Nick the Auditor...

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2007-12-22T08:16:00.000-05:00

Ah, the ranch

2007-10-26T11:55:00.000-04:00

Jessie and I had a chance to spend some time at the Ranch a few weekends ago (and I'm just getting to post about it). We had a great time and saw a lot of wildlife...but next time I'm going to catch that wild pig! We saw a lot of wildlife, a bunch of wild turkeys, some deer and I got a rare glimpse of the wild pig. Phil (my father-in-law) was kind enough to let me take the ATV out and spray some weed killer across the back 40 acres. I also had fun digging out a few fence posts (well, it was harder than it sounds). Overall it was an extremely relaxing & rejuvinating time which we extremely enjoyed! I posted some new pics, so check out the link on the right...here is a sample:

Cruisin'

2007-09-08T16:21:00.000-04:00

Jessie and I just got back from a 7 day cruise through the Caribbean. We took a Disney cruise, of course, we got a wicked discount! We spent the first two days at sea and then docked at St. Martin. They had some beautiful beaches there and we just walked around the port town for a little while and ate Indian food at a nice authentic restaurant. Then we went to St. Thomas where we went on a morning excursion which was a sail on a catamaran to Buck Island (a bird sanctuary) and a snorkel around a sunken boat where we saw a sting ray and an octopus. We then spent a day at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island, which was a wonderfully relaxing day.

Overall, the entertainment on the ship was fun, there was a magician and a comedian, not to mention the expected Disney shows. We also enjoyed the food and enjoyed eating a lot of tasty deserts.

I've added new pics, so click on the link on the right.

Selling Stuff?

2007-06-10T17:23:00.000-04:00

Allright...anybody out there have any ideas about places to sell my old stuff? I recently sold a bunch of Jessie's old nursing text books (and a few of mine) to Textbookwheel.com which seems to have worked out pretty well. I still have a bunch of old books to get rid of (recreational reading stuff, nothing academic), I'm thinking used book store or Good Will/Salvation Army (tax write-off).

Not to mention some of this African stuff I've bought over the years. I posted a few things on Craigslist in Orlando, and will resort to e-bay if I have to, but was looking for alternate suggestions, so anything (no matter how ridiculous) is welcome.

My Great Uncle Louis

2007-05-13T06:30:00.000-04:00

I found out last week that my Great Uncle Louis Bini passed away. This is a picture of him and his wife at my Grandpa's 80th birthday. He had been suffering with Lou Gehrig's disease for some time now. He went peacefully in the night, here is the obituary:

Louis John Bini Peacefully at home on May 8, 2007 at 82. Dearly beloved husband of Aurora Bini. Loving father of Gene Foschi, Diane Ellis (husband, Bill Ellis), Julie Carter and Joe Bini. Devoted grandpa of Jennifer Ellis, Rob Foschi, Sarah Ellis, Bryan Ellis and Elia Bini. Dear brother of the late Albert Bini. A native of San Francisco, Louis served in the 1st Calvary Division of the U.S. Army. He was a decorated World War II Veteran. A recipient of the Purple Heart. Louis was past commander of the American Legion Post 82; a member of the Peninsula Social Club; Italian Catholic Federation and an active member of St. Matthew Catholic Church. Friends are invited to visit from 6-8 p.m. with a Vigil Service at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, 2007 at SNEIDER & SULLIVAN & O'CONNELL'S FUNERAL HOME, 977 So. El Camino Real, San Mateo. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, May 14, 2007 at St. Matthew Catholic Church, 1 Notre Dame Ave., San Mateo. Committal at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo. In lieu of flowers, donations to Forbes Norris, MDA/ALS Research Center, 2324 Sacramento St. #111, SF, CA 94115 preferred.

Wedding Pictures

2007-05-01T15:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, I finally posted the wedding pictures. Click on the My Sweet Pics link to the right to view them and the other pics I have on there (I also added some China & Zambia pics).

This is a bit of a new way if you've ever looked at the old photo page. For Jessie's birthday (which was April 20th for those of you who would like to send your belated wishes) I put all of our wedding pics into albums for Jessie...I think the thought of trying to do it was just too overwhelming for her, so I took care of it!

Jessie is okay

2007-05-01T15:02:00.000-04:00

Some of you may or may not know that Jessie was having her Lasik eye surgery performed on Monday, April 30. The surgery went well, even though they didn't give her the Valium that she had been promised (she was kinda bummed about that).

We went today for a follow up appointment and the doctor said that she now has 20/20 vision in both eyes and that everything looks good! So, no more glasses (not that they would have laster much longer anyways) or contacts. She has been resting alot and is going back to work tomorrow already. Her mom came up for moral support and just left a little while ago.

Praise God everything went well.

Pura Vida Mission Trip

2007-04-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

Well, Jessie and I arrived home safely after a great trip to Costa Rica with Pura Vida Missions. A large group came from Beach United Methodist Church, about 25 people. Jessie lead a VBS team, and over the course of 5 days, lead 10 Vacation Bible schools with as many as 100 kids. I lead a construction team that laid concrete floors into homes in a poor neighborhood where the people were living on dirt (see the videos below for tours), when all was said and done, we laid 7 floors down, and got pretty sunburned doing so. Overall, we had a great trip:

We saw an active volcano (arenal)
We went to relaxing hot springs
We rode zip lines through the rainforest
We saw a beautiful waterfall (las musas)
We hiked through the rainforest to a river
We went to a rodeo
God was glorified through the work that we did!

I've added pics through the link to the side labeled "My Sweet Pics" and there are 8 videos below, you may have to look through the archives for April of 2007 to see all of them.

Pura Vida Video 8

2007-04-04T10:03:00.000-04:00

This is the river that we came to after a one hour downhill hike through the rainforest

Pura Vida Video 7

2007-04-04T09:57:00.000-04:00

This is a video tour of one of the houses that got a concrete floor upgrade

Pura Vida Video 6

2007-04-04T09:49:00.000-04:00

This is some of the kids at the VBS in the Bajo neighborhood singing praise!

Pura Vida Video 5

2007-04-04T09:47:00.000-04:00

Here is another roh-day-oh video, it's shorter and a little more intense than the previous one.

Pura Vida Video 4

2007-04-03T21:45:00.000-04:00

This is a video from the rodeo. They don't have the same safety concerns in Costa Rica as here apparently, cause they just let whoever jump in the ring...as evidenced by the video.

Pura Vida Video 3

2007-04-03T21:38:00.000-04:00

This is a video of some of the kids from the VBS doing the limbo or jumping rope with Josue and Captain.

Pura Vida Video 2

2007-04-03T21:07:00.000-04:00

Here is a video of Las Musas waterfall, I stood under it. Jessie passed since the water was freezing, but she's done it before.

Oh yeah, and sorry the video is sideways.

Pura Vida Video 1

2007-04-03T21:03:00.000-04:00

This is a video of Mickey and myself in one of the houses that got a concrete floor upgrade.

Missing You...

2006-12-25T06:47:00.000-05:00

On my way to work the other day, I started crying.

I'll see if I can even get through this post (since I'm typing it at work...don't worry, it's during my lunch break) without breaking down.

As the holidays roll around, I think a lot about my family...mostly about those members that aren't here this year. Which gets me thinking about my grandmother (the Cuban one) and all the sadness that she has had to endure in her life...loss of son-in-law, husband and daughter, in that order.

All three of these family members left us while I was away at college, Chino left my freshman year (heart attack at the poker table...cigar in mouth, cards in hand), Pipo left my junior year (old age) and Illa left my first year of grad school (brain aneurism).

I have a lot of regrets when it comes to my family...I didn't even make it to Chino's funeral and I couldn't even speak to Pipo since my Spanish sucks so much. My poor grandmother had to watch my aunt die from a brain hemorrage, and she had to scream out the front door for help because she didn't know what to do...this one really chokes me up, I can't imagine what the poor lady went through...that sense of helplessness and fear.

I know that they were all Catholics, but my biggest regret is never making sure that they understood fully what Christ had done for us, securing a place for us with the Father in Heaven

These beloved members of my family will never even meet my wife, and I can only hope that the Savior welcomed them through the gates...where there is no more pain or sorrow.

Merry Christmas

Guillain Ba...who?

2006-10-28T07:35:00.000-04:00

So, since hopefully lots of you have been praying for my mom, it's about time I provided an update. She is doing a lot better. The pain has been decreasing ever since the last post, but it is still rough in the evenings and when trying to go to sleep. The doctor told her that she should be 100% again in anywhere from 6 weeks to 18 months...thanks for the tight timeline! But, she has been able to do a lot more, even venturing out of the house on occassion to do a little shopping! Now it's time to start thinking about how we'll spend the holidays!

um...gross?

2006-10-28T07:23:00.000-04:00

This story was relayed to Terrell Daffron at the wedding reception of Matt & Karen Flood, which took place in the Enzion theatre, where everyone was treated to a complimentary Blues Brothers performance, since that's what Matt does. Terrell was then kind enough to pass it along to me, and I would encourage each of you to share it with as many people as possible.

On with the story...so, some friends of Karens were out fishing one morning, we'll say there were about 5 of them. And as with any good fishing trip there was some heavy drinking going on. At one point, they noticed a manatee lollygagging along the shore line as only manatees and their fatness can do. They observed it in awe for a moment before one of them dared another to jump on it...obviously we are dealing with some cowboys here. The invitation was at first met with hesitation, but under the influence of his beers (excuse me, I mean peers), this brave soul soon accepted the challenge. Since the lumbering beast was obediently sticking to the shoreline they were able to pull the boat to shore, allow the gladiator off and then slowly (without startling the precious creature whose only natural predator is boats) back away for a good view. The shore bound member now has the opportunity to climb a tree which is overhanging the shore...the perfect jumping off point for a good manatee ride. As this cave man watches the slowly approaching mammoth, I can only imagine the exhilaration that he felt. Then the moment arrived, the stallion was in place and the opportunity was seized! The rodeo champion leaped from the branch and plummeted toward the mermaid.

Unfortunately, and I'm sure much to this poor brain surgeons dismay, the beast had been dead for weeks...perhaps months, and instead of landing ON the nimble creature, he drilled directly through it (yes through it), piercing the hide that had been the only thing holding together the rotting intestines and pungent bodily fluids. These bottled goodies were unfortunately released all over this particular individual along with his nearby companions. And, from what I hear, it took weeks to get rid of the unpleasant smell.

Guillain Barre

2006-09-03T19:55:00.000-04:00

I guess it's about time I put something about this on my blog, since it sure has been talked about (at least in my family) enough to be blogworthy. My mother has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. She has actually had it since just before the wedding, and nobody really knows what brought it on. But, it has become quite a debilitating force in her life.

I had the opportunity to go to Miami this weekend to visit her for the first time since she was formally diagnosed, and it wasn't really a pretty site. Overall, she's in good spirits, but she is unable to do many of the things that any person would take for granted...like walk! Fortunately, she has a milder version that has not caused the paralysis found in the more serious cases that results in reliance on artificial lungs, etc. She is just in extreme pain pretty much non-stop.

I find that so often it is easy to get frustrated in these situations, and to prod her along and hurry her. At one point over the weekend she asked me: "Have you ever walked on glass?" To which my obvious reply was "no." "Well, when you do, then you can rush me, cause that's what I've been walking on for the past 8 weeks!"

She has an appointment with a real neurological specialist this week, which we are all very thankful for, since the last guy was a real dufus. We are hoping that this guy will actually know something about the disorder and be able to answer her questions. Please pray for this situation as it has been very trying on the whole family and there are still lots of unanswered questions...like when the pain is going to stop!?

If any of you loyal readers have any type of experience with this syndrome or any words of encouragement that you would like to share, please post a comment, I'm sure my mom will see it on here.

Good Ol' Ray

2006-08-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

My buddy Ray posted this, so I thought I'd put it up, since I know like everybody and their sister in this mug. First, that's my wife (being laughed at by her roommates) at the beginning of the video, and when she walks out, she comes to my house, oh yeah, that’s me in the wife beater with the beer (IBC Rootbeer). My sister is in this too, when Bill reveals his royal baldness along with an old room mate. Let's see if this works!

Honeymoon Pics

2006-08-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

Our honeymoon photos are up, so check them out!

Mawwage

2006-08-08T12:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I did it. I took the plunge and got hitched. As of July 22 Nick Ruiseco is no longer available...sorry ladies (cause I know there are so many of you who regularly read this blog).

So far marriage has been great, nothing but good times and lots of gifts and travelling. I hope that you will all accept this as my formal thank you note, cause I won't be writing any real thank you notes, it's too time consuming.

The honeymoon was awesome, and I hope to get some pics onto my pic site soon, of the outdoor activities only. We went to Grenada, which is a little island off the coast of Venezuela, and yes the U.S. did invade it to avoid it becoming communist. We chilled at the beach (which was gorgeous), went out for a day on a catamaran and went snorkelling, went hiking around a dormant volcanic crater lake, and took a tour of the city which entailed a chocolate factory, nutmeg processing plant and rum distillery (more like diesel distillery). Not to mention the balcony of our room had a private hot tub which was right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the beach, it was beautiful and I'm sure my photos won't do it justice.

Church Movement

2006-07-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

Well, my last church related post generated some good conversation and kinda forced me to take a step back and think about the situation a little more. I've been trying to think of reasons to justify the churches actions, and I'm not specifically talking about the Others campaign. But, if I believe that the people working there are truly longing after Gods heart (which I do believe), and that their primary goal is to see people come to know Christ, then maybe there is some justifiable theory present in their actions.

The church has taken a more drastic turn towards a seeker-friendly institution and has made modifications (repeatedly) to the service structure and content (be it commercials, theming or tackling current events), not to mention minor decorative modifications.

Perhaps the church leadership saw something that the rest of the congregation was comfortable ignoring and felt compelled to act. If church attendance (and it ain't about the numbers folks) had been steadily declining and the best weapon we had in our arsenal was Wednesday night cold calls, maybe something drastic did need to be done. If the congregation was failing to demonstrate the radical life altering love of Christ, then perhaps the only action that could be taken was a drastic shift that has inevitably upset people and has been a painful heart wrenching experience.

Bachelor Party Success

2006-07-01T17:31:00.000-04:00

Well, I wanted to thank the few of you who were able to attend my amazing bachelor party. Thankfully, Ginger (from the club in town), is recovering nicely.

We had a great time hanging out, shooting stuff, riding ATV's, canoeing, eating and making smores (smore what Terry...go ahead and say it...then I will kill you).

For those of you that weren't able to make it, I missed the chance to see you one last time as an unshackled free man and missed the opportunity to benefit from the many many years of marriage experience that so many of my close friends have.

But, here is your chance to share any wisdom that you would have bequeathed upon me had you been able to attend.

I only have 20 days till I get married, so make it quick!

Church Funds

2006-06-10T21:27:00.000-04:00

Recently, a church I have been attending unveilved a new initiative. It is titled the "Others" campaign and it does not, contrary to popular belief, have anything to do with the TV show Lost. The pastor of the church requested that every member make a 2 year financial commitment of giving a couple bucks above and beyond their tithe. These additional funds are going to be used to better reach the un-churched of East Orlando.

Now, there are several different methods which I would not hesitate to fully support, such as caring for widows and orphans, delivering sandwiches to the homeless, reaching out to homebound elderly folks or conducting door to door evangelism with a stronger emphasis on follow up and discipleship. However, none of these were mentioned on the short list of items that the additional funds would be used for.

What was on the list, however, were the following items:
Repainting the exterior of the church
A new church sign with the new church name (don't even get me started on this one)
Directional signs for parking
Interior bulding refurbishment
and the list continues with other ridiculous expenses

Does anybody else think I am wrong for thinking that this campaign is ridiculous?

Saturday March 25, 2006

2006-05-17T18:23:00.000-04:00

I woke up early again this morning, and I’m paying for it as I write this. We were going to wake up at 7:45 anyways, but I was up about an hour before that cause I had a lot to do, particularly packing and organizing. So I started gathering my stuff and took a shower at about 7:30 or so. James gave me some of his muslee, which is granola and yogurt, for breakfast. After that, we picked up his friend Rebecca and we went to the triangle market for some last minute souvenirs.

I had also wanted to buy a few of these shirts I had seen elsewhere that say “muzungu” on them, which is what they refer to the white people here as, it’s actually rather derogatory and the literal translation means: person who wanders around aimlessly. We looked all over town, but could not find them. I did however manage to secure some PS2 games that I think will work on a modified PS2 system, so I will have to look into having that modification made, it should only cost about $25-$50, and I bought 6 games for the price of one cheap one in the states, about $20 or 18,000 KSH.

Then we ate at the Diamond Plaza where you just sit at a table wherever you want, and the guys from the restaurants bring menus to you, and I mean they ALL bring them to you. We probably had 8 guys with menus hassle us to order from them. James ordered from just a few of them. We got beef shish-kabobs, some chicken in spicy buffalo sauce and an Indian flat bread and some potato chip thingies. It was a pretty good meal, we were all full, and it cost about 1,000 KSH ($13 USD).

After that we headed to Nakumat which is the African version of Wal-Mart because James needed a few groceries. Then we headed back to the mission, on the way a child was asking for money, but instead of giving her any, I just recorded her on my camera and then James drove away. Proving once again that I am King of the Jerks. But, the kid was smiling and happy, so was probably just a beggar by trade, not by necessity.

We got back to the Hampton House at about 1:00. We went to the on property dorms (which house maybe 20 kids) and hung out with Natalie, another Journeyman. We watched an episode of project runway, Jessie would be proud of me for that. Then we went over to the Mays’ house (also on property) and chatted with them for about an hour. They are coming off the field in a few months and James told them I would get them into the parks in Orlando. I also used their PS2 to try the games which is how I figured out they would only work on a modified system.

Then we went back to our rooms and I began packing. Amazingly enough we got everything packed and even got it all checked at the airport later no problem. At about 7:00 we met up with Rebecca and Natalie again and we went to dinner. I had some tasty fajitas with beef. I also spent my last 1,000 KSH note, leaving me with nothing but a $50 bill that James bought some of my other currency off of me with.

After dinner, we took the girls back to the Hampton House and then we headed right for the airport. It’s about a 20 minute drive, but we had plenty of time before my 11:00 flight. James pulled up to the curb under the international arrivals sign, which I thought was a little strange and I told him we should be at the departing area, but apparently he was a little confused. He left me there with the luggage to go park the car, and when he returned on foot, he realized what I had been asking and that we were in the totally wrong place.

So we got a cart and moved my stuff to the departure area. I had my 40 gallon action packer, my super huge duffle bag, and a 5’ by 4” wide piece of PVC pipe. When I entered the airport after saying goodbye to James, I had the PVC pipe attached to the large duffle by one of those plastic wrapping stations. It was $8. Then I got in line to check in, and the young lady who handed me my form for leaving Kenya asked me how to pronounce my last name while she was looking at my passport, and I told her and said it was Spanish, to which she replied confusedly “but you are American” so I told her my dad was Spanish and she said that must be why I am so handsome…first time I’ve ever been hit on by a Kenyan!

At the desk the lady checked my bags through to MIA, but could only give me my boarding pass for the first leg. So at Heathrow later I got my next one. Then I went to my gate and sat down for a bit, it was about 10:30 or so by now, and I had my action packer thoroughly searched at the first check point and my carry on searched twice.

While waiting at the gate, I talked to 3 Americans who had been in Kenya for 1 month as medical exchange students. They had been working mostly with AIDS patients and said it was amazing the extent to which people are suffering. They share hospital beds, 3 people to a twin sized bed. No privacy whatsoever. They said the primary problem is there is just not enough money being spent on medicine because they have seen the clinics where they are treating patients with medicine and they are doing much better. After chatting with them, we boarded the plane, and I have been flying ever since with limited sleep. It’s been a great trip and I’m glad I came all this way to see James, we had a blast. I’m sure I’ll be back one day with Jessie, she never lets me have all the fun.

Friday March 24, 2006

2006-05-16T20:44:00.000-04:00

Today was a pretty long day, but it had a nice slow beginning. James and I both woke up really early, like 6:00, so we went to watch the sunrise, how romantic? It was pretty sweet. While staring into the horizon, I had a question, if you were to head due East through the ocean, what do you think the first piece of land you would hit would be? James said India, I at first thought the California coast, but realized you would probably nail one of the Indonesian islands in the Pacific Rim first.

So after being up so stinking early, we both went back to sleep for a while. We had gone all the way down to the beach, although the view from the second story room we had was pretty sweet. After waking again we got ready to go to the beach, I’ve gotten a lot of sun since I’ve been here. To rewind all the way back to the safari walk, I neglected to apply sunscreen that morning and my arms were pretty red, although not quite burned. It seems I also burned my ears pretty well, because today a blister (or what I’m hoping was a blister) popped and oozed, yeah, I know, gross.

So taking that lesson to heart, I’ve been putting on the sun screen I brought. We went to the Ketete Restaurant first and had breakfast at around 7:30, pineapple, mango, toast and hot cocoa. Then out onto the beach. It’s a little strange on the beach because there are still beggars coming around and asking for money, it’s a little awkward, because they just stand there and stare at you, while you’re on vacation and they are trying to scrounge up enough money to eat or survive on.

We just laid on the beach, read, played sudoku and chatted. We were also bothered by the hotels dog, which is a miserable looking beast, and it was attracting all kinds of insects to our shady umbrella area. The lounge chairs are wooden framed with ropes acting as the most uncomfortable cushions ever. So after thoroughly enjoying the nothing we had been doing, we went into the water for about an hour while the tide was in and did some more nothing till about 12:00.

Then we went to the room, packed and showered and then went to the restaurant again for lunch, Hawaiian pizza, and ice cream…sweetness. The beach had overall been an extremely relaxing experience and it was there that I realized I would be back at work in just a few too short days. Dreadful. After lunch we grabbed our bags and went to settle the bill. The room actually cost us $10 less than we had though, which was good, since we were running low on cash.

Overall I hit the ATM 3 times this trip, withdrawing about $100 each time in local currency. We settled the bill, signed the guest book and then our pre-arranged taxi arrived at 2:00 and we were off. This is where the day really took a turn for the not so great times. Well, the drive itself was uneventful. We made a quick stop on the way to the airport so James could buy a sticker of the flag of Tanzania.

We made it to the airport at 3:30 for our 4:40 flight. While waiting at the check-in counter, we were just standing in the line and sweating profusely, it was blazing hot, it was pretty miserable, and it only lasted like 15 minutes, but we were near soaked in sweat when we finally got into the airport. But, there was an air-conditioned lounge for international travelers and that was us. We also used the airport store to waste our remaining Tanzanian shillings, so we bought sodas and candy bars. That was of course before we heard our flight had been delayed due to technical difficulties and was running about 2 hours late.

The small Zanzibari Precision Airways representative was however, authorized to alleviate our displeasures by attempting to bribe us with another soda and candy bars. Well, I’m not sure about in Africa, but in America, 2 hours of my time is worth a whole lot more than a snickers and a coke. On top of that, what had been booked as a direct flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi was now stopping at Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro Airport and then NBO.

When the plane landed in Dar, we had to change aircrafts because the one we had been on couldn’t make it that far. On top of that, the plane they herded us into had its rear door open, and the engines had been running, so the plane was extremely humid like it was outside and filled with exhaust fumes. The pilots have usually turned the planes off completely so the air inside stops circulating, and they become flying saunas! You can be sitting in a plane dripping sweat. We did get served another drink and a sandwich on one leg of the flight.

We eventually made it to NBO, got the car from long term parking and drove back to the Hampton House (the Baptist Mission Compound). We met up there with a Journeyman friend of James’ named Rebecca, and we went for a late dinner at about 10:30. We went to the Java House, and I had a bacon cheese burger, with fries and a chocolate milkshake. After that we went back to the mission and slept, so good!

Thursday March 23, 2006

2006-05-15T22:18:00.000-04:00

We ended up sleeping in rather late, till about 9:00, we were supposed to check out at 10:00, so we took our morning showers and packed our bags for the next leg of our trip. We were able to leave our baggage in a room at the hotel after paying $32 for the one night at the hotel. We realized that we had the only air conditioned room in the place, so even without the light it was the best unit. We started walking towards the coast where we had dinner last night at Farodana Park. We headed to a fort, which was free to enter and quite impressive. It even had a stage for performances and the entire place was built in stone.

Then we went to the Palace Museum which I’m assuming was full of artifacts and historical stuffs. We also went to the House of Wonders, which is called the House of Wonders because it has an elevator, which James and I have both encountered before, but it was the first elevator on the island. Then we went through the market again and James bought a painting he liked, and I bought a few more things from a lady named Mama Rose. She told us she was from Nairobi, and that she used to be in the hotel business which is how she ended up in Zanzibar, but she decided to start working for herself and she bought this shop. She said now she can make her yearly salary in one or two good days! We were talking about the weather with her, and saying how hot and humid it is here, and she was agreeing, but then said she was only sweating like this because of the malaria, which she said “but, we are used to it.” I think she meant both, the heat and the malaria.

From the market we went to the Fort and caught a taxi to St. Monica’s where there was supposed to be another taxi waiting to take us to the East Coast of the island for our last nights stay. The taxi was there when we arrived at 1:00 and we were on our way! The drive was about an hour, and the island is very tropical, the landscape is covered in shrubbery and palm trees. I saw my first baobab tree on the drive, and we passed through a national forest and saw a Colobus Monkey, (which apparently only live here and in Brazil) perched in a tree right by the road.

We arrived at the hotel at 2:00 and were lead to our room, but the man did not have our reservations, and James thought something was a little off. But, we unpacked, covered our feet and looked out the windows at the gorgeous beach. Then James noticed the sign on the hotel next door “Katete” and said we were supposed to be staying there. So we packed everything back up and hopped over the dividing wall without telling anyone. We found an employee there who had been expecting us, and he is also the one James had arrange the taxi. Too bad the guy had them drop us off at the wrong hotel. The wrong hotel is called Paje Beach, but that’s also the name of the actual beach both hotels are located at., so you can kinda see what happened.

This new hotel was much nicer, I had a queen sized bed with mosquito netting, even though there haven’t been many mosquitoes the whole trip. There is a fan, lights and a private bath too. After dropping off our stuff in the room, we went back to the Paje Beach hotels restaurant since we had already ordered lunch there. We had grilled calamari with chips (fries) and onion and tomatoes, it was quite delicious.

Then we went to the beach and chilled for a bit, I did some Sudoku puzzles while James slept and I worked on my tan a bit. The beach here is rather strange. When we first went down to it, I wanted to go in for a quick refreshing dip, but the water was really really warm! Beyond that, you would have to wade 300-400 yards just to be more than waist deep. So, bottom line, it wasn’t that refreshing of a dip. We also had an ice cream bar while chilling at the beach, which was quite a treat.

We came back to the room at around 5:00 or 6:00, took showers and went exploring along the beach. We wandered about one hour in one direction, there are lots of vacant lots on the beach, which is unusual. We had been looking for a restaurant, but didn’t find any, so just had a nice cold soda at a bar and turned back. We ended up eating at Arabian Nights, which is two hotels north of ours. I had fried calamari with chips, very tasty! James had coconut encrusted fish. Then we went back to our hotel for another ice cream. We sat on the beach and ate it, staring at the amazing African stars, which are always awe inspiring. We came up to the room @ about 10:00 or so and talked a bit more before going to sleep.

Wednesday March 22, 2006

2006-04-25T20:45:00.000-04:00

Today we woke up around 8:00 or so, that is after awakening at around 4:00 because the power went out. That’s what happened at 8:00 again, and it was getting pretty smoking hot in Jeremy’s place. The skeeters were biting me when the fan wasn’t on, so I was actually covering myself in a sheet on top of it being 95 degrees inside. But, when the fan wasn’t directly blowing on me the skeeters could get at me. So, James and I got showers, read Bibles, packed for later and walked down the street to the Bonjour Gas Station where we had breakfast, snickers and water…yummy.

Then we caught a taxi to the carvers market, the driver tried to charge us 6,000 TSH for a 2 block ride, so James yelled at him and he gladly took 2k instead. Then (it was only like 8:45) we wandered through the market and haggled over a few items. James got some jewelry boxes and I got some Rungus, which are clubs the Masai use to fend off the animals and kill snakes, etc. Those are for my groomsmen, they are ebony and quite nice, they were 5k a piece.

Then James and I got into a debate regarding what day I left, Friday versus Saturday. I thought I arrived home Saturday afternoon, but it ends up I don’t get home till Sunday, so I was wrong! More time here which is good, more time away from Jessie, which is bad. But, in order to get that info, we had to find internet access so I could look at my itinerary. We tried a few small shops, but they had no power, so no internet, then I thought I could call mom, but it would have been like 2 a.m., then James bought a new Sim card and phoned a friend in Nairobi to look it up, but we never heard back from them.

But, after returning to Jeremy’s place and sweating while sitting on the couch the girls came and got us for lunch and they took us to a place on the campus here (one of the top 20 African Universities) of Tanzania University and I got the info of the web finally, although the connection was frustratingly slow. I also got to text message Jessie and my Mom and let them know I’m alive and having fun. The internet was 300 TSH for an hour, cheap! After that we went for lunch on campus, home fries, fried egg on top, and a few pieces of beef and a Coke. While at lunch we met up with Jeremy and Brad (a married International Service Corps guy).

Then Keri took us to the airport so we could catch our flight to Zanzibar (20 minutes long), tickets cost about $50 each. We caught the flight no problem and made it into Zanzibar at about 4:00. We had a taxi take us to our Hostel (St. Monica’s) which is adjacent to the Anglican Church which is a huge Christian church from the late 1860’s. The hostel we are staying is has A/C and a private bath in our room. Downstairs there are old slave holding areas, there is a lot of history here. After checking into the hotel we checked out the church next door. There is a neat monument dedicated to the slaves.

Inside the Anglican Cathedral, there is a cross that is carved from the tree under which Dr. David Livingstone’s heart is buried, which is also the tree under which he died. Then we wandered through Stone Town which is very European/Italian influenced architecturally. We worked our way down to the beach and checked that out. Then we wandered to the large fort which we will probably look at tomorrow, today we just saw the outside. Then we did some more souvenir shopping and I bought a 2’ by 5’ painting of some Masai warriors by Baobab trees, some dancing, some standing, with mount Kilimanjaro in the background. I got it for 28k TSH or about $25.

Then we went to Far Odhani Gardens for dinner, all the fishermen set up temporary spots there and prepare fresh fish. We had octopus, sword fish, shrimp, Indian bread, lobster and much to James’ shaggrin, the meal cost an outstanding 19,000 TSH…what a rip off! The guy who sold it to us totally ripped us off. At the next stand we could have got the same thing for like half the price, so James went back and ripped the guy a new poop shoot. Then we got some desert…banana bread and chocolate.

We were sitting at a table, while eating, and we got asked by another store owner why we were sitting at his table, quite rudely and he told us to get lost, so I gave him a piece of my mind and told him to get lost. Overall, I don’t recommend the place. Then we wandered back to a taxi stand after having an unfortunately unpleasant experience at the seafood market, which was highly recommended by lots of James’ friends. The taxi brought us back to St. Monica’s hostel for 2k TSH and we proceeded to our nice cool room.

Then, about 15 minutes later, the lights went out, and 45 minutes after that the hotel guy told us there was something wrong with the actual light fixture, so no lights, and I now write this by flashlight. James said AWA (Africa Wins Again)! Now we are going to chat for a while and enjoy the A/C!

Tuesday March 21, 2006

2006-04-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

Today has been a long day, and that may have something to do with the fact that I only got like 3 ½ hours of sleep last night! But, James and I talked about some interesting topics, and it was worth it. So we got our wake up call @ 6:00, had a cup of coffee and went out for our last safari @ 6:30. We saw some hyena, buffalo, a porcupine, jackals, 2 lionesses, one of which was dragging a huge zebra carcass from a successful hunt earlier in the morning that was really cool, we also saw Masai giraffes (they have an irregular pattern). We drove about an hour out looking for a herd of elephants, which we eventually found, it was way cool. The matriarch chased us off after we had been there staring too long. Got a lot of good photos and actually filled my entire memory card, good thing we are going back to James’ place today and I can empty it onto his laptop.

After our successful safari, James and I had a bush breakfast, which is a full buffet breakfast that they have set up in the bush, about 1km outside of camp. It was very romantic, and quite awkward, but overall very nice. We had the same waiter, Oliver, serving us and we even had an armed guard to protect us from who knows what. From the bush breakfast we headed to the base camp and grabbed our bags and were placed in a small safari van and taken back to the airstrip for our return flight to Nairobi. We made a quick stop during the flight (a layover of sorts, but at another camp) to drop off and pick up different passengers and switch planes. While at that stop we saw a herd of 30 – 40 elephants not too far from the airstrip, sweet!

Eventually, these Air Kenya prop planes got us back to Nairobi @ about 12:30. We gathered our bags, picked up the latest copy of Time magazine and headed back to the Baptist Mission. We repacked for our next flight, showered and unloaded my cameras memory card. Then we had a while till our flight to Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania. So we went to a mall and looked at some local stores for the wealthier folks in Nairobi, then we went to a more touristy market. James purchase some Masai clubs for about $5 each (400 Kenyan shillings about 70 KSH=$1USD).

Then we headed to the airport, grabbed a bite to eat at the airport Java house near our gate (cheese dog and iced coffee) then we boarded our plane after James had a little scare from loosing his boarding pass (he left it at one of the security check points we passed through but, was able to retrieve it without incident). Our flight to Dar was about 2 hours, I dozed off through some of it. We landed at about 9:00 p.m., had to purchase our visas for $50 each and were greeted by Jeremy, a Journeyman friend of James’. We also bought our plane tickets to Zanzibar for $50 each while we were there for a 4:30 flight tomorrow. I also pulled some Tanzanian shillings from an ATM, I got 300k of them (1,200 TSH = $1USD), so like $180 for the rest of the trip.

We then went with Jeremy to return the car that he borrowed from two of James’ girl Journeymen friends, Kerri and Laura Lee. We stayed there and chatted for a bit, then Kerri brought us back to Jeremy’s place where I’ll be sleeping on the couch. Not sure what we’ll do tomorrow but I’m sure it will be fun!

Monday March 20, 2006

2006-04-10T21:55:00.000-04:00

Today has been a pretty sweet and long day. We woke up at 5:30, washed up a bit, read our Bibles, and reported to the lobby for our 6:30 safari. But, it started raining and we were delayed about 30 minutes or so. But, we got started eventually. We saw 3 lionesses with 6 cubs, a herd of hippos, baboons, warthogs, some heart antelope and some other deer type animals. Then we returned at 8:30 for a full breakfast which was pretty good, fresh fruit, home fries, and crepes with honey.

Then we went at 10:00 to a Masai village, but they were charging 1000 Kenyan shillings to enter and photograph them ($15) per person. But, James and I were scheduled for a walking safari. So my name brother Nicholas led us on. We wandered through the bush for about 5 km to the base camp we saw all kinds of poop which he identified: impala, giraffe, baby tummies & elephant. We also saw accompanying tracks for these as well. Nicholas also showed us the trees that the Masai use to treat Malaria (the roots of the tree he showed us anyway). The branches they break off and “skin” and brush their teeth with, and chewing on the leaves tastes like pepper.

He also showed us a sandpaper tree: they boil the roots and drink the water and it makes them fearless and reckless for hunting. He said he has killed a lion and the skin is at his home, “it is too large to wear” he says! Today he wore a decorative leg thingy that was made from the tail of a Colobus monkey. He carried his spear with him while we hiked in case we encountered any lions. He is 21 years old, and the monkey tail is a symbol of respect and courage, because others do not have one. We saw warthogs, baboons and impalas while on foot, and found a pair of horns from a cow…it was all that was left, because hyenas eat everything including the bones.

He also told us why the Masai always wear red. He says the Masai used to believe that they were the only people God intended to care for cattle, so if other people or tribes had cattle, they would raid the camps and steal the cattle and kill the owners. But one time there were two separate Masai tribes who happened to be planning to raid the same camp on the same night. But, one tribe got there first, killed everyone and stole the cattle. As they were leaving they encountered the other raiding party and were killed themselves. When it was over, the other raiding party realized what had just happened and returned to their village and told the bad news. The chiefs decided that they must identify themselves, so Nicolas showed us a plant that when rubbed against your skin would turn it red, so that is how it started. Then, when missionaries came to the region, they offered white clothing, but the Masai requested red, otherwise the white would show the blood of their enemies and slaughters.

Nicholas also told us more of their rights of passage, beyond the teeth removal I mentioned yesterday. When they turn 18, the men are circumcised, but in a special way, so that the foreskin is cut back, but a piece of it is left hanging, and I kid you not, when I say that Nicholas referred to it as a necktie the way it hung down, he was even nice enough to draw a sketch in the sand of it. He also said that at age 21 the females have their clitoris mutilated, but he said it doesn’t affect child bearing. But, he did say, even though these procedures are painful, you cannot cry and have to be a man and a half. Overall the walking safari was a neat experience and not something everyone does, it was only James and I with him, which was a cool experience.

We then returned for lunch: soup, bread, potatoes and fried fish. After lunch, James and I went swimming and lounged by the pool for a bit and talked. We then came back to the tent and slept for about an hour and a half. We woke up at 3:30 to go to the lobby for our 4 o’clock safari. We saw more lions, warthogs, buffalo, lion cubs, zebra, some weird birds, cheetahs, vultures and hippos. Got some good pictures.

Had dinner at about 7:30 after getting a nice warm shower. French onion soup, steak, Mexican style chicken and coconut balls for desert. After dinner we went to the bar, not for drinks, but for a traditional Masai tribal dance, which they generally use for celebrating the kill of a lion. There were about 10 young men, dressed in their traditional garb, and they hum and mumble and sing and spontaneously jump really high in the air, it’s pretty neat. After that we retired to the tent, chatted for a bit, and went to bed.

Sunday March 19, 2006

2006-04-09T20:31:00.000-04:00

Today has been awesome and fun filled! It started a little early though. I woke up around 4:30 and laid in bed till about 6:00. When I turned the lights on, there was a roach the size of a small horse running around my room, I almost saddled it and rode it around the Baptist Mission, but instead…I whacked it with my sandal. I took a quick shower, read my Bible and wandered around a bit waiting for James to wake up. He eventually did and we went to Java Hut and I had a Masai Macchiato (I think), and home fries with salsa which was pretty tasty. James returned some videos he had rented, and this place had Disney characters painted all over their walls, unlicensed usage!

Then we headed to the airport and checked in. We were on a prop plane that was carrying around 20 people (including the pilots). It was a quick 40 minutes hop from this alternate Nairobi airport to the Masai Mara, where there was no airport, just a landing strip, it was pretty sweet. The Masai are a people group that have lived here forever, but the government took their land and made it a national reserve/game park. A few years back the government returned the land along with giving the Masai the exclusive right to run safaris here. When we were coming down for a landing, the plane scared 5 lionesses off the air strip…sweet start! The air strip was a long line of dirt. We were greeted by a gentlemen in a huge truck and we waited a few more minutes for the next flight to arrive, cause we were getting 5 more passengers. This truck was a military issue vehicle that carries up to 14 people with an open roof so you can stand up and check stuff out with solid railing holding you in place.

On the way to the Fig Tree Camp from the airstrip we saw some Thompson’s Gazelle (Tommies), Impala and African buffalo and zebra. It’s been a beautiful day with lots of animals. We checked in around 11:30, lunch was at 12:30 and our first safari was at 4:00. We were shown to our “tent,” which is a large canvas tent approximately 15’ by 10’ with 10’ ceilings…it’s stationary and has 2 beds and electricity and a private western style bath, it’s a pretty sweet set up, not to mention the little porch with 2 chairs that is right on a river that a hippo was in last night according to our American neighbors. This is an all inclusive type place, so James and I had a tea after dropping off our bags, and chatted while waiting for lunch. We went in around 1:00 and had rice, peas and carrots, beef stir fry, fried fish, roast lamb, apple crumb cake, mango mouse, chocolate mouse and passion fruit with bread, water and cream of pumpkin soup.

After lunch we wandered around the lodge a bit, but ended up in front our tent on our porch watching these crazy birds. I took a nap for maybe an hour and then we went on our first safari, which is a two hour excursion in the aforementioned ridiculous military vehicle after which we return to the base camp for more food and sleeping, as opposed to what most of you are probably thinking of which would be a week long endeavor into the untamed bush of Africa.

Our Masai tribal representative was named Nicholas and our driver was Peter, we got put in a truck with several other Americans which was cool. I took lots of pictures, but we saw tommies, lions and lion cubs, an elephant, giraffe and African buffalo and the weather was beautiful. Nicholas told us how the Masai male hunters prepare the food so that the women don’t know what it is, I don’t know why they do that, but they rub two different kinds of tree limbs together, one soft wood, one hard wood, until it generates ashes, which they drop on elephant dung, which apparently is quite flammable; and then they cook and they do all this away from their wives and they just give the cooked food to them and never tell them what they are eating (don’t ask, I have no idea).

After the safari, we grabbed quick warm showers and went to dinner. It was just okay, pork medallions, beef lasagna and chocolate balls…yeah that’s right…balls.

Things we still need to see…cheetah, hippo, hyena, rhino, leopard. Safari at 6:30 tomorrow morning.

While sitting on the porch this afternoon, we are quite near a bridge that crosses the river I mentioned our tent faces. While relaxing we saw (more like heard) 2 dozen of the safari guides come running across the bridge and eventually one of them ran over near our tent and took a fire extinguisher that had been there, theoretically for our use in case of a fire. But, apparently there was a small fire they had to get under control, hope we don’t need the extinguisher!

Also found out today that the Masai knock their four front bottom teeth out as a rite of passage, and they do it with a spoon! This is the only rite they are allowed to cry during, and they are 10 – 12 years old at the time. The Dinka of Sudan that James works with do the same thing, but they use a fishing spear of some sort, and they also get tribal marks (Garrnhom) on their foreheads. Their father takes a knife and cuts them across their foreheads. If they cry they are cast out of the tribal society and the old law says their fathers could choose to kill them.

Saturday March 18, 2006

2006-04-08T13:47:00.000-04:00

I’m currently sitting on the 747 that will be taking me to Africa for the 3rd time. I’ve already been in transit for about 17 hours, and am preparing for takeoff from Heathrow. The flight is quite empty, so I have my row to myself, and I even have those little screens in the seat back in front of me. Dare I say this will be the most luxurious flight I have ever taken to the Dark Continent?

I managed to get about 4 hours of sleep on the flight from Miami to London, and I had some familiar company. Geoff and Kathi Gathercole were on my flight to London to celebrate Geoff’s mom’s 90th birthday. With that said, the sleeping pill (extra strength) didn’t seem to work too well, I took it before take off and it was 3 hours before I first dozed off. I also had a chance to see Mom during my short layover in Miami from Orlando. We got to see each other for about 30 minutes. Hopefully we will get to visit for a little longer on my return flight; I have a longer layover then.

Now, having been to Africa before, I thought I knew what type of clothing would best suit the climate there. However, nobody told me it would be 0 Celsius in London. This was not too pleasant since at Heathrow, they move you between terminals and from the gate to the plane on buses…which are outside…in the cold. Lesson learned, hopefully.

My lay over in London was about 3 hours, I treated myself to a Chai Tea at the Starbucks there…I was curious to see how that transaction shows on my MasterCard statement with the exchange rate factor and all.

I imagine I’ll watch a few movies on the flight, which is close to 8 hours long. There is an 8 hour time difference between Nairobi and home; I told everybody it was only 6, oops!

Can’t really put into words how much I’m looking forward to some time off of work, although this is my first international trip where I will have to be without Jessie since we’ve been together. Good thing I’ll only be gone for a week! The wedding is only about 4 months off, and she is just wrapping up her spring break.

My flight to Nairobi landed a few minutes early, and I have to say, it’s great to be back in Africa! We all disembarked and headed to the Visa counter. James had found on the Kenyan Airport Authority website that there was a special stamp I could get with my visa, “Visitor Pass,” that would allow me to pass freely from Kenya to Tanzania to Zanzibar and back. Unfortunately, nobody knew what on earth I was talking about. But, I asked a few people, and some supervisors said that the Visa itself was good for that type of local East African free transit travel. My bags made it on time too, good thing, cause it’s gonna be a hectic week, and I gotta hit the ground running it seems.

James was waiting outside of the baggage claim area for me. It was pretty cools to see a familiar face in the crowd, especially this far from home, and it was just great to see him. We drove back to the mission and talked about the folks who work here, the other missionaries, etc. It seems that Ryan left yesterday for a cluster meeting in Uganda, and I won’t even see him! James and I stayed up, going through the stuff I brought him and getting ready for tomorrow. We are headed to the Masai Mara national preserve tomorrow morning, flying out at 9:30 or so…hit the ground running right! The weather here is beautiful so far, but James said it will be warmer when we get to the Mara and then on to Zanzibar. But, it’s about 68 degrees F tonight.

I took my Malaria medicine, James made sure I drank lots of water with it, because apparently if you don’t, the pill will burn your esophagus. Eventually I got to bed at around 12:30. Gotta be up at 7:00 tomorrow, if I can sleep through the night…I’m pretty excited. James also introduced me to some of the missionaries that were here tonight, the Mays family, who apparently will be hitting me up for Disney tickets sometime in the not so distant future.

Good People vs. Bad Things - Round 1 Goes to Bad Things

2006-03-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

This lady at work brought her mom home after she had been in hospice care. For those of you who don't know, that's where they put you when you have a terminal illness and have a limited amount of time left. I forget what she had, but I think it was lupus. She was doing a lot better for a few days, improved standard of living and such, being able to see the grandkids (even if for only a few minutes at a time), she was even getting up and around on her own. But, unfortunately, after about one week at home, she took a turn for the worse, and passed away. The lady just came back to work for the first time on Friday. I couldn't even bring myself to approach her and say hi, I just didn't know what to say.

This brings me to the question so often posed by preachers in what I can only assume is an attempt to lure unsuspecting folks to the pulpit. "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Does this question truly even bear repeating, it seems quite obvious to me, but perhaps some just don't realize it...and I suppose it depends on whether or not you are talking about believers or not. The obvious answer to me is: "to bring an unholy people to their knees before a Holy & Almighty Lord! The One who controls your circumstances wants you to realize that and give Him the glory for all that happens in your life."

If it's broke, fix it, don't throw it away!

2006-02-14T13:23:00.000-05:00

I hope all of you will agree with the foundation of the argument which I am about to present, but feel free to disagree with anything that I say, that's what I do this for. The foundation is simply this: the purpose of Sunday School (as we traditionally know it) is evangelism. It is the most effective tool (if done properly)for reaching similarly aged or life staged people with the Gospel of Christ. Obviously there are other purposes served by Sunday School (SS), however the most important is evangelism, not fellowship as is so often the actual case.

Why then do churches feel the need to push SS classes out of the physical building when there is not a legitimate space constraint ('cause I can understand that). But, when they are just trying to create a hip new feel to the church, why do they do this? There is nothing that can or will be accomplished by doing this that could not be replicated while staying in the building and using a still semi-traditional SS format. The problem does not lie in the surroundings, it lies within the congregation. Let's explore:

Usually, when attending a new SS class, a non-Christian, who you can probably only hope to have attend once, is greeted with several shallow questions, and then told to "go to hell." Well, not in those words, but that's essentially what is being said when the folks in the SS class show absolutely no interest in their life, and have zero desire to invest any time whatsoever in their spiritual well being. This fundamental problem is not going to be solved by sending everybody out of the building and altering the environment.

Why not just bring whatever great elements you think you are going to generate at home groups into the SS class. You gonna serve Coffee, do it at SS, you gonna have lasagna, do it at SS, you gonna watch some tv first, do it at SS. Why is it so hard for SS classes to make outsiders feel welcome and develop effective relationships that the Lord can work through?

I think it's a failure of the individuals to care about the lost, and changing the system is not going to fix that. If those uncaring fools were here right now, I'd punch 'em in the face.

Oh yeah, have a Happy Valentines Day!

Last Man Standing

2006-02-04T14:18:00.000-05:00

I just got an email that broke my heart, and I'm sure grieved the Lords as well. It's not the first time that I've heard of this occuring either. I'll begin with a story from while I was in Zambia. The missionaires there were amazing, truly loving and reflective of the love of Christ, and the Lord was abundantly blessing their ministries which have been enduring for over 20 years! That's amazing to me, and I asked them what it had been like being seperated from the ones they loved so much for so long. They said the hardest part was enduring when a new missionary came to the field...because for the first few months they would get care packages en mass. But, as memory of them faded from back home, the care packages stopped coming...this is the source of my heartbreak!

Why can't we show love to our missionaries! They are the ones who have left all of their creature comforts behind to gracefully serve the Lord, and the church can't even remember them for more than a year! What is wrong with us!!! I'm sick of it, and if you were here, I would punch you in the face (yes that's how angry I am). I close with a quote:

"Dude, I am always glad to hear from you, as you are
the only one who contacts me regularly, thanks
bro. Love ya and say Hi to jess for me.

for life" - name withheld for confidentiality

Being a Blessing

2006-01-15T15:03:00.000-05:00

What is the definition of the local church? This sunday morning we talked about tithing, and how it is part of God's plan to keep the local church operational. But, what is the local church and is it the same as the bride of Christ?

This morning it was said that the local church did not include any other ministries, and I tend to disagree with this. I don't feel that my church is a particularly good steward of my tithe money, and with that in mind, I have withheld my tithe and routed it elsewhere. But, I do not believe that I have been withholding my tithe from God when I have been obedient to give and act as a blessing even if it has been to/through other ministries or individuals who needed support...when did my church become the only legitimate Christian ministry worthy of my financial support? Am I wrong in this? Aren't we as Christians called to help one another, and share our possessions as if they were not our own (because they are not) and use them to further the kingdom?

I don't really like the idea of my tithe money going to buy props or decorations for the sanctuary. If I got the impression that the money was going toward a grief ministry or various missions ministries or to buy evangelistic tracts, I would not object, but wasted on seasonal decorations!!! I can't really stand for that...am I wrong for this? It seems like the church is struggling to maintain it's audience, and I don't think puttin on a fancy show is the way to do that. Let me hear your thoughts...

Bein' rough

2006-01-03T11:41:00.000-05:00

So this weekend was pretty sweet. I went to the Holden ranch (that's my fiance's family) in the wonderful yet oh so overlooked town of Bassinger, FL. The ranch sits on the Kissimmee River near Lake Okeechobee. It's a pretty sweet setup. Jessie and I hung out with her folks and brothers for the weekend. We lit a huge bonfire of the remaining debris from the hurricanes, which was pretty sweet. We used gasoline and unlike a good friend of mine, we used a moltov cocktail to get the fire started as opposed to dropping a match in a trail of the gas, since the fumes explode and what not.

Many of you may remember my beloved Baobab trees, which have been transplanted to the back 40 acres of the ranch, where they have plenty of room to stretch their roots. They are about 4 years old and in another 996 years should be about 7 feet around...but that's not factoring in the miracle gro!

So we burned stuff, rode atvs, set up a trap to catch a hog, fished off the dock, went canoeing, roasted some mallows and made smores, slept 10 hours a night, read and just plain chilled out...overall I'd say it was a glorious weekend!!! Wish I could be out there more. Maybe one day you'll be able to join us out there.

We even went to church on Sunday, attending the First Baptist Church of Bassinger (est. 1896). There were 16 people in service, and the Holden clan represented 6 of them. I'm not sure if I'm impressed by the longevity of such churches or insulted by their unwillingess to press on in winning souls for Jesus, allowing their congregation to age and become even less effective for the sake of the Gospel. Thoughts on the subject?

Integrity

2005-12-28T10:18:00.000-05:00

This is a subject that I've wanted to get on here for a while. Cause I'm not completely sure that people understand what it is (myself included). I believe that as a Christian I am called to live a life of integrity, and therefore, it is probably something that I should be able to wrap my mind around. Here is what Webster's says it is. But, what does that mean to me in my spiritual walk and my career and the direction of my life?

As far as work is concerned, my boss would tell you that my setting and meeting deadlines and my overall reliability demonstrates my level of integrity. This isn't really a problem for me at work, nor do I think in my personal life. Although it is something that some of my friends seem to struggle with...telling me they will be somewhere at 6 and showing up at 8...and they're not even Cuban!!! And don't get me started on those dang Cubans.

In my spiritual life what does this mean, what should I be portraying to the world? Should I be presenting myself to them: the imperfect, unsure, scared man that I am, or should I be wearing my church face all the time, making everybody think that my life is great because I'm a Christian? I hate that, and it's not me...everything is not always alright, even though I've got it pretty dang good, I don't always feel like being nice (make "don't always" = "hardly ever"), but then I constantly face the fear that one small misstep, letting loose my temper on a non Christian will ruin any chances I have of sharing Christ's love with them without them being overwhelmed by their contempt for me. It's not fair, but who said it would be right?

Personally, I think integrity is being "true" all the time, whether this means meeting obligations or just being as transparent as possible with whoever I deal with on a daily basis. Perhaps that pure honesty will be what demonstrates to them that I rely on a higher power than myself for my day to day survival. You would think they would take one look at me and realize that I don't deserve any of the amazing blessings that I have received and instantly beg me to tell them what my secret is, and I could just tell them, come to Jesus and then your life can be this amazing too! But that wouldn't be true now would it.

What happened to Christmas?

2005-12-22T13:30:00.000-05:00

It's probably just me.

Or maybe it's the fact that there is no snow in Orlando and it's just starting to cool off around here.

I guess I could also blame it on society (which I think I will).

What the crap happened to Christmas!!! I didn't even feel it coming on, besides when it hit my credit card statement (a little harder than I had hoped). The last thing I remember was the day after Thanksgiving when I was trying to figure out how to roll out of bed, and drag my sorry behind to Best Buy.

Why do the marketers feel that they need to instill such a sense of urgency into the customer in order for them to buy things. If your dang product didn't suck so much, you wouldn't have to tell me to "BUY NOW!" and hope that my lack of self restraint would take over. And who is it that told everybody that it's cool to have the newest toy on the block. I think I can finally support the retro revolution, because at least that is old crap instead of new crap.

I wish we could go back to a simpler time (like the revolutionary war) when people got by just fine on the essentials, and amazingly enough, were still pretty happy, even if they did only have one leg...(I apologize for the cheap shot Peggy).

And don't even get me started on the failure of the local Church to utilize the season for evangelism...they're more concerned with the liberal attack on the use of the word Christmas. Of course the freakin liberals are going to attack Christmas, they're dang liberals, that's what they do!!! And you know what, they're attack is working! because nobody is trying to do evangelism, they're just trying to save face and counter the attacks. The Church as a whole is missing yet another opportunity to see more people believe in Jesus!

Oh man, I'm exhausted...holler back and get DANG ANGRY!!!

Let's get it started

2005-12-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

I figure it's about time I get one of these things together, since apparently everybody else is doing it. I also notice that I should only have to post once every month or so in order to keep up with the average, that shouldn't be a problem since I have loads of free time at work to do things like this.

So I guess I should give a quick update of what's going on in my life so we can get this thing rolling. If you don't know, I work for the mouse here in O-town, and I have the wonderful privelage of being everyone's favorite person. Yeah, that's right, they have made me the auditor. I get to audit all non Disney owned and operated companies that do business on Disney property (merchandise locations, hotels, restaurants, whatever). It's a good time, however, some people say it hasn't helped my issues with pride, since I get to boss people around all the time and they tremble in fear when I approach.

I started with Disney about one year ago as an intern while I was finishing up my Masters in Business Administration (MBA). When my internship was over, they offered me a full time salaried position. Shortly after that I purchased a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo near the Orlando Airport in a new development (which you are all welcome to come and visit and stay at). Needless to say they pay me way too much for what I do, and I'm even getting my own intern in a few weeks. I moved into my new place July 3rd.

Then on August 20th, I proposed to my girlfriend of 8 months, Jessie Holden. Of course, she said yes (see my pride shining through) and we are planning on getting married on July 22nd in Palm Beach Gardens. So far the plans are going well (I guess, since she's handling most of it). I hope that you will all give us a call if you ever come through town, so she will have the pleasure of meeting each of you.

With all that said, I will now open the floor to rants and raves about nothing in particular. I hope to be adding comments to this every week or so, but who knows, maybe I'll do it daily...