Hey, know what? I actually WAS driving. No kidding. On the way home from a pet-sitting appointment. Totally “normal”, one moment. World-turned-upside-down and bawling my eyes out, the next. Could hardly see to pull over. Actually COULDN’T see to pull over. But, I live in the willywhacks of far northern Wisconsin, and I was all alone on a 25-mph back road. So all I had to do was slow down and feel for the shoulder.

“That God of ours. Does he think of everything, or what?”

God bless

Candace

and I’ve never randomly caught on fire by stepping on their said holy ground… so it should be safe…

should be way more interesting than bible lit. in high school. We were supposed to talk about a little of all religions- but it was like 95 percent bible. I always like the song about the valley of death. Was my favorite.

Arlywn: God's messages actually ONLY hit come in real, down-to-earth ways. Anything else is just … theology, or speculation, or … whatever. When God hits, he only hits real. And yeah, go with your brother. Why not? If nothing else, you should learn as much about the Bible and Christianity as possible, if for no other reason than that, for right or wrong, Western civilization is grounded in Christianity. You can't know your present until you know its past, and you can't understand the past of just about anything in the West without understanding Christianity. It's the bones the rest of our culture is built upon. Knowing it is power, and will come in handy the rest of your life.

I think I might want to attend one of my brothers youth group things. He was singing this song about lions eating people and it was cool. I asked him where he learned it and he said church. I might have to go once just to see about that. It was pretty nifty. not that this means I think gods real… or anything… just this church seems pretty… nifty. yea.

Oh how he calls us from darkness into the light;

Oh how he saves us when we least expect it.

Oh how he uses us in most unexpected ways to do his will.

I too had the presence of God come to me all at once and my life has been changed for ever.

First of all, WELCOME to the family. I haven't read all of your blogs here yet, but I will. I just found this one when reading the one you posted today, Aug. 14.

My husband, Fred, has a great love for Kenya and her people also. (Hugs to Elle)

In the 1980s, a few years after he received his MA in Intercultural Studies/World Missions from Biola University in CA, he was asked to teach at Daystar University. We really wanted to make the move and were in the process, but circumstances beyond our control kept us from that dream, at least for then.

Then in 1992 he was asked to teach in a pastor's conference put on by Deliverance Church in Nairobi. The week-long conference was in Mombassa. Fred is not an ordained minister but he does have the spiritual gift of teaching and loves to teach. We still don't know why he was chosen to be asked, but God definitely had it planned.

Fred had six weeks to renew his passport, raise the money for his airline ticket, ask for time off at work and prepare for a two week stay in Kenya. The first week he ministered in Nairobi, spent some time at Daystar and stayed with a Christian family he had not met before then. He loved it. The second week he spent at the conference.

When he arrived, the leaders asked him what he was going to teach and when he told them they cried. Remember I had said that God definitely had this trip planned? Well, when Fred got on the plane in Los Angeles he didn't have a clue what God wanted him to teach. God gave it all to him on the flight over. Now you may be wondering what had made these men cry…it was the answer Fred gave them. On the flight over God had given him exactly what these pastors had been praying for, for two years…someone to teach them how to reach their Muslim neighbors for Christ. God had given Fred exactly what he needed to teach Muslim Evangelism to these pastors. Not only did he get to share this message with the pastors,but he was asked to teach that day's lesson in the open-air church in Mombassa each evening.

Mombassa is largely populated by Muslims, so as he was sharing what God had given him they could hear the "call to prayer" coming from the mosques in several areas of the city. He said it was an awesome experience; helping these Christians learn how to reach their Muslim neighbors, friends and family for Christ, the very people who were at that moment kneeling down to their god, a god who had no power to save them, heal them, deliver them or provide for them in any way.

That was almost 15 years ago but we still feel that God will send us back to Kenya, maybe for Fred to teach at Daystar or maybe for some other purpose. We don't know God's plans we just know they are perfect, in His time, for His purposes and our good.

God bless you in your new walk with Him.

Jer. 29:11-13

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.