Day 4

Well, today was filled with more work around the church. We also helped with a little carnival for some international kids.

We also played soccer again tonight which is just a great time to learn names of kids, build relationships and have an instant bridge culturally. One of the kids even asked us all to get his picture with us, which was so much fun because it showed that we had made a connection with him. One of the best things about the soccer camp is that the coaches shared the story of the creation and the fall of man, sin and redemption through Christ. I am just reminded every day, that Jesus does not just speak American English. We also had a chance to pray for each other, and one of the kids who is 17 prayed and asked for prayer. The interesting this is that he is a refugee from Nepal and probably 8 of the guys at the soccer camp are Nepali and speak the native language. This 17 year old is actually the translator for Antioch church to the Nepali people and he loves Jesus. He asked for the 8 or so other guys there that God would break, like a hammer, the hearts of stone of the Nepali people, and then a guy from Ghana prayed for them and then an American prayed. When was the last time you had 3 people from 3 different countries in the same circle of people. It was amazing.

Now more sleep and tomorrow....well...a change in plans. We had planned on going to the Creation Museum, but I (Brett) didn't realize it would be almost 4 hours of driving there and back. We had a vote and we decided to sleep in, go to a pool and then join our Nepali friends for some more soccer on the last day of the camp where hopefully some will hear the conclusion of the Gospel Message and receive Christ. We can always go to the Creation Museum another time.

Have a wonderful night and pray for us. Thanks for all the prayers.

The kids dressed up at the carnival and these boys are not dressed like Taliban, they are supposed to be Ninjas.

HI MOM!!!!

Day 3

We spent our day working at the church building that Antioch Church as well as an African church and an Hispanic church rent and use at different times. We split up into groups of various sizes and painted, cleaned inside the church and did yard work. The rooms that were cleaned had been ruined by a flood of sewer water over a year ago. Both rooms previously served as play rooms and a nursery but they had been unusable for the past year. There were also probably 600 toys and pieces of toy to clean and bleach.

That is what we did. It was a long day of work.

Can you guess who's feet these are? Notice the dirt pants.

Futbol

Tonight, we went to another church that was running a soccer camp for K-12. Our group joined the high schoolers which made it possible to play a full pitch (field) game with 11 vs. 11. It was super fun and for all of you who know of my hamstring problems, I felt pretty good. I will take some advil tonight. :) There were lots of Asian guys who were playing and we couldn't keep up with them and couldn't understand them as they talked to each other which gave them a huge advantage. Our kids were a great encouragement to the other kids playing and overall we had a great time. Our coaches were great, one was from Ghana and one from Brazil. And if you know anything about futbol (soccer), Ghana and Brazil are great playing countries and our kids and the kids at the camp really learned a lot from those two guys.

One thing you may not know about New Life is that we have our very own soccer ministry run by Jason Sheppard. It goes almost year round, indoors and out and varies from 5-20 kids who participate. On the heels of the World Cup, imagine what a great ministry this could be if we had a few more super-committed Christ-centered adults and some ministry minded students who might take this ministry to the "nations" around us. Futbol is the most popular sport in the world, hands down, and most international kids, if asked to play futbol....WILL.

All over the world (except maybe in America), the most exciting thing in sport is a goal scored in a futbol game because they are few and far between, but when they happen, countries go wild.

I Peter 1:9 says, "for you are receiving the GOAL of your faith, the salvation of your souls". Imagine using the soccer language of "goal" in a Biblical way along with actually playing the sport with those from other countries. Wouldn't it be great to see many come to faith in Christ and then we celebrate with them?

As they say in Hispanic Futbol cultures GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!

Isn't that Sweet

I imagine that when we come to Columbus we will tell people of all of our interactions with refugees from different countries. Many people's responses will be something like, "Awww, isn't that nice and sweet of you." or "Wow, I never knew those type of folks were in Kentucky" or something like that.

Well, let me tell you something that is even sweeter. Louisville, for instance, has somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 Somali refugees. Columbus, OH has 40-60.....wait for it.....wait for it.....THOUSAND, yes, 40-60,000 Somali refugees. And you know what? They all need Jesus.

One of the teenagers in our group said, "I have never seen very many Somalis in Columbus." I told her, "Just go to wal-mart on Morse road at midnight." I was telling the truth. The reason we don't see it is because frankly we aren't looking for the diversity around us. I know a bus driver in Westerville who drives entire routes where his bus is full of Somalis.

This is the Columbus area we live in, and God has brought an entire different people and culture to our area. If we ever have the thought that we cannot or could not ever do cross cultural missions because we would have to go too far away, think again. You can drive 5 minutes away and enter an entire different "world" and culture living amongst us.

Begin to pray that God would lead you to some people who live near you who are of a different nationality, different culture or different religion, so that you can begin to share the love of Christ with them.

Here are some faces of the Somali People

Like a Suburban Cowboy

So Brett went on a mission trip to South Dakota 7 years ago and bought a cowboy hat at a gas station. He really liked it and then it got ruined. So on our way to Kentucky we stopped at a gas station and he found a cowboy hat for $6 and bought it. So Brett has been dubbed by Brian Washburn "The Suburban Cowboy" while we are in Louisville (pronounced Loo-uh-vul) with his hat and glasses and bluetooth.

first 2 days

Hey everyone.

Day 1: We arrived about 12:30 and had Little Ceasars Pizza. We then listened to a few people give us some information about Antioch Church and the ministries that they are involved in here in Louisville. We heard from one couple who have devoted their lives to the Somali people and are involved with and live among the Somali refugees in Louisville. As I remember, there are 106 different spoken languages among the kids in the school system and there are around 45 different people groups represented in Louisville, many of whom are refugees. Behind the church building there are numerous apartments among which we walked and observed various peoples living their lives here in America. We then took a trip to a Somalian mall where we saw about 12 different shops selling a lot of different things like traditional dress attire, various food items and home goods. All the women, as you might imagine, are dressed from head to foot covering everything but their faces. The men were dressed pretty much like any other man in America. We then were served a meal in the Somali Mall, buffet style, but not. It was a buffet, but they served us and plated the food which included GOAT, yes, Goat meat. It is kind of like gamey beef.

We then returned to the church to debrief what we had done and then we went to our host homes for the night.

Day 2: Bright and early at the church at 8am for breakfast (cold leftover pizza for me). We then talked about how Jesus fled his home and went to Egypt and in reality was a refugee for part of his life. Not many of us had ever thought about that. There are about 1500 refugees living in the immediate area surrounding where we are staying.

Just for your info, a refugee is someone who has been pretty much forced to flee their country due to many circumstances including war or disaster. An immigrant is someone who chooses to leave their country in order to better their lives.

later on in the day, we visited an organization called Catholic Charities. They personally help about 900 refugees each year in Louisville and begin to teach them english, find them jobs, find housing and provide basic housing necessities. They also welcome refugees at the airport and make them feel as welcome as possible to America. We listened to one of their directors describe the flight of a refugee away from their country into refugee camps and then to America. He described how each refugee has 3-6 months of government help and then they are expected within that time to find a job and begin to be self-sufficient. Just think about as we see Americans struggle in these times getting and holding down jobs, how hard it must be for someone who barely speaks english and does not understand the culture.

We also heard from, (L), a 17 year old Iraqi young woman who came to America 2 years ago. She is married--which is not unusual for the Iraqi culture--and has become part of the church we are serving at this week. It was just an amazing story which even probably brought some tears to some of our eyes (it did mine, but don't tell anyone :) when she was talking about how hard it is to enter school and deal with other students, really none of which have befriended her. She said it is very difficult with American kids who just don't understand her and her culture. She also said it is extremely difficult being a Christian in American High School because she is very open with her faith and beliefs.

From there we went to Americana, which is an old elementary school which has been turned into a ministry where people can get food and clothing. We cooked and organized and served and ate with many many kids from Kenya. They are very willing to tell you their story and have fun with you and even joke around. One kid was 12 years old and joking about how he had a Ferrari and the 12 year old was making fun of a 16 year old who failed the drivers test. Another kid then said to the 12 year old, "you don't have a Ferrari, you don't even have a dollar to go to McDonalds and feed yourself." Just to let you know, he was telling the truth.

We cleaned up the mess and wiped off tables and then walked and prayed around the neighborhood.

Please pray for us as we continue more ministry tonight.

Brett