An Update From Africa

Here's an update from Ryan in Africa.  Ryan is one of the Uncharted Waters staff that our church supports financially.  I can't wait to see what God does this summer because of Ryan's hard work over the last few weeks.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!
What a great phrase to say, because it carries in it so much meaning for us as believers. I had the opportunity today to teach this phrase to a group of pastors who had come from all over the Nyanza province to worship with us. It was a such a great experience to hear, after several practice tries, the entire body saying back as loudly as they could 'He is risen indeed!' I heard that so many times growing up, and said it so many times, I almost forgot the power that such a tiny phrase has for us, and it was great to receive a reminder. 

Things have been going well so far here in Kenya. I am not going to go into too much detail, but it has been a good trip so far, as we have been traveling all over the country meeting with different groups. It is exciting to see all these pastors coming and being enthusiastic about learning more about sports ministry and how they can use it. Since I was first here in Kenya last March, the idea of sports ministry has spread like wildfire here. We had that large training in Mombasa where over 300 churches were represented, and from there it has grown to a rather astonishing size. Literally hundreds of camps and teams have been run and put together by churches all over the country, and they are just looking for more information to help them continue to move forward. It has been a blessing to see how God has used such a simple tool as sports evangelism to change the lives of so many.  

Our trip turns south in a few days, and I mean the direction, not in a bad way. If you received my newsletter you know that Levi and I will be traveling down through Tanzania, spending a few days there, and then finishing up the trip with a week in Malawi. Please keep our travels in your prayers, as well as that God will set up the right leaders to meet with out in those areas. 

By now most of you have probably heard that I caught malaria. One of my brothers already offered to come over and take care of the mosquito for me, so that was nice to hear! Seriously, it has been one of the most uncomfortable situations I have ever been in, and unfortunately it is not over. I still get really bad headaches, and I have developed some sort of back pain as well that causes a pain to shoot down my lower neck and back every time I take a step. On the positive side, after 4 straight nights of fevers and completely ridiculous sweating because of it, I have had two night free of fever. It still flares up a little during the day, but nothing like before. The rash that I got has seemed to die down a little, which is really nice because it was creeping into my face as well, but please pray that it will completely go away as soon as possible. And probably the best improvement I have seen so far is it seems my stomach is almost back to normal, and I have been able to eat meals for the last couple days, after going three days without eating a thing. 

Thank you for your prayers. God has been good, even during the malaria, as great things continue to happen in the side of ministry. One of the negative side affects of the malaria is I have times where I struggle to concentrate, but it hasn't seemed to affect me during our meetings with the leaders just yet.  

May God bless you all, 

Ryan Van Hoven

Divine Appointments

Yesterday I was sitting at a table in Caribou Coffee; it’s one of the places I like to work when I’m not in the office.  The only seat that was available was at a large table where two ladies were having a conversation and a guy was reading.  It turns out the guy was one of the veterinarians that we take our dogs to.  I reintroduced myself and then we began to chat.  He was reading about the importance of meditation, especially when it comes to reading scripture.  We had an interesting conversation about that.

The ladies sitting across from us were speaking another language.  Dr. Voell evidently recognized it as being Russian and began a conversation.  I listened as he began asking them where they were from in Russia and telling them how he met his wife while in Moscow on a mission trip with his church.  He subtly wove his faith into the conversation.  The ladies seemed to really enjoy the conversation; especially when he tired to speak the few Russian words he learned twenty years ago.  As the two of them left, Dr. Voell handed one of them a small book – the Gospel of John.

Now I don’t think Dr. Voell is the kind of Christian that goes around jumping into conversations and bombarding people with his faith.  He is, however, the kind of follower of Christ that all of us should be – one who looks for natural opportunities to share his faith and make the Gospel more appealing.  He had a connection with those two ladies; he spoke their language (literally) and had been to there country.  He had an in that I didn’t have and he saw he opportunity.

I believe those kinds of experiences are “divine appointments and we all have them, probably everyday.  But we have to look for them.  We have to slow down.  We have to be open and willing to allow God to use us wherever we are.  And yes, we have to risk getting out of our comfort zone.

Have you had an experience like that lately; an opportunity to share something that you know about God or faith with someone in a way that was unplanned and unexpected?  I’d love to hear your story.