Thanks for praying!

Thanks for praying for me during my recent trip. I made it in and out of the country safe and sound. I didn’t even have problems while I was roaming around. While I was in Zimbabwe, there were three journalists arrested, beaten and jailed. I thank God that I wasn’t one of them!

While Zimbabwe allows Christians and missionaries in the country, the government does not like journalists. Journalists have to sneak in and out to write stories about the oppression going on in this country.

The purpose of going to Zimbabwe was to write some stories on how God is at work in this down-trodden country. At one time, Zimbabwe was the “jewel of Africa.” It was the most advanced country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Now, instead of feeding most of southern Africa, the country depends on foreign aid. A recent report lists Zimbabwe’s inflation at 4,000 percent this year. Here’s an easy way to put this in perspective: Let’s say a loaf of bread costs 50 cents. With inflation rates of 4,000 percent that means the loaf of bread now costs $2,000.

This picture is of money I exchanged on the black market (where everyone exchanges money, even government officials). At the beginning of the week, it was worth $50. By the time I left it, that same pile of money was only worth $20.

You are only allowed to take $1.5 million out of the bank each day. That means people live on less than $15 US dollars a day. Can you imagine a family of six (average size of a Zimbabwean family) living on less than $15 a day?

The poverty line for an average family of six is reported to be around $5.5 million a month. This is an impossible salary for most people, even teachers and policemen do not make this much money a month. Because of this, the country is suffering greatly.

Pray for Zimbabwe!

Nairobi Street Kid

I love hanging out with the street kids in Nairobi. You'd be very surprised at their sense of humor. Every time I visit with them in the mornings, they have me laughing so hard. They are especially good at doing imitations of people. I haven't convinced them to show me their imitation of me yet.

I'm posting some photos that my friend Justin, a photographer, took while going to work with the street kids. The picture of the young girl is of an American sixth-grader who lives in Nairobi. She goes with us early in the mornings to work with the street kids, too. She wakes up at 4:45 a.m. She plays with the kids and helps hand out food. The older boys on the street are all very protective of their "little American sister." We finish up with the boys around 7:30 a.m. and then this sixth-grader heads off to school.

One day I asked this sixth-grader why she did this when that meant a super long day at school twice a week. She looked at me pretty surprised and said, "I like to tell people about Jesus." Her unspoken look continued with, "DUH! Don't you like doing the samething? It's what we are supposed to do."

Guess this sixth-grader shows that no matter what your age is, the Children of God are to tell of His Great News.

U.S.A.

I spent most of the month of May in the States for meetings. I had the chance to visit some friends along the way, so that made the meetings more enjoyable - ha!

One of my meetings was very interesting. It was a gathering of 53 media people from around the world. We viewed each others' projects and talked about how we could all coordinate efforts and work together. There are some very talented people around the world.

The best part about my time in the States is that I attended two major league baseball games. One had an hour and a half rain delay, but true baseball fans will wait through rain - especially if it's been five or six years since you've seen a game and you have front row, third base seats!

Keep watching this blog for adventures. I'm gearing up for another heavy travel schedule to some very interesting places.

University of Nairobi, Kenya

Man, it's been a long time since I was in college. For those suffering the same fate as me -- growing old -- just know that college students are the same now as they were back in the day -- late night study sessions, late night gab sessions, late night hunger attacks and just late nights.

A photographer and I spent last week working in Nairobi with a group of volunteers from Kansas. The volunteers are here for three months to work with students at the University of Nairobi. These volunteers are special to me because they are not only from Kansas, but actually know where my hometown is located!

Keisha, Jessie, Luke and Porifio work with university students in an effort to disciple them to be the leaders Kenya need them to be. This is through the local student Christian union clubs. We spent the week following them around and meeting the Kenyan students.

One day, they had a good, old-fashioned American youth group party. They introduced the silly games most of us grew up playing -- like passing the orange underneath your chin, pop the balloon on a chair, etc. The Kenyan students had never played these games and the laughter could be heard all over the park.

One of the favorite games was drinking pop as fast as you can. Each team had a two-litre bottle and straws. In Kenya, pop is not an everyday thing for the common person, so it's a treat to drink one -- let alone two-litres. Of course, you know the object is for everyone on the team to drink pop out of the straw and be the first one done...and the result is a good, ole burping contest.

It was a lot of fun hanging out with some "home folk" for once. Here's a picture of us all eating at a nice restaurant in Nairobi. On the right side of the table are Keisha, Jessie and Luke. Justin (the photographer living in Nairobi) and I are on the left side. Porifio isn't in the picture because he took it.

Kansas people, I highly recommend you getting this team to your church to talk. They have some exciting stuff to say and it's another chance for you to learn more about my home. If you are interested in getting in touch with them to speak, just let me know.