Author: Marcus Wilson

Well, we knew to expect the unexpected when we started on this road trip with three babies, but little did we expect that they would be champs… and that the rest of us would end up getting sick for the rest of the week. My dad, brother, sister-in-law, and I all got sick for the majority of our time in Durango. A bummer, to say the least, but sometimes I’ve found that God just tends to find a way to knock you off your feet when you’re trying to do too much, too fast. I will admit that some of the time I spent reading and talking with family–when there was nothing else I could do–was very refreshing and encouraging time that I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. Yet I think we were all a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to do more while we were there. Thankfully all of the kids stayed healthy, though, and my mom and wife were absolute heroes helping pick up the slack for all of us sick people!

We planned on stopping back in Albuquerque on the way back home to spend more time with that part of our family, but since we were still sick and some of them had actually gotten sick during the week as well, we decided to just come home a day early. We drove through one of the craziest hail storms I’ve ever been in near Clovis, New Mexico, but eventually we made it back and are ever so happy to be home.

Overall, it’s been a really special time off for me. A time to pour into others and reconnect with God myself, and a time to let him teach me as I realize I can always use more teaching 🙂

Lastly, I want to thank Kris and FDLIC for allowing me to make this sabbatical happen. I probably wouldn’t have gone to camp otherwise, so it’s just amazing that my company would support me so fully on this endeavor. I hope and expect that from this time there will be tangible impacts in his kingdom that we will all get to find out about someday!

The first two days in Durango have been great. The weather is as fantastic as we all hoped it would be, and we even successfully completed a 4-ish mile hike with all 3 babies in tow! We also rode a mini section of the Durango-Silverton train and saw some incredible views of the Animas river that winds all around the area. Being in the mountains always reminds me of God’s creativity, power, and beauty all at the same time, and I’ve definitely felt his grace with us so far on this trip.

Riding the train

It’s a quick turnaround from my week at camp to family vacation. The way it worked out, I arrived back home at 5pm and left at 8am the next day. I think it’ll be worth it, though, for an escape to the cool weather of Colorado.

We’re probably crazy for attempting this, but it’ll be my family (with a potty-training 2 year old and 7 month old), my parents, and my brother’s family (with a 6 month old). We had originally reserved a 15 passenger van and planned to ride all together but thankfully it was sketchy looking and also broken when my parents went to pick it up. Instead we took two cars with my kids in one and my brother’s in the other.

We stopped overnight in Albuquerque to visit some extended family, which was a great bonus. Then the next day we finished the remaining 3 hours to Durango! Overall the drive was pleasantly uneventful, even with having to stop frequently for the babies.

Hopefully the rest of the week will be full of adventure and relaxation!

These three cousins rocked their road trip!

What a powerful week we had at camp! Some of the most special times for me were praying over the students in my group, encouraging them in their pursuit of God and watching their faces and hearts come alive as he moved in them over the course of the week. It’s really such an incredible privilege to be able to witness God at work in the lives of people who are desperate and hungry for him. One student said he had really been struggling over the past year with anger and depression, but one evening during service God really met him in a powerful way through the message, to the point where he said he felt as free as he can remember in a very long time. You could visibly see the peace and relief on his face as he was just filled with the joy of knowing he’s fully loved by God.

While I’ll miss all of the stories like this from the past week, one thing I will not miss is the weather: at one point during one of our rec times, my phone said it felt like 118 degrees outside! I don’t think that will be the case next week in Durango, where the high the first day we’re there is forecast to be a gorgeous 68 degrees. Stay tuned…

Camp is really an incredible (while also very exhausting) experience. I am co-leading a group of 17 Junior guys, many of whom I have led in life group during the school year for a couple of years. I have never been to camp with this group before, though, so I know it will be special to be able to walk with them through what’s always a transformative time in their lives.

Day 1 set the bar high right out of the gate: God moved powerfully during our first time of worship, and several of the guys in our group had already really encountered him in a powerful way. I am really raising my expectations for what God will do the rest of the week!

Here’s the first post of my mini-sabbatical! I didn’t have Internet access for a good portion of my time, so I’ll be posting several things at once now that I’m back at home.

Here’s an overview of my sabbatical:

The first week I’ll be volunteering as a family group leader (counselor) at Beltway’s high school camp in East Texas. I’ve done this a couple times before and it promises to be an adventure.

The second week I’ll be traveling to Durango, Colorado with my family. Hopefully this will be a good recovery from camp week and will really allow me to be refreshed an enjoy time with the people I value most.

Looking forward to it!

Tea Time

We took a break from the work on Wednesday to visit the house of Romo, who serves as manager for the Newmans’ farm/school/etc. Romo has built an amazing house using many of the same techniques as the Newmans–it’s a brick house with solar power that Romo wired up himself. Pretty amazing! We enjoyed sitting around and talking with Romo’s family as they served us tea.

Masai manyatta

Drinking tea at Romo’s house

Next Romo took us on a tour of a couple manyattas, traditional Masai mud houses, which some of his family lived in. These houses are built by Masai women–they’re something like 8 feet wide by 15 feet long, but up to 8 or 10 people can sleep in one, and cooking is traditionally done here as well. They’re really cool!

Work Complete!

Our team in front of the completed walls

After three days of hard work, we finished building the walls of the store. It was amazing to see how much we could accomplish in that short amount of time! I can’t wait to see pictures of the store when the Newmans’ workers complete it, roof and all.

Laura and me with Doug, Immanuel, and Dan

Wednesday was our last day to work at the Newman’s house, so we spent some time at the end of the day thanking the workers and saying goodbye. This was a very emotional time; it’s crazy how close you can grow to people in just a few days, but I suppose that’s how it is when you share a connection with someone in Christ at the heart level.

The Best Birthday Present!

Dan’s bracelet

Wednesday was also my birthday–it was kind of fun to have a birthday in another country, except I kept forgetting it was my birthday! Coincidentally, Dan, one of the workers with whom I worked quite a bit last year, gave me a Masai bracelet, a beaded bracelet that most of the guys wear. I was humbled and thankful, but even more so when I found out that it was not just a gift, but a gesture saying “you’re one of us.” Sorry to anyone who’s ever given me a birthday present, but this was the best thing I have ever received on my birthday, hands down.

School Kids at the Park

Elephant X-ing

After a safari day where we saw giraffes, wildebeests, water buffalo, monkeys, gazelle, elephants, lions, hyenas, and more, our last day in Kenya was a day at a beautiful arboretum in Nairobi with the kids from Christian Family Ministries school, which is run by the same church we visited on Sunday. Many of the kids at the school had never been out of the slums, or only a couple of times, so this was an INCREDIBLE day.

The kids performing songs for us!

The kids performed songs, poems, and dances for us, and we played games with them all morning. Their smiles and laughter were contagious as they got to just play and have fun in such a beautiful place. They also got to eat a really nice meal which was provided for them–a big upgrade from their typical meals; this was such a special day!

Tug of war!

The kids from this school are part of one of the Newmans’ initiatives in Kenya, a child sponsorship program which provides 2 meals a day and enables kids from Korogocho to attend the CFM school. Meeting the kids firsthand and hearing some of their stories, I can’t express how big of an impact this program is having on these precious lives. To learn more about this program and how you can pray for these kids, or even sponsor a child, please visit http://www.hopeeternity.com/.

Back to “normal”

Wow, what an amazing trip. It’s such a whirlwind of emotions heading back home, but I hope that as I get back to my “normal” life, I live a little bit differently after witnessing the joy, simplicity, hospitality, and friendship of my Kenyan brothers and sisters in Christ.

Life in the Bush

We saw lots of Masai herding goats and cattle on our drive to the Newmans’

Monday began three days out at the Newmans’ house. They’re former Abilenians who moved to Kenya three years ago after they felt God calling them to help provide hope and purpose to kids in Nairobi and in their local community south of the city. They live way out in the bush (a 45 minute car ride on a rough dirt road from our already-remote motel 70 miles of Nairobi).  As we drove out there each day we passed Masai people (the local tribe) leading their numerous goats and cattle to the local watering hole.

Our team at the entrance to the Newmans’ place

On their land, the Newmans are starting a training school that aims to teach life skills to young men and women who aren’t able to attend university or other post-secondary education for whatever reason. The school, which will be hosted at the Newman’s house, will teach skills such as finance management, business skills, farming techniques, and theology.

The Work Begins

About halfway through with the structure of the store

Our task this year was to help the Newmans build a small store next to their house where they can sell items to nearby Masai people, such as farming or building supplies. The foundation had already been laid, so our task was to build the walls out of earth bricks–a cool and economical concoction of moist dirt and cement pressed into a brick. The Newmans’ workers had made 10,000 of these bricks prior to our arrival, but they had not cured them properly, so only about 1 in every 20 bricks was usable! A few of us were assigned the job of locating and carrying usable bricks from the massive pile they had assembled. Besides bricks, we found scorpions, a black widow spider, a centipede, and even a red spitting cobra (twice!) in this lovely pile. Fun!

The best part about these days of work was hanging out with the Newmans’ Masai workers. Most of them were there last year, and we had grown really close with several of them, so seeing them again and catching up on life while we worked was really special. Three days didn’t seem like a long enough time to be out there, but we made the most out of every minute we spent there!

The infamous brick pile

Well it sounds like our fun is over for now. Too bad it came to an end, but congrats to Little Matt, the worthy winner of the prize!

Kenya is an amazing place. I had the privilege of visiting on a mission trip last year, and it was an absolutely incredible experience that opened my eyes to many things God is doing around the world. My sabbatical allowed me the opportunity of going back this year, for which I am very grateful.

Church… Kenya Style

Our team on the way to Kenya

After a trip that lasted a day and a half, we finally made it to Nairobi. Our first day there, we attended a church service in Korogocho, one of the largest slums in Nairobi (for a size reference, take the population of Abilene, double it, and put all of those people into an area smaller than Lake Kirby).

The church service there was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. The congregation worshiped with a vigor and utter gratitude to God that blew my mind; they smiled, danced, and sang at the top of their lungs the entire time. Here was a gathering of people who live off of just a couple of dollars a day, yet they were far more exuberant and thankful than pretty much any American I’ve ever met. They’re joyful people!

We were greeted by happy children as we arrived in Korogocho!

At one point during worship the power went out, rendering the microphones and keyboard inoperable… yet the songs continued without missing a single beat, and what followed was one of the most powerful moments of worship you could imagine. By “coincidence,” we began singing a song that simply said “I just want to say thank you, my Lord.” As we sang this over and over again, the presence of God in the room was palpable. Being on the worship team at my church back home, I’m accustomed to the great lengths we often go to in order to create a certain “experience” at church. Yet I can assure you that no instruments or production of any kind was needed in this moment– just a group of people, in the dark, loudly lifting up their voices to God. It was a life-changing experience for all of our team that I will never, ever forget.

On a Mission

As if that weren’t humbling enough for one day, we next learned that this congregation would be embarking on a mission trip of their own later that week! They needed to raise the equivalent of $150 to send a team from their church out of the slums to the western part of Kenya to preach the gospel. The remainder of the church service was a time of fundraising where we got to see members of their congregation give sacrificially (but joyfully) out of what little they had in order to be a part of this mission. It was so humbling and encouraging.

On to the Bush

One of the cottages at our motel

We left Nairobi after church and drove about 70 miles south to a motel that’s kind of in the middle of nowhere. This would be our home base for the rest of the week as we would drive each day out to our friends’ house in the bush where we would be working.

Still haven’t found out how to contact my secret assistant? He left a clue for you in one of the 4 photos in this post… 

Today was Day One of my sabbatical. First I just want to express my appreciation to work for a company that would allow me this opportunity. It’s truly incredible, and I’m so looking forward to the next 30 days!

Starting Out

Kimba and I enjoyed the beautiful morning!

I started my first day off with a walk down my street where I took time to allow God to speak to me about what he wants to do in me during this time. My biggest impression today was that these next few weeks are very different from a vacation. For me, when I’m on a vacation, I spend my time mostly passively; my main goal is to kind of escape my normal routine and thought patterns and block it all out. But then I go back to work and life just resumes as usual.

What I feel God wants to do with my sabbatical, by contrast, is to speak very purposefully into my life, so that when I go back to my regular routine a few weeks from now, my “normal” actually looks different. I’m hoping that during this time, God will give me a fresh sense of identity and purpose as well as fill me up emotionally and spiritually so I can pour back out into others.

Heading Off

Despite all this, what’s really at the forefront of my mind is that this time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane headed for Kenya! Laura and I are going with our church to Kenya to work with a missionary family who moved there from Abilene. We haven’t even left yet and this trip has already been eventful, so please be praying for our team as we go. Internet access will be hard to come by, but I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and post when I get back on the 15th!

I hate to disappoint, no balls of fun this time around; but someone secret hid a prize that’s waiting to be found. You’ll need to find out who he is if you’re hoping to succeed; he’s left some clues for how to reach him, for without him your search will be tough indeed. He keeps quite the tight schedule, so he’ll have to fit you in; but if you know just what to tell him, his answers will begin..