My dear brother, Matt Snyder, writes a special blog every Friday just sort of telling his readers about his week, maybe bringing up a funny thought or idea. So I'm going to do that today. And today, I'm going to discuss something that I actually cherish very much- Michael J Fox-   no... that's not true.

While I was on The World Race, I would try to process everything that I was experiencing, whether it was through talking to my teammates, writing in my journal, or even talking to friends and family on the phone/skype. But it was incredibly difficult to explain it all. The only thing I could really say clearly was, "It's like every day is sensory overload!" Every part of me was being immersed in something new, uncomfortable, and real. The taste of the food, the smell of the air, the feeling of the dirt, the sounds of the vehicles and people, and of course the sights. Every sense was filled to the max of something new and exciting. What I didn't realize was that these things were creating memories in me. Each sense would hang onto those things and not let go.

When I came home from the trip, it was... interesting. I would be listening to someone and halfway through their talk I would have to interrupt them: "Oh, sorry Mom. You're going to have to start over. I was in Moldova for a little bit there."

Flashbacks! Sometimes when you're sitting at work or in school you get that smell that reminds you of your childhood. Everything else- sights, sounds, feelings- is distracting you from this, but the smell is so memorable. Well with these flashbacks, all five senses would jump back to these memories. It's like my whole body would be in this and that place.

SO COOL! Even though I can't actually be in Kenya, I can still experience Kenya again! Even though I'm not in the Philippines, I can still experience the Philippines!

As I was overwhelmed during the World Race by all of the smells, tastes, etc, my senses were growing memories in them that would sustain me past my time in those places.

Hmmm... this could go off into a ramble about how we need to soak up every part of God we can while we're on the "mountain top" so that we can rely on those great things while we're in the "valley," but I'll spare you the eye-ache.

Thanks for reading.

Team Changes

A year ago I spent some time in the beautiful city of Mwanza, Tanzania. It was a wonderful month of ministry with some great relationships built along the way. But before I get to the ministry side of things, let me talk about one of the biggest pieces of the month- Team changes.

Becoming a team leader was one of the biggest things God did with me on The World Race. It tested my patience, my integrity, my compassion, my initiative, and, obviously, my leadership. But I would not have gone to the (figurative) places I had if God had not put this mantle upon me. It was hard. It was tiring. It was lonely. But all in all I would not have given it up for the world.

Ministry

One gift The Lord blessed me with through The World Race was the relationships that I still have with some of the people we met. I asked Paul Nyabagaka to send us an update on how things are going in their community and church. It's not much, but it's great to hear from a brother in Christ writing all the way from Mwanza, Tanzania (keep in mind his first language is Swahili):

"Thank indeed my friend

All the time we keep you in our prayer

Pass my greetings to the all team

Here at Kilimahewa, Mwanza we are doing fine

Please keep us in your prayer we are still building the church and we are expecting to receive another team in March"

Pastor Paul and brother Jonathon Bisanga are two absolutely amazing men of God. They did everything they could to welcome us into their home, community, and church. Paul and his family were incredibly hospitable in opening two of their rooms up for us to sleep in and feeding us! Their five children are wonderful, fun, and friendly, and you can tell their parents pray for them every day that God would reveal Himself to them. Paul loves and cares for people on such a strong and passionate level that people are just drawn to him and his ministry. Please pray for his family, that they would continue to be blessed, healthy, and active in their community.

Jonathon is a wonderful brother and disciple of Jesus Christ. He has such a servants heart and always desires to learn something new about God. Jonathon was a great translator for us when we preached in church and open air services. By the end of the month, when I preached for an hour in a different church, he was able to stick right with me, and the words just flowed between us. Amazing! He also has dreams of starting some big ministries in the Mwanza area, but needs lots of help and lots of support in seeing these dreams come to life. Please pray for Jonathon and his family, that he would continue to be provided for, that he would be given more opportunities to serve, and that he would step up into his role as an apostle alongside Pastor Paul.

The church we worked with was the Assemblies of God Church of Kilimahewa (the community/neighborhood in Mwanza). They are located on top of a mountain overlooking Lake Victoria. This is also where our house is located. Even though it was a workout to get up and down the mountain to the church, we would fill the chairs at church every Sunday and Wednesday nights! The whole church building would be packed with men, women, and children dancing, jumping, and singing! I loved the music that we would make to praise God throughout the church services. And one of my favorite parts of the church was that they meet every Friday night, from 10pm to 3am to pray for the community, church, church leaders, congregants, etc. Everyone would show up, we would pray for something, have some praise and worship, have a teaching, pray some more, and repeat! So good! This church is absolutely anointed and blessed, ordained for the work of The Kingdom of God!

We had many other opportunities for ministry throughout our month in Tanzania, working with a boy with only one leg, praying for many sick people in the hospital, going door-to-door telling people about Jesus, and dancing away with all of the church folks! Though John and I had to leave early to meet up with the other men on the squad for "man-istry," we had a blast in Mwanza with our new family.

 

Please be praying for the continued blessings and anointing on our family in Tanzania, and for the Lord to have His hand over their communities and churches. Pray protection, life, and abundance over their lives.

Thanks for reading.

Are we a product of our environment or are we simply who we always were to be? Am I Braedon because my parents gave me that name, I grew up in the Midwest, went to public high school? Or am I who I am because it's what my DNA always said I would be?

I believe our environment has a lot to do with it. I'm not going into all of the sociology and psychology of "nature vs. nurture" (though that stuff is so interesting to me), but I have been thinking about how the people around us really play a big role in our decision-making.

We have all hit those points in our lives where we are faced with several different BIG opportunities and we are not sure which path to take. We have this feeling in our gut that says one path is the right path, and another path is the wrong.

Living in such close community with so many wonderful, prayerful, and caring men and women, when you reach these paths it almost seems more difficult to make these decisions. There is always a feeling of black and white, as if God is going to give me a "Yes," or a "No."

But what would it look like if God was presenting me with several different opportunities and He left it up to me to decide what to do? Because in reality, if a choice is made to walk through Door #1, there needs to be a solid effort to glorify Him in any way possible. And if the choice is Door #2, can God still be glorified? 

I'm convinced, more and more, that God is taking me through a season where He's leaving it up to me. He doesn't want to give me a "Yes," or a "No" because He wants me to "own" what decisions I make. It would be so easy to do what most people do in this case: sit on my couch with my arms crossed just waiting for God to throw something at me. But it's not that black and white. He's telling me the choice is up to me, and in that choice I should glorify Him.

I've got dreams and passions. But if I just sit here waiting for a "Yes" or a "Go," (which I've done most of my life) then I could miss out on some really good opportunities to glorify God.

So pursue I shall. What comes out of it, I do not know. And I cannot expect everyone to join me. But "a man has got to do what a man has got to do."

Thanks for reading.

I have a secret...                                                                                                             ...I'm not a verbal processor.

It's funny. Even as I write this it's difficult to think of what to say. It's as if I have these thoughts and feelings, discernment and intuition, but they are made up of some other s u b s t a n c e than words.

That's like saying to me, "there's a time to chew with your mouth, but now you have to find some other way to be fed."

In a world where everything is based off of language and words, there is only so far you can go with communication. You can only go so deep into the mind of the speaker.

Studies say 7% of communication comes through words, 38% of communication comes through tone, and 55% of communication comes from body language.

So how does a blog, such as this truly communicate to you, the reader, what I, the writer, am actually trying to say?

I don't have an answer. I'm tempted to just start doing video blogging so you all can see and hear me, but I'm not sure I have the technological capabilities at this point.

Several people have mentioned that there have been many well written blogs on here. Thank you for the compliments. But I am still not sure I've been able to express much of what goes on in my head.

This whole concept of internal/external processing seems to encompass my whole life. Work, relationships, entertainment. A supervisor asks what I think of such and such. No words come to mind. I think I have an understanding of how such and such went, but to verbalize it is like asking me to play music with a chair (I don't know what that's supposed to mean). My best friend Cindy asks me "what are you thinking?" all the time. A lot of times I say "nothing," or "I don't know." I just don't know how to get it out in words.

So what is the point to all of this?

"I don't know."

A great desire is to seek understanding, knowledge and wisdom. But also to share that understanding, knowledge and wisdom with others.

Do you think you are able to communicate to others what it is your crazy mind is stirring up?

Thanks for reading.

Hey Everyone,

Because you folks are important to me,  I am sending a quick note to update you on what is happening with my life and ministry and ask for your prayer.

As you may already know, I have been appointed as missionary staff apprentice with Adventures in Missions, serving in the Training Dept. in Gainesville, GA.

I am excited about an intense three-week online training course I am taking to help me share my vision more effectively and connect people with a vital purpose for their redemption: being the expression of Christ to the nations.  

At this point I am not asking for financial partnership in my ministry.   Rather, I am asking for your prayer as I take on this course with lots of homework, and then launch this exciting temporary assignment.  I look forward to getting in touch with you when my training is complete.

 

 

 

But what happens when God actually listens?

How do we react when God says, "I want to do something with your life, too"?

A month ago, I wrote a blog about how God was calling me to big things. And it didn't really come out of nowhere. It wasn't like I was sitting on the couch one day thinking "this is what I want to do the rest of my life," and then God poked Head into the room and said "Braedon, I need to you to do this for Me."

Nope.

I asked.

I prayed "God, whatever You want me to do, I'll do it."

On the World Race there were plenty of opportunities for me to pray this. I asked that God would take me out of my comfort zone and do some crazy stuff. I told God that I would do whatever I had to do to see His Kingdom come and His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. I said that I would give up everything in order for God to use me. And there were passions that God put on my heart that I want to see come to fruition.

But around the New Years, and perhaps when I first moved down here to Gainesville, I realized that all of these things I was saying were actually being played back to me. God was saying, "Braedon, remember that time you prayed for a ministry? Well here it is. But you can't just jump right in. You are going to have to take responsibility. You're going to have to learn how to do this and that."

What I realized I was doing was giving up. The responsibility was showing its face and I didn't want to deal with it. I wanted to be the immature kid not learning how to lead, work hard, manage my life. I just wanted the end result.

                                               

And He always wins.

The day I wrote that blog a month ago was the day I threw my hands in the air and said, "Alright, God. You're right. I'm going to do what I have to do. For real. Not just words but actions."

And I immediately saw results.

God showed me opened doors revealing answers to prayers for my future.

And every day I take a deep breath, strap on my proverbial boots, and take a step toward God's desires.

It's difficult.

It's tiring.

"You were created for more than this. You can rise up and do the things that strengthen this community and glorify God. Don't just sit there and wallow in your inability, but trust that God has given you gifts and abilities to impact the nations."

This was not said to me verbatim during my time in Uganda, but it was implied numerous times from teammates and leaders alike. And as mentioned in my latest blog, you, my readers, were also deliverers of these words.

Our ministry in Lira, Uganda was headed up by our contacts at Victory Outreach Ministries, with Pastors Johnson and George leading the way. These two men of God have crazy stories to tell about how they have come so far in what God has called them. Pastor Johnson has travelled to the States many times and is a close friend with Christian writer, John Maxwell. Pastor George was almost assassinated by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's police, when he proclaimed the Name of Jesus Christ and they left him alone. God has handed them the keys to a huge ministry in Lira and they are walking in a lot of faith to see the fruit of their labor. It's an amazing sight to see.

We were given several different opportunities to serve throughout the month, including such things as painting a local school, picking maze (corn) with local prisoners, visiting the local prison to preach, singing with the worship team, and evangelizing door-to-door. We had a blast being able to serve this ministry and also enjoying the shade of a tree after a long days work, playing with the chickens and roosters in the yard.

Throughout the month we dealt with some team issues, trying to reconcile some feelings of rejection and loneliness. We spent a good amount of time trying to work through these things while also being involved in ministry. And to top it all off, we got word of some team changes at the end of the month. Though we had some issues we needed to deal with as a team, we were all a little upset at the prospect of being "taken away" from each other. So even though we had plenty of ministry opportunities, we weren't as invested in them due to our thoughts and emotions trailing.

One night while Allison Johnston, our squad leader, was with us we had a night of prayer and worship, as Allison saw we need a little "pick-me-up." She encouraged us to push through these times of frustration and tiredness in order to serve the many people we met throughout Lira who did not know Christ. She also rebuked us for not stepping up into the things God is calling us to. This was quite the kick in the pants I needed at the time, and the next day Allison approached me to extend the invitation to be a team leader after the team changes that were to occur after this month.

As uncomfortable as it was, I had to say "Yes." I had heard God tell me through my own heart and through the mouths of other people (World Racers and friends and family) that He was calling me to leadership in some form or fashion, and I knew this was the opportunity He was giving me. I knew it would be hard, I knew I wouldn't feel confident about it, I knew I would have to take responsibility for six other people. But this was what my Father called me to, so I had to do it.

Our month in Lira, Uganda was overall a wonderful and ground-breaking month. It was the end of a beginning and the beginning of a new beginning. My heart is still broken for the men in the prison we visited, the kids we played with, and the sick people we prayed for (see the story of Maxwell here). This month is most memorable because it was the last month I was with my wonderful Team KARIS...

                                      

I mentioned in my last blog that we took the Real Life teams to downtown Atlanta for an overnight on the streets. Thanks to the help and hospitality of the folks at Safehouse Outreach (http://www.safehouseoutreach.org/), we were able to pull this off, and some good things came out of it.

Benny and I had about two hours to spare before the teams got downtown, so we hung out with some of the folks hanging outside the facilities. We met a homeless man named Greg, originally from Detroit, MI. He explained a little about how he ended up on the streets, how he ended up down here in Atlanta, and some of his church background. But the real interesting stuff happened when he turned to me and said, "Now let me tell you what I think the Lord is saying to you..."

Greg then went on about how God wants to bless me financially. He wants to open up some big things for me to receive. Greg continued to tell me about how I have been struggling financially in the past while. It's crazy because it's true, but even crazier because I had not said a word to Greg about what I do for a living. He then continued to tell me about how God wants to release financial blessings on my life and ministry, but that I have never released my finances to Him, basically saying "I don't trust you with finances, because you don't trust Me."

Another thing that Greg mentioned to me was that I haven't "tithed" in a while. And honestly, I haven't given finances regularly to the Lord in at least two years. It would be really easy to come up with the excuse "I haven't had an income in a year and a half." But in reality, this is a perfect example of how I haven't trusted God to take care of my needs. I think about all of the close friends I have around me who need financial help. These are my brothers and sisters. I want to be able to support them as much as I can, no matter how much or little I have, myself.

This is not just about my finances. This concept permeates my entire life. I wrote a short blog not too long ago about how I had to grieve my youth, how I have to be alright growing up and taking the responsibilities of the things God is putting in my hands. I want to see God's blessings pouring out into my ministry and into my community. But if I am not trusting that God will take care of those things, then I'm not going to see it happen, even if it is happening.

Throughout the night on the streets, I learned a lot. I am convinced that we met at least fifteen angels in downtown Atlanta in the middle of the night. God spoke. The Holy Spirit moved. Jesus walked with us. My Father showed me the keys to His Kingdom. He told me to trust Him with the things He's giving me. And if I do that, I'm going to receive those keys, and a whole lot more.

And what's really cool is... I was given Financial Coaching from a Homeless Man.