A Necessary Update from Africa

Hello everyone,

I have decided to create a blog as an effort to keeping everyone up to date as much as possible on what's been happening in my life.  There has been some big changes in the last few weeks and I apologize if you're reading this and have had no idea about what's been going on.

Let me begin with the fact that life is absolutely great right now.  My Father, in His sovereignty, has closed some doors and opened many more, and I am so content with where he Has me.  With that said, I should fill you in on the reasons why I have created this blog...

Our team spent the majority of the month of March in the Kenyan "bush," literally.  It could not possibly have been more remote than it was, falling asleep to the sound of lions roaring in the distance underneath a planetarium-like sky.  On multiple occasions we saw elephants, giraffes, zebras, and I even swam in the same river as four hippos.  It was incredible to live with the Maasai people and spend three weeks sharing and learning from them.  During that time, however, I spent a lot of time praying and thinking about what was next.  My thoughts, my heart, my everything was stuck here in Kenya and I didn't want to leave (our team was scheduled to depart to Tanzania on March 28).  For a little of two weeks, I spent a lot of time praying through and discussing with my team leader some of the reasons why I wanted to leave the team and stay behind in Kenya...To spare you the details, after lots of discussions, lunch meetings, etc, I received a blessing from leadership within the AIM organization to leave the team and stay behind in Kenya.

First, I must offer an apology to my supporters back home who I did not contact about this.  I would have liked to have had the blessing of each one of you who supported me on this trip, either financially or prayerfully.  However, the time window was about 3 days that I had to speak with everyone I could and make my decision.  Be comforted by the fact that I spoke with my parents, my two team leaders, my mentor, pastor, and discipler from Elmhurst, and I received a blessing from all of them after explaining my reasoning.

Second, I should fill you in on what I'm doing in the next 5 weeks or so.  I have been living these last couple days with my Kenyan friends Sam and Kevin.  They are both friends with Amelia Cheshire, who attends Delta Church in Springfield, where I am a member.  Amelia is a part-time missionary to Kenya and she hooked me up with them.  They have been incredible at helping me and showing me around, and I look forward to our friendship blossoming in the next month.  On Tuesday I'm leaving Nairobi for Eldoret, which is a famous city where all the Kenyan runners live.  I am hoping to live there for at least a week and build a few friendships through the Kenyan running community.  On April 26th I will head to Mombasa, Kenya with Pastor Maurice, a local pastor I met last month.  He is hosting a four-day conference for pastors in the area; they are expected around 100 pastors to be present.  He has asked me to speak at the conference, so I'm looking forward to that.  A few other contacts and opportunities are being finalized, and I will update you via this blog as things become official.

To my supporters, I again apologize for making this decision to stay in Kenya without contacting you.  However, I trust that given the opportunity to hear my heart about the reasons I wanted to stay, you would have been supportive.  I will be using this blog in the coming weeks to keep you up to date as I travel through Kenya...solo!

Jordan