quotes of the week #27 - HARRY POTTER edition (part 2)

In honor of the newest Harry Potter movie coming out this weekend - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1... here are part 2 of some of my favorite Harry Potter quotes! (You can read Part 1 - the best quotes - HERE.)

"Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth." - Professor Albus Dumbledore (Half-Blood Prince)

"As much money and life as you could want!  The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." - Dumbledore (Sorcerer's Stone)

"Fear makes people do terrible things." - Professor Lupin (order of the phoenix)

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." - Dumbledore (Sorcerer's Stone)

"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." ~ Dumbledore (Goblet of Fire)

"Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike." - Dumbledore (Order of the Phoenix)

"We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on." - Dumbledore (Half-Blood Prince)

"It was, he [Harry] thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high.  Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents - that there was all the difference in the world."  ~ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

"The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with caution." - Dumbledore (Sorcerer's Stone)


any favs?

security doesn't exist

there's no such thing.

security does not exist. it's a myth. a lie we've been told.

and that's just fine with me. i don't like being secure anyway... especially when it's false.

insatiable need to know more

i want to do big things with my life. i want my years on earth to count in big ways. there's a certain renown i want to further... and it's not mine.

sometimes i get frustrated because there are a lot of abilities and qualities i don't have that seem to be the ones people need to accomplish big things. 
but... i was encouraged when i read this:
 

“The people who are exceptionally good in business aren’t so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more.” 

– Michael Gerber, in E-Myth Revisited 

(we read this book and discussed it in the leadership coaching network i was in. Gerber was writing specifically for business people, but the principles in the book - including this one - apply to any type of organization.)

for the record, i think "insatiable" is a great word.

that sentence GRABBED me! because thankfully... that's ME! 
not necessarily the "good in business" part... but God has blessed me with an "insatiable need to know more". which some days i have felt like it is a curse. but i know it's not. it's a blessing. i hope i can steward it well.

i do not know a whole lot but i have this undeniable entrepreneurial spirit inside me coupled with an insatiable need to know MORE. it's not just a "desire", but a need that i can't do anything to squelch. i hope that can combine with all my shortcomings and imperfections to produce big things.

so, what about you? are you satisfied with how much you know now? 
or is there this irrepressible NEED in you to constantly know more and more?

less for more

i love that phrase = "less for more". it applies to SO MANY things.

it applies to me daily in relation to communicating (speaking, etc...) - i've GOT to say less if i want what i say to be heard and effective. but we usually say too much.

recently i read:

“If you say 3 things, you don’t say anything.” 

– James Carville 

that is brilliant. i don't know much about Carville (other than him being in that coke commercial shot in DC)... but i do know that he churned out 3 brilliant campaign slogans for Clinton in the 90s, but because of this philosophy he threw out 2 great slogans! 
they went with "it's the economy stupid" and many say that won them the election.


i know most of us aren't big Clinton fans, but we can all learn a lot from this piece of James Carville wisdom.

it's why i only have 1 point in every talk i give. if i tried to say 2 things i might as well shut up and say nothing. it's about saying less... for more.

must have iPhone Apps (via NY Times)

i really feel a lot smarter when i read The New York Times. you know what i mean... i just feel like a smart person holding that newspaper.

When they pass them out on the airplane i like just holding it because i feel like a professor who actually reads it.
Or i just picture myself at some hotel in Paris in a fancy bathrobe eating breakfast out on the balcony reading the NY Times.

anyway, maybe that's just me. i do have the NY Times iPhone app and read it from time to time as i walk my dog. yesterday i was reading it and found a GREAT article!

the author was pointing readers to the BEST iPhone apps. i've started using several of them already and i think they're really helpful and cool, so i thought i would share them with you.
i trimmed it down to be about half the length... but now i present to you the (partial) great article by Bob Tedeschi from the NY Times:

Top 10 Must-Have Apps for the iPhone, and Some Runners-Up

"In this column, I’ve compiled 10 must-have apps that will save you time, make your life easier and make you smile. You won’t see Twitter, Slacker or Facebook, among others, on this list. Although I find them indispensable, the services aren’t unique to a mobile phone. To make my Top 10, an app must deliver an experience you couldn’t find on your computer — something, in other words, that exemplifies the smartphone at its best.

REDLASER (FREE) It may not tell you if a clothing item makes you look fat, but otherwise RedLaser is a perfect shopping companion. Scan a bar code and it retrieves product information, including prices at online merchants and local stores (in case you are in the mood to haggle). Or follow a spouse or child around a store, scan what they like and you have an instant gift list.

SOUNDHOUND (FREE AND $5) You’ve probably heard of Shazam, the app that identifies songs. SoundHound is faster, and it offers a broader range of ancillary features. You can hum a tune into the phone and it’ll find the song, look up lyrics and run YouTube videos of song performances.

EVERNOTE (FREE) The company advertises this as a personal digital assistant, and it’s an apt description. Evernote is a traveling notepad that synchronizes with desktop and browser software (also free). Use your iPhone to copy an image, take a photo, record a voice memo or jot down a note, and it appears on your computer (and vice versa). It also recognizes your written text, within limits.

HIPSTAMATIC ($2) Scores of photography titles are in the App Store. Many are terrific, but not one matches Hipstamatic’s blend of simplicity, serendipity and art. At heart, the app is a filter that will unpredictably saturate, blur or discolor your images, among other things. The results are always surprising and often stunning.

URBANSPOON (FREE) Not sure what to eat, or where? Spin Urbanspoon’s slot machine and it will dial up a suggestion. You can also select certain attributes — Japanese food, for instance, or inexpensive food — and local eateries appear. The app includes user reviews and contact information, and you can press a button for a map and directions.

GOOGLE (FREE) You can find Google through your mobile browser, but the app is a major time-saver. The voice search function is seamless. Ask it for specific Wikipedia entries, for instance, and it complies. Or just say "Starbucks" and the app uses the phone’s GPS to find the nearest location. A recent update put the "Goggles" service within the app, so you can snap a photo and let Google search for information on that object. And given Google’s emphasis on mobile, the app will continue to improve.

ANGRY BIRDS ($1) A runaway favorite among the iPhone crowd, the app tests your ability to break down the barricades that protect green pigs. The weapon: flightless birds, launched by catapult. No wonder they’re angry. The game is easy to learn, yet challenging to play, with witty touches throughout.

FIREFOX HOME (FREE) In the same vein as Evernote, Firefox Home is a way to synchronize your desktop and mobile lives. Once you load the app and register, Firefox Home will show your browsing history and bookmarks. If you’re reading an important document online when you leave the office, you can start the app later and pick up where you left off.

STAR WALK ($3) Point your phone toward the heavens and this app identifies all you see — constellations, planets, individual stars — in brilliant clarity. If you pivot in another direction, the app follows. It’s an astonishing app that’s great to pull out during dinner parties, beach walks or sleepless nights in bed. You needn’t have a clear view of the sky to experience the starry night.

QUICKOFFICE MOBILE SUITE ($5) The next time someone e-mails you a Word, Excel or Powerpoint document, Quickoffice will open it and allow you to make quick edits from your iPhone. (Otherwise, you can open, but not edit, Microsoft Office files.) You can also create documents with the app, but it is far less useful for that purpose. Rather, Quickoffice offers a way to complete small work tasks easily while you are on the move.

Quick Calls
No Top 10 list is fully useful without an “honorable mention” list. The following apps should not be overlooked: Instapaper (free, with $5 “Pro” version; for saving and reading Web pages after you’ve moved offline); Yelp (free; find local services, restaurants and bars, including reviews); Layar (free; see customized information about your surroundings); Ocarina ($1; turns your phone into a musical instrument); and Glympse (free; let friends track your location temporarily and easily)."

any of your fav MUST HAVE apps to add?

quotes of the week #26 - HARRY POTTER edition

"quotes of the week" are back after a little absence & i know i usually post them on the weekend, but i had to wait until this Harry Potter weekend was over when basically all the movies were on TV.

i know you think of them as kid's books, but they are brilliant. seriously, these quotes i've compiled from the Harry series may be my best & most poignant qotw ever!
As i've started reading the books and watched all the movies i would just jot quotes down as i would read them or hear them & as they impacted me... pretty awesome stuff for "kid's books".
[my commentary & thoughts in brackets]

"Dark & difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right & what is easy." - Professor Albus Dumbledore (goblet of fire)
[this has always been my favorite because it is so true - our choices in life are usually between "right" and "easy"!]

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." - Dumbledore (Sorcerer's Stone)

"The world isn't split in two - good people & [bad] death eaters. We've all got both light & dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." - Sirius Black (order of the Phoenix)
[right on. a lot of theology in that]

"a true leader does what is right, no matter what others think." - Dumbledore (goblet of fire)

"You place too much importance... on the so-called purity of blood!  You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! - Dumbledore (goblet of fire)
[man, where has Dumbledore been through the centuries!? we needed him during slavery, civil rights, and every battle with racism...]

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."  - Sirius Black (goblet of fire)

[that is awesome. Sirius is probably my all time fav. he's like Dumbledore with a "dark/rebel" side. too bad he's dead.]

"What's comin' will come and we'll meet it when it does." - Hagrid (goblet of fire)
[oh yeah, i forgot... Hagrid might be my fav. but for different reasons.] 
 

"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices." - Dumbledore (chamber of secrets)


These are only half of my best quotes, so i think i'll post "Part 2" when "The Deathly Hallows" releases this weekend.

which was your favorite?

funny sign

i'm not the most politically correct person in the world but i KNOW you can't have a sign like this!

it was up at this church where we went to get BBQ. had to snap a pic.

will the poor always be with us?

I DON'T THINK SO.

(i know it may seem long, but this was worth 8 1/2 minutes of my life & i think it's worth the same of yours)


"you were made for this."

what are you gonna do about it?

what Elias & Doris are NOT doing today

There were only a couple Class 8 students at the Havilla orphanage we lived at in Kenya. Class 8 is a big deal because at the end of the year you take a HUGE exam that 100% determines if you move from Primary school into Secondary School (High School). for a lot of kids this one test determines their future - whether they will continue to live in poverty their entire lives... or whether they might actually have a shot at life by getting an education.

there's a lot of pressure riding on this one exam where all your past grades are thrown out and it comes down to this 1 test.

this is Elias and Doris. Both in class 8. And this is what they were doing A LOT! locked in this quiet room away from everyone else - STUDYING hard.

but i can tell you what Elias and Doris are NOT doing today...

Studying.

that's for dang sure.

because the big exam was Monday. it's all over. the pressure is off. well... sort of. school is out and they have had their graduation ceremony. summer break has begun and they don't start again until January 1st. BUT... they won't find out their exam scores for like another month!

but at least it's over.

Crystal and i tried calling Elias this past weekend just to let him and the others know we were praying for them to do AWESOME on their big exam and that we BELIEVE in them.

we talked to Joseph (the director) and they went looking for Elias, but, like always he was off hiding somewhere studying. :)

we can't wait to call and actually talk to him within the next week.

i miss all these kids. a lot.

when is your birthday?

Seriously. when is your birthday? i love to tell people HAPPY BIRTHDAY" on their special day.
you know right off the top of your head right? the day you turn the next year old, the next age... you don't really have to think about that date, right?

This is Abraham. he is one of my homeboys who lived at the orphanage Crystal and i were at for a couple weeks.
Abraham is one of the oldest of all the orphans who live there.

One day Crystal and i were out milking the cows with Elias (the oldest) and Abraham. I was asking when their birthdays were. Elias had just turned 17 in August. Abraham is 16 so i asked a simple question:

me - "When do you turn 17?"

Abraham - "This year."

me - "Yeah, i know this year, but what day? When is your birthday?"

Abraham - "I don't know when my birthday is, it's just some time this year."

me - "wait. so you just pick a day and from then on you're 17?"

Abraham - "yes."

me - "well, is it today? Maybe today is your birthday? We could throw your birthday party if you turn 17 today."

Abraham - "no, it's not today. i don't feel 17 yet. it will be later this year."


what a weird conversation. i've never had one like that before. it honestly made me really really sad that he had no idea when he was born.
Abraham and so many of these kids just don't know anything about their story - where they came from, who their family is, what their dad was like, etc...  that makes me sad.

but to Abraham it's just the way life is. and he just went on milking the cows... as a 16 year old. (we think).

where have i been?

i've been right here.
just not blogging lately. sorry about that.

i've actually got tons of stuff written. literally hundreds of semi-finished articles that i'm excited about. i guess i just ended up taking a week off.

i've always told myself that if renown ever becomes a chore instead of something i love doing then i'm going to quit... just kill it.
well, i still love writing. i want to write.

i've just been busy since we've been home from Kenya & in my small bits of free time i just haven't felt like blogging. i hope you understand.

but, now i'm back in the game. starting today i'm going to try to write pretty much every day again. i think there's a lot of good stuff coming your way!

a goat walked up to my door

yeah. we're chillin' on the couch on Saturday & a goat walks up on our porch with his hooves clangin'... seriously?
yep.

then while walking our dog he started chasing us. then after we were safe i shot this video.

i really don't know what the difference is between a "billy goat" and any other kind of goat. i just kind of felt like calling this guy a billy goat.

pretty crazy. 1st time i've ever seen a goat walking around the neighborhood!

happy birthday, Crystal!

happy birthday to my amazing wife! it's crazy that it's her birthday, but I'm the one who feels like I'm getting the big gift. (her)

i still feel like today is one of the greatest days in history. Lots of people celebrate lots of important days, but October 30, 1983 was a really really important day in my life.

i wasn't quite 1 year old on that date, so i was probably pretty short... That is the day my wife, the one God knew I was going to marry for thousands of years, was born.

That is the day the most beautiful woman in the world was born. The day the best wife ever was born. I am so blessed.
we are so blessed together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

my wife has never looked more beautiful

my wife has never looked more beautiful...than when she was serving and loving the poor in Kenya this past month.

i know she wasn't all "fixed up" with makeup or fancy clothes... but to me... seeing her loving orphans... serving the poor... wow.
i don't think she has ever looked more beautiful than that.
i tear up just thinking about it.

just looking at these brings a smile to my face and tears to my eyes.

of course, my wife doesn't need to do anything to look hot. she does that without trying. but this was a whole new level of beautiful
it's hard to explain. it may not make sense to you, & yeah, maybe some would argue that she looks "prettier" when we go uptown on a date... but to me - she has never looked more beautiful.

i fall in love with her more all the time.

Crystal, thanks for taking the risk & going on the adventure together. thanks for being a trooper through all the crazy stuff. and thanks for letting your heart come out making you look more beautiful than i ever imagined.
i am awestruck

what i miss (& don't miss)

i miss Kenya.
i miss the people. i miss being there. i miss a lot of things.

& if i'm honest there are a few things i don't miss.

things i don't miss:

tucking in the mosquito net around the bed every single night

that crackhead rooster waking me up EVERY morning between 3 & 4am!

taking a "shower" in a bucket

Trying to convince Kenyans that WWE is not real
& watching really really bad Japanese action dramas... (dubbed with Swahili)

my spine crumbling to pieces from driving on the roads & adding up the chiropractor bill in my head

African time

kids trying to braid my hair

always being called Mzungu

rice & beans :)

always having a camera in my pocket or around my neck

turkeys, geese, cows, and chickens...

doing laundry in a bucket

being constantly covered in dirt

things i miss:

falling asleep to the laughter & playing of happy orphans

monkeys

being in the middle of extreme poverty... and knowing Someone who can/does change the world.

speaking Swahili

the amazing beauty of the country all around

any time of day just chillin anywhere in the house and hearing a group of orphans singing worship songs. sometimes English... sometimes Swahili.

being with my wife 24/7

slowly taking in every moment of every day. for some reason that doesn't feel possible here. (but maybe it is)

watching my wife love on

listening to other people tell me about their dreams.

having time to dream

playing "soccer" every single day

greeting the kids at the children's home 1 by 1 as they walked home from school every day

chapati

about 100 specific individuals

dancing in church

not having a mirror or ever seeing myself

telling the girls floor at the orphanage "goodnight" every night & their response

a kid always holding my hand

carrying Kenyan shillings - so cool & colorful

making orphans smile & laugh


 *there's probably a whole lot more, but this is just off the top of my head.

rice & beans, beans & rice

Dave Ramsey always talks about his "diet plan" when you're "living like no one else" = it's "rice and beans, beans and rice."
it's not literal, the idea is just to eat as CHEAPLY as possible to be smart with your money.

well, Crystal and I followed the Dave Ramsey diet LITERALLY for about 2 weeks in Kenya. while living and working at the orphanage we ate ONLY rice & beans... beans & rice for every meal!

the 1st night the carried a live rooster up to the kitchen, slit it's throat, cooked it and fed it to us. that was pretty good... and also the last meat we would eat.
i was thankful though. rice and beans tasted pretty good. i bet we could save a lot of money eating only rice & beans at home too.

speaking of Dave - the budget is a little meager for October after our time in Kenya. Usually i give Crystal 3-4 envelopes with the cash for the month. This month i left THE envelope on her dresser.
she came up to me later and asked "Is all the cash in that 1 envelope?"
"yes."
"Is that a joke?"

haha, we both just laughed. it's all good. hardly a day goes by when we don't talk out loud about how unbelievably God has blessed us.
so thankful.

watch

charity: water promo featuring "Time Bomb" by Beck from charity: water on Vimeo.

the fresh prince & clean water

the 1st time i ever saw Will Smith was in 1 of my favorite shows as a kid = "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air"... and that's the only way i knew him for years.
Over the years he has become one of my favorite actors. He's played some amazing roles in some great movies.

now what he's a part of for his birthday is even more important though. check it out:

Will and Jada's Birthday Celebration from charity: water on Vimeo.

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of clean water and how YOU can get involved and make a difference. One of the cool ways to get involved is with Charity Water by donating your birthday... just like Will and Jada.

Who would have ever thought - from "chillin out, maxin, and relaxin all cool and all shootin some bball outside of the school..." to providing clean water for the poor in Africa.

meet joseph (& see why clean water matters)

this is Joseph. he lives at the orphanage we worked at for a couple weeks. he won over our hearts. (all of the orphans did, but Joseph just had an extra hold on both our hearts.)

it sounds like Joseph's mom was murdered by a witch doctor when he was just a little kid. and then his dad died over 5 years ago too. it's heartbreaking to hear Joseph talk about it.
Thankfully, Joseph and his older sister got to move to Havilla and live at the Children's Home.

Joseph is the life of the party at the orphanage. He is the one always cracking jokes and making people laugh. He writes his own jokes a lot too. He loved to make Crystal and I laugh. here is a short video of one of the jokes he loved. i hope you can understand his accent... i don't even notice it anymore.

(sorry the vid was so dark & blurry... i don't know what was up with that one.)

Joseph works really hard in school too. he's got big big dreams. he wants to go to law school one day and eventually become the Attorney General of Kenya so that he can help the people of Kenya. pretty audacious for an orphan. :)

Joseph lives at the children's home where he gets clean water every day and so does his older sister. Joseph's younger brother didn't get to come to the orphanage with them - he has lived with their uncle instead.
His brother is only 11 years old.

was. was only 11 years old.

Joseph's brother died last month. why? because he didn't have clean water. he died of a water related illness.

i fought back the tears as Joseph told me the story and how he got the letter from his uncle just 1 month before. he told me - "Usually I finish 1st or 2nd in my class on all my exams... but that day, the day I got the letter about my brother... I finished 6th on that exam. I just couldn't concentrate."

i can't imagine.
Joseph and his sister, Hannah, got to go to their brother's funeral and grieve while being supported by some of their relatives. and no doubt when they returned to Havilla they were surrounded by love from their 45 other "brothers & sisters". i can't help but think that Joseph's little brother might have been a full of life little jokester as well.
i'm thankful that this never needs to happen to Joseph. At his orphanage he'll always have clean water.

but the problem is that this shouldn't happen to ANYONE.

ever.

period.

and you and me can do something about it. you've got a birthday, right? whenever it is... consider leveraging it for clean water for the poor. just click HERE and join the awesome birthday bash with Charity Water.
And we all celebrate Christmas. click HERE & celebrate a little differently with Advent Conspiracy. and because you leverage Christmas for the poor without clean water you can save lives...

and change the world.

kiu

thirsty.

kiu SANA = so so thirsty. that's what i was the other day walking home with the kids from Havilla. i hadn't had a drink all day.

Many times I have thought to myself regarding the water crisis in Africa – “If you know the water is not clean and drinking it will make you sick… and even kill you – then why drink it?”

Easy for me to say.

Easy to think until you’ve walked in a thirsty man’s shoes.

i walked by a FILTHY river and would gladly have drank from it! KNOWING that it would make me sick. i had to force myself not to stop and drink from it.

today is "Blog Action Day" and the cause is Clean Water. I've written about this so many times before here on renown. HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE and more times than i can list...

The stats make us cringe. kids dying every day because they don't have something as simple as water.

But those are just stats. 

And those stats represent individual stories. Deaths. 

I was affected by one of those stories just last week in Africa. it's a little too fresh to tell right now... maybe tomorrow or some time within the next week.

it's almost time for Advent Conspiracy to crank up again with Living Water International, but here is ANOTHER awesome way you can donate your birthday to save lives through Charity Water... check this out HERE! Will Smith thought it was a good idea... maybe join him in donating your b-day?

OK, so we just got back to America today. lots of processing our trip to Africa going down here on renown very soon.

leaving the kids

we love these kids. they're like the greatest in the world.

so, it was hard to leave them. we saw them off to school early one morning (like 6am is when they start walking!) and hugged them & told them "bye" one by one.

it was a great experience to stay with them, play with them, serve them, and love them. we definitely won't ever forget them. and who knows... we may be seeing some sooner than we think?

internet hasn't really been working - that's why i haven't been able to write many updates. hopefully this one will post.
i have a TON to write about when we get back home.

and so we begin like 40 hours of travelling... see you back in the USA.

soweto (my trip to the slum)

on Sunday Elias and i walked into Soweto. it's really only "1-2 blocks" from the orphanage. it's all relative in Kenya though. you just have to walk around the big pond - which is the sewage/waste hole for the area. it's big.

Soweto is the slum in the area where Havilla (Children's Home) is. if you don't know what a slum in Kenya is you can just google it.
Crystal and i were planning to try to visit Kibera - one of the largest slums in Africa, but all the Kenyans said we would need an armed police escort to visit. There are over 1 million people who live in Kibera which is in Nairobi. 3 million in the whole city of Nairobi and Kibera is just a tiny slum (according to the land space) with a million people crammed into it.

Walking around Soweto for a couple hours was absolutely... wow. i don't even have the words for it. i guess i would call it heartbreaking. very humbling. something in my heart started to cry out - a need to do something. anything.

this place - Soweto - is TINY, but around 10,000 people live there! TONS of kids. mostly orphans. the rest living with only a mother or grandmother.

You could constantly hear all the little children's voices chattering "Mzungu! Mzungu!" as i walked through the streets. 1 by 1 they would run up and grab my hand and say the famous English phrase that they all know "How are you?"

Soweto was a whole town. a whole city right there in this very very small land space. stores, shops, homes... the quality of which most of us wouldn't want to even set foot in.

this place is the epitome of poverty. 

it's like what they put on TV. it's the extreme that comes to your mind when you think of people living in absolute poverty.

the smell was almost unbearable - almost knocked me down every few steps... and TRUST ME, i have gotten used to some very bad smells over the past month. cow manure, bodily odors, etc... are nothing and don't even phase me. but this place was bad.
kids barely had clothes. trash and literal crap was all over the streets, like a foot deep in some places.

only the sewage pool separates this slum from Havilla - the orphanage Crystal and i have been living at. we see Soweto every day - can't be more than a 100 yard walk away.

wow. what a difference a short walk makes because the orphans at Havilla are worlds apart. the 3 story orphanage is no Hilton hotel... or even a crappy college dorm, but compared to the slum where these kids would have ended up... it's an amazing blessing.
most of the kids in Soweto probably don't even get to go to school because there's not a chance anyone can afford the school fees... even for public school. Thanks to the support of some generous sponsors (through Bright Point - something similar to Compassion International) ALL the kids at Havilla have their basic needs taken care of AND they get to go to the BEST school in the area!

the kids who live at Havilla are full of dreams. they eat 3 balanced meals every day and drink clean water. they have a bed to sleep in every night. they work hard farming and work hard on their school work. they hear how much God loves them and that He has great plans for them. i am so thankful that these 47 kids are at Havilla.

i also think it's flipping awesome that Joseph (the Children's Home director) made the trek over to the Soweto slum recently with a camera. he walked through and interviewed A LOT of kids and their families/guardians. he took their pics and posted them to the Havilla Foundation site to try and help these kids get sponsored! so that they can go to school and have a future.

maybe one day the gap between Havilla and Soweto won't be quite so big.
maybe one day only the sewage pond will separate the 2.

that's my hope.

underdogs

we love to pull for the underdog. that's why we love March Madness... just sitting there hoping some unknown 14 seed will knock off a 3 seed.

orphans are pretty much underdogs. an orphan may be the epitome of an underdog. no one gives them a chance. i mean, how can you have any chance in life when you grow up with out parents? when you grow up in an orphanage and have no money.
orphans will never make anything of their lives.

people who say that are forgetting something very important. rather, SOMEONE very important.

"...His name is the LORD.

A Father to the fatherless..." - Psalm 68:4-5

I got to speak at church this morning to a whole bunch of orphans. this is what i told them. and i also told them that God warned the whole world:

DON'T MESS WITH ORPHANS

because "their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against You." - Proverbs 23:11

i'm pretty sure you would rather face Jack Bauer.

i told them that they are "God's handiwork" = God made them so so special. He is their masterpiece & He created them to do good works. (Ephesians 2:10)

i got a chance to tell them that "God wants to use YOU in big ways for His glory!"

they all said it together with me several times... pointing to themselves:

'GOD WANTS TO USE ME IN BIG WAYS FOR HIS GLORY!"

and anyone else who tells you different is lying. if you think God can't use you for something great... it's a lie.

we've fallen in love with these kids, but God has loved them since before they were born. since before their parents died and they became orphans. 

i told them that Crystal and I believe in them and we always will.

but most importantly, God believes in them. He made them as a masterpiece and He made them to do good works... for His glory.

even though they are "underdogs".

never even knew their parents

many of these kids Crystal and i have been living with never even knew their parents. they died when they were so young that they can't even remember them.

they are so excited to show us some of the pictures they have. most of them have been in the Daraja Children's Choir in the past so they've been at Big Stuf, Catalyst, etc... & peeps took pics with them and gave them copies. so they have photo albums and are so proud to show them off.

Francis and his little sister Hannah wanted to show us their photo album. it was mainly pics from Big Stuf and choir pics.

but they had one wrinkled up photo stuck in the front of the album.

it was an African lady holding a baby and then a small boy standing beside her (maybe 3-4 years old.)
Francis had stepped away, so i asked Hannah - "who is that?"

"That was my mother... and that's Francis and the baby is me."

i thought i was prepared for that moment - i mean, we're living at an orphanage and all. all of their parents are dead. it still hit me hard though... looking at that picture that they obviously cherish. probably the 1 family photo they have.

then Crystal asked her, "What happened to your mother?"

"I don't know. I can't remember her."

Then i lost it. i couldn't hold back the tears. my heart hurt for this little girl Hannah who is the sweetest kid in the world. my heart hurts for Francis who is 16 just fighting for the chance to be somebody.

even now i can't hold back the tears.

Their mother died when Hannah was 1. so, Francis was like 4 maybe? sitting on the front steps the next day i asked him, "do you know what happened to your mother?"

"I don't know. No one can tell me."

i can't imagine that. i can't imagine not even knowing. 

it makes me so thankful for my parents. it makes me thankful that God blessed me with amazing parents who love me and who i got to see every day growing up.

it makes me thankful for Joseph and Salome who all these kids call "mom" & "dad"! pretty cool. they started this orphanage and took in Hannah and Francis and 40something others... i'm thankful for that. i think every child in the world should have a father and mother. and with all the millions of orphans in the world, if it has to be a "stand in dad" at an orphanage, then so be it.

most of all it made me thankful for the FATHER OF THE FATHERLESS like i wrote about yesterday HERE. (Psalm 68:4-6)

it makes me thankful that "the Defender of orphans is STRONG and will take up their case." (Proverbs 23:10-11)

it makes me so thankful that God watches over & sustains the orphans! (Psalm 146:9)

it makes me happy for them. i don't feel "sorry" for them. my heart is absolutely broken for their pain and the situation of not even having their parents. but not "sorry" for them, because they automatically have the best Father in the world! God is their HELPER (Psalm 10:14) and i praise Him for that.

i look at these beautiful kids so full of life and joy & my eyes fill with tears and my heart fills with love. they laugh, play, sing, have fears and dreams... 

There are millions more just like them.

they just need us to give them a chance. like someone gave these kids a chance...

and gave them a family

"a Father to the fatherless"

"Sing to God, sing in praise of His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds; rejoice in Him--His name is the LORD.

A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.

God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing..." - Psalm 68:4-6

praising God because He is these things...

"We are FAM-I-LY"

"my brothers and my sisters and me..."

you're at least singing along in your head by now. i'm not even sure who sings that song - don't really care - but i've been singing in my head since i arrived here at the Havilla Children's Home.

The 1st night we got here we were meeting all the kids and just hanging out. Many of them have been living here together at this orphanage for 5 years. sleeping in the same room. eating meals together. going to school together. hanging out 24/7.

so on that 1st night i was talking to Francis #1 (there are 3) who is 16 + a few of the other kids who were standing around. i said "so, you guys are like family, huh?"

"no, we ARE family."

Francis wanted to make sure i understood that.

within 24 hours of being here that was obviously clear to us. these kids are family. no question about it. they are brothers and sisters just as if they all had the same father and mother. and there is a lot of love to go around.

one night i was in one of the guys' rooms and talking to them about school the next day. i asked if they all hang out at school each day, stick up for each other, etc... they said "Yeah, they call us the Havilla Brothers."
that brought a smile to my face.

these guys and girls are a true family. kids who many would say are just orphans and don't even have a family... i think they probably understand it better than most of us.

how to accidentally start an orphanage

living here at the Havilla Children's Home has been one of the greatest things ever. these kids are absolutely amazing. they're all so loving, so full of joy, so thankful. i can see God all over their lives.

we're just hanging out with them and loving them all the time. we love them so much.

yesterday we worshipped with them at church and that was awesome. Joseph (the director) wanted me to speak, so that was a lot of fun.

Crystal and i were hanging out with Joseph last week just wanting to hear and learn about how the orphanage started. Joseph told us the story about how a great grandmother or great aunt was passing through with 2 recently orphaned kids (Elias & Kevin) about 5 years ago. Joseph & his wife Salome decided to take them in since the elderly family member couldn't provide for them. then they took in another street kid/orphan soon after. then another.

then word started to spread that orphans were welcome with this family...
Joseph told us:

"This ministry started without my knowledge."

wow. i thought that was SO so cool. looks to me like God started this thing... and that's the best way anything can start.

now there are 47 of the most wonderful kids i have ever met living here at this place they call Havilla.

"they don't know what's inside us"

we've been at the Havilla Children's Home (orphanage) since Wednesday. it has been amazing. (just not much time to write blogs - with 47 orphans all vying for your time!)

i love them all so much already. i know there is an extremely special place in God's heart for orphans. He is their father since they don't have one. He is their defender and protector since they don't have a parent to do that.

This is Elias. he's pretty amazing. he is 17 (the oldest) and he's been here the longest (5 years). he & his little bro (Kevin) were the 1st 2 orphans. he's been through some crazy rough times.
at the orphanage we all get together at night and worship, pray, and someone or even a couple peeps shares stuff from the Bible. Here's part of what Elias said last night. i just had to scribble it down really fast:

"All the people say us orphans are just dirty, poor kids. They say 'those orphans have no hope.' They don't know what's inside us. God is very strong. I didn't die yesterday. I'm still alive today. God is good and has a plan for us. We can see God working every day. We have all the reason in the world to say thanks to God." - Elias

awesome.
he's a big time leader. i can see leadership qualities in him all the time & he's already living the role of a leader where he's at. i really believe God is going to do big things with him.
he wants to be a Doctor. he sits for his exam to go to high school in about 5 weeks.

i believe in him. i believe in all of them. because people DO forget WHO is inside of them. and God IS strong.

thanks, God.

my chains are gone

don't think i need to say much. this is what we see, hear, and experience pretty much 24/7.

Nyaga (Peter) = amazing

this is an experience we will never forget.

Crystal and i had one of our best days ever with Nyaga (Peter) - our sponsored child with Compassion International. We sponsored him back in July, 2007 when he was 5 years old and have "watched him" grow up, written letters back and forth with him, and prayed for him ever since.
we definitely feel like he has become a part of our family! that's how we think of him.

we got to meet him on Tuesday in his village = Tharaka, Kenya. maybe the coolest thing ever. pretty emotional.

we used to call him Peter, but now we learned he actually goes by Nyaga, so we call him that. i've written about him several times before - HERE & HERE are just examples.

Nyaga is an orphan. that alone breaks my heart. just like it breaks God's heart. God loves orphans so much, defends them, and is their Father. i love that.

his mom died when he was like 1 or 2 years old. they don't even know what she died of. they took her to a hospital that was far away, but she died a couple days later. i bet Nyaga doesn't even remember her.
his dad left even before this. maybe just after Nyaga was born? hasn't been back since. no one knows where he went. just abandoned them all. heartbreaking.

but Nyaga is doing just fine! he has tons of other brothers and sisters... his oldest brother is Japhet. this guy is MY HERO! i'm sure i'll write a post on him at some point. he's 27 (like me) and has become DAD to Nyaga and his brothers and sisters. he stepped into this role at 20 or 21 when his mom died and they were all orphaned.
now Japhet has a wife and baby of his own. he is a straight up amazing man. he takes care of the whole family on about $7 per month! incredible. less than a quarter a day. and that's working his butt off on a farm and doing any other job he can find.
that really puts into perspective and helps Crystal and I see where our support is life changing.

we got there and gave Nyaga a big hug right away! he's 9 years old now and had never seen a Mzungu (white person) before Crystal and i. we sat and talked with him at the project and looked through his folder.
a while back we wrote him a letter about how much Jesus loves him and wants to be his Savior. he wrote back saying he totally understood and had already put his faith in Jesus to be his Savior. pretty exciting. they had a record of that in his file too. + all his doctor visits, all his school grades (always in the top 10 in his class which means he'll probably qualify to go to University!), and all the gifts we've sent him = including the GOAT he bought :)
(the goat has since died, but had a baby goat that Nyaga still has.)
it also talked about his spiritual growth and mentioned that he is excellent at memorizing Bible verses. Crystal said something like "so you like memorizing the Bible, huh?" and he hopped up and quoted Luke 2:52 word for word... haha, pretty cool.

over the past 3 years we write back and forth about his favorite things to do/fav games and it's always soccer. so, we got to give him his 1st ever soccer ball! big smile on his face. he said he wanted to go straight out and play soccer with me right away. so we went to the field and played a while. crystal played with us too & even his brother Japhet. really special.

we had some Chipati and tea together at the project before we went to his home. we talked a lot and really got to know each other. Crystal asked him what he wants to be when he grows up and he said "President". i might have teared up a little for several reasons. (read HERE to see where i mentioned that almost 3 years ago.) that's a normal thing for American kids to say, but not kids like Nyaga. usually they have no hope because they're stuck in poverty. i can tell that God and Compassion have changed his life and his future. i asked what he wanted to do if he became president and he said "help all the people of Kenya." :)

he liked holding hands with us. like everywhere we went he wanted to hold one of our hands. pretty cool.

it was pretty far to his home from the Compassion project. like 4-5 km! takes him a while to walk! so we drove the van to his house. on the way i had him put on my sunglasses. i think he looks like a younger (way cuter) version of Jay-Z.

we got to his home and saw where and how he lives. There was a "house" + a "kitchen" (mud walls & tiny room with a fire) + a 2nd "house" to sleep in. both homes were like 10x10. I asked Nyaga where he slept and he took us to the kitchen. i guess he just sleeps on the floor because there's no room in the house to sleep.

the family gave us one of their chickens! that's a BIG DEAL for a family that makes $7 a month! the eggs are a big deal to eat & sell & even eating the chicken would be a huge deal! we were humbled. Crystal got a video of Nyaga handing it to me. then it flapped it's wings in my eyeball.

i think i've mentioned before how one of Crystal's biggest spiritual gifts is GIVING. she LOVES to be generous and give gifts! so she has the gift of gifts. she bought so much stuff for Nyaga's family and even fun presents for him.
we gave his family so many awesome PRACTICAL gifts and Japhet and his wife were SOOOO thankful! they kept thanking me and hugging us after opening each gift!

we hooked Nyaga up with a ton of gifts too. i think his favorite was the little stuffed animal tiger. he loved that thing! he was rocking this Carolina Tarheels shirt we gave him too. we told him that's where we live (our state) & i'm sure we also explained that they're the best basketball team.
He loved eating some pixie sticks! we gave him a big bag of all sorts of candy and he went around and SHARED with everyone. that was pretty cool. we chewed some bubble gum together and tried to blow bubbles.
we gave him a ton of school supplies like pens, pencils, notebooks, a calculator, etc... (everybody was "ooohing" & "ahhing" over the calculator!)
we gave him a couple coloring books - 1 is all Bible stories and even a lot of activities + a BIG box of crayons & a pack of markers + drawing pad.

i got to pray for Nyaga and his family at his home & i had to stop because i started to cry so just said "Amen". when i looked up i think Carol (our Compassion staff guide) was crying too.
when we asked Japhet what we could pray for i totally expected him to say something like - a better job or more money to live on than $7 per month... but he said "that our family could live in good harmony." that's beautiful. it looks to me like they have better family harmony than most already.

while walking through his village we met some of his friends and he introduced us. that was pretty cool.

we had lunch together and while we were waiting on it to cook we colored a picture together. he let us take it home with us. i think it will stay on the fridge for a long time.
+ we wrote him a note on the drawing pad. he read it out loud as i wrote it. really good at reading English - the Compassion project peeps said he's one of the best in his class!
we just wrote that we love him and God loves him so much. we'll pray for him, we're proud of him, and we want him to live his life for God.

i found him the perfect size full Italy World Cup uniform. we gave him that out on the soccer field. he was so excited. i bought an Italy jersey for me and we wore them together and we said we were "teammates". later i gave the adult jersey to his brother Japhet (who told us he was going to play soccer with Nyaga and his new ball all the time and teach him to be a great soccer player...) & i told Nyaga that they are teammates. it was like i had given Japhet a new car. he wore it the rest of the day.

during the whole day Nyaga laughed out loud a whole lot. he laughed with joy and smiled so many times! :) he had so much fun with us and we had so much fun with him. it was amazing.

maybe one of the coolest things was that we gave him his 1st ever Bible! we wrote in it for him and told him to read it as much as he could, follow it, live by it, and love it. that was a cool moment... to give this awesome boy his 1st ever Bible that is his own.

Crystal and i each brought him our favorite snacks/candy to share with him. Crystal's was pop rocks! he passed them around and no one knew what to think! they were so surprised. they were all like "oooooH!" haha. he didn't like my fav at all = slim jims. we told him he could spit it out & he did. :)
but he did love the smarties & gobstoppers.
oh yeah, and we gave him the game "Jacks" and taught him how to play. His brother, Japhet said they really liked it and would play a lot at home.

he wrote us a note in his new drawing pad & drew a pic for us.

at the end we planted a tree together to commemorate our visit. kind of like a marker to remember us by. it was so hard to leave him & i was fighting back tears a lot at different times. Crystal told me not to start or else she wouldn't have a chance!

we gave him a big hug and told him we loved him. we told him to work so hard in school and always follow Jesus with his life... that's the best life possible.

i've really just been writing details because i don't think i can express the emotions or the experience. it was really not explainable. like nothing in the world. we'll remember this forever. i hope we get to hang out with him again some day. we've already talked about how we want to sponsor him to go to University through Compassion (which is a much bigger commitment) and we told him when he goes to University we really want to visit him again.

There are just so many pictures and videos to share from our day with Nyaga and really from our whole time here in Kenya. soon we'll be posting a ton of that stuff on Facebook!