IN MY HEAD

I have the opportunity to see life-change first-hand  in NewSpringer’s lives as they join us for our trips to Kenya.  Mollie participated in our June trip and has been so gracious to share her story and a few pictures with us.

I can only attempt to put into words the things I saw, the things I felt, and how much God revealed himself to me during these 9 days.  My trip to Kenya was by far one of the most life-changing experiences of my life.  It broke me, challenged me, encouraged me, and changed me.  God is very real, very mighty, and very faithful in Kenya as well as America.  Here are some of the things God taught me and is still teaching me as I continue to process it all:
1. God answers prayers
(Matthew 7:7-8) I prayed earnestly for safety, health, and change. And I was completely safe, healthy, and definitely changed.
2. God is all we need
He is more than enough for me.  The Kenyans were living in poverty fighting for survival, lacking basic needs, and yet were so full of joy and wore the most beautiful smiles.
3. God is faithful. So trust Him.
God provides for the Kenyans and their faith in Him is deep.  They truly believe their treasure is in heaven (Matthew 19:30).  The water they drink for the most part does not hurt them but would make us deathly sick.
4. God is love and loves unconditionally and so intensely beyond our comprehension.
The Kenyans have a deep and strong concept of love.  They love with their entire beings.  Their love for us, for each other, and for God is amazing.  The children were constantly trying to hold our hands and rub our arms.  If only we had the same intense affection and amazement toward God.  God loves Kenyans and Americans; every tribe, race, language, and nation equally and passionately.
5. God’s word is real, living, and breathing
Kenya made the Bible seem so much more real: crops, thirst, hunger, disease, poverty, leprosy, etc.  So many times I’ve looked over these matters and not really realize its still very real in our world today and the Bible continues to offer and glow with hope and new truths.
6. Give generously
The Kenyans have hardly nothing but yet were still trying to give us their possessions (rings, which were worth a month’s salary). Why don’t I love and give like that?
7. I’m so ungrateful
I don’t realize how blessed I am.  The genuine gratitude of the Kenyans tore our hearts out.  We have water, clean water; clothes;
shoes; homes; and food. Why do I have these things and they don’t?
(Luke 12:48)

We may be rich in possessions, but they are rich in spirit.

I am continuing to process everything that I learned in Kenya but I know my life will never be the same.  I can’t wait to return to Kenya one day.  It was like seeing a glimpse of heaven when praying together (Revelation 7:9-10).  I am forever grateful for God providing for me to go on this trip.  I have never learned so much in such a short amount of time and will forever have those children’s smiles in my mind and heart.  May God bless whoever reads this letter as I have been so richly blessed. Thank you.

You should join us for one of our trips!

Ready or Not:  Another team from NewSpring Church is heading to Kenya today.  It is crazy to realize that a team just returned from Kenya at the end of last month and we have another team leaving today to hang out with our Kenyan friends.  We can be a part of this June Kenya team by partnering with them in prayer.  We can pray for this team of 30 folks as they travel over to Kenya on Thursday & Friday and definitely pray for the team as they minister all next week.  As a recent team member to a NewSpring Kenya trip, I realize the importance of those praying for us daily back home.  I promise – it is huge!  I would love for you to even pray for the individual team members by name over the next 10 days.

NewSpring June Kenya Team:  Jake Beaty, Andrew Sentell, Mary Kathryn Hodges, Katelyn Bridges, Marie Cantrell, Lexie Hall, Andrew Wall, Matthew White, Walker Reed, Daniel Young, Paul Parker, Thomas Langley, Jessica Bailey, Deann Parker, Joey West, William Jolly, Taryn Welden, Alexandria Lewis, John Hardy, Brantley Bell, Heather Cox, Wendy Fortier, Brooke Jackson, Liz Atkinson, Mollie Hyder, Brooke George, Rachel Ethun, Kristine Medlock, Anna Burgess, and Jessie Jones.

How you can pray for the June Kenya Team?

-Traveling time. The team will be flying most of Thursday and Friday to Kenya.  Once they arrive in Kenya they will be traveling by bus for several hours each day.  Obviously they will have a busy week and then a long bus ride back to Nairobi and another long flight back home to the U.S.  Pray for their safety.

-Flexibility & Patience. It is easy to become impatient and not very flexible when you get out of your “comfort zone” and get placed in a stressful situation.   Pray that our team is flexible with each other as well as all those around them. 

-Morning Devotions & Evening Debriefs. Each morning will start with a group devotion to get the team focused on the Lord and prepared for the upcoming day.  Pray for God to bless this time and allow Jake Beaty (the team leader) to share God’s Word in a powerful way to challenge & encourage the team.  The evening debriefs are a great way to wrap up the day and allow a time to unpack what God is doing in your head & heart with the rest of your teammates.  Pray that each member will participate during this time and allow God to begin the refining process of this trip.  These evening debriefs are so, so important in the overall success of this trip.  What God does during this time collectively – as well as individually – is incredible.  Pray! Pray! Pray!

-Work Days in the community. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be busy days for the team as they are working on several things in Kenya.  The team will be doing several projects at a school located in the Segera area called Uaso Nyiro Primary School.  One team will be working on the construction of a kitchen and the other team will be working with the students & teachers at the school.  You can pray for the relationships that are being formed during these work days and especially for “open doors” to share the gospel.

-The overall success of the trip. Pray them up!

Hello to all!  Once again NewSpring Church is heading over to Kenya for a few days and I would love for you to partner with us as we head back to the area of Segera, Kenya.  Segera is an area several hours north of Nairobi (the capital of Kenya), just above the equator.  We leave Thursday, May 20th and return on Saturday, May 29th.  There is a group of 30 folks joining us on this trip and we are hoping to do a few service projects as well as offering a medical & dental clinic in the communities.  I have listed below the people going on this trip and I would love for you to daily pray for our team.

May Kenya Team:  David Nimmons, Howard Frist, Amy Barton, Andi Walters, Ashley Weatherly, Carla Morrison, Carol Creamer, Catherine Coker, Chasse Bailey-Dorton, Christopher Miele, Cierra Evatt, Cory O’Tuel, Dana Rector, Diana Clemow, Heather Putnam, Jan Walker, Janet Gromelski, Jonathan Shoultz, Kathy Spaulding, Kim Lee, Kristina Dyar, Marie Cooper, Melanie Williams, Rachel Mitchell, Shane Purcell, Shannon Seigler, Stephanie West, Sydney Haskett, Tabitha Vasilas, and Wesley Harden.

I wanted to give you a general itinerary for this upcoming Kenya trip.

-Thursday and Friday…  we will be flying a lot.  Air travel always seems to cause frustration to everyone….especially since the Iceland volcano has disrupted travel around Europe.  Pray, Pray, Pray!

-Saturday…  we will load up the bus and travel north from Nairobi to Segera.  This is usually a 4-hour bus ride.  We will have a brief visit with the Segera Mission staff and then do a little visiting in the community.  The medical & dental team members will begin organizing and preparing for the upcoming clinics they will be doing in the community.                                             

-Sunday…  a wonderful day filled with attending church with our Kenyan brothers & sisters and an afternoon of hanging out in the community enjoying getting to know each other.

-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…  work days in the community which will consist of the construction of pit latrines in the community of Endona as well as working in the local primary school.  The medical/dental team will be offering clinics each day around the Segera Mission as well as a nearby community (Monday -Black Tank, Tuesday -Endona, & Wednesday -Depatus).

-Thursday…  will consist of saying good-byes to the community and then heading on a quick safari.  Thursday evening is normally a great relaxing night as we stay at a wildlife game park (Sweetwater Tented Camp).

-Friday…  can seem like the longest day of your life because it has been a physical, spiritual and emotional week and we are getting ready to head back to Nairobi on a 4-hour bus ride and then make our way through the crazy Nairobi traffic to catch a bite to eat & then grab a late night “red-eye” flight back home to the States.

-Saturday is a day FULL of flying home to Greenville-Spartanburg Airport.  Welcome back to the United States!

NewSpring Church is heading to Kenya again.  As you probably already know – NewSpring Church is partnered up with The 410 Bridge to reach out to Segera, Kenya.  This is our fourth service trip to this area and we are looking forward to reuniting with our Kenyan friends this week.  We will be leaving today (Thursday) and return on Saturday, February 13th.  I have listed below the twelve folks that will be heading to Kenya today.   I would love for you to join us by committing to pray for this team.  You can pray for the team’s attitudes, for God to prepare the people of Kenya,  and for safety from physical & spiritual opposition. I wanted to give you a general itinerary of what will be going on.

• Thursday and Friday – we will be flying a lot.  Leaving GSP and heading to Washington DC.  This evening we will leave DC heading to Amsterdam.  Leaving Amsterdam on Friday morning and arrive in Kenya on Friday night.
• Saturday – we will leave Nairobi to head up to the area of Segera, which is typically a 4-hour bus ride.
• Sunday – will be a wonderful day attending church in Kenya where we will have a great opportunity to worship with our Kenyan friends.  This has been a great opportunity for people’s perspective of worship to be altered. Always a great experience!
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – Work days in Black Tank (a small community in the area of Segera) in which will be doing activities with the children of Black Tank as well as helping with construction work at that school.
• Thursday – saying good-byes at the Segera Mission and heading for a quick safari.  Hope we can see a lion and an elephant!
• Friday night & Saturday – a day FULL of flying home back!  Yeah!

NewSpring Church: David Nimmons, Jon McDerment, Will Rodes, Justin Dick, Eddie Gowan, Anna Gillespie, Meredith Orten, Lynn Bigby, Anna Marie Hilliard, Charli Alford, and Adam & Sydney Haskett.

Happy New Year!

So not only are we arriving at the end of the year, but the end of a decade. And what a run of ten years it has been. I have had a blast over the last ten years and I am amazed how so many things happened to me over the past ten years.  Last decade (1990-99) I only remember graduating high school and college.  This decade (2000-09) I had the chance to get married to Amanda, hold several full time jobs after college,  travel to China & Africa, become a proud dad to Caleb.  And…… the wonderful experience to be apart of NewSpring Church from the first service in January 2000.  It has been a great ride these past ten years and who knows what the next ten years will look like for me and for NewSpring.  We are getting ready to celebrate our TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY at NewSpring and I can not wait. We showed this video during our Christmas services and wanted to post it here. Hope to see you at the BILO Center in Greenville on Sunday, January 24th.

NewSpring 10th Anniversary promo from NewSpring Production on Vimeo.

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You ever heard the question:  what’s the difference between a major surgery and minor surgery?  The answer:  minor surgery is when it’s happening to you, major surgery is when it’s happening to ME.  It is so funny to realize when the story involves you… it seems more important.  I thought about this joke recently when Amanda told me that Caleb (our 14-month son) had busted his upper lip and needed to go to the emergency room to get stitches.  I did not freak out, but I was more concerned about this situation that all the other things going on in my world that Monday morning.  Why?  Because this was a situation that involved MY son, not just any child.  Most parents can understand that.  The concern and more importantly – the love I have for Caleb is one that is huge, however, my love pales in comparison to God’s love for Caleb.  Even better – God’s love for all His children.  The crazy day was a big reminder of how much God loves us and cares for us – His children.  I really believe the things that go on in our lives (good and bad) are not just minor things to our Heavenly Father.  They are major in His eyes.  Why?  Because it’s personal, we are His children.  He loves us!

BTW – Caleb got three stitches put in his lip and removed a week later.  He’s doing fine.

So NewSpring Church had the opportunity this week to be a blessing to four elementary schools around each of the NewSpring campuses.  We were able to provide shoes and socks to every kid that wanted them for this Christmas season.  We had the privilege to partner with New Prospect Elementary in Anderson, Alexander Elementary in Greenville, Harbison West Elementary in Columbia, and North Vista Elementary in Florence.  We had the chance to put over 1,500 pair of New Balance tennis shoes on kids’ feet and simply display the love of Jesus.  It was such a blast and I am sure, the NewSpring volunteers got as much a blessing from seeing the smiles on kids’ faces as the kids got with a new pair of shoes.  It is such a neat thing to be apart of a church that wants to help out the community that we live.

A few of the schools had the chance to make the local evening news.  WYFF in Greenville and WIS in Columbia.  How cool is that?

WYFF Greenville

WIS Columbia

I wanted to let you guys be apart of the NewSpring Kenya November Trip by praying for us as we leave today (Thursday) and return on Saturday, November 28th. I have listed below the 48 people going on this upcoming trip. I would love for you to pray for people’s attitudes, God to rock the team’s world, God would open up the Kenyan’s heart to receive the Gospel, and safety from physical & spiritual opposition. I wanted to give you a general itinerary of what will be going on.

-Flying on Thursday and Friday. We have a 13-hour layover in Paris. Good news: we will be doing a tour of the city. Bad news: I don’t want to lose anyone in France or miss our last flight.
-Saturday morning we will hit the ground running (literally) and will be heading up to the Segera Mission with only two back-to-back “redeye” flights as our sleeping opportunity. Yikes!
-Sunday equals church day with 4 church opportunities in Endona, Black Tank, Depatus, and the Segera Mission
-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Work Days which will be (1)Jigger Removal & Education of the families with kids (2)Construction of the roof of the water tank (holding tank) at Black Tank (3)Working with school kids of Endona & the Mission
-Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) That day will consist of saying good-byes at the Mission, dedicating the Black Tank water project, and heading to Sweetwater to relax and enjoy Turkey Day.
-Friday, as you know is the longest day in the world, and has the opportunity to make people irritable and ready to SNAP! But we are going to pray against that.
-Saturday is a day FULL of flying home and missing the annual USC-Clemson football game. Boo!

NewSpring Church Staff:        Michael Brown, Shane Duffey, Lee McDerment, Paul Marshall, David Nimmons, Amanda Nimmons, Jennifer Turner, Amanda Thompson

Anderson campus:  Rhonda A., Danny B., Rachael C., Lee F., Kayla G., Johnny H., Michael H., Seth H., Don J., Casey K., Jesse & Nancy L., Cristin M., Carla P., Sarah P., Haley R., Natalie S., Philip T., Mark W.

Greenville campus:       Lauren C., Heather E., Danielle L., David & Sallie P., Caleb R., Kathryn S., Mara S., Brittany S., Brandi T., Kristin Z.

Florence campus:   Bob B., Cookie C., Heather C., Jennifer D., Shane & Courtney G., Liston G., Robert G., Alicia P., Kim S.

NewSpring Church – Using their gifts… from The 410 Bridge on Vimeo.