Kenya!!!

Wellllll first of all I haven’t been able to get internet so I Just posted my Plane Blog. I will try to make this one short so you don’t have tons to read.

So I flew in on Saturday night and surprised the group. It was good. I thought we would have fire works going off and music start to play but that didn’t happen.

Sunday we went to Church at Merciful Redeemer. AMAZING. The worship was about 100 kids singing acipela. I LOVED it! After the service we went and played with the kids. I met this one girl Ndanu and she just stuck with me. Pretty short day but it was a good one. Came back to the hotel and hung out.

Monday we went back to Merciful Redeemer and planted TONS of trees. It was amazing to think that there are NO trees anywhere near the Home. And one day we will get to see those trees flourishing. The school let the kids out so they could help us out. It ended up being distracting. But we still got TONS of work done. We ended up planting about 270 trees. Then we hung out with the kids again. So that night I didn’t get much Sleep. Got to bed at about 130, and got bit by a bunch of Skeeeters. Pray for me. I’m not taking Malaria pills.

Ok now today its Tuesday. So today We went back to the Home to finish planting trees and plant Kale and Tomatoes. We got done at about 2 and were able to play Football (Soccer) with the kids. Brandon scored 2 goals. I forgot to put sunscreen on my arms. Bad news.

So in case I cant talk to you in the recent days here is the plan.

Tomorrow more people arrive and we go see the kids at Merciful Redeemer again and have to say goodbye. Then we get to go to the market and buy stuff. Not me though. I don’t need nuthin. Then we go stay at a church and take off for Tumaini in the morning. I am so excited to go see my boys again.

Well that’s all for now. I’ll Be Prayin for you all.

Peace&Love….SPREAD IT!!!

On A Plane

(Written on Saturday July 25th)

I Love this place

Hey Fellow Humans!!!

I’m on a plane right now. Going to KENYA!!!! “ahhhhhhhhh Kennnnnyyyyaaaaa..... badamoooosssiiiiccaaaaaa……hmmmmmmmm” (Lion King theme song)

I’m not online but I’m writing in word then gonna send it when I got a connection. I caught up on some sleep on the bus ride to the airport. Now I’m wide awake on the plane. Pray for the people on the Swaziland trip. They all fly home today. To US, to Canada, AND to Taiwan.

So one guy I want to touch on is Glen. Remember I mentioned he would be on the trip? The Canadian Musician? Well I want to thank God for bringing him on this trip. This guy was amazing. He rocked the guitar, wrote amazing songs, and had such an amazing spirit to him. He is such an inspiration. He could make anyone laugh. He told me I can I’ll have a place to stay in Canada if I ever want to come visit. Man God was right when he said life was all about relationships. The people are this trip have lifted me to a higher place. A place where love is all around. A place where people REALLY care. A place were when someone asks “How are you?” they REALLY mean it. I love this place.

Hmmmmm. Beef Or Fish? Gotta love plane food. I chose Beef. Lori from Carlsbad brought me Beef Jerky from Costco. Is it weird that I miss Costco? More than my mom?.... HAH Just kidding mom!!! I miss you a little more. J Hey mom Lori brought you a note from me with a present for your 50th (Yeah I know that’s old huh?) But She is also going to give you some pictures of me and Nondumiso. Pray for her. She is part of our family now.

Well my food is gonna get cold. I better go. In 4 hours I should be walking into the hotel to surprise the CTK group in Kenya!

I Love you all.

Peace&Love….SPREAD IT!!!!

Wow.

You know in the scripture when God tells Aberham to kill his some Issac? Well that happened to me. Not the killing part. But the testing part. You know how I said I was going to "Test" God? Well I found out he was doing a little testing of his own!!. And I guess I passed. Here is the AMAZING news.

Last night at dinner I shared my experience with Nondumiso and I was sobbing tears of joy trying to get the words out. I guess it really moved someone. I dont know who. But as soon as I was done talking someone handed me Nondumiso's sponsor papers and I filled them out. I found out this morning that someone came and said "I would like to pay for Cory to sponsor his girl for a year". WHAT?!?! I was blown away as Lori told me this this morning. At first I was taken back. Not sure what to think. I mean I was SOOOO ready to test God! But this person must have felt the same way. I dont know who this person is but they want to sponsor Nondumiso under my name. So they wont get any credit. This is amazing. Like God did with Abraham. As soon as God saw Abraham willing to sacrifice his son he said "Ok... NOW I know you mean it..... So dont do it" Well I am amazed. GOD IS GOOOOOOOD!

So Litsemba was great. So many kids. Sooooo excited to Praise God with their voices and dance moves. I got some amazing pictures but Its 11:30PM right now and I leave for Kenya at 5:30AM!.... Oh and I havent packed yet.

I just had to tell you about what happened.

Please Pray for my safety as I travel these next couple weeks.

Peace&Love...SPREAD IT!!!

I was In Heaven Today.

I don't even know where to start. We just had our last Young Hearts meeting and it went great. Ended up staying up with a bunch of people singing worship and laughing and sharing stories. I'm not even sure when the last time was that I wrote. It feels like forever ago but I havent had time!! I'm sorry. I mean right now its 115 in the morning and I just got back to Shirley's!! I'm forcing myself to write for two reasons... One is a secret. But I'll tell you. But ONLY if you promise not to tell anyone!!

1) If I dont write now I'll forget to tell you all this stuff.
2) I have to write now because I'm going to Kenya AND Uganda and might not be able to write for a couple weeks.

SO If you are in contact with the Kenya group. PLEASE dont tell them! its a surprise. And IF you happen to be ON the Kenya trip and somehow are reading this PLEEEEEAAAASE Keep it to yourself. Dont spoil this!

I've prayed about it and God had given me his blessing to go serve along side the CTK group. And I am SOOOO glad. Then I am going to Uganda for 5 days to work alongside Evie. Remember her? From the JoBurg Airport? So I wont be back in Swazi till like the 7th of August!!

Update on Nondumiso. WOW! Ok so I've been working at El Shiddai most of the week while part of the group is at Emmanuel (where Nondumiso lives) So I got to go see her for a short time earlier in the week and she still wouldnt smile at me. I have always wanted to sponsor a Child and I felt God saying "ok Cory... You ready to listen?" I've prayed about it.... a lot... Then prayed again. And God said "DO IT!" Now HFA has different amounts you can sponsor a child with. Full sponsorship is $120 a month. Then they have partial all the way down to like $10 a month. Most of the kids have some sponsorship but not full. So I asked God again "ok Lord how much" and he said "however much more she needs" And I went and looked her up. Turns out she has no sponsor. NO ONE! and this is a big deal. The kids with sponsors always talk about them and get to feel like someone really cares. (Do you have tissue? Your gonna cry!) So I prayed again "Ok God... You must have the wrong guy. Did you forget I dont have a job or an Income?" Before I left fallbrook I was able to save about 3000 of my own money for when I came home. So I would have something to help me buy an RV and travel playing music (or something like that). This is the short version I promise. So I struggled with this amount God was calling me to. Then he reminded me about my favorite Verse. "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself" And I said "Ok but seriously!!! this is 3 times the cost of my phone bill... EVERY MONTH!" Yesterday I was flipping through the scripture before bed and came across Mal 3:10 and this is what it said...

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

WOW. Of course I happened to stumble across that verse. So I decided to do it. The whole thing. $120 US DOLLARS. Today was the last day to go to the Childrens homes and I asked Ian if I could go tell Nondumiso that I wanted to sponsor her. Maybe THIS would put a smile on her face. On the way up I was telling Lori Marshall (I know I spelled it wrong) and we both started crying on the bus. I dont know why. I guess cause we saw God moving in my life. Asking me to do stuff I would NEVER do. So I get there and Nondumiso is in class. So school breaks for lunch and all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see her running. Running with so much Joy on her face that it shocked me. The smile I remember from last year was plastered on her face. She jumped into my arms and hugged me so strong not letting go for anything. (I hadn't even told her about the sponsorship yet!) Lori was there. She was crying. I was Crying. Nondumiso probably thought we were crazy. But it was the most amazing feeling I've ever experienced. I dont know WHY she smiled at me today. I dont know if she was sick and became better. Or if God spoke to her and told her what I had decided to do. But she Smiled. And I didnt even no till today that she had lost a tooth. right in front. It makes her smile that much more beautiful. This was Nondumiso today.

I am so excited to Test God like He has asked us to do. I'm not sure how long I can Sponsor Nondumiso. Maybe a year. Maybe till you all meet her in heaven. But all I know is today I felt like a parent. As soon as I told her about the sponsorship and she lit up. She took me into her class to show me her pictures she drew. She took me to the playground to have me push her on the swings. Amazing. I was in Heaven today with this little girl. Someone printed up with picture of me and her and I'm going to give it to her tomorrow.

ahhhhhh. Welllll. Thats the highlight of my week. Tomorrow is Friday and we are putting on the "Celebrate Litsemba" show. I'm sure it will be amazing. Then I wake up at 5 Saturday and I'm off to serve in Kenya and Uganda. Keep checking I might be able to update at some point.

Thank you all for being on this journey.

Peace&Love...SPREAD IT!!

WOW

Ok today was amazing. I just got home and its 11:50! Well by home I mean Shirley's. So first off I had to be up very early to get sound equipment packed up. Like before the sun early. So got it packed up and went to the hotel to meet the group and had good breakfast. THEN we went to a church in Manzini. AMAZING. Totally what you would picture an African church being. Tons of clapping. EVERYONE singing and dancing. I'm sure I made a fool out of myself. But no one cares here. I don't at least. OK SO ON TO THE GOOD STUFF!!!

So right after worship before the pastor came up i snuck out to take a leak. No bathroom so i did my business right outside the side door. (Gimmie a break I had to get back into that church! Didnt have time to find a bush.... Plus like I said no one cares.) So I sneak back in the side door and the pastor was talking so I didnt want to squeeze between people to find a seat so I started sliding down the wall to sit on the ground. Then the pastor say's "You!! Stand up!!!" I was thinking "oh crap he saw me peeing!!" then all of a sudden he said "God spoke to me about you. Just now during worship!!" AHHHHHHHH I was out of my mind! I didnt know what to say so I just stared. ME! out of over 200 people!! I still dont know what to say. He went on to speak prophecy over me for what felt like a lifetime. He started saying stuff that God told him about me. I truly believe it was a word from Our Lord!!! I feel like if I tell you what he said you would all think I'm bragging... Well guess what? I DONT CARE!! So just to summarize he said stuff like "You Son! You have a tender heart for the lord! Tender! And you show love that's beyond this world. To everyone you come across! You don't cast judgment on others you meet! You see them as God does. Straight to the heart. AND my son God has told me you have the heart of a Preacher! Not that you will be a pastor but that you will PREACH! In way's beyond words. God says using actions you show Love to everyone you meet and you truly know that ONLY Gods love will heal this broken world! This Brother of ours... HE is an example for the Men of out generation!"

ARE YOU KIDDING?!?! ME? An example to the men? Ok like I said I know it sounds like I'm bragging but this is such a blessing. I was tempted not to tell you what he said but I feel God spoke to me today. And I wanted to share. I'm sure you all know that I'm ALL about love.

Next we went to show the group Project Canaan. Awesome!!! We struck water! Dug a bore hole and now the land is that much closer to flowing with Milk and Honey!!

Came back to the hotel had an amazing dinner and then Skype'd with all of you at CTK. AMAZING! its so good to hear your familiar laughs. Thank you all so much. Someone said to me after "Does it make you more homesick?" Actually it was the opposite!! I felt like I got to bring a little bit of home with me to Africa. I love you all!

So young hearts was amazing. The day was amazing. The weather was amazing! The CHURCH was amazing!! GOD IS AMAZING!

Tomorrow... WE WORK!

Till next time.

Peace&LOVE......SPREAD IT!!!

Pump Up The Volume!

Well about 53 people arrived last night. They were supposed to be in at 4. Ended up getting to the hotel at about 8!!! The bus broke down a few times then ended up driving 30 minutes past the exit. But I told them this is all just part of the trip.

Anyways I am SOOO pumped for this trip! First of all there are tons of new faces. And I love new faces. And even better than new faces is familiar ones. The Carlsbad Group is coming with Lori Marshall and her family AND the McGraw family. Also this guy Glenn Marias from Canada is here. He's is an amazing musician and we will be working together on different stuff throughout the week. Google him, I'm sure he's on there.

Some stuff behind the scene's. One of the orphanages HFA works with (Emmanuel) has been running into some problems. The woman running the orphanage hasnt been very friendly to HFA and we are praying about if God wants us to continue working with them. It is so hard because we care so much about the kids but we arent agreeing with the way the home is being run. Shirley buys ALLL the food for the home. Every Monday we go to the store and buy a whole truckload of food for the kids. If HFA gets forced out of helping them then they will have no other source of food. Anyways without getting into to much detail I just wanted to ask for your Prayers. One of the girls there Nondimiso stole my heart last year. These two pictures you see are from last year. She had the most amazing smile. But this year there is something different. As soon as I saw her she ran up to me and hugged me but didn't smile. Last year she wouldn't stop smiling. This year I ha vent been able to make her smile in 3 weeks. She is such a beautiful girl and it breaks my heart to see her hurt. I don't know whats wrong and I asked the people working there but they say nothing is wrong. I know that's not true. I haven't taken a picture of her this year. Please Pray.

Well the other 90 people are on their way from the airport and we will see them soon. THANK YOU JESUS FOR FELLOWSHIP!

This is Nondimiso's smile. It brings tears to my eyes looking at this picture.

I'll post again as soon as something exciting happens. (now that the group is here it will most likely be soon.)

Peace&Love..SPREAD IT!!!

A Great Man.

My Grandfather passed away this morning.

He was a great man and what I remember the most about him was his smile. Was. Crazy how a word suddenly carries so much weight when it involves death. Although I guess "is" is the correct word. Because I know my Grandfather is smiling more in this moment than he has in a long time. He was suddenly required to use a wheelchair that i'm sure he didn't like. Well there aren't any wheelchairs in heaven. He was recently in and out of the hospital.. Well there aren't any hospitals in heaven. He reacently had a lot of heart problems...But there arent heart problems in heaven either. What hurts the most is not being able to be at his funeral. I know he wont mind but it would be good to hear the stories of his amazing life. Please pray for my Dad, his brother, and his sister. And also my Grandmother Shirley.

We lost a great man today... But heaven will keep him busy till we see him again.

Peace&Love...SPREAD IT!!!

Short And Sweeeeeet

Hey everyone just wanted to let you all know that I am alive and safe.

I am gonna give you all some updates as SOOOON as some come. We've been mostly gettin stuff together for the group to come on Saturday.

Keep me in your prayers. I'm hoping Young Hearts will go better with this next group.

Simba wont learn to poop outside. We take him out all the time and all he does is pee. Then we come in and he poops.

Ok sorry this is so short. Dont forget I'll be Skypin you all at church this Sunday!!! BE THERE!!

Peace&Love...SPREAD IT!!!

Almost Got Eatin by a Spider.

Yesterday we bought a Chain Saw..... it was BEAUTIFUL!!! We cut soo much good wood. And talk about feeling manly!!! All I needed was a flannel and my P-Burn and I'd be the Wolverine. Everyone tells me I look like him.

So first we cut one stump and tons of ants started coming out. so i busted out the axe and split the wood in half. OH My Gooooooodness!! No exaggeration probably thousands of ants!! the started chasing me up a tree. so I decided to go dig around the gate so it would open more smoothly instead of cut wood. And I ran into this 8 Legged Monster!!!






















YEAH SERIOUSLY!!! I was telling Chloe "hey I bet there are tons of spiders in this Forrest" and BOOM! it jumped out. its hard to tell but this thing was the size of my hand. NO LIE. He/She was right were i was going to work so I had to move it. i found a 30 foot stick and it hopped right on and let me more it.

Today we ended up finishing one of the baskets. Pretty cool. Now I get to go to El Shiddai tomorrow and get the kids ready for the Litsemba Celebration. I don't know now long I will be there but I'll tell you as soon as I find out.

I forget what I tell you so sorry if i repeat myself.

SLEEP IN TOMORROW!!! SCORE!

Also In case you dont know if you know how to use Skype you can call my cell phone straight from it!! So.... Call me. 011-268-640-8541!!!

See you Sunday or I mean hear you.

Peace&Love....SPREAD IT!!!

Ok Ok!!!

I've been getting a lot of people telling me I should Update my blog.... By a lot of people I mean Alissa Hansen.

I am sorry that I havent updated it in a few days but in my defense I havent been doing much. We are kinda in between trips and we arent very busy. So at the land we have a bridge and we need to put up some Gambian Baskets. Yeah I didnt know what they were either. Pretty much a BUNCH of rocks inside of a metal basket...By a bunch I mean thousands. So my days have consisted of picking up rocks and cutting wood.

The wood is fun. I feel manly. Axe in one hand beer in the other. Ok ok no beer. But the rocks on the other hand. Well lets just say I'd rather be giving blood. And this is coming from a guy who cried when he got shots for Africa. At least that's what Brandon says.

So I've been reading Joshua cause its my brothers name. Pretty crazy. Those guys were ruthless. Destroyed cities then went in a killed EVERYONE. Men, Women, Children, AND livestock. I also just read a book called "Love Walked In" anyone read it?!? Its good.

I'm going to be Skyping Christ The King first and second service on the 19th. You should all be there.

Thats All Folks.

Peace&Love....SPREAD IT!!!

Simba!!!!

WE GOT A PUPPY!!!!!

His name is Simba. Actually Chloe Maxwell got him. But she is going to leave him here until we have someone living on Project Canaan. He is going to be our Farm Dog to catch snakes and stuff.

So I got the pleasure of talking to my mom last night!!!! It was wonderful. although she only bought 22 minutes!!! Just to let you all know you can leave me comments on this. Like Steve gave me a comment on how to ground my shower... Which was way over my head. I'll continue to get electrocuted. But it would be cool to hear some feedback from you all. I'll most likely respond to. Anyways here is a precious picture my friend Andrea took of me and Chloe at El Shiddai.


And ALSO. My mom was the first one to get a phone card and call me. The rest of you twenty something followers of mine haven't!! SO GET ON IT! I'd love to hear your voices.

So not many updates yet just wanted to say Hi to everyone.

Peace&Love...SPREAD IT!!!!

Drunk On The Spirit!

WOW!!! Ok first of all sorry I havent posted any pictures on here lately. It makes my Blog looks less flashy. But I have put some new pictures on Facebook. CLICK HERE to check those out. Most of the new ones are on the second page.

Ok So GREAT NEWS!!! My Grampa is loooookin up!! Last I heard he was out of ICU and plannin on going home soon. (If anyone knows more you can let me know in the comment area) AND the other thing I was stressin about has turned out to be the GREATEST BLESSING since Sliced Bread!!! I still cant go into to much detail but lets just say a close friend who I had ALMOST given up on has come to Christ and I feel is going to GROW to a whole new level. PRAISE GOD!!!

I got electrocuted today.... And yesterday....And the day before. I dont know why but the handles in my shower do it whenever I touch them. Sometimes its small but today my whole arm froze up and my muscles tensed. I could barely pull my arm of. I tried to turn the shower off with the soap...didnt work. Tomorrow I'll try my tooth brush.

Lately we have been running errands for Shirley. Mostly down time. I have gotten to read a lot which I LOVE. Ian Maxwell comes back today so I'm sure he will find some hard work for us to do.

I cant tell you how Joyful I am right now. This morning I read James and this is what I saw.

James 4:2b-4
"You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. "

Isnt that AMAZING. Earlier in James is says that we could have wisdom if we would only ask for it!!! I never thought about asking for that.

Anyways my friend who is turning to Christ is going to struggle. Lets just call him "Joe". can you please pray for Joe. God knows who your praying for.

Thanks everybody. Your All Amazing

Peace&Love.....SPREAD IT!!!