The morning began with terror, it ended with beauty.
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Pastor Kevin.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Peace
The morning began with terror, it ended with beauty.
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Pastor Kevin.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Kabul
Greetings from Kabul! We're safe but tired. We've just came from a Good Friday service (Fridays are the day of worship here in Afghanistan). It was amazing to see so many Christians gathered together in a building that is known to be a Christian church. The talk of the day was the car bombing that happened earlier in the morning (everyone that we know is OK). So you can imagine the intensity of the prayer time as we prayed for the Lord to stop the violence and the suffering in this country.
The city is a remarkable mix of brand new construction and war-torn empty and eroding shells of buildings. There are many people and lots of activity. The people are friendly and smile when you smile at them. They are very open to foreigners and quite appreciative of the US role in liberating the country from the hands of the Taliban. Many of the locals I've chatted with have stories of suffering under the Taliban. At the same time, tears come to their eyes as they speak of the Americans driving out the Taliban and giving them freedom.
We've been unable to access the internet, thus the gap in our blog. Let me catch you up with some of the things that we saw. SERVE is doing a wonderful job here. We met with one MD who is helping the starving children in the city of Jalalabad. You can see his passion to care for the kids. They use a measurment of the upper arm of the child to determine malnutrition or not. If the upper arm is less than the thickness of two of the worker fingers, they are candidates for care. They run six month rehabilitation and health education programs. Every six months they can help another 200 families. They would love to help more, but lack of funds restricts them.
Then we visited the only school for the deaf that extends into high school. This school is also run by SERVE. More than 150 kids are taught sign language. There is so much joy in the kids and they were all so enthusiastic to interact with us. Like Uganda, the kids steal your heart.
The most difficult, yet also very important work, are the field workers. These 10 workers ride bikes to visit the disabled children in their homes. These are very rural families with no running water, no electric power, and no healtcare. Yet, they love their kids, especially the disabled ones. We saw two kids with cerebral palsey and one with dibilitating arthritis. All of them were very sweet, yet, none of them can care for themselves. The field workers will work with a family for 15 - 18 months to educate and provide therapy.
SERVE is doing amazing work throughout the country. I am proud that we, as a church family, are so intimately connected with them. Please continue to pray for them. Also pray for us as we will be travelling around the area to see more of what they do.
Blessings!
Pastor Kevin.
The city is a remarkable mix of brand new construction and war-torn empty and eroding shells of buildings. There are many people and lots of activity. The people are friendly and smile when you smile at them. They are very open to foreigners and quite appreciative of the US role in liberating the country from the hands of the Taliban. Many of the locals I've chatted with have stories of suffering under the Taliban. At the same time, tears come to their eyes as they speak of the Americans driving out the Taliban and giving them freedom.
We've been unable to access the internet, thus the gap in our blog. Let me catch you up with some of the things that we saw. SERVE is doing a wonderful job here. We met with one MD who is helping the starving children in the city of Jalalabad. You can see his passion to care for the kids. They use a measurment of the upper arm of the child to determine malnutrition or not. If the upper arm is less than the thickness of two of the worker fingers, they are candidates for care. They run six month rehabilitation and health education programs. Every six months they can help another 200 families. They would love to help more, but lack of funds restricts them.
Then we visited the only school for the deaf that extends into high school. This school is also run by SERVE. More than 150 kids are taught sign language. There is so much joy in the kids and they were all so enthusiastic to interact with us. Like Uganda, the kids steal your heart.
The most difficult, yet also very important work, are the field workers. These 10 workers ride bikes to visit the disabled children in their homes. These are very rural families with no running water, no electric power, and no healtcare. Yet, they love their kids, especially the disabled ones. We saw two kids with cerebral palsey and one with dibilitating arthritis. All of them were very sweet, yet, none of them can care for themselves. The field workers will work with a family for 15 - 18 months to educate and provide therapy.
SERVE is doing amazing work throughout the country. I am proud that we, as a church family, are so intimately connected with them. Please continue to pray for them. Also pray for us as we will be travelling around the area to see more of what they do.
Blessings!
Pastor Kevin.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Requests for items to go to Afghanistan
Here is an updated wish-list of items you can donate to the Afghanistan workers. Matt can take them with his group...so bring 'em on in!
Washable paint for children
Hair Care kit for American Girl doll (Item# DKHC)
Gummi Bears
Marshmellos
Licorice
Dry salami
Brian Doerksen CD
Hershey Chocolate (kisses or mini bars)
Binoculars (for bird watching)
Digital recorder with a USB connection (flash memory based)
Laminator with the plastic to use it (any size that can go in a suitcase)
Music book for "Song of Fellowship 3"
iPod power adapter
120GB External hard drive
The french press coffee mugs and other items were a hit!
Posted by Kim Hensley on behalf of Kevin Hom
Washable paint for children
Hair Care kit for American Girl doll (Item# DKHC)
Gummi Bears
Marshmellos
Licorice
Dry salami
Brian Doerksen CD
Hershey Chocolate (kisses or mini bars)
Binoculars (for bird watching)
Digital recorder with a USB connection (flash memory based)
Laminator with the plastic to use it (any size that can go in a suitcase)
Music book for "Song of Fellowship 3"
iPod power adapter
120GB External hard drive
The french press coffee mugs and other items were a hit!
Posted by Kim Hensley on behalf of Kevin Hom
So Much to Tell You
Some snippets:
Tonight we had a powerful time of prayer. One of the Community Workers set up a number of prayer stations around our conference room. There were pictures, and candles, flowers and decorative tablecloths, artwork and hand written verses from the Bible, and there was a table sprinkled with cards so we could write to whomever the Lord placed on our hearts (I wrote a card to my Dad!). It was wonderful and meaningful, so heartfelt was the experience, I had tears streaming down my face during much of the time. Then we heard their urgent and desperate prayers. But, unlike the prayers I often hear in churches, these prayers were not for themselves, but for the unreached people of the country who are locked in bondage without Jesus. These were loud, gut-wrenching, passionate prayers for others. It reminded me of our need to be a house of prayer, to be a praying church.
One local told a Community Worker, "We stil have wars, and fights. We argue and kill each other. But you Christians, you help us. You risk your lives for us. You... love us!" Pray for this particular worker because his government and the local government are trying to restrict his access to the people. Yes, this is blatant spiritual warfare.
We will be entering the other country soon. In preparation for that, we will have to wear the local dress. Looks pretty cool, huh?
Because of all of the great food we're eating, Henry had to get bigger pants... just kidding. The pants are REALLY big!
Keep praying, OK? The conference wraps up soon, then we're heading to the border.
Blessings!
Tonight we had a powerful time of prayer. One of the Community Workers set up a number of prayer stations around our conference room. There were pictures, and candles, flowers and decorative tablecloths, artwork and hand written verses from the Bible, and there was a table sprinkled with cards so we could write to whomever the Lord placed on our hearts (I wrote a card to my Dad!). It was wonderful and meaningful, so heartfelt was the experience, I had tears streaming down my face during much of the time. Then we heard their urgent and desperate prayers. But, unlike the prayers I often hear in churches, these prayers were not for themselves, but for the unreached people of the country who are locked in bondage without Jesus. These were loud, gut-wrenching, passionate prayers for others. It reminded me of our need to be a house of prayer, to be a praying church.
One local told a Community Worker, "We stil have wars, and fights. We argue and kill each other. But you Christians, you help us. You risk your lives for us. You... love us!" Pray for this particular worker because his government and the local government are trying to restrict his access to the people. Yes, this is blatant spiritual warfare.
We will be entering the other country soon. In preparation for that, we will have to wear the local dress. Looks pretty cool, huh?
Because of all of the great food we're eating, Henry had to get bigger pants... just kidding. The pants are REALLY big!
Keep praying, OK? The conference wraps up soon, then we're heading to the border.
Blessings!
Team 2 leaves soon!
Some people have been asking how they can help be a part of our trip...
Well, team 2 is getting ready to leave soon and we still have plenty of room in our luggage for anything else the congregation would like to donate to the workers.
Maybe in Pastor Kevin's next blog he can let us know if there are any specific needs we as a church can meet?????? I know there has been requests for items like coffee, herbal tea (NOT BLACK), vitamins, MP3 players, etc.
If you would like to donate any items, please drop them off at the church by 1:00pm Easter Sunday and we will take them when we leave.
Please continue to pray for Pastors Kevin and Henry as they minister to the workers out in Pak, and for Team 2 as we prepare to leave later this week.
Thanks~
Pastor Matt
Well, team 2 is getting ready to leave soon and we still have plenty of room in our luggage for anything else the congregation would like to donate to the workers.
Maybe in Pastor Kevin's next blog he can let us know if there are any specific needs we as a church can meet?????? I know there has been requests for items like coffee, herbal tea (NOT BLACK), vitamins, MP3 players, etc.
If you would like to donate any items, please drop them off at the church by 1:00pm Easter Sunday and we will take them when we leave.
Please continue to pray for Pastors Kevin and Henry as they minister to the workers out in Pak, and for Team 2 as we prepare to leave later this week.
Thanks~
Pastor Matt
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Day 2 in Pak
Sleep is good! Lots of it is even better. Maybe I'll catch up, till then . . . coffee, plenty of it! Moving from airport to airport, country to country, security station to security station, and different time zones confuses the body; and boy is mine confused! But it's all good, I am glad to be here in Pak. and with the SERVE coworkers.
Today's singing was brought to us by the coworker's children. I was happy to play for them and the adults enthusiaticly joined. The children rejuvenated us with their energy, hand motions, angelic voices, and pure spirits. They had so much fun . . . they want to do it again!
The coworkers wrestled with today's topic of interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, and how it affects them personally. They discussed it in their small groups and ideas were exchanged.
The coworkers were very thankful for the gifts from our church family. Coffee, French press mugs, grinders, tea, jelly-bellies, and other sundry items were given and thankfully accepted.
We look forward to what will be revealed in our next gathering. So far, everything is looking good!
Henry
Today's singing was brought to us by the coworker's children. I was happy to play for them and the adults enthusiaticly joined. The children rejuvenated us with their energy, hand motions, angelic voices, and pure spirits. They had so much fun . . . they want to do it again!
The coworkers wrestled with today's topic of interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, and how it affects them personally. They discussed it in their small groups and ideas were exchanged.
The coworkers were very thankful for the gifts from our church family. Coffee, French press mugs, grinders, tea, jelly-bellies, and other sundry items were given and thankfully accepted.
We look forward to what will be revealed in our next gathering. So far, everything is looking good!
Henry
Day One in Pak
We arrived in Pak at 5am, with both of us to speak at the retreat beginning at 9:30a. But, at 5:30a, we heard this "BOOM" followed by another "BOOM", then another, and still more. One of our group said he saw flashes of light on a hill side near us. It was cannon fire! Fortunately, so we were told, it was "nothing significant" -- just the good ol' military boys doing a little "celebrating." Hope they enjoyed themselves... There were more than 30 blasts. So much for trying to get even a little bit of sleep before the conference...
The development workers we are meeting with really appreciated our first day of ministry. We even got to do a bit of singing (Henry brought his guitar) and Encounter-style "ministry of prayer." It was quite cool and powerful.
We're grateful that all of our luggage arrived. Though, one bag of jelly-bellys burst open and now I'm finding jelly beans in my shoes, socks, and other pieces of clothing I better not mention...
Please continue to pray for us as we serve these very committed and brave workers. And pray for them -- some of them are wondering if they are making any impact at all.
Blessings!
Kevin.
The development workers we are meeting with really appreciated our first day of ministry. We even got to do a bit of singing (Henry brought his guitar) and Encounter-style "ministry of prayer." It was quite cool and powerful.
We're grateful that all of our luggage arrived. Though, one bag of jelly-bellys burst open and now I'm finding jelly beans in my shoes, socks, and other pieces of clothing I better not mention...
Please continue to pray for us as we serve these very committed and brave workers. And pray for them -- some of them are wondering if they are making any impact at all.
Blessings!
Kevin.
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