It’s been a crazy couple of months since we’ve [...]]]> Greetings from Kenya

Greetings from warm and sunny Kenya, where we are wrapping up our summer months and heading into the rainy season! We have enjoyed hearing all your stories from blizzards of biblical proportions and reminding us that during these months we live in polar opposite seasons!

It’s been a crazy couple of months since we’ve last written an update, so we wanted to catch you up with our lives, and thank you for praying for us and thinking of us.

Click to watch the short film: North Africa

North Africa

Andy had the opportunity to lead the OFM team to North Africa last month. He and the team lived inside an ancient medina for 2 weeks and served the local platforms there with media: web, photography, filmaking. Click the photo to the right to watch a short film the team produced for the workers there.

Click here to read more about Andy’s trip there, and the rapidly deteriorating situation for Christian workers there. For the password to the post, please contact us.

Click to see photos from family trip to Olepishet

Olepishet

A tiny village in Masai land has captured our hearts, through Lesa’s January trip there with Rosslyn’s Cultural Field Studies, and last week our whole family went to spend a few days doing life and ministry with our new Masai friends. We are continuing to process how we might be involved in an ongoing way with this community.

From Lesa’s blog post:

I’ve been trying to determine at which point the trip became more than I’d planned on – more than I thought it could be.  I went into it excited about time with the students but nervous about the unknown living conditions.  Particularly.. squatty potties, with which I was not yet an expert, despite my nearly three years of living in Africa.  Andy was glad for me to get out of Nairobi and see some more of up-country Kenya.  I guess I was glad for that too, in a sort of disengaged kind of way.  I certainly didn’t expect my life to be changed by the people of a small community called Olepishet.

Click here to continue reading “More Than I Though It Could Be”.

Breaking stuff

Between Andy and our 2 boys you can count 9 broken bones. Call it clumsiness or a daredevil spirit or a combination, but the Brown boys are known for breaking things. The past 2 months has been no exception.

Robert, on his Cultural Field Studies trip, broke his collarbone playing football (not soccer) just as the sun was setting on the 2nd day of this overnight trip and just as his dad was getting settled into North Africa. After a bumpy 2 hour ride back to Nairobi to the hospital, Rob met Lesa at the hospital here. Fortunately there wasn’t much to be done other than wrapping his shoulders back. By the time he saw Andy almost 2 weeks later he was climbing trees again.

Then, 2 weeks ago, Andy took quite a spill on his motorcycle. Not exactly his fault, but he now has a heightened sense of driving defensively. Fortunately nothing was broken, he or the bike, but he did ruin a favorite pair of pants and lose a bit of skin off his wrist, hip, and ankle. Praise God for his protection and sovereignty!

Coming up

We’ve got 1 big event coming up in the next month, and its name is Seussical: Rosslyn Academy High School’s spring musical, with a cast and crew even bigger than King and I, and even Andy is getting involved this time playing bass in the pit. The show is April 23-24, and April 29 through May 1, if you’re in town you won’t want to miss this.

We will also be traveling to the US this summer as Lesa’s sister and Andy’s sister are both getting married. Not to each other. Lesa and the kids will be flying out just as soon as school ends to catch Katie’s wedding at the beginning of June. Andy will meet up with them at the end of June so they can attend Emily’s wedding in July, and then the whole family will be traveling back to Kenya in time for school to start again.

Please pray for:

• Seussical: for the students involved and Lesa’s leadership, that the process of pulling together a big production will teach students important life skills and a love for the arts and how they can be used to glorify God.
• Our family’s sanity during this final month of preparations for the show
• Andy’s safety on his daily commute on the motorcycle
• Andy’s leadership as he continues to lead the On-Field Media team in ministry across the continent, serving over 1000 missionaries and projects in more than 20 countries.
• Our family’s new Masai friends in Olepishet. Pray that we would be changed and affected first, by our relationships with them, and that patiently we would discern how we can be involved in blessing this community and getting involved in resourcing the local church there.
• Safety in Nairobi. The past couple months have been hard ones for many expats (foreigners, like us) here, with a marked increase in robberies and carjackings and violent crimes. We rest well knowing that the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.

In Closing

We are privileged to partner with you for the sake of the God’s Kingdom. We are the extension of your hands and feet, all interconnected in this mystery of the body of Christ. We have such a unique role to play here in the kingdom, on the front lines of the kingdom, and we take that very seriously, as we do your support and love. Thank you for partnering with us, and we pray God multiplies your blessings.

In Christ,

Andy, Lesa, Robert, Avery, and Sydney Brown

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve shared with you, ok maybe a few months if you don’t follow us on twitter or facebook, but we do have some immediate things we need prayer for:

On Friday, Lesa is leading a group of over a dozen 12th grade girls on a CFS trip (Cultural Field [...]]]> Hi friends,

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve shared with you, ok maybe a few months if you don’t follow us on twitter or facebook, but we do have some immediate things we need prayer for:

On Friday, Lesa is leading a group of over a dozen 12th grade girls on a CFS trip (Cultural Field Studies). She will be taking this group of young ladies into the heart of Masaai land, staying in local homes, participating in local culture, building cross-cultural relationship, for about 5 days. She will also be mentoring and discipling these girls, which is something Lesa loves to do more than anything! Please pray for her safety and comfort and for great relationships to be built, both with the high schoolers and with the Masaai. Also pray for special “dad” time with the kids while Lesa’s away.

In just under 2 weeks, Andy is leading the OFM (On-Field Media) team to North Africa, to a country he’s never been to but has always wanted to visit. A country where there are no “missionaries” because such a thing would get you expelled from the country, or worse. A country where the cost to local believers for following Christ is more than most of us could bear. And yet the church lives, and we hope to share in that, encourage the church, and capture some of these stories and people and culture on film for the edification and building up of the worldwide church. Please pray for safety in the air and especially on the ground, for open doors to be able to capture the stories and images of these people, for salt and light to be shared.

In just over 2 weeks, Robbie (excuse me… it’s “Robert” now) will be going on the 5th grade CFS (Cultural Field Studies) trip, something new and exciting for him! Pray for God to continue to mold and shape Robert’s character into something special, beautiful, unique, and Christ-like through this experience.

Lesa is also in the thick of rehearsals for a middle school play, and the high-school spring musical. Pray for balance and managing stress and especially for good relationships and experiences for the students involved.

Andy is in the thick of managing the OFM team, which has now grown to 3 full-time, 2 part-time staff. (In contrast, Lesa is managing over 60 students in the high school musical!) He’s trying to finish videos shot 6 months ago, having shot 3 projects since then that are sitting on his desk waiting to be captured and logged. Pray for him to be a good manager and for good time-management and prioritization. Pray for the team’s efforts to continue to bear fruit all around the world for the cause of missions.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support of our ministries here in Africa. God knit us together for times like this, that we can support and prop each other up in prayer. We thank God for you all.

-Andy and Lesa

Beating Nairobi’s infamous traffic while keeping dry and looking fashionable take a team effort.

You’ll notice Andy’s ensemble begins with the requisite helmet. A gift from Daniel McLaughlin and previously Max Katzer.

Next we find the mostly rainproof jacket (Craiglist, $100) complemented nicely by the Buell monostrap backpack, on loan from Jonathan Broga.

Covering [...]]]>

Andy and his piki-piki

Beating Nairobi’s infamous traffic while keeping dry and looking fashionable take a team effort.

You’ll notice Andy’s ensemble begins with the requisite helmet. A gift from Daniel McLaughlin and previously Max Katzer.

Next we find the mostly rainproof jacket (Craiglist, $100) complemented nicely by the Buell monostrap backpack, on loan from Jonathan Broga.

Covering Andy’s lower half we find rainproof and padded “overpants”, from New Enough apparel.

Rounding out the ensemble are Andy’s 12 year old waterproof goretex hiking boots ($120 back in 1997)

The bike? A Honda 650XL on loan from Caleb Clay, an SIM aircraft mechanic. (Please pray Andy finds his own before Caleb returns in December!)

Honorable mentions also go to Matthew and Aaron Blick, Glen Collison, and the illinois Department of Motor Vehicles for the assistance in learning to ride and getitng a license this summer. (Glen… sorry again about dropping your bike!)

We knew it would be a hard couple of weeks upon our arrival in Africa. We were planning on it being [...]]]> This is the update I didn’t want to write. I am writing it to share our feelings and document our experience of the past 2 weeks, but I’m finding it laborious to write the words.

We knew it would be a hard couple of weeks upon our arrival in Africa. We were planning on it being hard, knowing that within days of landing Lesa would begin staff training at Rosslyn, I would be moving our possessions across town and we’d be extremely jetlagged. We knew it would be hard, but not this hard.

Frank Toews

After landing in Nairobi and clearing customs, we were greeted by my friend Ted with the news of the AIM AIR crash that afternoon. Our friend Frank, the pilot, was dead. Our friend Ryan, an engineer who was also sitting in the front of the plane, was in the hospital with serious burns. Our hearts sank, as did our knees to the floor of the airport.

We lived between the 2 families for a couple months last year. Ryan’s oldest son and my 2nd son are great friends. But beyond our feelings, our entire small close-knit community of AIM International Services was reeling and hurting. Hurting for our friends, for their children, for ourselves, for each other. Confident, though, in Frank’s presence with our heavenly Father.

We still had a job to do. Lesa still had staff training to attend, and we still needed to move houses within the week. I managed to secure a lorry (truck) and 7 strong kenyan men to help, and we moved on Wednesday. Ryan died on Friday, at a special hospital for burns in South Africa.

Ryan's toolbox at the AIM AIR hangar

Frank’s memorial service was Tuesday, Ryan’s was Saturday. Between the two services, we had Ryan’s son to our house for a sleepover. I’ve been really proud of my sons as they’ve lost their selfishness the past few weeks to do what they needed to do to support their friends.

So, here we are, just over 2 weeks after arriving in Africa. A tough couple of weeks that has taught us a lot. Taught us that God is good and deserving of praise even when praising seems like such a sacrifice. Things are picking up, the house is getting unpacked, the kids have started school, and Sydney is loving kindergarten. Life really is good, and God is great.

More information on the AIM AIR crash:
World Magazine, “Crash in Kenya” http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/15749
AIM news http://www.aimint.org/usa/news/
AIM AIR blog http://www.aimair.org/page21/page21.html

Honestly, we’re all still feeling a [...]]]> Hello from Virginia! We’ve officially been in the States now for a little over a week. We landed in Illinois at Andy’s parents’ house and recuperated from jet-lag as best as we could before heading out across the country to see family and friends and visit our supporting churches.

Honestly, we’re all still feeling a bit up-side down, between the jet-lag and becoming acquainted with an up-dated American culture. It’s fun to finally eat at Moe’s again and drink fountain cokes! It’s especially wonderful to see family and friends, many of whom it has been two years since we’ve hugged and caught up with.

Our last few weeks have been busy but good. We had two weekends of The King and I, which went off without a hitch! It was so wonderful to see the Rosslyn Academy students pull together such a large and difficult production and to do it beautifully and with amazing attitudes. We were very proud of them! The experience served to solidify our convictions that working with high school students is exactly the direction that Lesa needs to put her energies into. The production was a great experience for us as a family, too, as we are seeing our children’s interest in the arts grow as they see all the possibilities and how fun it is! Lesa will begin teaching drama classes for all grades and the kids will all three attend school there this coming August. We are so pleased with the school and particularly its vision to “inspire and equip students to develop God-given gifts for Christ-like service in the world community” which fits our family’s purpose perfectly!

Andy finished up some projects before he left the office, as well. One interesting one is an “orientation video” which is designed to inform people who are just beginning the process of becoming missionaries with AIM of what to expect for their next couple of years. The interesting thing about the video is that Andy used our family as the “examples” in the video, since he had already logged so much footage of our own journey to Africa. The idea is to help them feel better about it all since we’re doing so well now! We going to be handing/mailing out a DVD of this video, along with a couple other videos to our supporters this summer. Make sure you get one from us!

We’ve had some other interesting things happen the past few weeks. Lesa came down with the shingles opening weekend of the show. Yes, it can be precipitated by stress! But, thankfully, she caught it very early and it ended up being a mild case. Thanks to all of you who prayed for that! Also, Robbie broke his nose (we think) two days before we flew out of Africa. Lots of blood and screaming… and he ended up with quite a shiner! He looks better now and we’re trying to get in to see an ENT soon to make sure we don’t need to do anything about it! Finally, if you remember the Kenyan boy, Brian, whom we have been getting medical care for, you would be interested to know that his hearing has greatly improved over the past few months. We’re happy to tell you that he started school this past week at a school with a speech therapist, thanks to the generosity of one of our supporting families! Our hope is that he’ll be able to grow rapidly in his speech with the therapist’s help over the course of this term. We’ll be excited to see him and his parents when we return to Kenya in August.

We have two goals this summer:

1) We want to see as many of you as possible – and not just SEE you, but actually sit down and visit with you!! PLEASE, contact us about connecting for a meal or whatever for when we are in your area. You can see our schedule below, along with our cell number: 309-582-6254

2) We need to be at 100% financial support before we can return to Kenya. We completely believe that God will accomplish this through individuals and churches who give either one-time gifts or on a monthly basis. You can see from the side bar what rate we are at right now, and you’ll be able to keep up with it throughout the next couple of months on our website. We ask that you would pray for God to raise up new families and churches to support us. If you would like to give, you can go to our website or if you know of a church who could partner with us, please contact us to let us know how to connect with them.

We’re excited to see many of you! Thank you, as always, for all of your prayers, encouragement, and financial support. God has blessed with an amazing team to back us and to make our various ministries in Africa possible!

in Christ,

-Andy, Lesa, Robbie, Avery, Sydney

Although the title probably sounds more like a cult film [...]]]> Another post from Tim that I just couldn’t keep myself from syndicating, since he’s talking about us and our house and his never-ending battle with mosquitoes (or, in the Kenyan dialect, “mos-kwi-toes”)

Mission Update 12: Mosquito War II (Attack of the Evil Bloodsucking Night Creatures of Darkness)

Although the title probably sounds more like a cult film from the 50s, it is actually the account of my epic conflict with the large and loosely banded swarms of mosquitoes in Africa. It has been said that history is written by the winners, but I do not believe that to be universally true. Mosquitoes just don’t know how to type. Many lives and hours of sleep have been lost during the night to tell this story.

“I spy the target. He is just lying there completely unaware of our presence. As soon as the light goes out, we plan to strike. We’re in luck. He isn’t wearing body armor tonight. I’m going to eat that [buzz] for dinner. I’m even going to fly by his ear after I eat so that he will be more tired, that way we won’t have to wait as long tomorrow night. My commanding officer referred to this strategy as psychological warfare. I’m going to move a little closer. I’m so hungry and the others probably are too. Wait. Did he just look over here? I can’t be too sure, but I thought he looked up from his book for a second. No, good, he is just turning the page. Are the others in position yet? Yes, I expect that tonight’s operation will be successful. I shouldn’t take my eyes of the target like that. He is known to act unexpectedly spor- I see the paperback cover of a murder mystery novel- then, darkness.”

-Excerpt from The Rise and Fall of the 301^21st Mosquito Airborne Division of East Africa’s Tactical Entomology Rank Services

The First Mosquito War began after a few military skirmishes in the AIM guesthouse, known as Mayfield. Although the guerilla forces suffered great losses at the hands of the scantily clad and less mobile human force, a “Mosquito Net Diplomacy” was still adopted. This new adaptation by the human force resulted in a peaceful end to the First Mosquito War. With tensions between the two sides still elevated, the East African Tactical Hostility of Insect Maelstrom (EATHIM) began drawing strategies for the possible future hostilities.

The Human force eventually emigrated to a permanent settlement under a less organized but still mosquito occupied Nairobi area. EATHIM was forced to deploy the Mosquito Airborne Division of East Africa’s Tactical Entomology Rank Services (MAD-EATERS) when reports of an unexpected attack on a breeding outpost were received. After further investigation, the mosquitoes discovered that the unprovoked attack was a live weapons testing of a deadly chemical known only as “Doom”. The Science Understudy Commission of Kenyan Entomology Research Service (SUCKERS) were unable to identify the exact compound structure of the weapon*, but they did observe the pressurized containment structure. The external metallic casing was often used as a blunt object to crush the MAD forces.

As the conflict evolved, new weapons for the human force were developed and used on the ever vigilant MAD forces. The human supply of Doom was redistributed as ant forces began an invasion on the settlement, ignorant of the already occurring war. The dwindling use of Doom on the MAD forces was not enough for a successful campaign because the Human force began to use the more conventional “Electric Flyswatter”. This tool of destruction was originally developed for overpopulation control of Bosnian house flies during the Potato Famine of ’84. The racket-like structure disguised its power as an electroshock incineration tool. Its raw power sent electric currents through its target, often torturing its victims before the excruciating final surge.**

An eyewitness account provides un-refutable evidence that the human force used both devices during MWII:

“[The Human Force] stopped at the door, and turned to Andy and Lesa who were sitting on the couch. They were grinning because he was holding both the canister of [Doom] and the [Electric Flyswatter]. He said, ‘Tonight they dine in hell!’, then entered the room and closed the door. Five minutes later, he re-entered the main room, coughing and half suffocated, saying, ‘I think I got all of them…. I think I used too much doom… but I think I am becoming immune to the smell.’, then he set down both weapons. There were body parts all over the racket.”

-Excerpt from secret files of an informant, Kenyan Insect Agency (i, KIA)

Due to the need for active management of both devices, Human scientists began developing a new weapon that required minimal maintenance and supervision. This new device was called “Flower Brand Mossi Chips”. It’s advanced design incorporated a electronically powered housing device that burned a chemical, biological, and nuclear conglomerate fuel source called a Mossi Chip.

The fuel let off a lightly scented discharge in the air which killed and repelled both civilian and MAD mosquitoes. The first unforecasted use of the weapon caused the mosquitoes to scatter, leaving their hideouts and havens, making them easy targets for the Human Force to exterminate. During the bloodbath, the Human force found the main arms transportation route of EATERS known as Fireplace Bunker Chimney.***

On December 25th, 2008, a day that will live in infamy, the largest MAD invasion force of the EATERS was led by a noble general. They attacked at 0100 hours on the human religious holiday known as “Christmas”. The battle that ensued became a legendary marker in the entire history of EATHIM. The heroic Christmas Day Invasion successfully caught the main Human target off guard, during a hard time away from his bloodline, but proved to have underestimated the preparedness of the defense strategy. The Human reorganized and followed with a devastating and wild counterattack. Using all the inhumane weapons at his disposal, he effectively crushed the dispersed MAD forces. Aftermath reports declared that the battlefield was uninhabitable for at least 24 hours (about 1/10 the of a mosquito lifetime) due to the deadly Doom vapors, Mossi Chip radiation, and veteran accuracy of the ever destructive Flyswatter (it had been used to kill multiple Airborne Mosquitoes at once, even in mid-flight). The failure of the campaign resulted in the Insect Conference of Kaffeeklatsch Yalta (ICKY) declaring it an unsanctioned operation under a rogue general. He will live forever in glory by the esteemed name of “General Splatton”.

The International Tribunal Legion of Entomology (TITLE) sanctioned an international court to try the responsible human, known in the MAD ranks by the name of “The Incurable Massacring Monster Yeti” (TIMMY), for war crimes against mosquito-kind. The defendant was charged with the use of unecologically friendly weapons of mass destruction, the attempted holocaust of mosquitoes, and indecent exposure for coming to the court in “naught but his undergarments”. With the overabundance of evidence against the warranted international criminal, the court optimistically predicted that he would be held accountable for his actions. The optimism was short lived , however, when reports came that he had allegedly assassinated TITLE with Doom and left unimpeded.

After the lack of reprimands for his atrocities in superior court, more blood relatives of the perpetrator began emigrating into the already overpopulated human controlled zone. The deficiency of space forced the People Enraging Righteous Pests Syndicate (PERPS) Attaché to make camp at a place called couch. He bunkered down after a few attacks by MAD scouts. After almost a month, the PERPS evacuated the area as quickly as they had invaded, leaving TIMMY with a new device which led to the end of the conflict.

The legendary “Plug in Fan” had been sought after by the Human force for a long time, but was unable to acquire one until the funding was received from the blood relatives. The device did not end the tensions between EATHIM and the Humans, but it did end the war as it automatically defended the Human area from MAD attacks by keeping EATERS from entering the area. This “Fan Shield Diplomacy”**** continues to be used to starve helpless Mosquitoes communities throughout Africa, and the world.

*The decommission of SUCKERS occurred soon after due fatalities from overexposure to the deadly chemical.
**The weapon was most likely designed to recreated the “Dark Force Sith Lightening” found in the 1983 science fiction movie, Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi.
***This invasion route was later shut down, through the use of “post-Christmas wrapping paper”, by a human sympathizer and allied weapons distributor known only by the code-name of “Lesa”.
****The similar “Mosquito Net Diplomacy” is still used in less developed areas to withhold food from the victims.