Kenya_08_Marked_Men_For

The MMFC are back in Nairobi at the International Guest House hotel to rest before they begin their long journey home. Everyone is doing well and ready to come home.

Their flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam is at 9:50pm tonight. (8 1/2 hour flight) They arrive in Amsterdam at 5:30am Wednesday morning and will have a layover. They leave Amsterdam at 2:00pm Wednesday and arrive in Memphis at 4:50pm. (9 1/2 hour flight) This is where they split up and go their separate ways. The MMFC from Denver leave Memphis at 7:20pm and arrive in Denver at 8:58pm.

Spice said the safari yesterday was amazing! They saw hippos, giraffes, rhinos, crocodiles, and others. The highlight was seeing several sets of lions and one female lion with quadruplet cubs!

They decided to go to the Kibera slums today. Kibera is a slum area outside Nairobi, Kenya and is the same size as New York City's Central Park, about 1.5 square miles. At over 1 million people, the population density is 30 times that of New York City, and Kibera does not have multi-level housing. Most people living in Kibera have little or no access to basic neccessities, such as electricity, clean water, toilet facility and sewage disposal. They toured the slums with Pastor Timothy.

Spice says this trip has been a stretching experience from God in so many ways. He is ready to come home and excited to tell all about what he has seen and done over the past 13 days in Africa.

All are doing well. They made it to Massai Mara. They look forward to rest and the safari tomorrow.

Hello Christian family from Africa!

This is Day #10 and we are thriving in God's love on this first MMFC international mission trip!!! Glory to God.

Today is a transition and travel day as we move from this remote village of Shangrillia (Lusilola) to Kissimu, Kenya. We will depart at 2pm for our 7pm flight. It is only a 20-mile trip but, due to the very poor road conditions it takes anywhere from 1 to 2 hours (depending on traffic, donkeys, foot traffic, etc..). We plan to visit the local "Walmart" type shopping center and the USA style flea market. We will fly to Nairobi (1-hour flight) and spend the night in the International Guest House. This Guest House is the same place we spent our first night in Nairobi. Let me describe it to you;

INTERNATIONAL GUEST HOUSE (this is NOT the Hilton Hotel = smile)
a) It is surrounded by 9-foot high rock walls with jagged glass acting as additional security. They do lock the 8-foot gates and have 2-guards at the entrance on the inside of the rock wall. We are SAFE! As you know, Papa is watching over HIS adopted sons!!
b) It has 4-guard dogs that bark all night long
c) We also heard two gun shots on the first night of our arrival.
d) It is 4-stories tall with 2-rooms per floor.
e) We sleep on average 2 to 3 men per room
f) It does have running water, plumbing and electricity (very grateful)
g) We are charged $39 per night per person -- and it includes breakfast
h) Transportation from the airport is provided by the hotel in what looks like a airport rental car bus. We pile our bags and backpacks on the roof (not tied down) and on our laps/floor of the bus. There is no air conditioning (dah).
i) Breakfast is served with great caring and hospitality by the owner and his staff. We get basically, chai tea, bread and butter and some additional carbohydrate food. We will supplement this meal with protein bars and beef jerky.

Lastly, this morning we spent 2-hours reflecting on GOD'S transformation in each of the staff men. We started with "live" worship by our worship leader (Brian Rhodda on guitar accompanied by Sean D. on the drums). Then prayer. Presentation by our mission coordinator (Randy S.) on looking back on how GOD brought us to this place; i.e., MMFC Phase 1 #50 in Kenya, Africa. Then, we spent time reflecting on four questions on how GOD has changed our lives as HIS missionaries. It was a powerful time of reflection on a reminder of what GOD has done in each of HIS men. Praise GOD for HIS love and faithfulness.

Prayer Request:
a) Please pray for Art Deyo who has a mild stomach issue -- we are entrusting his care to Father. Your additional prayers will join with ours as he is strengthened from the inside/out. Art is fully participating and active, he just is concerned and asks for your assistance.
b) Pray for our safe travel as we transition out of this place and to the next. May God's hand be on us (His servants)
c) Pray for the 45 new MMFC brothers that their healing/strengthenig of their faith may take root and grow in the coming days.
d) Pray for pastor Francis and pastor Kefa our two "point men" for Africa that their leadership will remain "rock solid" and Spirit filled as they serve and lead our new brothers in the coming days, months, years in Africa!

THANK YOU so much for YOUR LOVE and SUPPORT for us! We are all so thankful and grateful for what you are doing!

p.s. Future updates will be phone calls to my wife Debi, since we will probably lose the ability to use e*mail. All is good and glorious!!!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17th! Day #9 of our Marked Men For Christ mission trip!

(Our 5th consecutive day of intense ministry work)

Our new favorite Kenyan style worship & dance song is;

"HOLD ON to JESUS!
HOLD ON to JESUS,
HOLD ON to JESUS!
HOLD ON to JESUS,
Hold on, Hold on, Hold on...."

We SING and DANCE to this song at the top of our lungs as a body of Christian men from two different continents ... AMAZING! Picture 20-Americans and 47 Kenyans (Total 67) men dancing and singing with drums as our only instrument...doing this for 20-minutes without pause. AMAZING! 20-minutes with one core verse...and we could do 1-hour ... the LOVE OF GOD has been so present with us on this mission trip! Some of our Kenyan brothers could win a dance competition in the USA. They have great athletic ability! Love simply flows from our Kenyan brothers to us as we continue to give love away! The source of this love is, JESUS! It is perfect!

PHASE 2 and PHASE 3 SOUL GROUPS:
Today is the second and last day of our P2/P3 soul work. WE will COMPLETE all of the P2 Intensive and equip them to meet on-their-own as MMFC Soul Groups; starting next week. Each of the groups will meet in approximately 6-different parts of central and western Kenyan Africa. WOW!

MMFC STORE
We opened up the "witness protection program" to our 47 (45 new brothers and 2 staff men) Kenyan brothers this afternoon. We did not sell anything. We GAVE IT ALL AWAY for the glory of GOD! These brothers make on average $1.00 per day. A $15 t-shirt represents two weeks of pay. They typically only have 2-sets of clothes. Today, we were able to give them 5 individual pieces of clothing, sandals, jackets (they where them in the pm), and hats. These men were so thrilled. I've never seen anything like this. IMPORTANTLY, they were overjoyed to receive JESUS' name on their merchandise! They LOVE IT! This is the first time in their lives that many of them have ever seen Jesus' name on hats, shirts, shorts, sandals, etc.. Praise be to GOD (BaBa) -- this was a HUGE blessing for them and us Americans!!!

Your PRAYERS are working -- please keep praying! These church leaders lives have been CHANGED...they are being transformed by the Holy Spirit through our mission trip for Marked Men For Christ ministry...glory to GOD!

We all are missing our family and freinds are looking forward to tomorrow...Saturday is our travel day from this remote village to Kissimu and then fly to Nairobi. Our off days (a little R&R) will be Sunday and Monday. Then well travel home starting on Tuesday and arriving in the USA on Wednesday. KEEP PRAYING for our good health and safety!! THANK YOU, thank you!

Sauer-sauer (everything is cool) here in Kenya with Marked Men For Christ ministry! THANK YOU for your prayers!

1) We have COMPLETED Phase 1 on Wednesday night (our Sunday protocol) -- it was AWESOME! 45 new MMFC Brothers are now in Africa! Many of the new brothers stated that they have never been so affirmed as Christian men in their entire lives. They were so deeply touched...through the Holy Spirit and God's servants ... WOW!

The closing litergy round included every new brother receiving a customized new bible. The Kenyan brothers deeply honored this gift and many of them kissed the bible when they received it from their Soul Group leaders. Another pleasant surprise was the amount of direct eye contact on the exit was very, very intense!

2) This morning (Thursday) we rested and played as we took 1/2 of the day off. This morning we played soccer with the new brothers (they are a highly skilled group). The new brothers also participated in our "American style" group boot-camp exercise. This was led by our two professional trainers (Coaster and BC "Big Calves" Bryan L.). These two men brought many of us MMFC brothers "begging for mercy" but, the aerobic Kenyan's kept on going (smile)!!

3) SOUL GROUP PHASE 2 started this afternoon (Thursday) and will continue tonight and through Friday. The end-in-mind is to teach these new brothers and provide them with the tools to meet together in Phase 3 Soul Groups starting next week (after we leave). These guys are like sponges and soaking up everything we give them.

4) TRANSLATION ... everything is translatable with these brothers. Eventhough we are so different on the outside; on the INSIDE they are the same as us. Likewise, we Americans have so much in common with the Kenyan Africans. Thus, scripture is coming to life that we are ALL created in God's image and are equal in HIS sight. We are ONE BODY of believers through Christ Jesus! It is TRUE!

Health update -- we continue to enjoy great health and fellowship with one another. After 7.5 days of living together -- there is great brotherly peace provided by God's wonderful grace!! It's working!

Please continue to pray for us. Know that we are praying for our family and friends that we miss and long to see 1-week from TODAY! God bless you with every breath!

Wednesday (15th) is DAY #7

REQUEST to our Family, Friends and PRAYER PARTNERS:
The Swahili word for Father or Papa is "Baba." We Kenya MMFC ministry Africa mission team invite you to say a prayer (right now) using the Swahili work; Baba.
For example; "Baba, we thank you for your love for us and for hearing our prayers. Jesus taught us to call YOU Father thus, we are all brothers, through our Savior Jesus. We give you honor, praise and glory Baba. Amen!"

STAFF CONDITION:
Did you know this morning (Day #7) that on a "physical condition" scale of 1 to 10; EVERY staff man checked it at as a 7 or higher. WOW! With the away-from-home diet, sleeping conditions, 32-hours of travel, and longing to be (with) loved ones back home, we are in great physical condition. Praise Baba!!! Thank you Jesus for our good health. Thank you all for your prayers for us!

TESTIMONIES:
I can tell you that the Americans have CHANGED. Don't be nervous, it is (in) a powerful humbling manner. We have all been so touched by serving our Kenyan brothers. Their manner and behavior as men and as Christians is so powerful. Specific example; this morning's worship session was "African style" -- we we(re) all DANCING with our African brothers. Believe it wives, family and friends, your loved one was DANCING, SINGING in Swahili, and raising holy hands to heaven. The African drumming is about 50% better than what we can do. But we are holding our own as drummers. We have learned to drum on our purchased African drums and using our MMFC plastic water buckets to drum with too. Having a ball of fun!!! Wait until you see the video -- we taped this morning's session (smile)!!!

Last night -- we passed the microphone around (system runs off of a diesel generator) -- and the new brothers shared 1-gift each. The TESTIMONIES from these men ranged from; the gift is safety, being loved, for the first time I'm a man in God, I'm a MARKED man, able to be rid of the spirit of anger, spirit of shame, spirit of fear (they use the phrase "spirit of"). It is was so powerful!

Ministry Phase 1 Protocol:
We are on-track and will finish P1 protocol on schedule TODAY (day #3 of P1 work). God is so good!! Tomorrow (Thursday) we will start the Phase 2 Soul Group work. Today, we will present EVERY new Kenyan brothers with a brand new bible. Several of these men are so poor that they do not have their own personal bible. So thank you, thank you all for your financial donations. YOU money is being put to great use...it is so evident!!

In closing, we send our BIG HEART of LOVE to you our family and friends and thank you for loving us!! Our love for one another is multiplying our Baba planet!!!
Rejoice!

Hello hello from Africa! This is Tuesday (6th day away from USA). We miss our families but, we recognize that we are SO BLESSED here in Kenya!!! WOW!
All of the MMFC brothers (20-USA staff and 2-Kenyan pastors) give praise to GOD the FATHER or BaBa (in Swahili) for what HE is doing in Kenya! There a men here from over 7-different churches and we have at least 1-dozen pastors participating!

Our PRAYERS have been answered -- see this TUESDAY reality:

#1 -- 45 missioners from as far away as 10-hours have joined us for MMFC weekend #50 -- our first international Phase 1 experience. 41 of the 45 missioners speak and understand English well.
#2 -- We started our Phase 1 protocol at 3pm on Monday and ended that evening at 11:45pm. We completed all of the "Friday" protocol -- yeah!
#3 -- We started the FAITH WALK experience on Tuesday morning and it was a POWERFUL experience for our Kenyan brothers ... they really got it!
#4 -- It is now 5pm on Wednesday and we have completed the FEAR, ANGER and Sadness protocols. In a few minutes we'll begin the SHAME wound work. What is amazing is that 100% of the Kenyans participate in EVERYTHING. They have an attitude that is so willing to participate in Christian work to improve their faith. They are very trusting in Christ and in HIS missionaries. We from the USA find it inspiring!

#5 -- Miracles, our lost bag from Thursday has ARRIVED at our camp just 10-minutes BEFORE we actually needed it's contents! Can you believe it? That is so amazing!
#6 -- God has provided a heavy hurricane-like rain accompanied with hail. God's timing has been fantastic, this rain has been a nice cleansing break.
#7 -- Health, all of the men have been very healthy!!! We are so grateful to FATHER for HIS hand of protection on his adopted sons! None of the Americans have even had a stomach ache -- we are doing very well. Thank you FATHER!
#8 -- The elk and deer jerky that we brought with us has been well received by our Kenyan brothers -- they enjoy it!!

We ASK for your continued PRAYERS! YOUR PRAYERS have worked for us and for the missioners. The Kenyan men are very touched that 100's or 1.000's of Americans are praying for them. Their faith in Christ is deep and they take prayers very seriously...more than most of us...they are an inspiration to us!

WE all agree that when Jesus said; (Matthew 5) that the poor are blessed, we see it with our own eyes. We Americans may be rich in finances, living conditions, and alike, but these men in Africa are so rich in their faith and relationship with God. We have all been humbled. WOW!

Jambo from Kenya.

Today, is Monday at 2:30pm Kenya time...we were just getting ready to start the Phase 1 MMFC ministry protocol and the BIGGEST tropical rain storm I've ever seen occurred. It rained and hailed for 30-minutes and probably dropped 2-3 inches of water. Everyone here is a farmer, so I'm sure they appreciated the water for their crops. It is a wonderful reminder that GOD is in charge and this "weekend protocol" will happen on HIS timing and not man's. Amen.

All 20-American staff men are healthy and well. No one is hungry, we have plenty of food from the kitchen staff of the facility and we all brought extra protein from America. So, I'm not quite sure we are going to lose a lot of weight (smile). We do have to purchase water. Our first purchase was (30) 5-gallon bottles. We are in teh tropics at over 5,000 foot elevation -- thus, we are very thirsty as we do our preparation work. So, far we have been going to sleep at 9pm and waking up at 5:45-6:15am every day. It gets dark at 6pm and it begins to get light at 5:45am. We have no electricity in our huts. We have to use a generator for our meeting space -- thus, where the power is coming from for this e*mail.

Most men are shaving so, I doubt that there will be a lot of heavy bearded American's returning next week. Although, some are trying to grow some fashionable facial styles (including me).

Some of the 50-missioners started to arrive on Saturday night. They drove 10-hours to get here via bus. They wear the best clothes; i.e., suits and ties. All of the Kenya hosts and missioners have been very gracious, friendly and loving to us. We find them to very holy and Jesus just flows through them.

Spice called today at 10:15am which was 7:15pm in Africa. He was so energized about the day they had today.

He said that they lost 2 more bags flying from Nairobi to Kisumu, but they have plenty of supplies.

They went to church today for 2 1/2 hours and 5 of the Marked Men gave their testimony. They had to walk into town for church. The church was a tin building with a dirt floor. He said it was a good experience.

Spice said that the set up for the Phase 1 is complete. They even have electricity with the help of a generator to play the music and for the microphones.

He described the village as remote and maybe what America looked like in the 1800's. There is little technology or electricity, but many people have cell phones. I find that to be fascinating!

Their food is being cooked over fire. He was surprised that they are being fed protein at many meals and that the food is good. Every meal has rice and potatoes and some sort of protein. They are eating their beef jerky as a supplement to the meals.

Spice said that there is no indoor plumbing or electricity in the village for the most part. Their sleeping huts with the concrete floors are nice....his word. He said that the bathrooms are also nice with gravity fed pumps. He said it was better than what he expected and that it was a big step above camping. Although, he added that the men have decided that most of the wives wouldn't like it.

The people in this remote area are thrilled to have these 20 white men staying there. They are being treated like royalty. The people are warm, friendly, and loving and their hearts are open. The village is very remote with farms on the surrounding hills. He said there are chickens, cows, and goats all around.

He said they are constantly being watched...even through the bushes. He described it as, "look at the white people". So, it sounds like they are the talk of the town!

Spice called today at 12:00pm. He said they all woke up early today and were ready to go. They went to the airport to catch their next plane to Kisumu. They were informed that the availability of the seats on the plane was only for 18 men. They circled up and prayed that all the men would make it and after a 20 minute wait, their prayers were answered! All 20 men made it onto the plane to Kisumu! Praise God!

They went shopping in Kisumu for supplies and bought what they needed. Spice said they found the drums they needed! He was excited!

They then went to the Shangilia orphange. He said they were all safe and well. He said they were in their mud huts and ready for bed at 9:00pm. Spice sounded tired as I am sure all the men must be tired at this point.

He also wanted me to share that Steve Coe is feeling so much better today! Praise God....prayers work!

Spice checked in at 12:30pm today...9:30pm tonight there! There is a nine hour difference from here to Kenya. He sounded energized and excited to have finally made it to Nairobi. They have travelled for over 25 hours and he said it was rough at times, but they are thankful to have all made it there safely. Asked how Africa looked - he laughed and said, "dark". Maybe we can get a better description during daylight.

Spice asked for a prayer request for Steve Coe who is running a fever of 103. Spice described Steve as a 3 on a scale of 1-10...not doing well at all. Steve Coe needs our prayers for health and wellness.

Spice also asked for a prayer request for one lost piece of luggage. It is the luggage that has 15 pounds of elk jerky for them to eat. Maybe someone decided they needed 15 pounds of elk jerky more than the men of MMFC. We are thankful that they ONLY lost one bag!

Spice also asked that we each say a prayer of thankfulness that they made half way around the world safe and sound.

They were on their way to the hotel for the night. I bet it will feel great to sleep in a horizontal position after sleeping on the planes.

MMFC made it onto the plane in Detroit that will take them to Amsterdam. A few MMFC were already in line to get on the plane, so not all 20 are in the picture. But all 20 MMFC are there. May God bless each of you today as we begin this journey without our loved ones at home.

Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

After almost 3-years in the making; MMFC ministry will send 20-staff men from the USA this Thursday for 2-weeks October 9-22, 2008 to Kenya, Africa! We will serve 50-Kenyan Christian brothers from 5-different churches for a full week. It will take us 2.5 days to get there from the USA. Please PRAY for us! Pray for God’s protection over the missionary staff men, their families, and for the men they will serve! Pray for HEALING of God’s people, our brothers in Kenya! Thank you for your prayer support -- it means so much!