New....
As you may have noticed i changed the 'look' of my blog (here) and some stuff here and there. This is because Cami has done a great job on our other blog (here---http://camikevinupdate.blogspot.com---)and created a pic blog (here---http://zwartphotostoshare.blogspot.com/---you can go to to see newish stuff (like Toby's impressive black eye!). I also changed the name of this one because it is purely me...good, bad and ugly. The other blog has more of Cami's writings about life here with my contributions form time to time!

Happy reading.

peace in everything
K



Even in 3 inch long Golden Orb spiders!

Was off this morning on a trip to help a friend whose truck broke down about 50 miles from town. I was glad for the opportunity to be alone and listen to music (loud) and think/pray about some stuff...like my tendency to be selfish...my tendency to be weak...and well, sinful.

So after picking up the needed parts in town (8 stores later), dropped off some Tylenol and malaria meds for a friend i headed out to "da socoro", (give rescue) to my buddy. Wasn't bad and my last repair on my car seems to be holding up! We managed to get his rear brakes back working to some degree (minus a few non essential parts)and he was on his way home to his new baby and wife in Malawi.

But what stuck me as i drove home, dodging pot holes and at times driving completely off the road...was the same grace which saved me from eternal damnation and separation from God is available for me every moment of this life. Hmm. The same love i was shown when i accepted Christ as my savior is available for me to show others...daily. Moment by moment...tot he beggars and the 30 kids gathered around us as we worked on his car along the road.


The same grace. The same love. The same peace. Wow. This was quite a revelation for me. We (who call ourselves Christians) talk about the great love of God which saves us. We talk about the grace which He so freely bestows on us...while yet sinners...Yet daily we live as if we are on our own again. Again and again and again we live as if the grace and love and (dare i say) power of God only applies to our conversion 9moment of acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior) but not our sanctification (the daily working out of Him as our Lord and Savior). We are a strange breed are we not?

So this also jumps back to my worst kind of love...in that, alone, in our own strength and power we are pitiful. I am a disaster. Yes, you are too. Sorry. But it is true. But with believing and accepting that to love this world with His power, with His love and with His grace...well....

There is no telling what will happen.

Go change your world brothers and sisters. Start with the first person you meet, and love them.

In case you did not hear, having a car in Mozambique is challenge. They constantly break and need repair. Due to the bad roads maintenance is a nearly weekly affair. So when we got here we bought the strongest must durable car we could...with the money we had.



So after working on our older Landcruiser this week and trying to find quality replacement parts (or any parts as it turned out) i had a few minutes on my way home from Rapale and stopped at the Toyota dealer in town....oh my.

TO replace our truck with a new one is ......$168,000. Yes, that is right a stripped down, 'NGO' type Landcruiser is over $150,000! In the states the more or less same new truck is $65,000. Oh well.

There are other options for half the price or a double cab pickup truck is $42,000.

So we will continue to enjoy our 1994 Landcruiser....i will gladly continue maintenance and repairs as much as i can and unless someone has a bucket of money....i will leave it all in the hands of God.

The worst kind of love.

Is the kind of love that calls you to do something you don't want to do. Tells you to be kind to the unlovely, the hurtful and stupid.

Recently i watched the movie 'Fireproof', and although not usually a big fan of 'Christian' movies as they tend to be lower quality and poorly written, this one had some profound truth which i can not only support but was moved to tears because i think it spoke of something God has been impressing on me lately.

It is this. Dump all your thoughts on religion and love people. Simple.

This would be great until we come across a person who has hurt us, it is easy when we get the response we want. It is easy when it doesn't call for sacrifice. Sacrifice hurts, sacrifice is giving something of ourselves, our time, our money, our energy, our pride...our perceived need for praise and appreciation. Our felt needs of self gratification. All these feelings and ideas are contrary to this love i am talking about.

The love i am talking about stems from the very character and person of God. Not some mushy feeling or contentedness even, but a state of being. In 1 John it says "God is love", not His business, not His predisposition but He IS...hmmm. So what does it look like? Well, it is patient (like with the Israelites) it is kind, (like with Hagar), it is long-suffering (like with the human race!). Love looks like it is described in 1 Cor. 13. BUT personified in God and on earth in His son, Jesus.
Take a second and read the list below. But put in Jesus every time you read love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

My reaction was wow! Jesus does personify what love is. So what does this mean for us...? Well it was a command of Jesus for his disciples as well as for us.

In John 13 we read about the disciples and Jesus and how Jesus gave them a new command in the midst of a pretty awful dinner party. Jesus had just told his friends, his closest disciples that he was going away. He had just alluded to being betrayed and sent Judas on his way without even a harsh word. And then he tells his buddies to....love one another. Not to seek revenge, not to overthrow those who would soon come and haul him away to be tortured and killed. No, Jesus said, 'love one another'. He said by doing so the world would know they were followers of Christ. Now listen, amidst the heartache and strife of that evening meal, knowing full well what lay ahead , Jesus commands them to love. Did they get it? Well, it appears they (as we are often as well) well very distracted and wanted answers, they wanted to know what was going to happen.

How often do we become distracted by wanting to know stuff. We want God to provide answers that in truth, aren't that important. When in truth he wants us to love.

When a young scribe approached Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit (gain/win) eternal life, what was Jesus' answer? 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength..and love your neighbor as yourself' (ouch). Jesus was quoting the OT when Moses had just finished giving the ten commandments and to summerize as it ere, Moses said, just do this...and you'll get the rest.

Another recounting tells of someone asking Jesus what is the greatest commandment and he replies with the same answer. Love God and your neighbor as yourself. And if we look at the sermon--dialog on the mount Jesus says to even love your enemies. My enemies! GET OUT! But yes, these are the commands, the desires and the will of God for his people.

So what are we waiting for. Are we loving our spouses, our children, our annoying realitive, our neghbor, our mayor, our mailman, the homeless guy, the local crazy guy...what about the co-worker who slanders you or your spouse who you have been fighting with for over a year and you can't even remember what about...what about the sex addict down the street or the rapist around the corner.

This is not a easy love. This is not for faint hearted or those who only care to follo Jesus into the upper room but not out to Golgotha.

This is the message i am receiving. this is the message i am trying to live. First Corinthians 12 leads into the love chapter with the phrase, "And now I will show you the most excellent way." This most excellent way, this way which is far better than any gifting or ability is something we can all do.

So what is stopping you? Love...

Well after 5 weeks with the in-laws in house we look forward to some 'normalcy'--like power outages, going to bed at 7:30 and a routine! It was nice to have them here and great to watch Sally interact and enjoy the boys. I think she almost enjoys them as much as i do...naa. Not possible. Got some projects done around the house (more outside security lighting) and new steering damper put on the truck. We did have two trips, one 10 hours north to Mocimboa de Praai to see the work there and encourage colleagues. We also spent two days on Ilha de Mocambique and a week on the beach in a friends 'camp-house' which was nice and peaceful. Overall a good time. But we are tired.

My classes are winding down just in time for three back to back conferences starting next week. The first is put on by a group of South Africans who come up to specifically help us misso's in northern Moz. They usually bring a vet, dentist and IT tech guy but ii think this time it will be more fellowship, encouragement and discussions about the business side of missions and business AS missions. Should be interesting. The second conference is probably my most favorite. Once a year our AIM northern team comes together and just chills out. NO BUSINESS. Just Fun, being together, talking, worshiping and playing. It is only three days but quite a break. Lastly we will (Cami with me this year!) attend a FIEL (Faith) conference during the days and hear some speakers from Brazil and the States. This is more geared for Mozambican pastors and one of the very few opportunities they have to be together in a non-denom setting. We have sponsored three other couples to attend and will be able to just 'be' with them outside of church and home settings. It has been fun for me to hear their reactions and thoughts about the material taught as many have never attended a conference before.

So....normalcy...HA!

And during all this i have to organize the next classes which will grow by two again...bring me up to 7 classes a week! Yikes. OH!!! Two students so far have scored 100% on their final exams! Praise God and Kudos to them for their hard work.

That is the news...
And i am out of here.