Kenya Fundraising

So, a little update here on how our Kenya plans are coming. Yesterday we went in to get our passports renewed. From what we had heard, even though my(Kevin) passport wasn't expired it would need to be replaced because my address had changed. As we found out last night, this was not the case, so we saved ourselves $87, and Melissa got her application in with little difficulty. Not too shaby. As for fundraising. We are currently on a deadline to raise a total of $4000 between Melissa and myself by the end of March. That is it for now. God bless!

A Lesson In Weakness

I was riding on the bus the other day as I headed home from work, and began thinking about some things people had said about me in a staff meeting. Nothing bad, but things like "he is patient," "he is calm when dealing with guests," and other stuff like that. Most people reading this will probably already know that I work at a ministry that seeks to help the homeless, and for those of you who have ever had the privilege of working with the homeless, you will know that it can be extremely taxing at times. In light of this, the passage 2 Corinthians 12:9(But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.") came to mind. This passage has caused me untold grief in the past as I have struggled to understand what "My power is made perfect in weakness" means. A bit of a revelation came to me as I rode home that day.

I have been asked many times how I get through the day, or how I can deal with the people that come through these doors that seem intent only on pushing other people's buttons, and everytime I get asked that, the only honest answer I can come up with is that it is God who gets me through the day. This, I think, is exactly what 2 Corinthians 12:9 is talking about. If we could do everything on our own, we would not, in our selfishness, give any of the credit to God. However, in actuality, we fall quite short, and because of this we cannot do anything without God. His power is made perfect in our weakness, because in our weakness we have no choice but to let His power work in us.

God Bless!

EMAIL ADDRESS

This is just a note to clear up any resulting confusion. The email address at the top of this page is not our actual email address. I had to make a new one because I could not make an account with our actual address. So, please continue to use kmderksen@gmail.com. Thank you!

Kenya

So, Melissa and I are headed off to Kenya this summer from July 6-25th. Many of you have probably already heard this. So, to keep everyone on board with what is going on in the processes leading up to this, I have started this blog, and hopefully it will also serve to keep people updated as to what is going on in our lives in general. Currently we are working on raising the $9600 for the trip($4800 each), as well as figuring out passport issues and getting shots and visas. We could use your prayers that the money needed would come in and that we would be able to get our passports, shots and visas without too much trouble.