Hey friends,
On Monday, Sept 8, my wife and I are leaving for Kenya, Africa on a two-week mission trip. There are a total of five of us going together. We will be working in Eldoret the first week and Homa Bay the second.
During the day I will be helping to teach at the church where we will be stationed. In the evenings one of the other fellows will be holding crusades in the open. Because of recent violence, there are many orphans and widows in the area. My wife will be working with the widows, and we are hoping to feed as many orphans as we can while there (we have been raising money for this project for months).
I have never done anything like this before and will definitely be looking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I covet all of your prayers. Please pray that our "team" is sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and that God opens doors so that the Good News reaches those who long to hear it. Pray also that hearts are made ready to receive.
peace,
dane
Heading out ....
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featheredprop
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:51 pm
- Location: Somerset, PA
- Contact:
Heading out ....
"...the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man" Rich Mullins
Re: Heading out ....
Dane, you and your wife will be on my prayer list for the next few weeks.
Re: Heading out ....
Brother Dane,
Not long ago I revived doing a prayer requests method I learned from a {real} "Methodist."
Partial-pun intended,
It's a stenographer's pad with the 2 columns.
Requests on the left, with the date | Answers to prayer/further developments on the right, with date(s).
At any rate, I began actually doing this list again about a month ago after not using it for around a year. Mostly because I can't remember a lot of people and things I pray for: the exact request, when it was, who all is involved, the circumstances, etc. More than anything, I'm doing this for spiritual discipline & growth...in learning how God answers prayer!
Just logged in: "Dane & team to Kenya on the 8th, 9/6/08".
May the Lord go before you, Amen.
P.S. As I was typing this post, I got an email from a friend who has missionary friends working in Haiti. Hurricane Hanna left at least 500 dead there. I'm adding Haiti & the missionaries to my list. Also, I plan to do a new thread on The Stenographer's Prayer Pad {soon, in the Courtyard}.
I added the P.S. because it seems evident to me the Holy Spirit is leading me on who & what to pray for! Praise the Lord! and God bless you and The Team, Dane!
Not long ago I revived doing a prayer requests method I learned from a {real} "Methodist."
Partial-pun intended,
It's a stenographer's pad with the 2 columns.
Requests on the left, with the date | Answers to prayer/further developments on the right, with date(s).
At any rate, I began actually doing this list again about a month ago after not using it for around a year. Mostly because I can't remember a lot of people and things I pray for: the exact request, when it was, who all is involved, the circumstances, etc. More than anything, I'm doing this for spiritual discipline & growth...in learning how God answers prayer!
Just logged in: "Dane & team to Kenya on the 8th, 9/6/08".
May the Lord go before you, Amen.
P.S. As I was typing this post, I got an email from a friend who has missionary friends working in Haiti. Hurricane Hanna left at least 500 dead there. I'm adding Haiti & the missionaries to my list. Also, I plan to do a new thread on The Stenographer's Prayer Pad {soon, in the Courtyard}.
I added the P.S. because it seems evident to me the Holy Spirit is leading me on who & what to pray for! Praise the Lord! and God bless you and The Team, Dane!
Last edited by RickC on Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:45 am, edited 5 times in total.
Re: Heading out ....
Good job, Dane and may the Lord bless you and keep you.
Re: Heading out ....
P.S.S, Dane
My former neighbor who recently moved is now pastoring a small United Methodist Church in Botkins, Ohio and is going with the Certified Lay Speaker program. You and I have discussed him before, if I'm not mistaken.
If I don't make it to {his} church tomorrow, I'll give him a call before church and ask them pray for you & the team. I'm totally certain his church would love to do this! Take care, Dane. I'm looking forward to your report!
My former neighbor who recently moved is now pastoring a small United Methodist Church in Botkins, Ohio and is going with the Certified Lay Speaker program. You and I have discussed him before, if I'm not mistaken.
If I don't make it to {his} church tomorrow, I'll give him a call before church and ask them pray for you & the team. I'm totally certain his church would love to do this! Take care, Dane. I'm looking forward to your report!
Re: Heading out ....
Dane,
May God bless you as you carry out His will.
Peace brother.
May God bless you as you carry out His will.
Peace brother.
He will not fail nor be discouraged till He has established justice in the earth. (Isaiah 42:4)
Re: Heading out ....
Hi Dane
I'll join in prayer for the team. May the Lord bless your endeavours and go before you.
I'll join in prayer for the team. May the Lord bless your endeavours and go before you.
Suzana
_________________________
If a man cannot be a Christian in the place he is, he cannot be a Christian anywhere. - Henry Ward Beecher
_________________________
If a man cannot be a Christian in the place he is, he cannot be a Christian anywhere. - Henry Ward Beecher
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featheredprop
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:51 pm
- Location: Somerset, PA
- Contact:
Re: Heading out ....
Hey everyone ... thank you so much for your prayers and concern. It means more to me than you can probably imagine to know that there are people out there praying for us while we are away.
Lord willing I will see you all again in about two weeks.
peace,
dane
Lord willing I will see you all again in about two weeks.
peace,
dane
"...the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man" Rich Mullins
Re: Heading out ....
It looks like Dane & the Team are about to head home....
I'm really looking forward to Dane's report when he gets settled back in & finds the time!
I'm really looking forward to Dane's report when he gets settled back in & finds the time!
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featheredprop
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:51 pm
- Location: Somerset, PA
- Contact:
Re: Heading out ....
Thank you - everyone - who prayed for us while we were in Kenya, Africa the past two weeks. We have no doubt that the prayers of our families and friends back home sustained us in many different ways as we were away.
Let me provide you with brief report of our mission work ... first some background ...
Last year Pastor Matthew of Eldoret, Kenya had spent several hours in prayer, feeling like he needed some help for himself and his church in making disciples. He drove to a public cafe, found a computer, and typed in discipleshipministies.com - to see what he could find. He was led to my friend's site - who happens to be a missionary, evangelist, and pastor. They began to correspond, and a few months later my friend found himself in Kenya, holding crusades and teaching conferences at the church. He returned to the states with the intention of going back.
In Dec of 2007 an election in Kenya was held. The party (tribe) that was expected to win actually lost. Violence broke out that lasted for several weeks. Some estimates say that a million Africans were slaughtered by the warring tribe (most were hacked to death with machetes). The violence was brought to an uneasy end by a political coalition. Some 600,000 children were left without parents and homes. The traveling band to Kenya was lifted in around March 2008.
My friend asked if I would go back with him on his second trip. He wanted me to help do the teaching while he handled the open-air crusades. My wife, who was touched with the plight of the children, also wanted to go to see what she could do for them. Altogether, there were five of us who made this trip.
During the first week we worked with the Hope of Salvation Church in Eldoret. Each night we went to a slum neighborhood known as Road Block, where we held the crusade. We passed out candy and small gifts to the children who came, sang songs with them, and preached the Gospel. We were told that during the post-election violence the street that ran through Road Block was lined with decaptiated heads. This went on for miles and miles. Many who came forward for prayer at the Crusades were young men who had participated in the violence.
During the second week we traveled to Homa Bay, a much smaller city than Eldoret. During the daytime we made our way into the African bush to a church known as Voice of Salvation and Healing Church. Due to the recent violence and AIDS epidemic, there are a high number of widows in the area. My wife and one of the other ladies met daily with the widows to teach and offer support. Us men met with the church elders to discuss the needs of the widows. We proposed to them an idea on how the widows and orphans can be taken care of. It is based on the "intentional community" led by the Bruderhof - of which our team leader and Iare quite familiar with. The Bruderhof (they live in our area in Pennsylvania - though now under a different name) live together in community, sharing all resources. We proposed a plan wherein the widows and orphans would come together in specially-designed communities where they could live together in Christian community and take care of one another. The elders and widows were receptive to the plan. We are now working to take this plan to the next level.
During the evenings of the second week we held open-air crusades in a village near Homa Bay - much like we did in Eldoret. Again, we found God moving, and we believe seeds were planted for a church to begin in that village.
It was a very taxing trip - emotionally, physically, and mentally. Spiritually, it was a very uplifting trip. However, my wife and I still very disconnected from everyone at home. I suppose that is to be expected. When you walk on water for two weeks, it is hard to get used to life in the boat again. We went to a restaurant for lunch yesterday and as we prayed together over our meal we both broke down and began to cry for our friends in Kenya who will not eat today.
Once again, thank you for your prayers while we were away. Please continue to pray for those in Kenya who continue to suffer, and for the seeds that were planted there.
peace,
dane
Let me provide you with brief report of our mission work ... first some background ...
Last year Pastor Matthew of Eldoret, Kenya had spent several hours in prayer, feeling like he needed some help for himself and his church in making disciples. He drove to a public cafe, found a computer, and typed in discipleshipministies.com - to see what he could find. He was led to my friend's site - who happens to be a missionary, evangelist, and pastor. They began to correspond, and a few months later my friend found himself in Kenya, holding crusades and teaching conferences at the church. He returned to the states with the intention of going back.
In Dec of 2007 an election in Kenya was held. The party (tribe) that was expected to win actually lost. Violence broke out that lasted for several weeks. Some estimates say that a million Africans were slaughtered by the warring tribe (most were hacked to death with machetes). The violence was brought to an uneasy end by a political coalition. Some 600,000 children were left without parents and homes. The traveling band to Kenya was lifted in around March 2008.
My friend asked if I would go back with him on his second trip. He wanted me to help do the teaching while he handled the open-air crusades. My wife, who was touched with the plight of the children, also wanted to go to see what she could do for them. Altogether, there were five of us who made this trip.
During the first week we worked with the Hope of Salvation Church in Eldoret. Each night we went to a slum neighborhood known as Road Block, where we held the crusade. We passed out candy and small gifts to the children who came, sang songs with them, and preached the Gospel. We were told that during the post-election violence the street that ran through Road Block was lined with decaptiated heads. This went on for miles and miles. Many who came forward for prayer at the Crusades were young men who had participated in the violence.
During the second week we traveled to Homa Bay, a much smaller city than Eldoret. During the daytime we made our way into the African bush to a church known as Voice of Salvation and Healing Church. Due to the recent violence and AIDS epidemic, there are a high number of widows in the area. My wife and one of the other ladies met daily with the widows to teach and offer support. Us men met with the church elders to discuss the needs of the widows. We proposed to them an idea on how the widows and orphans can be taken care of. It is based on the "intentional community" led by the Bruderhof - of which our team leader and Iare quite familiar with. The Bruderhof (they live in our area in Pennsylvania - though now under a different name) live together in community, sharing all resources. We proposed a plan wherein the widows and orphans would come together in specially-designed communities where they could live together in Christian community and take care of one another. The elders and widows were receptive to the plan. We are now working to take this plan to the next level.
During the evenings of the second week we held open-air crusades in a village near Homa Bay - much like we did in Eldoret. Again, we found God moving, and we believe seeds were planted for a church to begin in that village.
It was a very taxing trip - emotionally, physically, and mentally. Spiritually, it was a very uplifting trip. However, my wife and I still very disconnected from everyone at home. I suppose that is to be expected. When you walk on water for two weeks, it is hard to get used to life in the boat again. We went to a restaurant for lunch yesterday and as we prayed together over our meal we both broke down and began to cry for our friends in Kenya who will not eat today.
Once again, thank you for your prayers while we were away. Please continue to pray for those in Kenya who continue to suffer, and for the seeds that were planted there.
peace,
dane
"...the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man" Rich Mullins