Ben Eppinger - The World Race 2008

Coming Home

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

They warned us that coming home might not be easy. That a world traveler can have culture shock or shell shock or any of the million other kinds of shock when they return. So what has it been like to come back to the USA after nearly a year overseas?

Pretty Great actually! It has been amazing coming back to family and friends in Wisconsin. Ive loved getting to share stories, and even begin to make new stories here. Visiting the Nitty Gritty, and other favorite places. And just knowing that God is directing my steps and He will take care of everything.

Truthfully, I knew it was time to come home. I love my squadmates, and I love the things that God did through us this whole year, but it felt right coming home. I knew that God had grown me in so many different ways this year, and that it was time to take that life change home. As the squad said our goodbyes we all knew that we were going to miss each other dearly, but there was a pervading sense of being the right time to end.

The hardest part of coming back for many people is that they do not have good community to return to. They dont have family and friends who understand them, can relate to them, and can build them up and challenge them. But I have all that. I have a loving, supportive family, and I have an incredible community of Christian friends many of whom have been on missions all over the world too. China, Zambia, Burundi, Ghana, Brazil, France, Turkey, Australia, and Mexico are just some of the places that the friends in my community have gone to as witnesses for Christ. It makes all the difference in the world having a place to come home to that feels right.

Finally, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to all my friends, family and supporters who prayed for me this year. I can only imagine how many times or places this year your prayers lead to spiritual breakthroughs out on the field. In Daniel, there is a chapter where Daniel is praying for God to move and it says IMMEDIATELY an answer was given in heaven. But the angel of the Lord does not make it to Daniel for 21 days because there is a spritual battle going on between the angels and the principalities of Persia. So for 21 days, Daniel is praying and fasting and seeing nothing happen. BUT the whole time his prayers are causing a huge battle in the heavens! I believe that our prayers have the power to make things move in the spiritual and in the natural. So I thank each and every one of you for being so faithful to me this year and for lifting me up in prayer. I know there are things that happened this year in my life and in ministry that only were successful, because of your persistent prayer!

And now for no good reason:

This guy danced it up all church service long in Turkana, Kenya

The Holy Banditz fighting Communism in Ukraine

My Birthday Video

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

My amazing teammate Alex made a sweet video from my birthday back in Germany.

Its a behind the scenes look at a typical day on the Race.

Nicaragua

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Everyone.

Just wanted to let you know what the HBz will be up to for the final month of the Race. We are working in Grenada, Nicaragua at the Adventures in Missions base here. We will have a busy, but fun schedule. We have our hands in 2 different feeding programs, leading a VBS twice a week, tutoring at a girl's home, helping out at home for the elderly and working every afternoon at a school for children with special needs. I am especially excited about the special needs school (called Corazon Contento) because I worked for two years at a day-camp for kids with special needs in Racine. I loved my time there and I know it will be great to work with the kids down here.

Please be in prayer for all of us as we begin to make the transition home. All of us are beginning to seek the Lord on His plans for our future. Also a few of my teammates have been knocked out with colds. Please pray for a quick recovery for them and that God keeps watch over our bodies for the rest of the month

Its hard to believe that I will be seeing you in only a few short weeks.

Living Loving Guatemala

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Question: What could keep this blog-aholic from writing a new blog for almost 3 weeks?

Answer: One of the Greatest Months on the Race

The Holy Banditz and Team Fuse spent July in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala working with Shofar FM Ministry. Shofar FM is first and foremost a Christian radio station. But early on the roughly 10 men that run Shofar on a day to day basis got together and made a commitment to each other. They wanted to my more than a radio station. They wanted to be a complete ministry. As you will see soon Shofar FM ministers in a number of different ways in the community of Puerto Barrios.

This is our amazing ministry coordinator Saul. Definitely one of my favorite people I have met on the entire Race. He will be missed.

This thug is named Elias. He lives at the orphanage that we spent a lot of time at. Elias is probably the coolest kid I have met on the Race. Truthfully, all the kids there were incredible. Fuse and the HBz spent most afternoons from 3-5 rocking out at the orphanage. Playing water games (thank you Junior High Alive camp), singing songs, doing Bible skits. You know. The usual. But there was something different about this orphanage and I truly believe God's hand is in that community. The orphanage itself was an incredibly dark place both physically and spiritually. The main building could have been used in a horror movie. But there was something special about the kids. They were really well behaved. But even more impressive than that was the way that they cared for each other. This care for each other was especially noticable when playing games. When playing they made sure that everyone got a turn and that noone was left out. And they were quick to speak up or act if someone did seem to being left out. How often do you meet a group of small children that watches out for each other in that way? It was cool to watch them love each other. It was shocking to compare the environment they were in (dark) with the way they interacted with each other (light). That's why I say I believe the Lord's hand is on those children.

On our last day there we threw a big fiesta for the kids with tacos, gift bags of clothes for each kid (that our girls got donated from the used clothing stories in town), and a pinata. Absolutely the best way to leave. We loved those kids.

The mornings were spent in the community. Here are some shots from the day we went to the Dump with food and went around praying for people. We did a lot of door to door prayer ministry in Puerto Barrios and the surrounding area.

Twice we led open air meetings in the market. We did a skit about Jesus set to music and gave some testimonies and messages about the love of Christ for mankind. Afterwards, we would walk through the market praying and talking to people.

The Santoz Banditoz also spent some time in a children's hospital. We led them in some songs and games and prayed for them. Getting kids to smile when you know they are suffering pain is a great joy. The little boy with the cast on his arm broke his Elbow and was having surgery that day! He came in with very down, but after a few songs he was laughing and enjoying himself.

Random Pictures:

Me with a random Guatemalan guy in a Micheal Hines inspired T-Shirt. (Micheal Hines is our Coach and director of the World Race)

Celebrating the 300th Day on the Race with some well deserved oreos.

Our house might look nice in this picture. Just remember that the inside temperature averaged 147 degrees + humidity.

Loved the contacts, loved the ministry, loved Guatemala.

Neues Leben aka New Life

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As usual the HBz did their thing in Germany last month. We spent our time working with the Youth Group of Neues Leben Church (New Life). The youth group was made up of around 40 guys and girls. Our time was spent hanging out at their youth meetings on Wednesday and Saturday night: giving testimonies to the things God has done around the world, preaching, and leading discussion groups. The best thing about the month though was hanging out with the youth every night: Soccer in the park, Family Guy, grilling out, going to the sand volleyball court, or watching a crappy high school musical in Germany because our friends were in it. It was this time where relationships really formed. It was this time when we heard about the students lives, and got to speak wisdom and experience into them. And Got to pray for the youth.

Another highlight of month was the youth camp in Belgium. Around 250 youth from all over Belgium were there to grow closer to God and have an awesome time doing it. There I got to meet same freaking crazy guys (see bottom picture). A few highlighs from camp:

1. Patrick and I led a workshop about being Wild Men for God. The story was from 2 Kings 9. The punchline was "Drive like a Madman". When Jehu discovered that God annointed him as King, he drove like a Madman to dispose of the evil King Joram. The point was that we are all commisioned by God to be His ambassadors and His hands and feet. So go live like a Madman, live life with passion for the Lord and His work.

2. I got to talk to a few guys at the camp who were struggling with God. And I was able to encouragement to keep wrestling, keep asking questions, keep digging. Christ is real and therefore questions are not bad. They just lead to a more full faith in Christ. After praying with these guys you could see, and they spoke of, a lightness and a feeling of peace. It was awesome to be used by God to have conversations with these youth and see them come out on the other side with a firmer faith in Christ and a greater desire to have a relationship with Him.

3. One morning one of the camps leaders asked me to give a short message during morning prayer. I had approximately 3 minutes to prepare something. 10 months ago I would have freaked out, but this year I have had to give so many last minute messages I knew from experience God would give me something. He did. He gave me the story of how the Isrealites brought the Ark back to Jerusalem. Every 6 steps they stopped to sacrifice and praise God. And I talked about how we now carried the presence of God inside of us, we dont need to carry the Ark to have the presence of God. What would it be like if we were as passionate as the Isrealites and stopped to worship God every 6 steps. I just encouraged them to find ways to worship God all day long, not just during times of musical worship.

Not all was great in Germany. It was almost scary being back in a Westernized country. We lived in very nice homes, had wireless internet, frozen pizza and TV. We drove around in VW cars, and hung out with guys that spoke English really well. It was as close to coming back to America that I could get out on the Race. And it was scary how quickly I took those nice things for granted. How quickly they turned from God's blessings into my rights. And how quickly I felt myself get lazy: lazy physically and lazy spiritually. I am greatful that God allowed the Banditz to rock Germany because it opened my eyes to the danger we all will be in when the Race ends next month and we head back to the States. Has God captured my heart enough this year that when I go home He will still be my focus and that I will drive like a Madman in His work or will the comforts and ease of America be too much? Germany was just the preseason. The question will finally be answered starting this September.

Father's Day Video from the Banditz

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Happy Father's Day

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Happy Fathers Day, Dad!

Just a few photos of you and me over the years. Thank you for always being there for me. For all the camping trips and ghost stories, snow forts in the backyard, being all-time QB when Mike and I played football. For teaching me to drive and taking me up to Madison every Fall. For tennis games and basketball in our drive way. For the time you burnt the hell out of the Ribs, because we were busy talking about life. For teaching me algebra in 7th grade, even though I would yell and complain at the table. I love you Dad.

Thank You!

Prayer Request: Summer Camp

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Please be in prayer for the Holy Banditz this week as we are traveling on Tuesday with the Blankenheim youth group to summer camp in Belgium. There will be 250 youth from all over Germany and other parts of Europe. The HBz will be leading a couple of different workshops. Patrick and I will be leading a Men only workshop about becoming Wildmen for God. A special shoutout to Mike Hines and Gary Black (2 coaches who have taught me a lot) because most of my talk is stolen from them.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico...I Mean Romania

Sun, 7 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Gypsy Land in Video

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Deutschland Bound!

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Everyone! I have an awesome God story for you today.

The Holy Banditz are going to Germany!

Our 3rd month in Europe was a "pioneer month". We were on our own to find a ministry contact. A few days ago we had three potential contacts.

One was in Croatia working with evangelistic English camps. The Croatian contact told us that we were "an answer to prayer." They had been preparing these camps for two years and they were finally ready. And we were going to be their laborers.

The second was a church planter working with Gypsies just outside of Budapest, Hungary. He told us that he wanted us to come and was begining to make preparations.

The third was a youth pastor in Blankenheim, Germany. He expressed a strong desire for us to come and mentor his youth group.

Three Great Contacts! One BIG problem. It was going to be almost impossible for the Germany contact to work out. First, just getting to Germany was going to break out budget. The cheapest flight to Germany was still twice what we had for travel that month. Second, Germany is an expensive country and we did not think that our budget for food and lodging was going to be enough to cover our expenses.

We talked to our Germany contact about this and he said, "Dont worry about lodging and food. A laborer deserves his wages." OK, one obstacle out of the way.

Then our contact this month found us plane tickets to Germany that were within our budget! Two.

Then we found out that two other teams had contacts in Cologne, Germany (a city very near to Blankenheim) and that we could all travel on the same flight! Three.

Then the day before our team was going to make a decision about Month #3 the Croatian contact canceled on us. The contact that said we were "an answer to prayer" changed her mind and said they could no longer take us! Four.

Then the day that we were making our decision the Hungarian church planter cancelled on us! Five.

So the HBz are going to Germany!

Ukraine Life

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Intro to Gypsy Agape

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Everyone. This is the intro video to the ministry we are working with called Gypsy Agape.

Watch and Enjoy. Check out www.gypsyagape.com for more information.

Life in India

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

EUM Kids

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Happy Mother's Day

Sat, 9 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

For the best Mom in the world. I made this video all by myself just for you Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

Gypsy Land

Fri, 1 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I am in Romania working with Gypsies. The ministry is called Gypsy Agape, or something. I dont really know. Pretty much it works like this....Become a Gypsy

We are in a small village near Count Dracula's Castle. Our 1st day we were here the men (Team HBz, Crux, and Fuse) were recruited to gather firewood. We climbed to the backside of a mountain to get to the forest. Then we searched the woods to find a tree that had fallen down. It is illegal to cut down trees. Then each man (and two tough women) carried a large truck of a tree back down the mountain. So welcome to Gypsy Land

The ministry here is awesome. Our contact John sat us down our first morning and asked everyone what they wanted to do. "Work with Old people" "Disciple the Youth" "Teach English" etc etc etc. We set up some Bible Study times, and times to teach English. The rest of our time, we walk through the village, help 200 year old Babushkas clean out their gutters, play soccer, make crafts with kids.

God is teaching me this month to remove the Ministry "Switch". The temptation we all have to go to ministry, turn God on, and then turn it all off when we go back home. This month I am learning how talking to my neighbors on the way home to dinner, or spending an extra minute in the local convinience store, or carrying the groceries for the grandma next door is ministry. Everyone in this village knows we are Christians, and now we just live a life of love.

Gypsy Land

Fri, 1 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I am in Romania working with Gypsies. The ministry is called Gypsy Agape, or something. I dont really know. Pretty much it works like this....Become a Gypsy

Back in the USSR

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ok its not quite the USSR, but its as close as I could get. Right now I am working in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Banditz have been tearing this city up for about two weeks now. First for debrief, now for ministry. While other teams were sent to both the Polish and Russian borders of Ukraine and even as far away as Moldova, only one team was qualified, experienced, and ready to bring Kingdom to the metropolis of Kyiv: THE HOLY BANDITZ

This month we are partnered with an organization called CCX (S.S.Ha. in Ukrainian). It is a sister organization to the American group Intervarsity. Many of you are familiar with Campus Crusade for Christ, which I was heavily involved in during college. Intervaristy (and by extension CCX) has many of the same philosophies and ministry styles. CCX is commited to seeing the Gospel spread among college students. They believe that college students are the ones most likely to be in place of influence in their countries, as Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians, etc. The belief is that by sharing the Kingdom with college students, when these students find places of influence they will bring with them their faith in Christ and fight for Christian ideals.

Our ministry is really two fold. First there is the English ministry. CCX has a number of English clubs set up at 3-4 Universities in Kyiv. The English clubs dont cover strictly Christian topics. Students know that CCX is a Christian organization, but the English clubs tackle a wide range of topics from politics, to culture, to student life, to Christ. "Ministry" is often done after meetings at coffee shops or at different events that CCX organizes off campus. The H.B.z have been attending and taking part in these meetings Tuesday through Thursday and also meet with students after the clubs or at other times throughout the day to form deeper relationships. As they share their stories and we share ours its only natural for Christ to come up again and again. Its natural evangelism. If Christ is our whole lives, then when we share our lives with others Christ also gets shared.

The second ministry is what I like to call "office work". CCX is having a big Easter event on Thursday night and they have asked us to make big display boards showing Easter traditions from countries all over the world. We've spent a couple of days with craft supplies thrown all over the office, computers fired up, and wikipedia on high alert. Unfortunately we wrote on our boards in English. Cocky Americans we didnt even realize that noone would be able to read what we wrote, so now we are going through the translation process by one of the Ukrainian students. After the Easter event, the Banditz are going to get their hands dirty and spend our extra time doing CCX's spring cleaning. Like all offices, they have collected crap and they are asking us to bless them by throwing it out.

The Banditz are at it again this month. Tearing up the ministry, loving life, and just letting Jesus flow from who we are.

We are staying together in a two bedroom apartment 3 blocks from the CCX office. We are also a 10 minute walk from the nearest Metro station. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get to the center of Kyiv and the campuses of our three Universities by Metro.

For now, thats my life. Love all of you!

Maasai Warrior in Training

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What to say about the Maasai? OK, I will tell you this. It was nothing like I expected. It was awesome to get all the guys together, buy machetes, cut stuff down, get Maasai brandings (sorry Mom), hike a mountain at sundown, attend the funeral of a woman born in 1884(you do the math), play sports, laugh, and just plain bond with the men. But in Tanzania I saw tons of Maasai in traditional wear who still worked at cattle shepards (and part time lion hunters). The Maasai that we worked with in Kenya lived higher in the Mountains, wore Western clothing (except for the old guys), and had a stable lifestyle of farming fertile land. I will admit there was some dissapointment that I wasnt going to get to chop the head off of a lion, but I knew that we werent there to just get our kicks and leave. We were there to build Gods Kingdom. So I got over it pretty quick.

Ministry was awesome, because we very quickly identified the spirits that were operating in that village. Spirits of Denominationalism (10 churches in a 3,000 person village and they didnt want to work together), Religion (doing Christian practices out of requirement and not relationship), and Phariseeism (people acting like they are perfect while condeming any Christian who strays away from their narrow definition of Holiness.) Since we identified these right away, we were able to teach and preach all week about these things. The congregation and especially the young Pastors (22 years old) were very hungry to hear more.

Working with the Maasai really opened my eyes to the fact that no Church is perfect. I used to rag on the American Church for its greed and its hypocrasy. And when I got to Africa I thought I saw the Church the way it was suppose to be. They worship and dance totally care free. They worship with Passion I have rarely seen in America. But after 3 months in Africa I realize that all Churches have their own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, African Churches do worship way better than American Churches. But American Churches preach and understand personal relationship with Christ better than African Churches. I realized now that its not that Church in one place is bad, and in another its good (or more right). All have strengths and weaknesses, and by coming together and sharing those strenghts we can make the entire Global Body of Christ stronger.

Then again didnt God say that the foot shouldnt desire to be the hand?

In that case: Dance, you crazy Maasai warrior, dance. I have a Bible to go read.

Letters and Pictures

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

EVERYONE!

I love receiving letters and pictures on the Race. Its a nice piece of home. I have a chance to recieve letters from home at the end of the month and I would really appreciate it if everyone sent mail. Please send all mail to:

Terri Eppinger

4001 Wheaton Lane

Sturtevant, WI 53177

by Tuesday, March 17th.

Thats 1 week from today! Please get those letters and pictures in. I want to hear and see what you have been up to.

Also, to anyone that has sent me a letter or a picture so far this year. THANK YOU!!!!

Seriously, I carry them with me, read the letters and laugh at the pictures all the time. They are a great blessing to me on the Race.

A shout out will go to the best picture. But really I just want to see the fun things you guys have been up to.

Indian Adventure

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

New Delhi.

4AM. Team arrives on the ground after 10 hours in the air. No Sleep.

5AM. Team has bags. Hop on a bus to the train station. Clay and Lunchboxes are with us. Cost: 50 Rupies/person (50Rs:1USD)

5:30AM Team dropped off in front of a dark alley. Told it leads to train station. 6 guys and 13 girls carry packs 5 blocks past barking dogs, sleeping beggars, and ricksaws heading to work. Welcome to India

5:50AM Arrive at train station and for the 1st time realize there are 1.3 billion people in India....and they are all at the train station.

6:00AM Fight my way to the front of the info desk. Team has prepurchased train tickets, but needs to get our seat assignments. Discover I lost my teams printed ticket confirmation sheet.

6:20AM Fight my way to the front of the correct line.

6:25AM Recieve seat assignments for the other 2 teams. Even though I wrote down the Transaction # from my ticket confirmation sheet before I lost it, the lone man behind the counter will not accept it. He is demanding the ticket confirmation sheet.

6:30AM Train leaving in 20 minutes. Freak out continues. Man at counter finally agrees to look up my seats using Team Lunchboxes PNR # and searching for American names with seats around them. Have to stop men from cutting me in line while I argue with the man behind the counter. After stopping one man he replies, "Thats not how it works in India." "Thats how it works today" was my only reply.

6:40AM Train was sweet. Huge seats that fully reclined. Free Tea and Kellog's Corn Flakes?!?! Car itself would have been too dirty to be in service for Amtrack, but for the 3rd world it was a luxery cruise. I soon realize that like everything in India, 1st class is dirt cheap.

6:50AM For the 1st time in 3 months, something happens on time. Train Departs

I have been in India for 4 days now. And in my ministry city of Ambala for 1 full day. Its a important Hindu holiday so the contacts have asked us not to start ministry until Thursday. We will be working in a school owned by the Church and visiting people in their homes. India is a half-closed country. Its not illegal to be a Christian, but it is discouraged and sometimes outlawed to convert someone to Christianity. So pray for us as we go out and interact with people in the community we will be able to share with people how much Christ has changed our lives without alerting the authorities or Hindu extremist groups. Dont worry though. We are not in any physical danger.

Life in Tanzania

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Tanzania...hmmm.....

Ok really it was just more African ministry. House to house, Preaching, Construction, Teaching, Open Air Meetings, Movie showings, etc. So im not going to go into day to day details. Just know that every day we did some combination of the activities listed above.

Highlights: (In no distinct order)

1. Choir- Pastor asked our team to have choir practice on Saturday and sing two songs at Church on Sunday. Easy right. Well, noone on our team plays guitar so we just decided to sing "Hosanna" and "Mighty to Save" accapella style. We practiced twice and decided we had all sung those songs enough in our lives that we didnt need to practice anymore. We just wrote down the words on a sheet of paper and called it a day.

At Church on Sunday the service started with 45 minutes of professional choirs singing and dancing! The Church had about 300-400 members and there were 5 or 6 choirs made up of different churches members. The Pastor even brought in outside groups to perform. Then they called the 6 of us up. Lets just say that after watching 50-60 member choirs dance and sing for 45 minutes, the congregation was a little less that impressed with our songs....

2. "Set Me Free" Drama- Despite our poor performance the week before the Pastor still asked us to perfrom two songs at Church on the 2nd Sunday. Deciding that singing was not our strong point, we decided to perform a drama set to the song "Set Me Free". In the drama, a woman is tormented by two demons. Jesus shows up on the scene, is crucified, and then resurrected. At the resurrection, the demons are destroyed and then he proceeds to free the woman from chains.

I have performed the Drama a number of times, but nothing prepared me for what happened on that Sunday. The cry for joy that erupted when Jesus was resurrected was deafening. Women were slain in the Spirit. Chairs were thrown out windows. Fireworks went off. Ok some of that might be an exageration, but when I went back to my seat my translator was whipping tears from her eyes.

In the imfamous words of Dumb and Dumber, "Just when I thought you couldnt get any dumber, you go and do something like this........And totally redeem yourself!"

3. The Bachelor Pad- Unfortunately our team stayed in 3 different houses this month. Normally that would have been fine, but since it was our first month as a team it was hard not being able to have team meetings at night or getting to hang out and get to know each other.

Patrick and I lived together in what we lovingly refered to as the Bachelor Pad. It was a house owned by a 28-29 year old man, who came home at 11PM and left before we were up in the morning. Throughout the day, guys ranging from 6 to 26 would move in and out of the house, just kicking it, making tea, watching tv, listening to music. I was never quite sure who actually lived in the house and who just came to hang out. Oh, and noone spoke English. Music was always blaring. Most nights we just ate frozen pizza and watched the game.

4. Door to Door- At one house Shiloh and I went to we met two Muslim girls, who had been attending a Church. They were very interested in hearing about Jesus and having a relationship with Him. We got to talk with them for a while and answer some questions. At the end they asked us to pray for them that they would be able to receive Jesus. Many roadblocks in their lives kept them from commiting to Christ. The biggest barrier was their families reaction to their decision. We prayed for them and encouraged them, and let them know nothing was more important than knowing Jesus Christ. They were very grateful that we stopped to talk with them, and I was glad that we had stopped two.

I could probably keep going, but who knows if you guys are even reading anymore. Plus Ive almost burned all my internet minutes.

The men are heading to the Masaai people tomorrow (2/21) for some manistry. We will be working with them for 2 weeks before we meet back up with the girls in Nairobi.

As usual, keep me in your prayers.

Thrown into the Mix

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Everyone. This is my attempt to blog more often. Shorter, less pictures, but hopefully this way I will keep you more up to date.

The new team is still Sweet, and being a leader is turning out to be a very rewarding experience. It is draining tho. The other day Marisa was praying for me and she asked what I wanted from God. I told her Wisdom to lead my team. She said "No. What do you want between yourself and God?"

I have been warned by other leaders that if you arent careful you can take on the Spiritual state of the team and ignore your own personal relationship with Jesus. I definitely can see that this is going to be something I have to fight against the whole year. Already I think more about how the team is doing and where everyone is at than I do about where I am at with Jesus. But it is in the open so the Lord will redeem it.

So Tanzania. Well my team is by itself in Arusha. When I called my contact, Pastor Marco Hauly, he told me that communication between the World Race and himself had been poor so he would be out of town for the first 3 days that the Holy Banditz would be in Arusha. Whatever right? New city, no contact. Our team was excited.

The only embarrassing part was when our bus pulled into Arusha with 3 other teams and they realized that the H.B.z had absolutely nothing set up. We had the bus driver drop us off at a hostel, the 3 teams drove off and we worked it out.

We negotiated the price for 3 rooms down to under our budget and tracked down Jill's Compassion Int. child and got the paperwork rolling so we could work with the Compassion base in the city. While Jill and I went on a hunt for the Compassion paperwork other members of the team ATL'd (Ask the Lord). Essentially just praying to see what God tells us to do. Shiloh felt like we should break onto the balcony of the hostel and do a little worship service and read the Sermon on the Mount out loud to the city below. There is a few Mosque nearby that play the call to prayer 5 times daily so we thought we should have a little Christian call to worship. So we went on the balcony, read the sermon on the Mount, I preached the Gospel for a few minutes, then we sang some worship songs. When we were done we went outside and talked to people that came to our door to talk with us. No one accepted Christ with us, but we got to talk to all kinds of people: street children, Muslim men, Christian believers, etc.

It was a cool step of faith for me to just go and do it. I know that 4 months ago I would have never gotten onto a balcony to sing worship songs and preach, but I lately I am just starting to walk in faith that my God is real, that Christ is real, that the Cross is real and that God is going to let me see some really cool things for His kingdom if I just act like its real.

So there it is: Thats how the Holy Banditz spent their 1st 24 hrs in Tanzania. No contact, No place to stay, No nothing. Just faith in Christ and a zeal for life.

A Time for Big Change

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Everyone.

There have been some big changes going on here on the World Race. I will be traveling to Tanzania tomorrow with a new team and a new role.

The leaders of our Squad felt it was time to shake things up and switch teams around, and they have made me a Team Leader. I know what you are thinking. "Does AIM have any idea what they have just done?!?!" The answer is NO. The new team is crazy, awesome, sexy, and dangerous in the Spirit. So without further ado the new Team:

The Holy Banditz:

Alex Herrera

Helen Chalmers

Jill Ruiter

Patrick Baez

Shiloh Schneider

Ben Eppinger

Be praying for me as a try and lead this rag-tag bunch of prophets, priests, lovers and warriors all over the World.

Im gonna need every prayer I can get.

Lodwar, Kenya: Better Late Than Never

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I bet you are wondering what Ive been doing for two months.....

I was in Lodwar, Kenya in December. DESERT. 100+ degrees everyday. Almost every morning we went for house to house evangelism. Houses were a significant distance apart...

During house to house evangelism I was often with a Pastor or youth who would act as my translator. The local language is Turkana. Once we got to a home we would gather whoever was around and sit under the shade of a tree, find out if they knew about Jesus Christ, and then share the message of the Cross. If the families were already Christians we would offer them encouragement and blessings.

I think that was the craziest part of the whole month. I was in the middle of nowhere. I mean NOWHERE. And I was talking with the most traditional people you can imagine. The women wore hundreds of beaded necklaces. The men were goat and camel shepherds. And yet in the middle of a group of homesteads was a church that was led by a Pastor who had been trained at a Bible school, most of the Turkana people that we met had already heard about Christ and many were already Believers in Jesus Christ.

During our 2nd week, we joined around 35 Lodwar youth (age 15-25) on their mission trip to the Lake Turkana area (50km outside Lodwar). That's right. The Gospel was so strong in Lodwar that the churches there were sending missionaries into the Bush! My preconceived notions that I was going to the bush to bring the Gospel to people that had never heard before was shattered. Instead I got to see that the Kingdom of God is Alive and Well even in the most remote places on the planet.

Here is the Daily Schedule from the Lake Turkana Outreach:

6:00AM: Morning Glory (Worship)
6:30-8;30AM: Personal Time
8:30-10: Breakfast
10-12:30: House to House Evangelism
12:30-1:30: Swimming in Lake Turkana
1:30-4PM: Lunch and Naptime
4-6PM: Open Air Crusade
6-8PM: Dinner
8PM-?: Revival or showing of the Jesus Film
?: Bedtime

The 3rd week in Kenya our two teams (Dunamis and Quake) split up into 5 groups and stayed with Pastors out in the Bush. My group was Carly, Dennis, Bev and myself. We did more house to house evangelism in the morning and then had an open air meeting in the afternoon. At the open air meetings (or Crusades as the Africans called them) we got to preach the Gospel.

The month ended with an African Christmas. We went to church at 9PM on Christmas Eve, and while most Kenyans stay up all night, the Americans all went to bed by 1AM. At 6AM we were up again to watch river baptisms. One of the youth that I met at the Lake Turkana Outreach got baptized and asked me to be his "spiritual parent". I met him when he came out of the water and prayed over him afterwards.

I also preached my first sermon in church(1 hr. with translation) about not stopping with Salvation, but growing as a child of God and inheriting the promise that we are Heirs with Christ (Rom 8:15-17)

All in all it was a hard month, but an important month. It was a trial by fire. I was expected to speak, to preach, to share, to step up, to minister. And after a month of it I can truly say that I love sharing the message of the Cross, the message of Reconciliation in whatever way that means.

3rd World Infection

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Thought Everyone would like to see some pictures of my elbow.

I woke on Tuesday, Dec 30th with what looked like a pimple on my elbow.

On Wednesday and Thursday I thought it was just an in-grown hair. The pimple had retracted and I was left with a painful bump. On Friday the ingrown hair turned into a dime sized black spot on my elbow

On Saturday.............well why dont I let the pictures tell the story.

Saturday:

My Right Arm had swollen to twice the size of my left arm, and the pain was terrible. I started taking prescription strength pain medication (4 tablets every 5 hrs.) and the antibiotic Cipro.

Sunday:

The pain continued and the small wound started getting bigger. I decided it was time to see a doctor.

Monday: I finally went to the doctor for treatment. They bandaged my wound and started me on a 5-day, injectable antibiotic.

Notice the lack of gloves on the nurse.

Wednesday: The swelling and pain went down, but when the doctor took off the bandage a river of puss flowed out of my elbow. This is what my elbow looked like after two full days of treatment.

The doctor removed the dead skin, but I did not allow him to remove any of the tissue in the hopes that it would heal naturally.

Disclaimer: on the left and right side of my wound there are bandages, not flaps of skin.

Thursday: The doctor did not like the look of the dead tissue hanging out of arm so they removed it with a scalpel.

This is the wound prior to tissue removal.

Friday: The doctors remove more dead tissue. The picture is prior to tissue removal. The pain is almost non-existent now. It left along with the swelling.

Saturday: Injectable antibiotic finished. I went in for fresh dressing and to start the oral antibiotic. The doctor is pleased with the progress even though I now have a half inch crater in my elbow.

I now have almost full mobility of my elbow with no discomfort. On Friday night I even bowled a 151 and carried my team to victory.

I am doing fine, and will continue to see the doctor every other day for examination and fresh dressing on the wounds. I thank everyone of you who have been praying for me over the last week. It looks like things are getting better.

Finally: Im sorry all the pictures are sideways. If any AIM staff reads this blog, please tell me why my pictures upload sideways, even though they are saved upright on my computer. Thank you.

The Price of a Man

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How far would you travel to see someone come into a relationship with Jesus Christ? How much is one man's soul worth?

That was one of the major questions I got to ask myself in China last month. Team Dunamis spent its time in North Central China, a place with very few English speakers. While other teams got to work on English-speaking college students or do earthquake relief down in Southern China, most of our days were spent walking the town and praying for it and for its people. Praying that God would bring in full time workers. Praying against the Spiritual darkness in these places. Praying for God's Kingdom to be planted in the middle-of-no where China. While I believe fully in the power of prayer and believe fully that our prayers there were laying a foundation for the Kingdom to come, I was sometimes envious that other teams got to do more "visible" ministry. At times I even questioned if it was "strategic" for AIM to send us into the middle of no where, instead of an area where we could have communicated with people.

That's what makes the story of Mark so intriguing. During the 1st week of ministry, Mark approached a few members of our team. He was the only fluent English speaker we met all month. That day he led that half of the team all around the city, into schools, showed them the best places to eat, etc. They left Mark, but made plans for the rest of the team to join up with him for dinner later that night.

After a meal of Chow Mien, mediocre tea, and small talk, Mark began to open up about his time in college. He talked of occasionally staying up late at night and drinking by himself, because he was so lonely. He talked of thinking there was more to life than just working. He asked us what we thought, what guided our lives. We got to share with him about Jesus Christ. A few years earlier a woman had shared a little about Jesus with him, and he had been listening to a Christian radio program that was broadcasted from somewhere outside of China. So when we started talking about having a relationship with Jesus a little foundation was in place. He hung on our every word, and when we were done sharing about our experience with the Creator he said that he wanted Jesus in his life as his Savior and friend. He prayed to receive Christ in the middle of the restaurant (in China, restaurants often have private dining areas).

We invited Mark back to our hotel to give him a Bible and do a little discipleship. We had to explain what the New Testiment was, what a bible verse is, what the Gospels are and how they are different from the letters. The craziest part was when we talked about how to pray, how it is just a conversation with God. We bowed our heads to pray and I noticed he was mimicking how I was holding my hands, but then Mark became very confused when he realized each one of us was holding our hands in a different way. We still keep in contact with Mark via email and he tells us how he feels the Father alive in his heart and how his relationship is growing every day. Our prayer for him is that he will find a Church in a place where the Church has to be hidden, so that he can grow with other believers.

So that brings be back to the question I asked in the begining: How far would you go to see one man come to know Jesus Christ? How much would you spend for just one person?

Maybe a better question to ask is: How much does it cost to throw a party in Heaven? Luke 15:1-7

Your Mission If You Choose to Accept It

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

My team has just received its assignment for the month of December. Team Dunamis and Team Quake will be traveling to the city of Lodwar, Kenya. Total travel time is 20hrs from Niarobi. There we will partner with the local churches. We were told to be ready to;

1. Preach

2. Teach

3. Lead Worship

4. Evangelize

5. Go door to door

6. Set up Youth Rallies

7. Disciple young adults

8. Minister to Pastors

9. Counseling

And then we were told that the Pastors we will be working with did not want to be too defined with our schedule because they want the Spirit directing us and using our individual strengths and gifts. Whew!!

I am incredible excited about this month. In China, we had to watch our every step to bring the Kingdom of God to the people without tipping off the authorities. This month we get to be as Bold as we want. If the Kingdom of God in China is like yeast spreading through dough; then the Kingdom of God in Kenya is like the Spirit coming in tongues of fire and sounds like thunder.

The people of Lodwar are considered an unreached people group. The pastors of Lodwar are calling us an answer to prayer. They are praying that our presence will allow the Kingdom to break through in mighty ways in their area.

Finally, internet access will be limited in Lodwar. I know I promised China stories and picture. They are coming. Until then please lift up my team, team Quake, the people of Lodwar and myself. My only prayer is that we will be obedient to the Spirit of God.

Happy Thanksgiving

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Just wanted to let all of you know that I am alive and well. We had a incredible month and I will definitely be posting stories shortly. For now I want to wish all you a Happy Thanksgiving. You better believe that as I feverously devoured my 3 pieces of Thanksgiving Pizza I was think of you all and thanking God that He brought you into my life.

Finally, I want you to all rest easy tonight knowing that we are safe and sound back in Hong Kong, and have successfully escaped the long arm of the Communist Machine.

God Bless America.