Well, I'm getting back in the blog world. You can follow me here to my new wordpress blog.
WalkingthePlank
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Kenya Update...the Real Story
I'm sure you have heard of the crisis in Kenya right now. I've been very disheartened while reading about the displacement of over 200,000 people on the news as Kenya is close to my heart these days.
I got a chance to talk with Joseph for an extended time this weekend, and he gave me a good picture of what is happening behind the scenes in Kenya. I'll give you a brief picture of his perspective:
He is very thankful that Odinga lost the election to Kibaki. Odinga has been seeking after power relentlessly since leaving President Kibaki's cabinet 5 years ago. Odinga is ruthless in his quest for power, and it would not have been good for the country if he became the President. He is a leader similar to Hussein. Over the past five years, he has attempted to unite tribes within Kenya based on the promise that he would redistrubute land and resources when he became President. He villanizes the President's tribe for hoarding power and wealth to itself and away from the poor. He was able to unite a number of tribes together with the promise of redistribution of wealth.
This is political dynamite in a culture where over 50% of people are unemployed, AIDS has killed 1 in 4 adults, and extreme poverty is prevalent.
What is happening right now with the displacement of people from their land is a result of Odinga's promise to redistrubute land and resources. If Odinga had become President, the same thing would have happened, except it would have been worse because the government would not have stopped it. Currently, the government is working to bring about order and to stop the violence that Odinga would have permitted.
I've heard it said that the biggest threat in the world right now is not terroism, but poverty. Poverty over a long enough time leads to acts of desperation and retaliation.
Since the removal of colonialism, Kenya has faced many challenges, and over the past five years, Kibaki has made better strides than any leader in Kenya's independence in moving them forward. Much more is needed to bring about systemic change in their society.
I'm thankful that I have friends there that are working to bring peace and to be a light in a difficult place.
My prayers are with you CMF, Pastor David, Joseph, and the Africa Hope Center. Pray for this area of the world. For the leadership. For the Africa Hope Center. For missionaries and church leaders there.
I got a chance to talk with Joseph for an extended time this weekend, and he gave me a good picture of what is happening behind the scenes in Kenya. I'll give you a brief picture of his perspective:
He is very thankful that Odinga lost the election to Kibaki. Odinga has been seeking after power relentlessly since leaving President Kibaki's cabinet 5 years ago. Odinga is ruthless in his quest for power, and it would not have been good for the country if he became the President. He is a leader similar to Hussein. Over the past five years, he has attempted to unite tribes within Kenya based on the promise that he would redistrubute land and resources when he became President. He villanizes the President's tribe for hoarding power and wealth to itself and away from the poor. He was able to unite a number of tribes together with the promise of redistribution of wealth.
This is political dynamite in a culture where over 50% of people are unemployed, AIDS has killed 1 in 4 adults, and extreme poverty is prevalent.
What is happening right now with the displacement of people from their land is a result of Odinga's promise to redistrubute land and resources. If Odinga had become President, the same thing would have happened, except it would have been worse because the government would not have stopped it. Currently, the government is working to bring about order and to stop the violence that Odinga would have permitted.
I've heard it said that the biggest threat in the world right now is not terroism, but poverty. Poverty over a long enough time leads to acts of desperation and retaliation.
Since the removal of colonialism, Kenya has faced many challenges, and over the past five years, Kibaki has made better strides than any leader in Kenya's independence in moving them forward. Much more is needed to bring about systemic change in their society.
I'm thankful that I have friends there that are working to bring peace and to be a light in a difficult place.
My prayers are with you CMF, Pastor David, Joseph, and the Africa Hope Center. Pray for this area of the world. For the leadership. For the Africa Hope Center. For missionaries and church leaders there.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
my girls and a new friend
here are some recent pics of my girls. The one that isn't mine is Amaya. She is our director of CRM's daughter from Long Beach. We had a great time with them over the last few days. Amaya inspired Hannah to start wearing big girl underwear and she went to the potty for the first time today. Very exciting times in the Paxton household.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Proud of My Wife
Yes, I have been lost from the blogger world.
But, I re-enter out of pride for my wife. Last night, we had David Batstone and the Not for Sale Campaign come to Raleigh to talk about practical steps people and churches can do to end human trafficking.
About 8 months ago, Danielle started reading David's book, and started working with a friend in Los Angeles, Shirley Rayburn, on this issue. I've loved watching her passion and diligence to make something happen. It would be a good conversation sometime to ask her how she became interested and passionate about this intense subject.
Since coming to Raleigh, she has been helping to coordinate a group from Raleigh to activate others towards doing something about the issue. (www.justiceandjubilee.org) Yesterday, we had a great lunch with David Batstone and Justin Dillon at our house with about 15 others, and then held an event in partnership with other churches and the community.
It was an intense evening as you can imagine, but I think the seeds of good things were planted. A number of faith communities and community activists came together, and David not only brought the issue close to home, but gave practical steps of how normal people can use their gifts to be involved.
I'm proud of my wife because she decided to do this even when she was tired, stressed, and not settled in our new home. This transition has been unsettling for us, and Danielle has not just focused on herself and our family, but given of herself to help bring hope to others.
I also know she is tired. I'm proud of you.
Also, Shiloah said Da Da yesterday. That made me happy too.
But, I re-enter out of pride for my wife. Last night, we had David Batstone and the Not for Sale Campaign come to Raleigh to talk about practical steps people and churches can do to end human trafficking.
About 8 months ago, Danielle started reading David's book, and started working with a friend in Los Angeles, Shirley Rayburn, on this issue. I've loved watching her passion and diligence to make something happen. It would be a good conversation sometime to ask her how she became interested and passionate about this intense subject.
Since coming to Raleigh, she has been helping to coordinate a group from Raleigh to activate others towards doing something about the issue. (www.justiceandjubilee.org) Yesterday, we had a great lunch with David Batstone and Justin Dillon at our house with about 15 others, and then held an event in partnership with other churches and the community.
It was an intense evening as you can imagine, but I think the seeds of good things were planted. A number of faith communities and community activists came together, and David not only brought the issue close to home, but gave practical steps of how normal people can use their gifts to be involved.
I'm proud of my wife because she decided to do this even when she was tired, stressed, and not settled in our new home. This transition has been unsettling for us, and Danielle has not just focused on herself and our family, but given of herself to help bring hope to others.
I also know she is tired. I'm proud of you.
Also, Shiloah said Da Da yesterday. That made me happy too.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Kenya Part II: Africa Hope Center
Besides making a friendship with Joseph, the best thing about our time in Kenya was participating in the Africa Hope Center.
One of the beautiful things about the ministry of Africa Hope Center is that it is a grassroots response to a crisis in their own community. They are taking great risks and making really serious sacrifices to not only meet the needs of these kids and provide a family of hope for them, but develop their gifts and create opportunities for the future. These kids are incredibly creative, bright, and resilient. I had so much fun seeing their family of 80 laughing, dancing, learning, growing, and playing together. I want to advocate for them in the best I can because of what they are doing, not because they have it all together (kind of like us).
They are taking care of 80 kids in home that have lost both their parents to AIDS, and ten other kids who have AIDS in partnership with their host family since they currently don't have the facility to take care of them there. The workers in the home are my new heroes. Right now, only five full-time workers care for 80 kids. That is not a great ratio, and I was very inspired to see them selflessly pouring their lives out to serve and love and bring hope to the kids there. And the thing is, they don't see it as sacrifice. It is normal. They are just obeying God through their lives. I think they help us think about obedience different than how we think about it in our culture when it is convenient for us. Where service is extra credit for us, service is life for them.
I will never forget learning the stories of the kids in the center, seeing their creativity expressed through dance, story, drama, and poems. They spoke from the soul and touched mine. We also had some really good ice cream together and they played balloon volleyball like I've never seen.
For those of you who are interested in their needs, there are multiple ways to get involved financially, investing in prayer, or preparing to go spend time with them in the future:
One of the beautiful things about having such a good relationship with Joseph is that we get to help meet needs together as a global family in Christ. I was changed as much as I touched anyone's life there. For one, I have friends on the other side of the world that motivate me to live for Christ. My family got a lot bigger. For two, I am motivated to live more simply, obediently, and sacrificially. For three, I had a lot of fun joking with Joseph and learning from the way they carry out their ministries. For four, I will never forget the sights, smells, stories, and kids I encountered there.
I'd love to talk more with anyone who is interested
One of the beautiful things about the ministry of Africa Hope Center is that it is a grassroots response to a crisis in their own community. They are taking great risks and making really serious sacrifices to not only meet the needs of these kids and provide a family of hope for them, but develop their gifts and create opportunities for the future. These kids are incredibly creative, bright, and resilient. I had so much fun seeing their family of 80 laughing, dancing, learning, growing, and playing together. I want to advocate for them in the best I can because of what they are doing, not because they have it all together (kind of like us).
They are taking care of 80 kids in home that have lost both their parents to AIDS, and ten other kids who have AIDS in partnership with their host family since they currently don't have the facility to take care of them there. The workers in the home are my new heroes. Right now, only five full-time workers care for 80 kids. That is not a great ratio, and I was very inspired to see them selflessly pouring their lives out to serve and love and bring hope to the kids there. And the thing is, they don't see it as sacrifice. It is normal. They are just obeying God through their lives. I think they help us think about obedience different than how we think about it in our culture when it is convenient for us. Where service is extra credit for us, service is life for them.
I will never forget learning the stories of the kids in the center, seeing their creativity expressed through dance, story, drama, and poems. They spoke from the soul and touched mine. We also had some really good ice cream together and they played balloon volleyball like I've never seen.
For those of you who are interested in their needs, there are multiple ways to get involved financially, investing in prayer, or preparing to go spend time with them in the future:
- we found someone to do the website: thank you Amy Williams!
- they need more sponsorship money for all of the kids- right now, they are about half-sponsored a piece, so they need 100 people to donate between 25 and 50 dollars a month.
- they need to hire more full-time workers- I'd like to see 10 hired. Their monthly salary is $250
- they are just starting the initial stages of planning the development of the care center (they are currently renting one in Kayole), and need about 20,000 more dollars to buy the land
- we need a team of people to help care for kids and workers, provide teacher/child care worker training, brainstorm with micro-finance options, people who want to build/clean/dig stuff, job training and e-commerce, leadership/development, counseling care
One of the beautiful things about having such a good relationship with Joseph is that we get to help meet needs together as a global family in Christ. I was changed as much as I touched anyone's life there. For one, I have friends on the other side of the world that motivate me to live for Christ. My family got a lot bigger. For two, I am motivated to live more simply, obediently, and sacrificially. For three, I had a lot of fun joking with Joseph and learning from the way they carry out their ministries. For four, I will never forget the sights, smells, stories, and kids I encountered there.
I'd love to talk more with anyone who is interested
I love the Paxton Girls
I couldn't help but post about my girls tonight. Today, Hannah and daddy ran around in the rain for about a half and hour chasing each other laughing from our bellies. We couldn't have had more fun. Shiloah is still not sleeping through the night, but is sweet as can be throughout the day. She likes to flap her arms a lot and make squeally noises.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Journey to Kenya Part One: Brother Joseph
We certainly have had a lot going on in the last two months, and now I am at a point to process some of our experiences.
It will be hard for me to process the Kenya trip shortly so I will start a three part blog post so that people will actually read this. (your welcome shannon and daniel)
The most significant part of the trip for me was building a friendship with Joseph and learning from him as a leader. For a year, we spent a lot of time emailing and talking on the phone and felt a strong connection, but had not actually met in person because he was in Georgia doing work on his PHD. Honestly, I was a little nervous about how we would connect, and if it would be a long two weeks.
The connection with Joseph really couldn't have gone better. Besides for a few small culture 'moments' (one is a really good story that involved "Serious" preaching and Jason being forced to play the guitar at one of the most funny church scenarios I've ever experienced), we couldn't have asked for better experience with Joseph. He took us all over Kenya from the slums of Kibera and Soweto to his childhood town in the mountains north of Nairobi to a tribal village in the Northern region of Kenya to where we spent most of our time in Kayole, a rapidly growing area of Nairobi where his central ministry and the Hope Center is located.
The focus of this blog post is to process what I learned from Joseph and share his story. Joseph is a very savvy, passionate, and servant-oriented leader with a great sense of humor. He has more character and faith than I can ever hope to aspire to. Joseph grew up in a peasant-tea farming family about 2 hours north of Nairobi. He grew up taking care of cows, his family, and the farm and his father died when he was young. In high school, he had a radical conversion experience and he became passionately involved in ministry. We laughed that he had so much zeal that his first pulpit was the mountain outside of his house where he preached his devotionals to his town every morning when he would wake up. While we road up to visit his mom (who is 89), I really enjoyed hearing him laugh talking with one of his friends from former ministry days about their often misdirected, but radically passionate zeal to spread the gospel (which I could relate to a bit). Joseph got very involved with the evangelical, pentecostal movement in Kenya, and was very active in street evangelism and outreach from an early age. He did very well in school and went to the prestigious Nairobi College where he continued to be more concerned with crusades and Jesus than school and degrees (again, I can relate to that).
After he graduated from college and got married, he and his wife moved into the slums of Kibera (the third largest slum in the world) and planted a church for two years. Then, God called them to plant a church in the growing area of Kayole. Since then, that church has become a sending ground for other churches to unreached areas of Nairobi and Kenya. Currently, they have a missionary living in an unreached tribal group in Northern Kenya that we visited and helped deliver medical supplies to. (That was the day I was more afraid of my life than any other before we got on the plane). In that culture, since Joseph is the overseer of about 6 churches and various ministries, he is considered a bishop.
One of the things I love about Joseph is his great sense of humor and humility about his role. He does not want to be called a bishop because he thinks titles are too important in his culture and people end up relying on their leader more than serving their community in the character of Christ (sound familiar). That is inspiring. Rather than just only focusing on preaching (which he is very gifted at), he is trying to empower his community to take risks as ministers, take care of the orphans, and take risks to love and serve those that don't know Christ. That is inspiring as well.
His continual relationship with Christ was contagious as well. I learned from him in a different way what pray without ceasing looked like. After spending time with the leaders of the orphan center, I said that I want to pray for those people- meaning tonight and when I get home, and Joseph just said okay, pray. I thought, why do I wait to pray for people so often? I appreciated ability to not take himself too seriously, but to take Christ very seriously.
I came away with a great friend that I pray we can encourage each for a life time.
Next post coming soon (yes that was a retraction)
It will be hard for me to process the Kenya trip shortly so I will start a three part blog post so that people will actually read this. (your welcome shannon and daniel)
The most significant part of the trip for me was building a friendship with Joseph and learning from him as a leader. For a year, we spent a lot of time emailing and talking on the phone and felt a strong connection, but had not actually met in person because he was in Georgia doing work on his PHD. Honestly, I was a little nervous about how we would connect, and if it would be a long two weeks.
The connection with Joseph really couldn't have gone better. Besides for a few small culture 'moments' (one is a really good story that involved "Serious" preaching and Jason being forced to play the guitar at one of the most funny church scenarios I've ever experienced), we couldn't have asked for better experience with Joseph. He took us all over Kenya from the slums of Kibera and Soweto to his childhood town in the mountains north of Nairobi to a tribal village in the Northern region of Kenya to where we spent most of our time in Kayole, a rapidly growing area of Nairobi where his central ministry and the Hope Center is located.The focus of this blog post is to process what I learned from Joseph and share his story. Joseph is a very savvy, passionate, and servant-oriented leader with a great sense of humor. He has more character and faith than I can ever hope to aspire to. Joseph grew up in a peasant-tea farming family about 2 hours north of Nairobi. He grew up taking care of cows, his family, and the farm and his father died when he was young. In high school, he had a radical conversion experience and he became passionately involved in ministry. We laughed that he had so much zeal that his first pulpit was the mountain outside of his house where he preached his devotionals to his town every morning when he would wake up. While we road up to visit his mom (who is 89), I really enjoyed hearing him laugh talking with one of his friends from former ministry days about their often misdirected, but radically passionate zeal to spread the gospel (which I could relate to a bit). Joseph got very involved with the evangelical, pentecostal movement in Kenya, and was very active in street evangelism and outreach from an early age. He did very well in school and went to the prestigious Nairobi College where he continued to be more concerned with crusades and Jesus than school and degrees (again, I can relate to that).
After he graduated from college and got married, he and his wife moved into the slums of Kibera (the third largest slum in the world) and planted a church for two years. Then, God called them to plant a church in the growing area of Kayole. Since then, that church has become a sending ground for other churches to unreached areas of Nairobi and Kenya. Currently, they have a missionary living in an unreached tribal group in Northern Kenya that we visited and helped deliver medical supplies to. (That was the day I was more afraid of my life than any other before we got on the plane). In that culture, since Joseph is the overseer of about 6 churches and various ministries, he is considered a bishop.
One of the things I love about Joseph is his great sense of humor and humility about his role. He does not want to be called a bishop because he thinks titles are too important in his culture and people end up relying on their leader more than serving their community in the character of Christ (sound familiar). That is inspiring. Rather than just only focusing on preaching (which he is very gifted at), he is trying to empower his community to take risks as ministers, take care of the orphans, and take risks to love and serve those that don't know Christ. That is inspiring as well.
His continual relationship with Christ was contagious as well. I learned from him in a different way what pray without ceasing looked like. After spending time with the leaders of the orphan center, I said that I want to pray for those people- meaning tonight and when I get home, and Joseph just said okay, pray. I thought, why do I wait to pray for people so often? I appreciated ability to not take himself too seriously, but to take Christ very seriously.
I came away with a great friend that I pray we can encourage each for a life time.
Next post coming soon (yes that was a retraction)
Sunday, September 09, 2007
#^$* Happens
Forgive the gross-ness of the post
Literally...
So, our ceptic tank broke outside of our house this weekend, so I spent most of the afternoon shoveling our own excrement into a hole I dug in my yard.
I think I will stay away from that side of the yard for a while, although I think it will be a very fertile region.
It turns out that since our house was built in 1950, the ceptic pipes are pretty rusty, and when we have been using the flushable, G-Diapers, they have been getting caught on the rust.
Two lessons from this experience
- trying to do our part to take care of our world (using g-diapers)- has some unexpected consequeces, literally messy ones- why is that when you try to do something positive, it ends up messy so often?
- another reminder that *^&*(% happens
Stay tuned for more adventures from Raleigh
Literally...
So, our ceptic tank broke outside of our house this weekend, so I spent most of the afternoon shoveling our own excrement into a hole I dug in my yard.
I think I will stay away from that side of the yard for a while, although I think it will be a very fertile region.
It turns out that since our house was built in 1950, the ceptic pipes are pretty rusty, and when we have been using the flushable, G-Diapers, they have been getting caught on the rust.
Two lessons from this experience
- trying to do our part to take care of our world (using g-diapers)- has some unexpected consequeces, literally messy ones- why is that when you try to do something positive, it ends up messy so often?
- another reminder that *^&*(% happens
Stay tuned for more adventures from Raleigh
Monday, September 03, 2007
How I Felt After Friday
I know this is a repeat post of a video, but I couldn't help it for two reasons- 1) I laugh at it 2) I have felt like a bit of a machine at times while trying to finish school, and I finished my last exam for the summer this Friday. I will just say, that was one of the last things I wanted to be doing right now as we are getting moved into to our new place and trying to get to know people in Raleigh. I fought the final work hard, but I persevered.
While finishing the details on my exam, I was struck at how so often we learn through processes that we don't like. I think there is a little lie I believe at times that tells me life is supposed to be easy for me to enjoy it. Sometimes we feel like we just have to get through xx until we start living and then feel like this robot. One of the things I've sensed God saying to me during the process is-- learn to breathe while running the race and experience my peace knowing I am with you even when it burns.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
We are Alive and Well...
It has been a long time since my last post. My head has been spinning a bit since we got back from Africa. To say the least, we have a lot of change in the last 5 weeks.I will need to do some flashbacks during my blog to be able to process all this. I also want to share many of my experiences from leaving seminary and then in Africa, as well as some good stories about moving into a house we hadn't seen in person in Raleigh.....
So stay tuned....I am currently finishing my final exams for one of my classes from Fuller so I'll start the story next week.
But as for now, here are some of the pictures of Africa. Below is Joseph (the founder of this ministry), and Jason (my friend from Raleigh, one of the pastors of our new church Visio Dei), and me (with balloons and kids). It really was a great experience and I look forward to sharing stories with friends and family. I was inspired by the work they are doing, and want to do everything I can to help them care for the kids that have lost their parents to AIDS. A little bit over there goes along way!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Missing you, Daddy!
It dawned on me I could post a blog all by myself while Corey is in Africa ("Af-uhkup" as Hannah says). It wasn't that hard to figure out, now if I can just get this dang "easy share" camera to load the pictures I can show you a little bit of what we've been doing here with Shishaw and Pawpaw! We love you, CoreyDaddy and can't wait to see you again!
Some notable things that are happening:
1. Shiloah is on the verge of cutting her two bottom teeth! I can see them in there and she has been quite miserable. We got her some magic teething tablets that are helping her out a lot.
2. Shiloah is also eating a lot of solid food now -- she doesn't like any of the fruits we have given her but enjoyed her carrots today. She eats her rice cereal like a champ and has adjusted quite nicely to a four hour feeding schedule, thankfully.
3. Hannah can now immitate a froggie, a flamingo, a hippo and a scary tiger. She gets the biggest kick out of scaring people with her tiger immitation. Last night when Pawpaw came home she almost laughed herself drunk because of how funny it was to scare him! It was the hardest I have ever seen her laugh, from deep inside her belly!
4. Shiloah is sitting up almost perfectly now, but topples over ever so often. She's tough, though.
5. Hannah has been a doctor, a princess, a kitty kat, and gotten to do so many fun things around the house with Shishaw. That's the first person she cares about in the morning. All she wants me for now is owies and bedtimes, diaper changes and a few other things. She loves her Shishaw!
I just realized that we have far more pictures of Hannah than Shiloah during our time here. Poor Shaft-shew! Always getting the shaft. Isn't she just the sweetest thing ever?
I love you, Corey, I can't wait for you to come home!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Rough Transition
A brief update on the Paxton family,
I miss my beautiful girls already. I was very sad to leave them today even though I am excited for this trip. I am sure you know that feeling of anticipation mixed with sadness.
We had a difficult time transitioning from LA to Raleigh. Obviously, we have been through a lot of change, and it has absolutley broken our hearts to see Hannah's world and friends upended. Hannah has been very sad, and even got sick because her schedule got so thrown up. She woke up Friday night throwing up, and has been a bit of zombie at times since then. The last two days she has bounced back a bit, but I was even more sad to leave her and create more change.
Also, Raleigh is very humid. Very humid. I sweat a lot. Our AC did not work in our house when we moved in either. This made tired and sweaty people more frustrated. We got pretty settled in, but I felt like we lived at the store for the last five days and didn't get to spend as much time together as I would have liked. However, I am really glad we decided to go down to Raleigh before Africa and began to get settled even though it was hard on the girls.
Transitions are difficult for me in general, and this one has been especially hard--lots of uncertainty, lots of fear, lots of difficulty---Danielle and I remarked that sometimes we want to find our comfort in this world rather than in Christ, and this transition has brought that out in us.
Thursday night, we cried a lot, and really brought our hearts before the Lord. We were reminded of our calling to Him and to Raleigh, and our prayer is to be used to help move people toward participation in God's mission. While it has been a stormy season of life, the Lord is in the boat with us and calming our hearts.
We are so grateful for our community here and family who have helped us along the way. This life God is calling us to could not be possible without the help of others.
Thank you. We are so grateful.
Peace in Him
Corey
I miss my beautiful girls already. I was very sad to leave them today even though I am excited for this trip. I am sure you know that feeling of anticipation mixed with sadness.
We had a difficult time transitioning from LA to Raleigh. Obviously, we have been through a lot of change, and it has absolutley broken our hearts to see Hannah's world and friends upended. Hannah has been very sad, and even got sick because her schedule got so thrown up. She woke up Friday night throwing up, and has been a bit of zombie at times since then. The last two days she has bounced back a bit, but I was even more sad to leave her and create more change.
Also, Raleigh is very humid. Very humid. I sweat a lot. Our AC did not work in our house when we moved in either. This made tired and sweaty people more frustrated. We got pretty settled in, but I felt like we lived at the store for the last five days and didn't get to spend as much time together as I would have liked. However, I am really glad we decided to go down to Raleigh before Africa and began to get settled even though it was hard on the girls.
Transitions are difficult for me in general, and this one has been especially hard--lots of uncertainty, lots of fear, lots of difficulty---Danielle and I remarked that sometimes we want to find our comfort in this world rather than in Christ, and this transition has brought that out in us.
Thursday night, we cried a lot, and really brought our hearts before the Lord. We were reminded of our calling to Him and to Raleigh, and our prayer is to be used to help move people toward participation in God's mission. While it has been a stormy season of life, the Lord is in the boat with us and calming our hearts.
We are so grateful for our community here and family who have helped us along the way. This life God is calling us to could not be possible without the help of others.
Thank you. We are so grateful.
Peace in Him
Corey
A Dangerous Prayer
Hello Friends
I am now sitting at Dulles Airport in DC getting ready to take off for our flight to Nairobi, Kenya to spend time with leaders of an orphan ministry to kids who have lost both their parents to AIDS. This trip is the climax of a long journey for me.
Let me share how I ended up at this point briefly.
Last summer, I became bombarded by the AIDS crisis in Africa, and felt like this is something that the church in the US has to find ways to partner with churches in Africa to do something about it. I also felt like we as individualistic Americans have a lot to learn from the African church as they start from a much more communal perspective on the world. As a leader in seminary, I prayed to God that if he could use me to do anything about the situation, that I needed to find people that I could trust to learn more about the culture and learn how to partner in a way that is healthy. I also know there are a ton of great organizations working to care for orphans in Africa, but my intuition told me that there have to be grassroots church ministries that could be multiplied if only we identify trustworthy leaders to partner with. I prayed for a friend and ministry partner, and God led me to Joseph.
Over the next few weeks, I started talking with my friend Kinoti Meme from our Fuller housing community who worked for World Vision in Kenya for three years before coming to Fuller to get his advice about these ideas. He led me to Joseph, a great friend of his and proven leader, who started taking in orphans who lost both their parents to AIDS a few years ago. Currently, they are caring for just over 90 orphans through their church, and are working to develop a holistic care sanctuary. Over the last year, Joseph and I have built a great friendship and we planned this trip to come to Kenya to see how God would lead us partner together in the future.
I also called my friend Jason, one of the pastors at our new church community, Visio Dei, and invited him to come along. We planned our trip for August 1-14.
Over that time, I felt like I didn't know enough about Kenyan culture so I started studying it with through my degree in Cross-Cultural Studies and learning about various models of orphan ministry.
During one of my classes, I contacted Dough Milham (who founded a non-profit called Discover the World to bridge gaps between resources in the west and the needs of orphans in Kenya), he has about thirty years on me and vast ministry experience including world vision in kenya.
Anyway, great guy, gives good hugs too.
We started meeting so I could learn about what he does and he asked me when I was planning to go to Kenya, and it turns out he had already planned a trip for Nairobi (the same place Joseph works) for the exact same dates we were planning to go. He helped us buy our tickets at a missionary discount and has been very helpful in preparing for the trip.
He is also coming to Joseph's ministry as a potential partnership for the future as well.
It is really crazy sometimes how God works, and I'm excited to be apart of this story and see how He leads us.
My prayer is that our relationship with rooted in Him, overflowing with love and depth of insight, and His passion for God's children that are in need of family and hope.
Please pray for us during our time there. Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures on the blog and keep you updated.
Much Love
CP
I am now sitting at Dulles Airport in DC getting ready to take off for our flight to Nairobi, Kenya to spend time with leaders of an orphan ministry to kids who have lost both their parents to AIDS. This trip is the climax of a long journey for me.
Let me share how I ended up at this point briefly.
Last summer, I became bombarded by the AIDS crisis in Africa, and felt like this is something that the church in the US has to find ways to partner with churches in Africa to do something about it. I also felt like we as individualistic Americans have a lot to learn from the African church as they start from a much more communal perspective on the world. As a leader in seminary, I prayed to God that if he could use me to do anything about the situation, that I needed to find people that I could trust to learn more about the culture and learn how to partner in a way that is healthy. I also know there are a ton of great organizations working to care for orphans in Africa, but my intuition told me that there have to be grassroots church ministries that could be multiplied if only we identify trustworthy leaders to partner with. I prayed for a friend and ministry partner, and God led me to Joseph.
Over the next few weeks, I started talking with my friend Kinoti Meme from our Fuller housing community who worked for World Vision in Kenya for three years before coming to Fuller to get his advice about these ideas. He led me to Joseph, a great friend of his and proven leader, who started taking in orphans who lost both their parents to AIDS a few years ago. Currently, they are caring for just over 90 orphans through their church, and are working to develop a holistic care sanctuary. Over the last year, Joseph and I have built a great friendship and we planned this trip to come to Kenya to see how God would lead us partner together in the future.
I also called my friend Jason, one of the pastors at our new church community, Visio Dei, and invited him to come along. We planned our trip for August 1-14.
Over that time, I felt like I didn't know enough about Kenyan culture so I started studying it with through my degree in Cross-Cultural Studies and learning about various models of orphan ministry.
During one of my classes, I contacted Dough Milham (who founded a non-profit called Discover the World to bridge gaps between resources in the west and the needs of orphans in Kenya), he has about thirty years on me and vast ministry experience including world vision in kenya.
Anyway, great guy, gives good hugs too.
We started meeting so I could learn about what he does and he asked me when I was planning to go to Kenya, and it turns out he had already planned a trip for Nairobi (the same place Joseph works) for the exact same dates we were planning to go. He helped us buy our tickets at a missionary discount and has been very helpful in preparing for the trip.
He is also coming to Joseph's ministry as a potential partnership for the future as well.
It is really crazy sometimes how God works, and I'm excited to be apart of this story and see how He leads us.
My prayer is that our relationship with rooted in Him, overflowing with love and depth of insight, and His passion for God's children that are in need of family and hope.
Please pray for us during our time there. Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures on the blog and keep you updated.
Much Love
CP
Saturday, July 21, 2007
In Virginia
Wow, we are here safely. That was a crazy day on wednesday and thursday leaving LA. Thank you to all our friends who made that happen with us. We couldn't have done it without you.
I haven't had some much time to process the whole thing yet. I will be posting some thought about our journey through seminary and back this week.
Peace
Corey
I haven't had some much time to process the whole thing yet. I will be posting some thought about our journey through seminary and back this week.
Peace
Corey
Monday, July 16, 2007
Exciting TImes
Some exciting updates.
1- Hannah turned two yesterday! We had a great party with some of our friends yesterday to celebrate our wonderful girl; although it is sad that we are saying goodbye to so many great friends
2- we got the job with CRM. As you know, we have a flair for the dramatic, and this happened three days before our move! It was a very intense process with them, and we felt really affirmed that God led our lives to intersect with their mission at just the right time.
3- our car is currently somewhere in the Idaho region of the country with Traci and Matt who are valiantly making their way towards Raleigh with our car
4- we are flying out of LA thursday
5- my last paper is in the process of being completed
THis has been a great journey for us that is taking new exciting turns at a great moment for us!
Also- Lo Lo is still sweet
Thanks to all have been praying for us through this process. We are incredibly grateful for the friends that we have.
1- Hannah turned two yesterday! We had a great party with some of our friends yesterday to celebrate our wonderful girl; although it is sad that we are saying goodbye to so many great friends
2- we got the job with CRM. As you know, we have a flair for the dramatic, and this happened three days before our move! It was a very intense process with them, and we felt really affirmed that God led our lives to intersect with their mission at just the right time.
3- our car is currently somewhere in the Idaho region of the country with Traci and Matt who are valiantly making their way towards Raleigh with our car
4- we are flying out of LA thursday
5- my last paper is in the process of being completed
THis has been a great journey for us that is taking new exciting turns at a great moment for us!
Also- Lo Lo is still sweet
Thanks to all have been praying for us through this process. We are incredibly grateful for the friends that we have.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
A Couple More
“Other things being equal, classes with high social and economic privilege will scarcely be prone to evolve the idea of salvation. Rather they will assign to religion the primary function of legitimizing their own life pattern or situation in the world.” Max Weber
“I had hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom…Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itslef is neutral; it can be used either destrutively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good wil.. we must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.” MLK
“I had hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom…Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itslef is neutral; it can be used either destrutively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good wil.. we must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.” MLK
A Few Intriguing Quotes
I am writing papers today and studying for exams (not exactly what I want to be doing on a beautiful Satruday in LA), but the light is at the end of the tunnel for me with school as we have less than two weeks left!
“God is always active and dynamic, never simply sanctioning the status quo, but always calling us to something deeper. The God of the gospel is a God of surprises who catches people off guard. What happens when God acts? Young folks have visions and old folk dream dreams. Water turns into wine. Mustard seeds grow into huge plants. Treasures get discovered in unexpected places. Holy people and prostitutes sit down for meals together. That what the kingdom of God is all about. North American culture is not terribly comfortable with this perspective.”
“Although Christ was a mystic, he did not philosophize or discourse about various truths. He demonstrated them. He didn’t argue that spiritual life should conquer matter; he walked on water. He didn’t argue the worth of womanhood, he treated them with infinite respect and appeared in resurrection first to a woman; he didn’t argue that God answers prayers, he prayed. Many teachers have tried to diagnose the disease of humanity---Jesus cures it.” E Stanley Jones
Gandhi said- “he would find God must have as much patience as the man who would sit on the ocean beach and take up a drop of water on a straw and put it asise and thus empty the ocean by carrying away one drop of water at a time.”
“The mission (of the church) is to become Christ’s very body in the world to bring about a relationship of shalom with God and throughout all of creation, including humankind.”
“An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body, and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul. One is a ghost and the other a corpse" E Stanley Jones
“God is always active and dynamic, never simply sanctioning the status quo, but always calling us to something deeper. The God of the gospel is a God of surprises who catches people off guard. What happens when God acts? Young folks have visions and old folk dream dreams. Water turns into wine. Mustard seeds grow into huge plants. Treasures get discovered in unexpected places. Holy people and prostitutes sit down for meals together. That what the kingdom of God is all about. North American culture is not terribly comfortable with this perspective.”
“Although Christ was a mystic, he did not philosophize or discourse about various truths. He demonstrated them. He didn’t argue that spiritual life should conquer matter; he walked on water. He didn’t argue the worth of womanhood, he treated them with infinite respect and appeared in resurrection first to a woman; he didn’t argue that God answers prayers, he prayed. Many teachers have tried to diagnose the disease of humanity---Jesus cures it.” E Stanley Jones
Gandhi said- “he would find God must have as much patience as the man who would sit on the ocean beach and take up a drop of water on a straw and put it asise and thus empty the ocean by carrying away one drop of water at a time.”
“The mission (of the church) is to become Christ’s very body in the world to bring about a relationship of shalom with God and throughout all of creation, including humankind.”
“An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body, and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul. One is a ghost and the other a corpse" E Stanley Jones
Friday, July 06, 2007
Elpis
Last night, we had a great time connecting to some new friends, Darrel and Rachel. We wish we would have got to know them better before. Both of them have huge hearts. They took a class on human trafficking at Fuller, and felt like they needed to do something about it to start mobilizing churches and faith communities. Basically, they are realizing that lots of people are raising awareness, but not many people know what to do help. So, they started Elpis- which means expectant hope in greek, and are tryint to both mobilize and create a network of churches/people that want to bring hope to people trapped in modern day slavery.
They are walking out into the unknown and God is connecting the dots for them along the way as they learn and grow in the process. It was exciting for Danielle to see more people get involved with this issue. We are excited to be in communication on the east coast while they work out on the west coast. Ideas travel fast, and we are looking for an abolitionist network to be established through churches in the US.
I thought one thing Darrel said was really profound: organized crime is more united and sacrificial than the church-- the russian mafia, eastern european gangs, tribal leaders, and american drug runners are more willing to work together (even though they usually hate each other) to smuggle women/children into our country than the church is willing to come together to bring light to people trapped in darkness---is money more powerful than the Spirit of Christ?
Right now, they have some great resources for awareness, but are just in the initial stages of getting a network started.
They are walking out into the unknown and God is connecting the dots for them along the way as they learn and grow in the process. It was exciting for Danielle to see more people get involved with this issue. We are excited to be in communication on the east coast while they work out on the west coast. Ideas travel fast, and we are looking for an abolitionist network to be established through churches in the US.
I thought one thing Darrel said was really profound: organized crime is more united and sacrificial than the church-- the russian mafia, eastern european gangs, tribal leaders, and american drug runners are more willing to work together (even though they usually hate each other) to smuggle women/children into our country than the church is willing to come together to bring light to people trapped in darkness---is money more powerful than the Spirit of Christ?
Right now, they have some great resources for awareness, but are just in the initial stages of getting a network started.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Car Repairs
I think going to get a car check up is one of the most dreaded things in my life. I am pretty much ignorant in the subject so anything they tell me I pretty much just have to go on intuition, and I always feel like I'm going to get over-charged.
Well, today it was different. I met Hrant. Hrant is a car-savior. He not only remembered my name and greeted me personally when I came to pick up the car, but he went through each charge point by point, the charge was under the estimate, he gave me a folder to keep my records in, told me I could bring it back if I had any problems, and he shook my hand with a smile.
Amazing. He is a picture of justice in action in the most unlikely place.
Well, today it was different. I met Hrant. Hrant is a car-savior. He not only remembered my name and greeted me personally when I came to pick up the car, but he went through each charge point by point, the charge was under the estimate, he gave me a folder to keep my records in, told me I could bring it back if I had any problems, and he shook my hand with a smile.
Amazing. He is a picture of justice in action in the most unlikely place.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Blown Away by Love
We are leaving from Pasadena to move back to the East Coast in 16 days, and the amount that we are trying to do this summer is actually impossible without the help of others. Some kind of pride in me resists receiving love to this level and relying others, and I am really blown away by how people have responded to us.
My parents not only drove to Williamsburg to pack up a Uhaul for us from our house we are selling there, but went the extra 10 miles by making up for Uhaul and driving to Norfolk to pick it up because they didn't have one in Williamsburg. They then rearranged their schedule and loaded up the truck and drove it all the way to Raleigh to our new house.
Bryce, Laurie, and Braden also helped with stuff in Williamsburg as well as 4 Tribe football players that I haven't met yet.
Then, our new church community in Raleigh, re-arranged their schedule to help move in our stuff there in less than a half-hour. Wow. We reall are blown away. There will be a big party when we get there.
Shannon Smith said there should be MVP awards given out...and I think he is implying that he deserves it for carrying our grill without a wheel, our two ton TV, and our pull-out couch. Any others in the running?
Thank you so much for the love
Corey
My parents not only drove to Williamsburg to pack up a Uhaul for us from our house we are selling there, but went the extra 10 miles by making up for Uhaul and driving to Norfolk to pick it up because they didn't have one in Williamsburg. They then rearranged their schedule and loaded up the truck and drove it all the way to Raleigh to our new house.
Bryce, Laurie, and Braden also helped with stuff in Williamsburg as well as 4 Tribe football players that I haven't met yet.
Then, our new church community in Raleigh, re-arranged their schedule to help move in our stuff there in less than a half-hour. Wow. We reall are blown away. There will be a big party when we get there.
Shannon Smith said there should be MVP awards given out...and I think he is implying that he deserves it for carrying our grill without a wheel, our two ton TV, and our pull-out couch. Any others in the running?
Thank you so much for the love
Corey
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)