...we set out in 4 vans and attempted to drive through 10 police roadblocks to the National Stadium. What we told the police was that we were headed for a cleanup on a national project...
It worked !!!!

We got to this huge stadium and just went down on the track and prayed...it's been raining A LOT we just simply asked the Lord to look kindly on this event and for us to follow His Plans for the day. Then we fanned out all over the stadium and PRAYED

Over every seat in the stadium
Over the guests that would be coming
Over the security for the day
Over President Kigame, who would be attending
Over Bishop Kolini, the Anglican Archbishop, overseeing the day
Over Pastor Rick
Over all the details that go into preparing for 30,000 people they expected

I just chose a place in the 'endzone' where I stood in the tunnel entrance and could see the whole stadium before me and prayed for 45 minutes straight...all of us did the same...Then we fanned out and actually did some work projects with the stadium team preparing the venue.
After church at Deliverance Church and about 7 more PD churches the next morning ..we all went to the event. It felt like EVERY church in Rwanda was there...people arriving by foot, taxi, bus, and moto-bota-bota...photo of that coming.

*The Presidents speech was terrific.
*The Bishops prayer was inspiring, but
*Rick's talk was historic.

Sitting there in the grandstands, with a backdrop of thousands of ebony-black faces, I tried to take myself back to 1982 at Laguna Hills High School, in the Little Theater, with Kay Warren playing the piano and Rick preaching about how every believer is a minister...

And for that moment... I felt as though I was really involved in reaching beyond myself.

And that's a cool feeling.

LOVE IN A SHOEBOX

2008-03-31T21:29:00.000-07:00

The looks on their faces...
The anticipation of getting a gift...
The hugs of appreciation...
The squeals of joy when they open their boxes...
The dancing...
The singing...

There is NOTHING in the world like a distribution day for Operation Christmas Child...a program that Saddleback Church partners with Samaritan's Purse around the world.

Packing the boxes is a lot of fun..
Collecting them at church is fun and fulfilling...
Sorting and sending them at the processing center is awe-inspiring...
But giving these little kids around the world a Christmas gift ( even in April...Christmas is anytime you get a gift in Christ's name) from the families of our church is the BEST.

We have had 2 huge OCC distributions here in Rwanda...one at a church...one at a church-run school... We've given out close to a thousand of these shoebox gifts to every kind of kid. We sang songs and played games..went in classrooms and shared our stories of Christ in our lives...and talked with the kids about THE GREATEST GIFT ANYONE EVER GAVE...God's gift to us, His Son, Jesus Christ...and Christ's gift of His life for us.
Pictures don't tell it all, but here's a few.

All 3 orphan girls from the street showed up at the distribution...they are listening !!

RWANDA, MARCH 2008

2008-03-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

The Rwanda PEACE team from Saddleback has arrived has and we're staying for a few days at the Presb. Guest House and the Beautiful Iris Hotel across the street. There are 30 1/2 of us...the half????...Mikey Stephens ...5 years old...missions giant...more on this cool kid later.

Spent the day before the team got here with Ron Neufeld and Floyd Mohr buying wool refugee blankets and wash basins and plastic cups and 'lessos'...fabric from Tanzania that can be used as clothing wraps or space dividers in the refugee tents.

We will be going to Kibuye Refugee Camp close to the Congo border in a few days...after Pastor Rick launches his Nationwide 40 Days of Purpose Campaign at the Kigale Stadium on Sunday...what an event that's going to be...singing and African cultural dancing and worship...sounds to me like the Praise Venue in TENT 3 at Saddleback.

Met 3 delightful girls in a back alley fabric shop in Kigali ...
Janet,17
her sis, Julliette, 16
their Islamic friend, Ameni, 17

Couldn't really understand a single word at first , but over an hour we bought $1000 of relief supplies, invited them to Kingdom Christian School for a distribution of Samaritan's Purse Gifts, and a gospel presentation, and invited them to the National Stadium Event on Sunday.
All 3 girls, orphans from AIDS and the Genocide...came to the Sam Purse Shoebox event and helped us give out boxes to 400 schoolkids, 70% of which are orphans. I AM COUNTING ON ANYONE READING THIS BLOG TO STOP RIGHT NOW AND PRAY FOR THESE 3 GIRLS TO TRUST CHRIST OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. I am trusting the Lord for their salvation...I just know it will happen.

Send me a word of encouragement...please...
I've been in freezing Ukraine, burning Kenya, and now drenched Rwanda.

Our team is all healthy and working great together.

LAST DAYS IN UKRAINE

2008-03-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

I was really amazed at Kay Warren and her HIV/AIDS INITIATIVE team's hard work and outreach over the past few days...The Churches of Ukraine, from Orthodox to Baptist to Evangelical to Catholic to Charismatic were all so appreciative for Kay 'rolling up her sleeves' and facing the problems as they really are. Each day Kay and her team shared the message of how the church...the body of Christ in Ukraine...can and should be the vanguard in the fight against AIDS. Kay shared with hundreds of church leaders what every congregation can do individually and teaming with other churches and organizations through her C.H.U.R.C.H. strategy.

Some of my memories of Ukraine...

*Kay speaking to 5 different large audiences on Sunday...from 8am to 10 pm
*The train ride from Kiev to Mariopol with the whole team and Vlad
*Visiting the drug and rehab centers that are run by Church of Good Changes
*The 'Children's Pilgrim Republic' a church-based orphan-care outreach that addresses the entire spectrum of street kid care issues, from church family adoption to temporary group homes to vocational training to entry level assessment and placement of abandoned and abused and orphaned street kids.

*The worship service on the final night with Christians from around Mariupol
*The SWEET prayer time where the Saddleback Team and Church of Good Changes leaders prayed for person after person who came forward to lay their issues before the Lord.
*The HIV hospital in Kiev
*New Life Church in Kiev and Pastor Anatoly's gracious and welcoming team.

VLAD IS THE MAN!!!!!

2008-03-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

I've had the incredible privilege to be friends with Vlad Kannashan, from New Life Church, in Kiev, Ukraine, for 15 years now and I can't even come close to explaining this:
*Worship Leader
*Evangelist
*Encourager
*Song Writer

5 of my FAVORITE VLAD MOMENTS
#1 Riding the train from Kiev to Harkov...
Vlad is listening to James Taylor sing "The Water Is Wide" and Vlad says, "This man, James Taylor, he makes my heart bleed!"
#2 Underground the city of Kiev in the Arsonalna Metro station, speaking to a drug addict..."Mr. Narco-man, you can destroy your head, and your body, but God's love for you, you cannot break this."
#3 In Trabuco Canyon, California. Vlad took a tent and a jug of water and hiked up Saddleback Mountain to speak with God for the weekend. 60 MPH gusts of Santa Ana winds blew all weekend and Vlad comes off the mountain on Monday looking like he had been spent 72 hours in a wind tunnel. Vlad says, "Steve, I just screamed out to God and all these days, He screamed back at me."
#4 At Kyle's Santa Margarita vs Servite football game...(during one of the huddles in the 3rd quarter) "These boys who pray every time before they run and throw ball...they are Christians, yes?"
#5 Witnessing to 3 Mexican guys at a bus stop at Los Alisos and Santa Margarita Pkwy (he refused to ride in my car because it cut him off from 'peoples' Vlad says," Mr, Mexicoman, This bench is perfect place for you and me to pray God for you to repent." (30 minutes la ter the guys was praying with Vlad to trust Christ.)

Vlad is definitely the MAN.

A Praise Report and a Prayer Request

2008-03-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

*PRAISE God that Sister Freda is featured as the front page story this week on Giving Children Hope's website at http://www.gchope.org/ because the $2M in pharmaceuticals should ship soon!

*Please Pray that the meds arrive safely in Kenya and that Pastor Steve and Don Thompson are able to get them through customs without any problems. (GCH director told me that it is getting more difficult to get meds into Kenya , so much so that one client changed the country since they would not be able to clear customs.) Let’s all pray these medicines into Kenya so they arrive and can be a blessing to Sister Freda and the great work she does as the hands and feet of God.

^^Thanks Tasha (Kenya PEACE trip Feb. 2007) for this incredible opportunity to stay on our knees for Kenya and see God do miraculous things!!

Pastor Ghenady from Mariupol, Ukraine

2008-03-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

I had the most fun-filled and inspiring trip to Mariupol (map above) with Kay Warren

and her HIV/AIDS Initiative team to visit Pastor Ghenady from The Church of Good Changes.

Love that name for at least 3 reasons...

#1 the word CHURCH...I am discovering that the church of Jesus Christ, the community of simple, committed followers of Christ have a staggering capability to influence, to encourage, and to evangelize a neighborhood or a city.
#2 the word GOOD.... there is just SO much brokenness and darkness and just plain BAD in the world today that the Good News is a beacon that hurting people are drawn to.
#3 the word CHANGE... people will attend church for a while called:

The Church of Good MUSIC
or The Church of Good PREACHING
or The Church of Good FEELINGS ...

but the only thing that will sustain a person through a lifetime is CHANGE...pure and real CHANGE.
changes
I don't have to tell you about the needs for change in MY life....you've got your own changes to deal with.

Ghenady is a change agent...using his actions and his words and his influence to his fight the drugs and death and destruction in his city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine.
And his parishioners are 'the changed'.
+from alcohol
+from drugs
+from despair
+from abuse
+from sure death

Ghenady's church family is modeling how a single church can care for folks that most communities view as hopeless causes.These folks aren't some fringe group that meets in the basement of Ghenady's church on Friday nights and talks about their screwed up lives . The screwed up people ARE the church.

This church cares for the homeless because THEY were homeless.
This church cares for the sick because THEY were sick.
This church cares for the dying because THEY were as close to death as folks could be...
And then Jesus changed them...

Pastor Steve's Night at the Sauna

2008-03-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Every snowy and freezing country has it's own social coping method for dealing with their sub-zero world. But for my friends in Ukraine, a night at the SAUNA is both a warming event and a time to interact with your friends.

My 10 Easy Steps to Sauna Heaven....

#1 This is a GUYS ONLY event....step 2 will help you understand.
#2 Take off all your clothes and wrap up in a sheet.
#3 Heat the sauna to about 500 degrees ...whatever the heat is where skin peels off your frame.
#4 Jump in the Dneiper River...woooooooaaaaahhhhhhh.
#5 Call your cardiologist.
#6 Enter the sauna and sit on the top row...the 3rd ring of Dante's Inferno.
#7 Call your Psychiatrist.
#8 Lie down and be beaten by birch and eucalyptus leaf whips called a 'veenic'...this needs alot of explanation that I don't have time for here, but somewhere between total agony and strange ecstacy, this bizarre practice exists.
#9 Dive back into the freezing Dneiper River....nnnnnoooooooo!!!!!!!!
#10 Call your Urologist.

On the Road Again...

2008-03-07T20:14:00.001-08:00

Speaking of today... I woke up this morning with a thought that has become all too familiar... 'Where the heck am I this morning?' I looked out my window and saw the Livobareshno Metro station and the Dneiper River...for some of you that's a big clue...for others, no clue at all. I'm on the Left Bank in KIEV, UKRAINE. It is still winter, but the sun was out yesterday and the city is absolutely beautiful. Kay Warren and members of her family and AIDS/HIV Initiative will be here tomorrow for 4 whirlwind days of ministry in Ukraine. Kay will be speaking at Pastor Anatoly Koluzhney's New Life Church for 3 Sunday Services... (Pastor Anatoly was the first Soviet era pastor to receive Rick Warren's 'PD Church Health Award')...following the services Kay will address a women's conference for 800 Christian leaders from around Kiev and visiting the home of one of the AIDS families at New Life. We'll be meeting on Monday with Christian leaders from the Orthodox, Baptist, Pentecostal and Evangelical communities and discussing their church's approach to the AIDS crisis in Ukraine. If you read Russian you'll love this press release about Kay's visit... http://news.invictory.org/issue16707.html

On Monday night we go by train (photos coming) to the city of Mariopol, Ukraine on the coast of the Azure Sea. We will be meeting with Pasor Ghenady and his congregation Church of Good Changes (one of the great names in church history!) Ghenady is a real champion of orphans and street kids outreach and Kay will be visiting his church's ministries to the drug addicted kids Mariopol. In Kenya the street kids turn to glue and 'changa' (street brew)...in Mariopol they shoot Tramadol and heroin... I'm talking about 10-year-old orphans and runaways. Tramadol is a super strong pain reliever like morphine or oxycontin, but on the mean streets a young boy or girl can easily get high for a few cents or a sexual 'favor'. The results are tragic and widespread...addiction to Tramadol is quick, for many kids it is IMMEDIATE, on their first high. And coming off the drug is a nightmare of pain, sweat, tremors and vomiting. No one...absolutely no one cares for these street kids, but their drug dealers and the Lord Himself. Take a look at a few of the street kids that have come under the care of Pastor Ghenady's 'Pilgrim' homes.

I LOVE getting your comments while I'm on the road, so if you have a moment, click on 'comments', log in and send a word. Megan weeds out whackos and bill collectors.

2008-03-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

I know this blog is titled Pastor Steve's KENYA Relief...but I don't think I should create a DIFFERENT blog for every place I go. 'Pastor Steve's Crazy Cambodian Campaign', 'Big Daddy's Oaxacan Adventure', or 'Comrade Steve's Soviet Journeys'...it's all a bit much...let's just meet HERE and you can see where I am from day to day.

Speaking of today... I woke up this morning with a thought that has become all too familiar... 'Where the heck am I this morning?' I looked out my window and saw the Livobareshno Metro station and the Dneiper River...for some of you that's a big clue...for others, no clue at all. I'm on the Left Bank in KIEV, UKRAINE. It is still winter, but the sun was out yesterday and the city is absolutely beautiful. Kay Warren and members of her family and AIDS/HIV Initiative will be here tomorrow for 4 whirlwind days of ministry in Ukraine. Kay will be speaking at Pastor Anatoly Koluzhney's New Life Church for 3 Sunday Services... (Pastor Anatoly was the first Soviet era pastor to receive Rick Warren's 'PD Church Health Award')...following the services Kay will address a women's conference for 800 Christian leaders from around Kiev and visiting the home of one of the AIDS families at New Life. We'll be meeting on Monday with Christian leaders from the Orthodox, Baptist, Pentecostal and Evangelical communities and discussing their church's approach to the AIDS crisis in Ukraine. If you read Russian you'll love this press release about Kay's visit... http://news.invictory.org/issue16707.html

On Monday night we go by train (photos coming) to the city of Mariopol, Ukraine on the coast of the Sea of Azov. We will be meeting with Pasor Ghenady and his congregation Church of Good Changes (one of the great names in church history!) Ghenady is a real champion of orphans and street kids outreach and Kay will be visiting his church's ministries to the drug addicted kids Mariopol. In Kenya the street kids turn to glue and 'changa' (street brew)...in Mariopol they shoot Tramadol and heroin... I'm talking about 10 year old orphans and runaways. Tramadol is super strong pain reliever like morphine or oxycontin, but on the mean streets a young boy or girl can easily get high for a few cents or a sexual 'favor'. The results are tragic and widespread...addiction to Tramadol is quick, for many kids it is IMMEDIATE, on their first high. And coming off the drug is a nightmare of pain, sweat, tremors and vomiting. No one...absolutely no one cares for these street kids, but their drug dealers and the Lord Himself.Take a look at a few of the street kids that have come under the care of Pastor Ghenady's 'Pilgrim' homes. (Megan...please insert a few street kid photos here)I LOVE getting your comments while I'm on the road, so if you have a moment, click on 'comments', log in and sned a word. Megan weeds out whacko's and bill collectors.

Great News about Mobile Medical Clinic Vehicle

2008-03-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Without any formal word going out, folks from our Kenya Missions teams have been praying about helping Sister Freda take her clinics to the refugee camps in the Kitale area, which presently are housing 80,000 + IDP (internally displaced persons…refugees…)

Since the posting of the ‘Why we hold Mobile Medical Clinics” on youtube and this site, over $30,000 USD has come in to Saddleback for this project and we soon have teams going with Freda to serve at the camps in Endebess, Cherengani Hills, Kiminini, and Showgrounds.
One cool family…who hasn’t even been to Kenya, gave a gift that sent me to my knees.

Amazing…keep tuned in …I’ll report to you from Kitale and Nairobi next week. I will be in Kiev and Mariopol , Ukraine next week and will blog from there…(and maybe throw some cool Russian words in for effect) But right now I’m kind of blown away by the generosity of our church community and our Kenya PEACE advocates.

This picture is actually Stonic’s awesome 1996 Land Cruiser and Jim Dobbs photo-shopped the red cross and other affects…but the real deal will look something in between ‘Pimp My Ride’ and ER.

ANSWERED PRAYER!!!

2008-02-29T23:00:00.000-08:00

Kenya's rival leaders sign a power-sharing deal mediated by Kofi Annan to end the country's post-election crisis. Hallelujah!

Click the link below to read the full story!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7268903.stm

Why We Hold Mobile Medical Clinics

2008-02-29T22:56:00.001-08:00

Why We Hold Mobile Medical Clinics:

#1 Because many people FEAR the hospital, because of bad past experiences and tribal traditions.

#2 Because so many folks are TOO SICK to make it to a formal clinic or District Hospital .

#3 Because I don’t know of ANY way to more clearly reinforce for our teams the ‘face’ of disease and illness.

#4 Because the very DISTANCE of travel to many hospitals makes it almost impossible for the sick.

#5 Because the COSTS for treatment are very often what keep village folks from seeking treatment.

#6 Because a little effort and a few resources go a very long way.

#7 Because Jesus Christ cared about people’s heart and BODY and soul.

#8 Because we are following the Lord’s example and His command. (Matt 22:39)

#9 Because it’s the RIGHT thing to do. (Titus 3:1b) ‘Always be ready to do whatever is good.’

#10 Because Sister Freda does them, and frankly, ANYTHING she does…I want to be a part of.

Why I go to Kitale

2008-02-24T16:31:00.001-08:00

Roadblocks

2008-02-21T21:42:00.000-08:00

Jeff Frum took this photo one day on the road from El Doret and it reminded me of a camp song we used to sing…

‘So high….you can’t get over it…
So low …you can’t get under it …
So wide…you can’t get around it…
Oh, rock-a-my-soul’

Ever had one of those roadblocks in your life?
Not every roadblock is made of rocks and fallen telephone poles.
Some roadblocks are financial….anybody out there stuck at one?
Some roadblocks are physical…your spirit wants to do things that your body just rebels against.
Some roadblocks are self-imposed…we sabotage our own pathway by terrible decisions.

Some days, all I can do is sit on the very roadblock that is hindering my walk and say, “OK Lord, you’ve got my attention…now what exactly do you want me to do?”

I had absolutely NO idea, at the moment of this photo, as we were stuck as stuck could be…that a group was right behind us, that was going to literally pick up our Land Cruiser and place it on the other side of this barrier. I was looking at the barrier, Not the Divine answer.

In that micro-moment between despair and submission, the Truth of James 1:2 screams.

‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete.”

I’ve got quite a few more roadblocks ahead of me before I can deal with the real meaning of those words…'mature and complete'.

I invite you to take a moment and post a comment about roadblocks…whatever they look like.

An Encouraging Word

2008-02-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

I’ve asked Megan to post the following letter that Juliet Jones, a member of Saddleback, recently wrote her friends, colleagues and family. Juliet is Kenyan American. Born and raised in Nairobi , then attended university in the US where she has become a US citizen. She and her mom, Mary, went with our mission team to Kitale in 2005. Her heart breaks for her homeland, but she REFUSES to fall into despair.

I’m posting this letter from Juliet to challenge my friends to seek God’s advice on how THEY can be advocates for the displaced of Kenya.

Your conclusions are yours to make.

Steve

*******************************************

Dear Friends,

Some of you may know me and to some, my name isn’t familiar. Therefore, let me introduce myself. My name is Juliet Githieya Jones, a Kenyan, born and raised in Kenya and currently residing in the US. Because I grew up in Kenya, the recent images on TV, the newspapers, and the internet have been so troubling. Being so far away, it’s easy to be overwhelmed and feel as though there’s nothing I can do, but I know in my heart that’s not right. There are simple things one can do to be an advocate for Peace in Kenya.
· I’m not a politician
· I’m not a community leader
· I’m not wealthy
· I don’t have the ability to travel back & forth, but…
· I am a believer of Jesus Christ
· I can pray
· I can communicate with my friends and family in Kenya
· I can do small, but important acts of kindness, to encourage my brothers & sisters in Kenya.

I am aware that some of you receiving this message may not be familiar with what I’m talking about. In a nutshell, the December 27th 2007, Kenyan Presidential elections that we prayed would go well, and provide just the right leader, erupted in violence when the results were announced. This violence turned village against village, men against men, and, tribe against tribe. Probably, the saddest was the 50 people burned alive in an Assemblies of God Church, in Eldoret. If you would like to read about these events, here are some websites that I found useful: http://www.eastandard.net/; http://www.nationmedia.com/; http://www.bbc.co.uk/; and http://www.cnn.com/.
This is not the Kenya I know! These are not the peace loving people I remember. This is not the future of our Nation! I realize that I am just one person, but one person’s voice and action can make a difference. I want to share my action with you, not to tell you what to do but to encourage you to act in whatever way God leads you. Here’s my personal game plan:
1. I’m doubling up on time spent in prayer. As a divorced mom of 2, my prayer life starts @ 5:45 AM. I need to spend time alone with God begging him for his wisdom and direction. Because I believe in God, I also believe there’s a spiritual dimension to any conflict. If we fail to ask for God’s solution, we may miss the most important part of the equation.
“For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding”. Proverbs 2: 6 (NLT)

“If you need wisdom – if you want to know what God wants you to do – ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent you asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind”. James 1:5-6 (NLT)

2. I am not going to get caught up in exchanges of angry words, finger pointing, and tribalism. Because I happen to be from the Kikuyu tribe, which is at the center of this controversy, it would be easy for me to get caught up in all the ugliness. But, the fact of the matter is, the forces of tribalism could destroy our great nation of Kenya, if left to their own devices. So, I am through identifying myself by my tribe – I AM A KENYAN and I am encouraging my friends and fellow countrymen/women from any of the approximately 42 tribes that make up the Kenyan population to join me in this quest to stop identifying people by tribes, and begin identifying ourselves as Kenyan brothers & sisters, and as people. I am not, by any means, asking you to abandon your culture or heritage, we all should be proud of those attributes. I am however, asking that we refrain from using our tribes as weapons against each other. We ought to strive towards living in unity, harmony & peace.
“How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony!”! Psalm 133:1 (NLT)

“We must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful”. Colossians 3: 13-15 (NLT)

3. I am going to begin baby steps to help with relief efforts in Kenya. The Red Cross has stated that there are over 500 dead and 250,000 displaced people from Mt. Elgon to the coast of Mombasa - from Pokot to the Mara, and this breaks my heart! If I had a million dollars, I would give it to provide relief for our hurting brothers and sisters back home, but I don’t. As I stated earlier, I am a divorced, single parent of two with a recent career change and at the current time, working towards attaining a permanent fulltime job. What I do know, however, is that I don’t have to wait until I’m wealthy to do my part. Jesus blessed the poor woman in the temple who gave what she had. I am part of a group, called “Reaching Beyond Ourselves” a non profit organization. This group is trying, in simple ways, to help turn around issues like poverty, ravaging diseases and broken relationships. This year, Reaching Beyond Ourselves has been involved in various projects in rural Kenyan communities such as:
· Clean water projects
· HIV/AIDS education
· Micro enterprise projects
· Relief work during the tribal clashes in Mt. Elgon area

I have decided that one of the ways to get the best “bang-for-my-bucks” is to invest in relief kits for the displaced people of Kenya. A simple gift of $45.00 provides a displaced family with 2 tarps, 4 blankets, 2 cooking pots, 4 plates, 4 spoons, 2 cooking/serving spoons, kitchen knife, water container, mosquito net, multipurpose soap, salt, plastic wash basin, 2 lesos (multiuse cloth), and a sewing kit. Reaching Beyond Ourselves is distributing these kits through the local church network in Kenya to these people who have been left absolutely destitute.

“Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.” Proverbs 3:27-28 (NLT)

“But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help – how can God’s love be in that person? 1 John 3:17 (NLT)

Saddleback Church members can give to these relief kits through an established “Kenya Relief” fund that is also fully tax deductable and in BOTH cases 100% of any gift will go directly to the relief kits and their distribution through local church networks.

Send Saddleback Checks to:

Don Thompson Coordinator of Kenya Relief Saddleback Church

1 Saddleback Pkwy Lake Forest, CA. 92630

And please note ‘Kenya Relief’ on the memo line.

I am writing you, not as a fundraiser, but as an awareness raiser. My conclusions don’t have to be your conclusions. But, I am challenging you to do what you can to help bring peace, security, safety and stability back to our wonderful nation of Kenya. PRAY, RAISE AWARENESS, and GIVE what you can. If you would like to give through Reaching Beyond Ourselves, you can send a check for any amount to:

Reaching Beyond Ourselves
21961 Calatrava
Mission Viejo, Ca. 92692

Since Reaching Beyond Ourselves is a 501c 3 charitable organization recognized by the US, your gifts are entirely tax deductible. I welcome any comments or suggestions…anything that would help to alleviate this human suffering. Thank you for your time and God bless you all.

Serving Him,

Juliet Githieya Jones

31441 Santa Margarita Pkwy # A284 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 Nyakiega22@yahoo.com

speechless

2008-02-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

There's always that ONE kid...

There's absolutely no explaining why one kid in particular catches your eye...and your heart...but it always seems to happen.

It's not that he is the smallest or the skinniest or the saddest...It's not that she is the prettiest or the smartest or the one with the sweetest smile.

Only God knows how the face of a Kenyan street kid can etch it's image so deeply into my mind and my life... but here I am, back home in the OC, at 3 in the morning, looking at this little boy's face just as clearly as if he was sitting here in front of me.

But the truth is...he's not here.He's still in a refugee camp in Cherengany.

I'm sleeping in my Dove Canyon home...he's sleeping under a tarp.
I have my wife by my side...he's surrounded by 7 other kids who have no idea who he is.
I have sheets and pillows and blankets...he stays warm by curling up close to the nearest child.
I have the love of my family and friends...he has no one to love him or to tuck him in or to kiss him goodnight.
If I'm thirsty, I simply get a drink of water...he has to wait in line for hours to get a cup of dirty well water.
I have a restroom to privately use when I need it...he shares one of the five public latrines with 22,000 people.
I can't even remember the last time I was really hungry...hunger is his constant shadow.
I stayed with him for a couple days...he may be there for months.

It's not the nights where I sit and see his face so clearly, in my memory, that bothers me. It's the thought that in a few months I will try as hard as I can to conjure up the memory of that face...but it will be lost...Replaced by an image on ESPN or a commercial on TV or a new titanium golf club...or my busy schedule.Even though I'll be back at the camp in a few weeks, chances are, I may never be able to find him...I don't even know his name.

But I know Someone who does...and He never forgets...

Stonic and Steve

2008-02-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

Email from Sister Freda

2008-02-08T17:52:00.001-08:00

Dear Megan,

Greetings from Kitale Kenya. Thank you for your letter and all the prayers for me, my people and my country as a whole. It is wonderful to learn that you are there for us in every way.

Well Megan as you already know, Pastor Steve has now left briefly for California after visiting Ruanda.

Megan the refugee camps are now swelling with many people arriving daily.There are more than six camps with in reach of the Hospital so I can help them.Fresh eruptions of arson, killings, rape and other atrocities continue.

Conditions in the camps are appalling.Sanitation is very poor due to limited water supply and congestion.There is rape in the camps.therefore the risk is a high of HIV infection and other venereal diseases,and so we are dealing with depression in the victims.

The food ration is inadequate and many women and children do not have a balanced diet as they only eat what is offered,the other day I took some bananas to the children and up to three were sharing one banana,they have learnt to wait patiently for the little that is offered,no fighting or jostling for food I feel so sorry for them that I shed tears.This being the dry season and all the grass has dried up the camps are very dusty making it a fertile breeding ground for jiggers,and most people in the camps have no foot wear and their feet are now jigger infected you can see little children walking as if they are crippled due to the jiggers in their toes.

Today as I was doing a regular clinic at one of the camps,I came across several cases of malaria due to lack of mosquito nets,also malnutrition eye infections diarrhea diseases lung infections depression to mention but a few.

Talking to a few of the refugees none of them want to return to their homes as they have lost everything they owned.One of them an old man of 85 was milking his cow when the enemy struck and he was told to leave or die,as he walked a few meters away he looked back and saw his house and maize store burning and the enemy walking away with the old mans one cow.

Children mothers and fathers are separated and all around what we see is hopelessness.The day Pst.Steve left,another church was burnt near Eldoret and many people lost their lives as they fled others suffered severe injuries from arrow wounds the arrows cant be pulled out as they are barbed,which means in some cases major operations but in all cases a operation.

Yesterday we held another clinic by a Church refugee sanctuary here there are more than six hundred men women and children and their only shelter is the Church no beddings no clothes no food,Megan just pray that we get enough money to save my people,our people.

So long and God bless,

Sister Freda.

Oasis of Hope & Geoffrey's Email

2008-02-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

Please be sure to visit www.myspace.com/oasisofhope and web.mac.com/oasisofhope. Lydia, Geoffrey and all of the people at O.O.H. are amazing servants of our Lord. God bless them richly for the compassion that overflows from their hearts. Brothers and sisters I urge you to remain steadfast in your prayers for this incredible organization that reaches out to the forgotten ones of Kitale, Kenya. Support them in any way you can!

--------------------------------------------------------

When I first heard that Steve was coming to Kenya , the first thing I thought was, Steve is becoming crazier! But NO, Steve is not crazy as you think too, he is just responding to the call he received many years ago. He has been coming to Kenya every year this time and nothing was going to stop him from doing the same this year. Coming to Kenya when every other person was struggling to get a seat on the next plane out of Kenya made me feel how much Steve loves Kenya...he loves us.

As I told you, I thought Steve was crazy when he decided to come to Kitale but NO, he became more crazy when he said to me “………Geoffrey, we are going to spend the night tomorrow at the Cherangany refugee camp…..” Well, at that moment, I thought about where the camp is situated and its risk as I had visited sometime that same week. This is the same refugee camp that was invaded by armed gangs and stole hundreds of cattle and disappeared in the neighboring forest besides the camp being at the police station. I was thinking all this things but there was no way I was going to convince Steve otherwise. So I said “…..it's okay Steve.” So that night when they were at the refugee camp, I spoke to him and he seemed okay despite the flare that went over the camp. I just prayed that nothing bad would happen there.

There is so much that I can say about Steve’s trip now that he is ‘safe’ in ‘ RWANDA ’. But I just want to send so many thanks to this great man of God. He has surely proved that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. God bless you Pastor Steve. I also want to send my many thanks to Dan Hamer. Not many would have loved to do what you did, with all those road blocks from Eldoret. Bravo too to Jeff, his first time in Kenya but went through hell. Hi Jeff, it is not always like that here, Kenya had just lost its mind a little, please come back again when things are cool!

And to all those prayer warriors from Saddleback and all over the world, thanks for your continued prayers. Those are the real prayers of the righteous, God bless you abundantly. Thanks again to all those who kept in touch with Steve and us, thanks Lydia, thanks Megan for the incredible job, thanks Juliet and many thanks to all. You are all heroes and heroines through Christ Jesus, keep up the good job.

Back to Steve, you know we just parted unceremoniously, after that urgent call, you left Kitale in hurry and we had a schedule the same day, otherwise, I am glad that you are safe and healthy and we can do that another day.

In Christ,
Geoffrey- Oasis of Hope.

Email!

2008-02-02T15:05:00.001-08:00

Hey...just forwarding on an email I received....

Hey Megan,
I bet You are doing well.
We Visited Kachibore Refugee Camp where 20,000 people are left with no homes, house burnt to ashes, animals taken and innocent daughters raped. Steve and I spent the night at the camp. How can a Muzungu{White}Sleep in a refugee camp? They shook their heads with disbelief. Late in the night some came and discovered that a Saddleback Church Representative really was sharing with them the pain and loss in the cold.
Long live Saddleback, God Bless Steve.
Love,
James Juma Wanyonyi
Long time Saddleback Friend in Conflicted Kenya

From Rwanda

2008-02-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

Stonic---Allen

Folks, oh how my heart was overwhelmed with joy when I heard the amazing news (detailed below by Steve) of the way our Lord provided safety for Allen and Stonic! Let us forge ahead, fervent in prayer and steadfast in hope in our Lord as our hearts cry out to Emmanuel for Kenya.

-Megan

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was sitting on my flight from Nairobi to Kigali, Rwanda and thinking...."How messed-up are things in the world when I'm fleeing from murderous tribal clashes and escaping to the safety of...RWANDA."

When I get back home, I'll look the definition of IRONIC and it may just list this scenario.

I'm sitting in my room now, in Rwanda, SAFE but definitely NOT SOUND, trying my hardest to sort through the events of the last few days...and where God has led and how He has answered prayers.

GOOD NEWS...no GREAT NEWS...

Stonic and Allen patched together another pass at a back road passage to Eldoret and MADE IT SAFELY. They were allowed on a transport plane to Nairobi, filled with terrified families, but made it back to their wives after 2 days of 'riding out the storm' at our compound in Kitale. A 90 minute drive under normal conditions turned into 6 hours of roadblocks and side journeys.

THANK YOU ALL FOR PRAYING FOR THESE GUYS....

Each of these faces and voices have flashed before me in the most dramatic last few days, and then suddenly I'm sitting here at 3 am trying to make sense of all we've been through.

Sister Freda
Geoffrey from Oasis of Hope
James
Juma
Ben and Christine
The kids of Tumaini < Tumaini
Moses and Margaret
Butaki
Jason
Andrews mom, in the ditch (some things just never change)
Baby Moses
Patricia Sawa
Stephen Mairori
Peter
Lilac
Jacinta
Charles and Thomas...and Joseph
The inmates at Kitale prison
The kids from Mercy
And many, many more...

Pity Jeff Blum, who Dan Hamer brought to observe the plight of two GLUE BOYS, Charles and Thomas. This was Jeff's 1st mission to Africa and a few times, when we were surrounded by angry mobs with bows and rocks and machetes, I wondered if Jeff would venture out of the OC EVER AGAIN. Jeff is a champ. When Dan Hamer called from Nairobi last week and asked, " uhm, Steve, is it really safe to go to Kitale right now?" I didn't honestly know how God would get us through to Jeff and him, but I knew Dan wanted in the worst way to see his kids.
Stonic was unbelievable at every turn and crisis.

I had intended for this blog to be a couple paragraphs whenever I could splice together a message to Megan, and she has turned out to be such a blessing to me (and all of you).
Thanks Megan, I know how much you wanted to be here and how much effort and time this took in the midst of your last semester of your senior year of journalism school...I owe you big time...

In the next couple days I'm going to link a YOU TUBE entry to this blog so you can see some of the places the Lord has taken me in the past few day..And we'll all get together and pray for the future of Kenya....God save her...

" to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power, ...to Him be GLORY" Ephesians 3:20

Now I'm going to try and sleep for the first time in a few days.

-Steve

A Message from Dan Hamer

2008-01-31T22:13:00.001-08:00

Since I am assuming that Steve has filled in everyone on this crazy trip I won't go into detail on that. Suffice it to say that when Steve says "Don't worry, Stonic and I just drove on the road between Eldoret and Kitale this morning and there's no problem", he is a LIAR!!!. Choosing to visit Kenya in the middle of a revolution is probably not the best time to visit but God has shown up in unimaginable ways. Despite the chaos, God has used our visit to encourage our ministry partners who are facing a very difficult time ahead. Please continue to pray for them.

What I did want to talk about is the miracle of being at the house which a group of "changed lives". As I looked around the room on Tuesday night at Steve's house in Kitale I saw example after example of the transforming power of Christ. Under Steve's leadership Saddleback's ministry in Kenya has been a part of each of these stories. There was Juma who left a hopeless life on the streets of Kitale to become a fine young Christian man after receiving a chance when a team from Saddleback took him to Tumaini. There was James who was always around on Saddleback trips since he was a very young boy. Dawn and DJ Shuster gave him a chance in life and he now has a good job as a prison guard and cares for his brothers and sisters and their children. There was Leloc who was a little neighbor girl who lived next to Tumaini but the infectious nature of the Christian life helped her cross over the fence to find Christ. She is now a beautiful sixteen year old who hopes to become a doctor. Charles and Thomas were there. Many of you know them as the little boys in "Glue Boys" who appeared to have no hope when their mother died during the filming. God had different plans and now they are amazing little boys with a bright future thanks to caring Christians that are determined to make sure they do not fall between the cracks. There was Geoffrey who is transforming the street children of Kitale thanks to his work with Lydia Monroe and others at Saddleback. There was Jacinta who cares for 22 children at the Purpose Driven Academy and treats each of them as a child of God. And others were there with an equally amazing witness to the power of relationships with a person that eventually led to a relationship with Christ.

Each with a story. Each with a transformed life thanks in large part to Steve and his ministry in Kenya that so many of us have been blessed to be a part of. When we are praying for the political situation in Kenya, we should never forget to praise God for the changed lives and the mission ahead to have an even greater impact in the days and years ahead.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!!

2008-01-31T22:11:00.001-08:00

EMAIL I RECEIVED:

Megan, Steve wants to pass on an urgent prayer request for Stonic and Allen. The three of us flew out safely but Stonic and Allen, trying to get back to their families in Nairobi, had to drive. They got most of the way to Eldoret when the second MP (Member of Parliament) was assassinated in Eldoret. Their safety was immediately at risk with mobs burning trucks just ahead of them on the road. They had to turn back to Kitale. For Stonic to turn back it must have been bad.Pray that Stonic will have wisdom on the timing and discernment on the route to get back to his family.

A Broken Heart

2008-01-31T22:10:00.000-08:00

AGAIN, JEFF FRUM:

After Stonic literally climbed over the biggest roadblock yet, a telephone pole fortfied with boulders in his amazing "Indiana Jones" like Land Cruiser, Steve asked Dan and me if we could just stop by the Kachibora Refugee Camp.We ended up spending a couple of hours walking through this surreal scene of extreme poverty. It didn't take long to attract every child in camp to our side. The three funny Muzungu's lead hundreds of kids in singing and dancing. It was a privilege to provide a brief moment of escape for these innocent victims.We were told by the Red Cross there were over 6,000 children in this camp that were separated from there families in the chaos. 6,000 new orphans!What amazed me was the pure joy in these children's eyes. They couldn't stop touching us. Dan and I were walking with twenty kids each clinging to us and I said to him that this place just can't exist on this planet. How can this happen? No human being, created in God's image, should ever have to live in conditions like Kachibora. Yet, God was working to redeem lives in the midst of all this suffering. My life cannot be the same after seeing what I've seen.

Perspective from the backseat

2008-01-31T22:09:00.000-08:00

THE FOLLOWING IS A MESSAGE FROM JEFF FRUM:

This is my first trip to Kenya so my anticipation of adventure was high. Especially traveling with two veterans, Dan Hamer and Steve Rutenbar. I never could've prepared myself for our journey on the backroads from Eldoret to Kitale. Steve warned us there were roadblocks the entire 50 mile stretch so as a good rookie would do in the back seat - I had my camera ready. Five minutes into our journey we slowed to drive over downed powerlines and around fires set to block the road. Stonic, our driver, a fearless Masai warrior, contined to navigate this dangerous stretch. I looked out to the left and saw a mob running toward our car upset that we passed their obstacles. I thought - this would be great picture - after I snapped the photo Steve yelled back at me, "Put the camera away!". I'm thinking I could've used that information a few minutes ago!The mob completely surrounded our car and began climbing onto the vehicle. I looked at Dan and wondered if this was it. Dan with his dry humor asked Steve, "Was it like this when you came this morning?". We began wondering if we had offended Steve in any way because it sure seemed like he was trying to get us killed! All joking aside, God intervened through the amazing courage of Stonic and through the compassion of Steve as they talked us through more than a dozen roadside confrontations. I saw angry men carrying machettes, bows and arrows, wood planks with nail spikes, and rocks charging our truck for three hours.In a strange way it is such a blessing to get out of Orange County where my pace of life often prevents me from seeing God at work. He is doing miracles in the hearts of Kenyans - I was a witness of that today!

Exit Strategy

2008-01-31T22:03:00.000-08:00

I first heard the term 'exit strategy' in a missions class at Wheaton Grad School, and I'm very sure it had nothing to do with what we went through today.

Since the killing of the MP in Nairobi(go to http://allafrica.com/stories/200801290995.html to read a story about it), and the subsequent tear gassing of his home and mourning family, there has been an incredible step up in anger across the country, even in otherwise calm and pastoral areas like Kitale. Harmon Parker, the founder of Bridging the Gap, called me with a message from his friends in intel at the US Embassy and the UN. He said the Kitale area could be next area to explode and the Embassy is asking Everyone get to safe ground because ALL roadways will be closed down in the next days.
Angry mobs between ElDoret and Kitale have taken over the highway and

search every car one lorry for Kikuyus.

Moi's Bridge has been completely torn down, making it impossible to pass the way we traditionally do.

The area of MATUNDA is in complete chaos, no vehicle is able to pass...roadblocks of steel and telephone poles and boulders are all across the road today the community of Soy...where there is always a little market going on is just crazy...people are lashing out...saying they want justice, but being incited by the boldest in the change drinking crowds.

We got together with Butaki and Stephen Mairori, and found out there was an airlift out of the airstrip by Sister Freda's. Some of you guys who flew to Kakuma Camp by Sudan, remember this strip...it's basically just a cornfield with a weathervane. As much as we didn't want to go in this way, ...we had 30 minutes to decide ...Stonic told us, "Steve, get on this flight...it will be the only way back to Nairobi for a long time."

So we quickly prayed for and said goodby to Ayub, Mary, James, Juma, Jason, Lilac, Freddy and Sylvester, all of whom have been riding out the storm on our compound, and headed to the airstrip.

Stonic talked with the pilot of the turboprop and Dan Hamer, Jeff Frum and me on the flight...Nathan Chesang, the board chairman of ICM and director of Circle of Light, a partnership with the COORS family, pulled up with his son Allen and prayed for us. Then...before we could even reflect on the last few days...we were in the air and heading for El Doret.

El Doret Airport was quite a scene...Military EVERYWHERE. Marksmen carrying machine guns and rifles.... hundreds of soldiers being moved onto and off Airforce transport planes. We're pretty sure they are headed for Kitale to fortify things there. Each soldier , steely eyed, with the look of combat ahead .Let me tell you this is not the city we have ministered in over the last 10 years...it's absolutely Dodge City..Hamer and Frum and I watched from under an acacia tree, sucked down an Orange Fanta (mmmm) and tried to picture what lay ahead.

From the air... fires and smoke all around...well that's for another message....

Thanks for your prayers and encouraging comments.

Sister Freda

2008-01-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks!
No, it's not Steve this time, but rather, me, Megan Affleck. Thanks so much for checking the blog daily and for your ardent pleading before the Lord's throne. Below is a copy of the e-mail I received the other day from Sister Freda. Her insights paint a poignant scene that breaks my heart, but encourages my fervent prayers to the Lord.

In Him,
Megan
--------------------------------------------------

Dear Megan,

Greetings from Kitale , Kenya . The once peaceful country has now become war torn.

Today, as Pastor Steve Rutenbar and I headed towards Kachibora Refugee Camp 35 Kilometres East of Kitale Town on the foothills of Cheragani Hills, we saw many abandoned homes; these houses were burnt by arsonists after announcement of Presidential election results. As one woman described to us is that the grass thatched houses were set on fire, while the stone houses, petrol was used to set the houses on fire. There are other refugee camps, on Kitale Show ground, which is a Kilometre from the town centre, Wamuini Refugee Camp which is 5 Kilometres West of Kitale Town and Endebess Refugee Camp which is 15 Kilometres North West of Kitale Town.

We arrived at Kachibora Refugee camp; we saw rows of very small tents, which housed family members of up to 7. Entering the tents we saw dusty and flea infested floors, there were no blankets or anything to cover the floor, most houses had little or no earthly belongings. We met mothers and sick children. In the camp there were cows and calves tethered securely on the posts at the side of the camp.

The women made make shifts Kitchen that were composed of three stones and what was used as firewood was maize stalks which emit a lot of smoke and burn very fast to cook the very little food they have been supplied with. Other women were washing clothes with filthy water.

Many women and children were lined up for the precious commodity of water which was brought by Red Cross tanker. This water was not enough for over 20,000 people living in the camp. Men were sitting in small groups discussing and pondering what next.

Talking to some people we learn that on the night of 30th December 2007 immediately after result of the Kenyan elections following the dispute of elections hell broke loose all that did not belong the tribe that is indigenous that region were driven away by the arsonists who razed their houses, and killing some of them.

So day and night, women, children and men walked miles to get to the nearest police station which was many miles away to seek help. Help come several days late as the roads, everywhere was blocked, women and children had run through the night. One woman who was then seven months pregnant , with a toddler on her chest and another on back with two younger ones on her side, she ran non stop to the centre only to have a miscarriage a few days later. Another one who is 56 year old widow with her nine children left their home after their house was torched and all her sheep and goats perished. She was glad that she was alive with her children. She ran and thanked God for her miracle of life.

Another man who was a senior pastor was ordered out of his residence and shot dead. All his cattle were stolen. Policemen and other government officials have been killed in these tribal clashes.

Hunger, disease, devastation is felt all through the camp. Women, children, and men sleep on the bare ground. They have nothing to cover, no clothes to wear, no shoes, no medication as the medicines are scarce, and those on Anti retroviral have no medicine and this will affect their health in that they will have to start their doses all over again when the it is available. There was one woman who asked for a bible.

Pastor Steve is preparing to stay in the camp praying for these people and giving them moral support. Please Megan pray for him.

God’s blessings!

Sister Freda.

Kachibora Refugee Camp

2008-01-29T09:31:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

I know a few of you have been wondering if I'm safe...you watch the news reports coming out of Kenya and wonder just how safe I am. Well, don't worry. I'm perfectly safe.

Last night I spent the night at the Kachibora refugee camp with 22,000 displaced people. They were so appreciative of our coming. We brought blankets, Swahili bibles, and the most popular item we brought was, believe it or not, feminine sanitary pads! The women were jumping up and down screaming and doing their ever-so-distinctive "yell." Many of you know the sound I am talking about...it's a cross between a yell and whistle of sorts and they do it while singing and apparently, when they are very excited. Anyways, the people at this camp had fled their homes with nothing. Absolutely nothing. Some even left without their children. They are sleeping in tents provided by the Red Cross, which are nothing more than tarps slung over wooden stakes. Sleeping on the red Kenyan dirt, these refugees fall asleep not to the sound of the stillness of the night, but rather, the incessant chewing of termites overhead threatening the stability of their makeshift shelter. They have been there for a month and honestly, they just want to go back. But, go back where? Many of their homes have been burned. The road ahead is shrouded by the unknown...barriers both seen and unseen.

I preached a message on Luke 5 and the men who brought Jesus their paralyzed friend. I spoke of their four defining attributes: persistence, cooperation, unselfish love and faith. The men were persistent in trying to get to Jesus...so much so that they climbed up on the roof to get to Him. They worked together being that there was no way they could do it alone. When everyone is in it for themselves, the group as a whole suffers tremendously. This point truly resonated with the people. The men were unselfishly loving because they could have brought their own problems, diseases, etc. but instead they brought their friend to Jesus. And, certainly, these were men of faith. If they had no faith in Jesus, they would have looked like total fools going through all of the trouble to reach Him not knowing if He could really help them. No, they had faith and the bible says Jesus saw their faith and forgave them and healed the paralyzed man.

That night, 100 people knelt down on the cold, rain-soaked Kenyan earth and accepted Christ. I can't even begin to describe the scene...just a sea of white tents. It looked almost like a civil war encampment. Quite an amazing experience. We gave Pastor Mwange, the camp chaplain, a copy of the Purpose Driven Life and a Swahili bible and he did a dance of joy. { Ok, so now it's Megan Affleck here...Last night on the phone, Steve told me a story that I am going to share with you whether he thinks I should let this out or not haha I am just kidding. He told me I could include it on the blog so, here it goes: It was just after dinner and the dirt was now mud from the rain that had belted down on the camp. They had been playing with all the children, muddy and tired I assume, but happy to have had some fun amidst the circumstances. Laughter had turned into silent anticipation for the imminent message. Steve was now up on high ground preaching the message I detailed a paragraph ago when all of a sudden a flare goes off in the sky. Picture it if you will...600 people immediately hit the floor and were lying frozen, face first and not about to move an inch. People were screaming and running around. Steve had no idea what the flare meant. Turns out, a flare is a sign of an imminent attack! Thank you Jesus, our Precious Lord and Savior, for being a fence for Pastor Steve and all of those people in the camp that night. }

We are now on our way to go pick up Dan Hamer...Stonic is taking us through the back roads. Also, thank you guys so much for all the comments. I love reading them and they are a real blessing!

Instant Refugee Camp

2008-01-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

Many of you have traveled with me through the years up to the Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya where 100,000 Sudanese and Somali citizens are living in limbo. Picture Kakuma in Kitale. There are at least 50,000 displaced people at two sites...Cherengany hills about 20 minutes out of Kitale and Endebess. Over the last two days James, Juma, Jeffrey and I have given out wool blankets to thousands of folks stuck in these encampments. No where to go, no homes to return to and most people are separated from their family and friends. During the day they roam through the encampments looking for relatives or any familiar faces. At night, they huddle under tarps provided by the Red Cross and lay in the dirt and mud waiting for the light and the warmth of the next day. When I call this place "camp," don't get me wrong...this is NOT Hume Lake or Forest Home. This is a "Grapes of Wrath" type scene with people just trying to get by the best they can until things stabilize here. I met with the pastor who is in charge of the spiritual life of the 20,000+ people at this Cherengany camp. As you can guess, he's a bit overwhelmed by the task of caring for all of these people with virtually no resources. The people are not starving, but have to wait 4 hours for water and it's nasty water at that. They get a little bit of maize flour to make up some ugali and some beans and that's it. No one is starving but no one is well-fed either...it's survival mode. It's impossible to send the photos because they take an hour to upload, but I'll bring home photos of the camp life.
But here's the basics:

People sleeping in the dirt.

Four+ families to a tiny tent.

At least 6,000 children separated from their parents. Tiny kids wandering through the camp crying out for their mommy and daddy. Their parents just ran to spare their own lives but left their kids behind.

I wish Dean was here with me today to help organize a soccer game in the field next to the camp. 6,000 kids...3,000 on each team. There's a sight for you...just choosing teams is a day long event. Tonight I've been invited to preach a message around a bonfire we're going to build...a message of reconciliation and hope. So, please pray for me...I'm digging deep.

Psalm 27:1 "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Eldoret to Kitale

2008-01-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

Through the years at Saddleback I've had the opportunity to see people in circumstances of distress. Beslan, Russia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Oaxaca, Mexico, New Orleans during Katrina, but I've never seen such heartbreaking circumstances as what I've seen in the last 2 days. I was able to catch a flight from Nairobi...that's the good news. The only place I could fly to was Eldoret...that's the bad news. Stonic and Allan drove Stonic's Landcruiser through the night. The route he took I'll never really understand, but he was stopped at least 50 times by gangs looking for fleeing Kikuyu. Stonic met me at 10a.m. on Saturday morning at the Eldoret airstrip and we proceeded northwest toward Kitale. All along the journey there were Kikuyu shops and kiosks that had been completely destroyed or burned to the ground. The sheet metal roofs, the steel doors and windows just ripped out and nothing left but ruble. We saw maybe 200 of these businesses. At one point, we were stopped by a group of men who wanted to know what I was doing and I asked where the Assemblies of God church that was burned was located. The leader of the gang asked, "Do you want to go there?" And Stonic and I both said at the same time, "Why not?" So, this gang leader got in our van and escorted us backwoods to the church that had become the symbolic "ground zero" for these tribal clashes. It is disputed in the press, and even among tribal elders, just how many people died. But, the number really is not important. Two tribal elders escorted me to the site and the 1st thing that caught my eye was the burned-out wheelchair of a grandmother who was trapped inside the church by the murderous gang outside. What happened that day was a disgusting standoff between an angry mob bent on revenge over the election results and fear-filled villagers inside the church unwilling to come out and face the mob that had now grown to over 1,000 people. Whether they chose to face death by flame as some say, or they were forced by the rioters to stay in the church may never be resolved. But, between 35-50 people died that day in Eldoret. We also went by a Baptist church about 500 yards away that had been torn from its foundation and burned. The village elders took us to 5 homes that were also looted, destroyed and burned. I did get some photos that I will share with you when I get home. The village was completely eerie in that everything was abandoned. No children, no possessions, no cattle, nothing. Everyone has fled to a refugee camp to avoid episodes like what happened here. I wish I had something perfect to say here, but honestly, I'm just tired and aghast and trying to filter through exactly what I've seen today. There is no way in a million years I would have made it to Kitale without Stonic and Allan. STONIC IS THE MAN! We've always known that but today we saw it. He just faces down people and plays his Maasai card very well.

Mixed Messages

2008-01-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I turn there are signs of hope...and signs of lingering anger.

Today I read in the Daily Nation www.nationmedia.com the headline HOPE AT LAST.
There was a full page picture of Kofi Annan applauding a handshake agreement between Kibake and Odinga. GREAT NEWS.

By 6 am news spread about a massacre overnight in Nakuru...we've ALL been to Nakuru ...we've led PDL conferences there...Katie Edwards did a PD youth congress there...Well, right now no one...not a truck, not a bota bota is moving through Nakuru. There were 200 homes burned overnight. The Daily Nation reports 51 deaths as of right now with scattered gunfire as it returns to a "relative calm."

Good News...Bad News

I prefer the good...what's the alternative?

Prov 3:5&6

A Friend's Sorrow

2008-01-25T05:58:00.000-08:00

You would recognize Christofus in a moment, from his engaging and friendly smile, from his royal red Safari Park uniform, but mostly you'd remember his sheer size...he's 6'9" and can lift a 50 lb.suitcase like it's a pillow.

So when I saw tears in Cristofus' eyes and pain in his voice, I knew something wasn't right.

"They killed her..... the mob took my little niece and they chopped her," he said, still in disbelief. "Now she lays in the morgue and we cannot even take her to Kakamega to bury her properly. The mob on the road will not let us pass...the pangas (machetes) are drawn. Pastor Steve, my little niece is gone."

What turns neighbor against neighbor, so frighteningly fast, in this land that has been a model of peace and harmony? What has turned Kenya inside-out in the days since the disputed elections?

The answers are complex...born out of tribal rivalries and historic grudges, and fanned by politics and poverty.

In the next week I'll be asking myself that question a thousand times...why here? why now?
I'll also be asking the Lord, "How do people get back on track?"

The shirt I grabbed from my duffle this morning is the one many of us wore in Katrina 2 years ago.
On the back are the words that have become a motto to us in PEACE RELIEF, "We're not here to SOLVE...We're here to SERVE."

LORD...in the process of serving our broken friends like Cristofus, help us come to grips with your words, "Love God and love your neighbor".

When your neighbor has a drawn panga...it's not so simple.

Attention Prayer Warriors

2008-01-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

Ok, all you prayer warriors out there...here's a few requests that could keep you on your knees for a few days...Please ask the Lord to work his perfect will in these issues over the next days.

1) Many of you know that we've had a container of medical equipment and supplies for Sister Freda's Cottage Hospital and shoes for the prisoners at Kitale Prison being held up in Mombasa customs for quite some time...we and our Kenyan partners have not been willing to take part in the proposed 'quick fix' approach of paying off the right person. Corruption, even in the name of doing good, is still corruption. Well, the short version is that with all the chaos of the last weeks since the elections...Mombasa Port is impossibly backed up and officials are trying to clear all they can immediately.It appears they are now willing to back away from their previous position and let us get the container out of the port and over to Kitale...still a ton of issues, like safe, secure transport, but that's where you guys come in...
Please pray for a miracle on this...that the stuff get's cleared and that we are able to get it safely through El Doret, which is presently like Dodge City...and through to Kitale.

2)Matt and Misha McGill are in mid-stream of the adoption process for Baby Moses (pictured above), a child abandoned to die near Freda's place. Ask Dan and Kathleen about all the red tape that comes with Kenya adoption and they can fill your evening with intrigue-filled stories...short version...the paperwork appears to be done...things are very close to resolution...I'm meeting with the attorney in the next couple days, but ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN...wacky stuff just crops here...so, again..even if you don't know exactly WHAT to pray for. Ask the Lord Himself to guide this to a successful conclusion and to get Moses home with Mat, Misha, Max, Mark, and Morgan. Anyone lacking wisdom? Re-Read James 1.

3) I have to make a decision in the next few hours of which way I'm going to Kitale...Each has their own unique challenges, which I won't go into here. But please pray for God-given discernment for which path to take...road or by plane onto the Kitale airstrip.The pilot is having second thoughts about the flight, but we had a good conversation moments ago and I think he is willing to try it tomorrow, if the Kofi Annon/Raila Odinga/Pres. Kibaki summit doesn't explode tonight. Stonic says he has a 'back roads' route that can get us to Kitaleno problem...but I'd just soon avoid the 13 hours of road trip adventure...my kidneys are still bleeding from our last trip to Norok. Please pray.

I've spoken with almost everyone in Kitale and everyone is safe. 5 folks were murdered yesterday in Endebess, if you remeber the team where Mike and Michele Robison met LUCY for the first time...that's Endebess...where Katie and Allison and others painted murals on the walls of the school for handicapped kids.

Gotta go but will have more tomorrow...looking forward to seeing how God answers YOUR prayers. (Don't you love how I so subtly I shifted the responsibility!!)
Steve

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." NIV

Traveling to Kenya

2008-01-24T05:44:00.000-08:00

January 22, 2008

I'm at the internet cafe at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, mentally scrolling through the faces and memories of folks that I hope to see in the next few days in Kenya.

Stonic Koipah...my trusted friend and travel companion for 10 years...Stonic assures me he has a way to get us to Kitale while avoiding the troubles on the El Doret Highway.
Sister Freda Robinson (pictured)...and her Cottage Hospital...after a 3 week communication'blackout' I was finally able to hear Freda's sweet voice a few days ago...She and Richard are safe, but supplies and food are in short supply.
The inmates and staff at Kitale Prison, where a clean water project is close to completion...I'll be interested to see how Celebrate Recovery in coming along on the 'Yard'. Jana O'Guin's efforts have been tireless.
Stephen and Roselyn Mairori, and all the ICM family...the seminary in Mt. Elgon may be able to reopen in the next month...God has miraculously spared the campus, even though homes and churches just yards away were burned to the ground.
Patricia Sawa and her HIV/AIDS center 'Discover to Recover' Patricia was trapped in Kisumu for a week or so while she was speaking at an AIDS conference and clashes broke out that shut down all travel...two of the children from her Kitale center have gone missing in the Nakuru area...they were travelling with only a weeks supply of anti-retrovirals and it has now been a month since they were swept up in the chaos in Nakuru.

The entire church family of Deliverance Church, Kitale...Moses, Margaret and family and the 450 children of Purpose Driven Academy...
Geoffrey (pictured below) and the street kids at Oasis of Hope...the latest report from Lydia Monroe is that all the kids are safe and accounted for...even the ones who were stuck up in Lodwar, by the Sudan border.
Jacenta and the Mercy Home kids who rode out the recent storm of chaos and insecurity on our compound...

and so many others...James, Sammy, Juma, Jason, Peter, Ayub, Mary, Andrew...and Jambi.

Psalm 133:1
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together unity !"

How good , indeed...please Lord, bring peace and reconciliation to your children in Kenya. May a leader emerge in the next days, who is willing to set aside self-interest and set Kenya back on the road to safety and prosperity. Show us, Lord, how we can follow your will and way and be an encouraging presence in the lives of our Kenyan friends.

Lord, please bless and keep these friends safe and secure.