What
can be said about a best friend? How valuable they are... How much influence they have in your life. There is a quote I heard and I
don't know who said it but it goes like this " show me your friends and I
will show you your future." The thought is if your friends are God
fearing world travelers then your life will look something like that....or on the flip side, if your friends are drug addict criminals, your going
to live a life similar to that. For the most part I have been fortunate
to have friends of noble character that love God truly. Steve Turner is a
prime example of this. In so many ways I wish I was more like him. He
is the real deal. A real Christian who honestly wants to do whatever
the Lord asks of him.
We understand each other
and I'm grateful for that. I have a really hard
time being up front with the sins and struggles in my life. St knows that
all to well, he knows my dirt. So he will point blank ask me how
this or that thing is going. He is always giving me opportunities to
confess. Well this is one of those times. Let me paint the
picture. We are in a small small small town called Unity, in an old
motel taking the day off. I was scheduled to do a phone interview later on that day so we started talking and as things got more and more open he
straight up asked me some very difficult questions.
Specifically on the
topic of girls and relationships.... Ok here's my dirt...
I have struggled with integrity a lot in my life and St just seems to have it. Every little bit I do have, I have to fight like hell to keep. I
have cheated on just about every girlfriend I have ever had. Often times
have had 3 - 4 girlfriends at a time. I share this with you for two
reasons. One, to testify to the power of redemption and grace
found in Jesus. That even though there is no reason for the Lord to
allow me to be apart of what He is doing, He still chose me to do this. Secondly, that even though I feel strong and think that I would never be that person again there are fears that I could go back. St
really impressed upon me the importance of what I'm doing and how
failure or lack of integrity in this area of my life can damage what we
are trying to do. That if I walk in that life style again, it would discredit
me and I would be seen as a fake. We were then interrupted by a phone call I
had to take for the radio interview and after I was off the phone, St and I
prayed. I of course wept like a baby asking God for strength and begging
for protection from the enemy for my self. My fear is failing at this and letting everyone down. And most of all, letting the children of Uzima down.
The next day we got back on the road and left Unity. Whenever St and I are together we just always seem to fall into the swing of
things. We work so well together. Between the 2 of us, we are usually
able to handle whatever comes our way. St is not one for being in the spotlight, he
has a harder time than I do connecting with large groups of people. However
he is so good at the one on one conversations and articulating the
specific needs of Uzima .
So this is how it works. I
start out hamming it up... telling jokes and funny stories. Then I move in to
what we are doing. Most of the time the people that don't really care
ask a few questions and then move along. Sometimes we come across people
who are really interested and want to know more. That's where St shines! He takes over the conversation, showing them
pictures of the kids and sharing more of the specifics of what God is
doing in Africa and how this walk helps. This part is very specific. He
gives pictures to the people who are truly interested and committed to
(at the very least) praying for an individual child. He commits to sending
them updates and any news about the child and what not.
This
is a perfect example of what we do. Today is Wednesday and we are at
Brogan quick stop. In the past week we have walked from John Day to
Prairie City, Austin Junction, Unity, Ironside to Brogan. That's about
91 miles in 8 days with about 3 1/2 days off. At the quick stop we met
the most amazing woman named Charity. We spent most of the day
chatting with her. It starts out as always me telling funny stories and
eventually moves in to what we are doing. Right away you could see that
she was very interested in what we had to say. St took over the
conversation and they talked about all the specifics of Uzima and the
needs. He showed her pictures and told stories about the different
children, their personalities and things they like to do. Just before we
headed out, she picked 2 children that she would committe to pray for. We
said our goodbyes and hit the road. As we walked St and I prayed
thanking God for Charity and her commitment to pray for the children. We prayed for some other people we met and stayed
with and all the kindness we had received during our stay in Brogan.
This
is the cool part! We must have gone just about 3 miles when Charity
shows up. She brought cards for each of the children that St will pass on to them when he goes back to Kenya. She also gave to Needle2Square. What
I didn't know is that St had privately prayed for a specific amount of
money.... Well you guessed it. It was the exact amount she gave... So
incredible!
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