Monday, August 26, 2013

Fall 2013/Spring 2014 Furlough

Chris and Lisa are home on furlough and will be sharing what God has done in Kenya over the last few years.  If you would like to see them please find a church near you and say hello.


Chris cell = 210-618-9011
Lisa cell = 210-882-7333
Aug 18th - Sept. 2nd San Antonio, TX
Sept. 4th - Cedar Park, TX Victory Baptist
Sept. 8th - Georgetown, TX Heritage Baptist
Sept 9th - 10th BBFI Fellowship Meeting Austin, TX
Sept. 11th - Round Rock, TX Faith Baptist Church
Sept. 15th - Mineola,TX Calvary Baptist Church
Sept. 18th - 22nd Gainsville, VA - Battlefield Baptist Church
Sept. 25th - Lee Summit, MO Abundant Life
Sept. 26th - Springfield, MO - BBFI Missions Office
Sept. 27th - 28th Enid, OK
Sept. 29th - Borger, TX - Fellowship Baptist
Sept. 30th - Oct. 2nd Arlington, TX - Family Fellowship
Oct. 3rd - 10th College Station, TX - (9th)Texas Ave Baptist & (8 & 10)Brazos Christian School
Oct. 12th - Ft. Worth, TX - R4C Fundraising Event
Oct. 13th - Ft. Worth, TX - Hallmark Baptist Church
Oct. 16th - 19th Waco, TX
Oct. 21st - San Antonio, TX - SAC Chapel ?
Oct. 26th - San Antonio, TX - R4C Fundraising Event
Oct. 27th - San Antonio, TX - CBC Shertz-Cibilo
Nov. 3rd - San Angelo, TX - Lifepoint Church
Nov. 6th - 10th Tyler, TX - Central Baptist Church
Nov. 17th - Ashburn, VA - Heritage Baptist
Nov. 17th - Milford, DE - First Baptist Church
Nov. 24th - Halfmoon, NY - Temple Baptist
Nov. 26th - Dec. 3rd Thanksgiving w/ Family
Dec. 4th - 8th - Mesquite, TX - First Baptist Church Meadowview
Dec. 22nd - San Antonio, TX - Alamo Heights
Dec. 23rd - Jan. 1st - Christmas w/ Family
Jan. 5th - San Antonio, TX - McCaughley Baptist
Jan. 19th - Nederland, TX - Fellowship of Nederland
Jan. 20th - Feb. 8th - Dallas - Ft. Worth RODEO w/ Family
Feb. 9th - DeQuincy, LA - Bible Baptist Church
Feb. 13th - 18th - Charleston, SC - Ashley River Baptist
March 2nd - Lancaster, TX - Central Baptist & Hallmark Baptist
Mar. 22nd - Edmund, OK - Crystal Moore Wedding

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Still Unpacking




I’ll go ahead and preface this by letting you know that my thoughts are scattered and it’s taken days of thinking exactly what and how to write this. It would be nice to say that after almost 2 weeks of being back in the states that I feel warm and fuzzy and on fire for what the Lord is doing in and through me. Wouldn’t it be cool to exude those warm fuzzies right out of my heart and lavish it upon you where you feel that way too? As inviting as that sounds, I just can’t do it. What I can do though is speak truth. If I were to be honest with you, I would tell you that it took me a week to unpack 2 of our 3 suitcases. If I were to be even more honest with you, I would tell you that I’m finally completing my last load of laundry with items from the trip. And then finally, I’m openly ashamed to tell you that we still have 1 suitcase sitting in the hallway, zipped up and leaning against the wall that still needs to be unpacked. There are no valid excuses for why these things are as they are 12 days later. Anyhow, I do find it rather symbolic. Of what? I guess of the reality that physically, we can come home and unpack the day we get back, or unpack a month later. Doesn’t really matter. However, in the mental, emotional, and spiritual sense, we may be unpacking for the rest of our lives. Unpacking what? Oodles of things I suppose. Memories for one. I am so thankful for the memories made while we were in Africa-memories Josh and I made together, memories our team made with one another, and memories we each made with individual people and groups of people while there. While I enjoy thinking of the memories, my heart also feels torn. I cherish the memories, but long for the people again. The reality is this, I want to have my cake and eat it too. I want to live here in my cozy little world and still have contact and life with the children and people there. I’m not sure what Josh and I’s future looks like. I guess none of us truly are. Perhaps that’s another thing we will be “unpacking” for the rest of our lives- the purpose and will for our lives according to His plan and not our own. I wish that I could tell you that as soon as we saw everyone in our lives for the first time since we had been back that when EVERYONE asked “How was the trip?” and “Are you glad to be home?” etc. that behind our smiles and façade of comfort and ease of being home, that our hearts and minds agreed with what appeared. Are you following me? It’s not that I’m not full of joy, not that I’m not in love with the Lord, not that I am uncomfortable, not that I am not thrilled to see my loved ones, not any thing negative. It’s hard to explain. I know some of my team members will understand this. In some ways, its just that after being back I feel sort of sad. I don’t think I mean sad in a bad way, just in a way that is still trying to process all that we saw, learned, and took part in. We can tell people all day long about our trip-describe it in the most complete way possible, we can show pictures and videos until the sun goes down…But there is nothing in comparison to packing your bags and living it out, even if it is just for 2 weeks. I almost feel silly writing something like this after having only sacrificed very little and spending just a measly 2 weeks there in comparison to people who have sacrificed everything and moved their lives to places like this. Anyways. If I was to narrow this down to one thought that encompasses all of these scattered thoughts, it would be this- I want to be desperate for God. I want to be in complete utter desperation for Him every single moment of every day for the rest of my life. What a sweet place that would be. I think that’s the biggest thing I want to eventually unpack from all of this, is to come to a point in my life where God is who I love more than anyone or anything in this life. But how am I going to get there? It’s certainly not by getting back into the swing of things very quickly, immediately becoming too busy that I’m not even reading my bible or praying as I should. It’s not by being selfish and making my needs and wants a priority. One thing that I loved about where we were in Kenya was that from my point of view, everyone was just barely getting by and working hard to survive each day. How can you not be desperate for God in that kind of circumstance? Maybe the Kenyans see it differently, but when I line my life up next to their life, I see them as desperate people with urgency for a dependable God to meet their every need. Not me. Not here. I haven’t quite unpacked this either. God has given me incredibly more than I could ever need. I’m not sure why I was born here in America. I consider myself blessed. And I am not even in a place of desperation for this God who has blessed me. And that brings me to my next point… am I really blessed? Am I blessed because I have all these “things?” Am I really a blessed person because I have electricity, clean water, plenty of food, plenty of everything? Or are they blessed because they have a lack of these things and have nothing to depend on except for God? I guess I want to say yes I am blessed with these things and now I need to use my blessings to bless others. I don’t know. I wrestle with this. And just for clarification, I fully believe people in America can be desperate for God- I don’t think living in Africa, or anywhere, automatically achieves that in you. I’m just sharing my thoughts here.

My plan was to write this from the perspective of a sponsor getting to meet our child, but you can see my heart is full of many things. However, I do want to share the child Josh and I sponsor with you. Her name is Rahma Athuman. She is precious is every sense of the word. We are in love. We started sponsoring her almost 2 months before we went on the trip. Meeting her was a time we really looked forward to as the trip approached. We had already been praying for her. When we arrived at the school, we were greeted with beautiful children singing and dancing and of course our hearts melted. Quickly, we eagerly began to look intently at each child to see which was our Rahma. There were no questions about it, we had spotted her perfect smile and from that moment on, truly our hearts would be forever connected to this little girl. It was such a joy to spend time with the kids at the school for 2 school days playing games and such. At the end of the second day, while telling Rahma goodbye, my eyes began to swell with tears just knowing we most likely wouldn’t see her again for a long time. Little did I know, the Lord was going to bless us the very next day with more time with her. When we arrived at the school for the community day, Rahma, her 2 sisters, and her mom were there!!!! My heart threatened to explode with joy. Josh and I were so happy. It was in this extra time that we got videos of her talking, singing, dancing, and playing. Thank You, Jesus. Even around 2 in the afternoon when her mom and one sister were heading back home, her mom said “She wants to stay with yall.” I asked her if she could stay since her older sister (Fatuma) was staying and her mom gave permission for her to do so. For the next 4 hours we just completely soaked up our time with Rahma, Fatuma, and a group of other girls. What a gift all the beautiful girls were to us. We are so thankful. Seriously, if we had it our way, Rahma would be here with us now. We would bring her home in a heartbeat. However, we are so thankful she has her family she lives with and is able to attend school where Chris and Lisa are. Meeting Rahma has made this sponsorship much more personal. When the money comes out of our account and when we pray for her, it feels different than before. If you sponsor a child, go to Africa and meet them. If you don’t sponsor a child, I would encourage you to do so, and then go to Africa and meet them. Josh and I are seeking the Lords guidance in a big area concerning things that will change our lives forever, and our time with the children in Kenya only confirmed even more what the Lord has laid on our hearts.
I hope that somehow you were able to follow me and understand a little of where I am coming from. We are so glad to have gone to Kenya with Real 4 Christ Ministries. It was worth every penny, every fundraiser, every hour on the plane, every tear, every EVERYTHING. I realize that how I live from the time I got back in the states to the next few months won’t really be a true testament of how the Lord changed me through our trip to Kenya. However, years and decades from now I believe will. I don’t want to be on fire for God now and then months and years down the road just talk about our experience and live as if it was nothing, no big deal, just another stamp in the passport type of thing. I want God to unpack some serious things in my life and birth in me a desperation for Him. So if you’ll please excuse me for now, I think I’ll go unpack that suitcase in the hallway.
Kelsey Morgan

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Being a part of ministry.



Our family has been supporting Real 4 Christ Ministries since the beginning because we believe in Chris and Lisa, missions, and spreading God's Word. We have been keeping up with their news letters, Facebook page, and have been keeping in touch with the Moore's while they've been ministering in Kenya. We love hearing the stories and hearing what God is doing. 

In July, part of our family (Bill, Pam, our 15 year old son, David, and our nephew, TJ), along with a friend of ours, Karina, had the awesome opportunity to go minister with Chris and Lisa. What a blessing it was to see this ministry in action. 

One day, as we sat and ate lunch with the kids, Chris, and Jackson (one of the leaders at MBEWAU Academy) we were overwhelmed as we looked around the campus and saw all the ministries that were going on. Jackson thanked us for our support and talked about how our support (and all the other supporters) are a blessing to them. This was very humbling because we never thought about "us" being a part of the work here. It was so awesome seeing everything in person and being a part of serving. It was a blessing to see the children at both schools interact with Chris and Lisa. They adore them (it goes both ways).

The Moore's truly love the people of Mombasa with all their hearts and they show it in everything they do. Even on the back roads, Chris would pull his car over and shake hands with men standing on the corner and joke around with them. Old ladies would laugh as Chris joked around in Swahili. Everywhere we went God's love was shown through simple acts of service.

Our time with the children was precious. God has huge plans for the growth of the ministry centered around the campus which includes much more than just sharing God's love with the children. We love the fact that over 200 families come to the Maasai Corner campus to pump clean water. Most of the families are Muslim and they are receiving water so that they may, some day, know the Living Water.

Visiting local people on the trails and sharing the Good News of Jesus was an unforgettable experience. Within one hour, 3 men accepted Jesus into their hearts. We were blown away by this miracle. These men couldn't wait to say "yes" they wanted to pray. We also met women who were already serving Jesus and living for Him and we were blown away by this miracle as well. Chris and Pastor Eric were there to translate, share Scripture, and encourage growth by inviting them to the church services at Maasai Corner. Knowing there is followup for these men to grow closer to God left us with a peace that only God can give. 
Don't miss out on a chance to go and serve with Chris and Lisa and don't miss out on a chance to support them with prayers and with finances. 


Love, Pam DeFrees



Thursday, August 1, 2013

Test your faith.



After being back in the states for a while, I have had some time to reflect back on my trip to Kenya. I made many new friends and memories that will last a lifetime. I wanted to go on this trip to spread the gospel, love on the children and their families and encourage the Kenyan believers in their faith. I was blessed to have had the opportunity to baptize a new believer, witness to several families, lead someone to The Lord, get to know some of the families, and play with the children. Funny thing is I came back more encouraged by their faith. I can relate to Paul when he says in Romans 1:12, When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. The Kenyan people are so polite and hospitable. They welcome you into their homes and enjoy engaging in conversation with you. They are content and always smiling despite having so little. It made me think about my own faith and how easy it is for me to say my faith is strong, but I haven't had to face the desperate situations my friends in Kenya have. Seeing their dependence on God has encouraged me to live a humble life and always share my blessings with others. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit Kenya, I highly recommend it. You will come back a changed person.

Mark Coons
Fort Worth, TX