Who is your neighbor?

Luke 10:30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 

As we were traveling to Mwalumba to build fence I felt like we were running behind.  We only had a short time before we would have to leave and head back to town to take care of other missionary responsibilities for the day.  Chris had errands to run and I had to get back to go to Maasai Corner with Brandon for men's ministry.  I looked off the side of the road and there was a motorbike laying on its side with 3 bags of charcoal and a man with his leg stuck under it.  My initial reaction was to jump out and help.  Chris and Julius also wanted to help but wanted to make sure this was not a set up.  

The decision was made to help.  Chris would watch our backs and we would help the man.  I untied his old bungee cords from the charcoal bags each weighing 75 lbs. and we were able to lift the bike off of him.  As I began to move his charcoal bags he became grumpy saying, "pole pole pole"(pronounced pol-ee) meaning slow slow slow.  His charcoal bags were thin and tearing and he did not want to loose any more charcoal than he already had. 

 Me in my frustrated thinking told Chris to tell him we can leave him and move on if he is going to be grumpy after us just helping him like we did.  Chris reminded me that man was hurting and just frustrated. He was taking the charcoal from the rural village several towns over where he could sell it and make several weeks wages. 

As we tied the charcoal bags back onto the bike and helped him get moving again I was reminded that we were doing this out of the love we have for the Lord.  Chris was able to tell the man about our clinic just a few miles away were he could get his scrapes and burnes cleaned up.  Once there if he went, he would be served by wonderful loving staff and see the beautiful church at Maasai Corner.  

It was a great reminder that everything we do is an opportunity to share the love of Christ.  You do not have to be half way around the world on a mission trip to share Christ.  As we go about our day we come in contact with many people that are stuck in a ditch like this man. The ditch of addiction, depression, loneliness and so on. They may not be carrying 225 lbs. of charcoal but they may be carrying a very heavy emotional load, wayward children, a bad marriage, abuse or bankruptcy.  

Helping this man took time away from our mission of building fence but he was our neighbor yesterday.  Pray today that God will put someone in your path that you can show the love of Christ to!

Memories

Today as I walked the campus of Mbewau Academy my mind processed a lot of memories.  We have been a part of six different teams coming to Kenya.  So many good times have been had here.  So many lives touched by the things done there and lives messed up for Christ.  It has beed a good day.  As I greeted each of our friends there it was such a blessing to be back.

In 2009 when we first went there I would have never imagined that my life would have been so radically changed.  Most of you know that while Kim and I were dating we actually broke up for six months over her desire to come to Africa.  Seven trips later we can truly say that this has been a divine appointment set in motion by God.

Tonight we are staying at the Voyager Beach Resort where we stayed in 2009.  I walked past where we held team meeting,  I thought back to the hard work it took for the team to get here that year.  So many memories flooded my mind.  God has been so very good to Kim and I.

As I look out over the blue water of the Indian Ocean my eyes are filled with tears and my heart is filled with gratitude to the Father for how He has worked in our lives.  Thank you to our family and so many friends who have encouraged, donated and prayed for us the past six years of mission trips to Kenya.  We could not have become who we are today without your love and support.

Little is Much When God is in It!

It has been great to be back in Kenya. Saturday morning we started driving towards the Tanzania border. We drove for about an hour and then headed down a dirt road out into the bush. We drove past many small villages and came to another road that wasn't much bigger than a cattle trail. The red dirt roads were very rough. The mostly flat land with gullies and washes reminded me a lot of west Texas. This is dry, dusty country but very beautiful to me.

The first church we came to was Mwakalanga. There we visited with the pastor and several church members. Brandon was able to lead a 17 year old young man to the Lord standing in the pastors front yard, praise the Lord! Then we went to visit another family in their home. We quickly learned that she only spoke her tribal language and Swahili wouldn't work. Pastor Chondo began speaking to her in it and we found out that churches in the area faced a problem. Another denomination of church was spreading rumors that churches helped by mzungus "white people" where hurting people and children. It is totally false but one of the tactics the devil uses to distract from the work God is doing. Fear will keep us from truly trusting God that He can take care of us.

We headed out again and drove to Dzombo Church. As we pulled up to the church in this remote village I saw a very small "shelter." This church was maybe 30x15 in size with a few pieces of metal for a back wall and half of the sides. It had a brand new cement foundation that they were very proud of and thankful for. Before they had a rock floor that was very hard on the worship teams feet. As we sat down in plastic chairs under this small shelter a youth choir made their way in to sing several songs. I love a Kenyan choir! The pastor began to sing and the whole group began to worship God. No a/c, lights, sound system, no real walls, but the One True God was there.  Their worship blessed my heart. The church there may not look like much now but they have a great foundation to start with. They have so very little but they have God and His joy that surpasses all understanding.

Little is much when God is in it! 

Kenya Bound!

This summer has been CRAZY!  If someone had told me everything that was going to happen in January I would have laughed at them.  It seems like forever since we set our dates for Kenya and bought the tickets.  It was a hard secret to keep from our friends at Fellowship, Borger.  I almost slipped several times during their training session in January.  It was pretty cool to see their reaction when Kim and I told them that we would already be in Kenya when they get there next Friday.  I am really looking forward to spending time with our missionary friends and seeing what God has in store for their team.

Kenya 2009

Tomorrow when we get on the plane for Kenya, it will be exactly 2 months since we moved into the apartment.  Just being honest with you, this move was very hard for me/us.  I thought that I could be happy anywhere as long as I was with Kim and Sam. When we sold the house I was 100% at peace and knew that God was in it.  It was exciting, crazy, sad and almost a grieving process.  I missed our home, I missed the thought of having over our friends, I missed our life that I was so used to.  One of the weirdest things I missed was getting ready in our bathroom. We have 2 small bathrooms in the apartment.  Kim and I always got ready for church or events together and it took me about 2 weeks to figure out what felt so strange.  The move, all the weddings and the long days of working in the heat had really worn me down.  One night it really sunk in that I was so very tired.  I cried out to God for relief.  I had been doing everything in my own power.  It was really rough.  When I let Him have the control that He should have had all along it was like a huge weight was lifted off of me.

As we board our plane for Kenya tomorrow we will embark on a journey that we have made many times before.  We will go to Amsterdam, Nairobi and on to Mombasa.  I will smell the diesel combined with the dust, the smell of the meat packing plant and the large city dump across the highway. (let that sink in for a minute and try to imagine that smell) We will cross the ferry and head south on the bumpy roads to Ukunda, just  as we have done before.  This is all in God's hands.  I am trusting that He will go before us and prepare the paths ahead of us.

Kenya 2009

Please pray that God will really show us what His plan is for our lives.  I love Kenya and want to be involved there as much as He allows.  The dream of a pastor and missionary retreat is something that has been on my heart and mind a long time too.  It is something that is greatly needed.

We just want to be used of God.  Our hearts are soft, our ears are open and my mind is pretty clear and ready to see Him work!

We will do our best to share stories here and on Facebook.  After resting Friday,  I will head out with Chris, Brandon and Erick to the Tanzania border to visit 4 church plants.  I am so ready to get to Kenya!

Fearless in 2015

I started out this new year asking God for a word for 2015. I heard “Fearless” and thought, “ok, cool, I can work on that” having no idea of the things to come.

Webster defines fearless as: not afraid, very brave, bold, courageous, dauntless, gallant and heroic. 

Urban dictionary uses this definition “Strong willed. Heart of gold. Beautiful inside and out. Able to push through the storms of a shattered heart, broken spirit and tattered body emerging twice as graceful and independent than before. A truly gifted woman with a gorgeous soul and a dreamers spirit.”

I also began studying the book of Joshua in January and repeatedly saw the phrase, “Be strong and courageous.”

Everything was great, calm and comfortable… then 3-4 months ago I began to feel like God was telling us to sell our home. David has been going to Tyndale Bible College for the last two years to get a degree in missions. I was sure that some changes were probably coming after graduation, however, neither of us knew exactly what they would be. Every time I would stress and ask David what we were going to do, he would tell me to wait and trust that God would work things out when he finished school (this was not the immediate answer that I wanted). 

We have talked for years about Davids’ dream of starting a non profit Ranch & Retreat center for missionaries and pastors (to get some much needed time away with their families) as well as wanting to be more involved with our friends and their ministry in Kenya, but we had no idea how these things were going to become a reality.

When David came home after work one day, very discouraged about the direction his 14 year career with the local electric company has been going, I told him about how I felt God was showing me that we could sell the house in order to follow our dreams. I ran the numbers and with selling our home and cutting expenses, David would be able to leave his job and we could live off of our photography companies income. We prayed and talked about it for a couple days and both agreed that we should contact a realtor. We listed the house the following Monday, had multiple offers above asking price, and accepted one that Saturday. During the week, I also found the perfect apartment within our budget, that just so happened to be on sale that month only. 

David and I have always told God that everything we owned belonged to Him, but selling our home and so many of our things in order to downsize was surprisingly difficult. Honestly, when we signed the lease at the apartment and during the first week that we moved in, we cried a couple times. I still cannot bring myself to drive by our old home, but I have seen God working out all of the details and know that we will not regret following God’s leading and going after our dreams in the years to come. 

The whirlwind of changes led me to questioning my heart and motives. Do I really trust that God will continue to provide the work that we need in order to live? Will He come through for us? Is He really good?  I was afraid, but after prayer and reflection on how God has always been there for me, I can answer these questions with a definite yes! He does care about each individual person. He will never leave us or forsake us. He loves us! God has been teaching me that He is more concerned about a persons heart and maturity than any occupation, social status or material belongings.  

I am not suggesting that everyone needs to sell their homes, but I do know that I have genuine peace for the first time in my life. I have looked my fears in the face and replaced them with faith that God is leading us and will continue to work out all the details.

Now, exactly two months to the date from moving into our apartment, we are heading back to Kenya: My favorite place in the whole world. I am expectant that God will show up and show us some amazing things during this journey. 

If you are still reading this, would you please take a moment to pray for David and I! Please pray that God will work in and through us while we are in Kenya and also when we return; that God will  provide the work that we need and wisdom in moving forward with David leaving his job to pursue what we feel God is leading us towards.

The phrase “Do not be afraid” is written in the Bible 365 times. That’s a daily reminder from God to live every day being fearless. God is still working on me, but I wholeheartedly suggest that you take the time to evaluate your fears and give them to God. He turns fears into faith!

Love~ Kim

Let the packing begin!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind!  Put the house on the market, showings, offers, inspections appraisals and weddings.  As we have shared our story with others the response has been amazing.  People have really encouraged us to follow the vision that God has given us.  We have sold furniture on Facebook and had a garage sale that was a huge success. We are very thankful to my parents for spending the last two days hanging out with us in the garage and selling our stuff.  It was really cool to talk to some of the different people that came by.

One lady was raising her granddaughter.  She purchased a few small things and was looking at a Bible in the book box.  I felt impressed to just give her the Bible.  She was so excited when I told her that I wanted her to take the Bible and read it with her granddaughter.  I gave the little girl a couple of beenie baby toys and she just hugged them up tight with a big smile!

Yesterday one of our neighbors that we wave at and occasionally say hello to came and bought a bike.  Today they came back just to say hello and see if there was anything left.  They bought some art supplies, a CPR kit and eight Christian cds.  We chatted and I told her about our vision to both do full-time photography and ministry.  She told me about a friend that does work in Uganda and I told her about our work with R4C in Kenya.  The kids gathered all of the things they wanted and I totaled it up to $12.00.  She walked across the street to get money to pay for the things they wanted.  When she returned she handed me some money and said that she wanted the change to go towards our next trip.  As I turned around I opened my hand and there was a $100 bill.  In shock I turned around and asked if she was sure.  She said, "yes and that she admired what we were trying to do."  With tears in my eyes I walked to put the money away.

It was another confirmation that we are right on track to where God is leading us.  As I sit here typing this I am super excited to move into an apartment next weekend with Kim and Sam and see what God has next for us!

Let the packing begin!

Thank You!

Since our last blog post we have had a great response. THANK YOU for your kind words and encouragement. Several people have asked if they could help in any way. First and foremost we need and covet your prayers. The last few weeks have been CRAZY busy with weddings every weekend, new client meetings, David’s job, school and the sale of the house. We are beginning to wear down and could use a little rest.

We have found an apartment in the area that will be perfect for us. This was totally a God thing because the girl had never seen the apartment we wanted at the price it was renting for. We give Him the praise for this! When we signed the lease it really sank in that this was REAL!

Right now we are working hard to raise and save funds for our trip to Kenya this Aug 26-Sept 9. This will be the first time that we have gone to Kenya without a team. We will be spending a week with the Moores and Adams before a team that we have been working with the last year gets there. It will be fun to hang out and do missionary life with them. We still need to raise about $1200.00 to cover all of our expenses. If you would like to help with that please let us know. We can mail or email you a support letter and show you where you can give online at our church’s website so that you get a tax deductible donation.

If you know anyone that is newly engaged or gets engaged in the next few months please have them check out Kim Hayes Photography (www.kimhayesphotos.com) for their photography needs. We are praying that God will provide us plenty of weddings for 2016. We also do family and senior sessions. He is working and we already have a few bookings for next year. Our goal for next year is 18-20 weddings. This will help us plan and prepare for David to leave his job and go full time in photography and missions in the future.


Thank you again for your prayers, encouraging words and support. This has been a very interesting time in our lives. We have seen His hand at work and we know that this is what He wants us to do.

God Bless
David and Kim