Hello! Thanks so much to everyone who has been following my trip and praying for what God is doing here. Thanks also to people who have given money to support what I'm doing here. The last time I posted my need it was $1510. Now, I need only $185 to be at full support for the rest of my trip. Wow! Praise God.
To send money do the following:
1. Make out a check to Heart of the Bride Ministries.
2. Don't put my name on the check. Attach a sticky-note that says "For Mark Dawson"
3. Mail it to:
Heart of the Bride Ministries
P.O. Box 786
Niceville, FL 32588
4. Pray that it gets there. :-)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Fund raiser and fun coming!
Hello all,
I've only got 5 minutes here, sorry. For a nice description of the fund-raiser go to nick's blog at www.nicknkenya.blogspot.com . Summary: good, not great, not terrible. Over double the money that was put into it came out, though only 1/10 of what we were hoping for came in (about $500 worth of stuff). God is wise, though, it's making me pray for our potential income generating project even more!
Please pray for it! Starting next week we're going to be dipping our feet in an avocado collecting business. After all of our research on chickens, rice fields, and what not, this seems to be the best opportunity to help us get food on a more sustainable basis (by getting us more money to buy the food!). I'm trying not to get my hopes up, and also trying to walk with faith, believing that what I pray for will happen (I'm terrible at that).
IN OTHER NEWS: KAREN HARTMAN IS COMING TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D
I'm excited beyond words. She's gonna chill here for 3 days, meet a million people who want to meet her, and then we're going to hike up Mt. Kenya!!! Pray for all of these things, please (and that I don't wear Karen out with my excitement!).
Thanks for the one person who posted they were going to fast for the fund raiser- you rock!
I've only got 5 minutes here, sorry. For a nice description of the fund-raiser go to nick's blog at www.nicknkenya.blogspot.com . Summary: good, not great, not terrible. Over double the money that was put into it came out, though only 1/10 of what we were hoping for came in (about $500 worth of stuff). God is wise, though, it's making me pray for our potential income generating project even more!
Please pray for it! Starting next week we're going to be dipping our feet in an avocado collecting business. After all of our research on chickens, rice fields, and what not, this seems to be the best opportunity to help us get food on a more sustainable basis (by getting us more money to buy the food!). I'm trying not to get my hopes up, and also trying to walk with faith, believing that what I pray for will happen (I'm terrible at that).
IN OTHER NEWS: KAREN HARTMAN IS COMING TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D
I'm excited beyond words. She's gonna chill here for 3 days, meet a million people who want to meet her, and then we're going to hike up Mt. Kenya!!! Pray for all of these things, please (and that I don't wear Karen out with my excitement!).
Thanks for the one person who posted they were going to fast for the fund raiser- you rock!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Fast Food
Our much-anticipated and greatly needed fund-raiser is here! It will be held on Sunday at 12:00 noon and we are praying for around 100 people to come. Including the 40 of us already at AMCC, we'll be feeding 140 people ourselves, and all for about $1.25 per person!
This fund-raiser is the first one that AMCC has ever held, and is a really good sign for them. We are stoked to see John and Nancy taking initiative and trying to engage the community around them to be involved with AMCC, rather than relying on Nick and I (and people we know) for the financial needs at AMCC. The money from this fundraiser will be spent exclusively on the needs that exist for AMCC. Food, rent, firewood, school fees, salaries (John and Nancy have not been paid in their 2 years of work at AMCC and have no other source of income!), income generating projects, transportation, phone bills, etc... We'll also be setting aside the amount of money that it put to put on this fundraiser so that when we need to have another we already have money saved for it. This is a BIG change in thinking and Nick and I are pretty stoked to see it happen!
I am writing here to ask people to PRAY- not give money! This fund-raiser is very much about what AMCC can do here, on their own, and is kind of a guage for us about what is possible here. I think that there's a lot more potential here than people give credit for. Anyway, I am asking people to please PRAY for God to move and for AMCC to be greatly provided for from this fund-raiser. The number that I've decided to ask God for is: at least 200,000 Kenyan shillings. That's about $2,500. It's a lot, but I figure that God is rich and creative so it's not beyond His hand to give it to us. Plus, the reality is that amount won't cover costs for even a full three months, so it's actually low in comparison with our need.
In particular, I am asking you if you'd fast one meal before Sunday, devoting that time to praying for AMCC and this event. Since it's pretty self-righteouss to tell people you're fasting, don't! However, I would like to get a sense of how many people are doing this. If you're going to fast, then please leave a comment under this blog post saying something like "I'm going to fast" or "Me and 35 friends are gong to fast", etc... Just make sure that you leave the comment as "Anonymous". I'm quite excited to see what happens when many people come together to pray for something. Thanks for praying for us, we'll be updating you on the fund-raiser next week!
Oh, and John and Nancy and the children say that they love you. :-)
This fund-raiser is the first one that AMCC has ever held, and is a really good sign for them. We are stoked to see John and Nancy taking initiative and trying to engage the community around them to be involved with AMCC, rather than relying on Nick and I (and people we know) for the financial needs at AMCC. The money from this fundraiser will be spent exclusively on the needs that exist for AMCC. Food, rent, firewood, school fees, salaries (John and Nancy have not been paid in their 2 years of work at AMCC and have no other source of income!), income generating projects, transportation, phone bills, etc... We'll also be setting aside the amount of money that it put to put on this fundraiser so that when we need to have another we already have money saved for it. This is a BIG change in thinking and Nick and I are pretty stoked to see it happen!
I am writing here to ask people to PRAY- not give money! This fund-raiser is very much about what AMCC can do here, on their own, and is kind of a guage for us about what is possible here. I think that there's a lot more potential here than people give credit for. Anyway, I am asking people to please PRAY for God to move and for AMCC to be greatly provided for from this fund-raiser. The number that I've decided to ask God for is: at least 200,000 Kenyan shillings. That's about $2,500. It's a lot, but I figure that God is rich and creative so it's not beyond His hand to give it to us. Plus, the reality is that amount won't cover costs for even a full three months, so it's actually low in comparison with our need.
In particular, I am asking you if you'd fast one meal before Sunday, devoting that time to praying for AMCC and this event. Since it's pretty self-righteouss to tell people you're fasting, don't! However, I would like to get a sense of how many people are doing this. If you're going to fast, then please leave a comment under this blog post saying something like "I'm going to fast" or "Me and 35 friends are gong to fast", etc... Just make sure that you leave the comment as "Anonymous". I'm quite excited to see what happens when many people come together to pray for something. Thanks for praying for us, we'll be updating you on the fund-raiser next week!
Oh, and John and Nancy and the children say that they love you. :-)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Cuttin Time!
We got our hairs cut!
Thanks to God's divine orchestration, we now have our own hair clippers and celebrated by having out first hair-cut yesterday! It was pretty cool. A professional guy came in to do it, charged 30% what he normally does, and taught two of our boys how to do it so that we can just do it ourselves in the future. The only thing we need now to do it is a generator, but thankfully John knows a man who lets us borrow one! So it now costs only 70 kenyan shilling (about 90 cents) to buy gas to fuel the generator, to cut our hair. Here are some select shots:
1. Me, lookin like Freddie Mercury (don't worry, the stache is gone already)
2. A live picture of someone getting their hair cut!
3. Joseph, David, and Dennis lookin "smart" with their trim heads. I think Joseph (far left) looks like Micheal Jordan.
4. The total amount of hair that was cut, about 1 inches tall and 24 wide.
Praise God! This thing will work for years and is a great investment for us. :-) Now we're all lookin smart for the fundraiser!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Here are few pics of the pots that we bought on Friday! Woohoo! Thank the Lord for how He moved to provide these! The word on the street is that these are of a tougher breed than the ones that we had, so they should last us longer than the last ones (which took us about two years). In one of them you can see our current pots in the background- that black is the soot that results from cooking stuff over an open fire. We're also wanting to change that situation. The smoke is pretty terrible in the kitchen and it's a serious long-term healtch concern. Maybe the Lord will just give us new land! But that would still take a while to move on to. So we pray and wait, that's pretty much the name of the game around here. Adios!
Money Talks 2
Hey all! So I wrote this in an email last Thursday. Sorry my delinquency in posting it, and THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed! Please continue to pray! We are hosting a fund-raiser this Sunday, here in Kenya. We want the money from this fund-raiser to go to:
- Begin funding sustainability projects
- Pay John and Nancy's salaries (at least something!)
- Buy food for the kids
- Cover rent for the next 3 months (and this month!)
- Pay for school fees for the kids to go to extra tutoring so they can get into High School (half of the kids last year didn't because of low test scores, i.e. half of the kids in the entire school!)
- Paying daily costs for AMCC, phone bills, transportation costs, etc...
So we're basically wanting God to move in people here and for a fair amount of money to come in (Around $800 would be awesome, twice that would be better, ten times that would be best. :-). Please join us in praying for God to move in people's hearts, get them safely to AMCC, and to only give if He tells them to.
Here's the recent update about money talks:
Yesterday, when Nancy and I came together for staff prayer (which
we want to happen every day but has happened 15% of the time, that's
frustrating for Nick and I) I asked her how she was feeling. She said
she was feeling well and was encouraged, and I followed up by saying
that sometimes Nick and I feel that we have been more of a burden to
she and John than a help. We've felt this way because we know that
they were expecting us to be coming with lots of money and we have
come with very little to none, including their own salaries. It began
a wonderful conversation where we both shared important things, things
which were shared at a slower pace (and in a softer way) that accounts
for Kenyan culture, but which I don't want to take the time to slowly
share with you right now.
I said that:
1. Nick and I feel like it has been harder on each of you for us to be
here than when we were gone.
2. Nick and I feel bad when you share needs with us because it seems
that it is an indirect way of asking for it. This is awkward because
we have already said that we will not be giving money, and we feel
that you may be either not believing us that we won't be giving more,
or that you're trying to pressure us into it.
3. In our culture, if someone is silent about something, that
generally means that they are not happy about it. We are an expressive
people, and if we enjoy something we make sure to let others know so
that they will understand that it's not that we don't care that they
have done it, and so that they would know to repeat it!
4. Nick and I have not heard either of you say anything like "I'm glad
that you are here because now I can sleep more/rest more/have a day
off/don't have to cook all the time/don't have to walk to charge the
cell phones/etc..." The only words that we have heard are things like
"The kids will all be expecting meat on Good Friday, so what do you
think about that?" or "We will be needing house rent next Monday"
etc... and so it has seemed to us that you are not happy that we are
here and mostly wish that we would give more money.
SO, just sharing those things at all was
A. Exactly what needed to be said!
B. An amazing thing that it could be said in a non-awkard way.
C. Not a planned conversation.
Nancy's response was better than I could have imagined! She said
that basically:
1. She and John are very happy and thankful that we have come. They
tell others this often, and have not said it to us because it is not
normal in their culture to do so. But we should be sure that they are
thanking God because of our coming.
2. They not been sharing financial needs as an indirect way of asking
us for money, at least not since we've had conversations about it
(which happened explicitly last Sunday). They have shared the needs
with us because we said that we had come to share the burden with
them. So they tell us so that we will also know, and share the burden,
and pray with them.
This conversation brought so much joy into my heart, and such
freedom!!! We basically repeated the conversation today with John and
Nick present, and then allowed each of them to elaborate on it. It was
just wonderful! I felt comfortable sharing all of the different things
that I had written down as needing to be shared. They were received
well because most of them are taken care of by the understanding that
when John and Nancy share needs they are NOT asking for money in an
indirect way, it is so that we also know and can experience with them
the things that they experience and pray with them (which is pretty
much exactly what Nick and I came to do!). The main problem has been
that it seems to Nick and I like John and Nancy think that God will
only provide through us, but in conversation today I believed them
when they said that was not so.
As we prayed at the end of our talk I was giddy, truly giddy! Very
much feeling the freedom to simply be obedient and faithful to what
God has called me to and trust Him with the fruit! I am so confident
that He has called us to be here and not give money, but I have felt a
great amount of pressure to take on financial responsibilities, which
made today so sweet. It was also a very enlightening thing when I read
an email from Nancy Love (tx-kenya missionary lady) who said that Nick
and I are not the only people whom God will use to provide for them.
It clicked for me that I was believing that lie, and that's where my
feelings of responsibility were coming from. If we don't, who will?
That's what I thought, and I wasn't trusting the Lord to use someone
who was not the mzungu! So I was doing the very thing that I was
frustrated with them for doing.
I feel very free here now, and am excited to see God move!! I
believe that we are formulating good plans about how to get out of the
cycle of continually running out of money, and I believe that God will
provide in the mean time. Scripturally, He said that if we seek His
Kingdom and His righteousness first then He will provide for us (and I
think that each of us are, though imperfectly, seeking His Kingdom and
righteousness first). He has also said that He is the father to the
fatherless, and there are definitely a lot of orphans here. The way I
see it, we've got two strong scriptural passages going for us, and I
REALLY DO BELIEVE THAT HE'S GOING TO PROVIDE BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS.
I've never believed it so strongly before, and it is just a freeing
thing! I'm going to bed now knowing how He will do it, and knowing
that our rent was due 10 days ago, and we'll have to borrow food on
credit if we don't get any by Tuesday, but I just KNOW that He will
provide! We've been praying that we would grow in faith (Ryan has been
praying that for over a year, and it's been inspiring for me to see
him praying for it so consistently), and I sense that God has been
doing that in me as of late.
I feel like a big corner has been turned, as we've now clearly
spelled out the things that we are going to give money for
(sustainability projects, but ultimately whatever He tells us to) and
what we're not going to (day-to-day and recurring needs, food, rent,
salaries, talk time, matatu rides, etc...) and we are at peace about
it all. John and Nancy both elaborated that it was good for us to talk
about the differences in culture and that "surely we were doing this
because, in our place, it is the best thing to do". Mostly, I believe
them, but I'm waiting for time to fill in the last 10% of that belief.
I really think it will though, and I'm so encouraged!!! Nick and
mine's task now feels very possible, and I will feel much more
comfortable leaving Nick here when this way of relating becomes normal
and I don't sense that they'll constantly be pressuring Nick to give
money that He sense God doesn't want him to give.
So we're really happy about that! Praise God alone. He is the One who makes things like this happen. Woohoo.
- Begin funding sustainability projects
- Pay John and Nancy's salaries (at least something!)
- Buy food for the kids
- Cover rent for the next 3 months (and this month!)
- Pay for school fees for the kids to go to extra tutoring so they can get into High School (half of the kids last year didn't because of low test scores, i.e. half of the kids in the entire school!)
- Paying daily costs for AMCC, phone bills, transportation costs, etc...
So we're basically wanting God to move in people here and for a fair amount of money to come in (Around $800 would be awesome, twice that would be better, ten times that would be best. :-). Please join us in praying for God to move in people's hearts, get them safely to AMCC, and to only give if He tells them to.
Here's the recent update about money talks:
Yesterday, when Nancy and I came together for staff prayer (which
we want to happen every day but has happened 15% of the time, that's
frustrating for Nick and I) I asked her how she was feeling. She said
she was feeling well and was encouraged, and I followed up by saying
that sometimes Nick and I feel that we have been more of a burden to
she and John than a help. We've felt this way because we know that
they were expecting us to be coming with lots of money and we have
come with very little to none, including their own salaries. It began
a wonderful conversation where we both shared important things, things
which were shared at a slower pace (and in a softer way) that accounts
for Kenyan culture, but which I don't want to take the time to slowly
share with you right now.
I said that:
1. Nick and I feel like it has been harder on each of you for us to be
here than when we were gone.
2. Nick and I feel bad when you share needs with us because it seems
that it is an indirect way of asking for it. This is awkward because
we have already said that we will not be giving money, and we feel
that you may be either not believing us that we won't be giving more,
or that you're trying to pressure us into it.
3. In our culture, if someone is silent about something, that
generally means that they are not happy about it. We are an expressive
people, and if we enjoy something we make sure to let others know so
that they will understand that it's not that we don't care that they
have done it, and so that they would know to repeat it!
4. Nick and I have not heard either of you say anything like "I'm glad
that you are here because now I can sleep more/rest more/have a day
off/don't have to cook all the time/don't have to walk to charge the
cell phones/etc..." The only words that we have heard are things like
"The kids will all be expecting meat on Good Friday, so what do you
think about that?" or "We will be needing house rent next Monday"
etc... and so it has seemed to us that you are not happy that we are
here and mostly wish that we would give more money.
SO, just sharing those things at all was
A. Exactly what needed to be said!
B. An amazing thing that it could be said in a non-awkard way.
C. Not a planned conversation.
Nancy's response was better than I could have imagined! She said
that basically:
1. She and John are very happy and thankful that we have come. They
tell others this often, and have not said it to us because it is not
normal in their culture to do so. But we should be sure that they are
thanking God because of our coming.
2. They not been sharing financial needs as an indirect way of asking
us for money, at least not since we've had conversations about it
(which happened explicitly last Sunday). They have shared the needs
with us because we said that we had come to share the burden with
them. So they tell us so that we will also know, and share the burden,
and pray with them.
This conversation brought so much joy into my heart, and such
freedom!!! We basically repeated the conversation today with John and
Nick present, and then allowed each of them to elaborate on it. It was
just wonderful! I felt comfortable sharing all of the different things
that I had written down as needing to be shared. They were received
well because most of them are taken care of by the understanding that
when John and Nancy share needs they are NOT asking for money in an
indirect way, it is so that we also know and can experience with them
the things that they experience and pray with them (which is pretty
much exactly what Nick and I came to do!). The main problem has been
that it seems to Nick and I like John and Nancy think that God will
only provide through us, but in conversation today I believed them
when they said that was not so.
As we prayed at the end of our talk I was giddy, truly giddy! Very
much feeling the freedom to simply be obedient and faithful to what
God has called me to and trust Him with the fruit! I am so confident
that He has called us to be here and not give money, but I have felt a
great amount of pressure to take on financial responsibilities, which
made today so sweet. It was also a very enlightening thing when I read
an email from Nancy Love (tx-kenya missionary lady) who said that Nick
and I are not the only people whom God will use to provide for them.
It clicked for me that I was believing that lie, and that's where my
feelings of responsibility were coming from. If we don't, who will?
That's what I thought, and I wasn't trusting the Lord to use someone
who was not the mzungu! So I was doing the very thing that I was
frustrated with them for doing.
I feel very free here now, and am excited to see God move!! I
believe that we are formulating good plans about how to get out of the
cycle of continually running out of money, and I believe that God will
provide in the mean time. Scripturally, He said that if we seek His
Kingdom and His righteousness first then He will provide for us (and I
think that each of us are, though imperfectly, seeking His Kingdom and
righteousness first). He has also said that He is the father to the
fatherless, and there are definitely a lot of orphans here. The way I
see it, we've got two strong scriptural passages going for us, and I
REALLY DO BELIEVE THAT HE'S GOING TO PROVIDE BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS.
I've never believed it so strongly before, and it is just a freeing
thing! I'm going to bed now knowing how He will do it, and knowing
that our rent was due 10 days ago, and we'll have to borrow food on
credit if we don't get any by Tuesday, but I just KNOW that He will
provide! We've been praying that we would grow in faith (Ryan has been
praying that for over a year, and it's been inspiring for me to see
him praying for it so consistently), and I sense that God has been
doing that in me as of late.
I feel like a big corner has been turned, as we've now clearly
spelled out the things that we are going to give money for
(sustainability projects, but ultimately whatever He tells us to) and
what we're not going to (day-to-day and recurring needs, food, rent,
salaries, talk time, matatu rides, etc...) and we are at peace about
it all. John and Nancy both elaborated that it was good for us to talk
about the differences in culture and that "surely we were doing this
because, in our place, it is the best thing to do". Mostly, I believe
them, but I'm waiting for time to fill in the last 10% of that belief.
I really think it will though, and I'm so encouraged!!! Nick and
mine's task now feels very possible, and I will feel much more
comfortable leaving Nick here when this way of relating becomes normal
and I don't sense that they'll constantly be pressuring Nick to give
money that He sense God doesn't want him to give.
So we're really happy about that! Praise God alone. He is the One who makes things like this happen. Woohoo.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Chickens and Packages
We're ordering chickens this Tuesday! Pray for this project to go well and for us to get lots of eggs and for it to be sustainable!
Also, we got two packages this week! THANK YOU SO MUCH to my Uncle Brian and Aunt Pat and my mom and dad for sending spices, sunscreen, pencils, hats, etc...
Also, we got two packages this week! THANK YOU SO MUCH to my Uncle Brian and Aunt Pat and my mom and dad for sending spices, sunscreen, pencils, hats, etc...
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