Jon McClarnon

Here are a few things happening regarding Haiti and relief efforts that are going on.

- My friend and elder at True North Church, Dr. Kurt Ehlert, is taking off for Haiti on Tuesday for a 10 day medical mission. Please pray for the efforts of his group as I know there is much to do…long hours…a great deal of needs. Kurt will be keeping us updated via the True North Blog, so check in next week for reports on his travels.

- Met up with Rick Smith this morning to talk about our mutual interest in Kenya. Rick is the director of Joy In Hope based in Cary. They have been heavily involved in work in Haiti and just this morning had a team of people land on the island, ready to help and equipped with supplies.

- This evening the Garner Citizens for Haiti are holding an event at the Historic Auditorium at 7:30 PM. Members of the town council and community organizations are praying and raising funds for the Red Cross.

It’s going to be a long term process to provide aid, relief, funds, and ongoing support. Find a way to make a difference!

From the experience of another (via Perry Noble), there are 5 major tests that every new church and church planter will face.

So far, only 2 have been given, anxiously awaiting the other 3 tomorrow.
But at this point – I am 2 for 2!

1. the Financial test – YEP, we’ve had a rough go at times in the early days…having to cut back in areas…make big decisions…etc.
But we’ve never really relied on people to make the difference…but rather God…who can motivate peoples’ hearts to respond. We’ve had a huge turn around at True North from $0 to a little bit to spend.

2. the Critics test – YEP, we’ve had some of those too. Mostly, critics don’t seem to come from people outside “the church”, but people you would hope to be encouraging and supporting you. I lost track of the # of people who tried to tell me that starting the church was a bad idea. Needless to say, while I listen to sound advice, I don’t take my cues from people.

Looking forward to the next 3…and if you’re planting a church OR thinking about it – pay attention.

The entire photo album of our travels to Kenya is posted on Facebook. I realize not everyone hangs out on Facebook, so I opened the Photo Album up to EVERYONE.

You can go HERE to see them.

This Sunday is our Discovering True North Class.
Lunch is being served and the class is from NOON – 1:30PM.
Plenty of time to get home and start watching the 4 hours of pre-game coverage for the Super Bowl.

Discovering True North is the place to learn more about the church, how to get connected, and what it takes to be an official Partner. If you’re new to True North OR have been to Pizza with the Pastor – this is your next step. If you’ve been around for a long time and have never attended – take advantage of the opportunity. I’m sure you’ll learn something you didn’t know.

Please sign up so we know to count on you by going to the contact page and checking “Sign me up for the next Discovering True North class.”

With all things considered, it seems best to cancel our normal services tomorrow at True North. In place of our normal “gathering”, here are a few things to consider:
- Go over to our podcast page and find a past message that you have missed and listen to it.
- Read through Jesus’ sermon on the mount (Matthew 5, 6, 7) – it will take about 15 minutes.
- Capitalize on the opportunity to help a neighbor by cleaning off vehicles OR shoveling a driveway.
- If you had planned to give tithes/offerings tomorrow, you can mail it OR hold it for next Sunday. If you choose to mail it, here’s the address:
True North Church
PO Box 1512
Garner, NC 27529

Stay safe!

Yeah, I skipped a few days of the blog tour from Kenya, but we were on the go A LOT!
Once we finished with the church service on Sunday, we packed up and drove back from the valley to Eldoret (6 hours), spent the night and drove to Nairobi (another 6 hours).

Monday I gave a very brief report after we arrived in Nairobi. Tuesday had us feeling very much like tourists as we bartered in the market (a skill that I’m quite good at…e.g., I paid 500 KSH for a painting that started at 9000), took a safari walk and ate dinner at Carnivore restaurant. Our flight out was at 11:50 PM and the next 22 hours were spent in the air.

There’s a lot to process from a whirlwind trip like we experienced. I have to say that the potential for making a difference in the Kerio Valley of Kenya is huge! All the things we have talked about are possible – providing clean water…making available good medical care…teaching literacy and farming skills – the mission is a great place for this to happen. It’s location is great too – on the border between the Pikot and Marakwet tribes…people that were at war for 12 years and in recent years have come to peace.

Now that we have had the privilege of seeing things for ourselves and having the first hand experience, I’m asking you to pray that God would continue to guide us in this process and that we would move with wisdom on how we can best make a difference in Kenya.

I will definitely be sharing more about this in the near future, and Chatty will be here in the states in a couple weeks. So we’ll get to hear from here directly soon at True North.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes, prayers and encouragement. Glad to know many of you were following along!

to start the day off we played some basketball in Eldoret waiting for our driver. He ended up coming 2 hours late so we got off to a late start.
Before leaving town we stopped off to buy more water and a shoe repair. My sole was half off – for about 40 cents I got a great glue job complete with stitching.

Our main goal was to see the wildlife park in Nakuru but when we arrived we were shocked to see the cost at $60 US per person. We decided not to stay and drove another 3 hours into Nairobi and will try a park there for $15.

We did stop off at the equator and had a demonstration of swirling water! Finally we ended up back at the same youth hostel that we stayed in on our first night.

Tuesday will be packed with market bartering…wildlife visit…going to see the vehicle…dinner at Carnivore restaurant and to the airport for our 11:50 PM departure.

Super long day today.
We were invited to participate in a joint church service where several different communities came together. This was unheard of a few years ago as the Marakwet and Pikot tribes had been in a 10 year war…now they are worshiping together.

I was amazed in many ways not the least their dedication to get there. Many of the people walked 3 + hours to the service. It was a humbling experience to be the guest speaker for the morning. The service lasted 2 hours but didn’t seem to be that long.

These are some of the most gracious and welcoming people I’ve ever met. As part of the closing, the pastors and leaders walk outside and form a handshake line. Then one by one, every person files by and gives a greeting and the line continues all the way around until everyone has come through.

Then we started into the 6+ hour trek back up to the highlands. We had dinner with a local pastor in his home and I was served the largest meal in a bowl ever!

All in all a great day but very tiring. Can not seem to get enough water here to stay hydrated. Combined with the drought in the valley and the enormous need for clean water I better understand that water IS life.

While I will see Monday come before you, you’ll know who is playing in the Super Bowl before me. Off to bed…tired…

I will keep it brief because I’m tired and I don’t know when the generator is going to shut off.
Big day today – toured the village of Tot and heard we could possibly see elephants and crocs of we go to the river. When we got there we met so.e Pekot tribesmen who told is they knew where to see them…one hour later…no luck. Saw camels which was unexpected. I think they were more intrigued by fact that we were first white men they’d ever seen.
Afternoon we drove to the village of LIter where the mission is. We met with a dozen elders and community leaders under a broom tree to discus partnership and how to use the facility. Funny when they started the meeting by passing out cokes.

Then we toured the mission…what will be the home of Pajoma Life. There’s much potential for medical care, water filtration systems, teaching farming and literacy skills as well as meeting spiritual needs. It will take a lot of people working together!
Gotta hit the bed…we drive an hour in the morning to church where I am speaking to a gathering of several churches. Then the big goat slaughter before heading back.

Its 5 am ish here in Kenya and my bunkmate is keeping me awake with his snoring
Been reading about Haiti and reminded that of you want to know the inside scoop from people who are on site check out the Mangines at http://www.mangine.org/ and if you want to help go to www.joyinhope.org