This is My Life

Good Day

2011-01-31T23:44:00.001-08:00

Today is Tuesday. Back home it is 10:56pm on Monday. It has been so hard to call or skype to catch Cass back home. The timing of our breaks have not worked out very well. L

Yesterday we had a full day. In the morning we went to worship as usual. Then the youth and I did our study together. Then we had lunch and right afterward we jumped into a van to go to the beach. The Springfield has more than one resort. So we got a free ride. The beach was covered with Shells. We filled two freezer bags full of shells. We walked down the beach to the Jet Ski rental. Which is a place on the beach with jet ski’s. Not much of a rental place. So for ½ hour we paid 1200 Baht. So we rented two and did an hour each. But I talked the guy down from 4800 to 4100. In US dollars that is $132. Which was a scholarship given by someone from the united states. The jet skis were really fun. The water is harder to drive in with the waves and stuff. But totally worth the money. On the beach were people selling skirts and massages. I was really interested in a massage but didn’t have the time. (I will look into it when we go to town today) We took the shuttle back to our hotel and then swam in the pool until dinner. After dinner the youth wanted to watch a movie, so we went to my room and watched the Terminal. With Tom hanks. Then at 8:45pm they wanted to go out and play gray Wolf. (Or Ghosts in the grave yard) So after all that going going going we called it quits at 10pm. We all were beat, but some great connecting was made between the youth. These kids are in need of these connections for support. Many of them are homeschooled in a country that they don’t have a lot of friends so this is the only interaction with each other that they get all year. This has been an amazing opportunity. And Again I am greatful to Warner Alliance Church for allowing me to serve here. I will be honest we are not suffering here. It is beautiful and warm.

In about an hour we are going to town and meet up with the U's. They are staying at a hotel near where we are. Since it is Chinese new year they are here for a conference as well. Which new year is a month long. Now that is some serious party.

Thanks for your paryers of health and safety. We are doing really well. A youth cut her leg on the pool yesterday and another one went down the slide head first into the pool and cut his head open and needed 7 stitches. Other than that a few bumps and bruises and little colds. But everything else is going awesome.

The youth are responding well to the work of God and to that I praise Him!

Spring field first 24 hours

2011-01-30T06:29:00.000-08:00

We have made it to the Spring field resort. The house that Jack built. (Jack Nickerson) It is a resort that has a golf coarse. It is a really beautiful place. Palm trees everywhere, geckos everywhere and other than the workers here you would never expect that you were in Thailand. It is not really what I would imagine a missions trip would be like.

The kids group is meeting at the Pavillion and the youth are meeting in Bill and I’s suite. The children are learning “Going deep with God.” The youth are doing a study called “Main Event.” Spending time with God should be our main event. The youth are awesome.

FYI bill slept and he is now doing fine. Thanks for your prayer.

I am really enjoying the International workers. Since I have gone to Simpson I learned about these guys and I see them as Heroes of the faith. That they would be willing to give up the comforts of home to go and serve. I really noticed that tonight with the talent show tonight and the videos that were sent from the States. Of Ice cream and crunch bars.

I have been enjoying the youth. We have laughed. We have spent heart-felt stories with each other. And we have played together. The kids are fun and very knowledgeable. My heart goes out to these youth. They are in a living situation that they didn’t choose. (I know that no kid has a say) but these kids are in boarding schools and international schools. I know that they don’t know the difference. So what I am saying is I really look up to these kids. They have not complained or fussed over where they live.

Speaking of candy. A dent has been made in the candy. Maybe 1/10 has been eaten so far. J Warner, I am so proud to say I serve there with the support that came in with the candy. I would love to maybe sponsor the youth for next year to do an outing together.

Tomorrow after our bible study and extended quiet time we will be going to the beach. A person has given scholarship for the youth to go on this outing. The kids are opening up with each other and trips like this help them break the ice and relate with each other. (Pictures coming soon.)

Cruising the mall (but not at the same time)

2011-01-28T05:03:00.000-08:00

Today we set off and went down to river. (not sure which one) and took a river boat cruise. We embarked on a cruise and it was a blast. We were able to create our own cruise experience. AKA not go to the Snake Farm. PTL! It was interesting and fun. We started off going down the river and connecting up to a lock system. (like the panama canal) At this point we were in the lock with a bunch of other boats. We were next to a boat with Europeans being europeans at the beach. If you know what I mean. Awkward! Didn't they know this was Asia? They must have taken a wrong turn at Switzerland. Then we went to the floating market. Which didn't turn out to be as neat as I had imagined. But it is supposed to be really neat on saturdays. (more boats). But one lady came up to our boat with tons of souvenirs and sharon was interested in. We passed nice houses and houses that could be swapped as ones in mexico or Africa. We stopped briefly at a catfish spanning place that a man wanted us to buy food for the fish to have good luck. We told him "We don't need no stinkin luck." and drove off. Then we stopped and got out of the boat at a Buddhist temple that we could climb. The steps being anywhere from a 12" to 18" a step and very steep. But great views and the temple was very ornate. We finished our tour by a view of the Grand Palace (Buddist Temple) from the water. Not as impressive as being in there. Sights were awesome but the water was not so awesome! Trash everywhere. We did our best to not let the water get in our mouth. It was hard with the mist that came up when we would hit a wake.

After that the girls wanted to do more shopping at the MBK (mall of bangkok) but bill was not feeling well. Not adjusting to the time change easily. :( So sharon and I took him back to the hotel and then went to meet up with the rest of our group to go to the Silk making factory/farm. But the food at the food court and the shopping sucked us in at the MBK. At the Gaming store I asked about Wii games and they said they were 100 Baht. (about $3.50 US) I thought that was great. I payed the man and he told me to come back in 10 minutes. So we left and I didn't understand why he couldn't just give it for me. Then I thought that he had it in the back. Well I came back and yes it was too good to be true. He gave me a cd that didn't look like a normal version of a wii game. OOPS! I didn't know. Huh wonder if it works. :

Another good day!

Tomorrow we take off at 9 to travel to the main objection of this trip. 2 hours by bus. And we will meet up with our new friends.

I haven't gotten a massage yet. But where we are going has one. Totally going to look into that.

We made it to the land of Thai

2011-01-27T17:31:00.001-08:00

We made it to Bangkok!

Today we woke up at the normal time (here) and ate breakfast at our hotel. It was pancakes, cereal with rice milk, fruit, guava juice, orange juice, and two different kinds of stirfry stuff. I tryed it all one of the stir frys was unbeleiveably Hot! I spit that out. It also had tofu.

We went to the Emeral Palace today. That is a depressing place. Hundreds of people coming to worship an idol made by man. Dont get me wrong it is beautiful but not a good place. No hope. The God shaped hole is not being filled.

Then we took the taxi to the MBK (Also known as a 8 story mall) Where you can barder for anything on the shelf. I got some screamin deals. Also got a nintendo Wii game that i thought was too good to be true. And i was write. Mario Kart for $3 US! can you say Pirated? oops.

Then on the way home the girls wanted to take the train and then a TukTuk. They hadn't been on either. The train was packed. I think school just got out or work. wall to wall people from the time we got on till we got off. Then the TukTuk is a motor cycle with a cart welded on the back for passengers. That doesn't sound bad. But then they weave in and out of traffic. And at times drive 6" to a foot" away from other vehicles going in either direction. Oh and BTW they drive on the left side not the right. And to cross the street you just start walking out into the street. The drivers are wild. But they take the blame if they hit you. Which we are cautious but still have to get places. NYC was a good breaking in for me to cross here. Collen from Bellveiw and in our group said crossing is like real life Frogger.

We bought a sim card today but it is not working. So I can't call my wife. GRRRRR!!! We might need to go buy another converter.

Almost on the sleeping schedule because of staying up so late on the way here and then sleeping till 7 am.

Bill is not been able to get his stomach onto the time zone yet. Or it is the Thai food. So far no major incidents. it is just upset.He just hasn't been hungry.

Everyone is getting along great. Tom and Collen from bellveiw are hilarious.

A theme today was "theres a story" We looked at people and could see the hurt or the pain that was in their lives. One older man was with a 4ish year old girl. A woman had a distinct hand print across her face. A non-attractive american man was with a woman that was out of his league and didn't wear enough clothes. This place (like many) needs Jesus!

Well this is random. I am getting sleepy

Tomorrow a little organizing and talking though what we will be doing for the conference. We are going to try to go to the floating market too. It is a market the venders sell out of canoes. Like fruit and veggies. Crazy huh.

New adventure

2011-01-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Jan 25th) I will be embarking on a missions trip to Thailand. I will be meeting up with some other pastors and volunteers to put on a conference for missionaries from China. It is weird how it is cheeper for 10 or so of us to travel across the ocean to another country to lead this trip. But strangely it is. I will be leading a group of 15 youth in a conference/camp for 5 days. Our theme will be Main Event. Talking about the importance of Quiet times and giving them some ideas/tools to liven up the most important time of the day, the "Main event" of our day. We will be studying together and spending time with our Lord. These students have grown up in the church and are very intelligent when it comes to the bible. I am excited to learn with them. But like all of us we need to take our head knowledge and put it into action. We may know much of the bible but without a relationship with our creator we are just like the Pharisees. So I will be back in the states Feb 5th 11am back in lewiston. I am going to try to update this blog but may get a little busy. I hope to share what we did (as in quiet time ideas) on future blogs.

My Workout/eating regiment

2010-10-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i ran my last run before the half marathon on saturday. This has been a 7 months of running. I am kinda surprised with myself that I am writing this Bolg. Cuz I am not the work out type. But since March I have been going hard core and it has lead to weight loss. I have lost 25 lbs. I didn't know i had to loose. I did it not for the weight loss but to get in shape so I can be able to run around with my child on the way. Here is what I am doing.

I Eat plenty of veggies and fruit.
Drink lots of water. (one website said take your weight divide it by two and then that is the amount of ounces you should drink)
Stay away from Diet drinks. The body has a hard time breaking down nutri-sweet. Not that it works harder to do that but it just can't. So regular soda is better. But not alot.
I try to keep my liver clean. The liver is the place that breaks down fat and filters everything out. But Nutri-sweet and too much sugar clogs that up. So the body has to do something with it so it goes to the limphnodes. Then they get big. For guys in there gut and girls hips, tummy, and breast.
A heath guru told me that it takes 32 8ounce cups of water to neutralize a 8 ounce can of soda. To clear it out of my system.
I stay away from alcohol as well.

So then to workout i do hard core cardio. I run 3-4 times a week. I also go to the cycling class at the gym. But cardio is what helps loose weight and your diet.

If I can do it you can too. As the wise words of a little movie we like to call Happy Gilmore "YOU CAN DO IT!"

I AM NOT A TRAINER! I DO NOT CLAIM TO BE! THIS IS JUST WHAT I DID.

Favorite song

2010-10-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Do you have a favorite song? Why is it your favorite? What are some of the emotions that inspire you when you hear it? When you hear it does it remind you of the first place you heard it? Do you like the beats or the lyrics?

Well my favorite song right now is Beautiful Things by Gungor. It is a worship song that I heard for the first time at LIFE this summer. It makes me feel energized, Loved, comforted and want to tell others about what I believe. The lyrics are my favorite but it has a sweet drum beat. That is really like a BEAT!

Beautiful Things

By Gungor

All this pain

I wonder if I’ll ever find my way

I wonder if I my life could really change at all

All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found

Could a garden come up from this ground at all

Chorus:

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

Verse 2 (same as verse 1)

All around

Life is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos life is being found in You

Chorus 2:

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

Bridge:You make me new, You are making me new

What is Old is new

2010-10-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

As youth group was over one of our girls named cynthia was talking to Olivia and they were talking about music. When all of a sudden Olivia named something that Cynthia like and she said "That is DAnk!" loud enough for everyone to turn and look at what they were doing.

Which caused me to start thinking about how words and trends change but they also come back.

I loved saying "cool," "Awesome," and "Rad." My parents often said that they used words like this when they were my age or even younger.

Things might change but they often are re-newed. So someday my kids will be saying "Sick," "Bad," and "Stoked." And they will think that it is new.

I find it funny. Like people wearing 80's clothes again.

Face your fears day

2010-10-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

As I was trying to wake up this morning because it is SO SO SO dark out when I normally wake up, i hit snooze a few times. Well one of the times that I hit snooze the radio was going over events for the day or something like that. I heard that it was face your fears day. Now being put on the spot to go through with this today is a tough one at least for me. You will see why. Facing fears is often times a drummed up thing in our head. It can be something that we dislike a lot and the in between times when we face it we add to the fear. So it ends up being more than it really is.

I don't feel like I have a lot of fears but I do have a few. #1 fear is Snakes. I hate them they creap me out. And I would be willing to face that one today but don't know anyone with a snake. #2 fear failing. Now this is something that I can't go ahead a fail at something and get over it. This is a constant thing that I have to work on. #3 fear is death. Not the after life, not the lead up to it, but more of the moment of death and the pain of it. This is also something that I can go ahead and face at least today. I can surrender it to God though.

So face your fears today. If you know of someone that has a snake call me and I will go over and hold it.

My lovely wife for my 50th blog

2010-10-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today my wife came home from church and she got a newspaper to get her coupons. She spent the next hour finding coupons for items that we buy and going onto websites to get the best deals. I watched a little football and then we went out on a, what I call "sticking it to the man" adventure. At rite aid our total was $30 then after all the coupons we spent about $6.26 but we got $4 back in rebates. I call her the coupon Ninja. She is saving us so much money. She is storing up so we are stocked up after we have a baby. Cassie is the Prov 31 woman. She is stocking up so when it snows or we have flood or some kind of war. She is doing a great job and I am so proud of her. This coupon thing is her new hobby. Saving money, so I can spend the money. HAHA! Since my hobby is snowboarding and running. Neither of them save us any money. I really am excited about the things she is getting. Diapers, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, can goods, cereal, and gum. For free or significantly discounted.

So that is not the only way she is a prov 31 woman. I personally think she is the modern day Prov 31 woman. Taking care of the money, making sure that the family is taken care of, she is strong because heavy lifting around the house, she is taken care of the meals time after time and she is and she is example to all that she meets. She is awesome! And I wouldn't be the man that I am without her! I Love her

pumpkin patch

2010-10-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today Cas and I went to the pumpkin patch with our friends Will and Julia. This has become a tradition for the 4 of us. (3rd year). We go to the wilson banner ranch and go out to the pumpkin patch. We tromps around in the field looking for the perfect pumpkin. There is something about doing this. We enjoy the fresh air, the natural feeling of going out into the field to get our pumpkin. Maybe it is because we all grew up watching the old charlie brown movie "The great Pumpkin."

This year Cas and I found our biggest pumpkin that we have ever made. It is bigger than a basketball and great lines and great form. As we were walking out in the patch we were talking about next year walking around with a little one with us. That we will be taking pictures and enjoying the time together. Our smiles got bigger and our hearts were warm.

To finish off the event we go get cider and then go back to our house were we have White chicken chilly and play games. (This year Catch phrase) It was a good day.

die for

2010-10-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was talking to a friend of mine and he said I love "so in so" i would die for that guy. I was like really. I knew that they were friends but didn't think that He thought so seriously about that person. I said if he was going to be tortured you would ask to take his place. He said yes.

I was thinking wow. That is a serious commitment to someone.

So I was thinking who is on my list of my die for list.

My Wife,

My sister,

My parents,

My mother in law,

My best friend,

our Youth leaders,

Any kid that is in trouble that is part of youth ministry.

That is a pretty extensive list. I never have thought about it until someone said that.

Mowing

2010-10-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I like to accomplish something that is quick, mindless and the results are immediate. Mowing is that for me. I like to get out and mow the lawn. It is a way that I can sort my thoughts of all the things that are going on. I also like how when I am mowing and I am done the grass looks great and it is done for that week.

My grass has heard the gospel story many times, It knows almost every message that I have preached and it nows my thought patterns. Second only to Paul's grass. If you drive by and see me me preaching to my grass... I am not crazy... I think... um... ok, maybe I am.

What do you do to sort your thoughts? Drive? Mow? walk? Run? take a shower?

Running

2010-10-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

So as many of you know I have been training for a half marathon on Oct 16th. I run different lengths each day. Thursdays are my long run day. Well last Thursday I was running and I had a bad urge to go to the bathroom. I thought that it would go away or pass. I passed one bathroom, thought that it would go away. Then I passed another one but it would be fine. Then a few miles later I really, REALLY needed to go. (#2) It got to the point that I needed to find a place ASAP! But I kept thinking to myself that I needed to do the paperwork. Then I came up with what I thought was a great idea. So I then found a safe place on the side of the path that I could relieve myself. That was safe and secluded. I did my business and used my boxers for the clean up. No one came by and not one saw me. I left them there and got back to my run. Later I went back and picked up my undergarments. So that way I wouldn't liter. I feel like I should come up with a moral of the story... so here goes. "When the going gets tough...Don't be tough just Go."

OREO TRINITY

2010-10-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

For the third year with the Jr high students we are talking about Christianity and Chocolate. Now don't get me wrong. God is not Chocolate and Chocolate is not Jesus. But we are looking at it as a illustration. To help understand something better. Jesus often times used Illustrations to help understand things. Like the Salt of the earth, or Light of the world, and vine and the batches.

Well I am not Jesus (By far) but i am trying to use a way that Jr high students can grasp a difficult concept of the Trinity.

So I came up with a Oreo.

How many parts are there of a Oreo?

Do all of them make up an Oreo?

If one part was gone would it still make up an Oreo?

I see it as Three parts

Cookie outside

frosting inside

The other cookie outside

The Trinity

Jesus is the outside cookie

Holy Spirit is the cream

God is the Cookie that is attached to the cream

The bible say in John 14 about who Jesus is.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6:-7

Jesus explained that if someone has seen Him they have seen the father as well. So they look a like similar to the outsides of a Oreo Cookie.

Part of Jesus' role was to come down and make Himself nothing to die for the sins of the world.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—  even death on a cross! Phil 2: 5-8

Since The Father and The Son are the outside cookies all that is left is the cream filling which is The Holy Spirit. Some call him the Holy Ghost. (ghosts on the cartoon are white) But He is also called counselor or helper.

Matthew 3:13-17 talks about the three parts of the trinity and how the Holy Spirit came down like a dove.

The Baptism of Jesus

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

What does that mean for us?

God that sympathizes with our needs (Heb 4:15)

Someone to intercede to the father (Rom 8:26)

Loves us to send his son (John 3:16)

So back to the original questions:

How many parts are there of a Oreo? 3

Do all of them make up an Oreo? Yes

If one part was gone would it still make up an Oreo? No

One God in Three persons. One Oreo in Three parts.

Wipeout

2010-10-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Over the last year or so I have really got into the show wipeout. For those of you that do not know the concept of the show let me explain. The show gets about 20 contestants and they give them nick names and have obstacle courses that they run through and fall and flip as they go through it. Each round the contestants get eliminated but "all will Wipe Out." The contestants get blind sided by silly obstacles. My favorite part of the show is the announcers. They work in nick names and work in puns with those names.

Well today two 3 year olds came by the church (Quinn and Hannah) and they wanted to go to the nursery and play on the padded slide. They call it the wipe out slide. They will jump off of it and slide down it and even summersault down it. I can only imagine that they just love the show enough to talk about it after show. They had the funniest time.

As I watch the show I keep thinking that I could do really good at this show but maybe i am a armchair wipeout contestant. Wipeout is for all those adults that just never grew up and that want to recapture the fun that they had as kids. At least that is what I feel when I watch this show. Also as you get knocked down you can get back up again.

Bigger than a building

2010-10-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

This week we had our Churches Bigger than a Building kickoff. It was on our new property and we had a roasted pig and a pepsi truck come and sponsor the event. Yes it was a pepsi truck. It helps to know someone. I need to get to know someone at coke. But i digress. The church had the weeds mowed all but a outline of the church and a cross. The building looks kinda small but in comparison of our current property it fits our entire property into the new building. It is BIG! For the program we had three testimonies of Kelcy, ross + charity and Polly. They did a great job. Del McKensy was our honored guest. Paul wrapped it up with the story of where we have come from and a glimpse where we are going.

Polly was the one that surprised me. Polly like she said "Has the gift to gab." She read her testimony and the surprise is she talked about sacrificial giving. To set an amount to give and stay to it or to give till it hurts. We set an amount and it has been hard to stay to that amount. I really am glad that we have. But it hasn't been easy. We are still going to be able to live and we are not going crazy. We are only going to eat one meal a day and it is ramen but we can eat. I am just kidding we are stretching but not till a break.

The ground was dusty, the sun was hot, the shade was small and flocked to, but our church turned out in droves. 250ish were in attendance. It didn't seem like that many probably because the property is so large.

Where I am at in my head with the new church is I am starting to think about the decor in the youth room and how big it will be. Space to do all the things that we want to do and room to grow. Sunday school today was insane! We had 48 parents and kids in class today. It was our kick off of our Generation Change class. Which goes hand in hand with what the church is doing the Treasure Principal.

God has provided so much with this all. He has provided the money for the land, a peice of property that came in under budget and even small things like a beautiful day yesterday. It rained today which is needed but glad it was today not yesterday.

Blog phone

2010-10-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

40 Days of Blogging

2010-10-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

Over the last few years I have not blogged. I have kinda forgot about it and have put my time towards different things. I enjoy blogging and sharing my thoughts but life is busy. I thought that I would spend some time before Cassie gives birth to our child in March and start this habit again. So over the next month and a half I will be writing about life as a future dad, daily experiences, life as a youth pastor and things God is teaching me.

I would like to just share today about how excited I am to be a dad. I have been watching parents more closely lately. Seeing how they deal with parenthood. We have started thinking of names for our baby. I personally like the names Rainn Coats, Leather Coats, and Fur Coats. LOL not really. It is funny how people come up with names. My dads side of the family has a tradition to name the middle name after the OBGYN. It is kinda personal and I think it is kinda funny. I know people name after family members and even people that have had significance in the life of the parents. Some people go off of the meaning of the name or the way it the name rolls off the tongue.

What I am most excited about is holding our child, teaching it, playing games and watching it grow. It is going to be a big adjustment but the closer it gets the more I am excited.

Kids will be Adults

2010-03-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

I read a article today that was discussing how the state of Idaho is going to start paying high school students to graduate early. As you can see from my lack of blog postings I don't get passionate about much but this one i think worth it.

Students are so often encouraged to grow up early. The media portrays high school students in the light that they are adults and they can make make grown up decisions. Don't get me wrong I am all for people acting their age and taking on more little by little. I am sure students are all for this. Just students are all for lowering the drinking age and the driving age. The way I see it the way things are set up now it is just right. At 16 students can drive. At 17-19 they graduate from High school. At 18 can gamble, smoke and enter the draft. At 21 they can drink alcohol. These ages were chosen based on developmental stages in youth, decision making abilities, and I am sure that they have something that they can look forward to.

Here is my rant for the new year. If you would like to check out this article click the link below.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hMyjdWG670FdForgcXMTVOa4MY1QD9E7AU780

Tuesday with Street car, VBS, and Worship

2009-06-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

We traveled on the street car across town. Our objective was to start a conversation with someone in hopes of talking to them about Christ. We got on the street car and on our way I sat next to a teacher from one of the schools. I asked if these were her kids. She got on with 5 5^th grade students. She said no. She said that she was a teacher. She said they were on a “field trip.” The grades were in last Friday so they had to watch the students for 3 days. She told me about New Orleans and about Katrina and where she went during it. She told me about Marty Gra and to get a good margarita. I continued to pray how we could make it a spiritual conversation. It didn’t arise. She mostly talked about herself and New Orleans. We never talked about my job. I have found that it can be a conversation killer when I mention that I am a youth pastor. But I am praying for Gina and hopes that she will come in contact with someone else. The rest of the group didn’t have much luck talking to anyone but it was a good reminder that we are going to enter back home where it is hard to talk to others. So we talked about that and found that we have more courage to talk to our friends because we know them.

VBS was another day of basketball, football, and beauty salon. We had three more students come. Still recruiting the older guys. They are the ones that happen to come because we think that there are others that are still in school. Our VBS has really turned to be more of sports evangelism than VBS. It has been fun to hang with the guys and to get to know them. Jon had a really significant conversation with a guy yesterday. He told him what we were about and what we were doing. He was really receptive and understood it. It will be interesting if he comes tomorrow and if the makes a decision for the Lord.

Worship was amazing. The students really connected with Christ and what he is doing in there lives. They all said that it was the best worship that they have ever had. They all said that they didn’t want to leave in two days. They were so stoked after the songs.

During debriefing of the day worship was there high light and then we gave the letters that there parents wrote them. They all were really moved by what there parents wrote them. The idea that they could read something from back home made them a little homesick and also a little emotional getting words that they haven’t heard since we have been gone.

Prayer VBS Wall

2009-06-23T11:38:00.001-07:00

We walked around the VBS sight and prayed for the neighborhood. During that time we were able to go to a few houses of people we met last year. We found Ronnie, tiger and paw paw’s house. We knocked on the door and tiger came to the door but didn’t recognize us so he didn’t come out. It was warm walking around and was hard to stay focused and positive attitude. I gave a wager to our team that anyone that didn’t complain about the heat, I would buy them dinner. So since Sunday jon and kelcy are the only ones left of the students.

For VBS the students that came were mostly jr high and high school students. But there were a few 5 year olds. Glenn came and walked up to me and said “I remember you from last year.” It was so good to see a familiar face. Ron and Kuran came as well. I asked Glenn if Ronnie and Paw Paw were coming but he said that they were in Texas with there mom. We got a game going of basketball and then we realized that if we were to start VBS the high school boys would leave. So Eric from Ohio said why don’t we challenge the top 4 guys to a game of basketball and if they win they can leave but if we win they have to sit down for 20 minutes with us and here our VBS stuff and we would give the water. We knew that we were over our heads but we also knew we had a slim chance. Long story short we beat them 10-4. So they stuck around and heard out VBS skit and our memory verse. Since we beat them we got some street cred and were able to talk to them about the story and about what they thought about it. And I haven’t played since last year here.

So right before dinner we went to “the wall.” Which is a wall to one of the canals. At the wall they feed homeless people and we were able to sit down and talk with them. We didn’t eat so that we wouldn’t take away from there food. All the students grouped up and went and talked with people. Cassie and I were left. So we went over and started to talk to a Mexican man named Tommy Lee and a white lady named Cheryl. We talked about Katrina, and about them being in and out of jail and why they are homeless. During this time I continued to pray “God how can I minister to these people. I will even give them my shoes if they need them.” During this time Cassie continued to pray for boldness. And it came when Tommy lee said he had beat up his brother and we went to Jail and received Christ and then became a pastor. Cassie asked “So you would say that you are his turning point so what is stopping you from changing.” He didn’t really respond and even changed the subject. Then we prayed for them and Tommy Lee asked about my t-shirt. I told him I got it at goodwill last year here. (It was a Hurricane Relief shirt and on the back it said Hurricanes Blow. ) So here was my answer to prayer. I wressled with the thought of I live this shirt, it is really sweaty and if I were to give it I would break the AIM dress code. But I decided to give it anyway. So on the way home and when we got back to the KOC I got some really funny looks. But then I explained.

Sunday in NOLA

2009-06-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! We were able to go to Lakeview Christian church. This is the church that we were able to attend to last year. But this year they were in there new building. It was really nice. The message from Pastor Kieth was One Nation Under-Fathered. It was a great message that convicted many full of statistics on the affects of a nation without fathers.

We did our head to head where I met with a boy named ryan. I felt called to encourage him and how his heart was heading the right direction. He was sold out to God. I could see that he had some birth defects but I could see that he was stoked for being here and for following after God. I also felt called to share the scripture that man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. He broke down crying and said that this was exactly what he had been asking God for answers his whole life. To know why he was made this way and what does God see him like. I was stunned and then it was time to stop.

We took a tour of New Orleans. Just a few facts about places in New Orleans. 80%ish of Lakeview is rebuilt. About 30%ish of Gentily is rebuilt and still 10%ish of Ninth ward is rebuilt.

We just got back from prayer walking around Old School where we are going to be doing VBS. We gave out 10 or so flyers for VBS. To kids that we didn't see last year. So who knows who we will see tomorrow. But we are excited to see what God does through us.

Our sleeping experience is cots in the middle of the main room. The girls are upstairs. For some reason my laptop mirrored the image so cross your eyes and you will get it. Yes those are my sick feet. Kelcy is tired from a long day and the adjustment to the time change.

Hopefully there isn't two of the same picture.

It is a good day.

Thank you

2009-02-14T07:43:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

I am in Portland right now. With our high school ministry. We are at the District Youth Conference. But I wanted to take a moment and to thank some people.

Thank you for all those that supported me as I was in Africa. Thank you for your prayers, your love and your support to allow me to experience this great trip. I loved it.

A few things that stick out in my mind as I think of the Hospital In Bongolo. The workers from mali. The smiles that they would bring to our faces. The hard work that they did. Second I think of the great job the Hospital is doing in training people. It is the best Discipleship model that I have ever seen. The missionaries there are great. They were very welcoming and encouraged us tons. The singing of the church service rings in my ears. The way they would sing with such passion and spirit. I will remember the hot kitchen and how if I would turn on the fan the gas stove would go out. Along with that the Geko that i found in the rice. Last I will remember that how the little that we were able to help and how it affected the eternity for so many.

thoughts on the last two weeks

2009-01-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

Here i am in Libreville on our way home. I am rushed with many thoughts. Katie (Arney and Cheryl's'youngest) peppered me with questions on what I liked the most about Bongolo. I told her that I liked the different colors of green on the veggitation. The smiles of the people on the faces when we would say "Hi." The little little kids that would be so excited to wave hello when we drive by to got find a tool or part. The chance to help a place that is sharing God's word and many are responding.

It is hard to leave only because we worked so hard and it went by so fast that it almost feels like the two weeks went by as we blinked. But at the same time I am ready to come home.

I am stoked on how well the meals went. I really didn't think it would have gone as well. I will need a break from cooking but will help more often from here on out. I have more of a respect for my wife and how she cooks for me and that they are so good.

I am praying for the workers that do not know God (Bob Marley, Sammy Sosa, Samaky, and Abrahim) I am praying for the missionaries there that they would continue on in a place that is so far away from home and away from the comfort that they know. I am praying for the churches that have spured from the hospital. From what i have seen there are about 5 but I am guessing that there are at least 3 if not 4 times that amount. I that the hospital would continue to provide the hope and joy that only our Lord brings.

YUM.

2009-01-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

Here is our dinner out. The pot is chicken at least that is what we were told. It tasted like a cajun flavored chicken. It was really good. The picture of a man is the hunter that caught a monkey and is about to gut it. The round thing in his left hand is the head. It smelled really sick. We didn't get any of that. Then last picture is with me and the restaurant owner. Everyone calls her mama. She also cleans the house of the missionaries here at the hospital named the Thompsons. On the menu (which was not ordered for us) was monkey, gazelle, alligator, porcupine, possum, eggplant, chicken and sweet potato fries. We had the last two and they were awesome. The other stuff was plant stuff and we didn't enjoy them as much but tryed them but I can't remember the name of them.

Matt (from PA) dared me to try the hot sauce. It was just as hot if not hotter than hobinarros. I mixed it in with rice and it made me cry and burned my lips and later my backside. It tasted good if you can get past how hot it is. That was an experience that I got to have twice.

Congo Church

2009-01-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

Today I was able to go to church in a town 3 Kilomiters away from the country of Congo. We went with Karen and Lisa. They have been spending time working with this church. Karen helping preach and Lisa teaching the kids. The songs were really vibrant. The worship leader stopped durring worship and said that if you do not have joy from the Lord you will worship like this. It was very still and only clapping. Then he said if you DO have the joy of the Lord you would worship like this. He started dancing and singing even louder. So we started singing and it was a ton of fun. Obviously I do not know the language so I just clapped and did a line dance type of dancing. (Cause that is what the little boy was doing right next to me.) We came into the service and they put us right in front of everyone facing them. In the back they had a drum and a tamberin. So after singing and right before the sermon a baby was crying in the back and the mother called for the baby and sent it up front. She just started breast feeding the baby right there in the front row. If the singing, the heat and the different language didn't make me realize I was in a different country the breast feeding put me over the top. They asked us to introduce ourselves and give a blessing to the congregation. I introduced myself then Karen translated into french and then the worship leader translated it into the tribal language.

During the sermon the kids were dismissed and I went with them. They went down the road about 50 feet to the market place (which was unoccupide) and she taught them the same message that Karen taught the adults. The story today was the 10 plagues that God called down onto the Egyptions. The thing that stood out to me was the emphasis on the Magitians and Moses. The part where Moses put down his staff and it turned into a snake and how the Magitians did it also but Moses' snake ate the other snakes. In these tribes the people that are sick will either go to the miracle (witch doctor) worker or to the doctors here where we are working. Usually do not find help with the miracle worker (surprise, surprise) and go to the doctor. The tribes are learning that our God is bigger than magic or scorcery. Lisa did a great job at teaching the students with little help and a long story to teach. She had 50 students from toddler to 5th grade from what I could tell.

After church we talked to the people in the church and found out that the Congo Boarder was about kilomiter away from the church. (Which is 6/10ths of a mile.) We walked over to the boarder patrol and showed them our passports and they let us through. A boarder patrol looks like a guy sitting in a t-shirt and shorts, at a table and he copys down our passport by hand and said we could go. Well the walk ended up being probably 3 kilomiters not 1. We went down to the river and took pictures but then Karen came after counseling some church members and drove us over and into the next town. We got to meet the next town members and they asked us if we were coming to evangilize the town. We had to go but it was good for the missionaries to see the need for this other town. We went into the old church and prayed with three members of the town. Karen wasn't sure about this church. Pray for them. That is the picture of the house.

Rodman

2009-01-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

So my job for the last 4 or so days have been getting the tie rods preped and up on the structure. I cleaned them and put them into place. All round me the malians and our team of 11 guys and Kay have been lifting beams, welding parts together, cutting pieces to make the building fit and bolting them all together. After I had cleaned the tie rods Jason our leader of this building project asked me to take on the project of placing these tie rods into place. He said you are not the "Rodman." I commented that I don't have colorful hair and tons of piercings. He didn't say anything back. Since then everytime I see him he says "Rodman" out of the corner of his mouth and in kinda a grandpa-ish voice. I laugh and go about my task. I enjoy having a task and not having to worry about anything else. I know I am a typical male that likes to have one thing at a time and do that. It is true I do. *For those of you that do not know what the rods do on a building this big they help support the building and keep it square. That is the best definition that I have. Today I got to use a hammer drill. (I got to get me one of those, but I am not sure where I would use it) It is a drill that also plusates to go through congrete. It is a fun toy. While I was doing that the last beams were put into place and the sheeting for the second floor was put on. Monday i will place my last tie rod into place.

At night I have been cooking. Yesterday I made, mashpotatoes, gravy, cornish game hens, and green bean cassirole. That doesn't sound like a fiet to many of you. But I had to bake the 7 chickens in three pans, because two pans wouldn't fit. The oven doesn't have a dial to tell what the heat is in the oven. The green beans were made in the toaster because the chicken took up the whole oven and the pan that they were prepared in didn't fit in the toaster either. The mashpotatoes were made on the stove top. With water boiling in a pan 8 inches wide and 3 inches deep. Then quickly had to transfer that so I could clean that and make the gravy in that same pot. Lets just say that the kitchen was a mess. So everything turned out well the chicken was not totally done. But the crew were gracious to eat around it. But the second set that I took out turned out great. Tonight I got a night off. We went out to dinner paid for by the Pastor Sears. We didn't eat anything funny but on the menu (that we didn't have cause it was not made) was monkey, porcupine, anteater, and gazelle. At the end we went out back and a man was cleaning up a monkey for a meal tomorrow. It smelled sick. One of the guys from Pensilvania said he would have rather perfered my chicken I made last night compared to what we had tonight. So I have named myself "Coats' kitchen"

My prayers for the last few days have been for the Malian guys, the patients here at the church to be spiritually and physically healed; the missionaries to continue on serving and being a light in a dark place; for other doctors to come fill roles that are vacant at the hospital; supplies needed here toys for the kids hurt, crayons, new play house, kids movies in french, and picnic tables; and safety for the team working.

Beauty and the Work

2009-01-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

It is so beautiful here in Gabon. There are lush vegitation. Vines everywhere. It is weird that the plantations are in the vas vegitations. In the states we cut down the weeds so the trees aren't choaked out. Not here. I can see why Survivor would call this place Earth's last Eden. It is so pretty. If you like green surrounding you. I took some pictures from on top of the water tower. It is only 60 feet tall. Down the river near here. And one of the hospital compound.

I got a chance to put together the cross straps the last two days. It feels really nice to have a job to do. But it is hard climbing up and down the scafleting and clibing all around. I will send pictures soon about this. It has taken a toll on me. I was tired last night. I went to bed at 9pm here last night. I am feeling 8:30 is feeling like a good number tonight.

We put up the girters. (The steel that goes under the roofing) and we put up the beams from the three beams that we placed. Today we are getting the bar joist in place which will hold the second floor. It is coming together.

Kay made dinner yesterday in the crockpot. She made stew. I am making spaghetti with corn tonight. This is my specialty.

Stars in the Universe

2009-01-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Today I was taking the tie rods and making sure the threads were cleaned up and working. At the work site there were major steel inprovements with the building taking shape. Four poles put up and they were tied together. There was alot of excitement on the site. Our team snapping pictures and the patients sitting out watching the crane and the men running around.

For the first half of the day I worked alone. I got a great chance to be by myself and think and pray. My prayers were for the patients currently checked into the hospital and also for the future patients using the radiology building that we are building. I also prayed for people back home when the names came in my head. Also a passage came to mind. Philippians 2:14-5 "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe" This is a familiar passage for me. I have been thinking about my attitude here in Gabon and feeling like it is not that bad but it could use some improvement. Dave did our devotion yesterday and spoke on how we are to be willing to let God do his work. I also prayed that God would show me how he wants me to grow today. So in the situation that we are in it is easy to complain. I want to reflect the Son like a star. So as I was alone I prayed that my attitude would change and would reflect Christ. It is improving.

In America we complain for all kinds of things: If our coffee is not warm enough or cold enough. Our food is not fast enough or any heating or cooling. We really do have it really good. Here in Gabon it is considered one of the richest countrys in Africa. Most of the people do not have: running water, electricity, entertainment like movies, clean water, and no air conditioning. I haven't heard one of these guys complain. They are satisfied with what they have. I am striving for contentment.

After lunch i was still getting the steel ready but I was joined by Bernard. For awhile we didn't talk but then I thought that I would ask him how to say some words in french. I am learning how to say Hot and to count to 10. But while we were doing that I asked him if he was a christian and he said yes. As my last post I knew he was a beleiver but we talked about how I was a christian also. He said that was sabo (good) and how the other guys that we have hired were Muslims. I am starting to really like Bernard. He is trying to learn English at the same time I am learning French. His pants are really torn he is alittle smaller that I am so after we are done here I hope that I have a chance to give him a pair of my three work pants that I brought.

Food update: I made stirfry today. I have NEVER made stirfry on my own and it turned out great. One person said that I should open a business. I laughed. I didn't think it was that good. But they liked it.

French 101

2009-01-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

Today was a really warm day. I started moving steel and I had one Mali guy "Bob Marley" (we couldn't pronounce his name so we told him we were going to call him that, Bob was on his shirt) and one local named "One eye Bernard" (Obviously he only has one eye) helping me. We moved about 10 or 15 C chanels and S chanels and I was almost ready to passout. I sat down and drank water. My two friends didn't stop. One right after the other. Not affected by the heat or the humidity. 30 chanels later we had finished.

My prayers during that time was how can I share my faith with them when I don't know how to speak their language. Later I found out that That Bernard was a beleiver due to the time he has spent at the hospital. Praise the Lord. Now about Bob he is one of work crew and he is Muslim. I am praying for him and I ask you to join with me to.

So after moving heavy stuff, Bob, One eye, (sounds rude but he was introduced that way) and I went up and cleaned the steel posts, gerters, and rafters. The purpose was to clean them so they are not dirty when they go up and have that foot print on it for all of eternity and cleaning on the ground is way easier. So through this I learned two new french words.

"Lo" is water and "Son" is bucket. For those of you that are keeping track at home that is 5 words. At this rate I will know french by the time I two feet from the grave. I continue to try to use the little that I know of spanish to speak to these guys but as it is about to come out of my mouth I realize that they don't know spanish. But then the weird mind that I have i think to myself maybe it is close to spanish and they will understand. Ok i think i am offically need more water and sleep.

In the demo department the rest of the team with a few other Mali guys tore off the roof and started tearing down some walls. Our crane does not extend long enough to get to all the places that we are traying to reach. So we are blowing a big hole in the Radiology building to fit the truck in to reach those spots.

I am always refreshed to see how the Lord works on mission projects. For instance, we have this one crane. Well we were contacted today from the missionary in Liberville named Arnie (I have talked about him before) he set up another crane that is even longer and we might also have that crane. We were reminded of Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power ng to the power that works within us," We continue to call on, and depend on Christ to provide all our needs and he has so far and will continue. Why worry about one crane when he is going to provide two?

So after we were done cleaning the steel a huge rainstorm hit. Well all the people that lined the hospital vanished. Well us silly Americans thought that it felt great and worked even harder at our jobs. It caused the humidity to calm but it was really wet. In the mean time i met Phillip and he is Triligual. He talked to me and taught me to say "How are you?" which is "Comment Ca Va?" and to say "Wei" for good or yes.

I also how to say good or ok which is "bon". Doubled my French speaking skills in one day. haha.

So fun fact about the hospital: The man that founded the place where the hospital is located said he wanted to place where the most diseases and put a hospital there. The missionaries here are the best at what they do. So we are in good hands.

Thanks for praying for us we have felt it.

I am still cooking. I made bbq beef sandwitches last night and roasted chicken with rice and corn and green beans. Stirfry is next and will be an adventure. We have three new guys joining us from Western PA. So more bodies = more creativity = random combo's.
Stay tuned for the newest Gabon food network drama.

Church!

2009-01-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

We went to church this morning with the Debra Walker the pediatrition. She took Mark, David, and I to church at Pastor Segers (but said like Sears). He is one that oversees the Hospital. He is the one that the Bongolo church has appointed to oversee the Hospital. He drove us over to a town Moussou and on the way picked up a few people so the range rover was full. (7 people) During the meet and great he asked us to stand up and introduce ourselves. Dave and I said that we were pastors and they asked us to pray. Dave before the sermon to bless it and I prayed afterward to send them off with the message.

We got there and started singing with the three people that were there and soon about 10 more people came in. Of coarse we didn't know how to sing in French so we just clapped. But the songs that they sang there was a repeating part so we did that. Then Pastor came up and preached from 1 Timothy 2:9-13 about wormen in the church and there role. Debra translated for us so we knew what was going on. He talked about what was approtriate dress for the ladies and that they could speak in church but not to be over authority over men. But he also talked about Men treating there wives well and not beating them or visa versa.

After we were able to greet everyone with the one of the two French words that I know and shake there hands. Then Dave, Mark and I took our picture under the church sign. Which it was a C&MA church. Then a lady with bleach blonde hair came up and asked to be in our picture. She was the chief of the city. Not long after that almost all of the rest came and took a picture with us.

CMA Church Sign

If you think about it pray for that church the pastor is dealing alot with spiritual warfare. The people will become christians at the hospital and then get sick again and go back to the witch doctor to heal them. For instance right after the sermon the chief of the town asked for the pastor to interceed on the witch doctor and demons in the town.

We made it back and we are relaxing today. I made lunch and cleaned up the kitchen. Good news I found Mayo, peanut butter and more cheese. So our rations have grown.

Here is a photo of the lightning storm the other night.

More Photos

2009-01-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here is Dave moving some of the steel for the building that we are building. Farm tractors can be used for other things. I think they might go on the list of things you should have. That list includes duct tape, super glue, bungee cords, Honda scooter and now Farm tractor.

This is the hill that I walk down and up to get to the Triplex. I am standing on a ridge and looking across to the other ridge. The hospital is behind me. The orange dirt gets everywhere.

Here is the back of Mark's head as he is taking dave and I around the hospital grounds picking up the scafflleing for the new construction. Its not like the ones he has on his farm now. With a tractor that size it would take him a year to work the 3000 acres he has.

Saturday In Photos

2009-01-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

This is where we are staying. It is called the Triplex.

This is the picture of the building (to the left) that we are putting the second story onto. I know that the scaffolding is on the right. That was before we got a contract for a crane to come and help. We are taking off the roof and then building a steal framed building around it. Problem is the backside is about 10 feet down.

Here I am all hot faced and in the background is the hospital. Oh wait my big head is covering it. This is taken just outside where we are staying. And yes it is hot but some of that is my sun burn.

The Cook

2009-01-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

Some snipets from an e-mail he sent me :)

Well i just sat through a lightening storm. I got about 2 good pictures of it. Where we are staying is up on a hill and the lightening is hundereds of miles away. Success on meal number one and two. Tuna sandwiches (lunch of course) and Taco's for dinner. They even said that they are going to be bummed when we leave and they go back to PB&J. Tomorrow is church at a bush church. Not sure where that is but it is supposed to be really cool. So looking forward to that. I got to drive a golf cart around most of the day finding parts for the building that we are building. Between meals that is. Tomorrow Kay is thinking that we will make chicken cordon blue I will be helping her.

We went swiming right before dinner. It was amazing. Seriously can't believe that it was not like 80 degrees in the pool. I am guessing it was 60ish.

Fun Stuff

2009-01-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

I hope your all doing well.

Hey so we made it here and it is just what it is like on all the TV that we see. Very tropical. So the roads here were nothing compared to last year. Dirt dusty roads but they had been recently graded. Just minor wash boards at times. The parts that were paved happend to be the worse part. So i found out that Survivor Gabon was about 50kl south of the capital (Libreville - where we were yesterday) and for perspective we are 500kl south of the capital and more west.

So we arrived in Bongolo at the hospital and were recieved by Caroline that made us dinner. Spaghtetti and salad. Before the the main doctors left the Thompsons made us Ice Cream for desert. They treat us so well.

We have only had two set backs so far in the 12 hours we have been here. First the Crane that was to be here to help put the steel beams up is not here. We have tryed to arrange a second but no confermation yet. Pray for that. Second setback is the cook that we had thought we hired is MIA. So the guys were all going to take the time to cook. Well the team is a bunch of people, minus Kay, that DON"T cook according to there reactions to the news. So I volenteered to be the cook. Yes you didn't read that wrong: I am the cook.

My prayer going into this trip was to meet felt needs. To help out as best I can. After assessing the team and seeing the gifts that they have in construction and manual labor I stepped up to the plate. So if your not laughing histarically yet you should. To be a team you need to do what you can to help the team as a whole. I am here to wash feet.

Now the task at hand is not too tough. I am preparing dinner and breakfast for 9 people and in a few days 11 people. All the food is bought I think but it really is a mixture of kinda random stuff. I do not have to do dishes, laundry, or clean the floors. So that means that I will be available to do some construction also.

So my plan of attack... Asses what we have and what I know how to make. Next make out a menu for a weeks time. See what we need to buy at the market. Then repeat for the following week. Oh how Cassie would be proud.

On our two hour drive here we saw many people walking. Glazed over faces and no smiles. We got to talking about that look and could see that they do not have the hope that we profess. But about half way I started waving to people and smiling and saying one of the two words I know in french. "Bongure." The smiles and the heads looked up. It really is amazing how a simple thing like that can brighten someones day. (Bear reminded me of that not that long ago.)

Missionary Life

2009-01-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

Jon sent me another e-mail and told me to edit & post what I could to the blog :) He also said he is feeling great! No more sore throat or sickness!

We are waiting for our flight to mawila (i think) and then a two hour drive after that. We were able to go to the ocean last night. First swim in the Atlantic. Wahoo. The ocean looked really cold. The water looked like the water by lincon city but was bath water warm. It was fun. Katie and Stephanie climbed all over me. They are the straws two youngest daughters. (4th grade and 6th grade)

It has been fun to connect with the missionaries. I feel like I have gotten a new understanding of missionaries and it has been fun to encourage them. The Solvigs are ending there time here in may and the Straw's are taking over. 'The Straws are pilots but are just raising money for a plane. The kids are fun and to hear what the families purpose and plan are cool to hear.

We are itching to get going on the hospital work.

Jon

Finally, a post from Jon!!

2009-01-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to Africa. After three days of traveling and waiting we are here. But we still have one more flight in the morning. (If the people at the airport want to fly) We have taken the snow with us. Mark and I left lewiston at 12:45pm sunday and arrived in Seattle. In Seattle we met up with Kay and Tim from Ellensburg. We all stayed the night in prep for our 6am flight to Atlanta. And to all you that asked if we flew Delta, you were correct. Before we went to bed we looked outside and saw an 1" of snow in Seattle. Our flight left only 1/2 hour late due to defrosting the plane. Which is always a good call! The four of us landed in Atlanta for our 3 hour layover. Which Atlanta had snow also. (Are you seeing a trend) We met up with our final member of our team. (Dave) We ate a quick bite to eat and off to Paris we go. We arrive in Paris at 6am-ish. Which is good since our flight left at 10:45am. In Paris there was about 1/2 inch of snow. From what we were told that is alot for them and when the white stuff comes the people don''t know what to do so the airport gets shut down. Well our flight continued to get postponed. 10:45 turned into 11:30 which turned into 12:30 and 2:30. Our moral continued to say positive. The anouncer said the heater was broken, and plane was not at our gate but was in the airport. We met up with the remaining 4 members or our team from Ohio and Indiana. Guys that I didn''t know were going to be here. But are a great asset since they know alot about steel building. Well to make a long story longer our flight ended up getting canceled. The airline gave us free nights stay and three free meals at out hotel. So off to the Mariott for our team. Each with our own room. Which was nice since my thoat has been sore. So I could go to bed in a bed and not worry about keeping anyone up if I were to snore.

After a 10hour night sleep perfect for ajusting to the time zone. We got up and went sight seeing. Our flight wasn''t going to leave Paris until 9pm that night. So off to the Notre Dome and the Elfle tower. This place is beautiful. So after a quick meal at a close retaurant (I tryed Duck) we jamed back to the airport by subway and hotel bus to retreave our stuff and back to airport to wait. We arrived and our 9pm flight ran into 10pm and finally left at 11:30pm. A quick 7 hour flight landed us in Libreville. I was able to sleep. Praise the Lord! Oh and by the way no snow in Libreville. But 86deg and 80 humity. Gabon will be worse.

In the airport we were to fill out a paper talking about who we were and why we were in Africa. I and Dave made the mistake of saying our occupation was Pastor. The security pulled us aside and questioned us. They do not like people coming with that title I guess. Still not sure why. Well our missionary friend Arney came and spoke french to the guards and saved our hineys. (Dave is a paster at Sattleback). We got into a van and drove to the guest house and met some of the CMA missionaries but then sent the 4 guys from Ohio and Indiana off in a truck to Gabon. Since we are a day behind on the building they needed to get down there to prep the sight. The 5 of us are going to take a flight from Libreville to a city by Gabon and then a two hour drive on crazy dirt roads. In the mean time Tim and Kay have but new screens on the windows here in Libreville, and fixed the dryer. Dave, Mark and I have painted a wall with Kilz paint to seal it. Three coats. Oh how I love oil paint. NOT! But an hour or so of free time and then off to the beach to relax.

My readings in the last few days have been in James 1. Talking about trials of many kinds. The flight delay has been really frustrating for me. I never thought that the USA was so on top of flights and being ontime until now. I know that we have done some cool things but I had in my mind get there and GET ER DONE! God had other plans. A new insight from that chapter was "we are not to say God is tempting me"" I think that means that God doesn''t tempt he tests us.

Thank you so much for your prayers. I really felt it as I was being questioned at the airport and our landings and the strength today to work in the heat and exhastion of traveling. I feel like you all are on this trip with us. If you like it or not.

Pray tomorrow that our flight will leave. Cause they are known for not flighing because they don''t want to. If not we take a 10 hour drive to Gabon. (4 hours paved roads, 6 not)

Paris!

2009-01-07T11:45:00.001-08:00

Just got an update the the team decided to enjoy their day stranded in Paris! Jon was feeling a lot better after getting a lot of sleep in their free hotel room. They apparently took a bus tour and went up the eiffel tower! How exciting!

I still have yet to hear directly from Jon. I probably won't until they are at their final destination with some limited internet access.

They should be boarding their plane as I type! Still be praying for health and for them to be able to get another in country flight once they land in Libreville, or else they could be in for a doozie of a van ride!

Another Update!

2009-01-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

Okay so since they missed their in country flights, they may have to drive 10 hours on a bumpy dirt road to reach their destination! Wowsers! So be praying they are able to get another in country flight. Also Jonathan is getting the cold I have :( So pray for healing! That's all for now!

Jon Update

2009-01-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

Hello All! I (Cassie) recieved an update from the trip coordinator and my Aunt Susie letting me know the updates on their travel. One of their flights got cancelled. I'm just going to copy/paste the e-mail as I'm short on time myself. And they refer to Jon as Mark's son just FYI if you were wondering why his name wasn't on the e-mail. Ha.

Hello support team for the Bongolo work team

We all arrived save and on time in Paris this morning thinking we would be in Sunny Gabon this evening and greeting the Solvigs.

Our flight kept getting delayed, to at 5:30PM it was cancelled. Then we waited another 1.5 hours to find out plan B

We were told the Flight from Paris to LBV is re- sched Wed evening 9PM. Arnie you will do what you have to on the in country flights or change to a van ride down if no seats on the Friday plane.

After another hour we were all given hotel and meal vouchers.

Head count (3)

Indiana Team

Mel Steury

Lavon Yoder

Ryan Springer

Ohio (1)

Jason Kalb

West Coast Team

Mark Greene

Pastor Dave Greene

Tim

other young man Mark's son

Kay

Thank you,

Jason

T Minus 4 days and counting

2009-01-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to all! As I start the new year my thoughts are on the pending trip to Gabon Africa. Hopefully I have told all of you so far. If not... Surprise!

I am going to Gabon on a missions trip from January 4th - 22nd. I am going to be working at the Christian and Missionary Alliance at a missionary hospital in the town of Bongolo. We will be building a new radiology room over and above (literally) the old room. It will look alot like a Lewiston shop.

This hospital does alot of help to the town around them. The hospital averages about 1000 conversions a year. They do not just help people get well they help them with there spiritual health also. This is an exciting place to support.

On top of that the we will be encouraging the pastors that are following up with those conversions.

Our team is being lead by Mark, David, Kay, Tim and me

Prayer Requests:
Safe Travels
Meeting felt needs
connecting up with the rest of our team in Atlanta
Health
Safty working with metal work
The team to work together well

Overflow Christmas Party

2008-12-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had our Christmas party. It was a success. At least I thought.

She night started with two name the Christmas songs with Acronyms and one with pictures. Cassie lead these games.

Then we had announcements. DYC Feb 13th-16th deposit due Jan 18th. Matamoras Missions trip June 18th-28th and last announcement no youth group or impact groups the next two weeks.

We played a game I called what happened next. We watched some internet video's that I downloaded and I paused it a certain times and gave options on what was going to happen next. It was a hit.

Next Julia lead the group in a gingerbread house making contest.
Classic house went to: Eve Runner up: Brittany
Most creative: Angie Runner up: Jordan and Shane
Best of the worse: Katie Runner up: Daniel

We finished the night playing game Christmas movie quote game. I found quotes of Elf, Christmas Carol, Grinch, and Christmas story. They were to say there quote and find the people that had quotes from that same movie and group together. In there group they were to answer some questions about themselves.

Announcements: A-
Games: A
Volunteer participation: A
Lesson: N/A
Fun: A
Ciaos: B
Worship: N/A

Last two weeks

2008-12-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

So it has been a few weeks since my last blog. I have got behind on what is happening around her in fridged Idaho. So I am going to give you the last two weeks in reverse.

12/14 It snowed yesterday at church. I didn't go outside because last time it snowed I recieved a snowball to the ear from a high schooler. (sierra) It only brought, about 1/4 where we live. Church went well and pauls illustration tieing Michael phelps to Boaz made me miss the olympics.

12/11 I was able to spend 24 hours with stevo. He came down from Courdelane. We played some World tour, did some christmas shopping and went hot tubin. It was great to see him. It is amazing how you can see someone and remember how much you miss them.

12/8 and 12/10 I help coach 6 high school girls to present two abstinence presentations to about 200 middleschoolers each time. They spoke on Media Influences and Linking Drugs to Sex. They did awesome and will be leaders for years to come.

12/6 During the weekend one of the girls that lead our missions trip in New Orleans came down from Spokane. (she is attending Moody Bible up there) It was fun to have her come down. On saturday we had 6 children come over to decorate cookies and watch movies with us. They were all ranging from 5 years to 1 year. Paige helped out a ton with all the little ones. She would make a great summer intern. So if you know of a great church that is looking for an intern please let me know. I am trying to convince her to serve here.

12/2-12/3 Youth groups this week went well. We talked about the supremecy of Christ. We listened to the Chris Tomlin song "God in this city." We played some name game with putting randome cards together to make a poker hand. But each person had two cards and needed to connect up with other people. We also played the game that you put the celebrity on the back of the person and they can only ask yes or no questions to figure out who it on there back.

11/29 We got back to lewiston and decorated for christmas. I told cassie that I wasn't going to help if we decorated before thanksgiving. She said that as soon as we got back from thanksgiving we would. So we did. The house looks great. It took me a week to get the outside lights perfected.

11/27 We had thankgiving at Cassie's aunt and uncle's house. The entertainment was a brown lab puppie, the little girls and Colby. The puppy was so cute and so lazy and soft. The little girls were also so cute. They played with all of us from a frizbee to a back rub for me.

11/25-11/26 Cassie and I were able to do some sight seeing in Nashville. We went to the country music hall of fame and Studio B. We also went to the Opry. I have a new appreciation for country music after all of that. It was a great time. We really liked Nashville.

Country Beat Down

2008-11-24T21:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was hanging out with Cassie and our friend Shane from Ellensburg in Nashville. We went to dinner and walked around downtown Nashville. We went into Souvenir shops and our last stop was to go to the Tubbs Music shop. In there was lots of country music and photos of famous country stars. Up to this point everyone has been so friendly to us. Finally as we were leaving and cassie bought the DVD Gospel journey of Johnny Cash, I showed cassie the Diamond Rio CD (because we are going to the Opry tomorrow to see them).

The girl behind the counter said that "they are a good band."

Cassie chimed in about how I do not like country. "

I defended myself by saying that "I was forced to listen to country as I road the bus for 3 years in high school."

Cassie said "he will listen and doesn't mind it.

The girl behind the counter said "What do you like? Let me judge you."

"I like Johnny Cash"

"Everyone likes Johnny Cash, who else?" as she mocked me.

(Then it took a turn for the worse.) "and Garth Brooks" I replied

Then she looked me in the eye and said the most mean thing that I have ever heard from a complete stranger. She said "your a d*#$@% bag!" She started hillariously laughing at me.

I was so taken back. I thought that I should defend myself now to accept approval of a complete stranger. (An issue that I have and working on) So I said that "I also like Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler."

Now the guy behind the counter put his head into his hands as if I just gave in the most horrible news ever. The girl replied with disgust and dismay "I can't believe you just said Kellie Picker. Anyone other than Kellie Picker!"

At this point Shane was ghost white because he hadn't said anything and was afraid that he would be put down also. Since he is also a non-country guy.

So I left and wanted to curl up into a ball, suck my thumb and rock back and forth. Still to this point I do not have any cleaver combacks. Ughh!

Coming soon:

what I am implementing after this week of NYWC.

Tank of Doom

2008-11-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

This last week Heather (our lead pastors wife) has had surgery with a gal blatter removed and for further tests. Paul and heather needed to go to Seattle to get checked out to see what is going on with her. Since I heard they were going I asked Paul "how I could help?" He asked me to take care of his fish. We in the office have teased that it is the "Tank of Doom" and I have heard through the wall the toilet flushing more often than usual. I am sad to announce that last night 4 of the fish didn't make it. So I cleaned the tank and put in some new water and during staff meeting two more pasted on. I am afraid to go into paul's office since the evil empire song rings in my head. Da Da, Dom, da da dom, da da dom. The fish that are left are fighters and are looking strong but there is one that is breathing but more floating than swiming. This is what the tank looks like. 5 Gold fish and one sucker fish remain. Stay tuned to how the rest of the drama unfolds.

Overflow (11-11)

2008-11-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

This week we talked about Worship. What do we worship and how we are to worship. We talked about what the world worships, what it means to worship through song and finally how to worship through our actions. We looked at Matthew 6:19 not to store up treasures on earth, Psalm 98 to make a joyful noise all the earth, and Romans 12:1-2 to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. The students did a good job of following along. We had a smaller group due to work, Mr. LHS and Homework. We did two madlibs as our games. Which turn out to be some really funny stuff.

Annoucements: B+
Lesson: A-
Fun: C+
Orderliness: A-
Overall: B

CrossCulture and Discipleship (11-9)

2008-11-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

CrossCulture is the Jr high + parent sunday school. It is currently being taught by the Morgans. They are leading the group through a series on Creation vs. Evolution. This week we talked about the connection between science and the Bible. We took a survey, we made up ideas how an object could have been made without a creator and we finished by making paper airplanes to proove a point that they have a creator.

Discipleship is the high school sunday school. We are currently studying big words of the Bible. We looked at Atonement this week. Atonement means to make amends. Christ made amends when he Died on the cross. We looked at Leviticus 23:27 and the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). This is study is piggybacking off of the last two studys of Propitiation and Expiation.

CrossOver (11-5)

2008-11-05T21:34:00.000-08:00

This month we are speaking about Worship. Tonight we discussed what worship means and how that word applies to singing. We talked about Paul and Silias singing in jail, singing together and different ways to express that. To give our full attention to God. To show worth to God.

Next week we will be discussing "worship and the world." We will be talking about how the world influences us to worship material possessions.

Two weeks I will be speaking on "Worshiping God with your body." Romans 12:1-3

Tonight we played $1000 bill exchange. http://www.thesource4ym.com/games/mixers.asp The kids loved it. Tonight was also the debut of Mario Kart at the basement. This is a great way to keep students hanging around and a way for us to connect with them. This goes great with Guitar Hero II

Annoucements: B
Fun: B-
Orderlyness: C-
Message: C+
Overall: B-

Choctober Slip-n-slide (10-29)

2008-11-03T18:10:00.000-08:00

For the colmination of a month of talking about how God is like chocolate we had a outreach oportunity. We met at the church for youth group. We did a skit "The Fantastic Fable of the Prince and the Chocolate Chicken" http://www.gralf.com/html/choco.htm this was a silly skit but it brought home the point that we need Christ. I gave an invitation to accept christ. The students did a great job bringing their friends. They brought 6 new people to the group. Then we went out to the back 40 where I had set up the 100 foot long slip-n-slide. Once we got out there we put the chocolate onto the slide. I bought 5 gallons of Hersheys chocolate syrup but that was not enough. So I would buy about 25 gallons at least. It worked but we needed to add some water to the chocolate. The kids still loved it and still had fun. Since there was not enough chocolate the kids didn't slide far. I slid the farthest. About 90 feet but the farthest student slid about 25-50 feet.

Next month we will be studying "Worship. Giving out full attention to God."

Overflow (10-28)

2008-10-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

This was our last week to talk about Giving Thanks. I spoke on the Luke 17:11-19 passage about the 10 Lepers that were healed by Jesus and the one that returned to thank Jesus. A
Samaritan thanked a Jew for healing him. We discussed how the one was not just healed physically but also spiritually. The emphisis on the message was are you a situational Thankful person. Do you choose to be thankful all day or are you thankful when you think about it. A Quote we used was:
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward
Games we played was the $1000 bill exchange. http://www.thesource4ym.com/games/mixers.asp

Lesson: B+
Announcements: B
Fun: B
Overall: B

Break in

2008-10-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

This morning I got into work at 8:15ish and I was greeted by Paul, two cops and a office that was ransacked. Our church was broken into last night. Three monitor's, a lap top, two easy share camera's, Ipod and just when you think it couldn't get worse but it did! They took a thumb drive. Yesterday Cassie had a conversation with Jason that was going to set up her computor up to church network and continplated leaving her laptop in the church but then changed her mind. I also have been leaving my lap top at the church but took it home to get onto my facebook and myspace.

So all that to say Paul and I spent the day getting the church back into order. As much as we feel violated by this set of people we are choosing to pray for them. (Matt. 5:44) Please join us praying for these people.

These people have been hitting churches all over our valley for the last 6-8 months. The police have not been able to catch them.

CrossOver (10-22-08)

2008-10-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

This week the jr highers and I talked about Chocolate Love. I talked about how if you were to have chocolate on a empty stomach it will be hurtful to you. We will not statisfy the hunger pains. I tied in how Christ is the only one that can satisfy. People try to fill that with relationships, material posessions, and achievements.

Annoucments: C+
Message: B
Worship: B+
Fun: C-
Overall: B-

Impact Group

2008-10-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

On ever other Tuesday night our high school ministry has a Home groups. We entitle them Impact Groups. My group is 4 guys that are such a joy to hang out with. They are fun, random, deep, and sincere. We are going through the YS small group book "Starting." This is a great book to go through with students. The guys that are in my group are hard to get through a whole chapter in a hour and half meeting. Discussions of accountablity, encouragement, hope, faith, and discipleship. I recommend this book to anyone.

Discussions questions have been anywhere from "what has been your biggest hurt in life" to "why is it hard to believe in God?"

My guys have come to a consenses that we all have times of doubt and questioning on if God is real or not. I told them that it is ok to think that and to continue to read the Bible to search to know what they believe. They listened but itis up to them to follow through with that. Our relationship with God is personal. My job is to point students in the right direction. Each of us have a choice to search for the truth or to turn our backs. What are you going to do?

Quest (Jr high Retreat)

2008-10-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here I am back after a great weekend with the Jr. high Students at a District run retreat entitled, Quest. We go to a beautiful location called Lake Retreat, in Ravensdale, WA. The theme this year was "Snap Shots." It was if you were to take a snap shots of different parts of your life and put it into a scrap book what would it be and would God be proud of it. Most of the students that we brought said they would like a better scrap book. They had a vision of what a cool scrap book would look like but weren't sure how to get it. Over the coarse of the weekend the students answers were answered.

Our Students loved the Blob, Paintballing, Worship, Stories by Dave (Main speaker), Purity seminar by Erik w/a K, and Identity seminar by Shawn VanDermark.

The students all came home wanting more. They wanted the weekend to be a week long. They are already dreaming of it for next year or how they are going to be able to stay in Jr high longer. So I have comprised the Top Ten reasons the jr highers can come back to quest next year.
10. Flunk a year of school.
9. Come back next year as a youth leader.
8. Ask mom and dad to hold them back a year OR two!
7. Make fake ID to say they are younger than they really are.
6. Sneak into another jr high students bag.
5. Transfer to another alliance church to attend another year.
4. Join the NEW reality TV show Erik w/a K's new BFF
3. Learn to play an instrument to join the "Not Us" band.
2. Stay in the jr high group their freshman year.
1. To build a fort in the paintball coarse and wait until next year.

(All data is comprised of what our Students said this weekend)

CrossOver 10-15-08

2008-10-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

This month in CrossOver are theme is "Choc-tober" We are looking at how God is like Chocolate. Last week we talked about how Chocolate is encouraging. That we all need to be encouraging to one another.

Tonight we talked about "Don’t Be a “Chocolate Only” Christian!" We looked at Neopolitin Ice Cream and how each other the flavors are how we are at peace with someone. The Chocolate is peace with God, Vanilla is peace with others and the Strawberry is peace with ourseleves. I opened up a box of ice cream and cut it in three pieces to illustrate that they are connect to one another. We looked at the greatest commandment and how righteousness leads to peace verse.

We broke into small groups to talk about what is easier to get along with and what flavor/person is harder to get along with.

We played balloon/ pop/ flinch and balloon volleyball.

Announcements: C+
Lesson: B+
Games: B
Fun: C
Overall: B-

Overflow 10-14-08

2008-10-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the first night of youth group this month. The theme was give thanks. We talked about how we don't always thank God for all the abundance that he has given us. The challenge was to do something with what he has given us. To don't waste your life. We played interlocking circles for a mixer and indoor Hockey. The annoucements were Manly Man night and Mocha club.

Annoucements: D+
Lesson: B
Small groups: B-
Games: C
Fun: C-
Overall: C

This is My life

2008-10-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

In the 90's a band named Switch Foot had a song that was entitled "This is My life." This song has been a favorite of mine for awhile even though the radio stations over played it. This song talks about who are you going to be? I am hoping that this blog shows where I am today and where I am going. This will also be a place to show the growth that God is doing in my life. I don't want to be someone that is set in his ways. Or someone that doesn't grow. Each day the Lord is working in my life and most days I do not see it he is. To steal a title of a book (that I haven't read) I do not want to waste my life. I would like to make the most of it. Not for myself but for the Lord.