The New Joel's Most Excellent Jesus Adventure!!!

"Nice" is not enough. Will the real men please stand up?

2009-12-07T01:26:00.000-08:00

Many of you who have known me for years know that i truly despise the thought of being labeled as a "nice guy." (especially my mother) The thought of being told i am just a "nice guy" by someone truly scares me. Untold depths are reached when this label is assumed upon me. It's as if i'm a beautiful black stallion running free. But then someone labels me an ass. Quite, pleasant, and dependable. When i hear these words i cringe. I think. Can't there be more to an honorable man than that? What happened to the adventures side of my life? Where did the strength that i carry go?

For years (since i was in my early teens) I have struggled to find the words to describe my intense opposition to the term "nice guy." I have often spouted off frustrations that "nice guys" are "boring." Even that nice guys only exist because they lack the true conviction to live a life of incredible passion for Jesus that shifts atmospheres. Many of you who know me well have at least heard me express my frustration with "nice guys" and their lack of operational conviction, passion, and plain old "interestingness." If that's even a word.

I still struggle to find the appropriate words to describe my frustration. It is truly a journey i am on. It's an on going revelation to be sure. One thing though. I'm not alone. Many men out there. Godly men. Are living a life unsatisfied with what they see. Wanting more. More of life, more of their beautiful God. Not happy with this persona that people place on them of being "nice" christian guys.

Yesterday myself and a few of my roommates were talking. And one of my roommates Kevin was talking. And he shared with us this bit of his blog he was working on. It truly helps to put words to much of what my heart has known for years.

Below i submit to you the words of my roommate. His wisdom is profound and truly heartfelt. Beloved, i tell you the truth. The world needs more men like Kevin. Men who are willing to reach deep inside themselves to discover who God made them to be. Men who are not satisfied with the realities that this world is offering them. But seeks a deeper, truer reality. The one our father God lives in. The kingdom of our God.

Kevin Ernst- When Kind and Gentle Breaks

Our generation has found men lost in a desperate game of striving to be strong. Whether forging a body of muscle, finding a position of definition, or developing an uncanny lust for women's flesh; a man is looking for true power, real defining, and a depth of intimacy lost to him. We have husbands committed to abusing their loved ones with intimidation. We have university professors who give nothing but their knowledge. And we have ministers who create orphanages with their people's hearts. Our old men are dieing as children. No one wants to be discovered as week or out of control; but the reality is, many men are powerless in their character and have lost all vulnerability to their need for intimacy. Men are seeking for something to hide their outrageous fear.

For most of my life I have been characterized as a "nice" guy. Bull shit. I hate being thought of as powerless, insignificant, and a shell of a man. When I hear the words, "you are nice;" I hear a voice saying, "you are a weak man." And the hurtful truth is, this is what I often believe about myself. There must be a place where kindness and gentleness have power.

I think nice turned into weak when men gave away their strength for fear and passivity. I have met women who despise their nice men. Men whose pleasant facades are ripped apart in the rooms of secret, only to reveal the brutality of a caged animal or the spineless disappearance of a partner. These "nice" ones are simple pretenders who have never known real strength of character and self control. They were never taught that their raging, or their secrets, render their brides unprotected and ruined. A woman's need for empowered unity is forgotten in the waves of spiritual ignorance. The truth is; men, myself included, have great spiritual power and they are exercising it. We just don't believe it's true.

When father's don't father and mother's raise our sons alone, boys don't grow up to become men. They reach into their hearts and the world around them to be defined. But what they find in those places is the very lack they were hoping to fill. I was recently told that what was NOT given to us is much more damaging than the abuse or traumas that happen to us. When I think back on my own life, it was not so much the cancer that hurt my character, but the lack of confidence imparted to my boys heart that faulted my foundation. You can kill cancer, but how does a parent give a child courage when he or she has none?

The voice of the day would declare that security in life is finance, and good character development is knowledge of the rules. But when did rules create self governing empowered people, and money rescue anyone from something as inevitable as death? They don't. People are not made strong by what they do or what they possess. For life does not come from what. Life comes from who. And that who is the one who imparts a father's heart. His name is Jesus. He is God. He is love himself. He is our Father. You see, we who are fathered by Life are not victims to a fatherless generation.

Being fathered is something that I am powerless to do. I cannot father myself. My hands are clenched around the tools of protection: passivity, anger, position, power, distraction, pain, and lack of value. These tools have guarded my broken heart. Who wouldn't despise the obvious embrace of lies? Who wouldn't fear the destruction that comes with the truth of my need? I can see it in you, but God forbid you reveal it in me. I am terrified that you might see me as I really am. A man in need of a father.

Our tools of protection are often used as weapons to drive away the truth that others bring. This is why kindness is powerful. Kindness and gentleness destroy the fear of your approach. It allows for the place of pain to be touched...to be healed. How could I think of God any different than a tyrant when nearly every example I have known is of men fighting for their own identity and value? It is kindness that has allowed me to approach the living God as father. And God is love. And rejection gets blown up in the presence of love. And love is patient...kind...not self seeking...or rude. We are fathered by The Father.

I want to know God as my Father at the very core of me. I want to see men who are powerful in their identities as beloved sons. I want the world to know Jesus as he really is: good, gentle, kind, and even nice when nice is powerful in love.

more awesome testimonies

2009-10-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

Just a few quick ones i gota share that some students told in class.

1) girl with 8000-9000 dollars of medical bills because she got sick without insurance. Hospital wrote and said that she didn't owe them anything. She got her debts paid off. Woohoo!! Totally God.

2) Women had a relative come to bethel two weekends ago with brain cancer. Big tumor in her head. Doctors didn't expect her to make it to christmas. She got prayer at church on friday and also in the healing rooms on saturday. In the healing rooms on saturday she had one of her ears pop while receiving prayer and a ton of drainage and fluids came out of her head thru her ear. The lady went to the doctor this week and they told her that her cancer is in full remission! Which they weren't expecting. haha.

So i say, Yay God!! and if you need one of these breakthroughs. Claim it as your own. It's in Gods heart to heal you. Always. Because he loves you.

Sweet manifestation of God

2009-10-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

So the other day. Wednesday a week ago to be specific. I was sitting in class and one of the pastors was teaching on breaking down fear in our lives. It was such a good word. Spoke out of love. Part of the way thru his talk i started to hear water running. Like a brook of water flowing. I began to look around to see if someone's iPhone or computer was making the noise and if other people were noticing it. For about 5 minutes it continued to get louder and softer. After looking around like a psychotic person i realized that i was the only one in the room noticing the sound. What's more. I was hearing it with my own two ears. My physical ears! haha. It was SOO weird. And fun.

So after class. I asked around and no one heard anything like a stream of water flowing from the back left part of the room like I had heard. So i came to the conclusion that it was a manifestation of God given only to me that day. In revelations chapter 1 verse 15 it says, "His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters." This passage is a description of Jesus Christ as he gives the prophetic revelation to John. You see what it says? The Jesus' voice is like the sound of flowing water. I asked the Lord what it all meant. The sounds of water flowing. Everything. He told me that he was speaking truth into peoples spirits, into their hearts. Washing away the foundations of fear the they had built their lives upon.

I thought this was totally sweet so i decided to share it to everyone. I was totally obvious the Jesus was doing something in class that afternoon by the way people were getting rocked in class. And by how much people were talking about how amazing it was that day. But it's even more amazing when the Lord manifests himself tangibly in the natural so we can see what he is dong.

God is SOOO cool!!

Welcome to the new adventures of Joel. The kid from Alaska.

2009-10-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

I have now decided to take this blog i created for my trip to Sudan. And revamp it to be a all things God blog. But mostly a testimonies blog. Telling what God has been doing around me. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Rev. 19:10)
When we profess a testimony of what God has done for us. People hear it and it inspires faith in their hearts. Which then brings them to a place where that testimony can be duplicated in their lives.

I hope this blog inspires faith in your hearts. To see the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God.

First testimony i want to give is of a new friend of mine here at school. She is from Finland and when she came here she had really bad food allergies. Last week our class went on a retreat as part of our curriculum. Driving on the way to the retreat grounds she was describing to another girl in her car about her food allergies. And that she had brought her own food to the retreat just to be safe. She told her friend that she would love to just taste chicken again. Her friend in the car with her simply said, "Lord bring on the chicken." The next day my friend was in the chow line for a meal and when she got to the end of the table she noticed that there was chicken being served. She decided that she was going to just try it. Believing that Jesus had healed her. And well... she ate it! And she didn't get sick and have to go to the hospital! It's amazing, her life has been completely changed. She has spent the last week testing out all her food allergies. And all her major ones that would have sent her to the hospital are gone. Every one! God totally healed her. I know, because i ate dinner with her the other night. And she ate a chicken salad. :)

So... If you are reading this. And you have food allergies. Believe, and receive your healing. :) Call me. I'll pray for you. Food allergies don't have to plague your life anymore! Our God is bigger than that infirmity!

On my way home.

2009-06-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I'm in Malakal now. On my way back home. It will take me 3 weeks to get home so i have a long journey ahead of me. Thanks for keeping me in your prayers. Atar was very good. I will update you all about it later.

In Atar Safe

2009-04-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

In Atar safe everyone. I'm actually in Malakal tonight. I came here on a supply run for Atar. Might be able to get interenet again here in 2 weeks.

Just wanted you all to know.

Things are going well. I'm excited about the work in Atar. Lots of freindship building. Language learning. Some construction. And evengelizm in surrounding areas.

Ok.

Bye.

Leaving for Sudan today

2009-04-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hey all.

I'm headed off to Sudan again today. I'll be going to a new place called Atar. It's a little ways southwest of Malakal. I'll be helping out with whatever is needed. And it sounds like they're trying to do a young adults conference there. Which many of you know is right up my alley. I really like working with young adults. It will be a exciting time. I'm expectant that God is going to invade earth. Which is... something the Lord has been teaching me.

I will only have a short stint in Sudan. 6 weeks or so. I come out on the 5th or 6th of June. Atar is a remote base. At least 4 hours from malakal by boat. No internet, power, or facilities at all. Should be fun. But again. An interesting challenge.

Pray that i can finish strong.

Pray that i have the faith to believe that God not only can do miraculous things. But WILL do them. And that i would walk in that place where heaven invades earth.

Pray for the breakdown of stereotypes that i will face as i work with a new people. I'm not exactly the stereotypical missionary the people are used to.

Pray that my Love for God grows. And that it is evident to the people. And that out of that love for God. Out of the overflow. I would love the people too.

Update From Nairobi

2009-04-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys. Just a quick update here.

I'm in Nairobi now. Will be till the 23rd. Then i head back into Sudan.

Things are going well. I'm leading a group of five short termers over to Uganda for another rafting adventure. Should be fun.

I'm glad to be in Kenya for a break. Things in Sudan were getting really stressful for me. For many reason.

I would ask you all to pray for Rob Hinton and his wife. They both have an enormous responsibility put on them in Sudan. Especially Rob, because he is in charge of the building project for the new clinic. And unless you've worked in Sudan or Africa i don't think i would be able to describe to you how hard a job it is to get this project done. Especially on time and within budget. Pray that the goodness of our God is every before them. Pray for un-offend-able spirits. And continued good sense of humor. :)

I've been having a restful time in Kenya. I get to spend a decent amount of time with an old friend of mine i grew up with, matt dompier. And i got to see another old friend of mine that was one his own trip to Sudan, and i had diner with him. It has been a great encouragement to me to see them both.

Something the Lord has been teaching me lately is my need to bring my faith to maturity. Like it talks about in James ch. 1
This maturity is fostered thru trials of many kinds. My time in Sudan has certainly been trials of many kinds. Many of which, i will admit. I have not dealt with very well. But i am assured that God is bringing maturity thru these situations. I am very thankful for that.

Well, i'm out for now. Write if you wanna know more... Emails that is.

Peace.

105 in the shade

2009-03-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all.

Things have been pretty good here in Sudan. The dry hot season has been going on for the last few months. I’ve been keeping myself busy as always. Doing whatever needs done here to keep operations going on the base. The clinic has been super busy lately. They see a lot of malaria cases this time of year. Yesterday they saw around 80 patients. And work at the nutrition village I hear is going well. Although they have had some rather challenging cases. Not all with desired results. But, God is good. His unfailing love stretches to the ends of the earth. From Alaska to Sudan. God is Love. And he never changes.

The Lord has provided our team here at Doro with a new couple from the UK. Rob and Emily Hinton. Rob is a mechanical engineer and Emily is a doctor. They are a breath of fresh air. With new perspectives and knowledge. Rob is here as the main engineer and project manager for a new primary health clinic that we’re building. They arrived about a month ago.

Construction has started on the new PHCU. Although not without TONS of challenges. Many of which had to do with community relations. From government, tribal, and church sides. There were all kinds of complaints and opposition. But some how in the last month it seems like most of them have smoothed over. We have gotten the foundation dug for one of the new buildings. Which is no small task mind you. Since it was dug by hand. With picks and shovels. By two local men who apparently specialize in digging. If you saw the work they did you’d be amazed that it was hand dug. I will try to post some pictures. But just imagine a 30mX8mX1m trench. Dug with shovels. Wow!

Also we have been able to get more supplies for the building project just this week from Raubak. Which is a town in the north. This was no small task. We sent our compound manager Nehemiah up to take care of the order and travel back with the supplies.

There has been tribal fighting here along the Dinka/Mabaan border (dinka being another tribe other than the one I’m working with now, the mabaan) . This is unfortunate because we have both Dinka and Mabaan students in our community health worker training school. This has of course created some tension and drama. As of now though we here in Doro have nothing to fear. The fighting is at least 5 hours drive from here. It is unlikely to come here. Especially since we’re neither Dinka or Mabaan. So SIMs presence should go unquestioned.

This violence is yet another round to add to what has already happened this year. I have not mentioned much of it. Because I am not worried about it. Nor do I want any one reading about it to worry. The Lord is my front and rear guard. I have nothing to fear. However, I choose to mention it now mostly out of a massive sadness. There have been several tribal conflicts already this year. As well as some other major militia dispute in Malakal. It seems as if the people want to tear their own country apart. No sense of national unity between the southern tribes seems to exist. Except in their hate for the North, and the oppressive government out of Khartoum. I would ask that you remember this as you pray for Sudan and for me being here. The Lords will be done here. But I personally would love to see a flood of Holy Spirit driven peacemakers come into this country. To begin the healing process from the many years of war.

This stretch of time in Sudan has been much more diffecult than the last one before January. For many reasons. The heat has certainly played a factor. But much of the last few months has been spent it many spiritual battles and struggles. Unlike anything else I’ve ever faced.

I am confident that God will bring justice to the earth and to Sudan. In his timing. It is not my job to improve on his justice. Or to say when he should do things. But only to do the things I can. As he tells me too. For his glory.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging....
Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolation he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Psalm 46

Think about it.

2009-03-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

What would it look like for you?

For you to live and love relentlessly recklessly for Jesus?

To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God.

Life is good, busy as always.

2009-03-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Part 2

2009-02-22T02:48:00.000-08:00

Hikus of time out of Sudan last month:

Went rafting in green Uganda.

Rode most epic white water in existance.

Good trip truly was had.

Lived in big african city.

Cold winter nairobi weather not really cold.

Good fellowship ensued by all.

Now back working in Sudan.

Hot season weather here is insanly HOT.

Sweating all day long working.

Ok, So that was what happened in January. If you need detail then email me. I'm much better at returning emails.

I'm now back in Doro. Working. The base now has 13 full time SIM staff members. Both the CHW school and BELC schools are up and running.

I just took a trip up to a town up near the north/south border called Renk. I was sent there with a sudanese friend of mine to go get supplies of wood and cement for construction projects coming up. The trip went reasonably well. It was ruff traveling in a big flat bed truck called a "lori." And the heat here is becoming quite unbearable. Some of the hottest weather i've felt was on that trip. It was similar to taking a blow dryer and sticking it in front of your face. A few days ago our thermometer said that it was 100deg in the shade, which is about average. So i decided to take it into the sun. Within a minute it shot up well past 120deg and topped it out. So i honestly have no clue how hot it is.

Things here in Doro have had there ups and downs. We've had several little kids pass away in the last 2 weeks. Two from malaria, and one from severe malnutrition. It tends to hit the team hard when we loose little kids. It is quite a difficult and new lesson for me to learn. About the pain and brokenness in this world. Especially in this way.

Things that you can pray for:

1) Relations with the local church are tense. Because of people motivated by self interests and a lack of integrity.

2)dealing with the loss of patients. Especially ones with easily preventable illnesses like malnutrition.

3)Team dynamics and unity within the group of missionaries. A unity the ONLY comes from the Holy Spirit. And not a false unity created by belief systems or personalities.

4) My future plans. As i only have a few months here. And i'm still unsure about my plans for re-entry back into America.

I also posted pics of my trip to Renk on photo bucket. Link is on upper right.

Part two comming soon! I"ve been out of town.

2009-02-17T11:09:00.000-08:00

Where I was? Part one.

2009-01-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

Welp... my dear faithful readers. I, as you can well see, have not been so faithful with this blog. But alas, i now finally have a computer that i can use regularly and now i can devote some of my time to updating you all on my situational.

Since the last time i actually wrote something meaningful much has happened. And again i will only be able to scratch the surface.

I have been stationed in Doro, Mabaan County since the 28th of november. Things are well i've been quite busy doing maitenence work here mostly. SIM has a medical clinic here a community health worker school and a basic education learning center (which is about to close.) I've been responsible for the operations and mantenence of the base. As well as i was the only man on the base for about 6 weeks. Examples of work are- bat proofing the CHW school, built a new grass walled outdoor shower, repairing cruddy wheel-barrows, moving safari tents around... and lots of other stuff.

Life here is quite simple. Meals mostly are pretty basic. Lots of lentils and rice, goat, egg plant, pasta. The like. I live in a pretty large safari tent. Which is quite pimp i must say. I've got it all set up the way i like it.

I haven't had tons of interaction with the locals yet. At least as far as outreach. Mostly because the school have been on break the entire time i've been here (although they are starting up again in the next 2 weeks.) So i'm pretty stoked to see the students when they come back. I'd really like to get a cross tribal group of them together and do stuff together. Like worship, pray, talk, drink coffee, watch movies, share cultures. You know. The good stuff. :)

I did get to go to the christmas celebrations that were in the area. On christmas day several of us went into the closest town about 3 kilometers away for a multi church gathering of sudanese style worship and preaching. And then on the 27th of dec Doro village had their own christmas feast. The mabaan people are quite differant than alot of other tribes in sudan in one way. They aren't cattle herders. Instead they raise goats and pigs. And pigs are really what they're known for. So our christmas feast consisted of pig FAT (apparently they don't have much meat), sorgum, and slimmy ocra. Yum, Yum. :) Other than that. Christmas was pretty quite.

After christmas and new years (which i passed out from working at like 9pm... wups.) Not much happened up until the 2nd of January. That's when i went out to Nairobi for a short break. But that i will talk about in my next blog. Right now i'm tired from travelling and lack of sleep. I just got back to Doro today.

Peace

2009-01-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

To the contrary thought of everyone i have even less interent access in nairobi. THe internet cafes are unsafe. And i don't have a computer of my own. So until the 1st of feb don't expect to hear from me. Peace.

P.s.

i'm doing fine. Taking a break. Sleeping lots.. eating lots. and hangin with friends.

I'm in Doro. Safe. And shy alot of luggage.

2008-12-04T07:34:00.001-08:00

Will write when i can. But probably not much until after the new year and i have my computer.

My apolgies for the length of the last post... I guess thats what i get for not posting for a month.

2008-11-23T07:42:00.001-08:00

What do river pirates, demon possesed predator men, and Jesus have in common?.... They all live in the Sudan. :)

2008-11-21T07:32:00.001-08:00

Well, its been a good while since i last posted anything useful or interesting on here. I've been pretty busy. Working and working and working. But since i last wrote on here quite a few things have happened worth mentioning. Some of which are good and some mighty strange. I certainly won't be able to cover everything that has gone on in the last month. But i will hit the highlights.

About 3 weeks ago i had a wonderful chance to take a 3 day trip south up the Nile. Up being because the Nile runs north to Egypt. :) I was a short trip to a village called Atar Cheui. In Atar SIM has a ALP school (accelerated learning program.) We call them BELCs. (basic education learning centers) I know what you're thinking... Whats with all the acronyms? I know right?! I don't get it either. But anyways. I went down to Atar with a young guy from California named Ryan who works with SIM and has been in Sudan for 10 months. We went down to do some repairs on our bases water purification system. And to encourage the family that lives full time there.

It was a good trip. Pretty restfull. Travelling along the river was a blast. There are all kinds of crazy birds along the river. And it was super pretty. I was fairly uneventfully as a whole. But i've been warned that we have to be careful travelling along the river. Because there are essentially pirates that will flag you down and rob you. But we never encountered any problems.

Right before i went to Atar we had a couple come from the states who had been long term missionaries in Kenya for many years. They are doing research and investigating the possibilities of SIM starting up a English teaching program/school here in Malakal. It has been good having them around. But we had a very awkward situation arise last week because of there being here.

One day they went out to go into town. And when they stepped out of our fenced in area to go to the street, they were confronted by a man. At first meeting it seemed harmless. This man was wondering where his wife was. And if we knew where his wife was... We told him we didn't know her. And that she did not live with us.

But... this did Not solve things. Because he kept coming back. Saying, "my wife lives here," "she is a doctor," "she is American," and all kinds of stuff which were obviously not true. This went on for several days. Him coming around bugging us. And us telling him we did not know her. Until finally things quickly became much worse. He started coming onto our compound thru the back way and coming right into our houses. Then he changed his story and started saying that Gale the missionary here to do ESL research was his wife. And he was very persistent. It would take a very long time to decribe all the ways we tried to explain the truth to him. But he still persisted that Gale was his wife. It even got to the point where i took him over to the church. Sat him down. And grilled him. I'm talkin, smoked him. I wanted to know everything about this guy. Who he was, where he was from, what he believed. I tested him with everything i knew about spiritual things, and psychological things and everything (which isn't really much mind you.) But i wanted to figure out a few "things" about this guy. Namely was he really capable of real harm. Or was he just a litle crazy.

The whole situation eventually had to be resolved by getting the police involved. I determined that his intentions were peaceful. But that he wasen't going to stop coming and trespassing until he took his "wife" home. He was a very troubled person. I have no doubt that he was suffering from some kind of mental health problems. And most certainly some demonic influences. I will not go into details of our conversation. Because that would take to much time. Nor do i think it is honoring to him as a image bearer of God to just talk about his struggles openly without his permission. But the whole situation really taught me some interesting lessons about life. That i have no doubt i will look to in the future. I would encourage you as you read this you would pray for this man. His name is Gabriel. Pray that the Kingdom of Heaven would break into his life.

But also last week i had a wonderful encounter with Gods Kingdom here in Malakal. I got the chance to go to the Upper Nile University. Which is kinda like UAA around here. I was invited to go to a bible study with a christian group of students that meets there on Saturdays nights. It was the most fun, most alive moments i've had since being here in Sudan. It was so awesome to see the passion and hunger in the students. I've been in Sudan for over 2 months now and never seen anything like them.

It's not really unexpected that these guys really made me feel alive. If you know me then you know that my passion in life is to see my generation rise up like no generation has ever done before. To be a people willing to cry out like Jesus talks about in Matthew 25. A generation calling out in the darkest time of human history that the bridegroom (Jesus) is coming.... :) Well i won't go on forever about this, although i could. But you get my point. It was pretty fantastical to see young Sudanese radically pursuing God. Even in America i rarely meet young people like them. They have something special.

I was able to go again yesterday. They asked if i would talk. It went well. I haven't taught in a while. And it was certainly a challenge. One because our cultures are sooooo different. Bringing a message that is relevant takes a steep learning curve. Two, the subject they asked me to teach on was well... awkward. :D Because they asked me to teach on sexual failure. Which was kinda like pulling on a scab for me. But, God is good. And things went really well. The holy spirit led me to talk about some good stuff. And i'm sure God will do his work thru it. It was really awesome too. Because after the study we went out to diner with serveral of the young men (which were all older than me by the way.) They were talking to me about there desire to see revival break out. And a new wave of the Holy Spirit in Sudan. I got to share with them some words from the book of Joel. And urged them to consider a lifestyle of fasting and prayer to bring forth the "new wine and oil" of God. It's just super cool to see their desire for God!

I'm sad that i met this group only two weeks before i leave here. And now i know i probably won't see them again. But meeting them restores hope in my heart for this country. And i will continue to pray for them.

So yeah, thats some of the news of what i've been doing this past month. In between these events i've still been doing construction work. I finished a kitchen, tiled a bathroom and lots of other stuff. My health has been pretty good. I've been avoiding local foods a bit more. I think that seems to help. I've only gotten sick once in the last month for like a day.

It's still hot as the sun here. The dry season is in full swing. We're talkin at least 100deg fh in the shade in the afternoon. 120+ in the sun of course. :) But, i seem to be much more used to it. I'm barely sweating if at all at 100deg. Which is kinda wierd. But nice.

I'm excited to head up to Doro. And i'm really hoping to be able to have time to learn the local langauge. Which is called Mabaan. It's a local tribal language. Should be way hard! But fun.

Well... thats enough writing for me. Hope this blog post finds you well.

And as Paul would say, "the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you."

I'm out.

Coming blog post

2008-11-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

OK, ok everyone. stop nagging me for a new blog post. i don't have a computer of my own to use. nor do i have power half the time to run someone elses. and i'm super busy. plus not very motivated to write anything. so be patient. i promise i'll write something juicy for you all to read before i go to Doro on the 28th.

Anyone interested??....

2008-10-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

I'm putting some feelers out to see if anyone is interested in a road trip next summer. From Monterrey California too Anchorage Alaska. On like the 2nd week of July. If you're smart and know me, you already know what i'm thinking. :)

But you all can let me know... i should have room for like at least 4 people. So... it might be fun to take a group. And goof off... eat lots of caffeine and sugar. And listen to loud music. You know... the typical road trip stuff.

Anyone is invited. All are welcome. Let me know. I'll be planning the whole thing out well in advance.

Peace

96degrees in the shade today

2008-10-19T07:49:00.001-07:00

Well i don't have much to say right now. A lot of work was done here last week. Andrew and i finally had a slightly peacefull week with no guests.

I want to say that i'm super stoked that my friends called me this morning. It ment a lot. You all know who you are...

My gut is bugging me right now. And that has me grumpy so i will say no more. :)

Here are a few pics of me on my quest for the perfect cup of joe. I'm roasting coffee. Sudanese style.

God be the Solution

2008-10-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Well i wanted to just say that i'm was moved by reading my buddy Dustins blog http://www.shaggyworshiper.com/?p=295 about poverty. As this is obviously a subject that i deal with on a daily basis. And i just wanted to continue the topic just a tad by adding my theme song that i've chosen for my time here in Sudan.

I'll let the song speak for itself. Many of you know it very well. And some of you may have never heard it before. But the words ring true none the less.

"Solution"

It is not a human right

To stare and not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find
The Mercy for the need

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey now
As we hold to our confession
Yeah

It is not too far a cry
To much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet

Singing, Hey now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey Now
As we hold to our confession

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah

Higher than a circumstance
Your promise stands
Your love for all to see
Higher than uh protest line and dollar signs
Your love is all we need

Only You can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners past
And set the captives free
Only You can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing
Be a Father to the fatherless
Our Savior and our King
We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet
We will run this race
On the darkest place, we will be Your light
We will be Your light

We will be Your hands , we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light
We'll sing

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.

Woah-oh-oh,
God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah

We will run we will run
We will run with the solution [2x]

We will be Your hands we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be Your light
We will be Your light
We sing

There is a solution to all this mess. His name is Jesus.

When you see a homeless kid. Picking thru rotten onion to eat like this. you start to understand why this Jesus is needed so badly. But when you equate success with excess. Like the "american dream." Well... then Jesus turns into... religion.

I don't know if anyone is following me on this.

The world is tired of hearing about people just highlighting the darkness.

They wanna see the light...

Jesus.

And how can they?

By people being his hands and feet. By caring for the least of these. By getting out. By moving beyond thoughts of helping. By moving into action. By being the light. In the darkness.

Ok. So i'm sure i'll say this again a hundred more times. And yes i'm stealing some of this from Joel Houston. But he's a man after my own heart. And i'm sure Gods too. And us Joels if no one else are going to stand and say enough is enough... Plus at least one Dustin Peterson. :)

P.S.

Don't be cheap. Buy the song. It rocks!

Photos are up

2008-10-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hey all I've posted pics to a photobucket acount. It was much easier that way. Loading pics has been a problem on this internet. Hope you all enjoy. The link is on the side bar. So look right ---->

Answer to pastor neils questions from facebook. :)

2008-10-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hey, so pastor neil asked me some questions on facebook. and i figured i'd answer them on here. For all to read.

1) Whats the most fun?

Hard to say. Probably riding in the back of the truck standing up (with the breeze across my face) from samaritans purse (that we borrow.) Thats a blast. Also... talking to old sudanese pastors and men. Who all have been thru the war. And listening to their struggles. But seeing how much they love God inspite of it all. Its trully amazing!

2) Whats the most challenging?

Well... the HEAT. I live in a pool of my own sweat many a day. 95deg is a cool afternoon latley. The other day i checked the thermometer and it said 116deg. And it wasen't even the heat of the day yet. So that is real hard to get used to. Then the stomach issues. And being lonely. Since most of the time its just me and andrew here. And he's a pretty intraverted fellow. I miss laughing and being stupid with nick and jesse. And goofing off on the guitar with dustin (aka watching him play) :)

well yeah... i could go on. But i will later. Hope that answers your questions Neil.

Blessings

Moving to Doro

2008-10-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well i found out the other day that i wont be staying in Malakal for a long time. The SIM sudan leadership has asked me to move to Doro, which is still in upper nile state. SIM has a health clinic and BELC (basic education learning center) AKA highschool there.

I'll be the fix it man there. Right now they only have female staff, consisting of nurses and teachers. They would like me to go to be a male presence there. As well as cheaf snake killer. Also i hear that Doro is a possible place to do a water project. So i may work on that some. I'll be headed there in mid to late november.

I've recently had a interesting revelation of just how remote a place south sudan really is. This place has been very serperated from the rest of the world for a very long time. I have been hanging out with a pastor from the mabbann area in upper nile state. He is staying with us here in malakal with he passes thru. And we were talking about my home in alaska. He did not understand how we are able to keep the snow out of our houses in the winter. Cuse you see... they dont use windows here in the houses... If the people have houses at all. And then he asked if we have snow so much then how do the cows eat? and where do they live? "do they come into the house with you" he says. You see, he thought that everywhere in the world people are nilotic and have cows. Cows are a huge part of the culture here. I had to explain to him all about how we survive off the global economy. And get our food from other places.

I enjoyed sitting down with him for a while tonight and showed him pictures of wild animals from AK. He was blown away. :) But very excited. I find it amazing that he is in his sixtees and still hasen't quite grasped that there is more to the world than hot sudani style living. But he is a very faithful, joyful, and holy man. I have much to learn from him. It's amazing how diverse Gods people are.

My health is much better. But when i have to go numba two. Its ON! haha. like... no waiting. So i still have some adjusting to local foods.

Now that the vsat is up and runnig i'll have more internet time to write people and things. So you all should email me. and i'll write you back.

Sallaam (peace)

Joel

V-sat is up!!

2008-10-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hey all, the v-sat internet is working here in malakal. I'm stoked! This means that i now have decent internet.

Hi. (i hate title lines)

2008-09-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

The long awaited address to mail me things is here! After me being extremely lazy and forgetfull here is the address for the SIM Sudan office based out of Kenya.

SIM Sudan

c/o Joel Beckett

P.O. Box 79252

00200 City Square

Nairobi Kenya

Instructions for mailing:

Nothing expensive! (i'll have to pay customes)

Under 4pds in total weight

I hear the best packages that come thru are padded envelopes no more than 4pds.

If you have questions if something is good to send ask me.

Ok... Ok. Enough business.

Nick. You are welcome to come to sudan. You just have to kill the president first. Or brib the department of the army. :) But your outstanding sense of humor would be greatly appreciated. Since the sudanese don't have one like mine.

Life here in Malakal is becoming more and more comfortable. It's still quite an interesting place to be sure. The small creatures are everywhere. The other night i went out to use the outhouse And when i got to the door the was a fatty spider about face level across the door, a scorpian at the door sill, and when i went out the door there was a frog on the door step. :) Needless to say you have to watch where you're walking around here.

But the creatures are the easy parts to get used to. The hard part has been just being comfortable in my spirit. I've had a real hard time adjusting to being here. One reason maybe is because i know when i'm going home again. But i really think that ever since i've gotten to Africa. And especially Sudan, i've pretty much been in like a sort of greaving process. Greaving one because i miss home and my friends and family and my electric guitar. But also because of all the poverty and destruction from the war here. Everywhere you look there is intense amounts of poverty that you just don't see very many places in the world. From women gathering water out of the ditch (that certainly isn't any good for drinking) too some little kid squatting next the road taking a dump because he has diarea and no bathroom. The whole town is just starting to recover from the years of war. Only now in the last 2 years are people starting to work on infrastructure and develpment thats been neglected for the last 30 years.

But i'm starting to adjust to these types of things. And see God through it all. I'm learning to abide in him no matter the setting. It's certainly been an interesting last few days.

Also i haven't been feeling very well. The medical book i have says i have amebic dysintary. :) I flash from diareea to constapation and throwing up. At first i thought it was just some food not agreeing with me. But now i think it must be something a little worse. I'll be talking to the SIM doctor about it soon. Last night was pretty miserable. You all can pray that i can get this diagnosed and treated soon.

Well anyways, I also have a local cell phone number from a sudanese cell network. The network only works some of the time. But it's still not bad. I've even been able to make some international phone calls. The rates are much cheaper than the SAT phone. Although the SAT phone will be handy to have when i travel in the bush. My number is +249919194614 It's about .50$ a minute to call home and .12$ a text. Although i don't think the international texting is working. Also i'm pretty sure it doesn't cost me anything to recieve calls. Since that's the way it works in most of the world. It only charges me to make a call. Not recieve one. So yeah, if you want to talk maybe just email me and we can set up a time to talk. Or just randomly call me. That works too. Remember that Sudan is 11 hours i think off of Alaska standard time.

I'll write more later. Hopefully put up some pics when the VSAT works.

Love, Joel.

Hmm... what to say.

2008-09-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure waht to say right now. This is my first time i've been able to use the internet in Sudan. It's HOT, dirty and smelly here. And things compaired to America are at a really basic level. But... i have a roof over my head. And running water (Nile river water though.) As well as a nice deep outhouse and plenty of toilet paper. :)

My daily routine is varied. Somtimes it's going to the market with andrew to get supplies and sometimes it's working on the houses. The sun comes up at around 7am. And set about 7pm. That's pretty cool. I just finished installing a solar panel power system on one of the houses im working on. It's to power i hopefully soon coming sattelite powered internet system.

Last week there was a bunch of guys with SIM staying here at the houses in Malekal. They were here to try and get a hold of some land to start the moving process from nairobi to malekal for the SIMsudan admin office. Things went ok. There are still a lot of things that need worked out. And alot of things need to happen. You can pray that the local government will give SIM favor in this process.

Well i'm done talking for now.

P.S.

I have a Satellite phone! Curtesy of Nick the gnome Gliem! And here is the number(+8821643335141). In case you Must get a hold of me. *WARNING* it's $1.49 a minute cuse the rates just went up. But SMS is only .25$ So try that if you need to. But email is still the best way to contact me. Especially when the V-SAT is up and running.

Off to Sudan tommarow

2008-09-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Malakal tommarow. I'm ready. I think. :) I got to go visit an awesome old friend tonight (matt dompier.) He works for International Justice Mission here in Nairobi. That was awesome! It was really good to catch back up with him after not talking to him for years. I'm stoked to see that he is following God. And exploring the call on his life. I hope to visit him again when i come back to nairobi.

I'm ready for Sudan. But my heart and mind have been there for so long that it's hardly very exciting. I'm just ready to settle in somewhere. I've been in transit for about a month now. And it's a little frusterating knowing that i'm waiting to go somewhere. It wouldn't be so bad if i were travelling for the heck of it. But when i am, just to get somewhere. Then i just want to get there already! Maybe some of you know what i mean...

I wanna shout out to my Kairos peeps. You know who you are! I think about you all alot. I know that most of you are in school. And there is all kinds of stuff happening there. Good... and bad. Joys and pains. Broken relationships... and good ones. But i want you all to know that i'm thinking and praying for you all. And that i have a feeling God is going to do something truly new/unexpected for you all this year.

I came across a passage the other day that reminded me of your group. And the heart behind it. Phillipians 2:15 talks about a "crooked and depraved generation" and that you will "shine like stars in the universe as you hold out (or form) the word of life." It just reminded me of this idea of working out your salvation. Which i know is a daily struggle for so many of you young adults. (me included!) Basically though Jesus had me read Philipians just for you guys i know. Because the whole book spoke to me about you all. You should definatly read it. But you guys to me are definatly stars that shine! Seriously...

Well anyways.

Things i miss most... if anyone wants to know. :) Fatty cheese burgers, pretty white girls, my electric guitar and most excellent VOX amp, and worshipping with you Kairos guys! In no particular order.

I'll take my leave now. Asante

Malakal here i come!

2008-09-05T02:04:00.001-07:00

So i'm going to be going to a town called Malakal. It's the capital of blue nile state. Which is the province that SIM works in most in sudan. Right now SIM sudan has had a man from new zealand named Andrew there for the last 7 months working at a church compound refurbishing two houses. The compound is run by the Sudan Interior Church or SIC. SIMs goal is to hopefully if peace lasts between the north and the south to move its Sudan operations and field office to Malakal. And out of nairobi.

I'll be going up there to help Andrew make contacts, minister, teach, build, and whatever else. I've been told that i'll probably end up preaching some. :) And also leading worship. Especially since i have my guitar with me. Soo.... i have my work cut out for me. I'm sure God is going to stretch the heck outa me.

I'm not sure what malakal is like since i've never been there. But i've heard its much better than living in a bush station. They have markets, some reterants, an internet cafe (sometimes works). And a few other things. But i've also been told that compaired to the USA it'll be really basic. It should be a blast!

You all can pray that God will help me open up some. Because i'm probably going to be doing alot of things out of my comfort zone. Which is not entirely unexpected. And also pray for my health. I have pretty bad allergies here in Nairobi. I had to go pick up some presription strength antihistamines. It must be something in the air here.

A praise is that i had a lost bag when i arrived in Nairobi on wednesday. But amazingly enough it has shown up already! STHWEET!! Because that's rare. A couple here has been waiting on a bag for 2 weeks already. And they have no clue when it will show up.

Anyways. I'm going to get mailing information to you all soon. Things happen very slowly here. So i'm just taking my time settling in.

I made it!!

2008-09-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hey all! I'm made it into Nairobi. Everything is well. I'm really tired. But otherwise good. I met a bunch of the team from SIM for Kenya and Sudan. And found out where i'll be stationed. It looks like on the 15th i'll be going up to Malakawal (spelling) and helping out to refurbish two homes in a church complex there. I'll write more later of why we're doing that. Where it's at etc. But for now i'm going to go to bed.

Wild and Crazy Toronto!!

2008-08-30T04:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm in Toronto right now. This is pretty amazing! But it's definately i big city. And i'm soooo not used to big cities. It's a little weird. Last night was the first rally for the Hillsong United Conference. It was truly amazing! I'm super excited for today. And to see Nick.

Getting to toronto wasent all that bad. Although it was about 20hrs. of train travelling.

I don't have tons of time to write out things that have happened since i last wrote.

When i came on this trip i brought my guitar thinking it would be a great tool to use to interact with people. At least that was one of my reasons. Little did i know i would be using it while i'm travelling. I was sitting in the bus station a couple days ago. And this guy who totally didn't know english came up to me and asked to use my guitar with me. He began playing, and singing in spanish. It was super fun. I'm pretty sure the guy was homeless. It was just one of those rare really makes you think moments.

There i was. In Richmond VA. In a bus station. I hadn't slept in probably 30 hr's. Playing and singing guitar with a mexican homeless man. Thinking... God... what am i doing here!?

It's was fun though... Well anyways. I'll write more later.

You all can pray that all my travel stuff works out. There is still alot more i have left. And pray that nick makes it here without getting hosed my the world.

Peace

Oh, and pray that whatever God wants to do in my life while i'm here will happen. And that my subburness doesn't get in the way. :)

Greetings from NC.

2008-08-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone who actually reads this... I figured now while i have a computer i might as well write something on here. The last couple of days I've been here in Charlotte, NC. doing orientation for SIM.

I couldn't hit on all the things that have happened. But i'll hit on two of them. It's been an interesting time here because i'm the only short termer going out of SIM this month. So i've been here with the staff at their headquarters doing classes meant for multiple people one on one with the instructors. The staff here is full of wonderful people. They probably have at least 40 people on permanent staff.

It's bee quite interesting because i've been the youngest person around. The staff is made up mostly of former missionaries and i'm much younger than most of them. I was sitting in chapel on Wednesday morning and i had kind of an epiphany. I'm kind of a "hybrid" christian. Sounds wierd i know. What i mean by this is that i feel comfortable in tons of christian community settings. There i was with like 40 older people. Singing hymns and praying with them. And i felt totally ok with it. I'm sure i can contribute this to the fact that ive been raised in a fairly conservative setting. But it just became clear to me at that moment that God has been preparing me over my life to comfortably handle lots of differant christian copmmunites and worship styles. So that was cool.

Number two. And i'm sure any of you who know me very well will not be surprised by this....
I'm a cryer.... Period. Any time the Holy Spirit is in the room in a tangible way, i cry. End of story. I'm like a gauge or something for the presense of God i think. This was totally confirmed again to me because every morning here the SIM staff join together at chapel and pray for a particular region or country. And the other day i was totally crying with all these old people around. At first it was unsettling because i'm not used to it happening around strangers. But whatev.

Anyways, i'm done training here. I'm going to ride the bus up to Philadelphia this evening to visit my grandparents. I'm not really sure what you all can pray for specifically right now. It has been kind of weird lately because i've had a real sense of loss leaving everyone up in Alaska. I haven't had this feeling since i was in the Marine Corps. Basically it sucks. The feeling of not really having a home to settle in to is kind of weird too. So those are some things that bug me... that and snakes. But i'll get over that i'm sure.

I'll post more when i can. Probably in Toronto.

Top ten favorite songs>>>

2008-08-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Peeps, I've been wanting to post a top ten list for a long time. I was going too on facebook. But this is the new cyber me... So here it is. If you read this list and don't have these songs then for shame... ok not really. But you absolutely must get them! they will blow your mind about God.

# song title-Artist-Album

Hosanna&For all who are to come-Hillsong United-all the above
Inside out-hillsong united- united we stand
Came to my rescue&Reprise-hillsong united- united we stand
Fire Fall Down-Hillsong United-United We Stand
Where the Love Lasts Forever-Hillsong United-More Than Life
All I Need Is You-Hillsong United-Look to You
I will Waste My Life-Misty Edwards-Relentless
See The Way-Misty Edwards-Always on His Mind
More Of You And Less Of Me-Brian&Jenn Johnson-We Believe
A Little Longer-Brian&Jenn Johnson-We Believe

Ok... So that's the list right now. It was super hard to just pick ten. And i'm sure as my music taste changes and i go thru differant phases of my life the list will change. But right now these songs rock my world.

You better get them! They are amazing!

New Return Date

2008-08-15T10:28:00.001-07:00

Well my return date has now changed. It's all good. Now i get to spend my birthday in Africa! :) Sthweet.... I return back on the 4th of July 2009.

Howdy Hoo, yum yum yum, christmas time has come!

2008-08-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

Ok so it's not really christmas. But i couldn't resist a Mr. Hankey quote. :)

Anyways, one more week till i leave Alaska to begin my trip. So yeah. Things are down to the wire.

I'll write more later. Peace.

Say, would you crackers like to hear about the time we saw the Loch Ness monster?

2008-07-23T23:35:00.001-07:00

Oh, it was so scary!

-and I yelled. I said, "What do you want from us, monster?!" And the monster bent down and said, "…Uh I need about tree-fitty."

Bangerang! I got my itinerary!

2008-07-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

I leave AK at 0100 on the 19th of August. Then i'm going to go to oreintation with SIM for 3 days. Then i travel to Philadelphia to hang with the grandparents for 4 days. And then i'm going to go to the Hillsong United Conference on the 29th and 30th in Toronto. WooHoo!! Then i depart North America from Toronto on the 1st of Sept. With a tenative return to the USA of the 12th of June 2009. :) So sounds like my month of August will be righteous!

My first bodacious blog post!

2008-07-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends this is my first post to this blog. My hope is that you all will be able to check it and see how i am doing on my fast approaching trip to Sudan while i'm there. I have promised people, aka mom and mom#2(Nanci) :) that i will be keeping in contact with everyone while i'm gone. This is my best attempt, since i don't like returning a bajillion emails.

I hope you all find my posts encouraging, exciting and full of stories of Gods crazy cool ways of doing stuff. And of course crazy funny will farrell and south park quotes. (apology if you're offended) :)

So... i now now commit this blog to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. To be used only for his purposes. I command the ears and eyes of the devil and all his emisaries closed, never to use or even know the comings and goings of the king described on this blog. And I declare this blog Holy and set apart for the glory of God.

Swank. Peace out.

JB