college station normalcy...sort of

I'm not sure how much i'll write on this thing now that i'm back in civilization and can just talk to most of the people that read it, but i thought i'd give you guys a few quick updates on life right now.

Firstly, Impact was absolutely incredible. If there's one thing i've learned it's that no matter how much we pray for things contrary to the Lord's will He never answers those prayers because that just wouldn't make sense. So with that in mind I went ahead before we went to Impact and prayed with my guys that it wouldn't go smoothly, that there would be complications and frustrations and that altogether our plans would fall apart becuase ultimately He is glorified when our plans dont happen and his do, and when he breaks plans to show us His better way. For example we have Lazarus. His sisters and the disciples urged Jesus to quickly get to him so He could heal Lazarus. What did Jesus do? He waited till Lazarus died and then glorified God even more by raising him from the dead, not just healing his ailment.

With all that in mind Impact didn't "go off without a hitch" and it was awesome. On the evening of the third night the power went out right about when we were ready to have the basically climactic speaking/worship awesomeness that was planned for the third night. The band didn't want us to go ahead and have an acoustic concert and so some of the guys on exec got really busy hooking an amp up to a car stereo to make the whoel thing happen in the basketball court outside. At first I was really frustrated becuase we don't really need a band to worship the Lord, we can do it anyway anyhow, that's when i realized exactly what we needed to do.

I led our camp in the direction back toward our camp room and veered off into a clearing in the midst of alot of trees. I emplored them all that we give God the glory in this, that we pray over the freshmen's years, over their time here, over really how awesome God is, and just whatever people felt led to pray about. I really expected our counselors to pray, but after i opened it up only our freshmen were to be heard. It was really quite amazing to sit there with my eyes closed in the middle of the woods listening to the cries of the hearts we'd been praying for for so long.

So after that we went back and joined the worship session and the spirit was absolutely alive and moving in that place I could feel Him there amongst us and it was breathtaking, i wish you could have been there to see and feel and hear Him make himself known to so many hearts that needed exactly that. I know in my heart He released people from bondage that night, he freed people, and he redeemed people that thought they'd been previously saved but didn't know Jesus in spirit and in truth.

Ultimately, "His ways are higher than our ways..." and always always better than our own.

An amazingly huge blessing upon returning is the fact that our camp still wants to be a camp. I mean last year our camp didn't make as much of an effort and might not have been as close as this time, add to that the fact that my heart was totally elsewhere last year when i was at impact, but i mean tonight we had dinner and played games at my house and i had about 30 people in my living room and i absolutely loved every second of it.

School starts in less than a week and the job i thought i'd have when i came back ended up not being available. Turns out the bike shop i worked at for about 10 months before i left to go to africa hired up everyone they needed over the summer because they got slammed with business. I just love the apparent change in my heart though. To see Rod feel really bad that he coudln't offer me a job, and then for me to just smile at him knowing that i am not supposed to have a job right now, at least not there.

Then today here's something to get excited about. I ate lunch with a friend of mine who has been accepted into IMB (international missions board)'s Journeyman program. So for hte next two years she'll be a missionary in southern China reaching some unreached people group, the details of exactly what she is doing were kinda fuzzy, or i just cant remember. But the point is I got really pumped hearing about what I'm going to get to do in africa when i get done with school. Then also in the past few days i've really felt a conviction about how much I dislike my major especially now that i know it's not where my life will take me, and that while i may dislike it, I am here right now, because I amo supposed to be here right now, and it's as simple as that.

So i'm excited to find the purpose of my time here for the next 1.5 to 2 years, to see what i need to see, do what i need to do, meet who i need to meet, and move in the way i need to move.

Life's never been more exciting, and i've never felt so alive...

james dudt is a doody head

ok that title was just for james, enjoy you butthole.

So here's my last day in Africa, my last day in Uganda....at least for quite some time. What can i say? it's definitely been an adventure. I've met some amazing men and women of God, I've seen amazing things and it's changed the path of my life quite profoundly.

I don't have much more to share with you guys, all i can say is thanks for reading and thanks for your prayers. It's 820AM here right now and i have approx 12 hours before we head to the airport and i board the plane at 11pm africa time, 3pm central time. Today i'll spend in the city, sucking in the sights (and the smog/burning trash smoke) for the last time. The walk to work this morning was definitely bittersweet. I think it's finally hit me just how much i am going to miss this place, how thankful i am for the time and experience that was spent here, and how much of an impression it's made on my heart, and for that matter my soul.

Again thank you so much for your prayers, they've been felt, in the midst of being in africa and coping with a different culture, poverty, starvation, death and dying i've also dealt with alot of personal stuff, like who i am, why i am the way i am, how i relate to people, how people relate to me, etc etc. It's been good, it's been tough, i've been broken beat up and lifted up again a few times. It's all definitely been worth it, and now i am sad that i have to go.

Thank you so much for your support, thank you so much for your love, it's done wonders! thank you so much for everything you people are absolutely amazing!!!

Well, it's time for friday mroning worship, and i'm definitely ready to go play guitar and lift up the Almighty God of the Universe! Get excited, for He is worthy of all our praise.




See you kids back in the first world...

wow is the end in sight!

this will prboably be my last or my second to last post whilst still in africa. This summer has definitely been a life changing experience that i cannot easily forget, and i pray i am forever changed by all that the Lord has done and shown me about his character, and his heart for his people.

I guess my last big prayer request is that God really makes whatever change, whatever revelation, whatever it was that i was supposed to ocme here this summer and find out or see or whatever, stick. I want it to stick hard, i don't want to forget this place, and HIS heart for it. I dont want to go back to the states and fall back into my cushy lifestyle and forget how different it is over here. How people live daily on such meager means. People live on less than a dollar a day here, and that's life. And this could be an argument in itself, but so many people in this position are happy with their lives, they are happy with their God, they are happy that they can eat at each meal. Thanksgiving over meals is much more real because they know they can't rely on their own power to eat, it's up to the Lord. Let me remember that, when i am wanting more more more, remember that people here with nothing nothing nothing are and can be content with all they do not have.

I'm thinking as well i'll need a bit of help from him not to be cynical when i go back home. I mean it's going to be really easy to look at lifestyles and judge people instantly as wrong because they have money, when in reality there's nothing wrong with money itself, just the love of money. And i'm sure you guys can understand why there would and will be cynycism there, i just pray that i wouldn't let it hinder relationships or give me a lofty attitude that's paradoxical in thinking, "i'm so much better than yo ubecause i'm so humble."

So today marks the last work day while i'm here, the last 14+ hour day spent at the office doing red-lines, fixing correctoins to CAD drawings, and otherwise staring at a computer screen for long enough for my eyes to fall out of my face. The end is in sight and i'm very excited about it.

One thing i absolutely cannot wait for: to stand in an HEB (which i learned this summer dont exist outside of texas, or at leaset not in other parts of the country) and just drool in awe like a kid in a candy store.Wow, how appropriate is, "the eyes of texas are upon you" ? Even here, they can see me!!

and yet still more murchison shots

As is typical Ugandan fashion, we were directed to completely ignore the sign













This is a picture of a guy named Kenny who was in our group. I thought this picture offered amazing perspective of how massive this waterfall is. There was somethign incredible about sitting down below the water line and not getting wet.








This is a fish eagle, which looks incredibly similar to our bald eagles back home. The only difference is we saw these things everywhere.














Ok sadly this picture didnt come out very well or even very sharp, but i was in a moving car and roughly knew when to take the picture.

Needless to say though, this is definitely the picture of the summer.

Now what I wonder, is what do they think an aggie even is, cuz i'm not totally sure myself...

some more murchison shots

Insert aggie joke here:

"How many aggies does it take to fix an engine...."














Ahh...the savannah...


















some of my photo skills on display...














And lastly here's our elephant friend, if you look very closely you can see he did really give us a very "masculine" show...