HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

I love you!

a shout out for Mama Deane (and for Cold Stone)!

We landed in Newport News, Virginia on the 25th and have spent 4 days being treated to 'southern hospitality' by Deane Mills (aka Mama Deane), a wonderful lady who I met at HG5 in Pemba, Mozambique last summer. We have been given full reign of her house including the use of her truck. It has been an awesome time of rest, peace, and thought. If ever there was an amazing host who I have had the pleasure of being pampered by, it is Mama Deane. So, its not as much as you have given us, but, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU MAMA DEANE!!!
Another exciting thing which has happened in Yorktown has been that I got to experience another cherry cheesecake milkshake from one of my favorite places in the world............Cold Stone Creamery! These milkshakes may be the most tastiest things I have ever tasted! That makes Cold Stone experiences in 4 locations: Franklin, TN '06; Redding, CA '07; NYC '08, Yorktown, VA '08.

Later today, Jenny & I board a plane and head back north towards St Catharines where we will be till September 3rd. I am actually really looking forward to a short visit in St Kits again. The bulk of our time will be receiving pre-marital counseling from Pastor George and Marilyn. We also are gonna visit Scott St Manor, the Karanfilis', and Sheri. There are also many little things we need to do while there which will turn our relaxing time there into something of a rat race, but it shall be good nonetheless. Indeed, cause the God we serve is good.

When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. We have refused to be instruments of love in the hands of God to give the poor a piece of bread, to offer them a dress with which to ward off the cold. It has happened because we did not recognize Christ when, once more, He appeared under the guise of pain, identified with a man numb from the cold, dying of hunger, when He came in a lonely human being, in a lost child in search of a home.

- Mother Teresa

bye bye HH

Yesterday finished up what was called Alumni Session at Double H Ranch. It is an opportunity for those who are over 16 yrs old to return to camp for 4 days of activities at a much slower pace than regular camp. Alumni is for campers 17-21. It was a good week; I made my return to the Beaver Cabin to finish out my employment with the Ranch. It was a great summer and we had the privilege of working with an awesome summer camp for kids who don't have the easiest go at life. That being said, we are definitely ready to move on and jump into what God has for us next.
Like I said, yesterday, Alumni finished up and Jenny & I got a drive to the Albany-Renssalaer train station (thanks Rohan!!) where we hopped on a train and journeyed 595 miles south, where we presently are, visiting Mama Deane in Yorktown, Virginia. Not sure how long we'll be here but we plan to spend the few days we have here getting refreshed and being ministered to by God. What an awesome idea!!
To put the summer into words: What I learned most was I am so thankful to be in a relationship with Jesus. How is there any joy or peace without Him?! THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME FROM MYSELF LORD! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
After Virginia, we head back to Canada; St Catharines, Windsor, and then to Vegas!

2 awesome pics from NYC

Flatiron Building

Battery Park

NYC

Yesterday was pretty sweet. We left the AWESOME apt we're staying in at 9:30am and did not return till 9:30pm. It was a loooong day of walking and our feet were all in protest.
First we went to the Empire State Building and looked around NYC. Then we went to Cold Stone where the girls enjoyed ice cream and I enjoyed a cherry cheesecake milkshake!!! Best IN THE WORLD!! After that deliciousness, we went to Times Square. Then to Central Park where we got some pictures taken. After that, we were off to the site of the WTC. It is being rebuilt and should be completed by 2012. Next we went down to look at the Statue of Liberty. We all though it would've been bigger :(. And finally we went to an Irish Pub for food. And, of course, we got o take one final walk by the Flatiron Building on our walk back to our AMAZING apt. For the full set of our NYC photos click -->HERE<--. Today we jump on a bus and head back to HH for the last session of the summer. It is just about done.
The best part of Jenny and I's yesterday though was when Kylene went into a Starbucks to get directions to McSorely's (the Irish pub) and we noticed a homeless gentleman leaning up against the glass sleeping. We approached him and spent a bit of time with him. His name was James Miller and he did not have a place to live. He is constantly in and out of hospitals and alcoholism has destoyed his life and his body. James literally has no place to go and noone to turn to. He has tried shelters and programs to get clean but his disease has him defeated. We asked if we could pray with him and believe for God to work a miracle in his life, similar to mine, but he wouldn't receive it. James was obviously bitter against the church, and shut down when he thought we were there under its guise. It's sad. The Church should be a place James can run to :(. We are praying that God heals James and turns his life around.

in NYC for a couple days

Yesterday Jenny and I hopped on a bus in Glens Falls and cruised'er into the Big Apple to visit Kylene Compaan for a couple days. The bus trip was quite uneventful and we made it to the city in about 6 hrs, altogether. Arriving at 7pm, we headed down 8th Ave to meet Kylene at W34th St. We got a bite to eat, dropped our stuff off at the AMAZING apartment we're staying at (seriously, maybe the most amazing apt I've ever seen!!) and then went for a cruise around the area. The highlight of our walk was seeing the Flatiron building! We are staying in Manhattan.

Today we have a big day planned, including: spending some time with some homeless people, checking out the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, a restaurant called McSorely's, Central Park, Times Square, Statue of Liberty (maybe), Brooklyn Bridge.................I think that's it! Gonna be a busy day, better get movin!!

camping + Lake Luzerne = rained out

For our break between Sessions 6 & 7, Jenny & I took our tent and went back on the HH property and tried to do camping again. The first night was pretty good, but all the wood we tried to find to start a fire was soaked from all the rain we have received. I did manage to find some white tree bark which burned long enough for us to roast some hot dogs. It was a pretty poor fire though. We got through the night without rain and had a decent time.
Last night however, was hellish! We went back to the site around 9:30pm or so and as soon as we got into the tent I noticed water on the ground. Our tent had been leaking through the day! And our blankets were slightly wet as well. Not to be deterred, we carried on as planned. Then the sky opened up and the rain started falling. Somehow(?) the mattresses we were sleeping on started having water seep through them. The rain continued and at 5:00am this morning we called it quits and headed back to the Ranch. What a miserable night. But, on the positive side of things, I wonder what it was like for those early pioneering missionaries who abandoned the comforts they took for granted and laid them down for the sake of giving the Gospel to those unfortunate enough to have never heard. What a minimal inconvenience we suffered this weekend compared to them. When things got tough we easily retreated to our comfortable rooms; they, never had the option, nor would they have chosen to.
Let us devote our lives more completely to you Lord. We want to be so dedicated to you as to simply astound people.

I've really been missing the foreign mission field again. I found a couple pictures from some friends that I've been meaning to post and I thought I'd do it now. The first is from Inger Gaudestad (taken in Uganda) and the next if from Candace Andrews (taken in Congo). Like I said, I miss the field and want to return.

RAIN

It rains so much here. Thunderstorm after thunderstorm. Day after day.

Bear For A Day

Today was 'Day 3 of Session 6' or (more importantly) Great Escape Day!! For many of the children who attend HH, this is the best day of the best week of their year. It started off early this morning with rain :(. The clouds went away though and we were able to go. Sam (my unit leader) asked me if I was willing to leave the Muskrat Cabin for the day and help out with the Bear Cabin. The Bears are the oldest female cabin at HH (15-16 yrs) and is the cabin Jenny worked with our first 3 weeks here. I was teamed with Lolly (the Bear's UL), Felisha (an Eagle counselor), and a 16 yr old camper with cerebral palsy. I was recruited to help mainly with helping lift and transfer into rides. We drove around in cars, and took a ride in a boat, and drove the cars again. After lunch we rode the Raging River, and to end the day we went on a ferris wheel.
It was a nice change to be a part of the Bear's day at Great Escape. Lolly is an awesome leader who was nicer to me today than I could expect. The amount of lifting and transferring I did today was quite hard on my body, but it was well worth it to see the fun that our camper had, and couldn't have had without my help.
Isn't that what life is really about? Daily inconveniencing yourself for the sake of others? It's ok if the answer makes you uncomfortable. It should. Christians are here to show the world what real servanthood is. All the giants of the Christian faith whom we say we would love to imitate would likely be embarrassed to say they even know us. We have many words, but few actions to back them up. The time is getting closer. Closer than yesterday, and closer still a moment from now. How convicted are we?

Who we are, not, What we do

I was in bed last night listening to Misty Edwards and just spending time being ministered to by God, and He was downloading all sorts of hunger for more of His life into me. It was a special time, one that seems to be rare this summer. It has been kinda a dry summer Spiritually for me. Being completely out of the Christian bubble has been an interesting experience. You really find out where you stand with God when you do not have the fellowship of other believers any time you want it. It is so important that we stand on our own faith and not the stories of other faith-filled Christians whom we tend to idolatrize. In times like this we can be encouraged by such stories, but they cant live our lives for us. We must stand on our own two feet. We need to live the Bible, not just know it. There is a giant need for Christians to absolutely surrender their lives to the service of the King and give up their own fleshly desires for their futures. Bill Johnson has said that "the Holy Spirit is imprisoned in the lives of unbelieving believers". We need to believe, which is acting upon what God has told (and is telling) us to do. Camp this summer is reminding me of just how important it is to have such an intimate relationship with God. How important it is to be absolutely consumed with His plans and completely surrendered to them.
Let us pray, and act.

Camping in the Adirondacks

Jenny and I went camping for the weekend on this break. We went with our fellow HH'er Jessica Hemendinger and her boyfriend. We had a great time, save for the fact of sleeping on ground which felt like the hardest rock in the world!! Jenny had never been camping before, ever! On saturday we cruised to the Saratoga Race Track and seen a couple of races, and we visited some of the outlet stores in Lake George. I got a sweet pair of Merrell's; my Crocs are getting pretty worn and that means danger of slipping and falling and hurting myself and possibly a child riding on my back or shoulders. We had a really good time though. I havent been camping since last year in Mozambique on an overnight outreach with Heidi Baker and Co.
In other exciting news my second professionally published photo has been unveiled. Last year a newspaper in the UK wanted a picture I took (-->HERE<--) in Beslan for a story they were doing on the seige in 2004, and now Schmap has taken one of photos of Carter House in Nashville, TN for a website they host. Click -->HERE<-- to check it out! My picture is on the upper right side of the page.
Session 6 starts tomorrow and I can't wait to get another bunch of Muskrats here for 5 days of craziness. It has been a fun stint with this age group and the sessions are now flying by. 36 full days till we fly to Vegas!!!