Search for A Kingdom

       After trying to sleep some in our tent, which could be described as a human-sized sardine can, we woke up and hiked toward some mountains in the distance.  We eventually ran into a large river, which we later identified as the Nile, and could go no further.  We began our hike back to the road and after about half an hour some dark clouds rolled to a halt above us before opening up into a powerful thunderstorm.  In the midst of this downpour we came across an old farmer who directed us to a path that would lead to the road.  After giving him a couple of our machetes as a thank you, we headed to the road.  After waiting a little bit we landed a sweet ride that was headed all the way back to Kampala.  Better yet, they were late so they would be driving pretty fast.  We hopped in the back of the truck were greeted by three more smiling Africans who were also riding in the back.  They were quite suprised that we would be their new traveling companions. The ride home is something that words cannot fully describe and photographs cannot entirely illustrate.  However we will give our best attempt at trying to convey what  we feel were glimpses of the kingdom of heaven. 

       The truck took off and began driving down the bumpy dirt road.  For about 30 minutes we sat on the floor of the flatbed, getting pounded by every bump in the road.  A few times we hit a pot-hole or jut in the road going 40 or 50 mph resulting in a foot or two of air before landing back on our rear-ends on the truck.  Felt like what I imagined being body slammed by a full-grown man would feel like.  After a couple of those brutal instances we transitioned to sitting on our packs.  This too was pretty brutal so Andrew decided to stand up and hold onto the side.  We saw that while unorthodox, this may in fact be the best and most comfortable way to ride back.  So we stood for the next few hours.  At this point the blank canvas that was the sky before the storm was stained with a plethora of colors originating from the sun setting behind the mountains in the distance.  This scene screamed Romans 1 where it says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (v.20)  This was something  in this world but too vivid and majestic to be of this world.  A glimpse of something greater. 

       As we traveled on we watched as African children would run out of their huts to the side of the road and frantically wave at us.  Men and women walking down the road and see us standing on the back of this speeding truck and initially be quite puzzled.  As we drive by we would flash a quick smile or wave and their face would completely light up, leaving us smiling more than before.  It was crazy to think of how different these rural village people were, half a world away, different language, but a smile is universal.  A realization of how complex yet simple humanity is.  Another one of those glimpses.    

       We live in a broken and imperfect world where we dont have all the answers.  We werent designed to be able to know everything.  Thats what these little pieces or realizations, however complete or incomplete, of something greater than ourselves are so important.

       Because while these may be only glimpses, sometimes a glimpse is all thats needed to remind you who deserves all the glory. 

Africa Team

-L4L

Cliche Africa

Before I came here, everyone kept telling me, “Don’t go with any expectations.” So I tried my hardest not to. All I had ever heard about Africa was the cliche, stereotypical things. So I figured this advice was most applicable to me because I probably had a very ignorant and closed-minded view. 

I spoke to the friends of mine often that had just gotten back from Kampala, Uganda (the country next door to Kenya) and asked questions about the culture, what was appropriate to wear, and what I should and should not do to be most loving to these people. I was surprised to hear of ATM machines and other western culture ideas that were very prevalent in this city. I began to ask God to prepare my heart by removing any ignorant thoughts or misconceptions so that I could serve effectively and, at the same time, not be offensive. I was under the impression that this area of the neighboring country had to be similar.

Flash forward. 

For the next little bit of my life, I will live at this camp in South Horr, Kenya. In order to get here, I drove through the real-life version of Lion King. I have seen more goats, camels, and donkeys than I care to mention. I live in a cement hut with a straw roof and no electricity. I wash in dirty, cold water that literally stops working about 5 times each time I try to shower. I do everything outside except sleep: eat, shower, wash my hands, use the bathroom, brush my teeth, even cook (when Natalina and the other ladies let me help). What’s more mind boggling is that I am falling in love with these living conditions and the people I am living among. 

I live among the Samburu tribe. About 50% of these people wear Westernized (or “normal” as ‘ignorant me’ used to say) clothes, and the rest wear traditional tribal attire. The women have little to no hair and the men mostly have long red hair or short hair with red paint around their heads and shoulders. The men wear wraps and beaded straps around their chest. The women wear BEAUTIFUL colored wraps and many beaded wire necklaces around their necks. Yesterday, I attended the last part of a 2 day Smburu wedding ceremony among these people. This didn’t include the cow slaughtering that I missed or the drinking of the goat blood (true story). There was cliche African chanting, cliche African dancing, and even the occasional cliche African topless woman. 

Every child that I see seems to have been hand plucked from a Christian Children’s Fund commercial. Very few wear shoes, many at the wedding ceremony were naked or only wearing a shirt. Although the children that live here at the camp (which is open and free for all members of this tribe which means that any given morning I will eat breakfast next to a decked out Samburu warrior) are wearing a full outfit, the poverty is still very prevalent. Again - cliche.

This morning, Stakwell took us to church (In Africa - “chach”). I entered a covered area with cement floors and waist-high walls (which is preferable because of the breeze and the breath-taking view of the Samburu hills surrounding us). We, a group of white Americans, entered and sat down. A few people that worked at the camp entered closely behind us speaking to us in broken English. Then a handful of the tribal women and warriors entered as well in their beautiful, unmistakable attire. Stakwell’s friend initiated the service and led most of it. The entire service, with the exception of our introductions and greetings which was translated, was in Samburu. I figured out after a few minutes that “Jessu” is Samburu for Jesus as it was the subject of many songs, chants, and parts of the sermon. I have never felt so moved. 

Our God is so awesome that he used Stakwell, a native of the Samburu tribe and non-believer until he was in secondary school, to bring Christ to this unknown corner of the earth. This cliche idea of Africa that we think is outdated and no longer existing. The same God that I have worshipped my whole life in a Southern Baptist Church in Wayne County is being worshipped on the same day of the week, 7 hours earlier, by people that I thought only existed in legends and history books. 

I could obviously write more but I’m going to save some energy for when I start working with the Special Education program at the school tomorrow (PS - among the tribal children was a young man with Downs Syndrome so I look forward to seeing if he attends school and I will work with him or if he works with his family). I found out that this school has a Special Ed teacher who is Samburu. When I asked Stakwell how developed the program was he replied, “Is Nothing.” I can’t wait to see what God does there. 

Andrew and Ben are great. No need to worry about these guys. They were built for this. Andrew made this statement to me last night, “It’s safer to live in a dangerous place within God’s will, than to sit at home on your sofa out of God’s will.” What encouragement. 

Keep my family back home in your prayers as well. My sister will deliver any day now! (Love you my sissy and I can’t wait to meet Claire)

Erin Gamble

Server of Jessu

Surreal

If there was ever a doubt that God was calling me here, that has been alleviated. There is no way that I would have the kind of peace that I have consistently had otherwise. But now that I have been here for 2 days, that aspect of God's provision has been blown out of the dirty, undrinkable water.

The night that I arrived, I waited for an hour for my luggage which was a blast. The moment I found had my bags, I turned toward the exit and I see Andrew's dread locks sticking out because he made SURE to make himself visible so I wouldn't freak out. He and Ben have taken care of me so well. I am so glad that God chose my first African experience to be with these two amazing men of God. We stayed at a missionary's house in Nairobi that night. Irene and Ken are from the western US. Their house was REALLY nice. It was as if God was saying, "Hey. Erin. I realize that the 23 hour flying time and smelly Nairobi airport was a lot of breaking you in. So here is a super nice place for you to crash the first night." (And by super nice, He means my own room, a real toilet, and WARM WATER)

The next day, we traveled with Stakwell (who likes meat. camel meat.) to Nanyuki which is about 4 hours away. We stayed there for the night at a hotel with no toilet seat. BUT it did have hot water. At this point God was saying, "Ok. this is REAL Africa but this is just your first full day so I will continue to break you in easily." We went to the markets, and to Nakumatt which is like African WalMart. After an interesting night with crappy mosquito nets, we began our journey to South Horr this morning at 6:00. Imagine driving from Raleigh to Florida. Now imagine a 5 seated Land Rover with 3 Americans and 3 Kenyans. Now imagine that only 2 of the 10 hours are on paved roads but the rest is straight through paths with rocks and pot holes. Dusty, dirty pot holes. 

Needless to say we are in South Horr safely and I am learning so much about this culture. I am also learning about God's love for me, Ben and Andrew, and these people I never even knew existed on the other side of the globe. Danielle Vuke prayed that I would have the right emotions that I needed and then reassured me that I "lacked no good thing." I have had such a spirit of contentment since I boarded the plane at RDU. Regardless of my fear of connections (thanks for the prayers for that by the way), regardless of the extreme lack of luxuries that I am used to, regardless of the bugs that were crawling over the china that our breakfast was served on this morning, and regardless of 10 hours in what would be considered in the US "miserable conditions." God is humbling me, educating me, and hopefully, beginning tomorrow (my first day of NO traveling), he will begin to use me in BIG ways at the school and here at the camp. 

Peace and Blessings and thanks SO much to our families, supporters, friends, and all those that keep us in your thoughts and prayers constantly. It is such a comfort and we LOVE YOU:)

Erin Gamble

Mzungu

Erin is in Kenya

Erin Gamble made it safely to Nairobi, Kenya this afternoon.  I think that making all of the connections and finding Andrew and Ben at the airport in Nairobi were two of Erin's biggest concerns, so it is a huge relief to know that everything went well.  I am sure that Erin is exhausted from the trip, but I'll try to get a longer update from the team soon.

Alison
Co-Founder

It's finally here!

The website is launched!!

Go to loveforthesakeoflove.com to see it.  I've heard that some people are still having trouble viewing it if they have a slower internet connection, so if you have any problems with it please let me know so I can get them fixed.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the website.  Enjoy!!

Alison
Co-founder

The Rush.

       When i was 12 me and my friends would go to the gas station and buy 2 liter drinks of say 'mountain dew' or something else loaded with caffeine. Then we would wait until we were about to fall asleep and just down the whole drink and get a mad sugar rush for about an hour or two till we would all collapse. That's about what is going on right now. We have 4 and 1/3 days left in kampala before we have to leave and we are just working round the clock to wrap everything up that we need to finish here.
       Why the load? When we first got here we had a few things that were set in stone that we knew that we would be completing, but we were also allowing God to lead us if there were other areas we could be serving. So now we have all of the connections, which have been a huge blessing to us, and we are trying to complete the task of supporting them with video and pictures. It is exciting though, to find out the next little piece at a time of what God wants us to do.
       Change of pace and surroundings. Northern Kenya. Tuesday morning Ben and i will board a bus that will take us all the way to Nairobi, Kenya - a 16 hour bus ride. From there we will pick up Erin Gamble, the completion on our team that will be here in africa this summer. Let me tell you - i am so pumped for what Gods got planned for us. All i understand of where we are going is from a few conversations with George Tissire. We are passing everything,  going a little farther and stopping at....well, nowhere. It will have whole new challenges from the city slum life that we have been around, and both Ben and i are full fledged ready for whatever is in store. That's the update of our schedule..

      Waking up. To shift gears i would love to paint you a picture. First off, we love where we are. We live currently in a room that has the dimensions of about smallxnarrow with 3 or 4 other guys. The complex is strait up in the slums. But has its own environment. Abby Tracy was the one that connected us with the place to live and they have been the most generous people to us, allowing us to stay for free and giving us whatever they have available. We love them all. That being said...
We sleep sailor style. A triple bunk with just enough room to lay in it, not sit, not crouch, just lay. I sleep in the middle with Ben on the bottom bunk and there is one other uncle that sleeps on the top bunk. Usually on a school day the boys wake up to get ready for school at o say about 4 lightyears before the sun even thinks about rising. That or at 5:51 on the dot. Chores start then which includes washing the floor, ironing clothes, cleaning shoes. And yelling constantly. shoot. If i had to do chores before school everyday i'd be ticked too. I cant say that i have any idea what they yell about considering its in a different language, sometimes i would love to know just for a second so that i could yell too, but most of the time it's better i dont know, because it would just make my morning to find out that i was woken up over a pair of socks.
     Either way i actually conquered that element and somehow found a way to train myself to sleep through most of the yelling. But being a master at something is never fun, thats why the uncle started sleeping above us. Now its a party, because right at 6:15 ish just after i have fallen back to sleep from the initial earth quake of noise the boys cause, he wakes up. Were you ever bored as a kid and tried to make your bed without getting out of it?, well i know one little boy that did. So at 6:25 just like a can of paint at home depot i am put in the tumbler for 10 to 15 minutes while the bed is being made right above me. Then around 6:50 he undoes the mosquito net that he tucked in, to put his bag back on the bed once or twice depending on the day. Lets sum it up. I now do devos in the morning because its either read about how much God loves me or plot ways to strap my fellow uncle roomate to his bed while he sleeps.  Life is good.
   I do love it here and the people that i am around and i thank God alone for the blessing that i have been given in my health (after malaria that prayer started) and the new family that i have become a part of in the Makerere, Kivulu, Childrens Home.
Andrew
L4L Africa team.
ps Ben and i both read Romans and now are starting to study Acts today was chapter 2. If you want to jump on board i would love to hear some of your feedback on what you have learned from the book. Thanks for reading.

In the short rows...

In Wayne/Johnston County, when a task is almost completed, folks generally say that they are "in the short rows." When working in a field, the rows get shorter at the ends. So when you reach the "short rows," you know it's quitting time soon.


My plane leaves in exactly 10 days. And it feels like I am "almost done." Almost done getting the materials I need. Almost done sorting out financial details. Almost done wondering what it will be like when I get there. Because as soon as my plane lands in Nairobi, all the pieces will fall into place and I can just rest in the peace of being where God wants to use me. I know as soon as I arrive, I will not stop learning about God's love and provision, about myself, about how to love on people in general. I know each day will be humbling and bring perspective.


Now if I can only get through these 10 days! Every once in a while, thoughts creep in to my head to make me uneasy. What if I can't find Andrew and Ben at the airport? What if something gets mixed up with my flights? What if I forget something crucial? Nevertheless, God is dealing with these thoughts as they occur and forcing me to exercise complete and total dependency on him. What a good Daddy, right?


I will be meeting Andrew's mom and Ben's mom this Sunday for prayer for the team. Also to pick up a bag to take to the boys. Apparently the need for American candy bars is pretty intense so this will be the first need I meet during this experience:)


If anyone has any packing/flying/airport advice, do tell. Otherwise, keep praying for L4L, the team in Africa, Alison, and all those involved with this. For now, I will continue counting down the short rows...


-Erin Gamble

finally on the road

The plan was to leave at 10:30 this morning and we pulled out of the church parking lot a little after 3. Being 5 hours behind schedule seems to be the start of any great church trip so I knew that it was a good sign. We are now a little over one hour into our 8 hour drive to Lee university in tennessee for the first two YCM conferences I'm working at this summer. Each week will have a few hundred students. I never went to any of the great escape conferences as a student so I have no idea what to expect. Its hard for me to go into the situation not knowing anything, but I know its exactly what I need. It will push me to give up all control to God. I'm excited to see what He does there and to see so many middle schoolers experience God...many for the first time.
Andrew and Ben spent the past few days doing work in Rwanda and are now back in uganda. They met with George, the missions pastor from Providence in Raleigh, today and will be working more with him this weekend.
Be on the lookout for a blog post about our website. We're finishing up the final details for it and plan to launch it soon.

Alison
Co-founder

2+2 in a 1x1 tent still =4

Darkness. I edited Wikipedia when i got back and it says No Light.  All i could think about was Dear Mrs. Skippy, a private art teacher i had once when i was about 15 or so. She had argued with me for hours about how there was no black, just a combination of all the colors on the color wheel, man am i going to have a field day with her theory when i get back. The old truck we got out of continues down the road as we pull out some headlights and look around. The land is banked up on both sides of the road in a semi-deserted road, total population of the area: 4, three white guys, one asian. Ten or so minutes pass by and we are found by an old who-knows-what-year yota with an even older tree trunk in the bed, but to us this truck was our ticket out. We hop in the bed and start making up ground. We come up behind the other truck that we had gotten off of but stop in the town right before we overcome it. Who knew this ticket wasn’t quite as long lasting as our salvation, the truck driver says “we're here.” A cool 7 km  - thats about all that ride was good for. A shake of a hand, 3 waves and the guys are all gone looking for bottles of coke and some chapatis or at least ben is, he has acquired a slight addiction which in my book is perfect. Chapatis are cheap, filling, and everywhere somewhere along the lines of taco bells in the US. I talk to a guy with a Ford Ranger that in africa’s kelly blue book is probably on the top of the resell list, and he’s totally down with taking us 120km to wherever that is. I round up the guys we get in the truck, drive 100 yards and stop. We forgot the bota driver, bota, and bags of sugar cane that we had found were now going to share the ride, still the ride was a gold mine. Its clean sailing, roads are nice and a few sips of a coke a bathroom stop at a creepy gas station and we're there. The police man who was stopping the truck for a checkpoint was determined to have us get on a bus that was supposed to come in just a few turns of the clock. But thats not going to fly in our book especially considering this guy was probably a dual major in bus booking and police duty so we start walking. We pass a sign that says something about wild game and beginning wilderness yada yada. We're not really interested, but stranded. It was dark there were no cars anywhere. We see one truck but it drives past us faster than Ricky Bobby. An old truck slows down and stops, cool. We had been walking for 30 or so minutes and seen 2 cars it was time to take what we can get. Besides i’ve never heard of a bunch of guys getting mauled by wild animals in a truck. 

This driver doesn’t talk just drives, makes it easy to explain that we arn’t paying him. Im in the front seat with Ben when i smell gas, and a lot of it. The water jug that was under his feet isn’t water. Thats 2 for 2 Ben. No more front seats for you. But we get out at Gulu before the driver figured out what had happened. It wasn’t leaking anymore after we turned it back right side up, not much we could do, i guess thats an African oops. Not totally proud of how that went down. But he did drop us off in the Gulu ghetto. Shady town, not tropical tan shade, Snoop Dog rap video shady. Jon leans down to tie his shoe and I inform him he can’t tie what he doesn’t have and we should keep moving at least over to the bank where there a security guard nearby. So maybe we arn’t as dumb as we look hu moms? Yeah... don’t worry we make up for that cautious moment later. We ask if we can pitch a tent outside the bank in the beautiful lawn half joking the other half hoping. I mean it is 2 am and we are all tired. But we are in Gulu, score. He says sorry but the management isn’t available at that hour to ask for permission, we're cool with that, besides it was just a joke right? He points us in the toward where all the hotels are and we leave walking. Four guys, one dark road, but we feel safe because there's no one around and we're guys who are built with a high tolerance from insecurity. We bang on a hotel until someone wakes up long enough to tell us they are full but at least she was kind enough to put her boots on and pick up her rifle and escort us to the next hotel down the road. We all pile into a room after fighting with the guards about the price. We get him down to 20,000 shillings for the room about $2.48 each, cool. So it wasn’t a holiday inn but it did have a bed a fan and toilet. Jeremiah picks the floor because supposedly he has thing against sleeping close to other guys. We shut off the lights. 

Its a big game of the human, only we are holding each others feet instead of hands. Its the only way that we could even come close to getting 4 guys in a 3 man tent. Jer’s theory against sleeping close to other guys, out the window. But surprisingly he is one of the only guys sleeping.  Don’t worry he’s sleeping all right, get the mic, he has to hear this. Best audio footage of Africa yet is a 20 something year old asian snoring to death in a matchbox size tent. Clarification on the matchbox, more like the size of the tear-off matches. Jon and I are the only ones who are even semi-awake Ben’s out too but he’s boring. He just sleeps, no symphony or anything. We do a little in- the- tent- update and lay down again to try attempt number 47 at sleeping. 

The next morning we get up, find some machetes, $2.50 each dull, $3.50 each sharpened, bingo. Ben and i pick up some Doxy, for some anti-malria action, not much for the Meds but we were kinda playing all of our risky cards all at once on this trip so we kinda had to even something out.  The side effects are however real. Its harder to find the main road out of town with a headache especially when “main” road doesn’t mean biggest. We jump in the back of a white flatbed with railing and a lawn chair against the bed which Jer claims right off. Im cool with that though im down for standing. First dirt roundabout i had ever seen, seemed more out of place than us in that area. And we get dropped off in the town that borders the long road to Bibia our last stop before we take off into the bush.                                                             --Andrew

Malaria vs. Dentist

You see just cus its the first time doesn't mean you think its cool. No one goes to the dentist like "woopie i get a toothbrush for getting my face hacked at and eyes filled with drill particles for hours!" Same thing for malaria, you see. Only a pure fool will take a bath in sugar water then go running through the bush, except me of course. Not sugar water, just white skin ---in an unpigmently challenged land. Upppgrade. Anyway its starts like this.
    Dentist - the man sits you down in a semi-comfy chair. Africa - you leave your house for a normal day. The dentist begins to smile, this is when you know something fishy is up. That free toothbrush has got more strings attached than a free wifi sign in africa. You go to entebbe to talk to a friend and on the way you start to wonder hmm "do i feel funny?" Back at the dentist, he takes a drill and says this is just to clean your teeth don't worry.  "are you ready?" Of course your mouth is split too wide to say yes or no. First dentist trick. You put your head down just for a second on the ride home from entebbe to catch some rest from your meeting. The drill comes closer to your teeth. You wake up. and BAM! you got a headache. by two different methods. One by dentist other by malaria.
   So that i don't take the rest of both our days i'll speed things up. Day one i got no sleep, i dont know my temperature. Same as first night home from the dentist. shoot, you got a new tooth brush! who can sleep after that? I was up all night, the temperature on my wrist from my watch reached 102F which on every human is a fever. I took some medicine that one of the uncles gave me. Bad move. (It's like if your friend, who is NOT a dentist, says "hey can i try drilling at your teeth?" You say, "nope!") It was a kind of medicine but not the best and a children's dose. Second day i go to the doctor to see what's wrong. Got told 300 times i'm not a kid anymore. Who knew. Asked a missionary Loring Morris if i could stay in their quiet home. She said yes, Winner! Second night no sleep, i'm on Lonart and some weird IBprofin which works about like IBnothin. Then next night just as bad, found out its not location location location. It probably has something to do with hydration hydration hydration. I held a bad fever all the way until i finally took some Aleve Loring gave me. Fever broke that night, woke up an hour after sleeping, in a rice field of sweat. It was like winning the super bowl and then having someone squeeze 50 lemons in your mouth. Happiness is confusing sometimes. went back to bed though. Next day was on off but no fever. That night i got a weird feeling when i took a deep breath. It was the same feeling you get when you swim all day. But i slept for 10 hours that night. A pure miracle. Went to the doctor and found out i now have some gastrol acid problem. But now it feels better. And so do i. See, it was all over about as fast as the dentist and we can all have a bright white smile about it! Hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for the prayers they helped a lot!
Andrew

Prayer Request

Ben and Andrew both have really bad headaches and fevers today.  Please pray for better health and strength to get through the work they are doing.

Random Stuff

A few random things we have noticed/have happened to us while here:
-There are stray goats everywhere.  We probably see close to a hundred each day.
-Our bota (motorized scooter) rides are never a set price, it is all negotiation with the driver.
-At the home we stayed at for about a week (where Jon and Jeremiah lived while in Kampala) there was a shower with the kind of nozzle that you hold in your hand.  But if someone turns on any other electrical appliance in the house while you are holding it it will send a pretty strong electrical current through the nozzle shocking your body until you put it down.  Certain times it would be worse than others and the bad ones usually resulted in a yell from whoever was taking the shower.
-All showers are cold
-street vendors cook on charcoal stoves
-People fully utilize the horn while driving
-The other day we ate sugarcane straight from the stalk (or cane?)  It looks kind of like bamboo and it was like biting into a piece of moist wood but tasted really sweet.
-Robin Hood is a good movie
-We will never take paved roads for granted
Thats all for now, hope things are going well in the states
-Ben