PRAYER POST: Homecoming and Country Hopping

As this post goes up, the team will likely be sitting in the Amsterdam Airport waiting to board their flight back to Chicago. I will be sleeping (maybe) in a Nairobi hotel preparing to fly to Rwanda at 12:00 p.m. Kenya time (4:00 a.m. Indiana).

The team lands in Chicago at 12:40 CST, and hopes to pull into the church around 6:00 p.m. EST. To keep real time updates on their progress, check out http://twitter.com/agcbabycenter

Pray for the team:

• Smooth connections and flight home.
• Easy move through customs.
• The return jet lag. Many head right into School on Monday.
• That what has happened in Kenya will effect how we live at home (it's the LIVE DIFFERENTLY part of the Kids In Need Focus)
• If you would, pray for the Janelle and Katylynn reunion, that it will be full of excitement and joy.

For the next leg of my trip, my prayer posts will not be as specific as they have been, and I do not know how much I will be able to do live posts from the field. Our agenda is a little less rigid, and there are some significant variables that could alter our plans throughout (transportation, border crossing, the Holy Spirit's leading). But here is a basic breakdown.

Sunday, April 11:
Arrive in Kigali Rwanda and spend the day in the capitol with Eugene, our main contact and Guide. Hoping to connect with some of the main church planters of the Rwanda Exodus Conference to hear reports.

Monday April 12- Tuesday, April 13:
Travel to Northeast Rwanda to a Regugee Camp and Pygmie Village where Caleb and Dustin Eby helped plant churches last June in the Rwanda Exodus Conference.

Tuesday Evening April 13- Friday April 16:
Travel across the border of Rwanda into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Work with Pastors in this post-Civil War torn City that is home to as many as 1 million Refugees who have fled their jungle villages in fear of Guerilla armies.
Also, potentially travel to a Pygmie Village in the Bush that Pastor Eugene has been working with.

Saturday April 17:
Back into Kigali, Rwanda. Tour some of the Genocide sites and memorials.

Sunday, April 18:
Begin the long journey home.

For this stretch of the Journey, Here's some ways to be praying:

• For Caleb. That he will have wisdom, discernment and direction as he follows up with key contacts and see where Unusual Soldiers ministry is to continue its partnership as well as potential future partnership in the DRC.
• For Eugene and Jean Paul. As they guide us and coordinate our ministry opporrunities.
• For my health. Traveling this leg with Diabetes has potential to be problemmatic. Pray that I will experience no complications and the my Blood Sugars will stay well regulated.
• For my Family. Pray for Janelle and Katylynn as they are reunited but wait for my return.
• For Me. God has me on this journey for a reason. My partnership with Caleb, NMC Student Ministries role in Rwanda, our future adoption from Africa, and the personal journey God has been taking me on are all colliding together in this trip.
• Pray that I will find the perfect balance of Faith and Wisdom.
  
• ABOVE ALL, pray that we will HEAR God's voice and leading, and step out and FOLLOW.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8

Rwanda recap video

Caleb posted this on his blog back while I was in crazy camp mode, and I totally missed it. Just watched it now. Our Rwanda Night happened just one week after I buried my father. It came together a little rougher than Maasai and Kenya Night. Not as much money was raised. Yet, it was also the most student owned, and most sacrificial giving by students of all the nights. In the end, watching this reminded me, "It's all worth it."

Rwanda Exodus Reports

Caleb Bislow has three posts over on his blog concerning his recent trip to Rwanda for the Rwanda Exodus conference.

I love the heart of Caleb in these statements. I also am blown away by the initial effects of this endevor!

I have hesitated to mention the "numbers" of this trip but my wife reminded me that each number is a person, a soul, a life, and that is worth mentioning. However a trademark of Unusual Soldiers is not to be a "BIG FISH" story teller, aka an exaggerator. So I have tamed down some of the statistics to maintain integrity and project numbers that Dustin and I felt were reasonable and true.

NUMBERS
26 teams met in Kigali for training
26 teams were sent out
100 Proclaimers for our mission were donated by Campus Crusade (a $10,000 value)
1 apostolic church planter was in each group
26 groups were divided into 9 zones of Rwanda
26+ Jesus films were promoted and watched in remote and forgotten areas of Rwanda
1,000 to 5,000 people showed up at each remote site
apx. 60,000 people watched the films 'The Passion of Christ' or the 'Jesus film.'
apx. 30,000 people committed their lives to Christ at the cinemas
1 church was started the day following each cinema (25 churches in all)
1 church was started spontaneously due to a car breakdown

Caleb's posts on the Exodus:

Exodus Rwanda 2009 (the pictures on this posts are worth thousands of words)
Rwanda's Greatest Hits
Genocide Hell (reader discretion advised)

What's Up in Rwanda?

Caleb and Dustin are in the home stretch of their time in Rwanda. I and many others have been praying that we'd see a major spiritual harvest. Here are several of Caleb's Facebook Updates, starting from their arrival in Rwanda...

Caleb Bislow is in RwandaJune 17 at 1:28pm

Caleb Bislow The Rwandan Exodus Conference is going AMAZING. Dustin and I got to speak to many radical Christ followers today and it is appearing that this Exodus could go BIG. Teams head out to the bush tomorrow. Keep praying...

June 17 at 2:14pm

Caleb Bislowand Dustin are headed to the Rawadan/DR Congo bush tomorrow. We will be working with the Pygmies tommorow night...then head to a refugee camp in a couple days...then to some villages in/near the Congo. On our last day here we will be videoing some key genocide sites to capture a greater burden & depth of the history of this area. ....gone to the bush (no WIFI).June 18 at 1:22pm

Caleb Bislow 's schedule for prayer team. Dates/place of ministry: 19th,20th- Pygmy villages. 21st 22nd- DRC refugee camp. 22nd-Villages on border of Congo 23rd-villages in Gorilla Mountains. 24th-back to Kigali ,25th 26th genocide sites, 27th fly to Kenya, 28th speak to Maasai, 29th fly back to USJune 18 at 2:51pm


Caleb Bislow and Dustin are dirty, smelly, and running themselves ragged in Rwanda however all is well with us and God continues to exceed our expectations. We head back to the bush in an hour.

Yesterday at 7:27am

Rwanda Night - The Check

I just realized I never posted some results from Rwanda Night.

As a product of our students efforts with Dodgeball, T-shirt sales, silent auction, bake sale, and their own personal giving, we are sending a check to Unusual soldiers for $19,500 to put on the Exodus Conference that will be taking place in the end of June!

We're excited to see what God does through these different kind of Exodus in the country of Rwanda.

Silent Auction... The Final Day

This is the video that was put together by our students to help get an understanding of the history of Rwanda, as well as explain what Rwanda Night is all about. It's very well made, and worth watching...


Today is the final day for the Rwanda Night Silent Auction. All bids from this morning's service will be updated by 2:00 p.m. There will be no further updating at that point. If you want something, be sure you've bid ridiculously high enough!

GO HERE and Bid!

Friday 5: Rwanda Night

5 Things you need to know about Rwanda Night and the Rwanda Exodus Conference.

1. STUDENT LED: Of the three nights we've done like this (Maasai Night, Kenya Night, Rwanda Night) Rwanda night has had the best quantity and quality of student buy-in by far. The understand the cause and they've given sacrificially of themselves significantly.
2. PRIMARY FUNDING: The Funds raised through NMC Student Ministries will serve as the primary funding for the actual event. Caleb Bislow has chosen against promoting this event through other funding streams.
3. ONE OF OUR OWN: Moody Bible Institute Freshman and NMC grad Dustin Eby played a key role in both Maasai Night and Kenya Night. This Summer, he will be playing a primary role in the Exodus conference as he will be traveling with Caleb Bislow to Rwanda.
4. AUCTION STILL GOING: The Silent Auction officially ends this Sunday Night. The items will be in the NMC Grand Hall this Sunday a.m. for live bidding. High bids will be placed online following the service, and will be the final update. Online bids will be accepted till 11:59 p.m. Sunday, February 22. If you want an item, make sure you're confident in your bid Sunday afternoon!
5. MORE TO COME: Rwanda Night only serves as the beginning in this. We will seek to continue to lay a foundation of prayer for this conference that will take place in late June. Little prayer, little power. Much prayer, much power.
   

A Blue Cup and Advancing the Kingdom

It started in '06 with the "What If?" Question.
What if NMC Student Ministries Senior High took part in an effort to share God's story to a tribe halfway around the world?
Our Senior High students answered the "What If?" with Maasai Night in January, 2007.
The students' efforts on the night made an entire church aware of the Maasai Project, raised over $15,000, brought in a prayer army to lift up the "scouting team" that went into Maasailand in April, and inspired other churches to join in the journey.
In February 2008, our 5th-12th students joined in to make Kenya Night happen.
The night raised over $25,000 for the Maasai Project and the AGC Baby Center both in Kenya. It helped get the Maasai Project to the point where the Exodus Conference could take place mobilizing 30 Maasai Church Planters and Evangelists into the bush of Kenya to begin a disciple making movement that is still seeing significant fruit to this day!

This year, we have been given the opportunity to continue in a partnership with Caleb Bislow and Unusual Soldiers as they head into the country of Rwanda. The hope is to mobilize a group of 20-30 church planters to get into some of the unreached regions of the country that recently went through one of the more horrific genocides in human history.

We've pulled together the students to dream up and plan out the night. As a product of those meetings, we concluded that the past goals of Maasai and Kenya Night can and should be the same for Rwanda Night....

1. Raise Awareness.
2. Raise Prayer Support.
3. Raise Financial Support.

It was also concluded that our focus be three-fold to best accomplish that goal this year...

1. We continue to do well what we've done well (the elements of silent auction, bake sale, talent show... get Small Groups and Workshops involved)
2. We step up our game in raising awareness (people are aware of Rwanda's history and culture, as well as grasping what the Rwanda Exodus Conference is and looks like)
3. Students give sacrificially ("give till it hurts")

This past Sunday, we pulled all 5th-12th grade together to work on the Awareness side. We shared a little with students on where we've been in the past, what Rwanda Night is all about now, and invited them to get involved.

At the close, we invited those students involved to take a blue plastic Meijer Cup (not Solo, the Meijer cups were cheaper) and place a label on it with our Rwanda Night logo. The cup is to serve as a reminder of the call to "give sacrificially" as individuals. Students can use that cup to collect money and bring it in the week before the night.
We're excited to see where God takes us on this journey. There's some new twists and turns to this one, but I believe the story of Rwanda Night may likely end up being more about the significance of the sacrificial involvment and giving of students over the size.

Omaha Airport Thoughts...

Just finished up two days of dreaming with Caleb Bislow and 3 other guys. The main focus was Unusual Soldiers... the ministry of Caleb Bislow. At the same time, I've been encouraged, challenged, and recharged.

I need Jesus in my life more than anything else. But I also need Caleb Bislow in my life. He challenges and reminds me that it's worth "risking it all for the sake of the call." He reminds me that there is a world full of people on their way to hell, and we need to do what we need to do something about that. He reminds me that there are those Christ Followers out there who will run in toward the people and places everyone else will run from. He reminds me that it's all about Listening, Following, and Obeying Christ. He is PASSION, VISION, and COURAGE in action.

This guy is the real deal. I love the partnership that has formed between us. I'm excited to see where God continues to take us.

Leaders Go first

Just got done meeting with 30 5-12th grade students who have expressed a desire in taking a lead role with Rwanda Night which will be taking place February 18th as we seek to come behind the Rwanda Exodus Church Planting event that Caleb Bislow will be doing in June, 2009.

We concluded that there will again be 3 goals as we approach this night.

1. Raise Awareness
2. Raise Prayer Support
3. Raise Financial Support

We also concluded that there would be three keys to us as we go about this effort:

1. We continue doing what we've done well. (silent auction, bake sale, talent show)
2. We make this more about the mission. (the message of Christ to areas Rwanda where he has not heard)
3. We look for students to give sacrificially.

On the final point, I through a major challenge down for the students in that room. There's an axiom in leadership that says "Leaders go first." I asked the students to consider what "giving till it hurts" means to them personally. They are going to be coming back to the next meeting ready to share how that is going to look in their lives.

They've also been sent out to study the country of Rwanda, it's history, land, and spiritual condition.

I love this stuff. I love seeing the students take ownership!

Exodus Rwanda

Caleb Bislow is at it again. Dreaming God-sized dreams and looking to take the message of Christ to unreached regions in Africa. The vision of The Maasai Project has now spread to Rwanda.

Read more here.

Our Student Ministries team met with a group of Junior and Senior High students two weeks ago to consider our involvement. These students were commissioned to pray, seeking the heart and voice of God on if we were to partner in this venture. We pulled them back together Wednesday Night. Several of our Senior High students couldn't be there. As we went around the room to hear where students were at, the Senior Highers who were there were saying that, "It just made sense." This wasn't a bad sentiment. It was more a thought that as they prayed, it was just the right thing to do.
The amazing moment was as we heard back from the five Junior Highers that were present. There was an incredible depth of passion and desire as they shared. As Geoff, Jason, the Senior Highers, and I listened to them express the resounding "YES" to our involvment in Exodus Rwanda, we all realized we had witnessed a "holy moment" where God had chosen to speak to and through 5 Junior High students.

We're in.