I love my life! On top of getting engaged this last week, I’ve just had an absolutely wonderful time here lately. I live at the Boy’s Ranch, and I get really enjoy it! The boys are fairly well disciplined, and I’ve tricked them all into thinking that I’m cool, and we get along great. We play Frisbee, and one-on-one soccer, and tell stories together. I pray with them, and do Bible studies with them, and just talk to them. They tell me about their lives on the streets, and where they came from, and what they’d like to do, and it’s just really great to do!

            Most of them also speak less-than-perfect Engrish (as it’s pronounced), and I share a number funny thoughts just with myself and God. The boys really enjoy hearing me talk about how “Kah-len is so byoo-tee-fool”.  They get a kick out of it, and I enjoy the subject matter, so it’s a nice fit. They also spend lots of time asking me about America. Half of what I tell them is just made up (and they know I’m joking), but I also try to be intentional about portraying to them that America is NOT heaven-on-earth and that the physical amenities that people there have do not translate into fulfillment or happiness. They are surprised to hear that Americans commit suicide, or that they aren’t happy when they have a nice car or house. The problem isn’t that Americans have high standards, it’s just that their hearts do: physical things can never satisfy our spiritual longings, and it is the spiritual longings that really drive most of our actions (the need for acceptance, forgiveness, community, purpose, and love).

            It’s so fun to talk to these boys about this stuff, and then I realize that soon I’ll be entering back into the culture which has ensnared me in the past. It’s a sobering thought to realize that when I go back I make a very complex trade with life here. I am able to get the ice cream I love, and play the sports which are fun to me, and be gainfully employed, and walk around safely at night, but the pressures of lust, materialism, and pride in my own accomplishments will also be felt much more (especially since in America I’ve done what’s cool to young people these days: volunteering in a poor  nation). I’ll trade the laid-back relationships for more intentional tasks, and I’m excited and reluctant to make this transition. Most of all I will miss the people here, and in Kenya as well (whom I already miss, but somehow I will more when I’m in the US).

            You can pray for me, and my fiancé Karen about these things.

 

As for AMCC:

 

-       Nick got malaria!!! Please pray for his recovery and health, and that God would use this for his good, his gf’s good, and also the good of AMCC.

-       Pray for physical provision for AMCC: food, rent, pay for the employees, and for us to be able to hire new employees since Nick will be leaving in less than a month!

-       The children at AMCC to know God and His love, and to love one another.

-       The kids at AMCC to work diligently at school, and to be healthy.

-       Unity for all staff at AMCC, for us to balance our personal lives well with involvement at AMCC.