Hey Everybody!!!

It's been a SUPER long time since I've written anything on here. So I thought it was time for an update thanks to a certain Korean =P

I had a fantastic trip from the states to here the last full week of March. I pulled my brand new trailer that God provided (a dual axle 20 footer with a cage on top) and had it loaded down with 2 new lawn mowers for Roca, and all of the optometric equipment finally! I had a few other things on the trailer as well such as a desk and some boxes of sheets, and some coffee and flavorings for our new espresso machine in the guest house. So a little bit of everything, and if Los Federales (the federal policemen) had pulled me over they would have charged me all kinds of amazingly high fines just because I'm American and had a bunch of stuff with me. The trip was really peaceful for the first half of it, but then I met up with 2 Mexican guys from Roca (Jerry and Rigo) and they drove down the rest of the way with me. 

Some of you know that I just replaced my transmission in my truck, and the guy who did it for me also installed a racing cooler specifically for the transmission. So it should have been super duper cool, but even with that, twice in the mountains, my transmission overheated because of the weight I was pulling.

I didn't get pulled over by the police at all the whole way down by the grace of God, but when we drove all night over by Zihuatanejo, we had to drive through 10 different military checkpoints and they stopped us at 8 of them and searched the vehicle. One time they even had a drug dog come sniff over the whole trailer and truck. But the military are good guys just doing their job so they didn't try and charge us anything or mess with us at all.

I had left on March 18, Wednesday night, and finally got to the Base Monday afternoon the 23rd. So a long trip made longer, but God got us through! I got to try a new route through Mexico that I had never done before over by the western coast, so that was a lot of fun.

Anyways, so I get to Roca Monday afternoon, then Tuesday morning they tell me there is a team flying into Huatulco (the airport 2 hours away) and then they are going to villages for 6 days. And they want me to come...yay! lol so I went, and they were a great team from Canada. I actually wound up meeting them in Puerto Escondido and I didn't get introduced properly so they just thought I was a local taxi cab driver that looked American =P. But we got to Nopala (a little bit bigger city) and spent the rest of the week going from there to different villages all over the mountains in the area. The team had managed to bring like 12 suit cases of childrens toys and stuff, so we made handout bags with crayons and things, and we did childrens events with skits and balloon animals and all kinds of fun things. During the time we were in Nopala, there were 2 little boys whose parents just got a divorce. They connected with me really well, and were climbing all over me every time we had a meal in Nopala. Their mother is one of the helpers for the church their and was one of our cooks. They are great boys, and they really blessed me in the time I was there. After we left their mother told me that they cried for 2 days straight because I had gone. But more about that later.

We got back to the base after the outreaches, and we were supposed to go into Puerto Escondido for the "fun/relax day". The team was getting all ready to go when Sue pulls me aside and told me that she needed me to drive into Puerto with her and pick up a bunch of toilets for the new bathrooms we were building. Needless to say I was a little underenthused, but we went and sat there for about 2 hours and finally found out that the toilets hadn't even been shipped yet so they weren't even there. That meant that I got to go hook up with the team at the beach though so that was cool. I spent the rest of the day with them and had a great time taking them shopping and eating at the italian restaurant in Puerto. After dinner, we did a little more shopping, and I got my hair braided by this lady that does it. We took the team back to Roca and the next day was a relax day (finally! =). Then off to the airport in Huatulco again.

Then the following week we had a HUGE youth event called Convocación and had over 3000 youth come! We had Marcos Barrientos and Enrique Bremer (2 famous Mexican speakers) come for the event, and there were hundreds of salvations and around 200 baptisms! Needless to say, Convocación was a great success, and was probably the biggest one we have ever had. My job during the event was essentially chauffeur. I was going to Rio Grande or Puerto Escondido every day to run errands and buy things we needed, or going to the airport in Huatulco to pick somebody up or drop somebody off, but I got to join the event during the evening sessions which were AMAZING. The worship services were incredible with so many youth just worshipping their faces off before the Lord. What an amazing time!

It turns out that Aran and Lalo (the 2 little boys from Nopala) had managed to convince their mother to bring them to the youth event so they could see me =P. So every time I walked onto the event field, I got pounced upon by 2 eager little boys! It was great seeing them again, and we had fun playing ninjas and having tickle fights.

The day after Convocación ended, I got sent to take back all of the cables we had borrowed for all of the lighting and sound equipment. The problem was we had borrowed the cables from a town that is a nice, leisurely 7 HOUR DRIVE from the base....anyways so I drove all the way there with this HUGE pile of cables in my truck that made the whole back of the truck ride lower than the front. The good thing was that this town (Juchitan) is famous for their tlayudas (a really big taco with beans, cabbage, steak, and quesillo or Oaxacan cheese) so we ate like kings while we were there. One of the Bible school students had driven with me to keep me company.

The next day we drove back and I got there at exactly the same time as the new team got there from the airport. Sooo I we left with them the next morning bright at early for a 2 day village trip to Tiltepec. This team was a high school group from upstate New York where David Nelson (a relatively new associate of the base and Laura Pratts husband) used to live. He was actually the spanish teacher in their high school. So he and Laura were the team leaders, and we had medical clinics and childrens events. One of the parents that had come along as a chaperone is a doctor so he helped by seeing hundred of patients in the villages we went to. We spent the first 2 days in Tiltepec, then went to Cacahuatepec (translation: Peanut City) for another 2 days. We didn't actually do anything in the city of Cacahuate, we went to 2 villages nearby and did clinics and childrens events again. The first day we actually went to a brand new village that we have never been able to go to before called La Culebra. The name means The Snake and it's named thus for the really windy, twisty road to get there. It was so amazing to see how open and receptive the people were. They had never before heard the Gospel message, so they were astounded that a bunch of white people would come and give them free clinics, and balloon animals and candy and things. We had 42 salvations, most of them adults, but a number of them kids as well. It was really cool, because one of the team members had written "JESUS TE AMA" (Jesus loves you) in the dust on the window of the van we took. I had to get something out of the van, and as all of the little kids and teenagers that were walking by were all reading out loud what it said on the van. It was so cool to me seeing even the little kids sounding out the words, but they were all receiving the message. Even if nobody had talked to them and witnessed to them, they got the message that Jesus loves them. This is one more entire village that recieved the Good News. There's not that many left guys! Not too many more before the whole world hears about Jesus!

Anyways, that got me really excited evangelizing to all of the people there.

The next day we went back to Roca Blanca and went to church in Rio Grande, and had another kids event. Monday night we took the team to the worship service that the Bible school does every Monday, and we had an awesome time. God gave me some words for the guys of the team and the Holy Spirit just showed up in an awesome way!

We took the team out to the big white rock to go snorkeling on their day off, and I was teaching them how to free dive (going really deep without an air tank). I found this really cool yellow and black star fish, and a couple of eels and all kinds of funky colored fish. Then we took the team to Puerto and went shopping and ate at Francos. And off to the airport they went yesterday. And that brings us up to today!

Speaking of today I just got told I need to drive into Puerto to drop something off, so I gotta go! Luv ya guys and God bless you!

Roofin

Hey everybody!

So I've been in Kansas City, Kansas for the last week for those that don't know. My friends are roofing their house and they needed help to get everything sealed up before it rained this week. So I came up to help them and have been showin my mad carpentry skills with table saws and stuff. So far only 2 people have fallen through the roof this week =P and thankfully I wasn't one of them! We built an extension onto the front of their house and have everything sealed up with tar paper, but it still needs a lot of work! But I've been having fun in the meantime hangin out at MidAmerica Nazarene College where I have some friends, and I had a kung fu lesson where I found out that my style is "Siberian Tiger" so...that's pretty cool. Anyways, I will also get a chance to go back to my old church on Sunday too, so I'm really glad God opened this opportunity for me to come up here! God has also been providing for me in amazing ways, and He has also helped me make a few contacts that have been helping disciple me in how to raise support and that kind of thing. Anyways, I just wanted to give you guys an update as to what I'm doin!

God Bless!!!

Home again, home again...

Well guys, I am now living here in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the next few months.

I got here Monday morning and met the the optometrist and the optician(retired) that I will be working with and then took a tour of the lab. Bright and early Tuesday morning I went in and did my first day of training. There is all of this great digital equipment that I will learn to use, but the problem is that all of the equipment being donated to Roca is waaay old gen. Most of it is still manual and takes 3 times as long to do. It isn't too hard, but it takes a while to learn all of the calibrations and stuff. I look forward to seeing what all God does with this in my life and in the lives of others!

The other thing I did recently was attended 3D for the first time. 3D is a young adults (18-28) group that is part of Victory Bible Church. It was a really amazing experience and I got to meet some new people from around here. It's amazing people's reactions when after being asked where you are from, you reply "Southern Mexico" =P

La Base Inundada

Soooo the other day, the river which runs right next to the base waaay overflowed it's banks and we had up to 7 feet of running water in some places! David and Lauras new car doesn't work anymore cuz it filled with water up to the steering wheel. There was a pretty strong current going through the main road, and the pressure was strong enough that it broke down the retaining wall in 5 places! But guess what? We have our own waterfall now! lol well, it will actually go away as soon as the water dries off, but for now we have a waterfall. The office building, guest house, and main house weren't affected, but the gate house (where I live) got 6 inches of water as well as the clinic. The next night the clinic got flooded a little again, but it was only 2 inches. Most of the grounds are still pretty wet and muddy, but we are working on restoring the base to it's former beauty.

Next thing on the agenda is my trip to the states. I was supposed to leave today. But now I'm not. I was supposed to have somebody go up with me, who would then drive a truck back down for the base. This truck, we find, costs 1700 dollars to nationalize, plus the diesel fuel money that it will take to get it down here, and my gas to get up there. So all in all we need about 3000 dollars to get this venture going! As soon as that money comes in, I will be able to leave for the states and start my internship with Dr. Cook. 

Please pray that that money will come in and subsequently for my trip!

Thanks guys! God bless!

Eyeglasses in Tulsa

Hey Everybody!  So I know I haven't written on here in a billion years, but I'm gonna start writing more. As some of you may know, I am at the moment in Mexico. However, as some of you may also know, I am coming back to the states for a couple months.

The Corban Clinic here on the base is working on expanding. Part of this expansion is an optometry unit. However, we don't have the equipment for diagnosing patients, or for grinding the lenses for prescription glasses. Thankfully, an optometrist named Dr. Cook from Tulsa, Oklahoma has decided to donate all the equipment we need. The only thing we would be lacking is a technician that is able to grind lenses. That's where I come in! Dr. Cook offered to train someone to be able to run the equipment, the only requirement being a willingness to learn and an aptitude for math. So Duane and Sue want me to go and become a lense-grinding technician! yippee =P anyways I will be returning to the States next week, and will start training as soon as possible. I will be in the states till December, when I will come back for Festival and resume my internship here at Roca. In the meantime I get to kick it in Tulsa and experience cold! lol there isn't much of that down here so...it will be fun. I'm staying with the ex-state senator and his wife from Tulsa, so that will also be fun and exciting!

Anyways, I'm hoping to be able to come back to Wichita on weekends, so hit me up if you want to do something!

My Spiritual Awakening

I live here in Roca Blanca Missions Base in Oaxaca, Mexico studying in the Bible School and going on outreaches to nearby villages.

How did I get here you ask? Well God has done some spectacularly amazing things in my life that has all worked together to bring me to this point and to glorify Him. I grew up in a Christian home, and we went to church every Sunday. But as a child I had FAITH in God. I had such faith in Him, that he used me to miraculously heal a man from my church as a 4 year old.

However, el diablo did not like this and so he concocted a scheme for what he thought would destroy my family and our faith...which it very nearly did.  I am the oldest of 5 children. There is me, my younger brother Caleb, then Corban, and lastly Chad and Katy. When Corban Jonathon was born, God told my parents to name him so for a reason. Corban (found in Mark 7:11) means "a gift to God" and Jonathon means "a gift from God". He and I got along great, even better than Caleb and I did. This was why it hurt so much when he died of SIDS (crib death) 4 1/2 months later. But as God had named him "a gift to God", my parents knew from the beginning that God would take him for His glory. They just didn't expect it to happen so soon. This event really tore my family up. My dad buried himself in his work and had fits of severe anger, my mother went into a period of depression, I lost my faith in God to do anything because he had taken away my innocent little brother, and my other brother Caleb (who was just 2 at the time and has ADHD) started going berzerk. My family had been bike riding a few days before, and my mom had accidentally crashed with Corban strapped to her back, so Caleb thought in his young mind that it was my mom's fault that Corban had died. (We actually had Corban autopsied and it was proven that it wasn't her fault because she was worried about that too.) But Caleb didn't tell anybody about that till much later. Anyways, so my parents started spending a large amount of their time just trying to keep Caleb under control, and they still had no idea why he was so rebellious against my mom. They took him to counselors and a regular basis and were spending an enormous amount of time with him. But here I was, mister calm cool and collected but being in utter turmoil inside. My parents only saw the facade I put up so they thought I was alright and focused on Caleb. Needless to say, I was sorely neglected. I don't blame my parents, but that is just what happened. So I started acting out in school and things trying to get my parents, especially my dad, to notice me. With my dad's anger issues that didn't help at all. This continued as the years went by, but eventually God got ahold of my parents hearts and got their lives turned around. I was still horribly rebellious and I didn't even try in school. I had been told that I was stupid by my teachers and everyone else because I was trying so hard to get people to notice me. So I didn't even think that I was smart at all because that was all I had ever been told. In 8th grade my teacher Mrs. Regier really helped to open me up to the world of learning. I started pulling straight A's in math and English and it was easy for me! I was so surprised I didn't know what to do with myself. But I still had this rebellion against my parents eating away my heart. This culminated in me going to jail twice and being on probation for a while.

So that is all of the bad that came out of Corban's death, but his name was not only "a gift TO God" but also "a gift FROM God". My family used the money from the life insurance policy we had on Corban to build a medical clinic at the Roca Blanca Missions Base where I now live as a Bible school student and ultimately as a missionary. The Corban Clinic has served over 80,000 people over the 14 or so years it has been here. Many of those people have accepted Jesus into their hearts because of the ministry that goes on there.

One year at my churches winter camp, God told me clearly that I was to go into missions, specifically I was to go to Roca Blanca in Mexico. So I started taking Spanish classes and found that God had really blessed me with a gift for languages. I started Spanish 1 in the middle of the year and was completely caught up and ahead of the class in 2 weeks. God has absolutely prepared me with the tools I need to live on the missions field. During this time however, my heart was still not right with God.

In 2007, one of the best influences on my life at my old school, Bradford, was killed in a car crash. He was just a few weeks away from graduating his senior year, and he was one of the most respected spiritual leaders that I have ever met. He truly had a servants heart.

In June, my friend Kelsey was kidnapped, raped, and murdered. She and I had been best friends when we were little at the Vineyard in Overland Park. She also was one of the most kindhearted people I knew.

The thing that impacted me the most was that I had very little emotional reaction to either of these deaths. So I turned to God, I asked Him 1. why had He allowed these 2 wonderful people to die, and 2. why couldn't I feel anything anymore. I had made myself so distant, and so detached from my emotions to "protect" myself from all the hurt I had experienced in my life. God showed me that, and I realized I had to do something drastic to fix that. So God reminded me of the call to missions He had put in me, and also how spiritually influential the people are at Roca Blanca. He told me to go to the Spanish Academy here for a month so that I could further my Spanish, but also find some answers about myself and God.

My Savior really got ahold of me in that month, and He healed me from a lot of that past hurt. The last day I was at the Base, God told me that I was supposed to attend the Bible School this year. It started in 3 weeks. So I became the 4th American in 17 years to ever attend the Bible school at Roca Blanca Missions Base. God has impacted me so greatly through this year, I have gotten into a relationship with the Holy Spirit, and I have been completely changed by the goodness of God!

Thank you Jesus for bringing me out of the pit I had dug for myself, and bringing me to the sweetness of life you intended for me!

Now you know my story, I pray that you would learn from it, and let God guide you into a similar experience if you are hurt and suffering.

God bless you!!!