What are you willing to sacrifice for a friendship?

Five and almost a half years ago, I started my senior year of boarding school in Kijabe, Kenya at Rift Valley Academy.  Three years prior to that I started out there for the first time, in 9th grade.  When I first got there, a few great friends welcomed me the best they knew how.  One of them was a friend who had lived there for all of his life.  We hit it off from the get go, our passions for rugby and football draw us together.  His family too welcomed me in the kindest way possible.  I spent many hours at my friend’s house either working on homework, studying about God, fellowshipping with friends, or just resting.  I couldn’t have asked for anything more.  God had blessed me with a best friend. 

Now back to five and a half years ago.  It was the start of our senior year there at RVA.  My friend and I had taken a liking for a girl who seemed to have the qualities that both of us looked for in a lady.  We were on a collision course for disaster.  I had known that my friend had liked this girl the previous year.  I had as well.  But, when I found out that he liked her, I made a mistake.  I continued to pursue my own selfish desires.  This meant that there was now something which had come between us.  We were both fighting each other’s testosterone and our own friendship for something which in the end was all in vain. 

My friends told me to stop.  I didn’t listen.  I continued on down a path of selfishness over friendship.  Eventually, our friendship was almost nil.  If we weren’t in the same Sunday School class and teammates on a rugby team, we wouldn’t have interacted much at all.  The damage had been done, I had lost most of a friend who had meant three years of brotherhood in all aspects of life to me. 

Thankfully, the pathway to reconciliation was started at the end of that school year, and today we’re friends again.  But, the truth is that I regret the time that was lost.  I regret not being able to be there for a brother who had been there for me. 

Yesterday that brother got married.  I couldn’t be more happy for a friend than I am for him.  And I couldn’t be in more agony over the pain of what I had done to cause the rift in our friendship. 

I hope that something can be learned from the stupidity of my example.  I hope that others will seriously consider what they are sacrificing or giving up in their friendship with others when they enter into another. 

Love you man.  As you start this journey, I pray you have a life of blessedness with your God and your wife. 

It’s fall. This means:

Trees with an array of beautiful colors.

Hikes through the woods.

Pumpkin Spice Latte’s.

Hot Chocolate.

Football.

Colder weather.

Run’s on frosty days.

Sleeping with the added quilts on the bed.

Dressing up in fantastic costumes for spectacular parties.

Not wanting to get out of the hot shower.

Faint traces of snow.

Turkey.

Family.

The not-so-distant sound of Christmas music.

Amazing 4 Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom 2300 sq. foot house for rent/sale in Meridian, Idaho. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell all!

This comes from my parents:

" We own a lovely home in Northwest Meridian ID and are a mere fifteen minutes from MAF headquarters in Nampa. Currently the home is available for rental and is a delightful family home - with four bedrooms (each with walk in closet) 2.5 bathrooms – fenced and  landscaped backyard with sprinkler system. It even has an above ground pool. It is well maintained in a quiet neighborhood sub division with access to schools. shops, etc in Meridian and Nampa, and Boise is just 15 minutes down the freeway.”

*** So, if you should know of anyone needing to rent here are details:

For Sale - $238,000
For Rent - $900
3290 N Morello Ave. Meridian, ID, 83646                                           Just NE of Ten Mile / Ustick - located in Hartford estates
Four Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom
2300  sq. foot
Landscaped yard and sprinkler system
2 - car garage
* You can find it on Craig's List and MLS Listing as well

For more information shoot me a line!

 

 

 

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An update on my life…

Hello friends.  I got motivated recently just to give a quick update on my life and what’s going on. 

In May I graduated from Northwest Nazarene University up in Nampa, Idaho, just outside of Boise.  Those four years flew by so fast!  I made some good friends there and it was sad to say goodbye!  I had some awesome experiences there such a mission trip to Guatemala and a mission trip to Mexico.  The trip to Guatemala was especially impactful because while we were there in October of 05, Hurricane Stan it.  We could have easily lost our lives as we traversed a road where mudslides were falling all around us, and were wiping out whole villages right around us.  Somehow God protected our bus as we ventured through that state of emergency.  Somewhere around 1000 - 1400 people I believe were killed. 

The mission trip to Mexico was awesome because four of us students and a prof planned it and led it.  We built two houses while we were down there, and saw God in a completely different culture.  Also while at NNU I was able to be an RA and be in the BRICK house.  Both of those experiences were great and taught me a lot about myself and others.  I made friends through those times that will last a lifetime. 

For the past three and a half years I worked at Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene in Meridian, Idaho.  It was such a blessing to have such a caring church home, and to be able to work with some of the best teens on the planet.  For the three years I was there I worked mainly with the youth, worked with the kids some, and also helped with a Saturday night service.  Those teens changed my life! I was given many chances to preach, particularly this past summer as the old youth pastor transitioned out.  I definitely feel more prepared to preach and the experience was great.  Over the years we had some great bonding experiences on mission trips and camps.  I’ll never forget all I learned there.  I worked under one amazing youth pastor.  He cared greatly that the mission of Jesus be spread into the hearts and lives of those teens.  He became one of my best friends as we spent two summers together and also some weekdays during the school year together. 

I was also privileged to have a former Nazarene District Superintendent and now associate pastor at Valley Shepherd as my mentor.  He taught me so many fantastic things, and the experience I had under him will effect my life and ministry forever.  He became a great, great friend and ping pong partner. 

At the end of August I moved to Kansas City, MO to attend Nazarene Theological Seminary.  I am looking into getting a Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Inter-Cultural Studies.  I just started last week, but have really been enjoying classes and friends so far.  Kansas City itself is a great place too.  We live in a very non-white area of town, which is nice.  Just down the street is the starlight theater.  It’s a massive outdoor theater.  During the summer Broadway shows come and tour through it.  Last week we saw Mama Mia.  It was pretty amazing stuff. 

Last week I went to my friend Phil DeJong’s wedding.  It was surreal to see one of my RVA friends get hitched.  But it was also amazing to be with him and other friends who I haven’t seen in a while.  I love the friends I made there…  Unforgettable people…

That’s basically an update on my life…  I’d love to hear how the rest of you are doing too.  Drop me a line sometime.  Or give me a ring…

A memorable night…

9 and 1/2 years ago I started 7th grade in South Africa.  My family had just moved back to South Africa after spending 11 years in Omaha, NE.  I was born in South Africa, and we had visited twice to see family while we lived in Omaha, but I wasn’t prepared for the culture shock I would face.  I left all my friends back in Omaha, and was now in what was at the time more of a foreign country to me.  I started 7th grade at the beginning of the South African school year which starts in January at a elementary school called New Germany Primary School.  It was the most frightening day of my life.  To start it off I had to where shorts that were only half way down my thigh in front of all these girls at school.  I also had to wear a Speedo to c0-ed swimming lessons a couple of days a week.  And to top it off, my mom walked me to my first day of class, all the way to the classroom door, in front of all of those cute South African girls. 

Yet, in the midst of the scariest moment of my life, a kid in my class befriended me.  His name was Babayile Shabalala.  He was awesome!  He bought me snacks at school, introduced me to all of his friends, and just accepted this new white kid to the class.  He always told me that he was the grandson of the lead singer of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a Grammy Award winning men’s choral group from a couple of hours away from where we were attending school.  I left South Africa and Babayile two years later, but always remembered him, and what he had told me about his family heritage. 

The story continues 9 and 1/2 years after I first met Babayile.  My grandma and I had seen that Ladysmith Black Mambazo was coming to Nampa, ID, and she asked if I wanted to go as a part of my graduation present.  We were able to get close to front row seats.  Last night was the night of the concert.  It was amazing!  I had always admired their beautiful voices dancing through different harmonies and rhythms, but to hear it in life was unforgettable.  I was so excited I took out my phone and regular camera and took a bunch of pics and videos of them.  At intermission a guy came up and told me how distracting that had been to the people behind me, haha!  If only he could have known of the connection I had with the group. 

At intermission I also bought some CD’s and a DVD of theirs.  After the last song had ended I dashed out with grandma to get it all signed by the group.  Three members of the group were signing everyone’s CD’s so I also got in line.  When I got up there I double checked to make sure that the group was all related to each other.  The guy I talked to said yes, and then I told him I knew Babayile, that guy from all those years ago in New Germany, South Africa.  He was just as shocked as I was at the news.  He told me to wait a couple of seconds and then I could go back stage to meet his dad and grandpa.  My grandma and I followed some of the guys back into the change room and we found all of the guys gathered together.  Sure enough, there was his dad and grandpa.  I told them of the connection, and we shared in some happiness.  I got Babayile’s address and I gave them mine.  I went around and shook their hands and gave Joseph Shabalala a hug, while my grandma stood on the side as many of the guys changed their pants and shirts while she looked on, haha!  They noticed this however, and tried to come up and talk to her and distract her.  It was so great to see some South Africans again and to make a connection with the family of a good friend I had while living in South Africa.  After a final picture together we said good-bye, and grandma and I left laughing and smiling about how great the night had been!  Truly unforgettable!   Go and check em out, they are awesome!  They have been apart of soundtracks on movies, as well as sung with some of the world’s great singers! 

Bring RUGBY back to the Olympics! Sign this Petition!

sign this petition to bring rugby back to the olympics:

www.olympic-rugby.org

Help me decide…

So I am here at the end of college… I have been blessed with some nice graduation money as well as I have just done well saving up money for a while.  My current computer is literally falling apart, the screen is hanging on by a thread, so it’s not like I am just gong for the upgrade, I actually do need one.  So I have some options as to how to spend it…

Option A: The MacBook Pro

Option B: The MacBook plus ipod touch

Option C: HP Pavilion dv5t plus ipod touch

Option D: HP Pavilion + Trip to Australia

Option E: HP Pavilion + Shopping for new clothes

Option F: New Clothes + Trip to Aus

Any thoughts?

song of the week

smile like you mean it – the killers

this video is less than quality, but it was all i could find on youtube

song of the week

this more adequately would go under a post ‘video of the week’.  yes… the song is good, but the video is absolutely amazing.             I am not copying P.W. Antilla, for in fact, I showed it to him first a few months back ;)  But here it is:

life in technicolor ii – coldplay

song of the week

fix you – coldplay

 

song of the week

a lack of color – death cab for cutie

 

You think the US has a bad economy? It’s really not that bad!

Before you read any further, I would like to say that I am saddened by the current economy in the US. Yes it is sad that people are losing jobs, and that people are having to go to food banks and homeless shelters. I am so sorry for those who have lost their 401k’s or who have lost great numbers of their retirement, or who have been cheated out of money by investors. Again, don’t get me wrong, I feel very blessed to be getting an education and to have a place to live. However, what we are facing here in the US really isn’t that bad, and it could be so much worse!

Zimbabwe is a place that is close to my heart. My uncle and his family (wife and kids) lived there for many years, my uncle lived there for over 40 years and he and his family are Zimbabwean citizens. My grandma also lived there for many years as well. I lived in two countries which bordered Zimbabwe, so what happens there matters to me.

10 years ago, Zimbabwe was thriving as a country. It was known as “the bread basket of Africa.” The reason for this is because it was supplying enough food for itself and many other countries in Africa. Now, ten years later, the country has gone done the tubes thanks to a greedy leader named Robert Mugabe.

The economy there is now the worst in the world. Many of its statistics rank amongst the worst in the world.

So we have an unemployment rate of 7.6% right now here in the U.S. Statistically speaking that is equal to 11,000,000 of Americans that can work. That is a lot of people!

However, the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is 94%! Apply that to the amount of Americans that can work and you come up with 145 million people. That is hard to imagine! Can you imagine 145 million Americans without a job?

Zimbabwe has roughly a population of 12.8million people. Using the statistics of Americans that can work, that would mean 6.4million Zimbabweans can work. With an unemployment rate of 94% that means that 6,016,000 Zimbabweans are without a job.

Zimbabwe’s population is 4% of America’s yet the unemployed people of Zimbabwe already represent half of our unemployed people in the US. Remember, that would be 145 million Americans without a job.

Another big number to look at is the inflation rate in Zimbabwe. 6 months ago it was at 231,000,000 %, and their economy has done nothing but fall apart since then. Right now the inflation rate in the US is at roughly 4%. that is 1/58000000th of Zimbabwe’s.

Yes the American economy is bad compared to what it has been before. But we are no where near as bad as it could be. The Average American has food on the table. The average Zimbabwean gets a meal once every four days. If that isn’t sobering I don’t know what is.

In these times of a bad economy who can we turn to for hope? Where does your allegiance lie?

A REAL way to HELP Zimbabwe!

Hello everyone...

Today I came across a real way to help the people of Zimbabwe, please sign the petition at the following link to urge the African Union (Which is similar to the European Union or United Nations but for Africa) to stay true to it's promise to do everything it can to help the new government in Zimbabwe. This is a REAL way in which you can help the desperate people of that country! Go to this link:

http://www.one.org/zimbabweandtheau/index.html?rc=zimbabwefb&t=Zimbabwe+in+Crisis

Roland

Zimbabwe

my heart breaks for you... and for the rest of the African and worldwide nations which are so often overlooked...

There is one thing for certain

God is good...


you all should read Sacramental Life by David A. DeSilva... Life changer

Don’t pee outside in a closed park and then drive on the grass instead of the road…

So two years ago I was in Omaha with my family for a wedding. My friend from Africa, Pete came out to visit me while we were there. One night we were really bored. So we drove around for a while. It got to be 2am or so, and we went to this park. There was nothing that was stopping us from getting in and we didn’t see any closed signs so we kept going.

We then proceeded to pee in the Missouri river. Then we got back in Pete’s truck and he backed up onto the grass in the park instead of going on the road.

And then this cop turned on his lights and we stopped. And we got tickets. Then he told us that we would have to go to court, back in Omaha. But then we found out we could just write to the district attorney with a check for the ticket. I found my letter and here it is: