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
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