On my way home

I'm on my final leg home on Northwest Airlines flight 41 from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. I was flashing through my digital photos to trigger my memories of this trip and people from behind me came up the aisle to share their Africa experiences. Some were on safari (one group for 17 days in tents!); others had some combination of missions and safari. One Evangelical Free Church of America pastor said he brought a group of 21 from his church to experience a short term mission trip. Another man from New York City told me he was doing an AIDS documentary and was transcribing his journal. A woman from Jackson Hole told me that she had started coming to Africa with her husband 10 years ago out of her interest in nature. Over the years she has become good friends with the Vice President of Kenya and was here scouting out several safari camps as a part of new business she has begun at the request of some of her friends who would like to go to Africa with her.

On Friday, January 20th, I gave the final exam to my students. They did well; all A's and B's. I left the campus of ICM around 3:30 p.m. with Kibii and Esther Maiyo. Esther made Kathy and me beautifully embroidered shirts at my request and gave them to me (for a small price). I think Kathy will really like this.

They dropped me at Aero Kenya in Eldoret and I flew to Nairobi where I was taken by taxi to the Mayfield House, a reasonable place for missionaries to stay near Daystar University.

I was up and out early on Saturday, January 21 winging my way with Kenya Airways to an airstrip in the bush taking me to the Mara Safari Club just west of the Masai Mara for a two night stay. I chose this place because Arthur and Molly Rouner and their team would be there the January 20-22 providing an overlap of a day. It felt good to be with them again.

I quickly learned that Kristen Rouner had a 20 year friendship with the manager, Munene Ngotho. He is a deeply committed Christian man who pastors his staff as much as he manages it. He has chapel everyday at 1:00 p.m. For those employees who may be interested. I was invited to come both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Kristen and Arthur Rouner each spoke in the chapel and on Sunday, I was asked to speak for 10 minutes. It was a real privilege to share a message with these folks who were serving among us each day at this five-star resort. Arthur had shared how their service modeled what Jesus taught us all regarding the importance of being a servant of others in the name of Christ.

Kristen's message focused on the Emmaus Road experience from the Gospel of Luke. She shared how Christians from any place in the world can come together and recognize our kinship in Christ because the resurrected Lord is in our midst. Just as the disciples said their hearts burned within them as the Lord opened the Scriptures about his own death and resurrection in this resurrection appearance, my heart was deeply moved with the personal stories Kristen and Arthur shared.

The chapel service is held in a small tin roofed building in the middle of a cinder block village that houses all the employees who work at the Mara Safari Club. As they come in for this 30 minute worship during their lunch break, the sound of their singing fills this area of the camp with a boisterous joyful sound. I spoke on Luke 10:1-9 about Jesus' pattern for discipleship in the Gospel of Luke. The pattern is simple:
1. Jesus did the ministry and the disciples watched.
2. The disciples did the ministry and Jesus watched.
3. The disciples did the ministry.

Luke 10 is the story of the sending of the 72 disciples to prepare the way for Jesus in every town and village where he was about to go. He sent them out in pairs and gave them four specific instructions. These were:
1. Greet them with the peace of God.
2. Stay in the home you are invited into, eat with them and don't move around from house to house.
3. Heal those who are sick.
4. Tell them the kingdom of God has come near you.

This is a pattern that is good for all of us. A word of blessing opens many doors. Getting to know someone on their home turf by eating together has us taking an interest in those things which interest them. Praying for their healing means we have a sense after listening of the needs, challenges and concerns in their lives and we are willing to ask God to do something about these issues. Only after a significant focus on the needs and interests of those people we meet can we say, "The kingdom of God has come near you!" In other words this element of sharing a simple witness comes only after we have earned the right to be heard as we used to say in Young Life.

One piece I focused on was the fact that Jesus did not send them out alone, but in pairs. I encouraged them to form prayer partnerships as they serve on the staff of the Mara Safari Club. Munene said to those gathered (About 40) that he would like to get this started.

The real test of a message is never found the moment after you speak it, but in the days afterward. For the next 24 hours I had staff who heard the talk come up to me and talk about the message. While I was no longer with the Rouner team during that time, I was never alone. I had new friends among the staff coming up to me with smiles for the remainder of my stay talking with me about this simple message. Munene and I had a meal together and he had me over to his home to watch Manchester United play Liverpool in football (soccer). I was served at each meal by John who was at the chapel service. My room was cared for by another attendee, Naphtali. I had a long conversation with Clement.

In addition to all of this, I had Ahmed Muhammad driving me on safari twice each day, first with the Rouner team and then with a couple from the Czech Republic and family from Poland. I have lots of photos of the wildlife at the base of the Gerandi Hills outside the Masai Mara Game Reserve. Here is a partial list of the animals I saw:

Lions (male, female and cubs)
Cheetah
Giraffes (male, female and calves)
Buffalo (male, female and calves)
Elephants (male, female and babies)
Rhinoceros (White Rhinos)
Hippopotami
Baboons
Warthogs
Mongoose
Topi
Thompson Gazelle
Grand Gazelle
Hyena
Impala
Secretary Birds
Ox Picker Birds
Weaver Birds
Flover Birds

This was a great way to end this trip in appreciation of God's great creation.

I spent the last 36 hours with my friends Greg and Deb Snell in Nairobi. There was another group arriving at the Snell's as I prepared to leave. This was a group of women who had come to lead several women's retreats for pastors' wives in Kenya and the Congo. Two women from the group, Judy Waschele and Marylaine Phillips, were from Colonial Church. Others were there from Wooddale Church of Eden Prairie and a church in Bakersfield, CA along with several women from ICM in Kitale and Mt. Elgon.

As the women headed off for their conference on Tuesday, January 24, Greg and I headed off for the golf course. Greg took me to the oldest course in Kenya which is in Nairobi. For the second time on this trip, Greg took some humorous pride in beating me. I hadn't realized this, but Greg said he had never beaten me when we had played in the past. On this trip, he beat me soundly both times we played. Maybe there is something to this home country advantage!

When we went to pick up the women at their conference, I bumped into Steven Maori, the Kenya Country Director for ICM and he told me that they would like to have me come back and teach again. I guess the students enjoyed our time together as much as I did. I caught my flight at 11:30 p.m. from Nairobi to Amsterdam which brings us full circle to this final leg home.

It's now 9:59 a.m. and after this 19 day journey of faith, service and discovery, I will be home in two hours. I'm looking forward to seeing Kathy, Katie, Drew and Ayden!

Final Night in Kitale

These last few days seem to have flown by. Classes by day and dinners at night. These students have been so receptive to the teaching I have provided, I am truly humbled by their desire to be better equipped for ministry. As they share their lives with me, it is clear that the resources they have are so meager and the need here is so great.

Did I mention that Lois Chege was pregnant? Yesterday, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She and Bernard gave her the name, Grace.

Tonight, I had dinner in the home of John and Caroline Masonic. These are missionaries supported by our church. John was a young man when he first met Arthurn Rouner in Kiwawa. Today he is 53 and everyone around calls him "Babu," which means Grandpa in Swahili. John is employed by ICM and has a ministry to 3800 children from Eldoret to Mt. Elgon. He is on the radio each week and many know him as "Babu" from this show. As we drove through the streets of Kitale, many called out greetings to him.

His wife Caroline has about 20 Mom's in Touch groups in roughly the same region. She, too, has a weekly radio show that reaches many thousands of women.

Most of their support comes from the grant from our church. It is not enough for this family to make it on. The tires on his car are balding and recently he had two blowouts in the same month. He can only afford used tires for his vehicle as he goes from school to school and town to town with a message of hope and love. New tires would cost $300; something most of us Americans could afford, but well beyond their family or ministry budget. Theirs is a faith ministry and they depend on Jesus for the daily provision for their family of seven.

About 90 percent of the students at ICM cannot afford the tuition, room and board. There is no or little financial aide. The school charges a low tuition (something like $50/course). Most come on faith, knowing they need the education to improve their ministry skills. One student, Aggrey comes from Kisumu in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya. Here the Aids pandemic has hit hard. He is doing all he can to provide support for families and children where the parents have contracted this dreaded disease.

Another pastor, Hezron, shared that his church faces issues that I do not think any American Church faces: polygamy. What happens when a family of one husband with several wives and many children decide to join the local church? Currently they receive them into membership and do not allow the huband to have any leadership roles. They encourage the children to become monogamous as they consider marriage. WOW! I thought I had it tough in ministry!!!!

Greg Snell introduced us to Martin, a bright middle aged unemployed man who has land and a vision for combatting the Aids Pandemic near Lake Victoria. He wants to raise funds to build a clinic to treat Aids victims and to assist families with Christian Counseling. Here is someone who has nothing but a vision and his own personal integrity. Now the question is, will those who can make this vision become a reality help it happen? I thank God for his vision and have been assisting his development of a case statement.

Today, a student from Kitale, Dixon Ouma, brought a gift for me to take to Kathy. It was an extravagant gift given the meager income I know he lives on. I had visited his home and brought a few simple gifts earlier in the trip. I feel quite humbled as I experience this gift of love.

Tomorrow morning, the students will take my final exam for the Gospel of John. I hear that they are all up late studying. They may be surprised when they see the final. I want to encourage them and feel we have learned so much together. I have taught them techniques for studying the Bible that will be useful in whatever book they study (the books of the Bible and otherwise). I really believe that teaching methodologies and approaches that are transferrable are often the most important content of courses like this.

In the evening, I fly to Nairobi and on Saturday, I rejoin Arthur and Molly Rouner and the Pilgrim Center Team in the Masai Mara. I look forward to adding some of my many photos to this journal when I return to the USA on Jan. 25.

Visits with Friends

The Colonial Team left on Sunday after Jeff Lindsay preached in a local church. I was preaching in a different church that morning, so I said goodbye to them as they left the ICM campus around 7:30 a.m. They were heading off on Safari to Sweetwater National Park. They will then go on to visit refugee camps in neighboring countries.

On Sunday afternoon, I met Dick Barnley of Sirikwa Safaris about 25 km out of Kitale to go flyfishing in the Cherangani Hills. We had a great afternoon fishing a river at about 9,500 feet but not catching anything. I had three rises all afternoon. The fly selection seemed not to match anything happening on the river. Dick's rod was an old fiberglass rod and worked well enough. The scenery was beautiful.

Last night, Arthur and Molly Rouner and the team from the Pilgrim Center came into town. They had with them their daughter and Son-in-law, Kristen and Bruce Jeide and their two children, Anna (10) and Billy (8). In addition, there were two other men, Ed Penney and Roger ?. We had dinner at the Kitale Club with about 16 of Arthur's friends from ICM in Kitale and the branch campus on Mt. Elgon. The testimonies from Arthur's former students were touching. Several of them call him Grandpa.

Today Arthur and his team visited my class. I asked Arthur and Kristen to speak about challenges they have faced in the pastorate and found myself moved to the point of tears as they shared. The students were deeply touched by this visit as well. About mid-morning they headed off for Kiwawa (about four hours north) to visit with Arthur's friends among the Pokot.

This afternoon I visited the Legacy Christian School where I spoke to about 70 students. John Masonic was my host. We gave out soccer balls from Colonial Church and I gave away all of my balloons to these joyful children ranging in age from 5 to 14.

Tonight, I had dinner at Bernard and Lois Chege's home. We arrived at their home around 6 p.m. Bernard is the Dean of Students at ICM. Their yard looked like a brick yard. He is literally making bricks for his home that he is about to build. They have at least six stacks of bricks as tall as me and stretching 20 feet long 4-6 bricks wide. Building materials we use in North America cannot be used here. Termites would destroy any wood construction, so even interior walls are made with brick or mud. They also have live stock; a cow, a lamb, a goat and several chickens. Banana trees are beginning to produce fruit that will be ripe in about seven months!

Dinner was wonderful and the company was a delight. I gave their son Stanley a box of crayons and some of the paper Kathy sent with me. He immediately went to work drawing pictures of buses, rockets, jets, a house and the moon! Several from ICM joined us and there was laughter and good conversation throughout the evening.

Visit from Home Church and Kitale Golf

Friday, January 13, 2006

The Mission Team from Colonial Church of Edina (my home church) arrived last evening. It was great to see Greg and Deb Snell, Jeff Lindsay, Naida Grussing-Nietzel, Joyce Schwartz, Suzie Berge, Dick and Kit Schmoker and Connie (????). With the team was a young woman named Allison from Victoria, BC.They came in tired from their nine-hour car/van ride and a little sleep deprived. It was great to see them.

We ate at the Pinewood Restaurant and this time, knowing the chef’s abilities, I ordered chicken curry (medium spice). The fellowship around the long table was fun with John and Karen Masonic, two ICM students and Kibii and Esther Maiyo with us for the evening.

Deb Snell has a heart for those who are facing hard times and in Africa, friends in this condition are easy to find. Deb invited one of her friends whose wife currently is suffering from AIDS and who makes his income from selling carved soapstone.. Many on the Colonial team bought several items from this man.

Allison, Kit and Dick joined me in the Founder’s Cottage while the rest of the team were housed next door.

Deb Snell came by at 7 a.m. today. She had bought groceries for the whole team. She gave directions and I assisted in the kitchen.

At 7:45 a.m. I left for class. Our worship has been outstanding each day with joyful singing and a different student sharing from the Word. Today, just prior to our break at 9:30 a.m. for chapel, the Colonial Team stopped in. After introductions, I invited Jeff to share a word of greeting and a prayer. Then I asked the students to share a song and a prayer for this mission team.

While we were in the same place, the team from my home church had a separate mission from my own. They left that morning to visit communities at the base of Mt. Elgon to observe and participate in the ministries of John and Karen Masonic. Karen runs a Moms In Touch Ministry with 15 chapters. The women in the groups prayed and shared a testimony with our mission team and our team shared some of their experiences as Christian parents in the USA.

Meanwhile back at the ranch… I was picked up at 2 p.m. by John Mbugua, a local insurance executive with Royal Insurance, for a round of golf at the Kitale Club. This is a well-laid out course with grass in dormancy during the dry season. A well struck ball will run like it was landing on a very rough slate pool table. While the greens were extremely slow for putting they would not hold a ball that came in high, so all the pitch shots had to land 10-20 yards in front of the green.

My round was nothing to write home about, but there was one unusual local feature. On the 10th green there were at least 50 monkeys! They were eating fruit from a nearby tree and just hanging out. I got some good video.

The Golf Captain at the club invited me to return the next day for the Chairman’s Tournament, an invitation I could not turn down. I had dinner with John Mbugua at the club and came home late.

Dinner with the Academic Dean and his wife

Last night I spent the evening with Kibii and Esther Maiyo at the Pinewood Restaurant. Kibii is the Academic Dean of ICM Seminary and Esther is a seamstress. They are tall, almost regal in their appearance. Kibii wore a light blue African suit with white embroidery and a cap with embroidered patterns to match his suit. Esther wore a long yellow dress with a red and blue patterned scarf. They are about the same age as Kathy and me.

The restaurant has two menus: one for Indian cuisine and one for Chinese. I ordered lemon chicken, which was composed of small chunks of fried chicken smothered in a lemony gravy. Esther had chicken curry with nun (a flat pita-like bread) from the Indian menu. I later learned that people of Indian origin are considered “Asians” in Kenya. Their Chinese food was not nearly as authentic as their Indian food, so I suspect that they have an “Asian” cook of Indian origin.

Esther and Kibii shared testimonies of how God has worked in their lives. With a little prompting, Esther shared how she and Kibii had met. They both grew up in Kitale and their families knew one another. Esther comes from a family of twelve and they attended the church where Kibii was serving as pastor. He was 23 and Esther was 18. Esther said she had learned so much from her mother that she wanted to be like her.

She came to her mother and asked her advice on how she might find the right man. Her mother suggested she should prayerfully make a list of criteria and then pray that God would show her the right man for her to marry. Esther said she made her list and had one criterion that she felt would set her suitors apart. She was looking for a man who could express himself directly to her in person and not have to rely on a written note. Of the several men who expressed interest in her, only one, Kibii, did not write notes to her. When he asked for her hand in marriage, she understood it as God’s will and agreed immediately!

Kibii and Esther told of how God had provided for them through the years, especially in relation to education. When Kibii was accepted to Columbia Bible College, he had no idea how he would pay for it. Yet he and Esther prayed and went on faith. God provided for their every need through miraculous ways. Today, Kibii has a Masters of Theology from Western Theological Seminary and is working on his PhD with a dissertation topic of the Ordination of Women.

We had a delightful evening. Tonight we will go to the same restaurant with the team from Colonial. I’m ordering Indian!!!

Kitale and ICM - "And so it begins."

On Monday, January 9, at 8:00 a.m., Philip Amoi came by the Snell’s home in Nairobi with ICM’s driver Francis Muthui. Off we went out of Nairobi on Route A104 West along the North rim of the Rift Valley. Cars, trucks, buses and overflowing Matatu vans filled the roadways. People walking; everywhere walking in rural areas and cities.

With side trips to the equator, a drop-in visit to world renowned miler Kipchoge Keino in Eldoret, a fly tying factory in Moi’s Bridge and a stop for supplies in Kitale we arrived at ICM Seminary’s campus around 5:00 p.m.

I was greeted by the smiling face of Bernard Chege, a thin, fit and thoughtful man who serves a the acting Academic Dean. After unpacking in the Founders Cottage where I will be staying, we joined some of the students in the dining hall for dinner.

The campus at ICM is a series of one story white concrete buildings surrounding a soccer field forming a rectangle with the east and west sides twice as long as the north and south. On the southern end are cottages where guest instructors and mission teams stay. Along the eastern side are the Chapel, the Administration building, a classroom building, the Library and on the northern end is a one room building dedicated to prayer. The cafeteria is on the west with single story dormitories for the students and a large garden where most of the fresh vegetables are grown to feed the students. In the southwest corner of the campus is a stable with five cows and two calves. This is an economic development project to produce extra income for the seminary.

On Tuesday, January 10, my class began. I have twenty-two students in my class who gather at 7:45 a.m. for worship each morning. We go until 1:00 p.m. with a break for chapel and tea. Today , after introductions, we read the whole Gospel of John out loud as the early church probably did in order to get a sense of the entire gospel. There are things that happen when you read it out loud that may never happen in a person’s devotions. People laugh when there are funny portions. Students would say “Praise God!” when something great happened in the story. It took nearly the whole schedule to read the gospel!

After class, I visited the home of one of my students, Dixon Ouma. He is an agricultural extention agent for the Kenyan Government with a plan to plant a church hnear his home. He lives with his wife and three children in a small brick home with banana trees on the perimeter and the land cultivated for a garden. A Kenyan brick home is not anything like what we have in this nation. The bricks seem to be almost haphazardly cemented together with cement overlapping the bricks everywhere. The house is three narrow rooms in a line. The living room has door perpetually open to the outside and is about 10 feet wide and twenty feet long. All the family sleeps in the same bedroom and I'm not sure how the other room is used. The oldest child, Jaquelin, was at home alone with her two younger brothers, Dixon, Jr. (4) and Isaiah (2).
Now it is nearly 5:00 p.m. here on my second day of classes in Kitale. The students are eager to learn. They have inquisitive minds and open hearts. Today I spoke in Chapel as well.Tonight I will have dinner with the Dean of the Seminary and his wife. Tomorrow, the seven person team from Colonial arrives with Greg and Deb for a three day stay. I will have dinner with them tomorrow and Saturday.

First Days in Nairobi - Jan 7-8,2006

I arrived at the Nairobi Kenyatta International airport last night after almost twenty hours of travel from Minneapolis. I was greeted by my friend Greg Snell, who serves as the Programs Coordinator for International Christian Ministries. Greg saw several people he knew before we left the airport and introduced me as he often does as his former boss at Colonial Church. I am humbled by this, for Greg has since become a world leader by humbly serving as a critical link between American churches and denominations with African missions opportunities. He also is ICM’s on-the-ground agent for training the national staff in a number of countries in French-speaking Africa and East Africa. He is working closely with Purpose Driven author and Pastor of Saddleback Church, Rick Warren and his team, to open the way for his new PEACE Plan which is leading the way globally in addressing what he calls the five global giants with each one’s corresponding solution:
1. Spiritual Lostness……………….Plant Churches
2. Lack of Servant Leaders……......Equip Servant Leaders
3. Poverty………………………….Assist the poor through economic development
4. Disease (AIDS, Malaria, etc.)…Care for the sick
5. Ignorance……………………….Educate the next generation

Greg helps network the church to understand local needs in their cities and nations to address them through the PEACE Plan.

He offers a connection for national leaders with Walk through the Bible seminars, John Maxwell’s Equip Seminars, the Purpose Driven Seminars and Willow Creek’s Leadership Seminars.

So, you can see why his introduction in my mind seems a little out of place. Today in Church, the pastor of the Karen Vineyard Church, Rev. Peter Twycross shared that the Apostle Paul was never called “The Apostle Paul” by others in the Bible and that one key characteristic of leadership is the humility to teach very clearly that leaders are just like other people. They may have a role or gift that places them in leadership, but this is not to elevate a person above others. In fact, others will determine the scope of a leader’s authority as something conferred by the led. Others have discovered Greg Snell and it is a joy to be able to come to teach at ICM Seminary at his request.

Greg and Deb welcomed me to their home and connected me with Kathy and our family back in Minnesota via phone. Their home is in Karen, which is a town named after Karen Blicksen who was the subject of the movie, Out of Africa. Well- trimmed hedges line the drive into their property. This drive opens up to a courtyard where there are flowering trees and several Bird of Paradise plants. The home itself is modeled after a Spanish American motif. They are able to house about a dozen guests. They have a large living room and well-designed dining room.

Today, I went to church with Greg and Deb at Karen Vineyard Church and bumped into Eric and Tracy Hagman and their two children Sam and Simon. Tracy is the daughter of my good friends Joel and Mary Lee Jennings. Joel and Mary Lee just left on Friday after a Christmas visit with Eric, Tracy and family.

After lunch, Deb and I went to the Masai Market, where I had the opportunity to haggle with merchants and get some gifts for family and friends. Then Greg and I got out for nine holes of golf at Karen Country Club.

Upon return, I met their friend and co-worker from Tanzinia, Mary Kamow. Together we went out to dinner at a favorite local restaurant, The Rusty Nail. Now it’s time to go to bed. Tomorrow morning I take a taxi to Kitale with ICM Staff member Phillip Amoi.

Prayer for the Kenya Journey

Thank you for praying with and for my ministry with Tentmakers. In many ways, I consider this “our” ministry because your share in it through prayer, encouragement and supporting gifts is so important. The work that we are about is intensely spiritual as we carry the torch of the gospel in this generational relay that has its roots in the beginning of time and has burned ever more brightly since the Light of the world, Jesus, came into the world. “4In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) I am writing today to encourage you to pray for the next three weeks of ministry with daily focus as I travel and interact with pastors and missionaries who are carrying the light of the gospel to thousands in Kenya and East Africa.

As you may know, tomorrow (Friday 1/6/06), I leave on my first journey to Africa to teach at ICM Seminary in Kitale, Kenya. I will be teaching the Gospel of John to a group of 25 pastors from January 10-20. Please take time each day to remember my travels, the students, pastors, missionaries and others who I will be interacting with. Pray that this would be a time of refreshing vision for these pastors and that together we will drink deep from the source of our living water and eat of the bread of life, Jesus. Pray that the Good Shepherd will teach these undershepherds of his flocks from the Word, how they can impart the message of the gospel to their people in new and fresh ways.

I will write about my journey as I get the opportunity in the computer lab at the seminary and at internet cafes or friends personal computers along the way. I will have a camera with me, but am unsure about connection speeds and software needed to add photos. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to share with you when I return.

Finally, there is one prayer item that I just learned about today. I’m flying with Northwest and KLM. Northwest has a bankruptcy court hearing on January 17 in which NWA lawyers will ask the court to reject their current contracts with pilots, flight attendants, and ground workers. This has put added pressure on their current negotiations with these unions. Today the Star Tribune reported that the flight attendants union has said it may strike if a bankruptcy judge allows Northwest to reject its union contract. The other two unions representing pilots and ground workers have also said they may strike if Northwest gets its way in court. This would shut down the airline and could leave me stranded mid-trip. Please pray for these issues to be resolved without a strike.

Hurricane Katrina Recovery Continues

Sixteen new houses are being built in McComb, MS by Voice of Calvary Ministries of Jackson, MS with a completion date of June 2006. The homes are 1100 to 1400 Square feet with 3 BR and 2 bathrooms. After this initial work, they will begin to build housing developments in Moss Point, Biloxi and Mendenhall.

Needs include: volunteers, finances and names of people who need a home. Local involvement by churches, residents and government units are vital to this effort.

Churches from the San Francisco Bay area of California are currently helping to provide funding and volunteers. Reed hopes other churches around the nation will hear about this example and do likewise.

Contact Phil Reed or C J Jones of Voice of Calvary at 601-353-1635 cjjones@vocm.org or philreed@vocm.org. To learn more, visit www.vocm.org.

Voice of Calvary has also been utilizing a Mobile Medical Unit was donated shortly after Katrina by the Modesto, CA Rotary Club. It has been stationed in Biloxi for two months. Recently it was moved to Bay St. Louis where doctors expressed a need to have a place to practice.

Phil Reed said that VOCM hopes to start a modular housing factory with 50-75 employees in the next year. This factory will be able to build 2-4 houses each day.