Trusting God

For me, going to Kenya is all about Trusting God.
It was that still small voice a year ago. I was going through a health crisis… I was a total mess…yet I heard the call. Because I had been to Kenya before, I knew what God was asking me to do. It was obvious I was in no shape to be going, yet all I wanted was to do whatever God wanted me to. I believed He would supply what I needed to do it.
Two months later, I applied to serve with God at the Beacon of Hope.
Months went by and the team had still not been picked. In fact, I found out that one of the goals for this trip was to take all new team members. I waited… I believed that if God wanted me to go, that I could trust that I would be going. But doubt crept in. Eight months after receiving the call, I was accepted to be on the team. This was an exciting confirmation to me that God can be trusted to do what He intended.
It came time to raise prayer and financial support. I believed God could be trusted to meet our financial needs because He had done this before. But now? In these economic times? This felt like it was a lot of support to raise. I said out loud what I knew to be true, but inside I was wondering if it would happen.
It was feast and famine, but in three months ALL of the needed support came in. It was exciting to see How God supplied the finances and the prayer. He provided me with renewed health- I haven’t been in this good of shape for years! He even supplied two wonderful gentlemen to stay at our home and take care of our dogs. There was not doubt about it; God was confirming to me that He does not ask you to do something without providing you with everything you need to do it.
So when the teams return flights were canceled two weeks before we were to leave for Kenya, it was not hard for me to believe that He would take care of it. He provided better return flights than we had to begin with. I was thanking God that He was confirming to me that He can be trusted.
Three days before we were to leave I was stunned. Our furnace fan stopped working, a malfunction indicator light went on in the car, my crown came off and I chewed it up, our dog came down with an ear infection, I lost my daughters newly refilled and very expensive medication, etc…Yes, I was stunned. As we were trying to take care of these things yesterday, I realized- this was a BIG opportunity to Trust God. There must be even bigger things to Trust God for in Kenya, at home and in the years to come. Thank you God that you can be trusted. Gail

Wheels Up Tomorrow

Well, our bags are packed (or at least half packed, with the rest strewn across our living room floor), and we're almost ready to go! In 24 hours, we will be on a bus making our way to Chicago O'Hare for our 1:42 pm flight to Detroit. We have a very tight layover in Detroit, so your prayers would be appreciated! Pray especially for the weather in the Chicago area, as O'Hare is notorious for shutting down if so much as a drop of rain falls (OK, maybe not, but it certainly seems that way!). Once in Detroit, we'll board a plane for our first 8+ hour leg to Amsterdam. Then we'll board another 8+ hour flight destined for Nairobi, where we'll be greeted by our friends and drivers, Jurim and Anthony.

Thank you to all of our supporters for making this trip possible for the 2009 team. Your outpouring of prayers, encouragement and financial gifts have been overwhelming. With deep gratitude, you will be in our minds and hearts as we serve our friends in Kenya. We look forward to sharing this experience with you...

Baraka tele (Many blessings)!

The '09 Kenya Team

God is Good!

THANK YOU to everyone who was praying for our team after learning that our return flight had been cancelled last week. Going into the weekend, things were not looking good for us as our travel agent was having a very difficult time getting in contact with Delta. When she finally did, they told her there was no more space left with their partner airlines. [Gulp]. Our choices at that time were to either change the dates of our trip, or start all over and end up paying a lot more money for new tickets...money that we really don't have! The latter option could have jeopardized the whole trip. [Double Gulp].

Needless to say, the team was praying hard, and many of you were praying with us over the weekend. Meanwhile, our travel agent brought in the big guns of her travel agency and their sales rep for Delta...a somewhat extraordinary measure. Late Monday afternoon, our prayers were answered when Joel and I received an email with a new itinerary on KLM...FREE OF CHARGE! And this itinerary is a beauty in comparison to the original one. Instead of being stuck on the same plane for 19 hours, we will instead fly 8 hours to Amsterdam, then another 8 hours to Chicago. And we actually arrive 10 minutes earlier than our original itinerary. We were elated to hear this news (I felt like the happy little elephants in the photo).

So again, thank you for your hear-felt prayers. This is yet again a firm reminder that God is Good and Sovereign over this team and everything that is thrown our way!

We need a return Itinerary! Please pray!

Tuesday night marked our last team meeting before the morning of our departure! We spent the evening sorting and organizing and packing up all the donations that were made to our efforts at Beacon of Hope, including hundreds of childrens books, hundreds of Beanie Babies, hundreds of pairs of shoes (seeing a theme here?), and craft and teaching supplies. Thanks to all of you who gave!

Two of our elders, Mike Anderson and Rick Lindroth, along with several former team members were on hand for a time of prayer and commissioning, followed by dinner and story-telling. It was a great night together!

In the midst of all of that chaos, we received some interesting news and we can certainly use your prayers this week! We've had our airfare booked for the last month through Delta/NWA and our return trip was on a newly opened itinerary through Delta. For the first time in over 30 years, a US airline was going to be flying direct to and from Nairobi. The itinerary called for a 19 hour return flight from Nairobi to Atlanta, by way of a short refueling stop in Dakar, Senegal (West Africa). This is the return flight we were supposed to be on.

However, this week we learned (in a passing comment by our travel agent) that this particular itinerary has been canceled. So we could use your prayers as we navigate getting Delta to put us on a new return flight. Our travel agent has been calling 2-3 times a day with no success, so specifically you can pray that she will be able to get through and they can resolve the issue.

Thanks everyone for your support and for your prayers. We really appreciate you!

13 Days and counting!

Blessings,
Joel

Preparations

With our departure date rapidly drawing near, I am attempting to check off the tasks on my "to-do" list in hope that all details are in order before we leave. Taking care of the logistics of the trip has been time consuming but relatively easy compared to the other part of preparation. This is the part that I've been avoiding - preparing my heart and mind for this journey. Why is this part so difficult?

It is truly a gift to be able to return to Kenya. I feel like a part of me has been longing to return since my first visit there two years ago. What I experienced then has changed my life. My eyes have been opened to see the world and not just my little corner of it. I have witnessed God's presence in the midst of extreme poverty. I have learned the importance of investing in people and not in things. I have learned to live more simply. However, with these life lessons came emotional challenges. My heart still aches from stories that I heard, people that I met, and poverty that I saw. Even as I prepare for this trip, I feel like I'm still processing things from two years ago and I know that with this journey will come new challenges. But yet, I'm excited to return. I look forward to seeing my Kenyan friends and joining them as a participant in God's work. I am also excited to see what God has done through Beacon of Hope over these past two years.

So, as I struggle with being prepared, it is my hope to go forward with a mind that wants to learn and with a heart that God will shape into what He wants it to be.

Lisa

24 days until departure

24 more days! It feels like the big 'to-do's have been completed and the smaller details are all falling into place. Everyone has been sufficiently vaccinated, tested, prescribed, and all those not particularly enjoyable, but necessary things. Logistics, travel details, and rough daily schedules are all hammered out and the reality of the trip has set in.
It has been a long time coming for many of us. Waiting 6 months between finding out we're going and actually going has in many instances felt like the departure moment would never come. But, this past week in my case, another fire has been ignited -the same one that I felt when I learned of this opportunity to go to Kenya. It's hitting home that the wait is almost over and it's almost time to go be a part of and a witness to something incredible on the other side of the world. Since vaccinations and logistical details are now fairly set, I feel like this is the time for all of us to really just open up and let our hearts be prepared. Prepared to listen, to learn, to ask questions, to respect, to empathize, to absorb, to celebrate, and above and in all, love our God, teammates, and fellow Kenyan brothers and sisters as we're all underneath the God Umbrella (if you will).
Another aspect of this trip that I'm particularly proud to be a part of is this mission's idea of evangelizing. Many very respectable American churches do mission trips to foreign countries to bring The Word of God - preaching, teaching, evangelizing. While it is clear that bringing God's word to others is essential and good, I feel that sometimes this gets out of hand and creates a self-righetous image of Christians/Americans/Christian Americans, and maybe even a sense of pride and superiority in some of those mission go-ers. This Kenya trip is visibly different. Kenya has more self-reported Christians (by percentage) than the United States. If we looked at who needed to hear The Word in terms of percentages, we should be turning to our own country. Like Blackhawk's Love Madison project that sent God's people out into a community to do good works, we are going to Kenya as God's people to do good works and build in fellowship with other believers as well as non-believers. Our fellowship under Christ is not and should not be limited to those people who happen to reside in our neighborhood, classrooms or workplace. God's world and what he offers us extends so far beyond what is immediately accessible. Here is an opportunity to impact lives not simply through evangelizing in word but by deed, action, and relationship, to name a few. Also, here is an opportunity to experience God in new ways through unique situations that we have not yet encountered in our lives that will challenge us in ways that, without Kenya, we would not be challenged and thus would not grow. What an incredible opportunity to be people that exude and experience Christ's grace. In closing: a favorite quote of mine that has been dancing in my brain tonight that applies to all of us in many ways: "Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi.

-Emily

Team Pictures

We are one month away (to the day) from our departure for Kenya! Here are a couple pictures of the team from our overnight retreat a month ago!

Shown from left to right:
Back: Joel Hassenzahl, Andy Simon-Wambach, Maggie Rodgers, Tim Schiefelbein, Ginger McCullough, Emily Hindman, Dale Bertram, Gail Bertram, Paul Pankratz

Front: Holly Hassenzahl, Cammie Sorensen, Amy Schiefelbein, Clare Tillman, Lisa Underhill, Sarah Parker

Not Shown: Tony Hunter