End of Season

What I Have Learned

Posted in General Articles by Jason Driver on 3/21/2009

I just wanted to update you all and let you know how I am doing. I know that their have been a few people that have been worrying about me after I shared my hardships. So I will try to let everyone know where I am at and what the Lord is doing in me during this time.

However, before I dive into that I want to take a short tangent and share some other things that have been on my heart. I have received a few comments from people expressing a concern for how open I am in my blog posts. I feel very strongly about living my life out in front of others in transparency. I do this because I don't want people to put me on a pedestal and I want them to know that there is nothing special about me. More importantly, I want them to know that I have an obtainable walk with the Lord, not something fake or seemingly perfect. It is exactly what the Apostle Paul said repeatedly, "He is made perfect in my weakness." I want people to know that I do struggle and the Lord always comes to my rescue. I share these things so that others may have hope and so that the Lord may use my words to encourage and edify whoever reads my posts. In short my blogs are a ministry in themselves and the Lord has used them on numerous occasions.

Now that that is out of the way, I'll move on to how I am really doing. Over the course of the last week the Lord has been overwhelming me with his love. It has been so hard for me because it washes over me in such an abundance that I don't even know how to process it., let alone try an explain it to others. He keeps telling me how much he loves me and how good it is to see me move out from under all of this hurt. He tells me that I am his beloved and I am finally allowing myself to be okay with that. I have committed myself to just rest in his presence on a daily basis. I have never known such a mutual trust before. I can look back and see how the Lord walked me through every difficult situation and used each of them to discipline me or heal me from past hurts. More importantly, he showed me that I needed to fight and that I needed to deal with some stuff in my own life. The Lord showed me that taking care of myself wasn't optional. The strangest part about this whole deal is that somehow in the midst of all of this chaos, I found my true identity. I am Christ's. I am his beloved and he always takes care of his beloved. He castes out all anxiety and all fear so that I can be clothed in his peace in order to walk in his freedom. It is so good. I am actually at a better place in my life now than I was before my mother passed away.

I'm excited about closing out my time in Kenya and not knowing what's next. All I know currently, is that I fly back into Georgia on April 20th and then after that I am not sure. I am going to take a three month sabbatical and really focus on my walk with the Lord and further emotional healing. It is so hard for me to even communicate to you the freedom that I feel in my life knowing that I can go a hundred different directions. I trust that as I am ready the Lord will make it abundantly clear where he wants me to go next and what that will look like. As I follow the Lord into this season of establishment (part of what he is calling me to next) I will keep all of you updated and will again gladly share my heart with you. I feel that he is preparing me for some big changes in my life and I am not sure what they are, but never-the-less, I am still excited about it. The Lord is so good. He has taken all of these painful situations and taught me so much out of them. Only God can bring healing through painful circumstances.

Please pray for me to finish up my time in Kenya well.

Pray for direction for me as I return to Georgia

Pray for perspective as I continue to be stretched and strengthened in the Lord.

Pray for an increase in faith as I feel like the Lord has placed things on my heart that are rather difficult for me to even know how to be obedient to.

Pray that the Lord will show me how to get good closure on this season of my life so that I can be free to dive into the next one.

Comments (10) |

My time for testing

Posted in General Articles by Jason Driver on 2/27/2009

I have been through so much in the last couple months that I don't even know how to update all of you as to what has been going on in my life. I'm just going to list what the last two months have looked like for me and I will skimp on the detail where necessary.

I went from dating to being engaged, back to dating, and then before I knew what was happening I became single again, all in about a time frame of three weeks. As luck would have it, the final conversation took place a week before the next team that I am leading, arrived.

Then I rented a house for the team (which has 25 people total) only to have the owner back out 5 hours before the team landed. So with the help of a friend, found some furnished apartments to rent by the day, until I found something else. The lady we rented them from was crazy and threatened to call the police on two different occasions to come and manage the team (because we were trying to move our things out to another place). She was also convinced that we were trying to sneak out with out paying. In the process of all of that, she got me so worked up that I slammed the van door only to have the side window shatter all over me. After if was all said an done she cost the team several hundred extra dollars because of not telling us key information about how to move out, but told us how much everyone enjoyed us and that we were welcome back anytime, which will never happen again.

So I found a place and we moved in, which has been great. However, a couple of days later I took the van to get the window fixed which was a cheap and easy $20. Then as I was driving away from the glass place I entered into traffic, where I was robbed. They stole my backpack off the seat next to me during a nice little diversion game. I lost my camera, about $500 of team money, my favorite Bible, and my leatherman multi-tool. I chased them down an alley, but they had too much of a head start and I lost them (think really bad chase scene out of a movie).

The next weekend I am at the store buying supplies for the team at 6:30 a.m. and I get a phone call that one of my guys is having a seizure and coughing up blood. So I abandon the checkout counter race home to find that it is still going on. We pick up is 300 lb plus body of dead weight and rush down the stairs to put him in the van. I raced across town to the Nairobi Hospital fearing that at any moment he may die. We get him inside and they start checking vitals and we are rattling off his past medical history (long story). They then tell me that they need $10,000 deposit to admit him to the ICU. I argued with them until I finally gave up and called some friends at a Missions hospital and had them bring an ambulance and transfer him. He spent 4 days in the ICU before being discharged and then a week later we sent him back to Canada.

Then a week after that we had some complications with someone on the team and them not being a good fit, as well as non-compliant, and had to send them home. It shocked the team and they personally attacked me and my co-leader for about an hour straight. Although some of the things said were hurtful and disappointing to me, I still had a peace that it was the right thing to do. I also looked for pieces of truth in what they were saying so that I could own up to any of my short-coming or improve my involvement with them thus far. Please pray for us as we try and figure out what it means for us to be a team and wrestle through our emotions. Please pray that the Lord shows us how to move on from here.

Over the last two months with everything that I have walked through I have been clinging to one quote and that is, "Situations don't create your Spirit, they reveal it." These things have made me press into the Lord more than ever. He has absolutely met me every step of the way. Even better than that, he has brought healing and freedom from past struggles in the midst of all of this. More importantly I am finally fighting for myself and I am facing things head on as they come (My biggest problem was that I would spend myself fighting for everyone else and then have nothing left to fight off my own struggles or temptation). I leave you with part of a chorus of one of my favorite songs, "I dare you to tell me to walk through fire. I dare you to." I certainly feel like I have.

Thank you so much for all of your love, prayers, and support. I could not do this without all of you.

Comments (15) |

Bring Restoration

Posted in General Articles by Jason Driver on 1/27/2009

I know my last update sounded bleak and heavy. I felt I should update you on how I am doing. I am still wrestling through things, but not as much. I have had to let go of some more things in my life, ones that were especially close to me and therefor hard to give up. I'm hurt and I am wounded from a lot of things hitting at once. However the great news is that I don't have to stay there. Even now, the Lord has been healing my heart and speaking to me about the things that I have given up. He has taught me how to trust him and taught me even more about his perfect timing. It has been so good for me because I have experienced way more hope than what I expected. The Lord has been really giving me a positive outlook on life and I trust that whatever he has for me is better than what I could have imagined. I'm also trusting that if he wants to work in my heart and allow me to have some of those things back into my life, then he will. If he thinks that they are not good for me than he will offer me something better. I have seen the pages that I have authored on my own and I have asked the Lord to go back and rewrite them because his plans for me are so much better.

Also, AIM is sending a friend of mine (Joe Rogers) from the office to minister to me in this time. I am looking forward to praying through everything and seeing what is emotion and what is the Lord's plans for me. I am also looking forward to a time of healing and self-discovery because I desire to be restored by the Lord. Please pray for Joe and I as we meet together to sort things out. Pray for discernment and wisdom as we discuss some deep hurts.

I feel good about taking a backseat and letting my co-leaders take more of a leadership role with the team and just being more of a set-up behind the scenes guy. The Lord has also showed me that he is going to use them to bring more healing and restoration to me so that I can leave here at a good place. I'm really excited to see what the next three months looks like.

Please pray for a house for the team in Nairobi. they arrive tomorrow night and the one I had fell through.

Please pray that my time with Joe will be both fun and fruitful.

Pray for my heart and mind as I still have some confusion about where my life is heading.

Pray for Dawn as she is still finding her place in Thailand.

Pray for wisdom and discernment as she seeks out what the Lord would have her be involved in.

Pray for them as they try to help start and look for business opportunities so that the women can support themselves.

Pray that as the Lord is breaking Dawn's heart for the people, that he would also protect her from taking on burdens or situations that she was not meant to carry.

Comments (17) |

Restless times in Kenya

Posted in General Articles by Jason Driver on 1/13/2009

It has been a long time since I have updated all of you as to the craziness that is my life. I'm actually in a really difficult place right now. Everything that I have ever cared about or held onto seems to be up for grabs or uncertain. In the past few weeks, I have become very restless with ministry, missions, and even Kenya. All of the things that I have been so certain of in the past are now being brought into question. It feels like everything that I have ever been passionate about or sure of could now becoming to a close. This may sound confusing, so I will try to lay some of it out as best as possible. I have been working with AIM for almost nine years. I love it and have learned so much from it. I have been working with them in Kenya, off and on for three years now and that has been good as well. However, I am at a point in my life where I am not sure how much longer I will be in Kenya. There is a team that arrives on January 28^th and they leave April 20^th, that I am leading. This could potentially be the last team that I lead and maybe even my last trip for AIM, or my last time in Kenya. I really don't know.

The most important thing to me right now is my relationship with the Lord. Whatever he wants for me, then that is what I want as well. In the past, I have found that when it is time for me to move onto something else, the Lord makes me restless almost to the point of not being able to stand where I am at any longer. It is a difficult time and it tells me that there is a major transition that is about to take place in my life. Well friends that is where I am at right now. I'm in Kenya, I'm about to lead a three month team, and I'm as uncomfortable here as I have ever been. I know that the Lord will lead me through this process and I know that everything will be fine. However, I have no idea what is next, or where my life is heading for sure. So everything that I have known to be true or good, or even found identity or security in, may soon be gone from my life in a matter of months. How do you reconcile or wade through all of that? Where do you even begin? My only choice right now is to trust the Lord and wait for things to play out to see where I land. However, I am very much still human so it is not easy for me to just sit around, or even let go of things. I will probably fight and wrestle with every last thing until things are finally settled. Then I will probably look back and wish that I processed through it differently.

I want to be very clear in saying that I don't have any plans to leave AIM, Kenya, or my call to missions. All that I know right now is that I am very restless and I feel like the Lord is trying to prepare me to move towards a major transition, but I don't know what that is yet. So because of that I have to put all my cards on the table and see which ones I'm left holding. These are all very difficult things for me to walk though. However, I know that whatever else awaits me is better and worth all of the questioning and transitioning, that I am currently going through. Lord, whatever you have for me, whatever is waiting even if the road to get there is difficult, I choose to receive it from you. Lord, I trust you with my life and I trust that you will do with it what you will. Thank you, Lord that you love me enough, not to leave me where I am.

*Please, pray for me that the Lord would continue to give me wisdom and guidance as I walk this out.

*Pray for an abundance of love, grace, and endurance as I lead this next team.

*Pray for Dawn as she leaves for Thailand on Wednesday morning, and pray for our relationship, as we won't be able to communicate as easy or frequently.

Comments (21) |

In The Mountains

Posted in General Articles by Jason Driver on 11/26/2008

Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile. I have been out of contact with the "Real World." We have been working in Eburru, which is a remote mountain village, since November 12^th. I'm in Nairobi for two more days and then I travel back up there to finish up on Sunday with the team. I wish I could paint you an accurate portrayal of how beautiful it is in Eburru. Imagine living in huts, in a small village on the side of a mountain that is just shy of 10,000 ft above sea level. Then you have the view of the entire Rift Valley and Lake Naivasha below you. We have electricity about five hours a night when we run the generator and we are cooking for about twenty people either over a small gas stove or over a charcoal stove. Our showers look like outhouses and they are essentially a 20 gallon bucket placed on the roof with a shower head plumbed into the bottom. I know most of you are probably thinking, "Man! Better you than me." I promise you though, once you see it with your own eyes its breathtaking. It renews my perspective on the Lord and allows me to worship him through his creation.

This is the camp we are currently staying at in Eburru.

What are we doing in Eburru? What does the ministry look like? Primarily we have been working with Pastor Steve Njanga, who felt led to plant a church in Eburru, after a Real-Life team was doing ministry in that location. We have been doing VBS five to six days a week, as well as helping to lead small groups. Last weekend we were able to take the youth from the church and partner with another village's youth group to put on a Youth Conference. Through this time, we taught sessions on Christian Commitment, Dating, Abstinence, and then split the guys and girls up so that we could better answer some of their questions. It was a powerful time, and probably one of the favorites of the team. However, for three of my girls, their highlight would be getting to assist in the birth of a little girl at the Clinic that Pastor Steve's wife started.

Things have been going well for me, but I have been having a lot of trouble with fatigue and I have spent hundreds of dollars on tests and haven't found anything except for me having worms (again.) However, that shouldn't affect me like this. I would love to be lifted up in your prayers as I have a lot of logistics to undergo in the next few weeks.

Team leaves December 6^TH

I leave on December 8^th to fly to Atlanta and then the next day I hop a plane to Ohio

On December 12^th, my dad and his wife, Kathy, are driving me to Kansas City so that they can meet Dawn.

Then on December 14^th, Dawn and I are driving from Kansas City to Texas, so that I can meet her family and friends and spend Christmas with them.

Finally, I fly back to Kenya on December 27^th to lead a two week medical team.

Comments (4) |

Canceled ministry brings restoration

Posted in General Articles by Jason Driver on 10/23/2008

I know it's been awhile since I last updated all of you. The days and weeks have melted away and so much has happened that it is hard sometimes for me to know where to begin. However, I really need to tell you about today. This morning, the Lord did a powerful work in my team. There are twelve students on my team plus six staff. They are a great bunch of students and have been an absolute joy to lead. The team has amazing potential and I have been seeing the Lord bring more and more of that out of them. The last two weeks have been a challenge for us because all or most of us have been sick with colds, flu, bronchitis, and fatigue, as well as a few minor injuries. All of this together, has taken a toll on the team causing them to be somewhat discouraged.

This morning started out like any other morning. We were all getting ready to go out into Kibera slums for morning ministries and it started pouring rain. The rain looked like it was settling in for awhile so we decided to cancel the ministry that we had planned. The other leaders and I started praying and felt convicted about us not having any quality times of corporate prayer. I specifically felt a need to pray over one another and ask the Lord to show us how to pray for each other. It was a powerful time of prayer and worship. I saw the Lord touch some deep pains that were hanging onto students hearts. I saw the Lord free some of the students from lies that the enemy held over them. The Lord was restoring us and cleansing us from all of the junk that was weighing us down. I even seen a couple of students breakdown completely, when I've never seen any emotion in them before. The whole team started praying and prophesying (speaking God's truth) over one another. It was powerful and it was so freeing. This went on for about two and a half hours. Layer after layer, wall after wall just began to peel off of each of these students. We are just now beginning to experience the power of living in a Christ-centered community. I think all of us walked away from that time with tears in our eyes, encouragement in our hearts and a genuine love and respect for one another. The best part about it is that it wasn't about anything that we did. The Lord set aside this day so that we might be encouraged and the Holy Spirit did all of the redemptive work. Man! The Lord is so good to us! Thanks for all of your love, support, and encouragement.

Comments (3) |

Webuye Summary

Posted in General Articles by Jason Driver on 10/14/2008

I am very far behind in the whole process of updating you and for that, I am sorry. Life has this amazing way of passing bye before you even realize it. Our team made it back from Webuye safely. We had a great time and saw the Lord do some great things. We had over two hundred pastors attend all three days of the conference and over four hundred that came for at least one of the three days. The youth conference went great as well. There were several hundred students that attended at least one of the two day youth conference. We saw about thirty or forty make a commitment for the Lord after one of the team's dramas. I never expected it. I got up and explained the drama and then gave an alter call and all of these people started coming forward and we prayed for all of them. It was powerful and my team went out and prayed with every student that came forward. The great part about it is that it was nothing that I did. It was all of the Lord's doing he used the drama to speak to their hearts and I just explained out what the Lord does for each of us and why I trust him. One thing is for certain, when we finally left Webuye; we were all exhausted.

Imagine this Church in the Heat of the day with over two hundred people in it, HOT!!!!

Playing with the children was without a doubt our favorite part of the conference and it also had the most profound effect on the Pastors at the conference because they often times don't see value in ministering to children.

Comments (3) |

Prayer and Praise

Posted in Driver's Journal by Jason Driver on 9/26/2008

Hi everyone, this is Dawn. I just wanted to let you all know that the team made it safely to Webuye (that's the praise), and they found out that they are doing nightly revival services in addition to everything else mentioned in the previous blog. Please be praying for strength and energy for them!

Thanks for all your prayers - you guys are such a blessing!

Comments (3) |

Webuye

Posted in Driver's Journal by Jason Driver on 9/24/2008

For the next ten days my team and I will be traveling to a place called Webuye. This is something I have been talking about and preparing for with both local pastors and my home church for a long time now - I'm really excited about this trip and excited to see what the Lord is going to do over the next ten days. The trip to Webuye is an eight to ten hour trip, depending on the road conditions. Today is a travel day - we leave early this morning and will arrive sometime this evening. Here is a quick overview of what we'll be doing during our time there:

Friday - Saturday: Youth Conference

Sunday - Tuesday: Visiting local churches and doing some prison ministry

Wednesday - Friday: Pastors' Conference

Saturday - Travel home

Youth Conference: Friday and Saturday we will be helping to facilitate a youth conference that we are expecting somewhere between 500 - 600 youth to come to. It will be a full two days - we will go from 8am - 5pm each day - doing some teaching from the Alpha curriculum (http://www.alphausa.org/), sharing testimonies, and performing Drimes (dramas set to music). For those of you who haven't heard of the Alpha Course before, it's a great teaching tool that helps the non-believer and committed Christian alike to go back to the basics and explore the foundations of the Christian faith.

Pastors' Conference: Wednesday - Friday we will be helping with a conference for pastors from several different countries including Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. We are expecting about 400 pastors to come. I will be doing some of the teaching - again we using the Alpha curriculum. Please pray for boldness, wisdom and discernment in sharing with these pastors. Pray that they would be challenged. Pray that they would be encouraged to be "surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses." Pray that the Spirit would move in power and minister to those who have dedicate their lives to serving Him by constantly pouring themselves out for others.

A few other ways you can be praying for us:

Safety as we travel today and Saturday
Discerning spirits, unity and peace as we walk into some pretty heavy spiritual warfare
Witchcraft is widely accepted and practiced there - pray that the things of the enemy would be brought into the light and any power associated with it would be broken in Jesus' name - pray that people would recognize and turn to Jesus as the true Healer.

As always, thanks for your love, support and prayers.

Comments (6) |