When left to ask, "What next?" God responds with "Suprise!"

Only hours after my flight had landed here in Burkina Faso, I found myself preparing to head out to the village of Piela for what would prove to be the most interesting trip so far in our Give a Kid a Christmas travels.
I landed just before 10pm Monday night, arrived at the place I was staying at, unpacked and re-packed a bag for the trip the following morning. At 6am I was awake and still trying to figure out where exactly I was at. Within a few hours, I found myself on the road to Piela - a road that in years past has plagued us with strange problems. By 2:30 pm we had discovered that one of our 3 vehicles (the red van - as we call it) had broken down. Apparently the barings had been broken to pieces, seizing the wheel and actually causing a small fire! (no injuries). Two hours later, the vehicle that I was in came to rather harsh stop. We didn't know it at the time, but a ring in the piston housing had broken to bits - leaving us stuck on the side of the road.
I could go on about other details - sleeping on the side of the road, having the power supply in our speakers go out, and the 3rd vehicle snapping two belts at the same time; but the main reason of this post is to show you a small and very short clip of why I do what I do.
ABOVE: You'll see and hear the kids screaming and shouting as they have just received new backpacks filled with school supplies and other treats. That same night we did an outreach and saw just shy of 200 of these very same kids come forward to make a decision to follow Christ. With no speakers and just two flood lights - God still came through with a "Suprise" reponse.
[update 6:15pm - problems uploading video - will try again in a few hours. Stay tuned]
[update 9:58pm December 13 - was not able to complete the video upload after multiple attempts. I guess I will stick to pictures for the time being]

A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU!!! to all this Thanksgiving weekend. May you have a relaxing and wonderful time - and may the Lord bless you each and every day this holiday season.

(stay tuned for more updates as I will be returning back to Burkina Faso in just 4 short days!)
[pictured above: All smiles at Christmas time for the Kids of Hope (taken 2007)]

Certified with Leadership Training International and trained by Crisis Consulting International

For the past 5 days, I have spent over 50 hours in a class room environment here in Jacksonville, Florida. (the location of the world headquarters for Calvary International). I have been able to spend time with and learn alongside top notch missionaries representing 11 different locations around the world. It truly has been a "growing experience" in the sense that mentally I have jumped leaps and bounds in just five days.
[pictured above: The awesome missionaries from around the world together for a quick 'class picture' juast after completing our certification with L.T.I. (Leadership Training International) ]

Up by Paradise...

I was recently able to get down to Mt. Rainier here in Washington with my family and take some amazing pics of the mountain! Growing up just 4 hours north of here, I could always see Mt. Rainier on a clear sunny day, but never have actually taken the time to drive down to it! Quite an amazing sight indeed!

Hiking in the Cascades.

On a recent trek up to the ice caves, I was able to get up into the snow at barely over 1,000 vertical feet!!! There was a rather excessive amount of snow fall this year, resulting in an amazing snow pack that is still around well into August!

Out on an island...

So this weekend, the sun came out and kinda warmed things up. I was able to get out and enjoy a local kite festival in Everett on a little island. Behind me is one of the rare "sandy beaches" in Washington state. Most everything else is covered in rocks and wonderful beach dwelling creatures - like barnacles.

Local Kite Festival

Fireworks on the water

So I left eh exposure on my little
point and shoot open just long enough to get the
whole "blurr" effect. It's hard to tell what's going on here
but if you look closely, all those little multi colored lights
on the water are boat lights. We were just a few hundred feet
from the barge and were having blast (no pun intended).

Fireworks on the water

Out on the lake in a boat for the Big Lake
Fireworks display here in Washington State.
It truly was an awesome evening!

Home Sweet Home

Within the first month of being home,
I had the opportunity to get up to Wallace Falls
just an hour or so away from where I'm staying.
It was an amazing hike and with the snow level
just a few hundred feet above us, it was quite chilly
as well!