For the most part since I have been back it has been crazy busy but I guess that is the time of the year. I have been mostly visiting with people and taking a final exam. But I have had sometime to just sit and think and just simple listen to Jesus. I find this time precious and dear to me. During this time I have so strongly felt that wherever I have been and whatever I have done I must continue in that same attitude of His service. Sure we have time for rest and relaxation but we must always be on mission and glorifying Jesus.

The Message reads in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them.

We represent Christ; He has set us apart and called us His representatives. It doesn’t matter where you are at, YOU are His representative. Weather you are a missionary in Africa, construction worker in the US, or a computer programmer in India YOU are called to represent Christ at all time so that you can bring men and women into the hope and love of Jesus Christ.

As you reflect upon the birth of Jesus this season remember he came into the world in a lowly place a stable just a run down barn. So remember whether you are high or low Jesus will use YOU and call YOU his representative.

     With that being said, besides the oblivious ones that I am thankful for and love dearly like: God, Jesus, Family, and Friends I have put together some possible predictable or not so predictable things I am thankful for this year that I have taken advantage of in the past.

Food: Most of you will indulge in turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie on Thursday but I will be enjoying an egg and bread for breakfast, beans and rice for lunch, and rice and liver or beef for dinner, I might get lucky and get a fresh Nile Perch from the lake for dinner. (I love the fish here in the lake it is a great source of protein) For most orphaned children and the poor all over the world they will just be eating rice and beans or even nothing. 6 million children die each year of starvation. So I am thankful for food this year and blessed we have such great food in America. I have a list of restaurants I want to visit when I get back to the US : ).

Water: This week I visited a far off village called Songa I will tell you more about this trip in my next post. This village the orphans and widows in our project do not have a proper well and they drink water from a watering hole where wild animals get in and drink and digest in it creating many disease like: Cholera, Typhoid, Polio, Diarrhea, and many more. They have no choice it is their only water source for miles and they must boil it and drink it. Here in the city I live in the public water often looks like milk as it comes out of the faucets because of all the chemicals in it. I am thankful I have purified bottled water here in Africa and I am so thankful I have FREE 100% safe drinking water from any faucet in America.

My Car: I have a 1995 Nissan Maxima, the best things about old cars is not having a car payment, but the downside is frequent breakdowns but repairs are heck of a lot cheaper than a monthly payment. I have always said I would love to live in a city with public transport that can take you anywhere. Well here in Mwanza the public transport can just about take you anywhere but it not as great as I thought it would be. First off the amount of time I would save having a car is astronomical. Sometimes to make it 10 miles it can take you over 1 hour. You will need to take two busses, and you can wait at an intersection for 30 minutes waiting for a bus with a seat, and if there is a free one you have to fight for it, push through the crowd, and be a jerk. Then once you get in it smells awful and you are squished in. After doing this for almost 3 months I so thankful I have running car that can take me anywhere I want and in a timely matter.

      Try and not get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, pray for the afflicted and hurting they need our prayers and love and be thankful for the blessing you have to give.

      My time is coming to an end quickly I will be back in the US in less than 2 weeks. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone, I cant wait to get back and see family and friends but it is going to be so hard to leave the friends and family I have made here in Africa, so bittersweet. Next week be watching for a video post, I am very excited to tell you what is going on in the orphan and widow projects I am involved with, the strategy is genius and I also have some funny pictures of a ceremony that was given to me at the church in Kiseki.

Now let me say this I am by no means an expert on the US money and job crisis and I do not have the solution. However I have been keeping an eye on the news seeing the Eurozone and Wall Street crisis. One thing that got a lot of attention here in Africa was the “occupy Wall Street” protests. Not really sure why the media here loved it but it was all over the news.

Being in Africa I have seen a lot of different things and when I look at the US money and job crises I cannot help but wonder has the US lost its “great American work ethic”? American’s have always had pride in the fact that they are hard working, educated, and strong. However the question is have we lost that? Here in Africa I have seen a hard work ethic like no other.

The local transport in Mwanza is awesome. There are hundreds of dalla dalla’s (15 passenger vans) that transport people through out the overpopulated city. The van only seats 15 people but that wont stop them from fitting more, I’ve seen close to 30 people jammed in, it is the most uncomfortable yet exhilarating experience ever and I have yet to see another Mzungu (white man) riding the public transport. My favorite part is when everyone is jammed in and Justin Bieber comes on the radio and everyone starts humming and singing the lyrics, its hilarious. I have met and become friends with a man who drives one of these vans. This man starts working at 5am and finishes at 10pm and works 7 days a week.

He told me: “Once in a while I may take Sunday morning off to go to church but after its back on the road.”

Then I asked when do you rest? He replied:

“I have to provide food for my family, there is no time to rest”.

One other thing is the children strive for education. Almost every kid or teenager I have met tells me it is a privilege they get to go to school and they love it. They take every spare moment to study and make sure they are ready for their tests.

Most of Africa is extremely underdeveloped and there are millions and millions without jobs or an education. But I think the US can learn a lot from Africa. They are starting to develop and they have a strive to be great and some will do anything to achieve it. I don’t have the answers to the debt crisis, but I do believe we in the US have lost our hard work ethic and strive for education and we must get it back to help the mounting issues.

While I was in Mozambique I spent a fair amount of time helping construct a playground in a small village called Meazi. Every Monday and Friday a nurse travels to the church and offers a small health clinic for the people in the area. We would arrive very early in the morning to start working before the sun got to hot and hours before the nurse would even get their the sick would start lining up. There were many young mothers seeking medical check up for their healthy babies and older people looking for medical attention. However one day we arrived and their was a mother holding a extremely malnourished baby. I am sure you have all seen those TV commercials showing malnourished children and they ask you to give money, but those commercials could not give justice to what I saw with this baby. The little one had wrists the size of pencils. Seeing in person adds a whole new dimension and makes you sick to your stomach. I didn’t know what to do my heart was so heavy, my emotions wanted to scream and yell at God, but in the end the only thing I could do is turn the passion into prayer that God would heal and take away sickness.

Back in Tanzania a month or so ago I had the opportunity to dedicate a baby in our church service, it was a fun and beautiful experience. However the father was not present, I just assumed he was either absent from the home or too lazy to go to church. Well a few weeks later I found out he was sick in bed and so we went to pray with him, Charlie is his name. On our way to Charlie’s house I was informed he had two kids, one to his first wife who had passed away about two years ago from an unknown cause, now he is recently remarried and just had a second child. On our way there we passed by their old home in which the roof had been caved in by heavy rain. Now this was no ordinary home it was literally a 6 x 12 foot cement structure you couldn’t fit more than 7 people in there smashed like sardines and this was their home the four of them ate, slept, and lived in their. Since the roof caved in and the rainy season is upon us they moved in and became “squatters” in an abandoned half way constructed home with a roof. We went to pray with him and he had a large bacterial infection on his leg. It was completely swollen and looked brutally painful. Because they had no money literally no money they could not go to a doctor. As we entered the make shift home I could see signs that the witch doctor had been their. Many times people who are young in their faith do not understand the demonic oppression witch doctors have, and since they can’t afford a hospital all they know is to trust the witch doctor.  A few days later I talked to a friend of mine who is nurse, she knew the antibiotic he need to draw out the infection and she purchased it for him. I went with her to present it to him, we prayed with him, led him to the Lord, and prayed against the witch doctors oppression. Last I heard the antibiotic was working and he was feeling better.

I wish life was always dandy for African’s but the reality is it is hard and rough. I am sure you have seen utter poverty either on a mission trip, Hollywood movie, or documentary and your heart has broken. But when you see it day after day for this many weeks straight it weighs on your hearts and becomes burden you cannot forget and keeps you up at night. The cross that Jesus carried was a heavy burden and broke His heart and He asks of us to take up our cross and follow Him.  I cannot ignore this burden of the hurting I must take up my cross, suffer, rejoice, love, cry, sing, and follow Him.

Here is a new update of my time in Tanzania and Mozambique. Enjoy and keep me in your prayers.

My time in Mwanza has been very plesent. Pastor Erick and his family are very hospitable and caring. I have entitled this post “Being Ready” inspired by the verse in 2 Timothy that states “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction”. My first morning in Mwanza was last Saturday and I was told I would be preaching at church the next morning. Luckily the Lord had put a word on my heart and I was ready. The church service was awesome. The church is in a poor community on the outskirts of town. It was nice to see a church not a building, you see many times we think and judge churches by the building, carpet, paint, and art. However we all know the church is the people and the people are the only important part. So once I arrived I saw the people, the church. That’s all you can see because the building is basic with only concrete floors, no windows, no stage, and the sound system is powered by a generator that is lets just say “it’s not as faithful as the parishioners”. During worship everyone dances and sings to the top of their lungs, and nobody sings off key, unlike American churches : ). Thankfully the Lord gave me grace and strength to bring the Word and minister to the church.

After this experience I figured I better be ready to preach at any moment. You see the people of Africa have great respect for an American that travels all the way to Africa to do ministry. They want to hear what they have to say and they respect them for coming and sacrificing. So early Monday morning I made sure and started to prepare some Words for the church. Later in the week and I was privileged to speak again at the mid-week service and at home fellowships, then again yesterday at church service. I have learned quickly to be ready in and out of season. I believe this doesn’t solely apply to me, you may have something to learn also, you never know when you will be given the opportunities to speak God’s love and you must be ready in and out of season, because HE is worthy.