Three men and a NUN!

Wow. It has been a long time since I have written in my blog. I am having a hard time believing that I am in Africa. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be roaming this great Continent, serving the poorest of the poor, I may have laughed in your face.

What a journey God is taking me on. Many times I feel so unprepared and lost…only to have Him guide my very next step. What am I doing here? I have no missionary training, no masters in Divinity or Theology. Every day here in Africa I am learning that in my weakness He is very strong.

I just traveled like 10,000 miles by plane, 1,400 by SUV, and who knows how many by foot.

I just spent the last 10 days without an internet connection. I have been in the bush traveling with two buddies and a nun. What a story this is. Sit back and kick your shoes off for this one… I met this Guy Craig Swett at my church about three months ago. He told me that he has been longing to help the poor in Tanzania. His story was so much like mine. Yep, you guessed it, he met a Tanzanian nun through his wife’s job at Benedictine College in Lisle, Il. Talk about PROVIDENCE. God was moving on his heart the day he and Carol met this lovely Sister Beatrice and her co-nun Afra. Craig and Carol had been wiring money over to Tanzania to assist the two nun’s mothers…kinda their own version of GFR. Occasionally they would organize a little fundraiser to help an association buy a sewing machine to help them make income.

The next part of this story is that a couple in Craig and Carol’s small group, Mike and Kim Brown, got sucked in. Originally Kim was going to be on the initial Tanzania research team…Some how Mike, a successful executive at a large construction firm, decided to go instead. I am so glad he came with us. I now have 2 very wonderful new friends. We called this trip "Three men and a nun"

Watching two successful businessmen sacrifice time away from their families and careers is an amazing thing. To see them touch the poorest of the poor, and cry tears for the poorest, was priceless. They reminded me of Melody and I when we first walked Rwandan soil in the villages. It was so overwhelming to see the children dying, the hopeless looks of despair on the mother’s and grandmother’s faces, and the rampant devastation of HIV AIDS.
We went into an orphanage. It was my first. I have purposely been avoiding them, for fear I may adopt the whole lot of them. I was choking back huge tears then, and while I am writing this just the memory alone yanks the levy out of my eye and the tears spill over. I kept thinking what if this was Hope or Mikey? I barely kept it together. One little 3 year old ran up to me an cried daddy! Daddy! I wanted to run away.

God seemed to always be two days ahead of us along this trip. Some days we did not know for sure where we would sleep. God was so present on this trip. Once I found out that I had our airline tickets for this trip, I found out it was going to be an 800 Kilometer drive. I was under the impression that we were going to take a Crazy Tanzanian Public Bus to our destination in Njombe. When we got to the airport in Tanzania, Bishop Alfred had sent his personal driver in his Toyota Land cruiser to pick us up. It was wonderful. He arranged for our accommodations EVERYWHERE we went, and paid for fuel, food, and treated us like royalty. We had deep talks with him. He really inspired us and we felt refreshed spiritually speaking with him.


This wonderful man Bishop Alfred and a parish priest named Father Clement verbally expressed that our arrival had affected them in a big way. They were with us in the field at times, and our passionate unswerving beeline for the poorest of the poor, deeply affected their spiritual outlook on life. Father Clement said that visiting the poorest of the poor renewed his spiritual life. It appeared that he too had been caught in a trap of business and responsibility at his parish. How are you doing with the poor? Are you out of touch with them? You can write your sponsored family a letter, or send them a gift, maybe by them shelter, or help them sustain themselves for life. We can transform the world…one family at a time. Thank you Craig and Mike for renewing my passion for the poor as I saw your hearts pour out the love of Christ.

I am currently on a plane just leaving Dara Salam, Tanzania. I am flying to Entebbe airport in Uganda, where the wonderful GFR staff will welcome me with huge smiles. Please pray for our first team which will arrive June 1st. Please pray for our safety and that as we touch these precious people, that we would learn and grow as we Americans are relationally poor…the poorest of the poor…these people can teach us much.
Peace out.

A starving boy...what if it was my Nathan?

This widow had 9 graves...

Can I just add a few more comments? I am really missing my wife Melody. I just miss waking up next to her. I miss her smile. I miss laughing with her...and Amber, Nate, Mikey, and Hope, they are my life. I am really struggling with this detachment. I love you all more than my life.

Asta la bye bye!