Team Effort

Today was a busy day for all of us. We split up into groups and went to 4 different churches to preach this morning.
Lucas and Becky went to Bishop Steven's Church.
Justin and Sarah went to Agape Kingston.
Kenny, Hayley, and Jill went to Pastor Benson's Church.
And Jill, Ben, and Robyn went to Agape Reuben.

Over all we were able to minister to around 700 people at the same time. The most important thing was that we all preached a similar, grace filled message. Our desire is to see the people here changed from the inside out so that they will become world changers.

If God can use our team, just simple people from the Midwest, he can surely use anyone.

We are on the final leg of our time in Africa. Monday we will be in a school, teaching and observing. Tuesday is a Safari in Nairobi National Park. And Wednesday we head home. Even though it will only be about 2 weeks, it feels like a month. We have done so much, met so many people, and had many experiences.

We are all happy though. We can see what grace is doing in this community and we thank God for it.

-The Team

Uganda

Hey everyone, Justin here. I just to give a quick update of the trip.

We spent one night in Iganga, Uganda where David and Agnes Kyakulaga have an amazing local ministry. This trip has blown us all away, but I must say we really enjoyed this leg of the trip.

Not only has David started his own (successful) business in order to bring in money for the ministry, he has an orphanage he is currently running and hopes to provide a new building for the kids soon. They have a primary school for needy kids, they oversee 10 local churches, and the congregation is just generally full of joy.

The love of God is truly evident in their ministry.

Lucas taught this morning at the church and gave me a bit of time to share too. After the service we prayed for healing for a lot of people and of course God never fails : )



I definitely miss being home and God has been shaping my vision for the future and where my place is in ministry, but these kids are adorable. The people here, more than anything, need love. They need to know how much God values them. The same goes for any part of the world but when you step into a poverty situation, it truly does open your eyes to the need for real Love.

And this is the message we are bringing them - For God so love the WHOLE world that He gave us Jesus. And through Jesus we can have life. Real life.

I can speak for the whole team when I say that we feel more blessed by the people here than what we can offer them.

Grace and Peace.

- Justin

In Kakamega

Monday morning was supposed to being our lengthy road trip to Uganda. Along the way we had stops schedule in two other cities - Kakamega with pastor Zablon and pastor Harrison and in Sega with pastor Peter Sidonge, who is traveling with us. We were supposed to leave on Monday at 10:00 am but one of our drivers was delayed over 4 hours trying to obtain the necessary paperwork to travel into Uganda. As a result, we didn't pull out until 2:00 pm. With this came another issue, we didn't know that tour vans, like the one we are using, are unable to travel after 6:00 pm for security reasons - it's a national law.

This began as a major problem, as our drive to Kakamega was 8 hours through the Great Rift Valley and through the surrounding mountains. Because of this, on our first day we were only able to get to a town called Nakuru, which is about half way to Kakamega.

Luckily, I have an acquaintance name Molly there who runs an orphanage. She readily agreed to put us up for the night.

This stop, though not planned, ended up being a tremendous blessing. At the orphanage we met some wonderful new friends among the staff, not to mention the 27 orphans that call that place home, including 4 who are HIV positive.

I arrived there frustrated with our damaged plans and left refreshed and deeply touched by the hearts of these helpers and the children they serve.

From there, we left Tuesday morning, several of us having tears in our eyes. This drive took us even deeper into the mountains, reaching an altitude of over 9,000 feet at times, before finally descending into the Kakamega forest.

More on Kakamega to come.

- Lucas

Detour?

Not really.

Today we were supposed to be headed to Kakamega, Kenya. We had plans to stop in Nakuru to meet up with the director of an orphanage that our friends (Pam & Paul Donnan) told us about. The plan was only for lunch.

But things change. There was a slight hold up this morning before we could leave and we found out there was a law in Kenya that we could not be driving the vehicle that we have past 6:00 pm. The police consider it unsafe. Since Kakamega is 8 hours from Nairobi, we decided to just head to Nakuru.


(Jerry, Jill, Molly, Hayley, & Justin)

2 hours later we are sitting in the Guava Cafe with Molly Bail. She runs an orphanage that holds 27 children. We are going to head there in a bit to spend time with them and then stay the night. Even though this "detour" has put us a day off of our schedule, we all seem to be pretty excited to have the chance to stay with the kids.


(Kenny and Justin drinking "Jet Fuel")

Long Days of Kenya

For many on our team, I think today was pretty shocking. It was our first day in the slums, which until you've seen them, I'm not really sure that words can even do the place justice. For me, I've traveled to over a dozen countries, but I've witness few places more plagued than the Nairobi slums. The streets are inconceivably narrow, sometimes less the a car width, and the smell at times unbearable as the stench of smoldering trash heaps and streams of excrement and waste water fill the nostrils. The roads stretch on for miles in a maze like pattern, making getting lost incredibly simple. But it isn't all bad, despite the near impossible conditions, the streets are filled with some wonderful people. Every day they gather, in a seemingly closed community, as few are brave enough to venture in, selling their wares, cooking local fare, and visiting with their neighbors. As a general rule, the people are welcoming, many of whom waved to us as we drove by, shouting with great excitement "the Muzungu's" (Swahali for "whites"). The whole scene is some strange blend of beauty, culture, and affliction. You leave wondering how you should feel, and time perhaps provides little clarity.

Visiting the OasNet Ranch

So far we've spent the last day and a half acclimating to the altitude, taking our antimalarials, and the 7 hour time change here in Nairobi. This has included a couple short drives, some walks to area restuarants, and a trip to a local shopping plaza, not to mention several tea parties (pretty strong British influence here). Tomorrow though it's time to get serious. We'll leave tomorrow morning to head to the "OasNet Ranch", a 40 acre remote property that the Oasis Network For Churches, courtesy of many faithful partners and the leadership of Oasis Wauseon, purchased around 9 years ago. This land is home to a large, but unfinished home, and a well, that's functionality is currently in question. Tomorrow we'll load up our gear and hit the road for the 1.5 hr drive out to the property. At one time this land was used as a farm and served as a well for the area's poor and needy. Our goal is to begin gathering data to see this property once again become "an Oasis" for the people of region. For our team, this will include gathering information about the house, the soil, elevation, install new locks on the house, so it doesn't become home to squaters, and to get thorough video and photographs of the property so that we can begin to make plans to get a family living on it - my goal is in the next 24 months. Each member of the team has a different role tomorrow, from taking GPS measurements, photographs, video footage (2 cameras), doing interviews, making lunch, measuring the fittings on the well, and examing the house for needs and creating a list of ideas and updates.

If all goes well, our team will most likely be making an additional trip to the land towards the end of our stay, following up with any immediate needs.

Tomorrow we'll be joined by Pst Steve and Pst Josphat, two local Nairobi-land OasNet pastors. Both of these guys were crucial in our acquiring the property.

Also for those of you who have been here before, we'll be looking for your trees and markers....be interesting to see the condition we find everything.

Pray for our trip tomorrow, safety on the road, safety on the land (including protection from wildlife...this is Africa!) and probably most of all vision...vision to see in this property what God sees. Also, be praying for hearts of those who will be living on this land some day...I really believe its going to take a team and we are expecting for God to begin putting these people together.

In Kenya

Hey everyone,

We made it safely to Kenya after about 20 hours of travel. All of our luggage made it too! We are staying at a lovely place called the Methodist Guest House. Here is a picture of part of the guys room so you know that we aren't sleeping in huts...



The weather is pretty mild and actually really comfortable. Our team is getting along well (so far) and we are all excited to be here. Jerry, Jill, Ben, and Robin fly in tonight. We can't wait until the join us.

Since we will be updating almost daily, we are going to have a featured team member everyday.

Today's featured team member is Kenny Prawat...



Kenny is 26 and single. He resides in Savannah, Georgia where he is a graduate student at Savannah College of Art and Design. He is getting his MFA in Film and Television. He will be videoing and documenting the trip for two purposes: To make a documentary as a film project for a class and to give OasNet a new tool to show people around the world what OasNet does.
Kenny is a world traveler but this is his first time to Africa. We are happy to have him with us.

Tomorrow we are driving out to visit OasNet's land and to survey the property. Sunday we will begin our ministry portion of the trip.

Continue to pray for us as we get acclimated to the culture, climate, and time change.

That is all for today. See you tomorrow.

Grace and Peace.

The OasNet Team - Lucas, Becky, Justin, Hayley, Sarah, and Kenny