Departure Date

My departure for Kenya is set:

09/05/09

Pray for my final preparations this next month. I'm very excited to start moving forward in these final steps to the field.

It's weird how all this preparation and work has been put in the front end...and now it is time to

BEGIN.

Dearborn?

Here's a little bit about the city I'm in right now. I just returned this evening from the mosque that they show in the video.

A dream of Jesus

"You know I've seen Jesus. He's beautiful. I was sleeping and in my dream he came to me in a beautiful white robe. He had leather sandals, a long beard, and a white hat. He looked just like the imam from the mosque."

"What did he say?"

"He told me to, 'Walk with me.' He took me to a beautiful, green hillside and we just stood there and looked at it."

He told us this after an hour and a half of Muslim / Christian apologetics and debate. Then they had to go. We have his number and hope to meet with him this week. God willing, we will have a chance to share some verses with this man, for example,

‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. - Rev 3:4-5.

Please pray that we might have the opportunity to share such things from the Scriptures with him. Many Muslims have dreams and visions of Jesus Christ, but they do not come to Christ until after a second experience with a Christian or the Bible. Pray that he will put his faith in Christ and that the Lord Jesus would lead him to "lie down in green pastures...beside quiet waters..." and restore his soul in the path of righteousness (Ps 23).

• Pray for dreams and visions
• Pray for the tired and weak who long to be freed from the burden of Law (Mt. 11:28-30)
• Pray for the individuals we have talked to (they all need Jesus)
  

Dearborn

In two days I will be heading out to Dearborn, Michigan where I will be participating in a 3 week evangelism training course.

If you are interested in what type of evangelism, and why Dearborn, contact me and I'll let you know.

Please pray for my time there. I will be in classes from 8am-3pm and then in the evenings we will put to practice what we've learned by going out to the community and sharing the message of the Father and the redemption offered through His Son.

The program is from July 5 - 26, and I have heard it is very intense. As a good friend of mine who has done this program said, "Pray that you won't get in the way. Your most effective witness is to let the light of Christ shine through you." So I ask you to pray for this, the ministries up there and for the hearts of the people we will be speaking to.

I will try to be better at keeping you all informed during my time up there. Pray for safe travels. I'm driving alone to Memphis on July 1 and to Chicago on July 2 where I'll stay with a friend of mine for a few days before heading to Dearborn on the 5th.

Recap:

• Pray that I won't get in the way. My most effective witness is to let the light of Christ shine through me.
• Pray for the hearts of the people I will be interacting with.
• Pray for the ministries in Dearborn reaching out to these people.
• Pray for my travels.
• Pray that in many ways this training will prepare me to be a good witness to the people in the South Coast of Kenya; pray also that it will help me to train the believers in Kenya to engage these people who are spiritually perishing right next to them.
  

Graduation, 100%, & the Missions Conference

A lot of great things have been happening in the Benya world!

Graduation:
Last Saturday, on May 9th, I had my official commencement ceremony from the Missionary Training Institute. It was a wonderful and encouraging time that I got to share with my family and some friends. The last two years have been challenging but very rewarding from class to my internship with DCC to the support raising process.

Support:
And Praise God, I have finished support raising! I am at 100% of my monthly needs and about 58% of my one time needs. However, the remaining 42% should be taken care of through the monthly donations rolling over through August (my estimated departure). Our team, however, is still support raising for a project in Ukunda. Ask me about it if you are interested.

Thank you for going on this journey with me. If you have been praying, know that you are a part of this and I'm extremely grateful. Rejoice with me because God has answered your prayers.

Missions Conference:

For those of you in the Denton / DFW area, I'd like you to come celebrate with me all the great things God has done and is doing at the Denton Bible Missions Conference: Love Your Neighbor. You don't have to be a part of DBC to come and I'm positive it will be worth your while. Details are below. Click on this link to REGISTER.

The conference will be a great event to . . .

1. Get to know our missionaries: DBC has 73 missionary families sent out from our body serving around the world in a variety of ministries. We hope to have over 50 of these missionaries here at the conference. You will have the opportunity to hear them share with the conference, attend one of their break-out sessions, or visit one on one.
2. Learn about DBC missions: The conference will highlight several of our field ministries and offer break out sessions for in depth discussion of each of our key ministries.
3. Be challenged with solid teaching: Mark Young (Executive Pastor of Missions at StoneBriar Church, Professor at DTS and President Elect of Denver Seminary) and Tommy Nelson will be challenge us on loving our neighbor
4. Get involved: Opportunities for local and international involvement will be highlighted throughout the conference
5. Bring the whole family: there will be a childrens program on both days that will take the kids to far away places like China and Kenya while having them back in time to be picked up. Kids last year loved the event and it motivated whole families to begin praying and participating in outreach.
   

Conference Details:

1. The conference is on Friday night May 29th from 6 – 9 PM (doors open at 5) and Saturday May 30th from 9 AM to 2 PM (doors open at 8AM).
2. The cost is free but we are asking everyone to register. Lunch on Saturday is $5 per adult and $2 per child and requires a ticket purchased prior to the event.